MaxL_1023

Xenon tanks are made of cast iron because of the low delta-V requirements of the stock game in general. For the delta-V it takes to get into orbit in RSS (~9.5 km/s assuming average piloting) I could launch from Kerbin (3.5 km/s), reach and land on the Mun (1.5 km/s) then return to Kerbin (1 km/s), then get BACK to Kerbin orbit (3.5 km/s). For the amount it takes to reach the Moon in RSS (~13 km/s) I could do the same for Duna, or get to Jool/Moho, land on something and return. If Xenon tanks used 9 to 1, you could basically torch-ship to anywhere in the stock system. Monoprop tanks are meant to be pressure vessels (type "Servicemodule" in Realism Overhaul, so are always going to be heavier than your standard Aerozine/NTO tanks connected to a pump-fed engine, which is the closest approximation to what Squad has in stock. I have no problem with them being heavier than LF/O tanks - maybe a little lighter than they are now, but not by much. Considering that Squad intentionally lets you clip parts together, I don't think volume ratios are high on their priority list. I would much rather see game engine, memory usage and physics optimizations - parts are easy in comparison and are already handled by dozens of talented mod developers.

As far as I know, Squad balanced the tanks by their mass fractions. LFO tanks are something like 89% fuel, Monoprop and Xenon somewhat less (I think Xenon is near 56%). In some cases the tank capacity does not match the volume for aesthetic purposes (probably the radial tanks, or maybe the toroidal), but the mass should be right. They pick a size, pick a capacity, then calculate the mass from there. Within limits, the square-cube law should give larger tanks better mass fractions, but I don't think that much detail is needed outside of realism overhaul.

@qzgy, to be fair you did have enough torque on that thing to probably do front flips after landing.

Reaction wheels make this easier than it could be - I suggest adding a difficulty category for "RCS only" attitude control.

It would not be that hard to put something like the ISS in lunar orbit, especially if NASA was willing to use solar-powered Ion engines and wait a couple years. The hard part is getting the mass to LEO - orbital assembly of modules and long-term life support is mature enough already. I wonder if SpaceX has considered sticking an Ion engine on a Dragon capsule? It could use low-energy transfers to send non-perishable supplies to the Moon, probably within the launch capabilities of a reusable falcon 9. Save the heavy chemical rockets for sending humans back and forth.

Chief test pilot Jebediah Kerman and flight engineer Bill Kerman were recently tasked with the first test of a Maxtech-enhanced (edited config files for high speed thrust) Hybrid Utility Rocket Turbo-Scramjet (HURTS). It went about as well as expected: After some minor repairs and the installation of gravioli stabilization systems along the runway (I reloaded until physics loaded correctly) the craft managed to reach 5.4 km/s at an altitude of 50 km, where all intake air magically disappears. Maxtech Aerospace plans to work with Kerbnobyl Industries to develop an open-cycle gas core nuclear scramjet, following the logic of "I am going to build an SSTO spaceplane no matter how insane my designs have to be, and it will fit in a Mk. II design paradigm because it looks cool, Mk 3 is a bunch of bricks and Mk. IV is so large as to lag out the universe!" P.S: Why flip the table?

So upon rendezvousing with the NIPPER, the fury of 1000 Ciros was unleashed. I might need to check radiator function when unloaded.

The process of Kerbalization could be accomplished by complete somatic replacement through nanomachine-augmented cellular replication. Essentially, the DNA profile of the individual in question is "Kerbalized" (possibly by exposure to rocket fuel) into an equivalent profile compatible with a Kerbal physiology. This DNA profile is used to construct several million artificial stem cells which are injected into the individuals bloodstream. Nanoscale machinery is also incorporated, constructing cellular scaffolds and compensating for metabolic anomalies throughout the transition region between physiologies. The Kerbal cells replace individual human cells which were naturally undergoing senescence. As this process occurs, small regions of Kerbal tissue slowly develop under the supervision and maintenance of the nanites. In some areas (the brain, germ line and skeletal system) where the cells are slow to replace, human cells are slowly disassembled and replaced by their Kerbal equivalents. As this process occurs, total body and brain integrity is maintained by a process of artificial micro-environments and continued neural communication, preserving brain pathways by replacing individual neurons along with all of their dendritic connections to additional cells. The goal of the nanites is to create small (centimeter scale) regions of complete Kerbalization, which minimizes the amount of environmental regulation required in addition to reducing the amount of chemical and electrical adaptation necessary to relay human and Kerbal hormonal and neural signals between tissue types. These regions then gradually expand through the targeted elimination and replacement of bordering cells, until after a period of up to several decades the body has been completely replaced by the Kerbalized cells. At this point, the nanomachines no longer need to regulate the internal environment and gradually pass this responsibility onto the newly formed Kerbal body. Throughout this process, brain and metabolic activity is kept to a minimum, reducing the energy requirements of the transition system and allowing comprehensive error correction to run at the molecular level with minimal influence from the latent metabolism. The memories and personality of the individual are preserved through the continuation of a minimal level of synaptic activity - while cells can be replaced, the entire system remains active to some degree throughout the transition period. Minor changes may occur due to the influence of the novel physiology, however an advanced understanding of comparative synaptic anatomy allows these effects to be minimized by the selective genetic alteration of the "Kerbalized" DNA. The final transformed organism appears physically Kerbal, however they maintain a human-like personality matrix with detectable abnormal (for a Kerbal anyways) brain structure and chemistry. The reverse process is substantially easier - the idiosyncratic synaptic connections are always best suited for the original neural physiology, requiring lesser effort on the part of the transformation nanites to maintain the extant personality. Transformation subjects are like the ship of Theseus Kerman - while individual planks are replaced, the characteristics arise from the sum of all extant components and their relative orientation and interactions. The planks themselves are infinitesimal parts of the whole and are therefore inconsequential at final analysis.

After the successful completion of the M.O.A.F, the N.I.P.P.E.R (Niven InterPlanetary Propulsion Electric Rocket) is being launched into low Gael orbit using a Freya Augmented Transporter (F.A.T) : (Freya is the term for those SpaceY radial SRBs - the largest available). Note that due to a minor miscalculation during construction, the rocket is not actually positioned ON the launchpad. Bill insists that the repair crew just rebuilt it in the wrong place after the previous rapid unplanned launchpad malfunction. Nevertheless, after some minor space-time anomalies (slideshow-style), the NIPPER reached orbit and docked with the NiL (Niven Lithobraker). The NIPPER has been designed under Maxtech's philosophy of "why wait for those Kraken-dammed Hoffman transfers when you can just use 26.8% of Gael's Xenon and 42.3% of its Uranium to birth an ungodly ("Kerbal") combination of ionized hellfire! Stay POSITIVE! (Or Negative - we were never sure which one was which when we installed those things)."

I was expecting him to use Prosperity to redirect the asteroid onto an impact trajectory - he could probably manage it, especially with a nuclear powered ion drive and the only large interplanetary vessel in existence being used as the tug.

In co-operation with Maxtech Aerospace, the first manned mission to Niven is beginning with the launch of the Niven Lithobraker (NiL) - a 3-Kerbal lander capable of supporting a crew on the surface of Niven for 1 month. At only 1470 tons, this is the smallest rocket Maxtech has designed since its acquisition of SpaceY during year 3. Sadly, a control software error had the thrust values assuming Kerperial units instead of Gaelic, resulting in a thrust setting of roughly half the required value. The result was a rapid unplanned disassembly...of the launch infrastructure. The extreme exhaust pressures insulated the rocket body from direct impact with the pad, with the quick corrective actions of Kerbal Remote Assistant Pilot (KRAP) Jebediah Kerman resulting in a successful liftoff. Stage Separation and orbital insertion was successful through the use of what chief astro-engineer Bill Kerman referred to as "a Centaur on Steroids." The uncrewed NiL is now waiting for the arrival of the Niven InterPlanetary Propulsion Electric Rocket (NIPPER). After the prototyping of the Modular Oversized Atmospheric Fairing (MOAF) is completed (I am editing the .cfg files to make the SpaceY 10m fairing have a max radius of 15m) the NIPPER will be launched to rendezvous with the NiL in advance of the upcoming transfer window.

Do I sense some "Martian" style exposition? It seems that Kerbals are very good at causing things to explode - not even small moons are immune!

I am building an interplanetary transporter. Problem is - it's too big to fit in a 10m fairing. First Kerbin Problems.

I think I found what I was looking for - I changed the stress degeneration in the default profile to 1/10th of what it was originally. Only fair, since my solar system is 10 times larger. Also, the kraken only knows what that will actually do.

My race to Grannus solution would just be to torch-ship it using ion engines. I have a probe landed on Jannah (Nero's second moon) with over 40 km/s left in the Xenon tanks. My recommended methodology for low-delta-v fast transfers would be Gael/Otho/Ciro/Grannus/Otho/Gael, with powered slingshots at Ciro and Grannus. I am not sure how often windows for this would happen. Use Otho to get a close Ciro encounter, burn at PE to get a hyperbolic Grannus intercept, then burn at Grannus PE to end up falling back towards Ciro, using Otho to lower your AP and if possible get a Gael encounter from there. Still though, it might be easier to just do a powered Otho slingshot - Grannus is not that far out and is large enough to give you significant leeway with return maneuvers. A final solution would be to just use Iota, setting an encounter with the PE about 3 meters above the center of the moon, then using time-warp to glitch out the collision physics and getting a slingshot equivalent to passing a small black hole. I managed to use Lili to escape Tellumo this way (by accident though).

I read it somewhere - more conjecture than anything. Basically, its the fastest way to get something out to 550 AU or beyond.

Is there a way to change the stress parameters? I am in an upscaled system, so 21 years (about 3.5 Gael years in 10.6257x GPP) is not nearly enough. I can get to a planet inside of Tellumo (although Tellumo is cutting it close), but anything further out has too long of a flight time unless I try some crazy torch-ship stuff.

Remember that these are Kerbals we are talking about. They probably use nails and duct tape to hold their parts together.

Some planets do not have any of a particular resource - it is possible that some overlays may be missing because the threshold is never met.

You're welcome. I went into the config files and decreased the probability of critical failures - I honestly can't imagine a part that large failing completely out of the blue, and not being fixable. I could understand their being a "spare parts" resource which would be required, but unless it is hit by a meteor it should be fixable.

It is highlighted red? Those are critical failures, and can't be repaired. If it is yellow, you can EVA an engineer next to it, right click the part and you should see a repair option come up.

Have you considered an Otho/Ciro powered slingshot maneuver? Use Otho to drop your PE to under Icarus' orbit, then burn at Ciro PE to get a major hyperbolic boost for a Grannus encounter. I am not sure if Grannus is far enough out to make this better than a straight Otho assist maneuver, but I know that the solar slingshot is being considered for a mission to Planet Nine (if they find it), Sedna, or other distant destinations (such as the 550 AU gravitational lensing focus).