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MKII Shuttle 4.4 w/ Rocket (Career Science Tier6, no mods)

MKII Shuttle 4.4 with Rocket (Career Science Tier6, no mods)

Early game shuttle for completing retrieval missions in a re-entry safe cargo hold.

Science Tier 6. No mods.

Design goal was an early game shuttle with as many retrievable parts and as much cost-efficient fuel as possible.
Original used 3 engines+tanks instead of 4 which makes it cheaper, but much harder to get to orbit. For this upload I decided to use this one instead.

Take Off:
Needs an aequatorial ascend.

Enable SAS and 100% thrust. Engage and pitch down until 5° inclination east.
Throttle can be reduced to 55% once ~200m/s are reached. Speed can be adjusted for saving fuel.

Upon reaching 10km height, inclination should be adjusted to 45°.
Thrust can be between 70-90% after shutting booster engines "Thud" by pressing 1 for saving fuel.

After that, standard orbit routine and decoupling of the shuttle should be completed.


Rocket stage retrieval:
It's best to retrieve the rocket near KSC on flat plains. The rocket will fall if the ground is too uneven, but the parachutes might save it. The upper (cheaper) parts will break if landed in water.

Plan your descent close but well past KSC. The atmospheric drag will change the course towards the plains.
Enter atmosphere retrograde, with boosters at the front. Activate SAS&RCS (and parachutes if not landing near KSC) before entering atmosphere. Parachutes can be activated at anytime since they are set to deploy only when safe. Don't forget the landing gear.

Good luck!


Shuttle:
The shuttle has enough fuel to reach various orbits around Kerbin for retrieval missions. '5' opens the cargo bay and activates cargo lights. 'Lights' activates outer spotlights for finding objects more easily. '4' toggles the Grabber Jr. to secure cargo in the hold.

Re-entry is fairly easy. Upon entering the atmosphere keep the nose slightly above the prograde vector. Raise the nose to increase your landing route, lower to shorten it. Heat management seemed alright in my flights. Use RCS and left over fuel for course correction at high altitude.

Can be landed at KSC like any other plane without issues.


Requires as little as possible from Science Tier 6. Especially "Advanced Aerodynamics" are not necessary. Can be used without "Actuators" research by removing the Grabber Jr.

Pilot cannot EVA due to wing placement.

This build process was something else ... needed about 60 different designs before one worked as expected. After that something prevented my uploads and a rebuild of the rocket was necessary to bring it to Steam ... or so I thought. In reality Steam just didn't want to accept uploads from a subfolder, the ship had to be saved in Default.

1: Toggle lift-off engines.
4: Release Grabber Jr. arm.
5: Open cargo bay.