Space Shuttle RTLS Abort with OPS 6 real guidance - Flight Gear

Space Shuttle Return to Launch Site after an engine failure in first stage due to Helium Leak.
Real Guidance ( OPS 6 and PEG 5) is used to steer safely the Shuttle back to the Cape.
A good reading to understand better what is happening during an RTLS is the intact ascent abort workbook at RTLS section: www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/...
Flight Gear Forum: forum.flightgear.org/
Wiki FG Space Shuttle: wiki.flightgear.org/Space_Shuttle
RTLS tuto: wiki.flightgear.org/Flying_the...
RTLS checklist (page 42/43): wiki.flightgear.org/Flying_the...
00:00 Launch: • Space Shuttle RTLS Abo...
01:00 Failure: • Space Shuttle RTLS Abo...
01:55 SRB sep: • Space Shuttle RTLS Abo...
04:30 Pitch Powered Around: • Space Shuttle RTLS Abo...
06:20 MECO: • Space Shuttle RTLS Abo...
07:45 Entry: • Space Shuttle RTLS Abo...
10:25 HAC and Landing • Space Shuttle RTLS Abo...
Music
Dark Knight BO, James Newton Howard & Hans Zimmer
• The Dark Knight Main T...
Steve Jablonsky, Arrival to Earth and Last hope
• Video
• Steve Jablonsky - Our ...
Gladiator, Now we are free
• Gladiator - Now We Are...

[@EstorilEm]

This is such a cool video - awesome job. My dad took me to Space Camp when I was a kid, and I was absolutely terrible - didn’t understand or really care about any of it. In hindsight, I’d do just about anything to try that again. The things we did, the real simulators (including Mission Control, all the consoles, the front section of the orbiter, etc) were just amazing.

[@wanderer2688]

I got this recommended 4 years later. But wow, this is cinema

[@filakyle3663]

This is the best video i have seen with this simulator, i love how you nailed it with the actual comms. And music is great there.

[@gingin3388]

Thanks !

[@hughjass3434]

What game is this

[@Bombastic0013]

@@hughjass3434 FlightGear, it's free.

[@timterry5689]

The "actual comms" didn't include calls about the ISS toilet.

[@hotmojoe2483]

Really cool vid. Watched it after watching Scott Manley fail to do it properly so I came here to see how it was done.

[@kg4boj]

Scott Manley landed it using a simulator tho

[@SnaxDesAvions]

​@@kg4bojwhat do you think FlightGear is lol ? Scott Manley failed because he did it like "YOLO Ima flex coz ima scientist" instead of being serious. It has nothing to do with Orbiter being a sim as both are sims. In fact the Space Shuttle addon in FG is more advanced than the Space Shuttle addons in Orbiter.

[@Fake_Blood]

Except no one knows how the shuttle would have reacted in real life flying backwards with the engines on, most shuttle pilots believed this had a very low chance of actually being survivable.

[@Cameron_the_Robot]

Good choice of music. Love it.

[@martinilopez1]

super video.. it even makes me feel that this is not a suicidal maneuver like i always thought :)

[@MultiHunterOne]

This is a beautiful video. Good job and earned a sub.

[@sailwesterly5444]

Beautifully done. Bravo.

[@gingin3388]

Thank you !

[@dfhj4556]

Keep 'em coming-liked a lot!

[@Katniss218]

This is sooo cool man! Perfect music choice!

[@gingin3388]

We can’t get wrong with Hans Zimmer :)

[@Katniss218]

@@gingin3388 Yesss!!

[@razvan092]

Amazing Job !

[@jcbcorner8464]

Super Video !! Merci

[@RomeroGhurka]

Very good video! The music and comms add a lot to it

[@gingin3388]

Thanks, more incoming soon :)

[@newtown7116]

Awesome video, great help, thank you

[@LuisJimenez92CR]

Incredible video!!!!

[@SnaxDesAvions]

Vraiment très impressionnant !

[@gingin3388]

Merci Snax :)

[@MrApolloTom]

Nice work.

[@protriactive8998]

nice one dude you deserve my sub

[@bobbyrutz9402]

That was AWESOME.

[@SmokingJacket]

Man this is exciting!

[@dolfyrantsparodies608]

Very amazing and realistic! Could you simulate a TAL abort or full reentry on Flight Gear?

[@timterry5689]

How do you know it's realistic?

[@MarkPentler]

Did this in Orbiter a bunch of times back in the day, and synced up some crew audio as well. Absolutely love this. Edit: In fact you used the same audio as I did on my landing, I forget which STS mission it was

[@gingin3388]

Sts 135 I guess , quite good audio on this :)

[@Deano28266]

Good job!!

[@gingin3388]

Thanks !!

[@Gomendio]

my hat off to this Abnormal RTLS gin gin. By seeing the cue cards and the checqlist velcroed onto the windscreen you are using the latest dv version?

[@gingin3388]

Gomen thanks Gomen. Indeed dev version . But a stable release is coming soon with all the last updates .

[@dfdgfdgf0000]

great video ! do they really play epic music to stress a bit more the astronauts in case of RTLS ?^^

[@gingin3388]

Avida Dollards 😂 Hans Zimmer NASA contractor’s

[@timterry5689]

Um, no. No music. Being close to dying is stressful enough.

[@jontrout2010]

@@timterry5689 woooosh

[@jaguargr3]

Fun fact: STS-1 (the first Shuttle launch) was supposed to demonstrate the RTLS abort, but the commander decided against it, branding it as "suicidal" (or something to that effect)

[@user-fi1nv8mf4l]

Young was quoted saying "let's not practice Russian roulette" and "RTLS requires continuous miracles interspersed with acts of God to be successful."

[@timterry5689]

Um, no. John wouldn't put himself or the Program at risk like that. RTLS was never planned, only contingency. I worked with John, later in his career. This is not a fun fact. It's not a fact at all.

[@harrimela9266]

it' s known from computer Simulations that had shown that RTLS abort was uncertain in survival...structural overloads would likely make shuttle and tank disintegrate when it is manouvering for RTLS and it still has full fuel tanks... luckily they didn't test it!

[@Av8rApollo]

awsome!

[@lasselahti4056]

This was actually ment to be tested on some early sts, but the astronauts flewing first orbital flight pretty soon declared "no too dangerous, only for saving lives if needed". Dunno if it was ever tested? Abort to to orbit has been done atleast on one mission.

[@canyonblue737-8]

never tested, some shuttle pilot astronauts and even engineers thought it would fail. one said it was just designed to give you something to do while waiting to die.

[@RipRoarin]

Was batman on this shuttle?

[@glenitho]

WoW... Belle vidéo Concernant le logiciel, il s'agit de quel Flightgear ?

[@gingin3388]

Merci . C’est la dernière version pour la navette . Fg c’est la version 2018 , la 2019 est dispo

[@Gomendio]

Which HD textures of earth view are you using GinGin? I find the default ones dull and very fainted, unable even to find out the proper boundaries between the countries. The plumes from your launch remain floating as well, mines not existent.

[@gingin3388]

Gomen hey, have a look there wiki.flightgear.org/Earthview I saw you posted in the forum, I will answer there . For the plumes , you can check that you are using als shaders and not Rembrandt , and that shaders are at max in parameters and visual rendering

[@oubrioko]

10:29 *CAPCOM:* _"Atlantis, Houston - You are on at the 90"_ *Atlantis:* _"Copy. On at the 90"_ *GNC:* _"Pilot flying"_ *FLIGHT:* _"G-N-C, Flight - Say again?"_ *GNC:* _"Correction - _*_Commander_*_ flying"_ *FLIGHT:* _"Copy"_ (glares at GNC, shakes his head)

[@eliasb5828]

Where do I get this Master Caution or C/W alarm as an sound example? I really want this as my ringtone. btw amazing work!

[@gingin3388]

Thanks . Sound was done with audacity following the real frequencies and Hz I found in the documentations. I guess you can record the tone in the video :)

[@macieksoft]

The sound is in the files, you can download the Space Shuttle model and go to sounds folder.

[@Razor_6]

Imagine game in RTX graphic style with full mechanical sterring cocpit like in DCS and with that epic radio speech. In VR mode, that will masterpiece and someday it will rise. Matter of time.

[@raylemus72]

This is awesome! Is this something in development? This in VR would be bad ass! Especially, if is high fidelity.

[@micahgotracksplays340]

What audio for landing there is this game I play called f-sim shuttle and I can’t figure out the audio

[@scotthinton4610]

The most Kerbal of aborts.

[@BLKBRDD]

I guarantee that if the moment arises that the real checklist came up, this music would definitely play in your head 😂

[@timterry5689]

Um, no. All the training you received in hundreds of hours of simulator time would play in your head.

[@danielarkangel7173]

Cool Video of an Abort Mission. Notice that the thrusters fire on landing in order to help slow the Space Shuttle on the Runway. I am the Arkangel Daniel and I am from Heaven.

[@aurelienclavaud3251]

They do not fire on landing that’s not a thing, there is no fuel in the spacecraft anyway

[@timterry5689]

Nope. The RCS system was disabled below Mach 1. Speedbrake and parachute are your friends.

[@ustyboy_11]

Yo pls help me out, how do you make the earth look so good?? Because my earth looks like a giant white ball

[@benjaminkapferer4949]

Hey, nice video, can you make a step by step tutorial for beginners?

[@gingin3388]

Beny_ ka.pferer I already did one . Look in the video description under Rtls tuto ;)

[@benjaminkapferer4949]

@@gingin3388 Allright thanks will try :)

[@AlphaGametauri]

Thankfully this never happened, only abort the shuttle program had was Challenger, ATO when the center engine failed.

[@gingin3388]

Alpha Gametauri indeed , that’s why it is quite nice to have an accurate simulator to test those exotic aborts :)

[@EstorilEm]

Fail is a strong word lol, the engine was perfectly fine (and re-flown!) but damn if those stupid sensors won’t ruin your whole day.

[@AlphaGametauri]

@@EstorilEm you say that like I meant the engine exploded lol

[@fred36956]

This is what John Young, before STS-1, thought was involved with an RTLS abort and famously stated "RTLS requires continuous miracles interspersed by acts of God to be successful." Perhaps that was his response after NASA actually proposed that STS-1 carry out a planned RTLS to see if the thing would actually work!

[@aurelienclavaud3251]

The entire program took miracles and acts of god to work. Which is why it’s so impressive they managed to get to orbit and back a hundred times! If STS-1 had done an RTLS idk what would have been worse: catastrophic failure, or success and making them think they could do it again!

[@timterry5689]

With all due respect (former Shuttle training Team Lead - My teams and I trained Shuttle crews), where did you get this information? Why do you have calls about the WHC (ISS toilet) in the Shuttle ascent stage? Who is making these calls on the Flight Loop? How was the abort initiated? I didn't see the abort rotary moved and pushbutton pressed or "OPS 601 PRO" executed?

[@gingin3388]

Hello Terry, Nice to have a former pro. Abort push button at 2:54 Iss Comms are from a KZbin video I found about that toilet thing. Not really relevant with the video though. I think I will do another RTLS video with all the latest work on the FG Shuttle.

[@timterry5689]

@@gingin3388 Good work! For early engine out, RTLS abort should be initiated (per procedure) at 2 mins, 30 seconds.

[@straightpipediesel]

I laughed at the fact that they're aborting cause the toilet failed

[@gingin3388]

@@straightpipediesel flight rules no go 😂

[@cadon35]

Did the shuttle ever rotate to the left as shown in this video? I can only find videos of it rolling to the right after liftoff.

[@timterry5689]

No. Only right.

[@notjebbutstillakerbal]

Oh. Oh dear.

[@sidiliang3472]

Hi GinGin, really impressive video! May I upload it to the Chinese video site bilibili? Credits will be given :)

[@gingin3388]

Sidi Liang yes, why not :) As long as you put the original link and no monetization .

[@sidiliang3472]

@@gingin3388 Thanks!

[@ustyboy_11]

Hey! Can you PLEASE tell me how you have the full overhead panel, because I never do!!! PLEASE TELL ME!!! :)

[@gingin3388]

There is a 200 pages manual where everything is written ;) Anyway , try to look in the settings for overhead panel

[@t.mitchell9135]

To think they seriously considered testing this on STS-1!

[@bdh985]

Yep. There are good reasons John Young said No to the first mission being RTLS. Personally I doubt the Orbiter would have been able to handle it.

[@EstorilEm]

@@bdh985why do you say that? All the (literal) rocket scientists said the math adds up, and a bunch of incredibly less talented people have done it in sims. The key is just fuel and energy management - they have a TON of guidance for both that even the sims make difficult to interpret unless you’ve actually trained for this kinda mission. Yea - John Young stated “RTLS requires continuous miracles interspersed with acts of God to be successful." But the reality is… that’s basically everything NASA does. Just different maneuvers at different times to achieve a different result. I personally have zero doubt the orbiter and crew could have done it - unfortunately (or fortunately?) we will never know.

[@fred36956]

This is what John Young, before STS-1, thought was involved with an RTLS abort and famously stated "RTLS requires continuous miracles interspersed by acts of God to be successful." Perhaps that was his response after NASA actually proposed that STS-1 carry out a planned RTLS to see if the thing would actually work!

[@aurelienclavaud3251]

Engineering failures are a bitch. Just cause the sim can do it and all the mathematicians say it could work, doesnt mean a critical part or software won’t shit itself at just the wrong time

[@timterry5689]

They did not.

[@LaggerSVK]

Didnt know Flightgear has shuttle. How does it compare to Space shuttle ultra v5.00? Have you tried it also?

[@gingin3388]

I have tried. Great add on in a realistic space environment ( Orbiter) where it is far easier to handle several objects in Orbit for rendez vous etc. Shuttle within flight gear is still under dev and really realistic : fdm based on real wind data tunnel, lots of system simulated on par with scom , real algorithms for Entry Taem and ascent soon, rendez vous capability, very deep on board computer simulation , abort mode for several engine failures, etc Lots of failure are implemented with correct fault messages It is close to a real simulator where we can handle various scenarios. From a single engine failure to a massive loss of fuel cells. There are close to zero placeholders. forum.flightgear.org/viewforum.php?f=87&sid=9f280229ac64461d220dc11e2de48280 wiki.flightgear.org/Space_Shuttle

[@LaggerSVK]

@@gingin3388 As far as I know the GPCs / MFDs and operations are quite well simulated in Orbiter. Dont know if any failure mode is simulated thought. Also not sure about the aerodynamics modeling. I have some doubts there. Is the orbital mechanics and higher atmosphere fine in Flightgear?

[@gingin3388]

@@LaggerSVK MFD and GPC are simulated in flight gear also. wiki.flightgear.org/Space_Shuttle_Avionics Complex atmosphere and Non Spherical Gravity are simulated in FG It is a simulator , not a game

[@raymondlantz9278]

The coms don’t quite work… but great video nonetheless!

[@damienkramer]

A nice video, but the music made it hard to take in the comms

[@macieksoft]

What backup CW alarm light means?

[@gingin3388]

Backup Caution Warning is a redundant system to detect a fault based on a software trigger ( high/low limit from the system management computer ) The primary warning system is based on a proper hardware thing . The whole thing is quite intricated, old fashioned and complex. science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/technology/sts-newsref/sts-caws.html#sts-caws System management triggers also some display values. High or low limits, Ecam style message etc. Available in fg imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/5642/1undrI.jpg

[@stellazhong973]

0:15 Lift off confirmed.

[@KaleiBizness]

13:39, Ok I think Space Shuttles Discovery and Atlantis are conjoined in this vid. Also did the MCC forget that they didn't even go to the ISS? XD

[@gingin3388]

I did the soundtrack with real footages that I found here and there . Not a big deal that Discovery was mentioned instead of Atlantis , they would have flown RTLS the same manner ;)

[@_Tommmmmm_]

Did I hear the gladiator in this?

[@defnotdan978]

I don't think i would have the brain to fly the space shuttle fully

[@user-lt2qs4pf5s]

This is the orbiter 2010 or 2016.

[@gingin3388]

Вова Кихаял neither , for Flight Gear. For Orbiter , you have SSU shuttle add on really great also www.orbiter-forum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=55. www.orbiter-forum.com/showthread.php?t=40283

[@0000123452]

Which software/simulator is this?

[@gingin3388]

Flight gear , everything is in description

[@jimmyhe7769]

Master alarm sounded 10 seconds after SSME#1 goes out, and the MEDS annunciates the actual problem even after... Is that typical delay in real shuttle hardware?

[@gingin3388]

First master alarm is for a leak in helium system. Ssme was still on at that time Second one is for engine failure associated to that helium leak ( 10 seconds later ) Not really sure in real for delay , not a lot of data’s about it , and it is quite complex and intricated failures

[@timterry5689]

No.

[@joleharding5148]

What’s the procedure for a total loss of power during negative return? Anyone know?

[@gingin3388]

Total loss ( 3 fuel cells ) , it is the end . There are procedures for loss of 1 or 2 fuel cells . Everything is highly redundant and one fc can support essential loads for a short time . You can have a look at the ascent pocket checklist for electrical troubleshootings section wiki.flightgear.org/Space_Shuttle#Space_Shuttle_Checklists in the non normal section A loss of two fuel cells on Orbit would be a contingency situation , time critical, close to that scenario : forum.flightgear.org/viewtopic.php?f=87&t=36862

[@joleharding5148]

@@gingin3388 thanks man! Great information here!!

[@joleharding5148]

@@gingin3388 so would they attempt to ditch do you think? I know ditching the shuttle at 200kts is futile but may as well, or an off field landing? Idk thanks for this reply.

[@gingin3388]

@@joleharding5148 not a ditch , a bailout procedure ; ap engaged to maintain a close to max lift drag ratio angle of attack below 40000 feet and then skydiving 🪂 if an emergency landing site could not be reached

[@joleharding5148]

@@gingin3388 even the mid deck crew do they have the capability to bail out? I heard that some of the old shuttles had no capacity for this type of action. I appreciate the reply’s, very informative.

[@MrBlueBurd0451]

'an unnatural act of physics'

[@Nightmare-bo1my]

what game is this?

[@gingin3388]

Flight gear, read the description for more infos :)

[@wilsonle61]

And now we are back to blowing hermetically sealed tin cans into orbit.

[@harrimela9266]

Wich are many times more safer than Shuttle ever was! You can easily find reports from the net how shuttle was almost lost many times ...sometimes just luck and skill saved it... it was kept flying when NASA was pressured from senators in congress and how they ignored these close call -accidents and in the end last drop was Columbia's faith and LOC ...it was big money dump in the end... sold to the taxpayers with idea how easy and cheap it is to use ...but every shuttle was practically dismantled and almost build from the scrap after every flight that costs about 2 Billion per flight! But in the end ...great machine and achievement...but what I know now I wouldn't fly it :): Btw that video/sim of RTLS abort was likely a suicide... in simulations they found that it was likely that Shuttle and main tank wouldn't hold it when manouvering for RTLS. Something to do with vibrations if I remember right.

[@wilsonle61]

@@harrimela9266 I won't argue that it is safer, but it is also a massive step backward.

[@harrimela9266]

@@wilsonle61 ;Well anyway... Hardcore shuttle fan here waiting for real space plane... ramjet or what ever it will be

[@michaelbalmer7219]

But FPS :(

[@CreatorHouseVlogs]

Is this a game

[@gingin3388]

No, it’s a realistic simulator. Everything is linked in the description

[@ThePilotGuy]

Yes

[@tomoakif9352]

アリトゥキリギリスでワロタ。アリトキリギリスって読むんだよ。