Cosmos Shuttle TAKE 4- Fly me to the moon

ILovespace3

ILovespace3

Biker Mice from Mars
ET phone home
Voyager Quest
Floater
Registered
#1
#1
Alright, I'm back, and I have a new version of my Cosmos shuttle. And yes, this is my 4th attempt. Let's have a recap, shall we?

Attempt 1- Didn't launch a payload with a 10% weight of the total mass of the shuttle (And it looked bad.)
Attempt 2- Accidentally broke some parts that weren't a dumped stage on re-entry.
Attempt 3- It just looked bad

So, here we are. I had function down, I just needed to add some aesthetic. As you can see, the Cosmos Shuttle 3.0 had a hole for a cargo bay.
Screenshot_20240105-233329.png


But no longer is this the case! The Cosmos shuttle now has a better cargo bay! Say hello to Cosmos 4.0! (This is technically it's 4.1 variant, but 4.1 only has some small changes.)
Screenshot_20240105-233731.png


Anyways, time to actually do the mission!

Payload: 100ish tons
Shuttle: 649 tons

Launchpad:
Screenshot_20240105-225538.png

LEO:
Screenshot_20240105-225924.png

Payload Deployment: Being honest, I had a hard time with this part. I did have RCS, but it wasn't working for whatever reason. So I had to nudge it out. I probably redid this part multiple times. But I did it!
Screenshot_20240105-231237.png

Return to Earth:
Screenshot_20240105-231544.png

Screenshot_20240105-231631.png

Screenshot_20240105-231811.png

Screenshot_20240105-231841.png

Mission Log:
Screenshot_20240105-231852.png


Well I did it! And I hope I don't get Rank Restricted because I kept failing this challenge. Mooncrasher
 
Pink

Pink

(Mooncrasher)
Staff member
Team Valiant
Discord Staff
Voyager Quest
Man on the Moon
Forum Legend
#3
#3
I can see the improvements, very nice. :) Send me the blueprint please, by any means you like.

I suspect it'll pass if the required mass ratios and efficiencies are still correct, but you just need to deal with the ugly heat shield-nose connection.o_O
Screenshot_20240108-135234-edit-20240108135245.jpg
Options for that:
•A square nose that the heat shield properly fits to. Just because a nose is square, doesn't mean it can't look nice.
•A carefully shaped nose that little heat shields fit on to.
•A nose that's flat only on the hot side so the heat shield fits well on it.
•Anything else you can think of that looks a bunch nicer than what you have currently.
Look at other SFS shuttles for inspiration.

And, yes, similarly, the tail could be better, it's just a single piece awkwardly plonked on. If you integrate it better, or make it out of multiple pieces so it blends in more, that'd be great.

Small info, you shouldn't need a front heat shield that's as high as the cockpit! Can you not keep the shuttle at a steaper angle during re-entery? If not, then consider fixing the balance. My go-to for that is making the nose tank separate from the main tank so I can juggle the little bit of fuel left-over around to make the balance good.
 
ILovespace3

ILovespace3

Biker Mice from Mars
ET phone home
Voyager Quest
Floater
Registered
#4
#4
Mooncrasher said:
I can see the improvements, very nice. :) Send me the blueprint please, by any means you like.
Click to expand...
I can try, but for some reason whenever I press the Share Blueprint button, this happens.
Screenshot_20240108-130856.png

It shows this screen instead of giving me a link. It doesn't even put one in a clipboard. Also, that image is a PNG file that's just a screenshot of the rocket without the grid background. Frustrating
 
Pink

Pink

(Mooncrasher)
Staff member
Team Valiant
Discord Staff
Voyager Quest
Man on the Moon
Forum Legend
#5
#5
ILovespace3 said:
I can try, but for some reason whenever I press the Share Blueprint button, this happens.
View attachment 112696
It shows this screen instead of giving me a link. It doesn't even put one in a clipboard. Also, that image is a PNG file that's just a screenshot of the rocket without the grid background. Frustrating
Click to expand...
I believe that if you press one of the apps (such as discord, if you have it, or any of the messaging apps), it'll generate a post with the link in it
 
Pink

Pink

(Mooncrasher)
Staff member
Team Valiant
Discord Staff
Voyager Quest
Man on the Moon
Forum Legend
#8
#8
ILovespace3 said:
Hello?
Click to expand...
The rest of my post (#3) still applies.
If it wasn't clear enough (in which case my bad), I meant it would pass once you fixed what I mentioned about the nose and tail if everything technical is still OK.
The blueprint was just to make a check if any technical stuff was not ok, just in case. I expected the technical stuff to be ok.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.