New Release STS-30 (Atlantis) and Magellan for Orbiter2016

Gargantua2024

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Magellan is an American spacecraft sent to orbit Venus to obtain high-resolution radar maps of the surface from 1990-1994. On this day, the maps obtained is still the most-detailed map of the Venusian surface ever made.

This is an addon many months in the making, and actually finished in May but unable to upload because of the virus.

Original mesh from david413's STS Payloads Expansion Pack for Fleet V4.8.


Thanks to gattispilot for his STS-2016 and his modifications to the Magellan mesh! And a huge thank you to 1987VCRProductions and DaveS for clarifying the specifications of the IUS!


CONTROLS:
[SHIFT]+K = Deploy/Retract Solar Array
A = Activate/Fire the Star-48B stage


REQUIRED ADDONS:
1) Project - Space Transportation System 2016 by gattispilot
2) Project - VesselBuilder by fred18
3) STS-51L Challenger by hutchison66
4) Galileo by hutchison66




DOWNLOAD LINK
 
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1987VCRProductions

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How I solved the under-powered IUS issue when I was tinkering with the old version of the add-on to work with the STS Payloads IUS was assuming that the weight of Magellan given by Wikipedia was the combined weight of both Magellan and the Star-48 SRM, meaning that all the IUS has to push is 3,449 kg, rather than that and whatever the Star-48 was supposed to weigh.

That may or may not be fudging the numbers, but it works.
 

Gargantua2024

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How I solved the under-powered IUS issue when I was tinkering with the old version of the add-on to work with the STS Payloads IUS was assuming that the weight of Magellan given by Wikipedia was the combined weight of both Magellan and the Star-48 SRM, meaning that all the IUS has to push is 3,449 kg, rather than that and whatever the Star-48 was supposed to weigh.

That may or may not be fudging the numbers, but it works.
So it means that the Magellan+Star 48B is heavier than it should be, explaining why its IUS is underperforming?
 

1987VCRProductions

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From what I understand, yes. No amount of futzing with the IUS did anything, so I instead focused on the Magellan. The STS-30 Press Kit (at least to me) suggests that the Star-48 was considered part of the Magellan spacecraft as a whole, which would mean that its weight is incorporated into the total launch weight of the spacecraft. In other words, the 2,141 kg weight of the Star-41 is considered part of the total weight of the Magellan, which is listed as 3,449 kg.

Here is the press kit for STS-30: https://spacepresskit.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/sts-30.pdf

Pages 19-21 discuss the Magellan spacecraft and its systems. Page 23 also discusses the spacecraft.
 
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Gargantua2024

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I think I see what's the problem: on the press kit, it says the IUS used on Magellan is also two-staged like all others (TDRS, Galileo etc.) instead of a single one. However, on the image taken below, I don't see the second stage of the IUS
1292_Magellan_deploy.jpg

If it is indeed a half-IUS only (1st stage used only), maybe Magellan+SRM is indeed heavier than intended on Orbiter...

Need to re-read the press kit if I miss anything, thanks!
 

1987VCRProductions

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The second stage is there. It looks like the forward part of its structure was flattened to accommodate the struts that support Magellan. But yeah, both IUS stages are there.
 

1987VCRProductions

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You cannot shut down a solid rocket motor after you light it, so I think they reduced the size of the fuel area in the second stage strategically so it would end up with the precise amount of delta-V required for the burn to Venus. The first stage looks unchanged to me.
 

DaveS

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The second stage is there. It looks like the forward part of its structure was flattened to accommodate the struts that support Magellan. But yeah, both IUS stages are there.
The top of the second stage was always flat. What went atop it was called the Payload Attach Fitting (PAF). All the avionics lived inside the Equipment Support Section (ESS) of the second stage.
 

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Gargantua2024

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So I tried to modify the magellanius.msh on Blender and took away everything except the support struts....
1.png
...but since I do not know yet how to make meshes on my own (it is gattispilot's work including the Magellan spacecraft itself and the Star-48B stage), I decided to use the IUS from Galileo since the 2nd stage made is flat....
2.png
...and I was thrilled that the support struts from Gattispilot match those from hutchison66 perfectly!
3.png
....tested out earlier this day and IT BROKE FREE OF EARTH'S GRAVITY! It does use a 2-stage IUS after all this time:ROFLMAO:

Some few things needed to tweak a little before updating to OHM (will now require the Galileo addon for the IUS to appear)
 
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Gargantua2024

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UPDATE: 2020-Sept-3

Thanks to 1987VCRProductions and DaveS, the IUS issue has been fixed! A new control has been added to Magellan that acts as an "arming" button to the Star-48B stage so that it could not be used accidentally on the interplanetary cruise. Press "A" at Venus Orbit Insertion
STS-30 (Atlantis).png
However, I apologize that the TransX flight plan to Venus for Magellan is badly plotted out. Any help in the TransX flight plan to Magellan is very appreciated. Thank you in advance :cheers:
 
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1987VCRProductions

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Here's my personal TransX plot for Magellan:

Code:
BEGIN_MFD Left
  TYPE User
  MODE TransX
  Ship  STS-30
  FNumber 3
  Int 1
  Orbit True
  Vector  -384895.100815 581385.700805 6332795.11754
  Vector  -406.821116376 11.1643166711 -25.7507507577
  Double  3.98600439969e+014
  Double  47650.8671615
  Handle Earth
  Handle NULL
  Handle NULL
Select Target
 0 Escape
Autoplan
0 0
Plan type
0 0
Plan
0 1
Plan
0 0
Plan
0 0
Select Minor
 0 None
Manoeuvre mode
0 0
Auto-Center™
0 0
Base Orbit
0 0
Prograde vel.
 1  0
Man. date
 1  47650.8671614
Outward vel.
 1  0
Ch. plane vel.
 1  0
Intercept with
0 0
Orbits to Icept
0 0
Graph projection
0 0
Scale to view
0 0
Advanced
0 0
Pe Distance
 3  6731530.0042
Ej Orientation
 3  0.0205599785885
Equatorial view
0 0
Finvars
  Finish BaseFunction
  Int 2
  Orbit False
  Handle Sun
  Handle Earth
  Handle Venus
Select Target
 0 Venus
Autoplan
0 0
Plan type
0 2
Plan
0 0
Plan
0 0
Plan
0 1
Select Minor
 0 None
Manoeuvre mode
0 0
Auto-Center™
0 0
Base Orbit
0 1
Prograde vel.
 1  0
Man. date
 1  47650.8671589
Outward vel.
 1  0
Ch. plane vel.
 1  0
Intercept with
0 0
Orbits to Icept
0 2
Graph projection
0 0
Scale to view
0 0
Advanced
0 0
Prograde vel.
 5  -2549.62034219
Eject date
 1  47650.8611512
Outward vel.
 5  -19.6309226074
Ch. plane vel.
 6  -259.228167187
Finvars
  Finish BaseFunction
  Int 5
  Orbit True
  Vector  2508925400.46 3395909432.5 -4467995667.84
  Vector  -1779.97485637 -2406.70269924 3184.09462066
  Double  3.2485863e+014
  Double  48089.6654621
  Handle Venus
  Handle NULL
  Handle NULL
Select Target
 0 None
Autoplan
0 0
Plan type
0 1
Plan
0 0
Plan
0 2
Plan
0 0
Select Minor
 0 None
Manoeuvre mode
0 0
Auto-Center™
0 0
Base Orbit
0 0
Prograde vel.
 1  0
Man. date
 1  47650.8619117
Outward vel.
 1  0
Ch. plane vel.
 1  0
Intercept with
0 0
Orbits to Icept
0 0
Graph projection
0 0
Scale to view
0 0
Advanced
0 0
Draw Base
0 0
Finvars
  Finish BaseFunction
END_MFD
 
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