Shuttle-themed interplanetary RSS tour - with stock parts

[Entropian]

After a brief hiatus from KSP, I decided the best thing to get back into the game was an interplanetary RSS mission.  After working through the Kerbin Earth and Mun Moon series of the wonderful Shuttle Challenge, I wanted to take a break from the Mars mission planning and do something else - so here it is.

Basically, the shuttle is a medium-sized fairing with wings attached.  Inside the fairing is an ISRU unit, batteries, and a lot of fuel.  This uses the 1.25 meter ISRU as the 2.5 meter one was too large and heavy to work, so the shuttle is powered by several Gigantors.  Heat control is achieved with several small-sized radiators stowed inside a 2.5 meter service bay, which also contains a single large drill.  Nukes are the only engines used on the shuttle, as the high ISP is a must-have for the dV requirements in RSS.  To reduce weight and drag, the cockpit is partially clipped inside the fairing, so its hatch is blocked.  This is bypassed with an inflatable airlock in the back of the shuttle that I can transfer Valentina to and then EVA from.

The lifter is composed of a first stage of SRBs, to lift the vacuum engines on the rest of the rocket high enough to have a much better efficiency than at sea level.  The shuttle weighs in at about 90 tons, so a pretty large lifter must be used to get it into orbit.  The eight side booster liquid fuel stages are four-way asparagused, to maximize payload mass.

If you can't see the photos, please post with your browser and OS so I can try to troubleshoot - I use Dropbox for photos and people sometimes have problems seeing them.

Well, here it is on the launchpad:

Yes, those are Clydesdales and 5 meter boosters.

And liftoff!

SRB separation:

First side booster separation:

Second side booster separation:

Third side booster separation:

Final booster separation:

Orbit achieved!

Core reignition for the boost to the Moon:

Core separation and NERV ignition:

 Burn complete:

Leaving Earth:

Capturing burn:

Circularization burn:

Final orbit:

Deorbiting:

Landing:

Landed!

Refueling:

Flag:

Takeoff was really sketchy.  It involved a lot of high-speed disassembly and F9s, but eventually I managed to get it into the air vacuum:

Ascending:

Back in orbit:

Escape burn:

Leaving the Moon:

Burning to a Mars intercept:

Nailed it:

To be continued...

[Entropian]

On to Mars and the asteroid belt!  This part is focused on the Martian moons and Vesta.  dV margins were tight, but the shuttle can't handle the heat of a full aerobrake, so an aerobraking/propulsive braking hybrid was used to capture at Mars.

Approaching Mars:

Aerobraking:

As you can probably see, the control surfaces are at full deployment, however this was not enough, which meant that the RCS had to compensate, so I nearly ran out of RCS fuel on my way to Phobos.

Propulsive part of the braking:

After a couple more aerobraking passes, I got this orbit:

Which was quickly changed by the Phobos transfer burn:

Final trajectory:

Braking at Phobos was nerve-wracking.  It was passing by really fast and I barely made it into orbit (well, what orbit there was to be had).  A small burn from the NERVs got the shuttle on a landing trajectory:

You may wonder why I have the drill extended.  This is because extending it while on the surface pushes the shuttle up by ~1 m/s, which is enough to be really annoying on Phobos.  Landing was a piece of cake, but the staying still part... not so much.  Many F9s and sanity-shattering krakens were encountered during ground operations.

Mining:

Flag:

Bye, Phobos!

Deimos transfer burn:

Braking at Deimos was just as nerve-wracking as at Phobos.  These things' SOIs are ridiculously small:

Landing (well, what can be called "landing"):

Drill out for the same reason as at Phobos.  Landed and mining!

Flag:

Takeoff:

Trajectory plotted for the Vesta transfer:

Burning:

Bye Mars...

... And hello Vesta!

Circularizing:

Descending:

And landed!

Mining:

And flag:

Takeoff:

In orbit:

To be continued...