This is SPACE SHUTTLE, with full instructions at www.X-Plane.com. Based on the X-Plane engine, SPACE SHUTTLE lets you really get some cool bits of the Space Shuttle experience, in completely real-time simulation. Nothing is compressed or made unrealistic, but instead the 8.5-minute launch (to 400,000 ft) and last 12 minutes of re-entry (from 200,000 ft, Mach-10) are accurately represented.
Here are the options:
->Launch: This option lets you WATCH the launch in real-time, from 10 seconds left in the count-down, through orbiter-roll, through SRB-separation, though External-Tank separation, right through to low-orbit insertion, at 17,500 mph at 400,000 ft. You won't FLY this launch, but the times and speeds and events are accurately laid out for you to see, so you can finally see what happens AFTER the shuttle leaves sight of the cameras on it's flights to space! REALISTIC depiction of the Earth is included, including realistic atmospheric visibility and Earth curvature, so you can see what the view is REALLY like when riding a rocket from sea-level to 400,000 ft.
->ISS Docking. This is a docking sim that gives you full freedom in all 6 dimensions: X, Y, Z, Pitch, Heading, and Roll... This is as tricky as space-flight gets, and YOU will attempt to dock with the ISS... can you handle it? Shuttle and ISS geometry and docking-points are rendered accurately, so you will see the real scale and geometry of both craft.
->Final Approach: Now THIS is one you can FLY like a plane! You will be placed at about 18,000 ft, about 10 or 15 miles short of the runway at Edwards... you will fly clear down to landing on your own! Any decent flight-simmer should be able to handle this one, no problem.
->Near and Distant Re-Entries: THESE are ones that you can fly yourself, and these ones are tricky! I can do them, though, so I know you can, too! You will start off as far as about 600 miles out, at 200,000 ft, Mach-10, well above almost all of the atmosphere, and guide the Orbiter down, by hand, clear to Edwards. The instrumentation in the cockpit is similar to the instrumentation in the real Orbiter, so you will be following the speed, energy, and altitude curves from 200,000 ft all the way down to landing as you S-turn through the stratosphere at Hypersonic speeds. (I am not even slightly kidding or exaggerating. That is the re-entry procedure). Along with pretty accurate instrumentation, help-tips are presented to you in real-time, during the re-entry, to help guide you down, so you should be able to handle it, with enough practice, even if you are not currently familiar with shuttle re-entry procedures. Once you get some practice and get good enough, you will actually start your GLIDE at 600 miles out, 100 miles up, Mach-10, and hand-fly the glider clear to touch-down right on the runway, all in real-time, with pretty accurate physics. It is unlike any plane you have ever flown, or any game you have ever played, but I can do it every time, and one astronaut has hand-flown the entire procedure (rather than leaving it to the autopilot) one time in the history of the shuttle program.
Can YOU do it?
Space Shuttle 9.65 Update
2010-11-15
NEW FEATURES:
RUDDER-SLIDER is now at the bottom! This is really cool, because it lets you do nosewheel steering separately from the roll-input, and also lets you sideslip and yaw in flight, independently of roll, as you can in a real airplane. This system is automatic as long as you do not touch the slider, but engages as soon as you slide your finger along the bottom of the screen. In other words, it is automatic with a manual over-ride… try it! It is pretty darn cool to use!
ENHANCEMENTS:
We have lower ram-use for more stability on devices with only a little RAM and a lot of other apps installed. We have frame-rate enhancements to run a hair smoother.
With the increased speed and decreased RAM-use, all of our apps should run a bit smoother and more reliably!
The fuel-flow model is now better, for more accurate flight durations, as requested.
Coming out if replay restores you to the end of the flight, as desired.
BUG FIXES:
The radio frequencies are always displayed properly.
AppPure.com and the download link of this app are 100% safe. The download link of this app will be redirected to the official App Store site, thus the app is original and has not been modified in any way.
RUDDER-SLIDER is now at the bottom! This is really cool, because it lets you do nosewheel steering separately from the roll-input, and also lets you sideslip and yaw in flight, independently of roll, as you can in a real airplane. This system is automatic as long as you do not touch the slider, but engages as soon as you slide your finger along the bottom of the screen. In other words, it is automatic with a manual over-ride… try it! It is pretty darn cool to use!
ENHANCEMENTS:
We have lower ram-use for more stability on devices with only a little RAM and a lot of other apps installed. We have frame-rate enhancements to run a hair smoother.
With the increased speed and decreased RAM-use, all of our apps should run a bit smoother and more reliably!
The fuel-flow model is now better, for more accurate flight durations, as requested.
Coming out if replay restores you to the end of the flight, as desired.
BUG FIXES:
The radio frequencies are always displayed properly.
9.551
2010-07-09
Total code re-build to run on all operating systems up to and including 4.0!
This enables running in the background if you want to run multiple apps at once!
Extra bonus: Now we have more exciting storms, complete with thunder and lightning... very very frightening! In these storms, the blade-element flight-model immersed in the pseudo-random turbulent flow-field makes for an amazingly accurate ride in the turbulence as well!
9.52
2010-03-19
Lighting and fog model area bit more detailed... the sky gets grayer as the visibility comes down.
As well, mountain and cloud rendering should look more realistic above those overcast layers
Frame-rate optimizations to get that frame-rate up a bit more for smoother flight dynamics!
9.50
2009-12-04
Indicated airspeed and G-limits apply during re-entry! Do not over-speed or over-G! Follow the line down carefully.
Plenty of historic pix of the shuttle program... pretty cool!
More data on the launch. See Mach number and indicated airspeed, a measure of the pressure on the ship.
Translation-thrusters labelled, and translation-thrusters are audible.
Extra runways at Edwards removed... they were causing some confusion as to where to land.
9.40
2009-11-04
Note during lift-off that you can touch the screen to go straight to the mission-menu at any time.
Some stability-augmentation during the ISS-dock to make it a bit easier.
Speed-brakes are now controllable in the panel view, to let you do a more realistic and accurate approach by the numbers.
Better visibility of the glide-slope lights at Edwards.
A bit of frame-rate enhancement! We continue to tweak the code to get every last bit of performance out of the iPhone and IpodTouch to get the best frame-rate possible with some pretty impressive graphics!
Ridge-lift! Turn on some strong winds and fly near the mountains... This keeps things fun and interesting for sure! The wind follows the contours of the terrain, and you can use that lifting air to some advantage, or the descending air to CRASH if you are not careful!
Sounds of other planes! This is fun! When flying with a multiplayer, you can hear the sound of your friend as he zooms by!
9.12
2009-06-04
Earth rendering! Pretty nice! Completely accurate curvature and distance for your elevation.
This is simulation-quality, not game-quality!
ISS docking mission!
Really a fun challenge... give it a try!
IN THE FULL RE-ENTRY, MAKE SURE TO HIT THE VIEW ICON IN THE UPPER LEFT OF THE SCREEN, AND CHECK OUT A FEW EXTERNAL VIEWS.... I find it rather... impressive... to see the Orbiter cooking in it's own plasma.