Shuttle Challenge v5 - The STS thread [Stock and Mod Friendly] - MAJOR CHALLENGE ANNOUNCEMENT! - 30.3.2020

[biomecaman]

7 hours ago, michal.don said:

Welcome back!

If I'm correct, you completed the STS 1-3 in the previous version of the challenge, is that right?

Nice shuttle design, even though the use of Mk2 fuselages as wings quite surprises me - isn't the thing excessively draggy? And I'm curious, how does the LRB separation work on the mini shuttle? There is not a screenshot of the separation, and it seems to me the boosters are pretty sure to hit the wings of the orbiter..... If you do have the screen, could you share it too, please?

Other than that, nicely executed mission, and here is your badge. Congratulations!

(I assume both the shuttles are stock, If I'm wrong, please let me know)

Michal.don

Thanks for the welcome, it was almost a year ago that i did the other 3 on V4. Sry for any confusion,  The "Ranger" (larger of the 2) has a KOS unit on board, but it was not used, I used KER for dV and navigation. if that makes it modded ill take the modded badge.

Drag on the Mk2 used as wing; not a lot of drag, holds an ISRU, mono and ore tanks.

more detail and pictures here:
https://imgur.com/gallery/SDvbf

 

 

Edited March 8, 2018 by biomecaman

[Starslinger999]

Sadly, My shuttle is broken due to the release of 1.4 and I will wait until Making History to rebuild it

[hoioh]

5 hours ago, Starslinger999 said:

Sadly, My shuttle is broken due to the release of 1.4 and I will wait until Making History to rebuild it

That's why I work in a copy of the game instead of the steam install. You can jsut copy the complete game folder in order to prevent this. Personally I keep a clean steam install and several modded copies which I actually play.

[biomecaman]

4 hours ago, hoioh said:

That's why I work in a copy of the game instead of the steam install. You can jsut copy the complete game folder in order to prevent this. Personally I keep a clean steam install and several modded copies which I actually play.

U can't revert to a previous version in the settings? I have Steam on OSX btw

[Starslinger999]

20 hours ago, hoioh said:

That's why I work in a copy of the game instead of the steam install. You can jsut copy the complete game folder in order to prevent this. Personally I keep a clean steam install and several modded copies which I actually play.

I mean that my save was broken and I lost the craft file. Its dead.

[wrench-in-the-works]

Back from the dead for the time being with the first munar mission! It didn't go great, the landing needed some work, the assembly was off by a bit, and the aerocapture was sloppy at best. Regardless, I did it!

Here's the album of a failure.

 

Edit: I already have 2 done and 3 in the works before life happened, but I'll wait to post those unless you want me to post them all at once

Edited March 11, 2018 by wrench-in-the-works

[qzgy]

49 minutes ago, wrench-in-the-works said:

Here's the album of a failure.

Not failure! Just - not stunning success. Though thats one weird orbit I see.... Is that from principia?

[wrench-in-the-works]

41 minutes ago, qzgy said:

Not failure! Just - not stunning success. Though thats one weird orbit I see.... Is that from principia?

The paths drawn out in white is the simple trajectories mod. I looked at principia a few times, but I think my current pc would melt if I tried to run it. It didn't like interstellar either, but next pc build I might try it.

[qzgy]

1 minute ago, wrench-in-the-works said:

The paths drawn out in white is the simple trajectories mod. I looked at principia a few times, but I think my current pc would melt if I tried to run it. It didn't like interstellar either, but next pc build I might try it.

I was asking about the weird cardiod orbit. I know of and love trajectories though!

[wrench-in-the-works]

7 minutes ago, qzgy said:

I was asking about the weird cardiod orbit. I know of and love trajectories though!

Oh, that.

I really don't know how that happened, but I'm pretty sure that since trajectories measures orbits from a geocentric (or parent-body-centric, whatever) perspective, the white path represents the apparent orbital path of the craft in question.

Or something.

If that's not the answer you're looking for, sorry for being dumb.

Edited March 11, 2018 by wrench-in-the-works

[michal.don]

On 8. 3. 2018 at 11:17 AM, hoioh said:

And that concludes the available missions (for me)!

Congratulations on completing the missions!

NIcely designed, nicely flown, despite the few-years-wait until the fuel station comes

Here's your badge, and hopefully, I'll have some new missions soon:

On 8. 3. 2018 at 3:56 PM, biomecaman said:

if that makes it modded ill take the modded badge.

If that is the case, I think it's ok to place you into the "stock" category. Thanks for the clarification!

 

On 11. 3. 2018 at 3:55 AM, wrench-in-the-works said:

Back from the dead for the time being with the first munar mission!

Aah, payload CoM issues, I've had plenty of those, as well

Other than that, nicely flown with probably a little "overkill" shuttle, I'm looking forward to seeing your Munar base, soon

(And, yeah, the trajectories look awesome!)

 

Michal.don

 

[hoioh]

On 10-3-2018 at 12:04 AM, biomecaman said:

U can't revert to a previous version in the settings? I have Steam on OSX btw

I don't know, mostly I do it because of all the mods. Once I have a stably running copy I keep it.

On 10-3-2018 at 4:32 PM, Starslinger999 said:

I mean that my save was broken and I lost the craft file. Its dead.

That sucks. Have fun building a new one though!

1 hour ago, michal.don said:

Congratulations on completing the missions!

Thanks for the new badge, I've got a whole collection now!

I'm already working on a better design of the shuttle with a new robotic arm for assebly purposes:

https://imgur.com/a/UHhaB

[wrench-in-the-works]

I have STS-11 already ready since I do sometimes plan out things, and 12 almost complete as I post this.

11 went a lot better than 10 did, especially since I had an idea of what I was doing this time.

[half-baked pun about album links]

Also, about the shuttle being overkill... It kind of has to be, since I plan on making no major modifications to the general size and shape of the shuttle for the remainder of the missions.

[Starslinger999]

Heres a Tease on my 1.4 Updated Stock Shuttle.

https://i.imgur.com/5WsA6Ue.jpg

Also, It appears as if my Imgur is broken on my Windows computer...

 

Edited March 13, 2018 by Starslinger999

[michal.don]

11 hours ago, wrench-in-the-works said:

I have STS-11 already ready since I do sometimes plan out things, and 12 almost complete as I post this.

Seriously, what's going on there with the oddly shaped trajectories?  I can't figure out what they mean, and they look rather unconventional.

Other than that, nice mission, and a nice first module addition. 

A few questions though: What is the latitude of the base? I can't see it anywhere in the report. And, over 10k m/s of dV on your shuttle? What kind of engines is that? It almost seems like magic....

8 hours ago, Starslinger999 said:

Heres a Tease on my 1.4 Updated Stock Shuttle.

Looking good

 

Michal.don

[wrench-in-the-works]

5 hours ago, michal.don said:

Seriously, what's going on there with the oddly shaped trajectories?  I can't figure out what they mean, and they look rather unconventional.

If you're talking about the crazy white lines everywhere, yes, that's still trajectories. I figured out why, using the 'body fixed mode' setting on the mod measures the orbital path from a fixed perspective of the parent orbital body, meaning that a rather simple elliptical orbit can make for some crazy looking shapes. Unless that's not what you're asking and I'm the densest person in this thread.

 

5 hours ago, michal.don said:

A few questions though: What is the latitude of the base? I can't see it anywhere in the report.

That's because it's in the last report, the one for STS-10. It's probably moved a little bit since that was taken before I had to reland there, but the approximate location is correct. I plan on attaching the base modules to the existing base if that's possible.

5 hours ago, michal.don said:

And, over 10k m/s of dV on your shuttle? What kind of engines is that? It almost seems like magic....

No magic, just lots of fuel. And good engines.

Edited March 13, 2018 by wrench-in-the-works

[sh1pman]

STS-3! Stock, 1.4.

 

Album: https://imgur.com/a/vzWyA

[biomecaman]

STS 5-8 https://biomecaman.imgur.com/

[Haruspex]

Question: are new MH parts considered as stock, modded, or separate category for this challenge?

[michal.don]

On 13. 3. 2018 at 5:03 PM, wrench-in-the-works said:

I plan on attaching the base modules to the existing base if that's possible.

Thanks - I asked because of the latitude criteria for qualifying for the "commander" badges. It's certainly fine to expand the outpost from the previous mision, as long as all the conditions are met.

 

On 13. 3. 2018 at 5:03 PM, wrench-in-the-works said:

No magic, just lots of fuel. And good engines.

Would you mind sharing the specs of the engines? 10k m/s of dV is quite a lot, even for very efficient engines. Thanks!

 

On 13. 3. 2018 at 8:27 PM, sh1pman said:

STS-3! Stock, 1.4.

Good job, that's a very good looking telescope  Great work with the MMUs, and a pinpoint landing, so a commader badge for you, congrats!

 

21 hours ago, biomecaman said:

STS 5-8

Despite the report is a bit too brief, it looks you assembled the station without much trouble. It certainly has a lot of RCS fuel, and I'm gessing the third mission brught some science probes to the station?

Congrats, here's your badge, the only thing missing for the commander level is landing at KSC - isn't it time to try that?

59 minutes ago, Haruspex said:

Question: are new MH parts considered as stock, modded, or separate category for this challenge?

Hmm, good question. I haven't given that much thought, but I think I'll consider entries with DLC parts "stock". But I welcome other opinions, and might reconsider. In the meantime, you're more than welcome to build a DLC part shuttle, the worst that can happen to you is a change of badge category later on

 

Michal.don

[Mr. Peabody]

2 hours ago, michal.don said:

3 hours ago, Haruspex said:

Question: are new MH parts considered as stock, modded, or separate category for this challenge?

Hmm, good question. I haven't given that much thought, but I think I'll consider entries with DLC parts "stock". But I welcome other opinions, and might reconsider. In the meantime, you're more than welcome to build a DLC part shuttle, the worst that can happen to you is a change of badge category later on

Most other heritage challenge moderators have or have said that they will split MH entries into another category or consider MH as a mod due to the fact that several of the new parts are pretty OP. Just letting you know. 

[sh1pman]

28 minutes ago, The Dunatian said:

Most other heritage challenge moderators have or have said that they will split MH entries into another category or consider MH as a mod due to the fact that several of the new parts are pretty OP. Just letting you know. 

MH contains some very useful quality-of-life parts that aren't OP at all, like engine plates, structural tubes, 5m fuel tanks and command pods. They are well balanced with stock, too. If MH engines are OP, then I think they specifically can be considered "modded", while everything else can pass as stock. 

 

[biomecaman]

I bought MH, but IMO we should consider MH a mod until the next update (1.5), my logic being two fold; #1 there is a chance the new parts' specs could change with the next update. #2 when this challenge started, there were no 5m tanks ect.

2 hours ago, sh1pman said:

MH contains some very useful quality-of-life parts that aren't OP at all, like engine plates, structural tubes, 5m fuel tanks and command pods. They are well balanced with stock, too. If MH engines are OP, then I think they specifically can be considered "modded", while everything else can pass as stock. 

 

I like the "engines only" i think it's a good compromise, though. there is no shame in a modded badge, lets be clear

 

5 hours ago, michal.don said:

Despite the report is a bit too brief, it looks you assembled the station without much trouble. It certainly has a lot of RCS fuel, and I'm gessing the third mission brught some science probes to the station?

Congrats, here's your badge, the only thing missing for the commander level is landing at KSC - isn't it time to try that?

Thank you! yes, sorry for being lazy i think i was in a rush since i did all of 5-8 in one day
I updated the Imgur album with better descriptions, and a poem on STS-7

I can't wait to upload some videos! I've been using an OSX machine for these missions but i will switch over to my Win 10 computer which has enough power to record video without killing my FPS, also now i am using an xbox controller so hopefully no more wilderness touchdowns :-/ i was afraid since the cargo shuttle (200 series, i.e. 2, 100 cargo bays) iwas using tends to stall and drop like a rock below 60 m/s. sry to disappoint u @michal.don you're right though, time to graduate to the big leagues! thanks for the badge. What's the difference between the commander and pilot lvl badges?
 

[hoioh]

1 hour ago, biomecaman said:

What's the difference between the commander and pilot lvl badges?

Color of the stars, commanders have landed their shuttles on a proper runway and in some cases added a little extra difficulty to the missions

[wrench-in-the-works]

3 hours ago, michal.don said:

Would you mind sharing the specs of the engines? 10k m/s of dV is quite a lot, even for very efficient engines. Thanks!

Sure, no problem. I never really thought about it much, since they're just default engines from the OPT/OPT legacy mod. (it's one of the two)

IIRC, the four wing-mounted engines have an ISP of 2000 in a vacuum with a maximum thrust of 600 kn, but the efficiency nosedives hard once you get into an atmosphere.

But, the two "main" engines at the back (the 3.75m ones) blow those ones out of the water, they have an ISP of 3000 across all altitudes, and produce 1500 kns of thrust each. So about as efficient as ion engines with none of the thrust issues. 

That's a lot of power!

In seriousness though, I do avoid using the rear engines, unless it's a real emergency, such as imminent unplanned lithobraking.