Subscribe to download
STS-1 Columbia

Improved Shuttle Atlantis https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1870061998

The first orbiter shuttle. This craft requires both DLC. It is an advanced level craft, you must be able to accurately and efficiently fly 550 ton rockets, have a good understanding of high altitude flight and be able to land on the runway with no engine power. You should also be able to fly entirely by Navball and Orbital Mode.

Shuttle Systems guarantees that this is one of the best looking Space Shuttle replicas AND one of the most controllable.

This shuttle features "Engine Trimming" use keys "i" and "k" to point your boosters up and down with Breaking Ground servos.

You can keep going straight with any payload, any fuel load to any altitude. That's a Shuttle Systems guarantee.

Just gently tap your "translate up/down" keys to pitch your thrust around your moving centre of gravity.

When your done with the booster press 1 to activate the orbiter mode.

This first action group shuts down your booster engines. Activates your orbital maneuvering engines. Decouples your external fuel tank and toggles the main probe core control on. Just press 1

the crafts probe core is aligned with the main boosters and OMS. The angle is 20 degrees, this will let you use the navball to navigate accurately, assist the SAS in flying an off centre craft. it will also provide stable drag and lift at high altitude.

almost the entire mission will be flown with the offset probe core until the final stages of reentry. at around 30km the angle of attack will start pulling you back up, this is when you switch to cockpit control. Action group 2 when you start flying back up in atmosphere

you will have to roll over from a north facing orientation to your chosen attitude on launch, just like real life. When your side boosters are attached and burning the direction marker will be incorrect on the navball. You will need to use the Prograde to know your true direction. Roll with "q" while yawing with "d" and vice versa for the best results on the initial roll.

the side boosters must be separated when the outer SRB's in the stack are done but the inner SRB is still burning. This is to simulate real life SRB's gradually losing thrust rather than switching from 1 to 0 instantly. you can roll over shortly after separation.

This shuttle can carry between 0 and 32 tons without needing to be modified in the editor before hand. Just use "engine trim" before taking off. Only one tap of "k" should be needed for max cargo weight 32 tons over the empty weight

WARNING. only move the engine trim in small increments during flight. A gentle tap, see what happens, continue

WARNING. landing with more than 700 units of liquid fuel left in the tank can be unstable. over 800 is suicidal dont take more fuel than you will need. (ksp please add drain valves) note that this is 3/4 of the tank so this will probably not be a problem In a normal mission. Just be aware.

WARNING. please do not fill up the empty tanks representing the OMS. too much rear weight will make landing impossible, these are aesthetic parts and the entire vessel has been balanced with these tanks empty and locked

This is my first successful real space shuttle replica, if you want a more forgiving shuttle to launch and land while carrying more payload I recommend a more Practical Shuttle https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1826237590 It has less warnings and instructions as well :P