Space Shuttle Simulator

[kuddel]

"Columbia, Huston, ... CDN PT1A is ready for upload"[1]

​

As you can see, it's "period-correct" with the authentic "yellowing" ​

If you are into RetroBright it's up to you...​

​

...and BATTERY INCLUDED (although I had to remove it from the Timer as it made beeps during packaging, which might annoy the post-men )


[1] by "upoad" I mean shipping; see my PM, too

 

[TheShuttleExperience]

Well, I'm not yet into RetroBright but I'll try... ?

Thank you very much for that offer I will PM you...

 

[TheShuttleExperience]

Meanwhile the first materials arrived...

Sound insulation:





Rubber (3mm), will be cut into stripes and go under the beams of the base frame by adhesive tape to protect the floor beneath the simulator:





And heavy-duty brackets for connecting the construction timber:



I also ordered 300 wood screws, M6 x 60mm, hex. Should be a solid base frame once built. One can think of it as a "loft bed", but just with thicker beams. The lower part houses the middeck and the upper part the lightweight-structure of the flightdeck (made of roof battens, 3mm MDF and 3mm/5mm Plexiglas for the instrument panels). Everything is supposed to be modular and "easy" to disassemble and assemble again for a potential future relocation. I'll post the first drawings soon...

 

[TheShuttleExperience]

I also ordered the Lumix Panasonic DC-FZ82 Bridge-Camera. So the photos above are likely the last ones made with my cell phone

 

[Phil Smith]

Regarding talkback indicators (let's call them TBI for short ? ), see this video -

at 9:16 - that little solenoid opens/closes red flag - same principle is applied to TBI's

 

[4throck]

I also ordered the Lumix Panasonic DC-FZ82 Bridge-Camera. So the photos above are likely the last ones made with my cell phone

I have one and the zoom/stabilizer is great. But light sensitivity is poor.
Great camera for outdoors and video, not so great for dimly lit interiors unfortunately. Noise is unacceptable above 400 ISO, forcing you to do longer exposures.

 

[TheShuttleExperience]

Regarding talkback indicators (let's call them TBI for short ? ), see this video -

at 9:16 - that little solenoid opens/closes red flag - same principle is applied to TBI's

Nice video. It's not a miracle that modern avionics consist of displays. So much mechanical and electrical stuff (and weight) just for one single gauge... I fear making the tb's work might become a real challange. But would be cool to even have a time delay also.

 

[TheShuttleExperience]

I have one and the zoom/stabilizer is great. But light sensitivity is poor.
Great camera for outdoors and video, not so great for dimly lit interiors unfortunately. Noise is unacceptable above 400 ISO, forcing you to do longer exposures.

Thanks for the information! I got the camera now. I'm learning all the functions. I think light won't be an issue. At least not in the middeck. I will install the exact number of lights and position in the ceiling of the middeck like in the real Shuttle (I'll use 3mm satined Plexiglas for modeling the ceiling). Should be bright as hell, just like the real thing. I wonder how sleeping is going to be in this noisy and bright environment...

 

[Phil Smith]

Nice video. It's not a miracle that modern avionics consist of displays. So much mechanical and electrical stuff (and weight) just for one single gauge... I fear making the tb's work might become a real challange. But would be cool to even have a time delay also.

Yeah, some gauges were almost foot long for displaying just fuel quantity or something. Just analog computers full of gears and synchro-resolvers. Those days are definitely gone, specially for space flight. So much mass can be stripped down by using displays.
Anyway, I guess TBI is not so hard to implement and drive. It's not like FDAI.. I'd love to have skills and time to build functioning replica just for fun..
Just take a look at it - thing of beauty is a joy forever..

Space Shuttle ADI

Spacecraft exhibits, simulations, artifacts, and information about Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, Lunar Module, Lunar Rover, and Space Shuttle vehicles.

www.space1.com

 

[4throck]

Thanks for the information! I got the camera now. I'm learning all the functions. I think light won't be an issue. At least not in the middeck. I will install the exact number of lights and position in the ceiling of the middeck like in the real Shuttle (I'll use 3mm satined Plexiglas for modeling the ceiling). Should be bright as hell, just like the real thing. I wonder how sleeping is going to be in this noisy and bright environment...

The camera is great! Just keep ISO low and you should be fine.

Video is great, but you need to try out what resolution works best for you. It will depend on memory card speed.
Here's Jupiter at maximum zoom. Not bad at all for an handheld camera, the image stabilizer works ;-)

P1040264

Watch "P1040264" on Streamable.

streamable.com

 

[TheShuttleExperience]

@Phil Smith, I'm also a fan of analogue gauges and instruments. It just has its own and very special style...





I actually would prefer the analogue Shuttle cockpit over the MEDS-style for my project. But it's just impossible for me to create working FDAIs, AMIs and AVVIs. One solution could be to create them as MFDs in orbiter, 3D-printing masks for the instrument panels and just put a monitor with the MFDs behind it. But that would involve programming. Either way a lot of work.

 

[TheShuttleExperience]

The camera is great! Just keep ISO low and you should be fine.

Video is great, but you need to try out what resolution works best for you. It will depend on memory card speed.
Here's Jupiter at maximum zoom. Not bad at all for an handheld camera, the image stabilizer works ;-)

P1040264

Watch "P1040264" on Streamable.

streamable.com

Thanks for the advice. The zoom actually reminds me of a telescope. I'll try the moon soon...

 

[4throck]

Thanks for the advice. The zoom actually reminds me of a telescope. I'll try the moon soon...

You won't be disappointed! Don't forget to try video.

 

[TheShuttleExperience]

I finally got the new CDN timers. So this is my latest "fleet" of event timers, including the very special gift from Kuddel:



The new PT2 definitely is flown by NASA, at least onboard Dragon (just look above Seat 1):



The old model onboard the ISS:

View attachment iss.jpg

There will be an update regarding drinking bags soon. I found a very good solution for recreating those aluminum drinking bags, including straws and clamps (I'm waiting for the arrival of items).

 

[TheShuttleExperience]

This is what the base frame and middeck will look like by the way...







More information to come...

 

[TheShuttleExperience]

The middeck's floor...



It turned out that there is a shortage of wood in DIY markets, not only for online-shopping. So I think I'll have to wait until the lockdown is over ? Meanwhile I'll continue with the manual, establish my little food systems lab, build the galley, create the ACES suit and order some more stuff randomly like middeck ceiling lighting, the fans for the air revitalization system etc.

 

[TheShuttleExperience]

BTW, I came across the following drawings a while ago. I can't recall the source but I will just post them here just in case someone is interested:

 

[Phil Smith]

Very nice documentation! Keep it coming! I can't stress enough how important it is for such Endeavor (no pun intended ). Try to keep revision history as well, it could be handy down the road.

Regarding those SS cabin sections - of course I've got em all! ( I wish I had a complete sheet(s)). I've printed them and spent several hours with scale trying figuring out dimensions of the pit. Anyway, thanks for posting!

 

[TheShuttleExperience]

Well, of course the manual includes a revision history already ? It is almost a replica of NASAs SCOM pdf file. It will also include an operations and maintenance guide. For the first time, since changing from desktop simulation to real hardware, there are a lot of things to consider once preparing the sim for a mission and putting all the equipment into the lockers. You never really think about that when you just run Orbiter on a PC. There‘ll be checklists for the „closeout crew“... The entire project requires its own flight data file actually (in the making...).

I‘ll add photos as well during construction. The good news is that the entire sim already is put together, well, in my mind ? I just have to bring it onto paper, and to life from there. The most tricky part will be the instrument panels. But that‘s luckily the very last item on the list.

PS: Somehow I knew that someone here already has these drawings ?

 

[TheShuttleExperience]

Btw, I can’t even tell the true dimensions of the crew cabin, since I am scaling everything down ? The width of my MIP is 135cm for example. But don‘t ask me about the real one ?

The method is as follows: I just take the distance in pixels from the floor to the ceiling/overhead windows of the flightdeck from the drawings above. I then divide my deck hight in cm by that distance. So I get a perfect reference to measure everything else and keep the proportions/scale.