No Shortage of Dreams | A KSP Skylab Alternative History

[TruthfulGnome]

7 hours ago, Raptor22 said:

have Soyuz come and dock with the station?

This was my last thought of a vehicle but during this period of Reagan, I don't think it's possible

[LucalisIndustries]

On 6/22/2023 at 6:33 PM, Raptor22 said:

Perhaps they can have a stripped-down Apollo (Maybe a Block III?) carried up in the Shuttle's cargo bay and berthed to the zenith port of Skylab?

its an interesting option,  but iirc the CSM heatshield needed to be protected from the space, thats partly why apollo 13 didnt ditched the service module to make faster burns. 

On 6/22/2023 at 6:33 PM, Raptor22 said:

The easiest option, IMO, would be having a Block III Apollo carried inside the Shuttle's cargo bay. It uses a roughly 1/3 to 1/2 sized Service Module, which is enough for short orbital jaunts (perhaps to another nearby station and back? IIRC, during the beginning of Mir, a Soyuz was used to carry crew from Mir to Salyut 7, grab some equipment, return back to Mir with it, and then return to Earth), or for returning back down to Earth / Kerbin.

Just attach some manipulator grapple nodes on there - or, optionally, fly it unmanned out of the orbiter's cargo bay - and dock it to Skylab. 

idk on the real shuttle, but the sock shuttle cant totally fit and kane csm

[Kerbalsaurus]

3 hours ago, LucalisIndustries said:

idk on the real shuttle, but the sock shuttle cant totally fit and kane csm

Well, the Shuttle's cargo bay was about 18m (60ft) long and about 4.6m (15ft) wide. The Apollo CSM was about 11m (36.2ft) long and had a diameter of about 3.9m (12.8 ft). The Apollo Block III is half as long I think. Yeah, a lot of cargo space is taken up by scientific instruments and such, but it's safe to say that the Block III would fit quite well inside of the Space Shuttle's cargo bay.

[LucalisIndustries]

19 hours ago, Kerbalsaurus said:

Well, the Shuttle's cargo bay was about 18m (60ft) long and about 4.6m (15ft) wide. The Apollo CSM was about 11m (36.2ft) long and had a diameter of about 3.9m (12.8 ft). The Apollo Block III is half as long I think. Yeah, a lot of cargo space is taken up by scientific instruments and such, but it's safe to say that the Block III would fit quite well inside of the Space Shuttle's cargo bay.

oh, nice!

[Kerbalsaurus]

5 hours ago, LucalisIndustries said:

oh, nice!

The Space Shuttle also had a capacity of about 27 tons to LEO, and the regular Apollo CSM had a dry mass of about 12 tons. Once again, the Apollo Block III would most likely weigh less so the Space Shuttle’s definitely more than capable of carrying it to space. However, the dimensions of @TruthfulGnome’s mods may not be 1:1 with real life, but who knows. Maybe he will include it.

[TruthfulGnome]

40 minutes ago, Kerbalsaurus said:

The Space Shuttle also had a capacity of about 27 tons to LEO, and the regular Apollo CSM had a dry mass of about 12 tons. Once again, the Apollo Block III would most likely weigh less so the Space Shuttle’s definitely more than capable of carrying it to space. However, the dimensions of @TruthfulGnome’s mods may not be 1:1 with real life, but who knows. Maybe he will include it.

It's cool but won't be happening, 1987 will be interesting surrounding that topic so watch out

[TruthfulGnome]

 

Skylab 17 | SLM-16 | STS-26 | August 25 - September 2 | 1985

 

 

 

Orbiter: OV-099 | Challenger

 

Challenger starts it off with a return to Skylab, on this mission after Challenger docks with Skylab, the crew will deploy a second Spacelab module and remotely free-fly it and dock it to the MDIM port on Skylab. This module is similar to the previously attached Spacelab module (built and modified by ESA for long-term stay in space) but half the size and with a Spacelab Pallet (SLP) permanently attached to the module. This Spacelab Experiment module is equipped with many different science kits built in countries across Europe, two of the main science kits on the SLP contain a new Telescope with similar imaging to the Hubble Telescope to replace the aging Apollo Telescope Mount and an Earth observation camera. This Spacelab was chosen to be free-flown due to the risks of TRS being around hardware and poor attachment methods.

 

Martin Marietta has proposed their station design for the future Space Station naming it "Shuttle Derived Vehicle Space Station (SDV)" This design takes aspects gained from Skylab, uses an ET Derived module as the core of the station with propellant storage for Centaurs, and a hangar based on the future Skylab truss for orbit assembly.  Martin Marietta stated this station can be completed by 1995, a very optimistic time as Skylab is expected to end its program then. With more news from Martin Marietta, the company has produced a slightly modified External Tank with retro SRMs for deorbiting after being left in a circular orbit unlike normal launches, this ET will help with plans for ET reuse and Aft Cargo Carrier, and it is likely to fly on the first Shuttle launch from Vandenberg SLC-6 next year.

 

 

 

Challenger rises again for her trip to Skylab

 

 

 

SSME gimbal

 

Liftoff!

 

Tower cleared and roll program!

 

 

 

Solid Rocket Booster separation

 

 

 

 

 

The Spacelab module and its instruments are visible while Challenger opens her payload bay doors

 

 

 

 

 

Dark side while awaiting Skylab arrival

 

 

 

Approaching the docking node

 

 

 

 

 

Challenger hard docks to Skylab

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Preparing to release the Spacelab module

 

"It looks strange seeing it fly on its own like that"

 

Free-flying king

 

 

 

 

Soft dock with Skylab

 

 

 

 

 

Skylab with her two Spacelab modules

 

Instrument deployment

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Challenger departs

 

 

 

After departing from Skylab, Challenger returned home landing at Kennedy Space Center

Edited June 29, 2023 by TruthfulGnome

[LucalisIndustries]

nice

[Raptor22]

Where were you able to get the Martin Marietta Shuttle Derived Vehicle Space Station proposal drawings from? I tried looking it up on Google, but a cursory search hasn't yielded any results. I'm guessing it's on some obscure database somewhere?

[Adam-Kerman]

Out of curiosity, I remember someone posted / shared in google drive, shuttle decals of like yellow umbilical port and etc. 

So guess looking for them again

[Lil_Bread402]

Really hope Skylab can get a lifeboat at some point.................. Maybe even an international one....................................

[TruthfulGnome]

16 hours ago, Raptor22 said:

Where were you able to get the Martin Marietta Shuttle Derived Vehicle Space Station proposal drawings from? I tried looking it up on Google, but a cursory search hasn't yielded any results. I'm guessing it's on some obscure database somewhere?

Should be able to search them on NTRS or Archive.org and find them, I have no idea where I placed the documents lol

 

8 hours ago, Adam-Kerman said:

Out of curiosity, I remember someone posted / shared in google drive, shuttle decals of like yellow umbilical port and etc. 

So guess looking for them again

The ones I use were made by a friend, can't remember the link for the ones you're talking about 

 

5 hours ago, Lil_Bread402 said:

Really hope Skylab can get a lifeboat at some point.................. Maybe even an international one....................................

 

[TruthfulGnome]

 

 

 

Skylab 18 | SLM-17 | STS-28 | October 3 - 11 | 1985

Columbia Strikes Back!

 

Orbiter: OV-102 | Columbia

 

Columbia returns to flight after nearly 2 years of being down due to orbiter mantience and major modifications to the orbiter some of those major modifications include the removal of HRSI tiles on the payload bay of the orbiter, and an STILS pod (an infrared camera for observing reentry heating on the orbiter). The removal of HRSI on the payload bay reduces weight, complexity, and turnaround time for Columbia, Challenger will also eventually get these modifications. This mission will be an oridinary visit to the station to perform various science experiments. With Space Shuttle Columbia being part of the orbiters capable of visiting Skylab again, flight rate in the Skylab program will increase. Space Shuttle Unity (OV-104) however will not get the modifications (APAS-75 Docking adapter) needed to visit the station as the orbiter will need to keep a payload bay with all its space available for missions that need it. 

 

 

 

 

 

Liftoff of Columbia as she rises again on her return to the Skylab program.

 

 

 

Luna

 

Roll program complete!

 

Solid booster sep

 

External Tank Sep

 

 

 

Columbia opens her doors.

 

 

 

 

 

Rendezvous burn to Skylab.

 

Columbia nearing Skylab

 

Docking Approach

 

 

 

 

 

Soft dock

 

 

 

Hard dock to Skylab, the crew will now remain at the station for days performing sciences from ESA, USA, and other partners.

 

 

 

Columbia undocks from the station landing at KSC hours later.

[LucalisIndustries]

A routine mission baby!

good post!

[TruthfulGnome]

Motivation for this era is coming back, a return is soon with a new format. The format will include months long time skips with story and missions from that time instead of one mission per post, NSoD is not dead!