STS-115 Cinematic | Simulated Shuttle Approach | Captain Sim Space Shuttle | MSFS

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In this video, we simulate the approach and landing of STS 115, onboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis. We start the approach at 200,000ft and fly overhead the field before making a right turn in the “HAC” back towards the runway at the Shuttle Landing Facility (KTTS). The video includes both cockpit views and external shots: Filmed within Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 and using Captain Sim’s Space Shuttle Addon.
Please note this video and all its contents / materials, is for entertainment / simulation purposes only.
PC Specs
ASUS Z790
Intel Core i9 13900K 5.8GHz
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090
64GB DDR4 3600MHz
Hardware
Thrustmaster HOTAS Warthog
Saitek Pro Flight rudder pedals
HP Reverb WMR headset
TrackIR5
Earthquake Shell Shoxx transducer
Enjoy the flight!

[@IntotheBlueSimulations]

NOTES ON THE PRODUCT Hello everyone! This video is obviously not a review of the addon. It is rather, a little cinematic that I was keen to make, being very much interested in retro space exploration and wanting to harness the graphical fidelity of MSFS (I did previously make such a video in X-Plane). As such, I thought it would be useful to detail what the product actually does / doesn’t offer: Visual Modelling / Texturing: I think both speak for themselves (stunning!). Some nice visual effects included as well, eg heating during re-entry. Systems Modelling: Very surface-level. The vast majority of the orbiters systems do no work and I don’t expect that Captain Sim is looking to change that. In total (and as a complete guesstimate), I would say that around 5% of the switches work (if that) and systems / avionics modelling is both limited and again, surface-level. That being said, avionics have been customised to visually represent the real-world shuttle. Flight Model: “Plausible”. Obviously, I have no idea how the real orbiter flew, but this thing descends like a brick, likes a nice high speed on the approach (making for a tricky flare manoeuvre) and requires some forethought for turns etc. As compared with X-Plane 11’s shuttle and a couple of other sims that I have tried, the Captain Sim shuttle seems to bleed off energy more readily. Make of that what you will. . . Soundset: Of course, sounds are a little bit “limited” when trying to replicate a glider, but the soundset is fleshed out enough, to make you feel “immersed” during your flights. Documentation: From what I have seen, enough to get the job done. I will update this comment, when I have taken a closer look. Overall Experience: The product (significantly limited by the sim) only allows one to simulate certain aspects of a typical shuttle mission and approaches can only (readily) be flown into KTTS. There is no “launch” modelled, no orbiting modelled. Once loaded into the sim, approaches commence from around 250K ft (other options are available); the shuttle flies the initial stages of the approach automatically (there is no “manual” option) and the user then takes over at 50K ft to fly the “HAC” and the final stages of the approach / landing - with limited avionics / guidance. If you want a comprehensive shuttle experience, you’re better off looking at a sim such as Orbiter, if you want a fun little challenge (and beautiful recreation of the shuttle) within MSFS, then the package ticks those boxes. I hope that clarifies what the product has to offer. Cheers!

[@ChrisCokeRobinson]

MSFS should have a space mode, with less focus on Earth graphics, and better space physics and upper atmosphere flight dynamics.

[@XiaOmegaX]

Good call out to Orbiter sim. this video brought back some memories of that.

[@redguard2946]

“Retro space exploration”… Darn I suddenly feel old 😓😆

[@getsideways7257]

@@XiaOmegaX Got updated just recently. Although, still with D3D9 being the most advanced client... But you can substitute that with Vulkan.

[@getsideways7257]

You might want to check out Space Shuttle Mission Simulator 2007 if you haven't already.

[@737Sl]

First time seeing Captainsim doing custom systems in msfs

[@vedymin1]

First time for everything I guess 🐸 the question is how good they are.

[@user-fm8jg7xo6n]

They used to be a somewhat reputed dev in the fax days. I remember flying their 777 alot before pmdg released theirs for fsx

[@stevejones924]

hahahahahahaha good one! Bazinga Asobo lol.

[@geraldo209]

The flying brick. From 30k to ground in couple of minutes. Crazy rate of descent, space shuttle was amazing.

[@simondowdles3479]

This is a cinematic masterpiece, what a wonderful job you’ve done here!

[@justicier10-7]

I know the shuttle gets a lot of criticism since it wasn't nearly as inexpensive on turnaround that it was originally marketed, was relegated to taxi service and wasn't an explorer, and engineers not-so-affectionately called it a flying brick with wings. But despite the critics... I love it... just a phenomenal machine for its time

[@later_daze_4080]

Agreed! I grew up as a kid in the 80's and the shuttle will always epitomize space travel to me. Probably similar to what a kid in the 60s thought of the Apollo astronauts and rockets.

[@Johngore747]

I love the audio overlay - exactly the same from an old iPad game called “Shuttle Lander”. That got me back into simming about ten years ago!

[@dixonqwerty]

I have played F-Sim Space Shuttle on my phone for years. It is amazing. This looks really good too.

[@Hyestar]

AWESOME app I still have it

[@Daimo83]

And the sequel

[@rogerminn]

I was fortunate enough to witness a shuttle landing at Edward AFB. My angle of view was from the top of nearby mountains, and from this vantage point the angle of descent was extremely apparent. I thought for sure that it would circle around for another pass, but it truly did come in like a brick.

[@kyle734]

Man , what a great way to give a POV of how they landed it , great job!

[@neo2264]

2:20 that alone would be a pretty sick wallpaper. And imagine the waves such an image would make back in the 90's

[@KuroHebi]

Have the radio calls seared into my brain thanks to that amazing space shuttle landing simulator that was on the Apple app store years ago. Spent hours of my time perfecting my landing score when I was a kid.

[@x_plane_gamer5847]

They try to better themselve, nice to see

[@Arrow32172]

This was wonderful, great job on that landing! This brought back so many memories. I was lucky to be there with my father at Kennedy for the return of STS-133 (the 133rd STS mission and the 3rd from the last of the entire program). The entire event was incredible for me and I cherish the time I got to spend with my father sharing the awe of seeing it.

[@skh-csm]

Not a bad landing for a freakin new guy! lol I'm not sure if MSFS models the MLS (I doubt it), so the heading alignment maneuver is trickier than the real deal. By the book when you roll out of the heading alignment maneuver you wanna be at 10,000, 300 knots with an "on and on" call from Houston. Remember she's a glider with the aerodynamics of a grand piano, the name of the game is energy so you're gonna ride it down at 300 knots until the pre-flare. In the real deal the speed brake is gonna be actuating to help you maintain 300 knots on the glide slope, not sure if it's modeled in this sim. Your aim point is well in advance of the runway on final, 20 degree glide slope by the book, and at the Cape landing on 33 you're gonna be aiming on your side of the creek there. Pre-flare should happen at 2000 feet, 300 knots, pulling up nice and gentle. Speed's gonna drop fast now so keep driving her down nice. Drop the gear at 500 feet, and land that sucker. 50 feet should be 250 knots, 40 240, 10 210 and touch. Pop the chute, derotate, and you can start applying brake at around 120 knots. Easier said than done, and in the sim here you don't have a literal army of NASA nerds with supercomputers doing the math to get you onto the ground on energy and on profile lol.

[@Conti1]

That was a great watch mate, thanks for taking us along.

[@degenetron7590]

Safely landing back wiith this death machine must be such a relieving feeling

[@jaymac7203]

Wow this was actually beautiful 😍 It's insane how steeply it comes in to land 😮

[@raykewin3608]

14 degree glide slope!

[@mikelsikel73]

Indeed. 20 is doable in a simulator like Orbiter. It truly is a flying brick, or more kindly a school bus with small wings. It’s about 250 slowing to 200 knots on the approach. 195 is a typical touchdown speed. It’s great piloting that they did in real life!

[@KyleCowden]

Fsim has built two landing sims, currently FS2. There's a lot in that mobile sim including different approaches, KSC, EDW and WSSH with customizeable winds, time of day, etc. I'd argue the modeling is as good and the granular landing analysis can be brutal. I greased one the other day, mains touched down on centerline at the bar, descent ate at touchdown was perfect, the approach track was in the high 90%, etc. IT was still marked as a crash. I exceeded the max groundspeed at touchdown by 20 kts. 😂

[@bpaboyce]

I’ve been landing the shuttle on F-Sim since I got my first generation iPad in 2010…I have over 10,000 landings, and of those, only one scored me more than a million points. This is more than ten years ago and I still remember how good it felt, because it is so harsh when you screw up. You better believe I screenshot that accomplishment. It’s addictive, though. Heck of an app-now if they will only release the re-entry update! I know they are working on it!

[@bmoney2011]

fantastic little cinematic! always fascinating to not only see the process of getting this incredible piece of tech back on the ground but also to hear from the people who actually "flew" (got it to fall, with style) it!

[@Streaky100001]

That looked awesome, and nice landing! From your pinned comment "This thing descends like a brick" I'm pretty sure I've heard similar comments about the real world shuttles glide characteristics from those that flew it.

[@bybyronlrossjr]

Yessir the skill of landing a shuttle, there is no go around. Either land it or you don’t. Great production as always.

[@RevNicholasJonsson]

Wow! What a great video, and your audio mix was fantastic. I've sent this to all my friends to show why so many people enjoy flight swimming!

[@kurohone]

Watching the landings on stream was wild, because of just how late and fast that flare is. It's like a lawn dart right until it isn't.

[@mohamedbadrulazamkamaruddi7555]

Yes..outer space tourism..nice

[@jmorello123]

Cool landing, nice video.

[@marcusaldrich5600]

Incredible! Just a great watch. Thank you

[@pythosdegothos6181]

people can say what they will....it was one helluva machine. A TRUE space ship.

[@raylemus72]

That looks amazing. Which we had a high fidelity space sim of the shuttle. I’ll be all over that! Looks great though.

[@markscars1069]

Simply superb production values as always.

[@jimmydesilva]

Beautifully done!

[@tiemji]

This looks awesome !!

[@zanyt13]

Wow, what a cool video! ❤

[@maxp6298]

Absolute butter 🧈

[@AllanKlo63]

Sounds like the voices from the app that was made for phone/pad a few years a go. I crashed the space shuttle a few times on that one.

[@Russell_G]

Beautiful....nice job!

[@thomasafb]

looks better than their promo video which had lots of inaccuracies

[@crew-rest]

Beautiful video! Thank you for your work!

[@kilitciali1230]

Welcome back 👏

[@filipesiegrist]

Kudos for Captain Sim starting again to make great payware as it did in the old days.

[@andyepix1383]

Having fired the imagination of a generation, the shuttle pulls into port for the last time. Also, the audio used here is from STS 115, i believe. The first ISS assembley flight after the coloumbia disaster.

[@aviationlover1998]

This would be amazing game

[@andrewvillegas7747]

At least someone is trying this lol we need space stuff

[@filipesiegrist]

Amazing video.

[@mikelsikel73]

Right as Covid was starting I was obsessed with shuttle re-entry and landing - played on the free but amazing Orbiter sim with some add-ons. Learned more about energy management than I should have spent time on, using upside down S curves to manage re-entry heat from orbital speed, the HAC turn options etc. I managed to land it many times using keyboard controls, which was a terrible choice - I should’ve invested in a cheap joystick. The graphics were nowhere near what MSFS 2020 is (presumably 2024 could be even better). But good times

[@julianhall2008]

Nice one, played the atari space shuttle game all those years ago Hi 👍

[@MikeA-c8q]

Awesome video!

[@WhyCallMeLordLord]

VERY well done!!

[@bubbavonbraun]

ITB superb production.. Sadly wont be in my sim, as Capt Sim like C-130 cockpits wont ever be seen. It is the ultimate rolling out onto final.

[@Conti1]

Good luck doing the MLS mate.

[@ChrisSmith-yq1ej]

Obviously the mere mention of Captain Sim makes me cautious and sceptical. Is this any good? Decent documentation etc?

[@SpecialistBR]

The non-collimated HUD is already a huge red flag for me

[@einweiesblattpapier2676]

Very nice

[@XAMBUSH1X]

COOL AF 🤘😎👍

[@circusman8]

Great video. The shot with the moon in the frame is excellentl 2:25 !

[@o_fingers_o]

remember the Rob Barendregt, Hover and space gauges from FSX ,,, i wonder if simconnect is a thing

[@holobolo1661]

Cool video! Nose wheel seemed to come down much faster than the reference audio, not the first MSFS addon to experience that sort of early derotation issue either.

[@CrashTestPilot]

Funny. There actually was a Microsoft Space Simulator in the early 90s.

[@jjstevenz]

now if they can simulate a launch im all over this

[@alexanderleach3365]

You're on Glide Slope, Atlantis.

[@aknbozburun6293]

Kerbal looks so realistic in these days.

[@AshleyRiot-lf8dw]

I remember that in X-Plane 9 it was possible to make orbital flights and even land on the moon.

[@Glider324]

wow

[@captainred9769]

ULTIMATE 😃

[@hummerz]

ha this is great

[@spenjak18]

I'll just... Stick to Orbiter for my space flying shenanigans

[@leokimvideo]

She was a beautiful flying brickyard, reusable spacecraft decades before SpaceX's nameless rockets

[@cmtebespalez]

Nicely done! You got it! Is there any updates on KSC Scenery?! Micro$oft just left the gorgeous VAB out of the game😢

[@changsu195]

the audio sounds exrtemely familiar

[@berserkerdog4465]

Hello @IntotheBlue may I ask what trim you was set at

[@RJPeacock]

Those tiles look a bit too 'new' to me. They need plasma treating! But other than that a great video. Thanks!!

[@CCitis]

2020 looks better than 2024. I am sure because of the streaming in 24. The ground textures from a distance in 24 are so so blurry and unrendered.

[@845SiM]

Someone needs to rework SSMS with a later graphics engine. Rentry sim is planning a shuttle soon, cant wait for that.

[@The_Silent_Simmer]

that was cool as! Wasn't the shuttles landing speed around 300kts or so?

[@thomasafb]

195 KEAS for GW below 220,000 lbs

[@twifosp1]

Have you ever tried Orbiter? It's a hardcore space / shuttle sim free.

[@animaxima8302]

I have. It's insane. and done by a team of just 1 guy afaik

[@twifosp1]

@ the core of it is or was. But all the modules that make it awesome are done by a larger community.

[@hansk153]

A shuttle is not an airplane. If you look closely, it's a glider, a brick with wings. ^^

[@anjinsanx44]

A zibo study level space shuttle would require a phd in aerospace engineering i think?

[@OY-KBA]

Captain sim could be such a great company if they would hire someone to actually make a working system for their planes isntead of the default asobo stuff

[@alexandermulder651]

What game is this audio from again? I used to play it on my phone

[@joebloe923]

Don't they use chutes to stop with assistance?

[@ztublackstaff]

Now they need a launch vehicle….

[@stefanblackadder5236]

Do or do not…….there is no try.😂

[@mollari2261]

Same exact voices as F-Sim

[@Daimo83]

There's no descent information on the MFD's. Good luck with vertical navigation without it

[@AlanpittsS2b]

Can you actually launch and go into orbit or just this?

[@haizat3601]

use spawner, set the altitude to highest point

[@jokeraceofhearts]

is this a playable (purchasable) game?

[@randomshark138]

Would have been hundreds times better to make a Space Shuttle for XPlane 12 since as the 11 allows Orbital physics. Making one for MSFS even though it has better graphics is kind of a waste.

[@superskullmaster]

Oh poor baby, nobody wanna use your garbage X-Plane so you come here trying to convert? Know what you don’t see in MSFS spaces? People talking crap about X-Plane but that’s all you see in X-Plane spaces. That inferiority complex yawl have is so obvious. Don’t like MSF? Don’t use it then it’s simple. It will never be as popular as MSF. Deal with it.

[@D25Bev]

Off topic but i wish the career mode & ATC voices/writing was more like that. More realistic.

[@sfoaviation]

Name of Song?

[@FLIGHT_MOOD]

MSFS 2024 ?

[@superskullmaster]

This is 2020 but it will be for both.

[@goontube74]

is this in msfs?

[@monostripeexplosiveexplora2374]

It is all fun and games until career mode assigns you some random bush strip delivery!

[@superskullmaster]

But this demo is in 2020…..

[@thomasafb]

or tyring to take off.....

[@larrysouthern5098]

Now that's simulating... Believe it or not but just for fun I set up a 737 at 50,000 ft power off..0 fuel and shoot approaches at places like DFW or LAX.JUST FOR FUN..( IEVEN WEAR A MOTORCYCLE HELMET and do that ping sound.. I have been doing that on my MSFS 2002 PROFESIONAL EDITION FOR OVER TEN YEARS... I know I know.. That sounds crazy...but with a little imagination..anything is possible.. And it puts a little pep in your step... You know what I mea??? Ping... Roger that... Uhhhh..ping..sounds like a winner ping.. 🚀 ❤.... 🐦.. Ping... By the way there was a SPACE SHUTTLE SIMULATOR by Sierra or something like that. way back in the eighties..I remember having it.. Lost it in a fire... But It was fun..... 🚀

[@JIMJAMSC]

The sim still cannot properly handle doing most maneuvers out of tight constraints. Attempting to simulate orbital reentry will be comical. I had the original CS shuttle and about the only fun I had was setting it up on a high final and doing landings. The edited real comms " in this video" added 1000% to the immersion but doing stock landings gets old really quickly. Not $50? in fun or value. IIRC you had power and could fly the shuttle around but seeing how it handled like a beached whale even with a healthy suspension of disbelief and the cool shuttle cockpit graphics that also grew stale.

[@sailwesterly5444]

Ummm, Captain Sim - once bitten I'm afraid. Hard to de-orbit when we can't even reach orbit in MSFS2020. Eye-candy but that's about it.

[@superskullmaster]

Custom physics I’m sure will take care of that.

[@sailwesterly5444]

@@superskullmaster ~Um, Nope. We've all had a good hack of the SDK - it can't be done.

[@ryannash2536]

How In God's Name Did You Flown The NASA Atlantis Space Shuttle For Flight Sim 2020😮

[@BALTAZARFAP]

If you captsin put a man into orbit, why the hell you dont put a gps in the c130 for msfs2020 for god sake

[@Skipper441]

The projection simulation on the HUD is completely wrong. The developers couldn't even implement such a small thing. CapSim is SkamSim, which I do not recommend spending your money on.

[@Hugothester]

Captain Sim? No thanks.

[@glcanon]

Much better job landing than all other reviewers, but you fooled me into thinking those were Capt. Sim audibles. Once a I realized they didn’t mesh with what you were doing I was a bit disappointed. You edited them in and sync’d the touchdown to your own, but all the other call-outs were way off. Does Capt. Sim not provide the audible called-outs? My 1994 commercially purchased SLS (shuttle landing sim) had accurate call-outs which sounded just like this. It was developed by the same people who made the real landing sim software for the shuttle pilots to practice on their laptops while on-orbit. You never even did the pre-flare maneuver, although the audible called for it around 2000 ft. Also, doesn’t Capt. Sim have a working CRT screen with the vertical situation and HAC (heading alignment circle) ? It’s critical that you stay on the HAC and at-energy. Use the speed brake to control your speed.

[@Daimo83]

If you want a real Shuttle sim get Space Shuttle Mission 2007

[@craig2657]

Got excited until I saw captain sim, scamware

[@racerx1777]

reported for misleading title

[@lightning337]

Its a simulated space shuttle approach. How is that misleading?