Project Fictional Space Shuttle Program

[Cras]

Buran didn't fail. It worked perfectly on the first test flight and then the project was canceled. If they continued, Buran would have serviced MIR, much like on the joint Shuttle/MIR that actually happened.
It was also planned to do a manned Soyuz + automated Buran docking.

I have seen accounts who said that the Buran that 'worked perfectly' was in pretty bad shape after its unmanned test flight. And I have no problems with it being called a failure. I call Constellation a failure as well.

 

[4throck]

I'm not seeking an argument, not at all, I simply fail to follow your the logic.
Please explain how something that works is as failure...

It launched, it orbited, it landed. All good.

That Buran version (v1) was meant to test the system and fly automated. The life support systems weren't there on 1.01 (the one that flew). V1.02 could be entered by astronauts once is space. Only v2 was suitable for manned launch.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buran_program#Planned_flights)


Of course, we all know that Soviet spacecraft always function perfectly. If not, it was because of sabotage by the evil West

As for Constelation, isn't it a powerpoint rocket/craft?

 

[Fabri91]

Plus IIRC also Columbia was in a relatively bad shape after the first flight, with for example the body-flap moved waaay past its stop and some dropped-off TPS tiles.

 

[Urwumpe]

Plus IIRC also Columbia was in a relatively bad shape after the first flight, with for example the body-flap moved waaay past its stop and some dropped-off TPS tiles.

Yes, because the sound suppression system had not been designed for containing the ignition blast of the SRBs.

 

[Fabri91]

Wasn't the sound suppression system only installed for later launches?

 

[DaveS]

Wasn't the sound suppression system only installed for later launches?

No. The MLPs were originally only equipped to dampen the acoustic shockwaves from the SSMEs. Following STS-1 the MLPs were equipped with a dedicated SRB Ignition Overpressure (IOP) suppression system which consisted of a water deluge system and a series of water bags installed into the SRB exhaust holes of the MLP.

 

[Andy44]

I don't know why I've never surfed this particular wiki page, but it looks like three missions were already planned for Enterprise before they decided not to refit her:

July 16, 1981 STS-17 39-A
deployment of Intelsat V satellite and retrieval of Long Duration Exposure Facility

September 30, 1981 STS-20 39-A
Spacelab mission

November 25, 1981 STS-22 39-A
Spacelab mission

Wikipedia's citation:
Portree, David S F (March 24, 2012). "What Shuttle Should Have Been: The October 1977 Flight Manifest". Wired.com. Retrieved November 7, 2012

 

[garyw]

That's the dual keel design, it has a very neat satellite hanger which you can see on the top right of the main truss.

this is freedom:

As an aside, the current ISS design is also sometimes called 'Alpha'. This is because after freedom was rejected NASA presented three plans, Alpha, Bravo and Charlie. Alpha was selected.

 

[Urwumpe]

Yes, there had also been many different designs investigated in the 1980s for reuseable spacetugs, that had been constructed and maintained in space by Space Shuttles and the dual keel space station. Really interesting mission designs, from GSO missions to manned lunar landings.

http://www.astronautix.com/craft/otv.htm

http://www.astronautix.com/craft/omv.htm

 

[skyballer455]

Sorry for the delay...

Hello everybody!

I apologize for the long delay. I just lost interest in Orbiter for some reason. Between moving and other obligations, I had no room in my thoughts for the project. But it was just recently that I finally got around to possibly returning to the project.

I believe that this project, despite being in the planning stages, could one day be a great addon.

It is only appropriate that this be a community effort, due to the tremendous amount of work that would need to be done. Pioneer has already offered to join the effort.

This project would require:

1) Better launch pads 39A and B as the one that comes with the sim is crappy to say the least

2) A better Edwards AFB since the one that comes with Orbiter is just a runway.

3) Modern day paint job for Challenger.

4) Paint jobs for Enterprise (80's, 90's, and Present Day)

5) Custom payloads (as needed, see below)

That is quite a lot of work for one man to do.

Some ideas I have come up with for the project:

1) Release the missions by year i. e. a 1978 missions pack with the missions that will fly 1978 etc.

2) Building on 1, working on the mission packs one by one and thus releasing the mission packs as we complete them.

3) Possibly having Shuttle-C missions (even though imho it looks ugly lol)

4) IASSIO (Install A Space Station In Orbit) Flights starting with research missions in the late 80's and finishing in the early 90's.

5) Some DoD missions

6) Missions originating as Vandenburg AFB

I hope there is still interest in this project, as I think it is a great idea to say the least.

If you are interested in being involved in this project, please respond to this thread or PM me. With our combined efforts, we can make this possible addon great.

Thank you!

 

[Andy44]

Better launch pads 39A and B as the one that comes with the sim is crappy to say the least

If you're going to call other peoples' work, which they gave you for free, by the way, "crappy", you are off on the wrong foot.

Other than that, it seems like a neat idea.

 

[orbitingpluto]

This project would require:

Long list of requirements

I'd suggest making use of Orbiter Hanger and making use of what is already there. You'd run into problem if you started bundling stuff together without permission from the authors, but having a few required addons wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing. It'd make it easier to actually release your pack in the end, because you would have less things to make from scratch. For instance, Kev has made a few different LC 39 pads, you could chose one of his that you like and then not need to mesh your own. There's a few Edwards AFBs to chose from, a few Vandenbergs, Shuttle abort sites packs, and much more on not only Orbiter Hanger, but also Orbiter Francophone too. Make use of what prior work you can, while seeing what authors are around that could give you permission to bundle their work into your pack.

Speaking of prior work and authors....

1) Better launch pads 39A and B as the one that comes with the sim is crappy to say the least

Those pads were made by Martin Schweiger himself, by hand in notepad and vertex by vertex, if I heard about it correctly. Even if that is an exaggeration, it still took time and effort to make, and it was given to the world without charge. Be more civil when discussing things you do not like next time.

 

[Graham2001]

Glad to see you return to this.

For a long list of things to launch, in addition to what was launched in history.

See this thread:

Shuttle Payloads That Never Flew

 

[skyballer455]

If you're going to call other peoples' work, which they gave you for free, by the way, "crappy", you are off on the wrong foot.

Those pads were made by Martin Schweiger himself, by hand in notepad and vertex by vertex, if I heard about it correctly. Even if that is an exaggeration, it still took time and effort to make, and it was given to the world without charge. Be more civil when discussing things you do not like next time.

I apologize for that. I did not mean in the slightest to undermine Martin Shweiger's work. I am sure it took quite a lot of effort. I was just referring to how it would look if we used it in the addon.

Hope that clears that up.

 

[PhantomCruiser]

Have you seen the shuttle launch sequence for Thorton's ISS? That launchpad is pretty snazzy, and it's got moving parts.

 

[skyballer455]

Have you seen the shuttle launch sequence for Thorton's ISS? That launchpad is pretty snazzy, and it's got moving parts.

Yes I have. I'm highly considering using it in the addon.

 

[Cras]

I use Thorton's various shuttle fleet upgrades in all my SF flights. There is the launch pad, and a add-on bay vessel that will sync up with the pad for a 9 minute countdown, along with adding various other visual upgrades.

Things to keep in mind....

Use a vehicle that does not have an ODS, as Thorton's uses its own ODS and it looks quite good. Thorton's also uses the bay vessel to add an OBSS, so dont bother adding that to your Shuttle either.

 

[skyballer455]

I use Thorton's various shuttle fleet upgrades in all my SF flights. There is the launch pad, and a add-on bay vessel that will sync up with the pad for a 9 minute countdown, along with adding various other visual upgrades.

Could you provide links for those?

Also, how can I incorporate them into the Shuttle Fleet scenarios?

 

[Cras]

[ame="http://orbithangar.com/searchid.php?ID=3737"]International Space Station v.3.2[/ame]

This is ISS 3.2 aka Thorton's ISS.

I recommend opening the various scenarios and take a look at what it does with both the LC-39, and as well as the Shuttle Fleet orbiter. You will also notice that you can add in runway search lights too if you want.

I recommend attaching the bay vessel like those scenarios do, use the Shuttle Fleet's own integrated attachment system to put your own payloads in, use Launch MFD to find your launch window, save the scenario at half meco time + 540 seconds, that way you will have time for the countdown and automatic launch sequence, and launch in plane.

Erase the TIMER lines you will see for both the LC-39 pad and the shuttle's bay vessel, enter your desired launch heading as laid out in the Shuttle Fleet manual. The Pad will be animated, the Shuttle will launch automatically, no need to press ITEM 777 into GPC MFD or anything like that, sit back and watch the show.

I might be skipping some steps by accident, this is just a thing I have done so many times, i have set up I dont even know how many custom Shuttle missions for my VSA using ISS 3.2's add-ons like this that I just kinda go into robotic mode.

 

[skyballer455]

Thanks for the info Cras!

I tried following your information by using the LC39B launch pad from the STS-116 scenario in ISS with the Challenger launch from Shuttle Fleet.

There are three problems:

1) The vanilla LC39B launch pad still shows up and overlaps the ISS launchpad.

2) The shuttle is off center

3) And the most glaring problem: The countdown is normal but when it reaches zero, the smoke comes starts spewing from the pad as usual but the shuttle doesn't take off! :facepalm:

Am i doing something wrong here?