Idkgeek's reusability challenge WIP

[Idkgeek]

This thread is to show my reachability challenge progress and to get feedback prior to submission so that when I do go to submit I can decrease the likelyhood of multiple attempts. Here is a rough build which I plan to change alot and evolve until fully optimised and reusable.i plan to do a re-entry burn to reduce complexity and weight so that no heat shield will be needed on the first stage. I also plan to do the dogleg maneuver to reduce fuel usage.

 

[Idkgeek]

https://sharing.spaceflightsimulator.app/rocket/Mwn292aZEe2VVi2XWYf3kQ
Alot of improvements have been made, I took a few pointers from people who have recently completed the challenge. I am currently doing test flights haven't made any recovery hardware yet. Please do give me feedback on my design I'd love to see how I can improve!

 

[Idkgeek]

Some progress but taking it slowly because this is a fun challenge and something for me to do in SFS doing stuff starship style!

 

[Altaïr]

Wow, very good landing!

 

[Idkgeek]

Thanks, Not anywhere near 1st stage but good practice to land it, I'm not sure how I'm going to stack it on top of the 1st stage. Any ideas/help would be really appreciated.

 

[Altaïr]

If you place a docking port on the top you can move it with a system like this one:

That's what I did for my reusable rocket submission.

 

[Idkgeek]

Good idea, i was considering something like that but wasn't too sure how to implement it after a few prototypes i got to this. Now I just need to implement it into a recovery vehicle and get land the second stage with any accuracy, so far the closest I got is the the same quarter of the planet. I am mostly on mobile but do have the pc version, a Good mod idea would be a realistic landing point mark. Something that takes into account the atmosphere and the drag profile of the rocket.

 

[Altaïr]

That would be interesting yes.

To adjust your landing zones, I suggest that you first find a reentry trajectory that works not too bad: quicksave just before your reentry burn while you're still in LEO, then perform your maneuver and see where you land.

If it's not too bad, then restart from that one, make your reentry burn and quicksave again. See where you land, then reload your save and adjust your speed accordingly (slow down a little more if you landed too far for example). Rinse and repeat until you have a satisfying landing. This is a bit tedious but that works in the end. That's how I did it in my mission in IRIS. That was necessary, because the Earth is 5 times bigger in IRIS, so even a small angular difference could result in a great distance.

 

[Idkgeek]

I guess, quite thiniky though, patience and alot of time are things I don't have at the moment. Here's a test of my 2nd stage recovery vehicle.

 

[Altaïr]

Hey not bad! Well, that looks promising for a reusability mission.

 

[Idkgeek]

Thanks took about 5 attempts! Today was just test launches but I did get a few second stages close enough to grab. So I think I'm going to need to have a vehicle to carry the 2nd stage to the 1st but I think I know how I'm going to do it and I am hopeful of a first reuse in a few days! The screen recording is going to be very long and I want to avoid using a bunch of pictures. Is there any why of sending a link (other than youtube) in order for you to access the video?

 

[Pink]

Thanks took about 5 attempts! Today was just test launches but I did get a few second stages close enough to grab. So I think I'm going to need to have a vehicle to carry the 2nd stage to the 1st but I think I know how I'm going to do it and I am hopeful of a first reuse in a few days! The screen recording is going to be very long and I want to avoid using a bunch of pictures. Is there any why of sending a link (other than youtube) in order for you to access the video?

You could upload it to the cloud, such as google drive. Forum attachment and YouTube are best, though.

 

[Idkgeek]

You could upload it to the cloud, such as google drive. Forum attachment and YouTube are best, though.

I would use the forum attachment but the file would be so large (even at low quality and using video compressing algorithms) that it would exceed the limit. I'll probably end up having to do a screen recording and pluck a bunch of screenshots from it.

 

[Idkgeek]

It's allowed to just remove vehicles like that isn't it?
Any testing payload Loader. As you can see a little thiniky but it works just fine. The stage landed about 2.5km away from pad but no need to fear I have a plan! This vehicle has enough space to accommodate a 2nd stage and the right equipment to stack it.

 

[Altaïr]

It's allowed to just remove vehicles like that isn't it?
Any testing payload Loader. As you can see a little thiniky but it works just fine. The stage landed about 2.5km away from pad but no need to fear I have a plan! This vehicle has enough space to accommodate a 2nd stage and the right equipment to stack it.

Yes, it's allowed. Generally speaking you can do whatever you want with ground infrastructures.

 

[Idkgeek]

Ok, great, was just checking. Ion team idea:you can't!

 

[Idkgeek]

Reuse ready! Gonna try for reuse tomorrow/ in a few days!

 

[Idkgeek]

Probably launching between Christmas and New year. As I am busy with the festive season ahead! Might launch tomorrow but highly unlikely and even if I do, video editing will still set me back.

 

[Idkgeek]

If anyone can tell me about some free/cheap video editing software I would really appreiate it I am planning to use IMovie (yes I known it's on IOS) but would like some good alternatives the run on android/windows please!

 

[Idkgeek]

Whilst I have the reusability badge I am still out for a challenge. Here is the current latest version. With the version that got me the badge it was rather difficult to flight more than a few times as the upper tank on the ship was inaccessible and would drain to zero ruining balance. The other things I have added are a stage separation/turn to boost back burn. As well as another landing leg on the ship. Currently it can only carry around 2% in payload mass which is crazy low. It would be like spacex putting a single starlink 1 into starship. Over the coming weeks you can expect me to push this thing harder and harder. Let's see where we get.