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Shuttle Challenge v6 - The STS thread [Stock and Mod Friendly] - ANNOUNCEMENT: v7 IS LIVE!

sturmhauke
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Entropian

Entropian

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Posted
1 hour ago, sturmhauke said:

I'm interested in seeing how insane your launch vehicle will be to get you to the Moon though...

Yeah, so far it looks like this:

Massive%20rocket.PNG?dl=1

Yes, those are 5 meter fuel tanks and Mammoths.  The part count is in the 1500s so far...  I might possibly be going crazy.  Any advice for part count reduction? :D

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Space Nerd

Space Nerd

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24 minutes ago, Entropian said:

Yeah, so far it looks like this:

Massive%20rocket.PNG?dl=1

Yes, those are 5 meter fuel tanks and Mammoths.  The part count is in the 1500s so far...  I might possibly be going crazy.  Any advice for part count reduction? :D

The director in @Quasar's mission report would be proud of this.

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KingDominoIII

KingDominoIII

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14 hours ago, sturmhauke said:

STS-2a and -2b: Your comsat orbits look a little off - slightly eccentric and not spaced 60 degrees apart. If they have maneuvering fuel remaining you can adjust and submit a new screenshot for just that portion. The fuel pod recovery looks good though.

iS5yWtc.png

Sorry about that, maneuvered them a bit.

7dZTYTl.png

Thanks for the shoutout!

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sturmhauke

sturmhauke

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1 hour ago, KingDominoIII said:

Thanks for the shoutout!

No problem, I need to do more Lunex missions still.

Now as for your comsat network... I know it's super nitpicky and annoying, and all of us who have done the misson have been there, but I can still see three distinct orbits for your three satellites. I suspect they will drift out of alignment after only a few hundred days. (Does Kerbin have months? I dunno.)

I'll tell you what. Timewarp ahead a year, then compare the satellite positions. If they're within a couple degrees of their current positions, I'll issue the Commander badge. If not, and you don't want to bother realigning again, you can take the Pilot badge (for which the tolerances are less strict).

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KingDominoIII

KingDominoIII

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24 minutes ago, sturmhauke said:

No problem, I need to do more Lunex missions still.

Now as for your comsat network... I know it's super nitpicky and annoying, and all of us who have done the misson have been there, but I can still see three distinct orbits for your three satellites. I suspect they will drift out of alignment after only a few hundred days. (Does Kerbin have months? I dunno.)

I'll tell you what. Timewarp ahead a year, then compare the satellite positions. If they're within a couple degrees of their current positions, I'll issue the Commander badge. If not, and you don't want to bother realigning again, you can take the Pilot badge (for which the tolerances are less strict).

Taking a second look, I see what you mean. Made some adjustments:

J5v52Ci.png

Here's the formation after 400 days:

ufaavYU.png

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pTrevTrevs

pTrevTrevs

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Well, I've got a shuttle I've started using in my career save. Didn't design it with this challenge in mind but I think the last mission I flew fits the profile for STS-1A. Relevant parts mods include TAC Life Support, Conformal Decals, Kerbal Engineer, Near Future (only used on the payload), and Modular Launch Pads (irrelevant after launch). Technically this is STS-2 in my own save, but the first flight probably doesn't qualify since it landed short of the runway.

lZGEuLz.png

The orbiter used on this flight is OV-101 Pathfinder, carrying a crew of two Kerbals for a two day flight. STS-2 is the second R&D flight for the shuttle and the first mission to carry an operational payload. Its primary objective include the testing of the Shuttle Robotic Manipulator Arm, deployment of the QBESAT-DataTracker 1, and the operation of several scientific instruments mounted on a pallet in the shuttle's payload bay. Like all planned R&D Shuttle missions the targeted landing site is the Kojave Sands Air Base from KerbinSide.

rujazjv.png

Launch pad is LC-39A from Tundra Space Center. Literally a few hundred meters north of the stock KSC launch pad.

wLsbMpY.png

I'm using StageRecovery to recover the solid rocket boosters after their jettison.

wr41FZN.png

The external tank, of course, is not reusable, and burns up in Kerbin's atmosphere after the shuttle reaches orbit.

7F38RJE.png

The payload includes the Shuttle Robotic Manipulator Arm, a scientific instrument carrier pallet, and a small satellite held inside a protective housing to the rear. The SRMA test involves grappling the QBESAT and extracting it from its storage tube.

maHA5Xb.png

fln1ric.png

XxcmY6o.png

The satellite itself uses several Near Future parts, and the scientific instrument carrier has a Near Future capacitor and a set of solar panels, but none of them proved influential to the mission.

51mw8qn.png

I'm also using the Trajectories mod to navigate during deorbit and reentry.

RVbV9dL.png

DrJbt8L.png

H33opID.png

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sturmhauke

sturmhauke

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22 hours ago, KingDominoIII said:

Taking a second look, I see what you mean. Made some adjustments:

Let's see... spacing looks good, circular orbits look good. However, and I don't know why I didn't notice this before, they are way in way too low of orbits to be geostationary. The altitude looks to be around a couple hundred km, but geostationary is much higher at 2 863.33 km for a perfectly circular, equatorial orbit. More importantly, the orbital period should be 5:59:9.425, as it's easier to fine-tune the period than it is to get the apoapsis and periapsis both exactly right. This will mean the satellite will wobble back and forth slightly, but that's fine as long as it stays close to the same point on the ground over a long period. More info here: https://wiki.kerbalspaceprogram.com/wiki/KEO

I'm sorry, but I cannot issue a badge unless you can get the satellites at least relatively close to geostationary orbits. If they have enough delta-V remaining to boost themselves, that's fine, otherwise you will need to redo the mission.

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KingDominoIII

KingDominoIII

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Posted (edited)
4 minutes ago, sturmhauke said:

<snip>

Ah, I thought it was just 350km+. What's the point of the higher distance for the commander badge if both the pilot and commander badges require an altitude of 2.9Mm anyway?

Edited by KingDominoIII
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sturmhauke

sturmhauke

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16 minutes ago, KingDominoIII said:

Ah, I thought it was just 350km+. What's the point of the higher distance for the commander badge if both the pilot and commander badges require an altitude of 2.9Mm anyway?

To be honest, I'm not sure. Perhaps to demonstrate the capabilities of the shuttle itself. I have made some edits, but the majority of all the mission requirements were written by others in previous versions of the challenge.

 

21 hours ago, KingDominoIII said:

I decided to try STS-3 and STS-4/4R. 

https://imgur.com/gallery/CKG6w0s

https://imgur.com/gallery/cLvO7Ed

STS-3: Telescope looks good, and I like your backpack-style MMUs.

RLAcd9v.png

 

STS-4/4R: Unfortunately for our brave kerbonauts, sometimes there are just mysterious space cubes waiting to rip a wing off and there's really nothing to do but mount a rescue. But the rescue itself went well, good work there.

vnayumf.png

 

2 hours ago, KingDominoIII said:

Does a robotic arm count as a scientific module for STS-5-8?

Not by itself, no. It's not strictly defined, but generally it would be a lab and/or experiment package. A robotic arm is great for moving stuff around, but the module has to also do something with scientific value.

Edited by sturmhauke
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sturmhauke

sturmhauke

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9 hours ago, pTrevTrevs said:

Well, I've got a shuttle I've started using in my career save. Didn't design it with this challenge in mind but I think the last mission I flew fits the profile for STS-1A. Relevant parts mods include TAC Life Support, Conformal Decals, Kerbal Engineer, Near Future (only used on the payload), and Modular Launch Pads (irrelevant after launch). Technically this is STS-2 in my own save, but the first flight probably doesn't qualify since it landed short of the runway.

 

Ah, you came, welcome! That is a nice replica shuttle! I'm curious, what are those blocky parts you used to build the OMS pods, I don't recognize those. For the rest, your satellite is technically not part of the STS-1a requirements, and the launch pads and decals are essentially cosmetic. Your shuttle appears to be stock otherwise.

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KingDominoIII

KingDominoIII

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51 minutes ago, sturmhauke said:

Ah, you came, welcome! That is a nice replica shuttle! I'm curious, what are those blocky parts you used to build the OMS pods, I don't recognize those. For the rest, your satellite is technically not part of the STS-1a requirements, and the launch pads and decals are essentially cosmetic. Your shuttle appears to be stock otherwise.

Looks like Probodobodyne RoveMates. I use them for square things all the time, bit cleaner than trusses or panels.

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pTrevTrevs

pTrevTrevs

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12 hours ago, sturmhauke said:

Ah, you came, welcome! That is a nice replica shuttle! I'm curious, what are those blocky parts you used to build the OMS pods, I don't recognize those. For the rest, your satellite is technically not part of the STS-1a requirements, and the launch pads and decals are essentially cosmetic. Your shuttle appears to be stock otherwise.

Yep, those are the RoveMate probe cores; they’re a really great part for all kinds of aesthetic uses, especially now that they have silver and gold mylar versions.

I do have TAC Life Support hardware hidden inside the shuttle cockpit, but like I said, they don’t really affect the function of the shuttle.

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sturmhauke

sturmhauke

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3 hours ago, pTrevTrevs said:

Yep, those are the RoveMate probe cores; they’re a really great part for all kinds of aesthetic uses, especially now that they have silver and gold mylar versions.

I do have TAC Life Support hardware hidden inside the shuttle cockpit, but like I said, they don’t really affect the function of the shuttle.

Right, I see it now. I don't know that I've ever used those in my stuff. Your shuttle looks good, and here's to more missions! Oh and a badge, of course:

AX2Tsan.png

 

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pTrevTrevs

pTrevTrevs

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Before Pathfinder made its first flight, I conducted an Approach and Landing Test with a prototype orbiter. I think it fits the profile for STS-1T too.

SkKNO1e.png

MbmfkmR.png

4eSAiY3.png

ZebnuLD.png

The only relevant difference between this orbiter and the spaceworthy ones is that this one has no fuel in its tanks. Orbiters preparing reentry will dump their unused OMS fuel before atmospheric contact, but will retain whatever RCS monopropellant is left in the fore tanks, while the ALT orbiter flies its tests entirely dry.

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pTrevTrevs

pTrevTrevs

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37 minutes ago, sturmhauke said:

@pTrevTrevs, your carrier airplane looks just as good as your orbiter. The only question I have is whether you released the orbiter for the glide test at 5 km or above. Other than that, everything looks to be in order.

To be honest I don’t remember, this was a few weeks ago. I’m pretty sure it was over 5000 meters though since I had a few minutes of free flight time from separation to touchdown.

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sturmhauke

sturmhauke

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5 hours ago, pTrevTrevs said:

To be honest I don’t remember, this was a few weeks ago. I’m pretty sure it was over 5000 meters though since I had a few minutes of free flight time from separation to touchdown.

Well I don't see any reason to doubt that, considering we already know the orbiter has successfully returned from orbit. Here is your new Test Pilot badge:

q8ndB1J.png

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KingDominoIII

KingDominoIII

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Posted (edited)

https://imgur.com/gallery/B6MIz8s

I captured an asteroid. The gear didn't blow up- I just forgot to reattach it. My returning Duna 1 mission has the same issue, as does the Duna 2 mission that I launched during the transfer window. The Duna 1 mission can be completed, just gotta be careful landing it, but I had to rescue the Duna 2 mission with another rocket. 

Landing next to the runway doesn't count for commander, right? My Duna shuttle only has drogues, and I need all the room I can get to slow down. 

Edited by KingDominoIII
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