Orbiter Screenshot Thread

[Pablo49]

Meanwhile at Monxcleyr Aerospace...

As promised an actual flight with the Themis-A. A simple mission to deploy a Navigator probe into LEO.

Fig. 1: Rollout of Themis-A preparations begin at CSSC.

Fig. 2: Themis-A being erected at the pad.

Fig. 3: Lookit dem logos.

Fig. 4: Artsy.

Fig. 5: First stage separation.

Fig. 6: This looks familiar.

And thus, a successful mission, one that used Loru's and Woo's addons without making a train fly.

 

[MaverickSawyer]

I have a modified version of that from the beta test cycle where I put a Delta II upper stage on for a kick motor. I can drag that up to the current version if you want.

 

[RobN]

These are some pictures from an expedition I am doing with the James Cook to test my Transx skills. I started from Earth orbit and have travelled to Mars, Jupiter and now Saturn, visiting several moons along the way and landing on them with landers I have brought along. Unfortunately, I messed up my approach to Titan and am now in an almost polar orbit. So far I have used only about 60% of the available fuel, so it isn't a big problem.

 

[BruceJohnJennerLawso]

Hail!

 

[TMac3000]

You guys are probably tired of hearing me say this, but Saturn never, ever disappoints me

 

[BruceJohnJennerLawso]

You guys are probably tired of hearing me say this, but Saturn never, ever disappoints me

Im waiting for my first chance to see it in my telescope this spring. Cant wait until its visible.

 

[TMac3000]

I hear you, brother! That world just blew me away the first time I saw her up close in Orbiter. Could you imagine your reaction if you got to see her from orbit in real life?

 

[Pipcard]

Could you imagine your reaction if you got to see her from orbit in real life?

Yes, getting to see her from orbit would be awesome.

 

[Pablo49]

So I decided to stick a Dragon on a Themis-A, do an orbit or two, and land by CSSC for recovery.

Fig. 1: The dragon looks nice on a Themis.

Fig. 2: WOOOOOOOOSH!

Fig. 3: Orbiter crashed and I came back to the interstage being weird, ruining my pretty shot.

Fig. 4: Vehicle lost during entry at 08:40:02.

That i what I get for not using Orbiter in forever.

Monxcleyr Aerospace: 1
Pablo's rustiness: 1

 

[n122vu]

Luckily, since that was only a test flight, it was an empty cargo version with only dummy weights for ballast, right?

 

[Pablo49]

Luckily, since that was only a test flight, it was an empty cargo version with only dummy weights for ballast, right?

It was. The storyline in my head was heat shield testing. Clearly SpaceX and Monxcleyr Aerospace have some work to do.

 

[Pipcard]

Reusable TSTO is the way to go!

 

[PhantomCruiser]

Love WO2001.

After the construction phase of build mission 3. This image (take from the URMS wrist camera) shows Buran as she waits for her departure window to SRC.

 

[MaverickSawyer]

So I decided to stick a Dragon on a Themis-A, do an orbit or two, and land by CSSC for recovery.

Fig. 1: The dragon looks nice on a Themis.

Fig. 2: WOOOOOOOOSH!

Fig. 3: Orbiter crashed and I came back to the interstage being weird, ruining my pretty shot.

Fig. 4: Vehicle lost during entry at 08:40:02.

That i what I get for not using Orbiter in forever.

Monxcleyr Aerospace: 1
Pablo's rustiness: 1

Ok, how'd you get it to stay together? Mine always shreds while on ascent...

 

[Pablo49]

Ok, how'd you get it to stay together? Mine always shreds while on ascent...

I ran into that, too. Set the Themis autopilot to the lowest g setting. It still heats up and scares you, but it makes it. I was going to try less boosters if it still blew; I had plenty of extra dV to get into LEO. I just wanted extra for a high eccentric orbit for the doomed reentry test.

 

[MaverickSawyer]

Huh. I ran it as an HE0 at the lowest G load, and the Dragon shredded just before MECO... What'd you do different? I got a max load of 4.13 Gs...

 

[Pablo49]

Mine was HE6, I have no idea if that makes a difference since I haven't tested. I only ran the flight once on the low g setting, so while my failure rate is 0%, I only have one data point. I'll take a look at my scenario, run it a few times and see what I get.

EDIT: So, I tested a handful of times with 6 boosters and low g, never exploded. I tried with no boosters and did explode. I guess the dragon doesn't like the Themis flight profile. You could fly it manually, try with 6 boosters (other arrangements might work, I don't know), or add 'REENTRY 0' to the dragon in the scenario file, as per it's documentation, and then change it after you have reached orbit.

 

[garyw]

Putting together a temp ISA base at Woomera. This is in support of a mission that will hopefully land something not too far away.... if it works :lol:

Testing on the NH-90 in the dry and desert like conditions of Woomera:

Meanwhile, back at Ascension Island, one of the technical team ride the crawler with the Themis-A attached. This mission will orbit the Earth for a day then it's payload will re-enter and hopefully land less 10km from the ISA base at Woomera. This is a test mission for Mars:

add 'REENTRY 0' to the dragon in the scenario file, as per it's documentation, and then change it after you have reached orbit.

which doesn't work. It'll keep the dragon intact but wreck the trunk.

 

[Pipcard]

That cargo pod on the TX is more epic than the Airbus Beluga!

 

[garyw]

That cargo pod on the TX is more epic than the Airbus Beluga!

Yup it is (thanks Loru!) And what's more amazing is that the cargo weighed in at 78tons and the TX still made Wommera from Ascension with just enough fuel to spare for landing. Pretty impressive performance stats.