A Sense of Accomplishment

[Treetop64]

> DanSteph's wonderful DeltagliderIV, configured only with the 50 kN MkI engines and the "Realistic - ISS Only" fuel reserve. No additional fuel carried in the cargo bay.

> Loru's and Woo482's equally wonderful HCLV-2-DG to get into orbit.

> Carried the old A4 Electronic Material cargo for "testing".

> 7-day oxygen supply (but with just two crew it stretched to over two weeks).

> Chicken Mode all turned off.


Launched from Pad 01 at Carl Sagan Space Center, landed at Brighton Beach Pad 4 on the moon (didn't refill propellant or oxygen), then returned and and executed a flawless reentry and smooth unpowered landing on RWY 9 back at CSSC. All done in real time (time-warped to either the present time or next maneuver, whichever came first), and all without restarting again from a previous quicksave.

Flying the mission in real time really lends an epic sense of scale to doing something like this.

I didn't expect the sense of accomplishment to be so high, but here I am talking about it. No wonder some of you write blogs!

Truly, Orbiter is one of the coolest toys I've ever had.

 

[TachyonDriver]

Just curious as I've not long returned to Orbiter, what tools if any did you use to nail the reentry?

 

[Mojave]

Congratulations, Treetop!

 

[Treetop64]

Just curious as I've not long returned to Orbiter, what tools if any did you use to nail the reentry?

A combination of BaseSyncMFD, AeroBrakeMFD, and the Deltaglider's PRO104SPEC40 reentry program (a reentry autopilot where you are allowed some limited control over pitch and bank if desired). And tons of reentry practice before the mission. Tons...

Initially during practice, nailing the reentry and making a precise unpowered landing turned out to be every bit as difficult as it seemed like it might be. Even after syncing with the base and having a good alignment setup with AeroBrake, I was still either undershooting or overshooting the target base by hundreds of kilometers if the reentry burn was successful, or killing the crew with over-G or destroying the ship in the burn when trying to keep things centered in AeroBrake.

Finally, after enough practice, I found a nice balance in adjusting the pitch during the reentry burn to manage temps and G-loads at safe levels, and further changes to pitch after reentry to re-align myself with the target base using AeroBrake before setting up for the approach and landing.