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User:Jkwchui/SpaceShuttleBoosterIllustration

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Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Booster

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Article(s): Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Booster

Request: Vectorise - Hi folks, was wondering if someone would be kind enough to produce a vector diagram of the Space Shuttle SRB. The images above should provide a reasonable start point, with a bit of luck. Would be much appreciated, so thanks in advance! SalopianJames (talk) 16:42, 30 January 2012 (UTC)

Graphist opinion(s): I have a few questions about the request. Do you prefer a wide-format, or vertical format? The two images are not identical w.r.t. (i) style, (ii) proportions, (iii) annotations. What style/proportions/annotations would you prefer? (It doesn't necessarily need to be the same as either - we could do something different altogether, though it would be limited to what the wiki-SVG engine can handle.) Jon C (talk) 02:05, 8 February 2012 (UTC)

Well, I like the vertical image's scaling, as it shows all the parts without repeating segments as on the horizontal one, but it doesn't show a general overview of the entire booster - would it be possible to, say, have an larger-scale image such as the vertical one at 45 degrees (a square image would be easier to place in an article), with a smaller-scale vertical image of the entire booster (similar to the horizontal one) to one side with lines indicating where the parts come from, such as on File:SaturnV S-IC.jpg? Thanks for replying, BTW! SalopianJames (talk) 12:36, 8 February 2012 (UTC)
ATM I still have a poor grasp of the content, so I'll likely be working on some sketches and do this with you iteratively. The 45 degrees view is workable, and since we're not too sure what is the optimal solution, I'll probably do this as a hybrid 2D-3D piece to preserve the flexibility. Do you know if there are orthographic views (to scale top/side CAD-like views) floating around? Or technical docs like the ones with the fuel system? Jon C (talk) 13:53, 8 February 2012 (UTC)
Thanks, that sounds great - not as far as I'm aware, but there are a few of the Ares V booster which is similar, if that helps? SalopianJames (talk) 14:10, 8 February 2012 (UTC)
Thinking out loud here.
* I, for one, didn't know what the boosters are --- I think the small scale vertical image would make most sense if it's shown in the context of the Space Shuttle itself (with the rusty orange external tank).
* For the larger scale drawing, I don't have enough reference material to get to a SaturnV like rendering, and SVG don't support gradient meshes (complex shading) anyway, so it'll have to remain quite graphically simple.
* There's still the problem with, well, the details on all the images looking just like scribbles to me. I wonder if all of the details are needed in the final image, or if we should have only some important bits in (like in the Ares example).
* I didn't understand what you meant by "without repeating segments as on the horizontal one" - could you clarify that?
* Looking at both the Ares and Saturn examples, it seems that your preference is for the large image to be in perspective.
With all that, I've roughed in a quick mockup. Is this the general format that I should put details in? Jon C (talk) 14:52, 8 February 2012 (UTC)

That's looking great - with reference to your last point, I hadn't thought that before, it was just coincidence, but I certainly do now! I like the diagram of the stack, however the same booster type will be used on the Space Launch System, any way of including that too? I'm quite happy for it to remain graphically simple, too. With regards to the repeating segments, if you look at the horizontal diagram, you can see that there is a nose assembly, an aft assembly, and a long, slender cylinder in the centre. This comprises four largely identical booster segments, the forward, forward centre, aft centre and aft segments, which are the repeating segments I was referring to. If the diagram were to show the nose, a segment and the aft in more detail, it might help with scaling. As for labels, they would hopefully be:

  • Nose
  • Nose cap
  • Drogue and pilot parachutes
  • Frustum
  • Forward booster separation motors
  • Main parachute support structure
  • Main parachutes (3)
  • Separation/ordnance ring
  • Forward skirt & IEA
  • Igniter
  • Segments
  • Wall
  • Propellant
  • Central opening
  • ET attachment ring
  • ETA struts
  • Forward systems tunnel & RSS
  • Aft systems tunnel
  • Aft structure
  • SRM nozzle extension
  • Aft skirt
  • Aft booster separation motors

Hope that helps! SalopianJames (talk) 16:09, 8 February 2012 (UTC)

Whoops. I forgot to post back that I've updated the mock-up awhile ago, and was sorta waiting on feedback (and sorta procrastinating). My slight sticking point is not knowing what each of these (many) components look like; will need to spend more time digging up info. Jon C (talk) 13:42, 23 February 2012 (UTC)
Hello again! Sorry for the slow reply... That's looking OK-ish - is there any way to separate out the different parts a bit more, and possibly remove a quarter of the fuelled segments to show the interior structure? Thanks, SalopianJames (talk) 11:20, 14 March 2012 (UTC)