Rite of Passage - Functional Shuttle 'ExcaliburShuttle-1' (Stock .17)

[Luuko]

Everyone does one of these at one point or another I'm sure... Spent the better part of the week working on one design/modification or another searching for a viable design. Quite proud of the end result. Would love some feedback from others whom have made a functional shuttle design before. Also... anyone else getting 'The Last Starfighter' vibe from this? I know I did after I finished adding the main stage boosters.

This was the result:

Notes:

-Orbits and landings performed manually with stock install - no addons.

-Craft is stable in Atmo for landings and in transition. Throttle will have to be watched while cargo is in the small bay there as prior to jettisoning the craft is a little heavy on the dorsal side. payload bay is reconfigurable to suit task. Maximum size - approximately 1x FL-T400.

-Config used to reach + return from Minmus orbit: Displayed + 1x FL-T400 in payload bay. Remaining fuel suggests the canister in the payload bay could be swapped for a small satellite to place in Minmus orbit or closer.

-Determined a classic space-shuttle external tank and booster config is not really viable with stock parts.

-Mun landing possible... but difficult. Shuttle really performs best in Atmo. Same with Minmus landing.

-Parachutes on dorsal side fore and aft are not required for safe landing., but are there just in case. Fairly easy to glide/land on Kerbin.

-Only SAS is the Avionics package, so some light monitoring is required.

-May be possible to extend range by swapping the LV-T45 for a Toroidal Aerospike or a Nuclear Engine and/or reconfiguring the fuel routings.

And finally... the .craft file: ( Right-click and 'save-as'. Otherwise your browser may try to open it as a text file. )

ExcaliburShuttle-1.craft

Edit: Apparently this design is inter-planetary capable! Eve Splashdown! (Addon utilized to figure out proper angle for intercept with Eve. Not included in .craft file nor affects the shuttle's performance.)

Edited October 12, 2012 by sal_vager

[Sbowyer28]

That is definately a unique shuttle, Love it.

[bomberJV]

Impressive, got me all the way to Duna.

[Luuko]

Impressive, got me all the way to Duna.

Interesting - in the standard configuration or the shuttle's main engine changed to a nuclear or torid spike?

[renegade512]

It creates a new tab for me:mad:

[Luuko]

It creates a new tab for me:mad:

Oh! Right-click and 'save-as'. Otherwise your browser may try to open it as a text file.

Edited September 29, 2012 by Luuko

[Luuko]

Next stop - Duna. Should be a bit harder with it's thin atmosphere, which means parachute landings are certainly out for the moment.

[renegade512]

Ok, Works now.

Thanks.

[Spartan117]

Would you be able to reduce drag by adding the NCS Adapter? Other questions being would that even matter, or, would adding throw off the balance of the shuttle?

[Luuko]

Would you be able to reduce drag by adding the NCS Adapter? Other questions being would that even matter, or, would adding throw off the balance of the shuttle?

Hrm... Depends on how much Drag really affects things. As-is, it's a capable glider, if a bit nose-heavy if one jettisons the main engine on final approach. I was mostly playing with thrust-to-centre of mass with it, hense the odd fueling arrangement, while trying to keep the mass down.

I'll look into it - thanks for the thought!

[spartan224]

can anyone tell me how to download it iv done all it says just when i put it in my saves ships folder noting shows up even after i restart ksp

[dja148]

the way that ksp saves ships in in 2 sub folders in the ships folder, one for the vab and one for the sph, put the file in one or both of them then try it.

[Luuko]

Ah - thank you daj148! I'm afraid my PC took a bit of a nose-dive and I just got it back up and running so was unable to respond to this.