Doing It Constellation Style

[septemberWaves]

2 minutes ago, NISSKEPCSIM said:

On a side note, I've discovered that Mechjeb autopilot can control a vessel even if it has no crew or probe cores.

The MechJeb part acts as a probe core. It needs electricity for anything more complex than information displays and it lacks an antenna, but it is essentially a functional probe core. You can control from it too, which can be quite convenient.

[NISSKEPCSIM]

Well, it seems I've found my new standard issue command pod. I'm using a 4 man pod from Rocket Factory, and it has built in Mechjeb.

[septemberWaves]

6 minutes ago, NISSKEPCSIM said:

Well, it seems I've found my new standard issue command pod. I'm using a 4 man pod from Rocket Factory, and it has built in Mechjeb.

Sounds convenient. Rocket Factory looks like an interesting mod, I look forward to seeing your entry.

[NISSKEPCSIM]

And the weird thing about the Mechjeb is, I have no connection to KSC. When I try to control it manually, it doesn't work. But Mechjeb can break the laws of 1.2.2 comnet.

[septemberWaves]

15 minutes ago, NISSKEPCSIM said:

But Mechjeb can break the laws of 1.2.2 comnet.

Maybe that's a side effect of using Rocket Factory. The normal MechJeb core can't function without a signal if you have "require signal for control" turned on, and has limited control without a signal if you have "require signal for control" turned off, the same way a normal probe core works.

[NISSKEPCSIM]

Well, I'm not complaining. :-)

EDIT:

Rocket factory also has RCS that uses LFO, it's very handy, one less resource to worry about.

Edited February 24, 2017 by NISSKEPCSIM

[septemberWaves]

1 hour ago, NISSKEPCSIM said:

Rocket factory also has RCS that uses LFO, it's very handy, one less resource to worry about.

There's another mod which also adds LFO RCS. I think it's RLA Stockalike but I can't remember, I just know that I always have the LFO RCS thrusters available with my usual set of mods.

[NISSKEPCSIM]

Here's my entry for the Mun Sortie Mission:

First, the Duna-V, carrying the Altair lander and KDS (Kerbin Departure Stage).

Launch:

Ditching the SRBs:

MECO:

You can see my Altair lander on the KDS. I actually learned quite a lot during this mission, and it helped me iron out the wrinkles in the spacecraft's design.

(eg: I need to put Mechjeb on the Altair ascent stage, need to give the KDS a bit more fuel; I was barely able to finish the transfer burn, and add a probe core and an antenna to the Orion)

Circularising:

Stage recovery confirmed that the SRBs were recovered; first stage separation:

(Or, at least, my sloppy attempt to photograph the first stage separation)

Don't worry, the Altair definitely IS connected to the KDS. :-)

After the Altair reached orbit, I launched the Orion on the Duna-1:

No pictures of the first stage SEP, here's the circularization: (As you can tell, I LOVE acronyms!)

Extending solar panels:

Rendezvous:

If this were a JJ Abrams movie, the camera would dramatically pan out to reveal the Altair & KDS. :-)

Docking:

And when I came in to dock... the ports wouldn't connect. REVERT! The port on the Altair was from a mod, and was supposed to be compatible with the regular clamp-o-tron, but for some reason it wasn't working, so I sent up the Orion with a KIS container, with a regular port inside. My engineer, Erger, went on an EVA, disassembled the modded port, and attached the stock one.

After docking, I began the transfer burn:

[Apparently, I forgot to take pictures of the transfer burn :-(]

The capture burn:

I put extra fuel on the Altair descent stage using Buffalo MSEV buckboards. As it turns out, too much fuel. The Altair landed with half of it's fuel left in the descent stage.

Above is proof that I have more than 1000 electric charge.

And below is proof that I landed all four Kerbals on the surface. (though some people will still argue that the entire mission was filmed in a Kollywood film studio)

During ascent, I shutdown my descent engine and throttled up, hoping to ignite my ascent engine at full throttle immediately. I don't think the game recognized the fact that I shutdown the engine, and it still produced thrust, lifting me hundreds of metres off the ground. I quickly decoupled, and ascended to safety.

In the above picture, you can see the descent stage safe and sound, tipped over on the surface. Well, when I loaded up the tracking station to take a screenshot, the game broke, and spawned it 4000 metres up in the air, and it crashed to the ground in a series of explosions.

Rendezvous with the Orion:

My first ever rendezvous and docking without Mechjeb!

After transferring the crew and experiments, I undocked the Altair and began the burn home.

After a small course correction, I decoupled the service module and prepared for re-entry:

That's a lot of broken solar panel pieces... they'll come back to give Jeb nightmares one day.

Re-entry:

And after my parachutes deployed, I smacked into the ground before they deployed fully. So I had to revert all the way back to the return burn to reconfigure the parachutes.

Parachutes deploying:

As you can probably tell from all the mishaps in this mission, I'm not one to remember to quicksave.

Splashdown!

Score:

Launch vehicles. +10

Ares-1. +5

Ares-5. +5

Stage recovery 1. +3

Stage recovery 2. +4

Orion. +6

Crew safety. +4

Crew mobility. +1

Surface science bonus: I got 250 science from a surface sample; I've farmed so much science points from the Mun that the surface samples are the only experiments that deliver any science yield at all.

Objective. +20

Kerbin orbit rendezvous. +8

Accurate Altair. +7

Descent module. +4

Kerbin departure stage. +3

No fuel cells; I haven't unlocked them yet.

Altair orbital insertion. +3

Total:

63 points.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 24, 2017 by NISSKEPCSIM

[septemberWaves]

Congratulations @NISSKEPCSIM, you've completed the Munar Sortie challenge and earned the relevant badge.

I like the way you made the Altair lander, it was a good use of parts.

3 hours ago, NISSKEPCSIM said:

Surface science bonus: I got 250 science from a surface sample; I've farmed so much science points from the Mun that the surface samples are the only experiments that deliver any science yield at all.

To clarify, is this with 100% science returns?

[NISSKEPCSIM]

To be honest, I wasn't paying much attention when I created this game, but I think so, yes.

[septemberWaves]

24 minutes ago, NISSKEPCSIM said:

To be honest, I wasn't paying much attention when I created this game, but I think so, yes.

I can't remember the usual science returns for the Munar surface samples. If you could check and let me know what the science returns are set to (you can check it in the options menu) I'll be able to add your entry for the Surface Science Bonus.

[NISSKEPCSIM]

Yep, 100% science return. The surface sample delivers 250 science.

[NISSKEPCSIM]

Does the IRSU base on this fulfill the requirement for the IRSU for replenishing fuel on the Duna Ascent Vehicle for the Duna mission?

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/index.php?/topic/133430-112-phoenix-industries-mav-like-ascent-vehicle-v21/

The top left corner in the cluster of screenshots.

 

[Coolinee Kerman]

So what mods exactly are we allowed to use?

And what if we only use mods that add engines and things? Do we still have to bring 4 Kerbals?

Edited February 25, 2017 by HiThere!2

[septemberWaves]

42 minutes ago, NISSKEPCSIM said:

Does the IRSU base on this fulfill the requirement for the IRSU for replenishing fuel on the Duna Ascent Vehicle for the Duna mission?

It does, yes.

30 minutes ago, HiThere!2 said:

So what mods exactly are we allowed to use?

And what if we only use mods that add engines and things? Do we still have to bring 4 Kerbals?

I'm not going to be too picky on what mods are allowed. As long as it's reasonably well-balanced it should be fine.

You do still have to bring 4 kerbals, mainly because I don't want to overcomplicate the rules by adding in a clause along the lines of "you only need three kerbals if you are using stock or you are not using any mods which add suitable 4-kerbal command pods".

[Coolinee Kerman]

3 minutes ago, eloquentJane said:

It does, yes.

I'm not going to be too picky on what mods are allowed. As long as it's reasonably well-balanced it should be fine.

You do still have to bring 4 kerbals, mainly because I don't want to overcomplicate the rules by adding in a clause along the lines of "you only need three kerbals if you are using stock or you are not using any mods which add suitable 4-kerbal command pods".

Alright Thanks. I'll submit my entry soon.

Edited February 25, 2017 by HiThere!2

[foobar]

My attempt at the Mun Sortie mission... I forgot to take enough screenshots, so might have to do this again.

Altair in the VAB. Wikipedia said the Altair lander was 7.5m wide, so I went big. I don't have any mods to make the lower stages larger, so it's a bit wonky looking.

Orion in the VAB. This one actually fits on a 3.5m stack.

I forgot to take launch screenshots, but they both made it to orbit and StageRecovery notified of recovery of the solid booster stages.

Orion docked with Altair and the Ares V upper stage. I didn't quite make the Mun transfer burn and had to use ~100m/s dV from the Altair descent stage to get a close encounter.

Slowing down into the Mun orbit using the Altair descent stage.

4 crew transferred to the Altair and undocked from Orion.

Mun landing.

Close-ups of the lander with Kerbals on the platform.

EVA to the memorial.

Decouple and launch of the ascent vehicle.

The descent stage and airlock left on the surface.

Altair ascent stage reunites with Orion and crew transfers.

Reentry and landing near KSC.

• Launch Vehicles +10 (unless my derpy Ares V/Altair doesn't count)
• Ares I +5
• Stage Recovery 1 +3
• Stage Recovery 2 +4
• Orion +6
• Crew Safety +4
• Crew Mobility +1
• CommNet +10 (I think? It's a default career.)
• Objective +20
• Kerbin Orbit Rendezvous +8
• Accurate Altair +7
• Fuel Cells +2
• Descent Module +4
• Altair Orbital Insertion +3

Total: 87

[septemberWaves]

@foobar congratulations, you've completed the Munar Sortie challenge and earned the relevant badge.

Welcome to the forums, by the way.

Your Altair lander looked excellent, even though it was a bit disproportionate compared to the launch vehicle. Exact replicas aren't expected for this challenge (in part because proportionality is difficult to get right in KSP) but your Altair is a good design mimic.

[foobar]

11 hours ago, eloquentJane said:

Welcome to the forums, by the way.

Your Altair lander looked excellent, even though it was a bit disproportionate compared to the launch vehicle. Exact replicas aren't expected for this challenge (in part because proportionality is difficult to get right in KSP) but your Altair is a good design mimic.

Thanks! I just discovered TweakScale, so my Ares V will be looking somewhat proportional for the next launch.

[septemberWaves]

28 minutes ago, foobar said:

Thanks! I just discovered TweakScale, so my Ares V will be looking somewhat proportional for the next launch.

Sounds like a good plan. Honestly getting the Altair to real-scale is probably overdoing things a bit since real-scale spacecraft are much larger than the KSP equivalents (the real Apollo capsule was nearly 4 meters in diameter, for example, whilst the stock equivalent is only 2.5 meters). However, I think it's definitely worth doing if it makes it look good.

Edited March 1, 2017 by eloquentJane

[foobar]

My entry for the ARM mission (full album: http://imgur.com/a/ycq27).

ARM launch on the Ares V:

Upper stage separation and fairing ejection to reveal the ARM, which will sit in orbit waiting for Orion:

Orion launch on the Ares I:

Docked with the ARM:

Rendezvous with the asteroid. The ARM separated to perform a solo attachment.

Finally found a spot that allows the drill to sink in!

Orion docks, the crew transfers and mining operations begin.

Decoupling of the Science Stick probe in preparation for poking.

The final poke (opposite the ARM of course).

The crew transferred back to Orion for the trip home:

Scoring:

• Launch Vehicles +10
• Ares I +5
• Ares V +5
• Orion +6
• Crew Safety +4
• CommNet +10
• Objective +20
• Kerbin Orbit Rendezvous +5
• ARM +8
• Crew Comfort +5
• Moderate Duration +6
• Taking Things Literally +2

Total: 86

[septemberWaves]

@foobar Congratulations, you've completed the Asteroid Rendezvous mission and earned the relevant badge.

[septemberWaves]

I've updated the original post with the challenge requirements for the Mun Base challenge.

Just a warning: the Mun Base challenge, as well as the Extended Duna Mission (once that is finalized) will involve several (3 or 4) landing in close proximity in order to obtain the maximum points for the challenge. If your designs have high part counts and you are already getting framerate issues with the existing missions, it may be worth revising your designs for the extra missions to reduce part count if possible.

Edited March 2, 2017 by eloquentJane

[septemberWaves]

I've made some changes to the rules for the Duna mission.

The changes are as follows:

• The uncrewed cargoes now require separately-launched propulsion modules.
• The Duna Ascent Vehicle no longer requires independent power generation. It requires "sufficient power systems", which basically means either power generation or enough power storage for it to reach Duna orbit and dock with the interplanetary transport.

[Martian Emigrant]

2 hours ago, eloquentJane said:

I've made some changes to the rules for the Duna mission.

The changes are as follows:

• The uncrewed cargoes now require separately-launched propulsion modules.
• The Duna Ascent Vehicle no longer requires independent power generation. It requires "sufficient power systems", which basically means either power generation or enough power storage for it to reach Duna orbit and dock with the interplanetary transport.

Hello EJ.

I have been preparing a Duna mission for a while now. The hardware is built and tested.

What do you mean by "Cargo"?

As setup I have A Kerbin-Duna transfer for satellites, one for the ascent Vehicle, one for the habitat and one for the crew.

None are dedicated cargo.

Do I need to amend?

 

ME