This was a really well made video, had some interesting twists that I didn't expect. It did make me realise how much of a rocket nerd I am though, since I spent most of the time thinking about how you could optimise the architecture to make better use of the reusability aspect. It does show rather well how reuse hardware cuts into payload margins though
Agreed. The coolness of a fully reusable Apollo stack was tempered by the fact that it was still an Apollo stack, with most of the limitations and deficiencies that made us abandon the Apollo program to begin with. This really highlights the limitations of a "There and back again in one shot" approach, though. Even with full reuse and cutting edge technology, you're still limited to a lander similar in size and construction to a sheet metal garden shed.
Thank you! Heh, nobody expects a construction blimp! Yeah. Doing a properly optimized fully reusable mission could be interesting, but I really wanted to try out sticking to the Apollo Aesthetics as closely as possible, which gives it a pretty neat mix of past and future look to it. Yeah, re-use hardware is heavy - the S-IC doing a full boostback doesn't help either, a barge landing would help with that, though it would be a pretty massive barge...
@@TDChannelKSP Well a properly optimised fully reusable mission, much like projections for the Starship show, would definitely include multiple launches and docking, if not straight-up orbital construction. Obviously the point of the entire video is to still have an Apollo mission by the end, but realistically there is no way NASA would have access to a reusable vehicle with the Saturn V's lifting capacity and still go for a single-launch mission that includes orbiting and deorbiting every component (let alone nuclear engines) every single time.
it was even picked up by the other landed kerbal. which suggests that 2 were official tour guide astronauts, and the one placing the flag was a tourist.
If SpaceX existed back then, NASA wouldn't be worrying the fuss over reusable, just the fact,, they now have an ally company who makes rockets learn to dance & verticly land.
knowing Prossessor D adress i now having Wire Puller not smart because other took and Prossessor D have DEL and having Baby ( Prossessor D have Force One).
IRL The airships and helicopters aren't very practical, that's why they aren't used to build skyscrapers. The winds are too variable to give the operators the precise control they need to assemble the stack safely. Flying a helicopter near a fully fueled rocket is incredibly dangerous, if a gust of wind pushes it into the rocket, BOOM!
I don't usually post comments but this... This is legitimately better than some movies i've seen, the camera angles, the transitions, the music... (and obviously the mission in itself) You've, once again, beaten all our expectations
@@jxq12 >>> I was making a pun, referring to the *_"Vehicle Assembly Building"_* -- *_"V.A.B."_* -- at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA.
@@netric9084 There is a certain not-so well known thing called the other side of earth. Includes places like China, Australia, Thailand, New Zealand and Singapore (I’m in the last one).
“Giant blimps” is obviously the first thing that comes to mind when you read “reusable Apollo”. Just kidding, what a great video, you’ve outdone yourself again.
This video is beautifully made man. The music, the camera angles, the rocket design, the concept. I am at awe for words. Truly remarkable. Thank you for sharing it!
Absolutely magnificent. This is the sort of madness that makes me adore KSP. Some people would ask "why would you do this?" and to them I would say "shut up and stop asking questions, this is brilliant kerbgineering at its finest."
Thank you. Haha, yup. KSP has such incredible potential, truly an endless amount of stuff you can pull off, especially with the great modding community.
Next video : fully reusable N1 to Mars and back x) Serusly, amazing video. I think I'm going to loop it and pass it 3 or 4 time, just to be impress again (Sory for bad english, I'm a french fan of your work)
Can you imagine if you were in the 1960s and you had the vehicle moved into position only to realize you rotated it 180 degrees so the door on the capsule was on the complete other side from the tower?
Wally Schirra mentioned recovering the stages during a coverage of one of the launches Maybe this might’ve been some crazy 60s engineer’s plan, who knows?
[NOTE: This post is a bit of a LONG ONE. I am NOT so great at composing statements, and I tend to think of MORE STUFF to include the further along I go... 🙄😊] FWIW: I have come across numerous sources online from the 1960s that described recovering rocket boosters -- up to and including the Saturn V first stage -- using some form of a Rogallo Flexing/Parawing. {This includes videos here on CZcams of film footage of wind tunnel tests and free open-air models, being tested at NASA Langley and other places.} I mentioned in another comment that I have been living in northeastern North Carolina {NC} since the mid 1990s. Mr. Francis M. Rogallo, inventor of the Flexing/Parawing, retired to Southern Shores, NC in the nearby NC Outer Banks. KITTY HAWK KITES has an annual event at Jockey's Ridge State Park called _"Rogallo Kite Festival,"_ which Mr. Rogallo used to attend when he was still living. Hang glider folks {as well as Kiter's} revere the man for being the 'father' -- or maybe 'grandfather' -- of early hang gliders. I talked to him briefly maybe three or four times at such events in the mid-to-late 90s. I mention *_ALL THAT_* to preface a general kind of question I still have: *WHY* was it never attempted to recover ANY rocket boosters using some form of Rogallo parawings? YES, I _know_ development work for use on Gemini & Apollo MANNED space capsules was curtailed because development could not keep up with JFK's commitment to land men on the Moon by the end of the 1960s. That said, I remember Mr. Rogallo telling me if they had kept using Apollo space capsules for manned missions and not switched over to the space shuttles, NASA would have developed SOME KIND of capsule recovery method that would avoid splashdowns.
Ahh, I remember reading about the Rogallo parawing design for Gemini. IIRC there was some stability and safety concerns with the design, but I'd have to do more research on it. Recovering rocket boosters themselves using a parawing might be a bit of a hassle - capsules are one thing, but booster stages are enormous and heavy. However, flying boosters back using deployable wings was considered, such as Energias flyback booster concept czcams.com/video/b6GG8KHDjZk/video.html
Indeed it does! Well, F1A/J2S have pretty good reliability. The stages don't burn for quite the full duration, so on rated burn time alone it should last at least two flights. (there's also tested vs rated burn time values in newest testflight, which could allow it to fire even longer, but I'm still on an old installation) Ignitions also allows for at least two flights - the F1A normally only has one ignition, but being attached to the CLAW allows it to ignite (same with any engine) infinitely. The J2S S-II and Merlins have enough ignitions to do two flights. After that, the vehicle would have to be rolled back, "refurbished" and sent out again to replenish its rated burn time and ignitions. Still, having the full vehicle stacked should cut down on that time quite a bit.
Aye - the extra weight for reuse (especially the boostback burn) necessitated a bigger first stage, but I tried to keep the aesthetics similar to regular Sat V.
Starting at around 16:40 in this video: FWIW, I have been living in northeastern North Carolina since 1995, but I was born and raised in St. Petersburg, Florida. I also lived in Dade County, Florida {near Miami} from 1988 to 1985. Having said all that → YES, Florida really is THAT FLAT...😉
Thanks! Well, so far this video has been one of my most popular uploads, it's been gaining views quite quickly. It'll probably stop soon enough, but it's still fun to see. Just a year ago I'd be excited by hitting 1k views...
I've cought myself 4 times trying to give a like to this Video, while it was already given. Awesome shots. Stacking bit to long, with to epic music in some moments at the beginning, but still.. Man! 👀🍿❤️
Any filming takes where at 5:00 the propeller blades hit the S-1C? And at 16:46 imagine this happening in real life and the entire SIVB lands on some random town (or perhaps the White House’s helipad).
Heh, those blades came *very* close to S-IC - thought about building a little helipad on top of the launchpad, but kraken was angry at me already... Luckily, that was one shot I got in one take - no collisions! Hehe. Amazon one-hour delivery, Apollo historical set from orbit, free shipping.
Whats gonna capture all that fuel in vacuum? Jokes aside, this is so unbelievably ridicoulous i cant believe this was done legitimately. Kinda was hoping you would do a super heavy style landing on the launch pad lol (doubt it would be worth the effort) Well done!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you! Haha, I actually considered that... however, pointing thrust at the launch pad is kraken bait and I had this mission explode far too many times. My landings were manually piloted, that level of precision would require a landing script, which I don't have any experience with.... yet! Might try if I ever get one working...
It's likely, but I wanted to re-stack the vehicle without recovering to VAB and "magically" having the vehicle pop out again. Blimps were much easier to cooperate with the kraken than a giant mobile crane rig.
awesome videos you do, but at the end of this one here, do consider installing a mid for bigger landing gears, you have all these mods why not look for one you know, but amazing videos you do anyways
This was a really well made video, had some interesting twists that I didn't expect.
It did make me realise how much of a rocket nerd I am though, since I spent most of the time thinking about how you could optimise the architecture to make better use of the reusability aspect. It does show rather well how reuse hardware cuts into payload margins though
Agreed.
The coolness of a fully reusable Apollo stack was tempered by the fact that it was still an Apollo stack, with most of the limitations and deficiencies that made us abandon the Apollo program to begin with.
This really highlights the limitations of a "There and back again in one shot" approach, though. Even with full reuse and cutting edge technology, you're still limited to a lander similar in size and construction to a sheet metal garden shed.
Thank you! Heh, nobody expects a construction blimp!
Yeah. Doing a properly optimized fully reusable mission could be interesting, but I really wanted to try out sticking to the Apollo Aesthetics as closely as possible, which gives it a pretty neat mix of past and future look to it. Yeah, re-use hardware is heavy - the S-IC doing a full boostback doesn't help either, a barge landing would help with that, though it would be a pretty massive barge...
@@TDChannelKSP Well a properly optimised fully reusable mission, much like projections for the Starship show, would definitely include multiple launches and docking, if not straight-up orbital construction. Obviously the point of the entire video is to still have an Apollo mission by the end, but realistically there is no way NASA would have access to a reusable vehicle with the Saturn V's lifting capacity and still go for a single-launch mission that includes orbiting and deorbiting every component (let alone nuclear engines) every single time.
You're not the only one
Loading spelled Rotterdam is an Unique North i now after SeaShore North^
Taking the flag home makes it feel like a tourist trap. "Yeah, you can plant a flag on the moon like a real astronaut!" Excellent work as always :)
it was even picked up by the other landed kerbal. which suggests that 2 were official tour guide astronauts, and the one placing the flag was a tourist.
@@BlazingImp77151 জ্ঞেয়ইইতনা য়য়ত
:জউউম
:জু য়্য্যত্তফজ্ঞহহহুইজুউজ,এচ
@@masumbillah9878what are you saying
A blimp that dwarfs even the mighty Saturn V. It was incredible to watch.
The Titanic fits inside the R101, which also crashed on its maiden voyage.
That will be never fell in rocket the separator never fell only landing
@@eloscuro704what is the r101
@@DinoRickyBritain's Largest airship
Hi sponch
TD in 2025: “Apollo^21 but rss gravity is 10x stronger”
RSS 10.625x scale, essentially super-earth.
Why wait?
@@CraftYourDreamLB59 he’ll get better and better at ksp
VBalooniconthunder fB i@windayani i send photo Couple Gravity Engine ( PCB'S).
@@fork9001 HellCat stand by,-
“If SpaceX existed in 1960.”
“If Robert Truax and Phillip Bono had control over the Saturn program”
"If NASA had US military budget"
Lol 🤣
More like, if von Braun could do whatever he wants lol
If SpaceX existed back then, NASA wouldn't be worrying the fuss over reusable, just the fact,, they now have an ally company who makes rockets learn to dance & verticly land.
We wouldn't have seen the great Saturn 5 and the N1 would have been the tallest rocket.
Awesome! You have one-uped Strazenblitz! The fool forgot to take home the flag!
Fantastic work my friend! the fact blimps we're used to assemble them is so clever!
knowing Prossessor D adress i now having Wire Puller not smart because other took and Prossessor D have DEL and having Baby ( Prossessor D have Force One).
IRL The airships and helicopters aren't very practical, that's why they aren't used to build skyscrapers. The winds are too variable to give the operators the precise control they need to assemble the stack safely. Flying a helicopter near a fully fueled rocket is incredibly dangerous, if a gust of wind pushes it into the rocket, BOOM!
were*
I don't usually post comments but this... This is legitimately better than some movies i've seen, the camera angles, the transitions, the music... (and obviously the mission in itself) You've, once again, beaten all our expectations
Wow, thank you :D
Glad you enjoyed it!
@@TDChannelKSP how do I become like you?
@@makssachs8914 Steps:
• Have KSP with RSS/RO
• Have a NASA computer at home
• Dream
• Don't be lazy
• For God sakes just do it
•
And all this time I thought the *"B"* in *"V.A.B."* stood for *"Building."*
😊😊😊
Timestamp?
@@jxq12 >>> I was making a pun, referring to the *_"Vehicle Assembly Building"_* -- *_"V.A.B."_* -- at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA.
Adding front yard service Phanter.
Those Meaning Again Will result Fall Adress Now Space Cadet Confirms Launch B Rocket Saturnus V DOS.
@@jxq12 od
waiting for this at 2 in the morning 13 hours before it premieres
PERFECTLY REASONABLE
Yep, nothing weird here
For me it premiered 3am in the morning, so being the pathetic person I am, I skipped the premiere.
@@fork9001 3am in the morning? is there a 3am in the afternoon I haven't heard about?
@@netric9084 There is a certain not-so well known thing called the other side of earth. Includes places like China, Australia, Thailand, New Zealand and Singapore (I’m in the last one).
@@fork9001 I know how time zones work. I'm just joking about the fact that Rithvik needed to specify that 3am was in the morning. am means morning.
“Giant blimps” is obviously the first thing that comes to mind when you read “reusable Apollo”.
Just kidding, what a great video, you’ve outdone yourself again.
Of course!
Heh. It's a surprise I don't think anyone would expect clicking on this video...
Thank you :)
iN coin key tracker Smitch Trigger.
i@
This video is beautifully made man. The music, the camera angles, the rocket design, the concept. I am at awe for words. Truly remarkable. Thank you for sharing it!
Thank you! I appreciate it.
You're welcome, and glad you enjoyed it.
@@TDChannelKSP Make more video of Terminal Velocity, Please!
You See Ori Program Rocket Saturnus V to save Hover Rover to another Nature iN this clip.
Absolutely magnificent. This is the sort of madness that makes me adore KSP. Some people would ask "why would you do this?" and to them I would say "shut up and stop asking questions, this is brilliant kerbgineering at its finest."
Thank you. Haha, yup. KSP has such incredible potential, truly an endless amount of stuff you can pull off, especially with the great modding community.
@@TDChannelKSP This is the land of "can we do it", not "should we do it"
Another brilliant video TD, your inventiveness never ceases to amaze. 👏
Just totally completely incredible. And you successfully had me loop the video.
Loved the way it loops perfectly at the end. Remarkable work!
First time I've seen this great use of the loop feature with a fully reusable ksp video. Great job
This is so well made and actually gives me some idea's the Blimp idea is the icing on the cake , well done excellant idea's and music .
No apostrophe in "ideas".
@@b43xoit man shut yo-
That Vehicle Assembly Blimp is massive! I can just imagine the look on Werner Von Brauns' face when you suggest dusting off the Hindenburg designs...
Can’t wait for fully reusable mission to the surface of the Sun and back
landing at night, of course.
Premieres in 6 hours, can't wait to watch it live.
The loop is so well done!
Восхитительно! Отличная реализация! Очень понравилось.
⚠SOVIET DETECTED⚠
Next video : fully reusable N1 to Mars and back x)
Serusly, amazing video. I think I'm going to loop it and pass it 3 or 4 time, just to be impress again
(Sory for bad english, I'm a french fan of your work)
Its not actually 100% reusable as a atom fell of the bottom stage in max-q
There are 2 “F”’s in the word “OFF” With one “F” you’ve got “OV” as in (of) somewhere or something!
@@pikachu6031 no shit bro
@@dracenheard9196 Try telling him, who wrote it that, not me!
Can you imagine if you were in the 1960s and you had the vehicle moved into position only to realize you rotated it 180 degrees so the door on the capsule was on the complete other side from the tower?
Wally Schirra mentioned recovering the stages during a coverage of one of the launches
Maybe this might’ve been some crazy 60s engineer’s plan, who knows?
Awe inspiring work. Mad respect!
Thank you :)
I gotta give you credit for this one. You went out of your way to spen hours and hours on making this and damn is it good. Well done, 10/10.
So cool that it's a loop!
That was an awesome...awesome reuse of the entire Saturn redesigned system...Wow. well done 👏
this is probably the most impressive thing I've ever seen done in ksp
Thank you! :)
7:08 from this angel it looks more like N1 then the Saturn V
You think like me😂
and 7:29 too
[NOTE: This post is a bit of a LONG ONE. I am NOT so great at composing statements, and I tend to think of MORE STUFF to include the further along I go... 🙄😊]
FWIW: I have come across numerous sources online from the 1960s that described recovering rocket boosters -- up to and including the Saturn V first stage -- using some form of a Rogallo Flexing/Parawing. {This includes videos here on CZcams of film footage of wind tunnel tests and free open-air models, being tested at NASA Langley and other places.}
I mentioned in another comment that I have been living in northeastern North Carolina {NC} since the mid 1990s. Mr. Francis M. Rogallo, inventor of the Flexing/Parawing, retired to Southern Shores, NC in the nearby NC Outer Banks. KITTY HAWK KITES has an annual event at Jockey's Ridge State Park called _"Rogallo Kite Festival,"_ which Mr. Rogallo used to attend when he was still living. Hang glider folks {as well as Kiter's} revere the man for being the 'father' -- or maybe 'grandfather' -- of early hang gliders. I talked to him briefly maybe three or four times at such events in the mid-to-late 90s.
I mention *_ALL THAT_* to preface a general kind of question I still have: *WHY* was it never attempted to recover ANY rocket boosters using some form of Rogallo parawings? YES, I _know_ development work for use on Gemini & Apollo MANNED space capsules was curtailed because development could not keep up with JFK's commitment to land men on the Moon by the end of the 1960s. That said, I remember Mr. Rogallo telling me if they had kept using Apollo space capsules for manned missions and not switched over to the space shuttles, NASA would have developed SOME KIND of capsule recovery method that would avoid splashdowns.
Ahh, I remember reading about the Rogallo parawing design for Gemini. IIRC there was some stability and safety concerns with the design, but I'd have to do more research on it.
Recovering rocket boosters themselves using a parawing might be a bit of a hassle - capsules are one thing, but booster stages are enormous and heavy.
However, flying boosters back using deployable wings was considered, such as Energias flyback booster concept czcams.com/video/b6GG8KHDjZk/video.html
@@TDChannelKSP >>> 👍👍
This video is a masterpiece, it's just marvelous
Thank you :)
It actually loops perfectly!
Also how is engine reliability and ignitions handled?
Indeed it does!
Well, F1A/J2S have pretty good reliability. The stages don't burn for quite the full duration, so on rated burn time alone it should last at least two flights. (there's also tested vs rated burn time values in newest testflight, which could allow it to fire even longer, but I'm still on an old installation)
Ignitions also allows for at least two flights - the F1A normally only has one ignition, but being attached to the CLAW allows it to ignite (same with any engine) infinitely. The J2S S-II and Merlins have enough ignitions to do two flights.
After that, the vehicle would have to be rolled back, "refurbished" and sent out again to replenish its rated burn time and ignitions. Still, having the full vehicle stacked should cut down on that time quite a bit.
@@TDChannelKSP With Kerbalism an engineer Kerbal can service engines in flight. Is this not possible in RP-1?
@@albertnewton8296 Nope. RP-1 uses its own reliability system based on real-life data (testflight), and ignores kerbalism failures entirely.
Unbelievable skill and design TD
Amazing watch! Thank you!
Even more impressive than I expected. Must have taken weeks (or more) of development!
Positively insane! Love it
This is an amazing rocket concept by you!
Aint no way i found the curryman 💀💀💀
@@Cresign You got invaded 3 times in the last 100 years lololololo
Instead of an "assembly blimp," they should have an "assembly Trebuchet" to throw parts at it.
Such a nice loop of a video
The Vehicle Assembly Blimp deserves its own logo, "AirVAB" (winks) along with the iconic VAB (Vehicle Assembly Building)
I thought it was gonna be similar to the Saturn V, but the lower stage made it more like the Saturn C8
Aye - the extra weight for reuse (especially the boostback burn) necessitated a bigger first stage, but I tried to keep the aesthetics similar to regular Sat V.
this was really cool!
I really like that Both assembly blimps turn using RSC.
Absolutly incredible
Starting at around 16:40 in this video: FWIW, I have been living in northeastern North Carolina since 1995, but I was born and raised in St. Petersburg, Florida. I also lived in Dade County, Florida {near Miami} from 1988 to 1985.
Having said all that → YES, Florida really is THAT FLAT...😉
Nice job! Subscribed :)
Congratz on getting 1k likes, really deserves a lot more views
Thanks!
Well, so far this video has been one of my most popular uploads, it's been gaining views quite quickly. It'll probably stop soon enough, but it's still fun to see. Just a year ago I'd be excited by hitting 1k views...
Wonderful job
Wow, great video. Subbed
Amazing concept.
I love that the blimp is also called the VAB. Just perfect.
Wow, such a high quality video!
U crazy bro 😂 man, amazing work
I-
I have no words
Except for
Incredible.
This is amazing.
Love the airship concept
Bro that was fire!
Great video! It's nice to have an imagination.
Very interesting, I like this idea.
most rewatchable video
I did not expect the loop to be perfect
Perfect loop.
Let’s go back to the LM!
*casually does a backflip*
this is definitely something NASA would do, like they did with the Space Shuttle…
Lol, when I saw the S-II stacking, I thought the blimp was the stage, and it was just zoomed in lol. Didn’t expect the blimp to carry the stage.
perfect loop
I,sir,like your idea’s
Excellent !
perfect loop and 100% reusable
the camera movement in 7:57 is something straight out of the expanse! fantastic
I've cought myself 4 times trying to give a like to this Video, while it was already given. Awesome shots. Stacking bit to long, with to epic music in some moments at the beginning, but still.. Man! 👀🍿❤️
Any filming takes where at 5:00 the propeller blades hit the S-1C? And at 16:46 imagine this happening in real life and the entire SIVB lands on some random town (or perhaps the White House’s helipad).
Heh, those blades came *very* close to S-IC - thought about building a little helipad on top of the launchpad, but kraken was angry at me already...
Luckily, that was one shot I got in one take - no collisions!
Hehe. Amazon one-hour delivery, Apollo historical set from orbit, free shipping.
@@TDChannelKSP And this is the part where you grab onto the interstage and hold on real tight for a free trip to LC-39A, Kennedy Space Centre.
Whats gonna capture all that fuel in vacuum?
Jokes aside, this is so unbelievably ridicoulous i cant believe this was done legitimately. Kinda was hoping you would do a super heavy style landing on the launch pad lol (doubt it would be worth the effort)
Well done!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you! Haha, I actually considered that... however, pointing thrust at the launch pad is kraken bait and I had this mission explode far too many times.
My landings were manually piloted, that level of precision would require a landing script, which I don't have any experience with.... yet! Might try if I ever get one working...
3:00 the bell ringing motions was the best! lol
Nice Möbius vid!
great job
good loopable video
Very nice transitions
Great work, but I really doubt the cost-effectiveness of this procedure...
Perfect name "Saturn X"because its reusible like space X
Impressive, very nice
I told you i'd be back, And It was well worth it, Perfection. The only word I can say.
Hello again!
Glad it was worth coming back for :)
I like that the separation never fells to the earth
Interesting. I would have CM land separately because there is no way for crew to escape if the 3rd stage topples over.
I love the VAB as the Vehicle Assembly Blimp - lol!
Damn, KSP looks AMAZING here
WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE
Utterly amazing!! You should be working for SpaceX.
i think you’re mistaking a cool project in a video game for actual rocket science
I'm thinking they would be going to the Vehicle Assembly Building to stack up.
The legend is here!
@@Darkherring Its happening! stay calm!
It's likely, but I wanted to re-stack the vehicle without recovering to VAB and "magically" having the vehicle pop out again. Blimps were much easier to cooperate with the kraken than a giant mobile crane rig.
You have to give me time to continue the loop!
The fact that the flag is taken back to Earth so that the mission is 100% reusable is hilarious
awesome videos you do, but at the end of this one here, do consider installing a mid for bigger landing gears, you have all these mods why not look for one you know, but amazing videos you do anyways
Fantastic
Me playing this in a youtube loop for feel what is this like
Warner von Braun likes this Saturn!
When I saw that the S-IVB kept the flared interstage, I was kinda hoping it would reenter front-end-first, kinda like the Kistler K-1
Space x:youre hired
Edit: space x after he worked at it:📈📈📈📈📈