Project Haworth MPEV (Multi-Purpose Exploration Vehicle)

[Grover]

its been a long time since i worked on this, many things getting in the way, but now im back for another try, starting with some housekeeping

i know what you're thinking:
"another change of plans"

well, you're right, i have changed plans

the CM was way short of standards, i only noticed when i had a play around with AMSO

so its been ALMOST completley redone, i salvaged the APAS and the dimensions, but thats about it, and now it looks quite futuristic as well

i decided also, that a crew of 3 was a waste of such a large hull, so now theres space for 5 UMMUs in there:
CM lead pilot
CM support pilot (lends a hand during docking and any other tasks where the pilot would otherwise have a lot on his mind)
CDR (obviously )
LM pilot (if/when i ever get an LM into the design)
passenger/VIP/mission specialist (in case we need a real geologist on the moon

of course, for LEO missions there's no need for an LM pilot, so the system would shift round and accommodate station crew

after adding some RCS to this otherwise hunk of space debris, ill have to slightly reshape the SM (since the heatshield now has a different shape) then i can texture a little more

if anyone would like to help (coding will be very slow for me ) drop a PM, im happy with my texturing work, but it doesnt do my work justice to slap a pre-school texture onto it.

thanks for following guys, hopefully you'll have something to fly soon

 

[n0mad23]

Really looking good - and I like how dynamic your drafting process has been. I think I can relate as I come up from my 3rd redesign of my solar panels!

For docking, are you using the ISS standard dock size or the stock DG?

 

[Grover]

AFAIK its a standard APAS-95, with 3 paddles. the exterior diameter of the "docking ring" is 1.82m. i chose it because its basically the most compatible docking mechanism out there, apart from perhaps another APAS type (and the CBM is a little big)

ill get some screenies up once ive finished the interior modelling. then its time for texturing

also, im considering making it a SC3 vessel at first, but that will limit the craft hugely. ideally, i need at least two camera positions in the CM; one for a position seated in the PLT seat, and another with a raised eyepoint to look through a holographic sight in the forward window (lacking a more technical term there) that is used for visual docking in the event of an IDS failure (likely not simulated, since its an Orbiter standard), but you will be able to dock, basically like the Apollo 'nauts did, only with a holographic sight built into the window (Orbiter Hud). of course this relies on having a docking target, so it probably wont be simulated until i make a lunar lander (if i ever manage to)

then its a case of getting my compiler working (though i suspect its just me doing something wrong

 

[Grover]

NEW CM

heres the promised views of the new CM

i went for a new approach, its not looking very Apollo any more

the CM MAY recieve a couple further additions, like a camera or two, so the crew and mission control can see whats going on around the craft (in Apollo 13, this system would have alerted the nauts to the oxygen leak sooner, and could have made their next few days much easier for themselves)

and the new interior, i perhaps there'll be some crew seen in there, but ill have to borrow a crew mesh, since i can't model/texture humans for toffee

as you can see, there's now 5 occupants, so crew layouts will be as such (left to right:
LUNAR MISSION:
PLT1 (lead pilot, the Captain if you want)
CDR (similar roles to the Apollo CDR)
Mission Specialist 1 (loose term for "whoever ESA wants on the moon for experiments")
LMP/Mission specialist 2 (either the Lunar module pilot or another mission specialist)
PLT2 (the co-pilot, or support pilot, so the CM should always have an available, but also RESTED pilot)

LEO MISSION
PLT
CDR
PAX
PAX
PLT
(similar to the above)

also, you can see the visors (and so also the HUD) wouldnt be visible when the pilot is in his seat (those seats are modelled similarly to the DG ones, so your eyepoint is a few CMs under the top of the seat), so you would only use the windows/HUD for operations in microgravity (and when you arent firing the mains/launcher, such as docking, or possibly EVA support (talking the naut through from another point)


in related news, PennyBlack has kindly offered to resume texture work (turns out he was waiting for me to send him models to texture... then i had the "moving home" episode and forgot... sorry dude...), so you can expect some eyecandy once i have managed to map out some models.

so, the roadmap so far:
get models done,
once CM and SM are mapped, and PB is working on textures, get the launcher components mapped ready for him.
once CM and SM are returned to me, work on getting the CSM coded to a flyable level
then work on getting the launcher flyable
then work on sticking a Haworth in the Arcturus (more code work)
then refine features and bugs over a few releases


wish me luck, and thanks to PB!