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

[Artienia]

  On 6/27/2021 at 9:30 PM, Rhomphaia said:

Well, between mission issues, problems with stem and the real world getting in the way, it took a little longer than I had hoped but STS-2a is complete.

Mission report

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Initially, the mission called for BACC boosters and an inertial upper stage to deliver the payload, however it was decided that the use of KD25k boosters would allow the orbiter to reach the phasing orbit without the need for an IUS

Booster separation

ET away

Heading to GTO, Orbiter now has solar panels to provide power for longer missions

Plotting phasing orbit, ap at stationary orbit altitude, period 2/3  of stationary

First sat deployed

Circularizing

Second sat in orbit

all 3 deployed

With a successful deployment the crew prepared for re-entry.  Simulations had shown that direct re-entry from stationary altitude was not recommended, but an entry from Periapsis altitude should be feasible,  these simulations did not account for the instabilities caused  by the additional fuel consumption such a maneuver would require, simulations run after launch showed that re-entry with less than 200m/s of OMS propellant would result in the orbiter going A/T at around 33 km.  A last minute decision was made to perform two aerobraking passes from stationary altitude

Shortly before the first pass the payload mount is jettisoned

First pass, the forward RCS thruster blocks are noted to be particularly vulnerable, and should be replaced with more robust linear ports for future missions.

Second pass

Following this pass an opportunity For a KSC landing was spotted and a maneuver was performed to take advantage of it, unfortunately we can now revise our previous estimate for instability upward, to 225m/s remaining propellant

Control regained

KSC sighted, Due to the earlier tumble the orbiter is somewhat short on speed

The OMS makes an heroic effort to gain some speed and altitude

It is just barely enough

 

 

 

 

 

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Looks great, no problems on my part!

  On 6/27/2021 at 9:21 PM, sturmhauke said:

I'd probably make a custom badge, honestly. Minmus is approximately the same difficulty as Mun, and Jool... isn't. (Or Sarnus, if you're using OPM). Maybe tooling around on Europa is similar to Minmus, but getting there is a completely different story. I think for overall missions parameters, the Jool series is a better fit.

I'm wrapping up my interviews and should be receiving an offer soon. On the one hand, I'll be busy with my new job (unless something terrible happens), but on the other hand I won't be doing endless practice drills and should have some time for badges and new missions and stuff.

Badge looks good! Sorry, I forgot to mention this earlier but I compiled some finished badges a while back. I'll send you the links.

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Well Minmus RSS could be Europe/Enceladus and Laythe RSS can be Titan. These badges are optional so i dont think the RSS folks would be set back compared to other people. You cant really add a minmus to RSS so saying that the blue surface is actually Enceladus is a good workaround i'd say

[sturmhauke]

Maybe if you want to use the Minmus mission parameters for Enceladus and the Laythe parameters for Titan, that could work. I might make new badges anyway. 

If anyone else wants to do new missions involving planet mods, post your ideas! We'll figure something out.

[Artienia]

  On 6/28/2021 at 3:38 AM, sturmhauke said:

Maybe if you want to use the Minmus mission parameters for Enceladus and the Laythe parameters for Titan, that could work. I might make new badges anyway. 

If anyone else wants to do new missions involving planet mods, post your ideas! We'll figure something out.

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My 2 Favourite planet mods are OPM and Extrasolar. Would be nice to have Extrasolar badges but not sure if thats even feasable 

[sturmhauke]

  On 6/28/2021 at 3:41 AM, Artienia said:

My 2 Favourite planet mods are OPM and Extrasolar. Would be nice to have Extrasolar badges but not sure if thats even feasable 

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Hmm. Sending a shuttle directly to another star system seems out of scope, even for KSP. But perhaps you could use a shuttle to construct an interstellar vehicle, and then take it along... that might be best left to another thread though.

[Young_Keddish]

forget this

I'm not good at this space shuttle thing

always ends up losing control in the middle of the flight

no matter what space shuttle it is

[QF9E]

  On 6/29/2021 at 2:27 AM, Young_Keddish said:

forget this

I'm not good at this space shuttle thing

always ends up losing control in the middle of the flight

no matter what space shuttle it is

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I get your frustration. It's not so easy to design and build a Space Shuttle that is stable both at re-entry speeds and at low speed for landing. Or is it on ascent that you are having problems? A Shuttle with asymmetric thrust (which both Space Shuttle and Buran had) is not the easiest to fly on ascent.

If you want to, I can try to give you some pointers in how to design, balance and fly your shuttle. Would you be willing to upload one of your Shuttle designs somewhere so that I can have a look?

[sturmhauke]

Shuttles combine the aerodynamics of a brick, inconvenience of off-axis thrust, relatively low payload fraction, and awkward staging into one slightly ridiculous package! But we love them anyway.

Don't feel bad if you get it wrong the first several dozen times. Shuttles are the hardest realistic-ish things to fly in this game. 

[Young_Keddish]

  On 6/29/2021 at 8:09 AM, QF9E said:

If you want to, I can try to give you some pointers in how to design, balance and fly your shuttle. Would you be willing to upload one of your Shuttle designs somewhere so that I can have a look?

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Ok

but it would be in a while

because I only take shots of a rocket that goes well

[QF9E]

  On 6/29/2021 at 8:03 PM, Young_Keddish said:

Ok

but it would be in a while

because I only take shots of a rocket that goes well

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Ok, no problem. Good luck improving your shuttle design!

[Autochrome]

Well, I have successfully redone the STS 2b Mission after 3 weeks, although it was very rough. I lifted off from the KSC and made my way to orbit. I then met up with the Fuel Pod and retrieved it into the payload bay, without using anything in the Fuel Pod. I then reentered the atmosphere, although the fuel pod glitched many times, and spun out of control. I then came over the KSC Runway and smacked into it, somehow not exploding, and then rolled to a stop on the runway, technically 'landing' on the runway.

Here is my proof:

https://imgur.com/a/9C85ciK

With this mission done, I am applying for the STS 2b Commander Stock Badge.

[Artienia]

  On 7/2/2021 at 4:19 PM, Austin_Kerman said:

Well, I have successfully redone the STS 2b Mission after 3 weeks, although it was very rough. I lifted off from the KSC and made my way to orbit. I then met up with the Fuel Pod and retrieved it into the payload bay, without using anything in the Fuel Pod. I then reentered the atmosphere, although the fuel pod glitched many times, and spun out of control. I then came over the KSC Runway and smacked into it, somehow not exploding, and then rolled to a stop on the runway, technically 'landing' on the runway.

Here is my proof:

https://imgur.com/a/9C85ciK

With this mission done, I am applying for the STS 2b Commander Stock Badge.

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Very Kerbal Landing. Before i award you your badge, could you tell or show me the parts used in the Booster and the Main tank? They look modded to me 

[Autochrome]

  On 7/2/2021 at 4:25 PM, Artienia said:

Very Kerbal Landing. Before i award you your badge, could you tell or show me the parts used in the Booster and the Main tank? They look modded to me 

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Sure. (I deleted the fairing for the Main Tank)

https://imgur.com/a/96J7eD5

[Artienia]

  On 7/2/2021 at 4:28 PM, Austin_Kerman said:

Sure. (I deleted the fairing for the Main Tank)

https://imgur.com/a/96J7eD5

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Oh so it was a fairing! Well looks good to me!

Your badge, commander.

Hope we get to see more of your submissions and remember to Fly Safe!

[Autochrome]

  On 7/2/2021 at 4:30 PM, Artienia said:

Oh so it was a fairing! Well looks good to me!

Your badge, commander.

Hope we get to see more of your submissions and remember to Fly Safe!

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Thanks! I'll make sure to get started on the STS 3 Redo mission.

Edited March 19, 2022 by Austin_Kerman
I never did this.

[Fulgora]

  On 7/2/2021 at 4:19 PM, Austin_Kerman said:

Well, I have successfully redone the STS 2b Mission after 3 weeks, although it was very rough. I lifted off from the KSC and made my way to orbit. I then met up with the Fuel Pod and retrieved it into the payload bay, without using anything in the Fuel Pod. I then reentered the atmosphere, although the fuel pod glitched many times, and spun out of control. I then came over the KSC Runway and smacked into it, somehow not exploding, and then rolled to a stop on the runway, technically 'landing' on the runway.

Here is my proof:

https://imgur.com/a/9C85ciK

With this mission done, I am applying for the STS 2b Commander Stock Badge.

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If you add auto-struts in orbit to the part(s) that are the furthest from the docking port in the cargobay you can stop the glitching.

This might prove useful with the asteroid landing as those potatoes also have a tendency to wobble all over the place.

[Young_Keddish]

Hello

Today I announce that I will stop playing KSP for a while, because my KSP fails from time to time because of my PC that does not support it, but I will continue in the forum and when I can play again I will send my space shuttle

[moar ssto]

  On 6/27/2021 at 1:25 PM, Entropian said:

Thanks!  As far as I can see, Minmus doesn't really have a RSS equivalent; no RSS body has the kind of flats that Minmus has.  Some RSS bodies, such as Europa and Enceladus, have the icy surface, but none of them really have the Minmus theme of mint and sparkle.

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The flattest body, exluding some very flat patches on earth, is probably Titan.It's still not perfectly flat as minmus, but overall comparable to the landcape near ksc. This plus it's very dense atmo and low gravity makes getting airborne from it really easy. The next flattest body is probably triton, comparable in flatness to some parts of eeloo, ie it is smooth enough to make getting a long and high airborne on a wheeled vehicle very hard, but not smooth enough to safely reach very high speeds. Some of the small saturnian and uranian moons are also quite flat.(the next flattest might be Rhea). Europa and Eceladus are no where near flat as I remembered though. 

[Artienia]

Just a disclaimer to say that this challange is still open! We haven't shut down yet

[sturmhauke]

I'm still here too, although I haven't been active as much. Work's gonna be busy the next couple of weeks. I did finally update my install to 1.12 though, along with most of my favorite mods, so there's that.

[Entropian]

After much blood, sweat, and overheating computer parts, I present to you the Mars megamission I thought implausible:

I filmed this to be like a cinematic; if there's more details needed I can provide them.

[Artienia]

  On 8/21/2021 at 7:44 PM, Entropian said:

After much blood, sweat, and overheating computer parts, I present to you the Mars megamission I thought implausible:

I filmed this to be like a cinematic; if there's more details needed I can provide them.

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These are truly amazing to watch. Is there even a badge we haven't awarded to you yet?

[Entropian]

  On 8/23/2021 at 6:56 PM, Artienia said:

These are truly amazing to watch.

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Thank you!

  On 8/23/2021 at 6:56 PM, Artienia said:

Is there even a badge we haven't awarded to you yet?

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I'm working on that...

[Entropian]

Quick check: can I substitute Titan for Laythe for Jool STS-1?  Thanks.

[sturmhauke]

You are cleared for takeoff.

[sturmhauke]

All right, I believe I'm finally fully caught up on the thread. Thanks for your help so far, @Artienia; if you don't mind sticking around a while so I can dive into some new missions, that'd be great.

I caught a few reports that fell through the cracks; my apologies. I'll address those now.

First off is none other than our assistant moderator! I don't mind that you awarded yourself the badges, but let's make it extra-official, shall we?

 

 

Next is @Bioman222, with a traditional STS which is always appreciated. 

 

You are certified for STS-1a. However, for 1b we need to see a screenshot of the fuel pod, with its resources full and orbital parameters visible. For example: 

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You don't need to fly the entire mission again, assuming you still have a save with the fuel pod in orbit. The screenshot will be enough. In the meantime, here is your STS-1a badge. Congratulations, Commander!

 

Now here's @RoninFrog with... a flying rover?

I appreciate the kerbalness of this submission, but unfortunately it does not meet the standards of the Shuttle Challenge series. Specifically, your orbiter needs wings (or a lifting body if you're using FAR). I might be talked into a rover with a command chair and a kerbal's paraglider, but parachuting down most of the way followed by VTOL engines is not allowed. Just because you also had a forward vector doesn't mean it was truly a horizontal landing.