Shuttle Adventures: An Album of Kerbalized Space Shuttle Missions

[Kuiper_Belt]

The Idea: 

Like many others I love The Space Shuttle, mods and Kerbal Space Program,  what else could you do but mix all 3 ? That's what I'm doing. A while ago on the subreddit, I did something similar surrounding the ISS. I want to continue that but also expand into other reality based and fictional shuttle missions, adventures if you will.  The goal of this whole thing is to use Kerbal Space Program and a large amount of fantastic mods from this community to give everyone a unique vantage point of The Space Shuttle, her missions, their payloads, and hopefully enjoy the wonders and beauty of space and space exploration.

My Inspiration:

The idea behind this is not original by any means and I feel it is necessary to credit those who inspired me, and if you like what I do, you'll certainly like what they've done.

• @Jay The Amazing Toaster And his Kānāwai: Ares to Mars 
• Kevin Gustafson and his amazing among other things ISS & Mir documentaries on Youtube
• @winged and his amazing among other things amazing Constellation Mars video
• @Zorg @alberro+and @Pioneer_Stevefor dazzling me with their magnificent screenshots
• @AmateurAstronaut1969 and their fantastic series on the ETS Space Station Freedom
• @Jacktical and their awesome series on the IRL concept of Space Station Freedom that goes by the name of Space Station Liberty
•  @D0m1nu2 and their excellent International Manned Laboratory series, a recreation of International Skylab conducted in RSS!
• @Aviation365 and their wonderful series Go At Throttle Up, an RSS/RO depiction of Shuttle Flight both real and fictional while obeying Shuttle parameters.
• Myself, @lemon cup, and @D0m1nu2’s Sister Series, ISS Adventures, an in order recreation of the history of The International Space Station. You can find that here: 

Mods:

Like some, I get very carried away with mods. It gets out of hand very quickly... below is a list of highlights and under the spoiler will be the entire list.

• @benjee10With Redirect, SOCK,  and Habtech2
• @DylanSemrau With Photon Corp
• @Beale With Tantares
• @tony48With KSRSS
•  And the ReStock team with of course Restock.

Spoiler

Kerbal Space Program Version 1.12.2 with both DLCs

ClickThroughBlocker

Harmony

KSP API Extensions

Textures Unlimited

Toolbar Control

KSP Recall

Animated Decouples

AN-HTV

ASET

Atmospheric Autopilot

ATS

Aurora Space Center

B9 Procedural Wings

B9 Partswitch

Ballisticfox's TUFX configs (Every One They've made cause they are gorgeous)

Belle_TU

Benjee 10 Shared Assets

Benjee10's Historical Kerbal Suits

Bluedog_DB + Extra

Better Time Warp

Boring Crew Services

CameraTools

Coatl Aerospace

Community Category Kit

Community Resource Pack

Conformal Decals

Contract Packs

Cormorant Aeronology

Coriolis Space Systems

Cryo Tanks

Cryo Engines

Custom Prelaunch Checks

CxAerospace

DECQ R7

Deployable Engines

DMagic Science Animate

Dynamic Battery Storage

Distant Object Enhancement

Dock Rotate

Docking Port Alignment Indicator

Dynamic Battery Storage

Edwards Airforce Base

Environmental Visual Enhancements Redux

Engine Lighting Relit

Eisenhower Astronautics

Far Future Technologies

Flag Agency

FMRS

Fossil Mechazilla

FS Hanger Extender

Fuji

Gas Giants Enhanced

GemstoneLV

H2

HabTech

HabTech 2

HabTech Props

Heat Control

Hephaistos

HyperEdit

HL20

HT Robotics

Integrated Pheonix Industries

James Webb Space Telescope

Janitors Closet

JSI

Katniss Cape Canaveral (Custom Application to my 25% Scaled Real Solar System Monstrosity  DO NOT RECOMMEND DOING THIS!)

Kerbal Alarm Clock

Kerbal Atomics

Kerbal Construction Time

Kerbal Engineer

Kerbal Konstructs

Kerbal Reusability Expansion

Kerbinside Remastered

Kerbolrise

Kertemis Program

KK SpaceX Pack

Knes

Konstellation Program

Kopernicus

Kronometer

KSC Floodlight

KSCSwitcher

KSP Wheel

Magicore

Magpie Mods (Nearly all the configs are stripped because it makes stuff look odd)

Making Alternate History

MechJeb2

Mk-2 Expansion

Mk-33

Modular Flight Integrator

Modular Launch Pads

Modular Manager Watch Dog

Near Future Props

Near Future Solar

Near Future Spacecraft

Near Future Construction

Near Future Exploration

Neist Airliner Parts

OSSNTR

Persistent Rotation

Photon Corp

Planet Info Plus

Planet Shine

Planetside Exploration Technologies

Plume Party

Procedural Fairings

Procedural Fairings For Everything (Removed patch that replaces stock fairings) 

Procedural Parts

Project EOC

Provenance Aerospace

PVRE 64 (Photo Realistic Visual Enhancement 64K)

Raster Prop Monitor

RCS Build Aid

Realplume (Stock Configs)

Real Solar System (Scaled to 25% Real Scale, same as 2.5x KSRSS)

Recovery Controller

reDirect

Reentry Particle Effects

ReStock

ReStock Plus

Retractable Lifting Surfaces

Rocket Motor Menagerie

RSS Date Time

RSS Textures

RSS Tweaks

SCANsat

Scatterer

Science Param Modifier

Shuttle Orbiter Construction Kit

Sigma Rescale

Simple Adjustable Farings

Skyhawk Science System

Smoke Screen

SOCK Recolored

Snacks

Soyuz_Spacecraft

Soyuz_Extras

Space Dust

Space Shuttle (For Deprecated Crawler and Launch Mount You've got to do some digging to find it)

Special Delivery

Stage Recovery

Starship Expansion Project

Starship Launch Expansion

Station Parts Expansion Redux

SRB Waterfall Effects

SXT Continued

System Heat

Tantares (With both Tantares LV Tantares SP & SAF )

Tokamak Industries 

Trajectories

Transfer Window Planner

TUFX

Tundra Exploration

Tundra Space Center

Tundra Technologies

Tweak Scale

Tweak Scale Companion

Variant Persist

UbioZur Welding Continued

Waterfall

Waterfall Restock

WildBlue Decals

X-20 Moroz

Ziegler Launch Systems

KSP Module Manager (Version 4.1.4)

This is hopefully all of them. Some will overlap if you attempt to match my install because I've listed the entire gamedata folder. If you're new to modding you will definitely make mistakes while trying to install them, don't worry we were there too. All that matters is that you get back up and keep trying but don't be afraid to take a break!  Also, some of the mods use CKAN! This will help you out a lot. Good luck! PS: This list will always be changing..

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks to those who submit missions, and to those who read and interact with this project! Shuttle Adventures has gotten really far and I'm happy to be a small part of it!

Edited June 8, 2022 by Kuiper_Belt

[Guest]

(Deleted post)

Edited September 30, 2021 by SpaceX_Boi

[Kuiper_Belt]

STS-1 April 12 1981

The maiden Space Shuttle launch is a fitting place to start for the series. Launching from Pad 39 A, Space Shuttle Columbia would have the honor of flying the first orbital shuttle mission. Onboard were Astronauts John Young and Robert Crippen. STS-1 Lifted off at 12:00  UTC (7:00 am Eastern) and would stay in orbit for two days.

 

After landing at Edwards Airforce Base completing a successful first flight consisting of validating The Space Shuttle and her systems,  Colombia would be flown to Kennedy Space Center, refurbished, and would fly again as STS-2. 

Edited March 13, 2021 by Kuiper_Belt

[Guest]

On 3/9/2021 at 6:32 PM, Kuiper_Belt said:

STS-1

The maiden Space Shuttle launch is a fitting place to start for the series. Launching from Pad 39 A, Space Shuttle Columbia would have the honor of flying the first orbital shuttle mission. Onboard were Astronauts John Young and Robert Crippen. STS-1 Lifted off at 12:00  UTC (7:00 am Eastern) and would stay in orbit for two days.

 

After landing at Edwards Airforce Base completing a successful first flight consisting of validating The Space Shuttle and her systems,  Colombia would be flown to Kennedy Space Center, refurbished, and would fly again as STS-2. 

Beautiful  

Edited September 30, 2021 by SpaceX_Boi

[Kuiper_Belt]

STS-9 November 28, 1983

STS-9 was the first mission to carry the first foreign astronaut to space on via The Shuttle Ulf Merbold and the first mission to use the Spacelab laboratory module. Launching from Pad 39 A this would be the sixth launch of Colombia.

After conducting her 10 day mission, Columbia returned to Earth landing at Runway 17 at Edwards Airforce Base. Columbia would then be temporarily removed from service to be renovated. STS-41-B would follow.

I hope you guys are enjoying the series! I've been having a lot of fun making it so far. I hope to crank these out at least twice a week, but I am at the mercy of my school workload.

Edited March 22, 2021 by Kuiper_Belt

[benjee10]

Great stuff! The colours are really nice, gives a retro space art vibe.

[Guest]

On 3/14/2021 at 4:51 AM, benjee10 said:

Great stuff! The colours are really nice, gives a retro space art vibe.

You should be proud of yourself, too! Your amazing mods allow us to do stuff like this! 

Edited March 18, 2021 by SpaceX_Boi
Replaced an old emoji with a new KSP 2 emoji

[Kuiper_Belt]

STS-6 April 4, 1983

STS-6 was debut flight of Space Shuttle Challenger, and the first to carry an Inertial Upper Stage. STS-6 Carried TDRS-1, the first of the Tracking and Data Relay Satellites. STS-6 also was the final four person crew of the program until STS-135. STS-6 was also the first Space Shuttle mission to perform an EVA which saw the first use of the Extravehicular Mobility Unit or EMU .

Though deployed from Challenger without Issue, TDRS-1 was sent to a low elliptical orbit after it's IUS lost control while burning for a GTO. After expending fuel from the satellite it was eventually placed into a geosynchronous orbit.

After her mission, Challenger would land at Edwards Runway 22. Spending 5 days 23 minutes in orbit 4 hours 17 minutes of which were spend during the first Space Shuttle EVA. Challenger would be flown back to Kennedy for refurbishment and a relaunched as STS-7.

[Guest]

(Deleted post)

Edited September 30, 2021 by SpaceX_Boi

[Guest]

On 3/21/2021 at 1:40 PM, Kuiper_Belt said:

STS-6 April 4, 1983

STS-6 was debut flight of Space Shuttle Challenger, and the first to carry an Inertial Upper Stage. STS-6 Carried TDRS-1, the first of the Tracking and Data Relay Satellites. STS-6 also was the final four person crew of the program until STS-135. STS-6 was also the first Space Shuttle mission to perform an EVA which saw the first use of the Extravehicular Mobility Unit or EMU .

Though deployed from Challenger without Issue, TDRS-1 was sent to a low elliptical orbit after it's IUS lost control while burning for a GTO. After expending fuel from the satellite it was eventually placed into a geosynchronous orbit.

After her mission, Challenger would land at Edwards Runway 22. Spending 5 days 23 minutes in orbit 4 hours 17 minutes of which were spend during the first Space Shuttle EVA. Challenger would be flown back to Kennedy for refurbishment and a relaunched as STS-7.

Kool!  

What mod do you get the rotating decoupler from?  (BDB I assume)

[Kuiper_Belt]

2 hours ago, SpaceX_Boi said:

Kool!  

What mod do you get the rotating decoupler from?  (BDB I assume)

Custom Made! Using TweakScale, the Breaking Ground DLC the Making History Tiles and Loads of Autostrut. This unfortunately may not be able to be used again until TweakScale is updated to 1.11.2. I don't want to risk the save being bricked. But I would rather loose a pretty thing than the whole save so it is what it is. 

Edited March 31, 2021 by Kuiper_Belt

[Guest]

12 hours ago, Kuiper_Belt said:

Custom Made! Using TweakScale, the Breaking Ground DLC the Making History Tiles and Loads of Autostrut. This unfortunately may not be able to be used again until TweakScale is updated to 1.11.2. I don't want to risk the save being bricked. But I would rather loose a pretty thing than the whole save so it is what it is. 

Wow, good job!  

I was using Tweakscale yesterday for a bit with no issues. 

But still a good idea to wait, as I copied my savegame I've been using, just in case  

Edited March 31, 2021 by SpaceX_Boi
Gave a complement

[Kuiper_Belt]

STS-63 February 3, 1995

STS-63 also known as the Near Mir mission and was the second mission of the Shuttle-Mir program and was the first mission where The Space Shuttle would rendezvous with Mir.  STS-63 also featured the first female pilot of The Shuttle, Eileen Collins. Flown by Discovery, the  objective was to test processes for the following Shuttle-Mir mission, STS-71 where a Shuttle would actually dock with Mir. In addition the Spartan 204 satellite would be deployed and recaptured by Discovery to observe the 'Shuttle Glow' phenomenon. Space Shuttle Discovery would launch from Pad 39 B in the early morning of February 3rd. 

After Discovery's 8 day mission, She landed a Kennedy Space Center at Runway 15 of the Shuttle Landing Facility. The next Shuttle Mission to Mir Atlantis would dock to Kristall . Discovery would next fly STS-70 deploying TDRS-G.

I took a while with this one... I first decided to update from KSP 1.8.1 to 1.11.2, which had a ton of problems I didn't foresee, then I decided that It would be fun to continue the series in a science mode save I had been playing along side this. This resulted in me building Mir manually and rushing to unlock the STS parts. Though the posting rate suffered I had a lot of fun doing it. 

Also I'd like to point out the AMAZING suits used on the EVA. Those are from @benjee10's fantastic new suit mod! The EMU looks fantastic as well as the Shuttle Pumpkin Suits! Highly recommend you check it out! Hopefully I can make more surrounding Shuttle-Mir since I've built it. Expect more at some point in the near future!

 

Edited April 5, 2021 by Kuiper_Belt

[AmateurAstronaut1969]

Very well made!

[Kuiper_Belt]

STS-71 June 27, 1995

STS-71 was the first Space Shuttle Mission to dock with the Russian Mir space station as well as the 100th crewed launch of the United States Space Programs.  Space Shuttle Atlantis would launch in the afternoon from Pad 39 A.  STS-71 was the first mission to dock with a space station. At the time, they formed the largest object in space. STS-71 also carried two cosmonauts  (Anatoly Solovyev & Nikolai Budarin) to Mir and brought back 2 cosmonauts and an astronaut (Gennady Strekalov Vladimir Dezhurov & Norman Thagard). Atlantis would dock to the Kristall module of Mir which had 2 APAS-89 docking ports meant for the Buran. 

After 9 days and 19 hours in orbit, Atlantis would finish her mission and lander her 3 new passengers at SLF Runway 15 at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. She would then be refurbished and fly again to Mir as STS-74.

I'm testing out some new TUFX configs. I really like them so far. I could not pass up one R E D  External Tank though. I'll be doing more Mir missions in the near future but I also am going to do a mission that never happened at some point soon! But until then I hope you're enjoying the series!

Edited May 17, 2021 by Kuiper_Belt

[Rhode_Enterprise_By-Matt]

TUFX configs?

Oh, found them on Reddit. 

Is that the stock system or a planet pack as well?

[Kuiper_Belt]

On 5/13/2021 at 9:23 AM, Rhode_Enterprise_By-Matt said:

Is that the stock system or a planet pack as well?

I'm using KSRSS at 2.5x stock scale. 

[Kuiper_Belt]

Stuff is coming I swear... 

[Kuiper_Belt]

STS-74  November 12, 1995

STS-74 was the second Space Shuttle Mission to Mir.  Launched from Pad 39 A Space Shuttle Atlantis would bring the Mir Docking Module to Mir. The Mir Docking Module was added to prevent the constant movement of Kristall module.  Atlantis with her crew of 5 would lift off mid morning.

After 8 Days and 4 hours in orbit, Space Shuttle Atlantis touched down at Runway 33 at the Kennedy Space Center. The Mir Docking Module would host 7 more Space Shuttles 5 of which would be Atlantis returning. Atlantis would be refurbished and fitted out to launch again for STS-76 where she would return to Mir.

I would like to apologize for the wait of this one. I have had multiple issues with this mission which necessitated a restart. I also was playing around with the mods again and lost track of time. Those with keen eyes will have noticed that the Space Center look completely different from different missions AND this launch! I have installed Katniss Cape Canaveral for KSRSS and boy is it beautiful. More missions to come! Hopefully faster than last time... 

 

[lemon cup]

Hello everyone,

I'm pleased to say that with  with @Kuiper_Belt's permission, I'll be doing some similarly themed posts here with some more historic Shuttle missions!

STS-40  June 5, 1991

Though one of the Shuttle's primary design considerations was the launch and potential retrieval of large military satellites, as the program matured it gained recognition as an excellent scientific research platform. Commissioned and funded by ESA, Spacelab provided a unique opportunity for entities around the world  - private and government alike - to fly manned experiments into space, and then recover them intact for further research.

Being the heaviest orbiter in the fleet, Columbia was well-suited to perform Spacelab and other research missions, and as such these comprised the majority of the orbiter's flights throughout it's lifetime. STS-40 was host to the Spacelab "Space Life Sciences-1" mission, and also flew a large assortment of individual experiments in the form of "Getaway Special" canisters mounted to a bridge behind the laboratory.  It launched mid-morning of June 5th, 1991 into a 39-degree inclination, in order to execute a landing at Edwards Air Force Base, California 9 days later.

[Spaceman.Spiff]

On 5/13/2021 at 10:23 AM, Rhode_Enterprise_By-Matt said:

TUFX configs?

Oh, found them on Reddit. 

Is that the stock system or a planet pack as well?

I am interested as well... @Kuiper_Belt would you mind sharing them here? 

52 minutes ago, lemon cup said:

STS-40

Awesome!!!

[Philae_Rosetta2021]

STS 74...

Wasn't Chris Hadfield one of the astronauts? I read his book An Astronauts Guide to Life on Earth, and he described the mission. Apparently the "space tape" holding the seal in the docking module was so good, they had to slice it with a penknife to get in.

Might have got it wrong though so please, if anyone knows, tell me!

[Kuiper_Belt]

3 hours ago, lemon cup said:

Hello everyone,

I'm pleased to say that with  with @Kuiper_Belt's permission, I'll be doing some similarly themed posts here with some more historic Shuttle missions!

STS-40  June 5, 1991

Though one of the Shuttle's primary design considerations was the launch and potential retrieval of large military satellites, as the program matured it gained recognition as an excellent scientific research platform. Commissioned and funded by ESA, Spacelab provided a unique opportunity for entities around the world  - private and government alike - to fly manned experiments into space, and then recover them intact for further research.

Being the heaviest orbiter in the fleet, Columbia was well-suited to perform Spacelab and other research missions, and as such these comprised the majority of the orbiter's flights throughout it's lifetime. STS-40 was host to the Spacelab "Space Life Sciences-1" mission, and also flew a large assortment of individual experiments in the form of "Getaway Special" canisters mounted to a bridge behind the laboratory.  It launched mid-morning of June 5th, 1991 into a 39-degree inclination, in order to execute a landing at Edwards Air Force Base, California 9 days later.

Awesome stuff! Turned out great!

3 hours ago, Spaceman.Spiff said:

I am interested as well... @Kuiper_Belt would you mind sharing them here? 

My TUFX configs are an interesting story.... I have searched the internet this morning looking for them and I could only find 2. The 2 I have come up with are Zorgs & Emilius configs. The others are "RealEarth" no clue on how to find it & 2 sets from @alberro+. 1 one of those is older and has a warmer color temperature and the other is a newer variant with a cooler color temperature. I have no how I would get my hands on them again at this p point as they've seem to have vanished. Perhaps I am not looking well enough or in the right places... Hopefully this helps!

Edited May 26, 2021 by Kuiper_Belt

[lemon cup]

20 hours ago, Kuiper_Belt said:

I have no how I would get my hands on them again at this p point as they've seem to have vanished.

Are you able to locate the ones that are currently active in your GameData folder, or you’re saying that those files are somewhere obscure as well?

[Kuiper_Belt]

I have taken the profiles in the TUFX Profile folder and uploaded them to google drive. You can find them here. Enjoy! Remember these aren't mine! I've just found the on the internet in the past and I cant find them now.

Edited June 12, 2021 by Kuiper_Belt