Ironman - not quite yet another lunar lander...

[Raindropz]

Things are emoving ahead and there's some more news...

- I've settled on a different RCS configuration. Ironman now has four classic RCS quadpacks like anybody else I considered the variant with extended booms, but it looked a bit awkwardish and just didn't feel "right". Here's a close-up of the new configuration:


- There's more progress on launch options. I planned to announce this one a bit later, and it definitely won't be included in the first Ironman release yet - it's more like a little teaser while I'm at it :

 

[garyw]

Any thoughts on when the first release will be?

As an idea - You could do two meshes for the first release. One with no landing legs and one with landing legs. It'll make for a nice CVEL PAYLOAD option, i.e. the visual mesh is the one with no legs and a detached mesh is the one with legs - if that makes sense!

 

[Raindropz]

I'd say something around 2-3 weeks as a very wild guess, but it may be arbitrarily more or less depending on how much time I have at hands. A rough list of ToDo's:

- Ironman-P crew cabin design, integration & animations. Haven't settled on a particular design yet.
- Migration from Main engines to Hover engines, as precision landings are too hard without the neat hover autopilots. That means rotating the whole thing, including coordinates for animations.
- More test flights
- Scenarios
- A handy manual
- A variant without landing legs (yes, you convinced me ) and all the payload modules as seperate payloads
- Anything else that comes to my mind during the process

 

[garyw]

- A variant without landing legs (yes, you convinced me ) and all the

Yaay! :lol:

I look forward to it. Please let me know if I can be of any help with testing anything.

By the way, Have you considered a Mars version? Something with a jettisonable heat shield and parachute?

I'm going to shut up now!

 

[Overmind5000]

hang on a sec.

I know making the lander is eady, just HOW are you going to get it to land? It's not like you magically hit a couple buttons like in AMSO and Bam! You just kick back a wait. I doubt you can make an easy manual landing in that. It would be a nice challenge though. I can't even figure out the transx MFDs.

 

[garyw]

LandMFD or LOLAMFD would do the trick.

 

[Raindropz]

I look forward to it. Please let me know if I can be of any help with testing anything.

Currently, flight tests are conducted in-house

By the way, Have you considered a Mars version? Something with a jettisonable heat shield and parachute?

Nah, that task probably calls for a very different specialized vehicle. After all, Mars provides higher-efficiency propellants in-situ and has vastly different thrust & delta-v requirements than the moon...

HOW are you going to get it to land

Land MFD does the trick well, though I grew somewhat fond of the idea of getting that thing on the pad manually. It should be possible in theory, but it takes quite a good deal of practice... Best approach is to watch Land MFD in action to get a feel for how it's done. And hey, closing in to Brighton Beach above the monorail track, with your hands on the controls and your fuel reserves almost dry is arguably one of those intense moments in Orbiter .

Oh, and we have some more progress, gentlemen:

Ironman-P on the pad at Brighton Beach

 

[Raindropz]

Some more progress on the visuals. I decided to add photorealistic textures to most parts of the lander. Here's an (almost-final) textured variant of the core vehicle, plus a little excerpt from the manual that will be included...

Type: Automated/remote-guided or piloted multi-purpose shuttle/space tug
Designations: 'Ironman LLV', TREA150

Description:
Ironman core vehicle without a permanently attached module.

Ironmans without specialized payload modules make extremely flexible workhorses, able to integrate with a variety of generic payloads or other vessels to perform a wide range of transport and support missions.

Choice and integration of payloads, evaluating according performance and mission planning is entirely at the discretion of the vehicle operator. Getting the best return out of the vehicle may require operators to familiarize themselves with the 'spacecraft3' onboard system

Though you can't land docked payloads in Orbiter without ugly glitches, this bare-bones variant will still be included for users to add their own payloads through manual ini-editing, or to use it as a space tug.

 

[tgep]

You could use attachments with a specific callout for payloads. That way you won't edit the ini file.

 

[Raindropz]

It's been a bit calm lately, mainly due to life eating up a lot of my spare time (actually, I'm most productive with add-on stuff when I'm ill ).

I've considered attachments, but they don't account for the mass of the payload, which is a real showstealer. Also, they don't seem to support animations. And finally, spacecraft3 allows some bare-bones payload & vehicle customizability. I intend to provide a quick & dirty 'How-to' in the manual, plus a 'demonstrator' ini with an according scenario.

As progress is concerned:

- I've abandoned the hi-res textures again and added a wee bit more detail to the mesh, mostly because my image processing skills tend to produce crappy results. I'm also still not entirely sure whether I'm able to apply textures in anim8or in whatever way I please, though some will be present. I guess that's okay for a learning project. Screenshots to come.

- I'm now pretty sure the different Ironman variants will be able to handle their respective mission profiles featured in the scenarios that will be included. Some will be tricky, some will have more generous margins. Testing all those planned scenarios also pushed my flying skills hard, which is in part responsible for the delays.

- Most of the manual text is finished and still needs a port to pdf and a few fitting screenies.

- I tried to push spacecraft3 with a lunar rover derived from the Ironman-P pressure cabin, though I'm still not sure whether it's going to make it into the release. Step by step still sounds like the better solution .

Stay tuned.

 

[garyw]

*Bump*

Any updates on this addon?

 

[HiPotOk1978]

I have always been a fan of the Energia because of the UCD method of attaching payloads... I would love to see more craft use this method... Very straight forward and no editing scn files

 

[garyw]

Agreed but that's also why Kulch created the universal cargo deck.

As for this Ironman addon it sadly seems to have vanished as Raindropz hasn't logged on since November.

 

[tgep]

Dang, I was looking forward to this one as well.

 

[RocketMan_Len]

- Bad news is I've dropped the Fe/LOX idea after a couple more test flights. They compared just too lousy to my original calculations, and I didn't want to stretch the mass fraction to entirely unrealistic values. I've rather switched to an Aluminium/LOX propellant, providing an isp of 280s and much more robust performance.

I was going to ask about that, since aluminum seems to be much more abundant than iron on the Moon. Also, an Al/LOX rocket *has* been test-fired... and apparently performed fairly well.

 

[vettes]

id like to get this is it a nogo or is it done or in the process

 

[garyw]

id like to get this is it a nogo or is it done or in the process

No idea. As I said above - Raindropz has not logged on since November so it's highly likely it's cancelled.

 

[vettes]

i would love to get this when its out nice ideas

---------- Post added at 10:28 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:06 PM ----------

No idea. As I said above - Raindropz has not logged on since November so it's highly likely it's cancelled.

dang i was raelly looking for to this i love addons
the original orbiter file size is 1.06 gb and i have spent 6 gb on it

anyway i would love to get this addon if its ever finished

 

[garyw]

I just hope Raindropz is ok.....

 

[vettes]

I just hope Raindropz is ok.....

Same here he aint been on in a while...