OHM DarkEnergy Spaceplane

WolfAngriff

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Thanx for your answers, and all those good news ! :)

No, i don't have anything special to ask about Ion launchers, they are good as they are. I just have things to ask to devs. I need informations because i'm thinking about a pretty large project, and before posting a bunch of requests i'd better know what is doable, difficult, complex, etc. Vessels spawnable with Scenario Editor are easier for beginners, as they are usable ingame, so more game-ish. Sadly the best addon for that is broken in Orbiter 2016, and there are no demands for an update. Maybe the whole project i have in mind could convince the devs to give it a go. We'll see... But Ion launchers are good candidates to make the first testing scenarios when i'll have the few things i need.
 

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Vessels spawnable with Scenario Editor are easier for beginners,
It's one thing to make a vessel spawnable, It's a different thing to give it custom configuration properties for the scenario editor. max-Q was talking about the second. If you just want the first, the only requirement is for your vessel to have a cfg file.

Autopilots, though... Never underestimate autopilots!
 

WolfAngriff

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It's one thing to make a vessel spawnable, It's a different thing to give it custom configuration properties for the scenario editor. max-Q was talking about the second. If you just want the first, the only requirement is for your vessel to have a cfg file.

Autopilots, though... Never underestimate autopilots!
Yes, i've understood that. I'm speaking about the player's vessel, not the dev's vessel. I know that, in Orbiter, a single bolt is seen as a vessel as far as it is a single entity (not sure about this name) in the simulator. When a launcher jettisons it's boosters, there are three vessels : the launcher + 2 boosters. I'll try to be more precise in the future, thanx for the advice !
 

Max-Q

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There appears to have been a security breach at Ion Aerospace; three confidential photos of what is suspected to be the new Deep Space DarkEnergy vehicle have been leaked.
In the coming days, Ion Aerospace will be investigating the leak and implementing proper preventative measures. ;)
de_1_edit.pngde_2_edit.pngde_3_edit.png
 

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I didn‘t want to wait for the deep space version, so I fixed a Dark Energy to a Falcon Heavy one or two weeks ago and launched it to LEO. I had enough upper stage dV left to do a Hohmann-Transfer to the Moon and brake into a high orbit. Then I returned a few orbits later using the MPS. Afterwards I braked into an eccentric earth orbit with an aerocapture maneuver - one of the benefits of a spaceplane. The biggest limitations were MPS-fuel and fuel cell fuel. You really notice that this was actually build for LEO operations.
I will send screenshots tomorrow. Given I have just started with orbiter, I am quite proud of myself now 😉. What a great Addon. best I have been able to find yet! Will try Deepstar next.
 

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I didn‘t want to wait for the deep space version, so I fixed a Dark Energy to a Falcon Heavy one or two weeks ago and launched it to LEO. I had enough upper stage dV left to do a Hohmann-Transfer to the Moon and brake into a high orbit. Then I returned a few orbits later using the MPS. Afterwards I braked into an eccentric earth orbit with an aerocapture maneuver - one of the benefits of a spaceplane. The biggest limitations were MPS-fuel and fuel cell fuel. You really notice that this was actually build for LEO operations.
I will send screenshots tomorrow. Given I have just started with orbiter, I am quite proud of myself now 😉. What a great Addon. best I have been able to find yet! Will try Deepstar next.
Wow! I can say with certainty, that is much, much farther than I have taken this ship... I am impressed! :cool:
Yeah, it is really only intended for a few days of undocked free flight, I imagine keeping all the systems happy during translunar and transearth coast was a bit of a challenge!
How much systems stuff did you power down, and how many crew on board?
The deep space version will have a solar panel to partially address the fuel cell reactant limitations, as well as well over 4,000m/s dV, so a lot more mission flexibility.
 

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Wow! I can say with certainty, that is much, much farther than I have taken this ship... I am impressed! :cool:
Yeah, it is really only intended for a few days of undocked free flight, I imagine keeping all the systems happy during translunar and transearth coast was a bit of a challenge!
How much systems stuff did you power down, and how many crew on board?
The deep space version will have a solar panel to partially address the fuel cell reactant limitations, as well as well over 4,000m/s dV, so a lot more mission flexibility.
Thank you! I had 2 Crewmen. Powered down the MPS, RCS and half the monitors during coasting. Systems behaved fine. No failures or so.
Nice to hear that most limitations are fixed with the deep space version. Will it also have more living space? Could imagine that staying in the small cockpit for days could drive you crazy 😂. Maybe you could incoperate some walls in the cabin which are made out of poles and cloth like tents to create some private space? They could be „build„ after take off.
How long will it take you to finish it, if I may ask?
 

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Powered down the MPS, RCS and half the monitors during coasting. Systems behaved fine. No failures or so.
Ok, so nothing to drastic like Apollo 13 "minimum power to sustain life" type stuff.

I had 2 Crewmen
The reason I asked that is more crew = more power used by the ECLSS.

Nice to hear that most limitations are fixed with the deep space version. Will it also have more living space? Could imagine that staying in the small cockpit for days could drive you crazy 😂. Maybe you could incoperate some walls in the cabin which are made out of poles and cloth like tents to create some private space? They could be „build„ after take off.
Well... unfortunately the cockpit stays the same size, my creations are typically designed for career astronauts only, not space tourism... :cautious:
I wanted to keep as much in common between the versions as possible and changing the cockpit would require pretty drastic rework. Actually, I was trying to figure out if there would be a way to jam a fifth crewman and seat in there... 🤨🤬☹️
A collapsible partition wall of some kind might be doable, and it would be a nice feature since they will be in that thing for a week or more at a time instead of an 18 hour rendezvous.

How long will it take you to finish it, if I may ask?
It will be done by Tuesday. Which one is anybody's best guess, including mine! 😉
I don't announce release dates or time frames for my stuff until it is super close, Orbiter addons are a hobby and I don't want to be locked into a concrete time frame.
That said, here is basically what I have left to do:
  • Ion 6 Launcher integration
  • Launch escape system
  • Bugfixes and misc features
  • Write the documentation
  • Create missions
  • Anything else I forgot to list above?
 
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SpaceGOAT

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Here are the promised screenshots!

Screenshot (18).png
Launch on top of the Falcon Heavy

Screenshot (39).png
Upper stage in Parking Orbit



Screenshot (40).pngScreenshot (19).pngScreenshot (24).png
Dark energy in high lunar Orbit

Screenshot (29).pngScreenshot (30).pngScreenshot (31).png
Coasting back to earth

Screenshot (35).png
Aerocapture in earth's athmosphere
 

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Max-Q

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Maybe you could incoperate some walls in the cabin which are made out of poles and cloth like tents to create some private space? They could be „build„ after take off.
I really liked that idea, so I decided to give it a go. Here is the end result, complete with miscellaneous items stuck to velcro for that lived-in look.
Please remember to stow them before engine burns or reentry...

Cockpit with walls stowed. The poles are stored on the floor behind the commander and pilot seats.
de_vc1.PNG

Cockpit with walls set up from the same point of view. Notice the "hatch" to allow access to the cockpit.
de_vc2.PNG
 

Max-Q

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Just watch them switches when entering or leaving the cockpit... 😬
True! The hatch is 18 x 24 inches (46 x 61 cm), so assuming astronauts reasonably adjusted to zero-g it should be pretty easy to get in/out. ;)
However all of the power supply switches and the fuel cell reac valves are on the lower panel... :oops: At least the SM jett switches are in a corner of the panel out of the way!
 

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True! The hatch is 18 x 24 inches (46 x 61 cm), so assuming astronauts reasonably adjusted to zero-g it should be pretty easy to get in/out. ;)
However all of the power supply switches and the fuel cell reac valves are on the lower panel... :oops: At least the SM jett switches are in a corner of the panel out of the way!

Doesn't sound really bad to me, if all that you want to operate is these switches....

But I would maybe install some padded textile cover over the a part of the panel. Its better to be safe than sorry and it doesn't really harm much in terms of space requirement or installation. Just some blanket that you can fix to over the central pedestral by velcro or buttons would be enough, even the rotaries should not be moved then, when you touch the blanket.
 

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I really liked that idea, so I decided to give it a go. Here is the end result, complete with miscellaneous items stuck to velcro for that lived-in look.
Please remember to stow them before engine burns or reentry...

Cockpit with walls stowed. The poles are stored on the floor behind the commander and pilot seats.
View attachment 30818

Cockpit with walls set up from the same point of view. Notice the "hatch" to allow access to the cockpit.
View attachment 30819
Very nice. Great that you implemented it! 😀
 

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Doesn't sound really bad to me, if all that you want to operate is these switches....

But I would maybe install some padded textile cover over the a part of the panel. Its better to be safe than sorry and it doesn't really harm much in terms of space requirement or installation. Just some blanket that you can fix to over the central pedestral by velcro or buttons would be enough, even the rotaries should not be moved then, when you touch the blanket.
I considered this, but I wanted everything to be operational while the walls are set up. They might be set up for extended periods of time and the crew will need to operate spacecraft systems, say during translunar coast.
I could make the panel cover a separate mesh so I can hide it separately, but I am up to 24 meshes on this vessel already! I will take a look at it and see if I can come up with something. If I decide to do it, do you think just the lower panel or should it cover the mid part of the main panel (and two MFDs)?
 

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I considered this, but I wanted everything to be operational while the walls are set up. They might be set up for extended periods of time and the crew will need to operate spacecraft systems, say during translunar coast.
I could make the panel cover a separate mesh so I can hide it separately, but I am up to 24 meshes on this vessel already! I will take a look at it and see if I can come up with something. If I decide to do it, do you think just the lower panel or should it cover the mid part of the main panel (and two MFDs)?

Only a part of the lower part should be enough. This way, there is more safe surface to use during movement. I would maybe try to leave the fuel cell indicators visible, if possible.
 
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