Team Hawk Entry

[Blazer Ayanami]

Right I have one hinge design that works great in zero gravity, basically one extending strut, a pair of 2m seperators, and a pair of 1m docking. Doesn't work in high gravity like parked on the landing pad.

I have another design which works in high gravity, a bit complicated with two wheels, two extending struts and a pair of 1m docking. Problem is the design is different for top and bottom, so a lot of parts.

I need to come up with something that is simple, and is going to work in both situations, if my shuttle is also going to be reuseable.

Any suggestions?

There is no problem if it doesn’t works in high gravity. The real STS’ doors didn’t work in Earth’s gravity. A machine manipulated them, when the orbiters were on the ground. So, maybe you can use another vehicle, like a crane, or a skycrane to help you move them on the ground.

 

[Junipurr]

How about a crawler to hold the door while you reload the shuttle?

This is a good idea, I can use the simple zero gravity design, then add another docking port for the crawler to grab onto.

 

[Junipurr]

There is no problem if it doesn’t works in high gravity. The real STS’ doors didn’t work in Earth’s gravity. A machine manipulated them, when the orbiters were on the ground. So, maybe you can use another vehicle, like a crane, or a skycrane to help you move them on the ground.

Yes, I have plans of building another ground platform specifically for loading new satellites into the Shuttle, I just need to incorporate something to hold the door open on the same BP as the new platform. I like the input, especially when I feel like I am blocked.

 

[TtTOtW]

Blazer and I did this a year ago as the pioneers of this level of reusability, in competition with one another . We know all too well the problems and solutions.

 

[Junipurr]

Blazer and I did this a year ago as the pioneers of this level of reusability, in competition with one another . We know all too well the problems and solutions.

Gearing up for first test flight and hopefully landing of my Empty Reusable Shuttle.

 

[TtTOtW]

Nice design. The use of economy engines would notably increase your delta v.

 

[Junipurr]

Blazer and I did this a year ago as the pioneers of this level of reusability, in competition with one another . We know all too well the problems and solutions.

Nice design. The use of economy engines would notably increase your delta v.

Okay, so I have had a lot of crashes trying to land this thing, so I am making some adjustments and see if that makes it more controllable.

 

[Junipurr]

Except for touching my tail on a hill, this was a soft landing. In future I hope to touchdown on the nice flat Landing pad. Now I can start building and modifing all the secondaries to fit with this design.

 

[TtTOtW]

It's got that subtle hint of Concorde to it...

 

[Junipurr]

It's got that subtle hint of Concorde to it...

I love the Concord and its Russian counterpart. It did have some maintenance flaws towards the end of its useful lifecycle.

My shuttle is deceiving, it looks narrow, but has a huge cargo area. It can fit two 4m x 13m Payloads. I am currently working on the matching Gantry and Crawler Platforms.

Warning, major monotribe about my ground platforms...

Two cars for opening/closing doors. Two cars for replacing Parachute arrays. Two cars for loading payloads, this last might not work if the door hinges get in the way. I might have to reduce the size of the payload to 4m x 10m.

Later I will modify the bigger parts to suit this project. A Platform for each Gantry. Platform to lift the Shuttle from Horizontal to Vertical. Platform for Booster. Platform to keep Shuttle steady while being loaded.

I didn't realise how much ground gear I would need for this design. It is not a big issue, because I already have a lot of similar BP, and I designed my Shuttle to mesh with most of the existing Platforms.

The little stand under the shuttle meshes with my standard Platform BP. The big docking port on the belly of the Shuttle is at the same height as most of my rocket BP. The legs can lift the Platforms/Stands when I have difficulty attaching or detacting assemblies.

The stands aren't powered, because they are designed to cussion the assembled rockets on engine ignition. Once everything is primed, I undock the stand, the rocket falls onto the wheels which push the rocket back up. By the time I hit the On button, the rocket has bounced off the stand and is already moving upwards slowly. Unfortunately the stand can't hold the weight of the rocket indefinitely, as the wheels start snapping one at a time.

I am getting excited as this project takes shape. The parts look nice, despite my main goal being function.

 

[SFSAbhishek]

It would be great if you post a screen recorded video of this whole thing, cause I had never seen so much of refurbishment. We just add a new payload and refuel the rocket.

 

[SFSAbhishek]

Here is how I did my Realistic Reusability by going on moon and Mars without loosing anything other than fuel. It was a challenge and still no one has given a reply on it.

 

[James Brown]

Except for touching my tail on a hill, this was a soft landing. In future I hope to touchdown on the nice flat Landing pad. Now I can start building and modifing all the secondaries to fit with this design.

View attachment 51984

Thank you sis I got the idea on how to make the space shuttle now!!!!

 

[Marmilo]

How does the booster look like?

 

[Junipurr]

It would be great if you post a screen recorded video of this whole thing, cause I had never seen so much of refurbishment. We just add a new payload and refuel the rocket.

I don't like making videos. Too much pressure, then the post-editting is hell. I will do a series of screenshots on Chronological order, but I haven't decided if I am going to start from empty, or finish with refueled.

This is going to be a dozy with about eight BP, many being used multiple times, so I may limit the number of screen dumps. Maybe half as many as I usually do per leg. If I do it similar to how I documented my Space Station Mission, we are probably looking at 80 screen shots, so I am going to aim for only 40 highlights.

I also have to deal with a 2D world, where ground vehicles can only move left and right, and can't go around other ground vehicles.


Current Planned Module List:
Empty Shuttle
Empty Booster
Shuttle Adapter
Booster Adapter
Platform H1600 (Efficient Mega Crawler)
Platform V1700 (Rotating Mega Crawler)
Gantry Module (For Doors and Parachutes)
Payload Module (A second Gantry)


With this current group of BPs, I am probably going to do the following schedule:

-Starting with Empty Shuttle on Landing Pad in Horizontal position, Empty Booster nearby (right side), some ground vehicles nearby. Gantries not yet spawned. Lift Shuttle back into Verticle positon.

-Attach Empty Booster to Empty Shuttle (Right side). Remove Shuttle Adapter temporarily. Despawn V1700 and Shuttle Adapter (Clear Left side).

- Spawn in another H1600 (Left Side) and the First Gantry, Open Doors, attach new Parachutes, despawn Gantry.

-Spawn in Second Gantry, Load Payload, despawn. Re-spawn First Gantry, Close Doors, and despawn again.

-Respawn Shuttle Adaptor and attach. Use Crawler Platforms to refuel Shuttle and Booster. Despawn all ground vehicles, except Adaptors.

-Launch part 1, Booster separates in High Earth Atmosphere, while Shuttle climbs to highly eliptical sub-orbital trajectory. Switch when Booster falls to 15km.

-Landing part 1, Landing Empty Booster safely near Landing Pad (Left Side). Switch back to Shuttle as soon as it is on the ground.

-Launch part 2, Reach HEO with Shuttle, Open Doors, delploy Payload. Accelerate Payload to VEEGA.

-Landing part 2, Re-spawn H1600 Crawler and Booster Adapter. Bring Empty Booster back to Landing Pad (Right Side). Re-spawn V1700 Crawler and Shuttle Adaptor (Left Side.)

-Landing part 3, Shuttle closes own doors, retro burn, precise trajectory back to Landing zone, start re-entry procedure.

-Landing part 4, 15km retroburn. 10km retroburn. Precision Glide towards Landing zone. 2.5km open parachutes. Precision touchdown on Landing Pad, roll to a stop. All vehicles should be in same place I started, except those that only spawned midway.

 

[Junipurr]

How does the booster look like?

I haven't made that yet, it is next on my to do list.

 

[Blazer Ayanami]

Okay, so I have had a lot of crashes trying to land this thing, so I am making some adjustments and see if that makes it more controllable.

Parachutes are not the only solution. You can add Harrier-style hover engines to help you land softer and horizontally.

If you don’t want, you can still use your SSMEs. Descent vertically until you are almost on the ground (above 20-50 m above the surface) then fire then, reduce your speed to almost zero and turn horizontally hoping for the best.

This is a little risky, but it works too.

Except for touching my tail on a hill, this was a soft landing. In future I hope to touchdown on the nice flat Landing pad. Now I can start building and modifing all the secondaries to fit with this design.

View attachment 51984

Yeah, landing on the launchpad is not easy.
You are going to need to practice that.

 

[Junipurr]

Argh, making the Booster Rocket and all its extras, five BP.

I am seeing a huge problem here. I now have four Gantry BP, mainly because I am using parachutes to land both the Shuttle and Booster. I need to replace the parachutes, all 24 of them.

I saw the Parachutes as fuel savers, but they are turning into a major hassle. Thinking of redesigning everything with no Parachutes, just Retroburn on Landing.

 

[Junipurr]

Parachutes are not the only solution. You can add Harrier-style hover engines to help you land softer and horizontally.

If you don’t want, you can still use your SSMEs. Descent vertically until you are almost on the ground (above 20-50 m above the surface) then fire then, reduce your speed to almost zero and turn horizontally hoping for the best.

This is a little risky, but it works too.

Yeah, landing on the launchpad is not easy.
You are going to need to practice that.

Right, I have had some experience trying to dock a thousand ton rocket like a lander on the launch pad, major pain. I think with the Redesign, I am going to put long wheel stuts, so I can land on rough terrain.

 

[Blazer Ayanami]

Right, I have had some experience trying to dock a thousand ton rocket like a lander on the launch pad, major pain. I think with the Redesign, I am going to put long wheel stuts, so I can land on rough terrain.

Yeah, and consider the possibility of using hover engines to avoid being forced to replace every single parachute.

 

[Junipurr]

Yeah, and consider the possibility of using hover engines to avoid being forced to replace every single parachute.

So it isn't a big issue, but I am going to want to work out how much fuel it takes me to land the Booster later. Luckily I already made the booster bottom heavy, so aerodynamically, it should fall tail first.

I feel daft for not realising this sooner. Stuck in 1970 mentality.

 

[TtTOtW]

3% to 15%, depending on your amount of practice and experience, skill and just how much of a daredevil you are.

 

[Marmilo]

3% to 15%, depending on your amount of practice and experience, skill and just how much of a daredevil you are.

It depends on the craft.

 

[TtTOtW]

It depends on the craft.

Drag and aero/mass distribution has a lot to do with it, yes. But by far the primary factor is still the pilot.

 

[Junipurr]

Redesign complete.

Now only 7 BP instead of 13.

Shuttle Empty V2
Booster Empty V2
Shuttle Adapter V2
Booster Adapter V2
Crawler V4800
Crawler H2200
Gantry V2

Start with:
Empty Shuttle (Right)
Empty Booster (Far Right)

1) Assemble Shuttle with Booster.
-Spawn Crawler V4800 move left
-Spawn Shuttle Adapter, dock
-Lift Shuttle to Verticle, move far left
-Spawn Crawler H2200 move left
-Spawn Booster Adapter, dock
-Partially Refuel Booster, then jump over Crawler H2200 with Adapter attached to corner.
-Dock with Crawler H2200 again, more fuel transferred.
-Undock Booster Adapter, then do skip manouvre to get Booster on top of adapter.
-Dock Booster with Empty shuttle, move everything right.
-Transfer all remaining fuel out of Crawler V4800, and despawn.

2) Load Payload into Shuttle and finish refuelling.
-Spawn another Crawler 2200, move left.
-Spawn Gantry V2, dock and position beside Shuttle.
-Top and Bottom Cars open Shuttle doors.
-Two Middle Cars load Payload.
-Top and Bottom Cars close Shuttle doors, and lock them.
-Despawn Gantry V2.
-Dock left Crawler H2200 with Shuttle.
-Transfer fuel from both Crawlers until Shuttle and Booster full.
-Despawn both Crawlers.

3) Launch sequence.
-Verticle Launch.
-Booster Separates at about 20% fuel remaining, slightly right.
-Shuttle turns hard and heads towards HEO.
-When Booster has fallen to about 15km, switch.
-Land Booster a fair way right of Landing Pad using Retroburn.
-As soon as Booster Lands safely, switch back to Shuttle.
-Shuttle burn to HEO orbit.
-Shuttle opens own doors.
-Separate Payload.
-Accelerate Payload toward VEEGA.
-Close Shuttle Doors and lock.

4) Landing Sequence
-1st Retroburn Shuttle from HEO, aiming for Booster.
-Sudden Retroburn at 5km, aiming for just right of pad.
-Shuttle and Booster should be at original starting positions.