Space - Lunar Escape Device

[Starbase1]

Right, I'm still not sure what was wrong with the previous astronaut, but there were loads of glitches - most obviously it looked like the lighting was reversed in the preview.

So I went back to the original M3 plus space suit and started again - all sorts of issues with other exports so I went to OBJ and started a careful cleanup.

While there were some flipped polygons, others refused to correct with a selection and flip poly. I think they were crumpled up by the pose. In the end I selected nearby, expanded the selection, hid everything unselected, and deleted anything that looked odd, rebuilding it.

I've not quite got the all, (and the surfaces need a complete rebuild), but the oddball behaviour has gone...

Nick

[Starbase1]

The animation shows how the revised pilot is coming along, a 360 spin. Not quite there yet, but I think it's getting there.

The stills are of the whole thing - I've rebuilt the seat. I really struggled with the design, but figured a mix of rods and thin metal plates should be strong and light...

The NASA logos on the LED need re-aligning for the spec maps I think.

Nick

[Starbase1]

Posed, and with the spec fixed on the NASA logos.

[Rigel]

It looks good Nick. Not something I would want to ride.

[JimCrafton]

Yes but it sure beats being stuck on the moon!

[JimCrafton]

Everything looks great! But...I still don't like his boots

[Starbase1]

Originally Posted by JimCrafton

Everything looks great! But...I still don't like his boots

Yeah, you are right - to shiny and normal looking. I might have to model the Apollo style over shoes for them...

[JimCrafton]

It's not the shiny part, it's the whole style of them - they sort of look like dress shoes with a funny sloping heel. I'm not describing the problem well, but there's just something off about them. Anyways, not a big deal, cause the rest looks great!

[Starbase1]

OK, did some smooth shifting on the boots to thicken them up, added Apollo overshoe style bluish toecaps.

Other minor tweaks, lightening most suit textures, and starting in on volumetric exhaust.

[Woody]

This may be the scariest thing I have ever seen.

[tangster]

Wouldn't that be rather dangerous if the astronaut hit any debris at all?

[Starbase1]

Originally Posted by tangster

Wouldn't that be rather dangerous if the astronaut hit any debris at all?

Yes, but there's not much debris around the moon.

The dangerous bits are:

1. No redundancy at all, everything must work first time.
2. Very limited navigation / manoeuvring capability.
3. Very short survival time for the astronaut - one suit full of air only.
4. Difficult and fast rendezvous required with the command module.
5. Command module pilot must be VERY careful not to use thruster combinations that direct exhaust at the astronaut.

This may be why it was never deployed - the weight would be better used on a stronger LEM making it less likely to fail.

But like I said at the start, there were concerns about how reliable the the LEM would be after nearly 2 weeks in the extreme lunar environment.

It's also worth noting that the nominal safe angle for the lunar module to launch was 12 degrees tilt, and that Apollo 15 landed with a tilt of, err, 11 degrees!

Now that's not quite as bad as it sounds - its not like 1 more degree and the astronauts would be dead,

The attached picture shows the tipped A15 LEM very clearly! Ouch...

Nick

[Starbase1]

OK, I'm starting in on the compositing.

Three different backdrops tried - any thoughts on which works best?

The exhaust light is provisional and needs a lot of work - I'm also using an obvious strong key light in each case, and a less obvious weak dome light underneath, to emulate indirect lighting from the Moon itself.

Nick

[JimCrafton]

Maybe the first? Definitely not the third, it looks weird, that or you need to change the camera angle or something.

[Starbase1]

OK, as the only feedback is from Jim, here's a refined version of image 1.

Darker moon, and working on the volumetric exhaust light.
Nick

[Starbase1]

I think this is just about done.

[Rigel]

An excellent presentation.

[BillS]

That is a fantastic way to show it off. Nice work!

[tangster]

Nice info sheet! I really don't like the font though, I think a more traditional san-serif would be better?

[Starbase1]

You could be right - the header font is 'nasalisation', the main text font is a 'Prisoner' font - probably should not have got fancy for the main text. Don't think I'll do it again though.

[Lynx121]

i love the final render, looks cool!