Improvements to the thrust vector control logic - every engine is now automatically put to a neutral position pointing at the CoG before thrust vectoring is applied - prevents instability in case of engine failure. I was able to manually attain orbit - need to work on some orbital parameter computations next - at least apogee and perigee display would be helpful.
The Atlantis on the (invisible...) launch pad:
Blasting off:
I've been looking into some of my Space Shuttle books to get the dimensions of the smoke column right...but I think it paid off:
Thrust bucket - throttle down main engines to 65 percent to reduce dynamical pressure on the vehicle (the SRBs just burn once they're on, they can't be throttled):
There she goes - nice and stable ascent path:
Passing 30.000 ft:
Nevada from 70.000 ft:
SRB separation and switch to EarthView as rendering engine - we're at about 650.000 ft, on the long race towards orbital velocity. The vessel is still completely maneuverable by thrust vectoring.
This shot illustrates nicely the balance act the shuttle performs - the external tank is really top-heavy (because the oxygen tank sits at the top) and so from the perspective of the orbiter, the engines need to fire way upward to push the whole stack through its center of gravity:
Houston, the Atlantis has made orbit!