Project CST-100

[Kyle]

Where did you find that picture, Kyle ? Sources about the CST-100 are so scarce that any information is valuable.

Facebook. :thumbup: The Commercial Crew page, to be specific.

 

[ky]

I loaded the new meshes in Orbiter. I had to open them with MeshWizard and rotate them by X+90°.

It also seem we have a texture problem. The meshes all appear perfect black. I converted the capsule mesh in Anim8tor format to have a look into the materials, interestingly Anim8tor sends me a warning "Texture 0!.bmp can't be found". Also, the D3D9 client seems puzzled, the debug shows that line when loading the mesh, though it does not consider this as an error :

Applying custom configuration to a mesh (???)

Did you test the mesh on your computer (you can try replace the Carina mesh by yours for example) ? Do the textures display correctly ?

On my side I can still edit the mesh in Anim8tor and try to apply textures "manually", but for that I'll need a bitmap. Or you can send me pictures of your texturing work, maybe some files you used, and I'll do my best to reproduce it as closely as possible (that's a last resort solution).

Else, from what I can see, the new meshes look cool. Notice that the window on the capsule is still missing (but I noticed you've made a hatch ).

Edit : I first tried the meshes without the MeshWizard rotation trick, so the problem is unrelated.

I think I know what happened, I forgot to define the materials in the meshes, Ill fix it and resend

---------- Post added 07-14-13 at 03:37 PM ---------- Previous post was 07-13-13 at 09:39 PM ----------

Updated Meshes: http://www.mediafire.com/?a95kg45tzf9nb98

 

[N_Molson]

Ah, this time it looks better ! The only thing is that the "Chute Cover" don't match exactly the capsule. So we can see through the "gaps". To solve this, make sure that both meshes have the same number of faces and that those faces are aligned. That way it will look more smooth. Also, some thrusters are missing.

---------- Post added 07-15-13 at 10:27 AM ---------- Previous post was 07-14-13 at 11:53 PM ----------

There are still alignement / deformation problems with the meshes, too :

In red, the perfect circles and lines I drawn to show a reference.
In green, the boxes highlight the areas where deformation effects are the most visible.

This is a "perfect" top view, all the vessel boxes of the rocket (pressing F9) were aligned.

 

[Capt_hensley]

Ah, this time it looks better ! The only thing is that the "Chute Cover" don't match exactly the capsule. So we can see through the "gaps".

The top cap plate is missing, I recognize the thruster ports interior cups.

 

[N_Molson]

I recognize the thruster ports interior cups.

But are those really thrusters ? It seems to me that they are already enough of them to control the capsule.

 

[Capt_hensley]

But are those really thrusters ? It seems to me that they are already enough of them to control the capsule.

Yaw & pitch Re-entry thrusters, the other paired thrusters are for Aft Thrust slowing or stoping forward motion when the SM is jetisoned. But with all the design changes I could be wrong. It's been a while since I've examined the capsule concept and boiler plates.

I was thinking when class is over in Oct, and I'm not deployed I could put some time in on new meshes, I'm getting better and should be able to make a proper hatch, and pop panels for the chutes and airbags. Just a thought. Don't let this stop developement, I look forward to flying it.

 

[ky]

Yaw & pitch Re-entry thrusters, the other paired thrusters are for Aft Thrust slowing or stopping forward motion when the SM is jettisoned. But with all the design changes I could be wrong. It's been a while since I've examined the capsule concept and boiler plates.

I was thinking when class is over in Oct, and I'm not deployed I could put some time in on new meshes, I'm getting better and should be able to make a proper hatch, and pop panels for the chutes and airbags. Just a thought. Don't let this stop development, I look forward to flying it.

It would be great if you could :thumbup:

---------- Post added at 09:17 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:44 PM ----------

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfn_g-TnE74"]Boeing's CST-100, a Commercial Spacecraft Candidate for the ISS - YouTube[/ame]

 

[N_Molson]

Heat shield jettison after main parachutes deployement :

Also worked on the Centaur stage (again, meshing the complex plumbing at the aft). It's getting better and I should soon be able to work on the SE version.

 

[ky]

http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/...ites-media-to-view-cst-100-spacecraft-mockup/ <<< Hopefully some great pics will come out of this.

 

[Capt_hensley]

http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/...ites-media-to-view-cst-100-spacecraft-mockup/ <<< Hopefully some great pics will come out of this.

The Mockup as I recal has been madeover 3 times since it's original construction based on the DRM in 2004. I wonder what color it will be this time?

 

[N_Molson]

'k so right now I'm in the CM thrusters configuration and setup. What is certain from the Boeing stuff I looked at again is that the 4 big circular holes in the chute cover beige part are not thrusters. No idea of what is it, might be sensors, vents, pressurization valves...

I think that the pitch/yaw thrusters work in groups of 4, or rather 2*2. You have those that are right under the chute cover, and those that are near the heatshield. If they ignite simultenaously 2 by 2 on opposite sides, it creates a nice pitch or yaw momentum, much more efficient that using only the "top" thrusters. Or the 4*2 "bottom" thrusters can be fired simultaneously but independantly of the "top" ones, which allows a "retropropulsion", that can be useful to get away from the SM, or fine-tune the entry angle after separation.

The other thrusters, also located at the bottom and have exhausts that aim sideways, are obviously for roll control. I'm going to have pain finding the right 3-dimensional vector, though, I'm not good at 3D-trigonometry. Well, in a first time an approximation will be acceptable.

I also guess that the "chute cover" part, as the name implies, is only a cover, and is jettisoned after re-entry, like between 15 and 10 km of altitude. Pure speculation, though, but I notice it isn't present in the droptest pics, so...

 

[Capt_hensley]

Thanks this will help when I and if I get to it.

 

[N_Molson]

Tried a full reentry with that thruster setup. It works, the capsule can be controlled to adjust descent rate or North/South deviation. Parachutes deploy in sequence, heatshield drops, nice.

Now I'll try to setup the SM thrusters, and take into account the CG displacement before and after CM separation.

---------- Post added at 02:45 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:28 AM ----------

Here's my guess about the thrusters pods, makes sense to me.

Working on it, managed to find a way to shift the CG and redefine the thrusters groups when separating the capsule from the CM. Left/Right Up/Down linear control ok.

 

[N_Molson]

I'm finished with the RCS setup (for now, some refinements may come later). As a test, I tried to dock the ISS and everything went very smoothly.

That spacecraft has a LOT of thrusters ! Which allows a good control.

 

[ky]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/theboeingcompany/9341740101/sizes/l/in/photostream/

Boeing recently demonstrated that astronauts in its Crew Space Transportation (CST)-100 capsule will be able to safely exit the spacecraft during an emergency water landing.

Although the CST-100 is designed to land on the ground, Boeing engineers worked with NASA and Department of Defense search-and-recovery personnel to test several emergency water-extraction scenarios.

“Crew safety is our top priority,” said Alex Diaz, Boeing director for the testing. “A water landing is unlikely, but it’s important that we test the spacecraft in all potential scenarios.”

The testing was done July 8 at Bigelow Aerospace in North Las Vegas, Nev., as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Integrated Capability (CCiCap) initiative.

The CST-100 will transport crew members and cargo to low Earth orbit destinations such as the International Space Station and Bigelow’s planned station. The first piloted orbital flight of the CST-100 capsule is scheduled for 2016.

 

[N_Molson]

I'd like to be in that swimming pool playing with that mockup. So hot here.

The first piloted orbital flight of the CST-100 capsule is scheduled for 2016.

I really hope so !

 

[ky]

I'd like to be in that swimming pool playing with that mockup. So hot here.



I really hope so !

2014 will be a very busy year for Boeing, and hopefully they can accomplish everything ahead of schedule.

Also, the press event was today (Those pics from before were uploaded by Boeing to flickr about an hour ago) various news agencies are there covering it, so hopefully by the end of the day we can get some good pics from it.

http://www.parabolicarc.com/2013/07/22/nasa-astronauts-test-out-boeings-cst-100-spacecraft/

Here we go http://www.collectspace.com/news/news-072213a.html

 

[N_Molson]

Nice pics.

Nothing yet on L2...

 

[ky]

Nice pics.

Nothing yet on L2...

Huh, thought they'd be on top of this more than any other news agency.

 

[N_Molson]

Huh, thought they'd be on top of this more than any other news agency.

There is an awesome amount of stuff concerning the Space Shuttle. More than you could ever dream of. The ISS is very well covered. Excellent historical section too, with rare HQ pics & videos, including early russian programs. About the CST-100, only a 5-pages thread, with the pics I sent you. :shrug:

By the way, I notice on one pic you posted that lessons from Apollo 1 have been learned. Even press shows mockups are equipped with fire extinguishers.