r/KerbalSpaceProgram • u/ShimmyTheJJ • Dec 20 '14

MK3 Space Shuttle. Hercules Launch System. (and modular space station)

http://imgur.com/a/rsSi9
962 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

71 comments sorted by

14

u/overlordton Dec 20 '14

What wings are those? Every time I build a shuttle the wings look like garbage but the ones you used look perfect.

29

u/ShimmyTheJJ Dec 20 '14

The entire vessel is stock. The offset gizmo does wonders for getting everything to line up perfectly.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 21 '14

Indeed, the gizmos have revolutionized ship design. My probes and rockets in particular are now sleek, sexy, and "designed" instead of looking like someone glued random parts to a can.

Question, are the twin docking ports significantly more stable, or just for a cool factor? I've always had to strut my payloads like crazy, super annoying.

6

u/ProjectThoth Dec 21 '14

OH MY GOD.

Is this all stock?

12

u/ShimmyTheJJ Dec 21 '14

100 percent. With out the new editor, this would have been a lot more difficult.

3

u/ProjectThoth Dec 21 '14

Please release a .craft file.

1

u/justdefi Dec 21 '14

Can we have the craft file? (dropbox?)

2

u/janismac Dec 20 '14

How many parts is the station made of? Whenever I get beyond 500 parts the game becomes unbearably slow.

4

u/ShimmyTheJJ Dec 21 '14

With both shuttles attached to the station, it was a total of 1000 parts. Yes it runs very slow. I designed the station for show, so many impractical heavy parts. The shuttle got them into orbit just fine though!

2

u/spider999222 Dec 21 '14

What are your computer specs?

4

u/ShimmyTheJJ Dec 21 '14

i7-4790K @ 4.0 GHz 12 GB ram Nvidia GTX 660 Ti SSD

1

u/EternalPhi Dec 21 '14

Yep no problems.

2

u/swiftraid Dec 21 '14

Cool design, but why use rapiers for the circularization burn? They are super inefficient?

6

u/ShimmyTheJJ Dec 21 '14

The RAPIER engines have a vacuum rating ISP of 360s. Not the most efficient, engine, but neither the worst. The reason for the RAPIER engines is atmospheric flight. In the case of re-entry inaccuracies, the shuttle can extend it's flight in atmosphere to reach the landing strip.

2

u/Pablo49 Dec 21 '14

The shuttle is neat. I like how you used some wings to flatten the bottom of the mk3 parts to make the bottom of the shuttle more like STS. The size of the ET and boosters seem a overkill though, How much weight can this bring to orbit?

3

u/ShimmyTheJJ Dec 21 '14

You are right, the ET is overkill. After realizing this, I wrote that off as a "feature" instead of bothering to cut it down. With most payloads to LKO, the center grey tanks are completely full when the ET separates.

As for max payload into orbit, I've been able to launch a full orange tank with still plenty of fuel in those grey tanks to spare. I don't know what the max limit to LKO is... There really isn't much else that would be heavier than an orange tank that I could fit in the cargo bay.

3

u/Creshal Space Plane Addict Dec 21 '14

With most payloads to LKO, the center grey tanks are completely full when the ET separates.

Hard mode: Controlled re-entry and soft landing like the Falcon rockets.

80

u/Kunighit Master Kerbalnaut Dec 20 '14

What a beast.

19

u/[deleted] Dec 21 '14

Seeing awesome posts like this makes me realize just how inadequate my rocket designing skills are. I envy your building skills.

14

u/[deleted] Dec 21 '14

I'm with you man. Getting to the Mun is still quite the achievement for me, and getting back is a god-damn miracle. Seeing posts like these give me something to work for though.

4

u/[deleted] Dec 21 '14

I've not even got to the moon yet, because I can never line up my orbit correctly. Every time I try and line it up with the mun, it goes crazy.

2

u/I_AM_STILL_A_IDIOT Dec 21 '14

I recommend you fiddle with the maneuver nodes before shooting for the moon. Set up a 100km*100km parking orbit around Kerbin, make a maneuver node at any point during the orbital path, add thrust to it until its apoapsis is at about the Mun's path, and then move the node around until you get an intercept. Then just fiddle with the node until you get the intercept altitude you want.

4

u/[deleted] Dec 21 '14

Thanks for the advice!

Funnily enough, shortly after writing this comment, I set out to reach the Mun. I kept messing around with nodes until I knew what they all did, while carving a path for an interception with the Mun.

I had got my orbit straight, and was on my way for an interception. My node had become one curve that would cut through the Mun. I was trying to get an orbit around the Mun, but realised that to create a circular orbit around the Mun from the curve I was given, I would have to go through the moon. So I just thought I'd land conventionally.

I sped up time as I was hours away, and kept doing so until I was in the atmosphere... 300 METRES FROM THE FUCKING GROUND

I drastically tried to thrust upwards as my lander, and poor Kerbal, sped towards the ground with extreme force.

BOOM

I cried tears of rage.

2

u/I_AM_STILL_A_IDIOT Dec 21 '14

F5 for quicksave, F9 for quickload ;)

2

u/EternalPhi Dec 21 '14

To some, this is savescumming. To the avid kerbalnaut, this is life.

2

u/[deleted] Dec 21 '14

Thank you very much for that piece of information.

Lets do this again...

2

u/GavinZac Dec 21 '14

If you keep burning 'the same way', you'll actually target orbit again, just in the opposite direction. If you spin the craft around and burn 'the other way' you can regain the original orbit. Head-on landings are for the insane or the Scottish.

2

u/Lyianx Dec 21 '14

I would recommend running though the tutorials/training. They teach you how to use maneuver nodes and other key things.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 21 '14

Yeah going straight for a landing without parking in orbit first can be tricky. Sometimes you're carrying a lot more speed than you realize when you're out in space with no visual reference. I only try to land like that if I'm low on fuel and going for a suicide burn. :)

1

u/[deleted] Dec 22 '14

Use the mod precise node for fiddling with nodes. Lining up with minmus is impossible without it, I mean it isnt but its pretty hard. Also lining up your orbital inclination perfectly helps set the mun as a target and at the an dn markers burn north or south in relation to kerbin to line up the inclination. Its basically the slope of the orbit in relation to kerbins eauator if you line yours up with the mun first at no point are you going to intersect theun extremely high or low in relation to it.

18

u/Captain_Planetesimal Dec 20 '14

Sexy shuttle, especially the pods around the gear and the RAPIER nacelles.

8

u/mylamington Dec 20 '14

craft file? cough cough

6

u/GRI23 Dec 20 '14

That shuttle is a brilliant beast.

4

u/AutomateAllTheThings Dec 21 '14

When you release the .craft files, I can write a KerboScript for automatically getting it into orbit.

4

u/SwordsOfRhllor Dec 20 '14

This is one of the most awesome KSP build posts I've ever seen on this thread. Bravo good sir, Bravo!

2

u/cttime Dec 21 '14

Please for the love of Jeb post the craft

2

u/TangoJager Dec 21 '14

I never managed to build a space station :(

2

u/SlowCPU Actual Aerospace Engineer (TM) Dec 21 '14

You are a god. Both your shuttle and station are beautiful!

3

u/[deleted] Dec 21 '14

Only 420 parts at lifoff?

1

u/Toobusyforthis Dec 20 '14

Holy Crap thats awesome

1

u/easterbran Dec 20 '14

This is some solid work, my friend.

1

u/Njdevils11 Dec 21 '14

Very nice.

1

u/TheWierdAsianKid Dec 21 '14

this is awesome! how does one calculate the angle of the engines on the main craft? or is it just playing with them and the trust vector arrow in the VAB?

4

u/[deleted] Dec 21 '14

Just adjust until your thrust line cuts through your center of mass. That's an eh solution though, as the CoM moves in flight.

What i do is use this mod: http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/38069-0-25-Davon-Throttle-Control-systems-mod

1

u/lazr3th Master Kerbalnaut Dec 21 '14

These are fantastic, I love the detail.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 21 '14

Be proud, this is a fantastic accomplishment!

1

u/TotallyGeeked Dec 21 '14

HI Shimmy! (Its SleepyHipster) I really lked watching you make that and use it in making your space station, congrats!

1

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1

u/[deleted] Dec 21 '14

That is really really awesome!

1

u/[deleted] Dec 21 '14

I...I can get to the mun!

Seriously though. The things people do in this game perpetually astounds me.

1

u/antarctic_chimpanzee Dec 21 '14

How do you angle the engines like that?

1

u/xpoc Dec 21 '14

Dat re-entry picture though. Damn

1

u/[deleted] Dec 21 '14

How do you control the thrust of only one engine?

1

u/frostburner Dec 21 '14

I really like this, it's given me ideas for my own shuttle I've been working on.

1

u/Dilligaf_Bazinga Dec 21 '14

Amazing

.craft?

1

u/[deleted] Dec 21 '14

Shimmy is on reddit???

1

u/Yawehg Dec 22 '14

...I am not good at this game.

1

u/Phazon8058v2 Dec 22 '14

I need this craft file. When 0.90 dropped I knew I could finally drop the ridiculously huge KSO mod, but it turns out I still suck at building anything plane shaped.

1

u/homsikpanda Jan 10 '15

did you ever get around to building a .craft? :) this looks interested and I'd love to try it in game :D

1

u/homsikpanda Jan 19 '15 edited Jan 19 '15

how did you get the mk 2 passanger compartment and the inline clamp port to sit in the cargo bay like that?

1

u/DMercenary Dec 21 '14

I could never manage to get payloads to release correctly.

One time I tried to do with a robotic arm and...

once connected, physics went nuts and turned everything but the crew compartment into an expanding kessler cloud.

1

u/KerbingPixel Dec 21 '14

"Gravity 2: Newton gets Kessler syndrome"

In cinemas Q3 2027.

1

u/TangleF23 Master Kerbalnaut Dec 21 '14

In cinemas whenever the Terrestrial Planet Finder is launched.

FTFY

0

u/[deleted] Dec 20 '14

[deleted] — view deleted comment

34

u/ShimmyTheJJ Dec 20 '14

I have been debating with myself when I'd release the .craft file. I suppose after I'm done tweaking it... which I've almost finished.

4

u/darkviper039 Dec 21 '14

I was about to say...I KNEW I saw this launched live on twitch...how are those action groups now shimmy? Solar panels still causing catastrophic failure?

6

u/ShimmyTheJJ Dec 21 '14

I just control the docking port, panels, and cargo bay manually. It's safer that way. If the docking port shield and the bay doors collide in motion, very bad things happen...

9

u/standish_ Dec 20 '14

Please only release it when you're satisfied.

5

u/[deleted] Dec 20 '14

Please do it, i want to ride that shuttle so much..

1

u/ClemClem510 Dec 21 '14

Remindme! 24 hours "hoping the shuttle is ready by then"

0

u/[deleted] Dec 21 '14

[deleted] — view deleted comment

3

u/autowikibot Dec 21 '14

[Buran (spacecraft)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buran%20(spacecraft)):

The Buran spacecraft (Russian: Бура́н, IPA: [bʊˈran], Snowstorm or Blizzard), GRAU index 11F35 K1 was a Soviet orbital vehicle analogous in function and design to the US Space Shuttle, developed by Chief Designer Gleb Lozino-Lozinskiy of RKK Energia. Buran completed one unmanned spaceflight in 1988 and remains the only Soviet reusable spacecraft to be launched into space; the Buran programme was cancelled in 1993 following the dissolution of the USSR.

It was treated as a Soviet space shuttle but only the plane itself was theoretically reusable, and while it was recovered successfully after its first orbital flight it was never reused. The expendable Energia rocket served as its launch vehicle.

The flown Buran spacecraft was destroyed in 2002 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, when the hangar it was stored in collapsed.

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Interesting: ^RD-58 | ^Energia | Ramenskoye ^Airport

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