3DOV-401 NASA Orbital Vehicle "Columbia"

manwiththegun

It's been a long time since posting last, however I have been hard at work. Mostly I've been writing my scifi mini-novels. Rather than big starships, I went back to our no so distant future. This called for some new shuttle designs. This is the first of three designs. This is the first commercial production shuttle named after the first Space Shuttle Columbia.

manwiththegun

Wow. Thanks for all the possitive comments. I really want to thank everyone for making this a warm and cozy community!

Starscream

I dunno about anyone else, but I tried watching the clip when you first posted and kept getting a blank ... patch of nothingness.

Needless to say it's working right now - but you might get a better response if you post images rather than youtube clips. I know if I'd tried to access this at work I wouldn't have a hope in hell of seeing a youtube video, and I can imagine a lot of people experience the same.

Having said all that, I like it but not as a near-future orbiter - it seems a little angular and blocky for that, IMO (of course that could just be the limitations of what you're working with! )

Buckaroohawk

You should back off the sarcasm if you want people to comment on your work. There are a lot of forums on this site and people have their preferences on where they look first and how much time they can allot to leaving remarks. Sometimes it takes a while for someone's thread to catch on. If they come to this thread and watch your video, but the next thing they see is a written "slap across the face" from you because you're not getting the attention you think you deserve, do you really think they'd be inclined to make a comment? Patience is a virtue, one you seem to be lacking.

That being said, I do like your overall design, but I have a few questions. If this is to be a "second generation" or near-future space shuttle concept, why move away from the slopes and curves of the present shuttles in favor of a more angular look? All those hard edges would create some real hot spots during re-entry, and as we've so tragically learned with the actual space shuttle, hot spots are a bad thing indeed. Next, is this supposed to be a VTOL ship, or does it launch in "piggyback" fashion as our shuttles do? I ask because it appears the landing gear you've placed on the model have no wheels, so the ship either launches and lands vertically or it will need wheels if you intend it to land on a runway.

Dr-Timelord

It looks alright, good start.

Kinda reminds me of Thunderbirds 2086 for some reason though