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SpaceReactor is a proposed interplanetary transport vehicle. It uses nuclear-electric propulsion, powered by a 20 kW(e) reactor at the front end of the boom. It carries an AeroShell lander, with an Ingenuity-class helicopter on board. Note: The launch and TMI scenarios require BrianJ’s...

When NASA announced the Centaur V will be the future common upper stage for the SLS, it got my attention. How much punch does this combination have? Can it loft the Orion to the Moon and posssibly assist in Lunar orbit insertion? I looked into my old Orange-SLS from 2016 and brushed it up a...

Obsidian Outer Belt Surveyor for Discovery, Imaging, and Analysis of Neptunian space The Obsidian is an unmanned space probe to explore the outer Solar system. It is powered by a nuclear-electric bus, can be configured with different science packages, and can carry up to two landers. Addon...

As the question was raised how to make effective pylon structures, I share my method here. Goal is to a make a realistic-looking truss with a low number of polys. I suggest to get familiar with the major components of a framework. It starts with a planning phase: How long will the truss be...

francisdrake submitted a new addon: Orion-MPCV and Orange-SLS - The Orion-MPCV and an Orange-SLS launcher of the Artemis Moon exploration program. Read more about this addon...

francisdrake submitted a new addon: VAST Haven-1 with Machete and the Space Babes - The VAST Haven-1 space station Read more about this addon...

francisdrake submitted a new addon: The Janus Expedition - An expedition to Mars using a modified Lunar Gateway, to investigate the Phobos monolith. Read more about this addon...

francisdrake submitted a new addon: X-37 and The Prince of Darkness - The X-37 space plane and missions to a near-Earth asteroid Read more about this addon...

As mentioned in the Crew Dragon thread, a private mission is planned to fly over the poles. The mission will be called Fram2, after the polar exploration ship Fram. The attached mission pack contains a launch and a polar fly-over scenario, showing southern polar lights. Please let me know, if...

The story is based on the book Janus by Phillip P. Peterson. Photos taken from orbit indicate the monolith on the Mars moon Phobos may be an artificial structure. Earths nations race to Mars to become the first to capture the possible alien technology. Makeshift spacecrafts are assembled. The...

francisdrake submitted a new addon: Plato Moon Base - A near-future Moon base Read more about this addon...

The company Impulse Space is developing a 14 ton Methan / LOX kick-stage called Helios. It shall lift a 5 ton payload from LEO to GEO within a day, speeding up the deployment of satellites and saving their on-board fuel. When used on a Falcon9 it can help to retain the booster, thus lowering...

DELTA-V is a techno-thriller by Daniel Suarez about a team of adventurers who launch the first deep space mining operation. This project is to create the ships and scenarios in Orbiter. The first step is to set up the stage. The zip-file contains the asteroid Ryugu. Please note, a line needs to...

francisdrake submitted a new addon: Tenacity Dream Chaser - The Tenacity cargo version of the Dream Chaser spacecraft, with the Shooting Star module Read more about this addon...

When flying into Cape Canaveral I sometimes encounter a dense cloud cover, which makes it difficult to find the runway from a distance. When using other time settings, the clouds have moved away. Is there a way to see upfront, where the clouds are? I assume the cloud map slowly rotates over...

Recently I had to abort a DreamChaser launch over the mid-Atlantic. Due to a pilots error ;) I dropped back into the atmosphere. Instead of quitting the simulation, I looked for an airport in Europe to make an emergency landing. Surprise: There is none! With the simulation temporarily...

NASA is considering to reboost the Hubble space telescope (HST) into a higher orbit, using a specially equipped Dragon capsule. It would have a rear docking port installed in the trunk. This allows the Dragon capsule to use its main thrusters in the nose for orbital maneuvers while docked to...

As the Light Weight Lunar Lander is much fun to fly, I revisited another light Lunar lander concept from 2019. This concept was proposed by Robert Zubrin in the article Moon Direct on The New Atlantis. He proposed an LH2/LOX vessel to pick up the crew in low Earth orbit, ferry them directly to...

The VulcanCentaur is a two-stage-to-orbit, heavy-lift launch vehicle under development by the United Launch Alliance (ULA). Attached is an early development add-on, with limited capability. For a launcher already in production, little technical data can be found, aside from promotional stuff...

This is a concept of a Moonship based on the SpaceX Starship design. The development was done in the Artemis Landers thread. Published it on Orbithangar to make it more visible. Download