The Dream Is Alive: Recreating the Space Shuttle Program

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Soyuz TM-6 Druzhba Mission Report

Quick Summary:

Crew: Up: Kirill Giorgadze (CDR), Maksim Yakolev (FE), Tamara Popov (RC); Down: Filipp Sokolovsky (CDR), Anastasiya Chayka (FE), Anna Ignatova (RC)

Backup Crew: Anna Krupin (CDR), Dmitri Maisuradze (FE), Modest Nikolaev (RC)

Launch: May 15, 1987 0:20:34 from Site 33 at Woomerang Cosmodrome

Docking: May 16, 1987 2:39:46 at Kvant's aft port

Undocking: May 20, 1987 0:11:30

Landing: May 20, 1987 1:34:30 in the Indian Ocean

Mission Duration: 5d1h13m56s (spacecraft), 216d4h15m09s (crew)

Narrative Summary:

The fourth long-duration Svoboda crew lifted off onboard Soyuz TM-6 into the predawn darkness on May 15, 1987. The spacecraft callsign was Druzhba (Friendship), in recognition of the upcoming join SSSR-USA docking mission that would take place during their stay on Svoboda.

The first stage underperformed, but two burns with the second stage inserted the spacecraft into an 82x84km orbit inclined 1.0 degrees from that of Svoboda. The crew completed a burn at 0:44 to zero out their inclination with respect to Svoboda, and a second at 1:21 to raise the orbit to 82x155km. During the burn the forward monoproplleant tank in the Soyuz service module began leaking. More than half of the spacecraft's fuel was lost to space; mission managers ordered the rendezvous with Svoboda to go ahead, but began pondering contingencies. If the second tank also sprang a leak, the spacecraft would not be able to return to Kerbin on its own.

After deliberations, the Markosmos leadership decided to proceed with docking, then have the outgoing crew return to Kerbin on Soyuz TM-6. The Soyuz TM-7 launch would be moved up, while the Soyuz TM-5 capsule would remain at the station slightly beyond its certified life. Due to the riskier nature of these missions, the Interkosmos cosmonaut planned for Soyuz TM-7 would be bumped to the next mission, with cascading effect.

At 1:51 on May 16, the crew completed a burn to set up a 1.4 km pass by Svoboda at a Delta v of 17.6 m/s one orbit later. The crew commenced the terminal rendezvous sequence at 2:28. Soyuz TM-6 docked to Kvant's aft port at 2:39:46, moments after orbital sunset. Soon thereafter they opened the hatches and joined Sokolovsky, Chayka, and Ignatova aboard Svoboda for an abbreviated few days of joint operations.

On May 20 the EO-3 crew of Sokolovsky, Chayka, and Ignatova bid farewell to their replacements Giorgadze, Yakolev, and Popov and boarded the malfunctioning Soyuz TM-6 spacecraft for their ride home. They undocked at 0:11:30, backed away from Svoboda, and completed the deorbit burn at 1:20. Two minutes later the reaction wheels in the command module computer unit failed. The three modules separated at 1:26:46, entry interface occurred at 1:28:30, and splashed down at 1:34:30 in the Indian Ocean at 13d40m21s N, 134d49m21s E.

[KSPMaster89]

is there a craft file ? your shuttles are awesome 

 

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On 8/3/2021 at 9:02 AM, KSPMaster89 said:

is there a craft file ? your shuttles are awesome 

 

Thanks!

I do not have a publicly-available craft file, mostly because a key part of the look are custom decals and I'm not sure how to deal with that. The shuttle is also pretty finicky to fly.

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STS-72B Discovery Mission Report

Quick Summary:

Crew: Ronnie Queen (CDR), Rahman Danniel (PLT), James Hasenkamp (MS1), Carsten Lupo (MS2), Lionel Mollown (PS1), Emma Parish (PS2)

Payload: GPS II-4, GPS II-5, GPS II-6 navigation satellites

Payload Mass: 7,998 kg

Launch: May 27, 1987 1:13:49 from SLC-6 at Dessert Air Force Base

Mission Duration: 4d5h58m10s

Landing: May 32, 1987 1:11:59 at Dessert Air Force Base

Statistics & Milestones: 55th Space Shuttle mission; 13th flight of Discovery; 5th launch from and 4th landing at Dessert Air Force Base; 12th dedicated DOD mission, and second to be unclassified.

Narrative Summary:

Discovery lifted off on the first launch opportunity on May 27, 1987, to place its GPS satellite payloads into GPS Plane C. It was placed into an initial 23x214 km orbit. The OMS burn at MET 17m placed it into a 72x214 km orbit, inclination 66.8 degrees, period 35m41s.

At MET 4h26m the crew performed an OMS burn to raise the orbit to 102x214km, and a second at 4h44m to circularize the orbit to 97x106km, period 32m44s.

At MET 1d4h58m14s, one of the reaction wheels aboard GPS II-4 failed, but as this satellite was in the forward position in the payload bay, no on-orbit repair was possible. At MET 1d5h21m48s GPS II-4 was deployed from the payload bay. The first PAM burn one orbit later put the payload onto a 105x1,469km transfer orbit. The second PAM burn and two RCS burns placed the satellite in its operational 1,581x1,583km orbit, period 2h59m35s.

GPS II-5 was deployed from the payload bay at MET 2d4h17m43s. The first PAM burn half an orbit later placed the satellite onto a 97x1,510km transfer orbit. The second PAM burn and one RCS burn placed the satellite into a near-operational 1,506x1,582km orbit, but due to miscalculations the satellite was in the wrong position with respect to GPS II-4, and so it was left to drift until the relative phase angle reached an acceptable value.

GPS II-6 was deployed from the payload bay at MET 3d4h47m44s. The first PAM burn one orbit later placed it into a 98x1,506km transfer orbit. Like GPS II-5, the angle with respect to GPS II-4 upon insertion into near-semi-synchronous orbit was incorrect and it was left to drift until it reached the correct angle.

The crew conducted the deorbit burn at MET 4d5h39m, but overshot slightly and lowered the periapsis to -9 km. Entry interface occurred at MET 4d5h45m10s. Discovery made a smooth touchdown at Dessert AFB at MET 4d5h58m10s. The mission went very smoothly overall, with no malfunctions of the orbiter itself.

Next Up: Atlantis is currently standing ready on Launch Pad 39A. Launch on Mission STS-71C, carrying three commsats and the first Korean and Turkish astronauts, is scheduled for May 36.

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STS-71C Atlantis Mission Report

Quick Summary:

Crew: Martha Cummins (CDR), Victoria Rowbottom (PLT), Anna Protz (MS1), Ridley Warren (MS2), Jasmine Nowell (MS3), Kyung-Hee Min, South Korea (PS1), Gökhan Yıldırım, Turkey (PS2)

Backup Crew: Yeong-Gi Jeong, South Korea (PS1), Ata Dilşad, Turkey (PS2)

Payload: Kerbstar 10 commsat, KoreaSat 1 commsat, Turksat 1 commsat, 8 GAS Canisters

Payload Mass: 8,022 kg

Launch: June 1, 1987 4:09:00 from Pad 39A at KSC

Mission Duration: 5d0h34m46s

Landing: June 6, 1987 4:43:46 at KSC

Statistics & Milestones: 56th Space Shuttle mission; 8th flight of Atlantis; 29th landing at KSC. Payload specialists Kyung-Hee Min and Gökhan Yıldırım became the first kerbals from South Korea and Turkey, respectively, to fly in space.

Narrative Summary:

After a one-day delay due to rain, Atlantis lifted off just before dawn on June 1, 1987, and, after a smooth ascent, was placed into a 44x104km orbit; this was perhaps the most perfectly targeted ascent of the Space Shuttle Program to date. The OMS burn at MET 14m inserted Atlantis into a 72x104km orbit, inclination 0.4 degrees, period 31m49s. At MET 2h03m46s the motor to open the #6 GAS Canister in the payload bay (an experiment from Aperture Laboratories and the University of Colorado) failed, preventing the experiment from functioning. It was allocated a flight slot on an upcoming shuttle mission to redo the experiment.

At MET 5h16m the crew completed a very brief OMS burn to lower the orbit to 72x101km, and a second longer burn at MET 5h32m to circularize the orbit at 100x103km, period 32m44s. The crew spent the remainder of the day activating the seven working GAS Canisters in the payload bay.

At MET 1d4h01m49s, the #1 battery in the shuttle aft compartment short-circuited. Kerbstar 10 was deployed from the payload bay at MET 1d5h01m50s. The first PAM burn one orbit later placed the satellite into a 100x2,887km transfer orbit. At MET 2d1h03m47s, the #2 battery in the shuttle aft compartment also short-circuited. At MET 2d3h56m47s, the #15 oxidizer tank in the orbiter aft compartment began leaking. Kerbstar 10 reached its operational orbit just before crew wake-up for FD4.

KoreaSat 1 was deployed from the payload bay at MET 2d5h28m24s. After one PAM burn the payload was in a 101x2,880km transfer orbit. At MET 3d1h29m54s, the battery in the Turksat 1 probe core short-circuited; this was not on-orbit repairable. KoreaSat 1 reached its operational orbit just after the crew awoke on FD5.

At MET 3d4h16m44s, the #6 oxidizer tank in the orbiter aft compartment began leaking. Turksat 1 was deployed from the payload bay at MET 4d0h29m03s. The first PAM burn placed the payload into a 102x2,875km orbit. At MET 4d1h06m44s the #14 oxidizer tank began leaking. At MET 4d2h31m54s, the deployment motor on the #4 GAS Canister failed. Turksat 1 reached its operational orbit early on FD6.

At MET 4d4h30m12s the battery in the orbiter flight deck failed. The crew completed the deorbit burn at MET 5d0h15m. Entry interface occurred at MET 5d0h21m30s. Cummins and Rowbottom brought Atlantis in for a hard landing at KSC, with wheel stop at MET 5d0h34m46s.

Next Up: Columbia is scheduled to lift off on July 3 on the Kerbin Observations Mission.

In Other News: The Kerbal States Congress has approved the construction of a fifth operational Space Shuttle orbiter in order to meet the flight rates necessary to support the Space Station Liberty program and projected increased demand for flights in the 1990s. To be constructed largely from flight spares created during the construction of Discovery and Atlantis, the new orbiter, OV-105, could be delivered to KSC as early as mid-1989.