Orbiter Screenshot Thread

gamer19 · Nov 29, 2023

francisdrake · Dec 3, 2023

Qualified the Vulcan Centaur to launch a Keyhole spy satellite

LordCroussette · Dec 3, 2023

What a beautiful airplane!

Gargantua2024 · Dec 3, 2023

francisdrake said:
Qualified the Vulcan Centaur to launch a Keyhole spy satellite

Nice. Sometimes I forget the KH-11 spy satellites were just Hubble clones pointed straight down to Earth

Pioneer · Dec 3, 2023

Gargantua2024 said:
Nice. Sometimes I forget the KH-11 spy satellites were just Hubble clones pointed straight down to Earth

Didn't the Air Force donate a bunch of them to Nasa a few years back? What happened to them?

Gargantua2024 · Dec 4, 2023

Pioneer said:
Didn't the Air Force donate a bunch of them to Nasa a few years back? What happened to them?

One was converted into the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope...the other one is still kept in storage

Matias Saibene · Dec 22, 2023

Luke Reichelt · Dec 27, 2023

And now, a shameless promotion for my updated Babylon 5 systems...

Firstly, an Earth Alliance exploratory vessel surveys the gas giant 82 Eridani F, located in the same system as the Narn homeworld, as a Th'Nor-class Narn light cruiser prepares to defend the homeworld from potential invasion.

Next, another Earth Alliance exploratory vessel surveys the gas giant Gliese 8683 B (AKA HD 101930 B), while further out in the system, a Primus-class Centauri battlecruiser awaits orders in orbit around Centauri Prime.

Luke Reichelt · Dec 29, 2023

More shameless promotions for my B5 systems...

First, a Hyperion-class Earth Alliance heavy cruiser enters orbit around Epsilon-3, the third moon of Epsilon Eridani B and location of space station Babylon 5.

Next, the IAS Excalibur prepares to leave the newly-retextured Minbar.

Elsewhere, above the Vorlon homeworld, the Vorlons deploy their most powerful weapon, the Vorlon planet killer, as part of their increasingly desperate efforts to maintain control over the younger races.

Finally, the White Star arrives at the newly-resized Z'ha'dum, just in time to witness the planet self-destruct.

Matias Saibene · Dec 31, 2023

#floatinglikemagic #touchdownpoints

SOFIA, ShuttleCarrier, DreamLifter coming soon.

1987VCRProductions · Dec 31, 2023

It's been awhile, had a crazy year on my end. I've taken some screenshots since the last time I shared so I'll share them now.

I reflew STS-61-F with some upgrades to my simulation. The Centaur G-Prime now uses a Spacecraft4 vessel using the mesh from Space Shuttle Ultra's G-Prime. I adapted the Centaur service structure for Shuttle Fleet 4.8 by splitting the mesh in two and treating it like the IUS support structure.

I flew an alternate STS-87 where Columbia deploys Cassini-Huygens on a Centaur G to Venus for the beginning of its gravity assists to reach Saturn. Again I used Shuttle Fleet 4.8 reskinned with SSU textures. Centaur and support structure also adapted from SSU for my own personal use (I don't intend to steal and redistribute anyone's work, I just like to tinker).

Reflew STS-74. Mir is always a fun time.

Speaking of OV-104 we have Atlantis on her first mission, STS-51-J.

Challenger on 41-C.

To round it all off here's the destruction of Progress M-7 from the perspective of Mir.

N_Molson · Dec 31, 2023

Cool station building!

Marcin · Dec 31, 2023

Happy New Year!

1987VCRProductions · Jan 1, 2024

N_Molson said:
Cool station building!

Still occasionally returning to my Mir Historical Scenarios folder. I have all the flights to Mir simulated up to May 1991, plus all the Shuttle flights to Mir which are in my STS Historical Scenarios folder. I intend to simulate them all the way up to the station’s controlled deorbit in 2001. I have the NORAD tracking data for Mir so it’s just a matter of finding the given elements I need for any given date and plugging them in when I build the scenarios.

The most tedious part of doing all the missions is the sheer amount of Progress resupply missions. Part of me wants to skip ahead and do all the Soyuz missions first and fill in the gaps later, but I feel like that’s cheating. I wanted to experience the story of Mir as it unfolded, one launch, undocking and deorbit, and undocking and landing at a time. One thing I would like is a model of the original Progress spacecraft which was based on the Soyuz 7K-T and had no solar panels. Just would like to have it as a Spacecraft4 vessel, nothing fancy. The Progress M looks a bit wrong for the earlier resupply missions prior to 1989.