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

[QF9E]

I don't have time to edit a video now, but I wanted to share this with you anyway: I succeeded in building a space station out of 4 component parts using nothing but solid rocket motors, as per the SRS-5 to -8 missions. Here's a screenshot of me adding the final piece:

Adding the final piece to my space station. Left to right: Solid Rocket Shuttle SRS-8, science module, hab module, second science module, service module

Edited April 11, 2021 by QF9E

[minerbat]

I am going to livestream this challenge on my Twitch channel:

Each Thursday from 16:30 to 19:00 GMT until i'm either done with it or bored with it.

Also, i didn't know pasting your Twitch channel in one of these posts makes it all fancy

[minerbat]

i streamed STS-1. does landing just in front of the runway and using the speed and some RCS and then coming to standstil with only the front part of the craft on the grassy area of the runway count as a runway landing?

[Artienia]

Glad to see the old challange is revived again, will try to submit my first couple runs next week!

[dozerman]

Demo-3 seems to have a technical pass. I'll take it if I can get an acceptance and work my way on to the later challenges quickly. Video is minimally edited. May have to skip a bit.

 

Completely stock, BTW. Not by choice, though.

 

Edited April 20, 2021 by dozerman

[QF9E]

@sturmhauke I've finally gotten around to editing my space station mission using the solid rocket shuttle. Would you please take a look, as this one should qualify for the one badge I do not already have: the fully stock space station mission badge at the commander level?

I've split the footage into two separate videos: one short one, which is a side-by-side montage of the significant events of all 4 flights, and a longer one detailing the entire STS-7 flight. I chose STS-7 purely because I have the cleanest video of that mission. I did not do detailed videos for every flight, as these flights are so similar.

 

 

[Artienia]

Kerbin STS-1a Mission, "Breeze"

Hello everyone, this is my first submission for the v6 challange, with my newest shuttle "Breeze". The spacecraft itself is a Mk2-bodied plane, equipped with dual Nerv engines. While the spaceplane itself isn't the most creative, the shuttle itself - in my opinion - is. The shuttle is a horizontally launched 2 staged rocket, launched via the runway, then pitched into vertical after taking off (Yes this works!). Onwards to STS-1b!

The full album is can be found by clicking here.

No mods or cheats were used that would give an advantage to the mission. 

[sturmhauke]

Hi everyone, sorry for being away. Had a lot of stuff going on out here in meatspace lately. I'm going to start getting caught up on space space.

[QF9E]

"There will be no foolish maneuvers or silly parking orbits on this flight" - Professor Snape von Kerman

I completed the MUN SRS-1 mission with my Solid Rocket Shuttle. To keep the required number of solid rocket motor stages to a minimum, I flew a highly simplified trajectory:

1. Launch straight up from the KSC at exactly the right time to get on a collision course with the Mun
2. Land on the Mun immediately using a combination of a braking burn and a suicide landing burn
3. Launch more or less straight up from the Mun (this requires a landing on the Mun as far to the right of the Munar disk as seen from Kerbin as possible) to get on a Kerbin return trajectory
4. Land on the KSC runway

In other words, straight up, straight down to the Munar surface, straight back home and land on the KSC runway. No parking orbits, no midcourse correction burns, no maneuver planning of any kind.

While the advantage of doing it this way is obvious - a rocket that is simpler to build and operate - it has a major disadvantage as well: you cannot use the maneuver planner at all, and each burn has to be done at the exact right time. The only way to determine the correct launch window is to just try, see what the result will be, reload if necessary and try again at a different time, until you get it right. For this reason, this flight took the longest time to complete.

This will be the final flight of my Solid Rocket Shuttle. While it has been fun figuring out how to fly it, the process has been exhausting as well, so I will end it here.

[minerbat]

i will livestream this challenge for the second time (hopefully without lag now):

 

[minerbat]

ok, does "landing" in the water but being totally intact count as a "landing"?

[Artienia]

3 hours ago, minerbat said:

ok, does "landing" in the water but being totally intact count as a "landing"?

If you can walk away from a landing, it's a good landing. If you can use the airplane the next day, it's an outstanding landing.

Edited May 6, 2021 by Artienia

[minerbat]

am i allowed to send a new part to a shuttle that is already in orbit using a capsule so i can attach it using the EVA attachment system?

[xub313]

It's about time I took a crack at this challenge. I love building shuttles in KSP. Here's my submission for STS-1 a and b. I call it the delta shuttle. The big triangular wings are my solution to deorbiting the 40 ton probe without impacting like a meteor when the time comes for that.

The only mods I have installed are Distant Object Enhancement and Navball Docking Alignment Indicator.

Edited May 15, 2021 by xub313

[Fulgora]

19 hours ago, xub313 said:

It's about time I took a crack at this challenge. I love building shuttles in KSP. Here's my submission for STS-1 a and b. I call it the delta shuttle. The big triangular wings are my solution to deorbiting the 40 ton probe without impacting like a meteor when the time comes for that.

You can also use the Big-S wings, even though they are smaller they do provide a lot of lift - I got not only the 40t pod down on those but also a 15t asteroid

The Big-S benefit  (pun intended ) is that they massively reduce the part-count which helps your framerates.

 

Here is my (so far very successful) wing profile - I used the same orbiter / launch stack for all of my missions so far:

Spoiler

 

[xub313]

9 hours ago, Fulgora said:

You can also use the Big-S wings, even though they are smaller they do provide a lot of lift - I got not only the 40t pod down on those but also a 15t asteroid

The Big-S benefit  (pun intended ) is that they massively reduce the part-count which helps your framerates.

I was using the big-s wings originally and they provide a lot of lift, but it just wasn't enough for me. I saw the videos of your shuttle, so I I'm certain it's possible. Maybe it has more to do with my piloting skill; I couldn't land the extra 40 tons without some suicide maneuver like stalling out just before touchdown.  The delta shuttle has about twice the total wing area and allows me to glide much farther than before. Also, I think the big ol' delta wings look cool.  

[sturmhauke]

Hi shuttle fans, sorry I still haven't been available to review challenges. I've been busy looking for a new job, which as a senior level software developer requires a lot of studying and code tests. Next week is going to be very busy, which hopefully will result in at least one job offer. I also had my 2nd COVID vaccine shot (Moderna) on Wednesday, and it put me largely out of commission for a couple of days. Hopefully when things have settled a bit I can get back to it.

[Artienia]

14 hours ago, sturmhauke said:

Hi shuttle fans, sorry I still haven't been available to review challenges. I've been busy looking for a new job, which as a senior level software developer requires a lot of studying and code tests. Next week is going to be very busy, which hopefully will result in at least one job offer. I also had my 2nd COVID vaccine shot (Moderna) on Wednesday, and it put me largely out of commission for a couple of days. Hopefully when things have settled a bit I can get back to it.

Do you plan to get an assistant of sorts? As far as i remember most of the shuttle challanges had a second assistant who had the authority aswell

[sturmhauke]

I hadn't thought about it, but it's a good idea. Are you volunteering? 

[Artienia]

On 5/18/2021 at 4:50 PM, sturmhauke said:

I hadn't thought about it, but it's a good idea. Are you volunteering? 

I'm active 24/7 so i'd love to do that, i participated in the previous challanges aswell so i know the rules in practice 

[sturmhauke]

OK! How about you grab one and PM me, and I'll look it over. Thanks for the help!

[sturmhauke]

@Artienia has been approved as an assistant challenge moderator! I'll update the thread title a little later, as I have to run off now. They've been involved as a shuttle designer for several versions I believe, so feel free to ask questions.

[Artienia]

On 4/19/2021 at 5:35 AM, dozerman said:

Demo-3 seems to have a technical pass. I'll take it if I can get an acceptance and work my way on to the later challenges quickly. Video is minimally edited. May have to skip a bit.

 

Completely stock, BTW. Not by choice, though.

As assistant challange moderator, i will be reviewing all submissions that have not been awarded yet. 

Youu're shuttle itself is certainly kerbal ,i can't imagine a better way of making a space shuttle then just plopping it ontop of a rocket. Hopefully those kerbals didn't feel that take-off spin

 

Aside that i found the ion engine itself very interesting (It's why i chose this as first). Powering a shuttle with ion engines is crazy enough, let alone placing it sideways.

As you have successfully completed a full orbit but fell short of the  runway (Kerbals needs beach time too don't they?) I'm proud to award you my first badge, the STS-1a Kerbin Stock Pilot badge!

 I'll be reviewing rest of the shuttles shorty aswell, so stay tuned

 

 

[Artienia]

On 3/31/2021 at 9:20 AM, Wojjy said:

I managed to complete the STS-5-8 challenge by assembling a space station in 4 launches at 350km. I decided to switch from the skylon to a much simpler vertically-launched spaceplane for this challenge because launching 4 of the  skylons was quite a hassle. My orbital rendez-vous skills aren't great, so getting an encounter with the station took a whole 5 burns once, but I got it eventually xD. The spaceplane also ended up being a bit difficult to pilot because, despite being relatively stable, it lost speed very quickly.

 

Just wow. I have to say i did not expect that shuttle to be capable of flying in the first place, reminds me of that lockheed prototype plane

Design is creative and fun, the station looks great. and you did not use any mods that would disqualify you from earning the stock badge. You also somehow landed that plane 4 times. I can't even pilot the KSP-made planes without RUDs
Here's your badge, you certainly earned it

On 5/6/2021 at 4:31 PM, minerbat said:

i will livestream this challenge for the second time (hopefully without lag now):

 

I assume this is your STS-1b attempt? While i would live to give you the badge, as i saw you did not circularize the orbit of the payload at 2 million, only had an apoapsis of 2 million. This means that you didn't meet the requirements for the maximum tolerances. Also could i ask for your STS-1a attempt? I saw you post your twitch up above but i cannot see it anymore as the livestream is gone now. Pictures or images would be fine!

Also because you have technically reached orbit (and i couldn't find your -1a attempt, i'll consider this as your attempt)
In this case i did not see any mods used, however you couldn't manage to land at the runway

Edited May 20, 2021 by Artienia
shut up

[Artienia]

On 5/15/2021 at 2:01 PM, xub313 said:

It's about time I took a crack at this challenge. I love building shuttles in KSP. Here's my submission for STS-1 a and b. I call it the delta shuttle. The big triangular wings are my solution to deorbiting the 40 ton probe without impacting like a meteor when the time comes for that.

The only mods I have installed are Distant Object Enhancement and Navball Docking Alignment Indicator.

Now that's what i call a close call, i'm suprised you had enough monoprob to make it back.  However i see that the oribit you have created had a deviation of 1 kilometer or so, while the tolerance only allows for 100 meters of lee-way. While i cannot award you the STS-1b badge, i can give you the 1a for a splendid landing. If you have a quicksave during deployment you should be able to correct this (Maybe make a kerbal do some manual pushing  )