Oops

[Elmetian]

Horizon Heavy Industries presents the O.O.P.S. [On Orbit Personnel Shuttle]. Launched atop a new booster made of ARM parts, the O.O.P.S. can comfortably reach a 1000km circular orbit before expending any of the fuel set aside for orbital manoeuvring. The vehicle itself is built around a Mark 1-2 Command Pod merged with a Cuppola Module to allow for an aerodynamic launch, an enlarged crew capacity, and also the increased visibility for docking that is provided by the cuppola.

Three independent thruster pods contain a total of 169.2 units of liquid fuel. The 6 Rockomax 48-7S engines are mounted in two opposing groups, each toggleable by its own action group, so that Kerbals will never again have to wait anxiously as their craft rotates to align itself retrograde to the motion of the target.

At 53 parts in orbit, the O.O.P.S. is also small enough to dock with large targets without greatly increasing lag, and because it weighs in at only 83 parts on the pad it should be accessible to most players. I'm also quite proud of my clipping-fu as I managed to hide the cuppola windows entirely inside the large decoupler for launch. It makes for a dramatic stage separation if you IVA using the cuppola (see pics).

Action groups:

1 toggles the rear engines (if piloting from the cuppola)

2 toggles the forward engines

3 toggles the docking port

Flight Notes:

The booster uses traditional staging to reach orbit rather than action groups and I've limited the throttle on the 1st stage engine for improved efficiency. Follow these instructions for best results.

• Launch at max throttle and reduce by 2 notches at 7km altitude.

• Begin a slow gravity turn at about 10km and continue throttling down, aiming to reach 45° pitch and under 2/3 thrust by 23km.

• Continue to gradually reduce the thrust and the pitch to follow the orbital velocity marker on the navball. You should aim to leave your apoapsis is above the atmosphere and maximise your orbital velocity.

• Use the automated 2nd stage to circularise your orbit, and remember to leave enough fuel in the 2nd stage so that you can de-orbit it after separating from the O.O.P.S.

The rear docking port and cuppola are aligned with the reaction control system, but the Mark 1-2 Pod isn't, so remember to 'control from here' using the docking port when docking with another craft!

Change Log:

Replaced Kumo booster with the large parts from the ARM update
Reduced monopropellant from 190 units to 40
Increased liquid fuel by 34.2 units
Part count on the pad reduced from 148 to 83
Edited May 1, 2014 by Narcosis
updated craft

[Sirine]

The craft...so...cute!

I like the design of the Rockomax 48-7S engines mounted on the round nose...

[spaceman1999]

Looks amazing as always!

[GusTurbo]

There are so many awesome things going on with this, I don't know where to start.

-The Kumo booster is very attractive. Great use of the nose cones.

-The engines on the second stage look great, and the ability to deorbit it is a nice touch.

-The decoupling view from the cupola is spectacular.

-The payload looks great, and appears to be very functional.

[The14th]

I love the shuttle, and I love the name!

Another must-have from Horizon Heavy Industries!

[Elmetian]

I'm really happy you guys like this. As always, if anyone has suggestions for improvements after using my craft please feel free to post them. I don't get as much time to play KSP and test craft as I'd like, so it'd help me a lot.

[Cupcake...]

I have to say I'm extremely jealous of your incredibly slick presentation, you don't happen to be a graphic designer by trade do you?

[Elmetian]

I have to say I'm extremely jealous of your incredibly slick presentation, you don't happen to be a graphic designer by trade do you?

Unfortunately no, though I bet I'd have liked being a graphic designer. I'm a maths tutor, or physics teacher, depending on who's employing me

[Rjhere]

No Rcs for translation?

[chrischambers]

what a great Idea, I build my own version of this, and I am loving it. thanks for the idea

[Elmetian]

No Rcs for translation?

Those RCS thrusters are hidden along the seam between the two command pods

[Cupcake...]

Unfortunately no, though I bet I'd have liked being a graphic designer. I'm a maths tutor, or physics teacher, depending on who's employing me

A worthy cause if ever there was one, but I can't help but feel your artistic talents are being wasted...

Cupcake...

[Elmetian]

A worthy cause if ever there was one, but I can't help but feel your artistic talents are being wasted...

Cupcake...

Well, it's always been my dream to become a concept artist for a games company. Maybe I'll finally buy a graphics tablet this year and see if I can produce something worthwhile, though I'm happy to just be a hobbyist. Just like producing craft for the KSP forums, it's mostly escapism for me.

[Capt Snuggler]

Really nice, clean design. I can learn allot from you. The launch vehicle is very slick too and your presentation. Max points!

[The14th]

Hi Narcosis, thought you might find it fun to read about a slight oops I had with an O.O.P.S

I usually have two or three O.O.P.S ferrying Kerbals between my rudimentary stations in orbit.

I was transporting some of my favourite Kerbals to rendezvous with a station where there was a craft which was going to take them down to Kerbin, but it was late, I wasn't paying attention and I'd forgotten to refuel the O.O.P.S before setting off and I'd forgotten to quick-save.

The result was a dead shuttle with no fuel in a precarious orbit.

I quickly knocked up something in the VAB, a Shuttle Collector for O.O.P.S, or a S.C.O.O.P.S if you will.

Actually I'm a bit embarrassed to show this... I'm sure better builders like yourself or other people reading this will see it and be dismayed by how inefficient it is.

I know I put too many batteries on it, too many parachutes, too many... things... I was erring on the side of caution since I didn't have time to test it. It was getting very late and I didn't want to close down for the night without rescuing my favourite Kerbals.

The S.C.O.O.P.S meets O.O.P.S

In my haste, I also forgot to turn the S.C.O.O.P.S lights on... the reason I stuck batteries on there in the first place *facepalm*.

However, the whole thing was daft anyway because in my tiredness I'd already forgotten that the O.O.P.S has a perfectly adequate docking light and more than enough 'lecky to power it.

Ok Guys, let's go home.

Parachute overkill.... but they were my favourite Kerbals, damn it!!!

The Enquiry Board concluded that the hapless shuttle pilot already suffered enough having to watch the ground hurtling towards his face during the decent.

Nevertheless, he'll be driving refuelling rovers from now on until I've forgiven him!

Still loving your O.O.P.S and I'm going to send a replacement into orbit tomorrow

~The14th~

[Elmetian]

Still loving your O.O.P.S and I'm going to send a replacement into orbit tomorrow

That... That is awesome! You've given me quite a buzz The14th. I'm still a little amazed that you're using my craft in the first place, let alone in those numbers and with such dedication, enough to want to preserve my creation. I'm just sorry that I didn't see this last month when you posted it Been very busy lately and haven't even had time to update KSP since 0.21. Do you know if the OOPS still functions properly in 0.22?

[The14th]

That... That is awesome! You've given me quite a buzz The14th. I'm still a little amazed that you're using my craft in the first place, let alone in those numbers and with such dedication, enough to want to preserve my creation. I'm just sorry that I didn't see this last month when you posted it Been very busy lately and haven't even had time to update KSP since 0.21. Do you know if the OOPS still functions properly in 0.22?

Cool, I'm glad you enjoyed it!

It sure does work properly in 0.22. Take a look at this post in Cupcake's Bulldog thread where I build a small crew transfer station manned by a permanent compliment of three OOPS, using only Cupcake's Bulldog to construct it.

The transfer station get's plenty of use as my means of ferrying Kerbals from the various ships and stations I have in orbit.

Not just the OOPS, but I regularly use your Spider tug and the Caged Canary too. Obviously I like building my own designs too, but sometimes you just need something you know you can rely on - and these ships are just too damn useful to sideline! (not to mention aesthetically pleasing aswell)

Edited November 10, 2013 by The14th

[spaceman1999]

Can we get a sub-assembly of that launcher? Pretty please?

[Elmetian]

Can we get a sub-assembly of that launcher? Pretty please?

Click the pic above to go to a Mediafire download for the Kumo class booster subassembly ()

Take a look at this post in Cupcake's Bulldog thread...

Not just the OOPS, but I regularly use your Spider tug and the Caged Canary too. Obviously I like building my own designs too, but sometimes you just need something you know you can rely on - and these ships are just too damn useful to sideline! (not to mention aesthetically pleasing aswell)

Good to know that they're still working in 0.22 and getting some use If you've got any suggestions for improvements, or any ideas you want commissioning, I'd be happy to hear them.

[Elmetian]

As I mentioned in my Spider tug thread, I've been updating those craft that've proven to be most popular. The O.O.P.S. has now been given a new Tiào S booster to reduce the part count, and a few minor changes to the orbiter itself. I realised that it had far too much monopropellant and it bugged me that you had to move the camera inside of the pods to refuel it with more monoprop. The little nose cones that protected the Rockomax 48-7S's on launch have also been dispensed with.

[The14th]

As I mentioned in my Spider tug thread, I've been updating those craft that've proven to be most popular. The O.O.P.S. has now been given a new Tiào S booster to reduce the part count, and a few minor changes to the orbiter itself. I realised that it had far too much monopropellant and it bugged me that you had to move the camera inside of the pods to refuel it with more monoprop. The little nose cones that protected the Rockomax 48-7S's on launch have also been dispensed with.

As a loyal HHI customer, I hope you don't mind some feedback on your Mark2s!

I don't have a lot to say about the O.O.P.S Mk2 so I'm starting with it.

• The booster is much improved, thanks for this.
  
• You also improved the staging so the final separation doesn't fire all six engines wasting fuel. This is a minor thing, but I'd sometimes forget to correct it manually so thanks!
  
• The little nose cones were kind of cool, but it was just more annoying debris so yes - we're much better off without them!
  

I have some problems with your action-groups, see the Spider topic for more details.

All in all, a worthy Mk2!

[Elmetian]

Uploaded a version for 0.23.5. Obviously with the new large parts it's made the booster a lot less complicated, though it's a bit larger to account for the reduced efficiency of the S3 KS-25x4 Engine Cluster. Part count is now down to 83 on the pad.

If anyone gets the chance, could you test the action groups again? I'm pretty sure that it was caused by a bad install or one of the mods I was using in 0.23, but just in case...

Edited May 1, 2014 by Narcosis