Training Spacecraft v1.2

[sirscott]

Training Spacecraft v1.2 'KSC Vladimir Komarov'

There is an old saying in my country that 'Practice makes perfect' and it is doubtful that this adage suits a field more so than it does space travel. Despite launching a considerable number of spacecraft into orbit I was finding that my trajectories were wobbly , my courses elliptic and my kerbals were getting bored of being marooned in space. I realised that what I needed was a nice simple craft that I could use to practice my techniques , something in which I could refine my skills and use to try out more complicated manoeuvres like Hoffman Transfers and precision touch-downs. The Awnser was a series of 'Training Spacecraft' in the same vein as the 'Mercury' & 'Vostok' missions ,a refined model of which I am proud to present to you today. I have named this model after Vladimir Komorov , the first man to go into space more than once and whom tragically was the first to die there when his badly designed Soyuz capsule crashed on re-entry in 1967

The Spacecraft on the Pad

By KSP standards the TSC 1.2 is a fairly simple craft. It has only three stages and is designed to put the 3rd stage (Orbiter) into a optimum trajectory at 40,000 metres with a full tank of fuel remaining for manoeuvres and retro-burn. The first stage is a standard SRB supplemented by six 'minibooster' in a payload assist capacity. As they all fire for the same amount of time , this provides maximum thrust with minimum complexity. It should also be noted that the 1st stage is launched out of a 3m wide decoupler so as to overcome the 'Sticky pad' effect.

1st Stage shortly before burn-out at ~ 7500m

The Second stage is my favourite liquid fuel combination , Novasilskos 1.75m tank & a small upper stage engine that I think is from one of SPs packs. Though low on power it is quite efficient and with a small payload like this it is quite sufficient to boost the Kerbanauts to orbital altitude and velocity , with roll-over taking place between 17500m & 240000m

2nd Stage at full throttle.

2nd Stage separation

The orbiter is compact but very flexible. Sporting a lightweight fuel tank and engine as well as a quartet of bolt-on vernier pods , the orbiter module remains attached to the command pod throughout the remainder of the mission. If the second stage has been used effectively then only small amounts of fuel are neccesary to stabilise ones orbit leaving the remainder free for further manoeuvres. So far I have used this design to test my skills in a long duration missions (40 Orbits+!) , Hoffman transfers and several attempts to reach a geo-stationary position.

3rd Stage - Orbiter

On the occasion that I took these pictures I performed a simple orbit-and-return mission. Pictures below.

Passing into the dark side

Obligatory 'Dawn' shot

Retro burn over Kafrica

Chute Deployed

Awaiting Rescue

I hope you've enjoyed my little trip around the world. If you want to fly the Komorov yourselves then make sure you've downloaded the big packs from Sunday Punch and Novasilsko before loading. I wish you all the best of luck!

[Tiberion]

Yep, thats a good ship, I came up with a similar one to start refining my technique

The Kercury 7 (named after the 1st planet in Kearth's system)

I can reliably orbit and recover - now I want to add a payload stage and work on orbital payload release and maneuvering.

I do love that effeciency is rewarded. One time I spent a bit much getting into proper orbit and didn't have much to spare for de-orbit, the last burn just slowed me enough to get captured at perigee. Whew!

[technoguy33]

Umm. You\'re still in atmosphere dude.... 38000m is only HALF out of atmosphere.

[Kryten]

Umm. You\'re still in atmosphere dude.... 38000m is only HALF out of atmosphere.

It wasn\'t when this was posted-seriously, why can\'t people look at dates? This is nearly 3 months old.

[Caesar15]

Komorov? Really? That\'s not very creative, sounds like kamrov or makarov

[Kryten]

Komorov? Really? That\'s not very creative, sounds like kamrov or makarov

Or maybe it\'s named after a real person.

[Spoot Knight]

Komorov? Really? That\'s not very creative, sounds like kamrov or makarov

Because naming something after a real damn person requires creativity.

[Tim_Barrett]

Tiny, yet effective.

I have yet to see someone make a splitscreen video on giant rockets and small rockets next to eachother, and which one is better in the many fields of accomplishment.

[Caesar15]

Or maybe it\'s named after a real person.

Maybe....

[sirscott]

I have taken to naming my various boosters after my Space heroes. Komorov was the first and perhaps the most touching , he flew the capsule despite knowing it was dangerously under-tested because he knew that if he refused they would ask his good friend Gagarin , who was too patriotic to turn it down.

On a lighter note , I think its time to redesign this machine. Ill have a crack at building a new craft with the same mission profile (Orbital manoeuvres , easy flying characteristics) using some common mods.

The new orbiter will be named 'Sergi Korolev'