We are excited to announce that we have started the development of the highly detailed Kennedy Space Center VAB (Vehicle Assembly Building) area. Development is at a very early stage, and the proper materials are not yet in, but every building, shed, gatehouse, warehouse, piping, workshop, etc. is being custom created. Also, we will include models for Mobile Launch Platforms (MLP), Crawler Transporters, and Launch Umbilical Towers (LUTs). Finally, included in the scenery will be highly detailed Launch Pads 39A (SpaceX) with the service structures, and 39B (NASA/Artemis/SLS).
Not for this package, but it is in the plans for sure. This package is VAB area, LC39A/B pads, and Shuttle Landing Facility nearby (So we can call it an airport )
Glad to see this, though TBH, I’m also incredibly annoyed that despite two “World Updates” dedicated to the US, MSobo still managed to totally ignore what has to be some of THE most iconic and historic buildings in the entire southeast part of the country, as well the entire KSC area.
The 3D assets in this package have been created for a fully featured spaceflight module we developed for Prepar3D:
We are leveraging these assets and creating a scenery package for MSFS (since the proper representation of that area was sorely lacking in MSFS), but the ultimate goal is to create a fully-featured spaceflight add-on for MSFS. The code (fully SimConnect compliant, no workarounds or tricks) is almost 100% compatible with MSFS. We are now working on inserting some additional features, and obviously, converting and updating models to MSFS standard. But yes - there WILL be a fully featured spaceflight add-on for MSFS.
The ONLY “showstopper” (for now) is that MSFS is limited to ~80 km altitude. This is a visual limitation only, because we have developed a fully separate astrodynamics physics model and we can, basically, control where the air “ends”. So in a way, we can create a “preview” of the realistic spaceflight model to demonstrate the possibilities, and hopefully Asobo removes the 80km limitation.
While we are hard at work on this project, let us share with you a bit of a progress update.
We have successfully implemented functionality that will enable this scenery to become “active”, by placing objects in different positions every time the flight is loaded (or reloaded). Some of the scenery objects will also be moving along the prescribed paths, namely, Crawler Transporter, along the crawlerway and up to the launch pad. For example, every time you re-load the flight, this scenery will slightly change, and reveal different objects at different locations. For example, sometimes you may see the Shuttle Orbiter as it has returned from space and waiting to be processed (or “safed”), other times you may see the Shuttle Orbiter being transported to the launch pad on the Crawler Transporter, or, already sitting at the launch pad.
However, as an even more exciting feature, we have developed functionality that will enable this scenery to exhibit “temporal” properties, in what we believe is the first for MSFS2020. For example - Depending on the date and the year of the flight, the scenery will show objects which are relevant to that particular era. For example, if user chooses a flight dated between 1966 and 1978, the objects appearing in this scenery will be Apollo Saturn V rockets and launch towers which were particular to this era. Choosing a flight between 1978 and 2011, the object appearing will be related to STS (Space Shuttle) era of space exploration. Finally, era between 2011 and present day will display objects related to the current Artemis/SLS/Orion program.
Finally - there will be historically accurate time periods where, if it is known that a certain object was at a certain place during a certain time period, this will be reflected as well. For example - if you set your flight date to any of the days prior to Apollo 11 launch in July 1969 when the Saturn V was on the launch pad, you will se the Apollo 11 Saturn V at the launch pad during that time period!
