S2 Athena (SSTO) (Stock)

KSP version 1.1

This craft has been completely rebuilt from the ground up for the KSP version 1.1, due to veering on the ground in the old model. It now has droptanks for extra liquid fuel, Big-S Delta Wings (instead of the cardboard ones) and a parachute. It should be far more stable, but I advise against using full power in vacuum, lack of reaction wheels can lead to heading deviations.

The S2 Athena is a small SSTO for return trips to Kerbin. It has a flight ceiling of 300 km, but with smart flying an altitude of 350 km may be reached, however not enough fuel will be able for a return to Kerbin.

This SSTO is ideal for transferring Kerbals into or out of Kerbin orbit or to bring small equipment and utilities to space stations (using seat inventories), should KAS be installed. When refueled at both a Kerbin space station and a Mun/minmus space station, landings on those moons are possible using rear mounted engines to slow the descent and using monopropellant for a vertical landing. Be sure to bring enough glue should something go wrong.

The craft is easily controllable in normal flight and even turns well for an SSTO.

Take-off is simple:

– Accelerate down the runway, when 100 m/s is reached pitch the nose up by about 7-10 degrees.

– Take off when 140 m/s is reached.

– Accelerate at 10 degrees pitch until 300 m/s is reached, then pitch up towards 15-18 degrees. Due to the curvature of Kerbin, nose up attitude will adjust upwards automatically. When done correctly, a speed of about 1100 m/s will be reached @ 20 km.

– Switch to closed cycle by closing the air-intakes by pressing the custom 2 key.

– Continue ascend, adjust as desired.

Descending and landing is simple as well: Place your periapsis between 5 and 40 km, depending on how fast your re-entry is. Landing speed lies at about 90-100 m/s

Other craft in the S-series

S2 Athena

S4 Apollo (taken out of service as per 1.1, it's superseded by the S5 Arrow)

S5 Arrow

S6 Axe (due to come online later)

S7 Mammoth

S8 Mastodont

S9 Beluga (due to come online later)