Project DG-Launcher

[ddom2006]

Done. Here's a link to download the thing.

http://www.mediafire.com/?vokdjkc5ony

Will try to upload it to OrbitHangar tomorrow. Thank you for reporting any problems you might encounter.

And Have Fun ! :hail:

I can't get that link working , Is there a known problem with the website or a personal problem my end?

 

[N_Molson]

I have uploaded the file on OrbitHangar. It should be available within 24 hours

I just succeeded in launching a fully fueled DGIV with full crew & full fuel cargo (total mass 27 tons) into orbit (from Kourou, launch azimuth 90°). That was a very low orbit (90x135km), but it worked

Here's a little payload chart :

Kourou -> Equ (90°) : 4 fuel cargos
Kourou -> ISS (51.6°) : 2 fuel cargos
Cape Canaveral -> Equ (90°) : 1-2 fuel cargo-s (further testing required)
Cape Canaveral -> ISS (51.6°) : No cargo

 

[Fabri91]

Awesome! This is just perfect in my attempt to move to the "realistic" spec DGIV, since Kulch's Energia booster is a tad overkill.

 

[ddom2006]

Cape Canaveral -> ISS (51.6°) : No cargo

I presume you can carry cargo but would have to use the DGs engines and fuel to achieve the required orbit in addition to the booster?

 

[N_Molson]

Yep you need to use the DG engines anyway. The objective was to use the Shuttle ET concept. A Space Shuttle perform 2 OMS burns to circularize it's orbit.

Except if you want to get back to Earth, in that case, the low PeD (<100 km) allows you to perform a "free return" reentry (it would be a necessary safety anyway, even the 2 DGs engines & retros could suffer a failure after all.

 

[anemazoso]

Hey this looks great cant wait to give it a spin.

Nice Job! :thumbup:

 

[PhantomCruiser]

Very, very, neatly done. I love it. It's now clear to me that I need to experiment more with velcro.
After dealing with solid rockets on my own project, I thought she got off the pad a little slow, but it's all good. After a few tweaks I managed a launch from AIA.

I'll give it a 5 DG's out of 5.

 

[N_Molson]

Happy to see it's working as it should on another computer thousands of kilometers away !

The next chapter of the trilogy will be the US booster. I already made the first drawings.

 

[River Crab]

Awesome! This is just perfect in my attempt to move to the "realistic" spec DGIV, since Kulch's Energia booster is a tad overkill.

:hesaid:
This should come with DGIV. :thumbup:

 

[n122vu]

Oh I gotta have this!!!! Just what I've been wanting but haven't had time to play with velcro much. Looks very cool.

 

[ddom2006]

Velcro rockets? Do they come as part of the installed base package for this add-on or do we need to install them prior? Apologies if you've said already.

 

[River Crab]

Velcro rockets? Do they come as part of the installed base package for this add-on or do we need to install them prior? Apologies if you've said already.

Velcro rockets here.
[ame="http://www.orbithangar.com/searchid.php?ID=3388"]Velcro Rockets v1.1[/ame]

 

[N_Molson]

Ok, looks like I've found a convenient way to display particle SRM exhausts while using Velcro Rockets

<-- Pic of the North American DG-Launcher (no textures yet)

 

[communist]

what is ssmec.dds???

 

[River Crab]

what is ssmec.dds???

Just by looking at the filename, I know it's definitely a texture, and I can assume it's the exhaust or something coming from the SSME (Space Shuttle Main Engine). It might be from the SSU or Shuttle Fleet addons, which would explain if you don't have it. Not sure though.

 

[N_Molson]

It's the texture of the stock Atlantis SSME nozzles. It comes with a standard Orbiter installation.

 

[Bloodworth]

Forgive me for asking...and beautiful model btw...but doesn't strapping a dg onto a rocket totally defeat the purpose of the dg? My understanding is that the dg is meant to be a reusable SSTO. If you strap it onto a rocket, it just becomes a miniature space shuttle.

 

[Fabri91]

That is the point
Take the DGIV, you can configure it to have a realistic thrust, and so have a realistic, sort of feasible mini-shuttle to use together with the space shuttle, for example. Or you can just use the launcher to have more fuel in orbit.

 

[River Crab]

Well, you're thinking of different spacecraft. The Orbiter default DG was meant to demonstrate the principles of physics in Orbiter without vessel systems and limitations getting in the way. Daniel Polli's DGIV, on the other hand, was meant to give the pilot an immersive, realistic flight experience, above that of the DG and Shuttle-A, but without limiting them too much, like the Space Shuttle and Dragonfly do.
A launcher can only add to the experience, as it teaches you about staging, as well as increasing the realism.

 

[N_Molson]

Yep, I'm seeing the DG with 50kN thrusters as a near-future high performance (using plasma-engines-like technology), reusable "mini shuttle" (it can carry 5 crew members + 4 tons of cargo)

I don't think that small 50kn plasma engines are impossible to build. 60 years ago, a computer was taking a whole floor in a building. Now you can do a lot better even with a cellphone that fits in your pocket

However I would not send it to a Mars trip alone ! Even if they could take enough supplies with them, the 5 crewmembers would be mad after 3 weeks, since there is little space inside the DG. When there is no EVA scheduled, I always keep the inner airlock door open for extra space (to sleep...).

I never open the retro or hover doors, because these thruster are not affected by the difficulty level (I hope it will change, I would be cool to have an editable .cfg file like the XR1). So, for interplanetary travels, a lander would be needed. An habitation module & a nuclear module reactor would be required too.

Anyway, these considerations are what really interested me in developping these add-ons. I still have some projects after the 3 boosters will be finished

But I don't think that a "SSTO interplanetary spacecraft & lander able to perform a reentry" (that's a lot !) will be built this century, or even the next. Tsiolkovsky's equation demonstrates it's almost impossible. As long as we depend from chemical boosters for launching spacecrafts into orbit. And we have (currently) no alternative power sources. The NASA & the USSR had projects of nuclear-powered rockets with an ISP of 600 & more. They had the technology working very well (NERVA). But you can't seriously use a booster emitting a lot of radioactive particles in atmosphere or even LEO. Just the way I see the problem