DunaManiac

Merlin VII begins its return. I decided to take this opportunity to test out an aerobraking maneuver: the first in the Program's history. Unfortunately, I had to part with the avionics package early so it would not burn up during reentry. Only one aerobraking maneuver was necessary, but since it was night at the KSC and I didn't want to wait (I imagine it was determined that the crew were showing signs of radiation poisoning and had to make a landing as soon as possible. Provisions were also running low), I decided to aim for the desert airfield. Its a small military base and former missile launch site that doesn't receive much traffic: so you can probably imagine their reaction when it was told they had to accept a spaceplane coming in from low orbit! Most of Merlin's mono propellant was spent making the plane change maneuver. Jebediah's hand begins to waver. Even from watching the aircraft flying its clear that the crew aren't doing well. Thankfully though, Jeb brings Merlin in for a safe landing just as night falls. Thankfully the crew was alright: the radiation poisoning wasn't serious and the crew did not suffer any permanent effects. However, they will be out of the pool for a while until they recover. Meanwhile, I decided to remedy two problems that were vexing me: Firstly, my station Cornerstone is constructed incorrectly, meaning that Merlin has to dock very awkwardly, and I'm planning to construct future space stations around farming while in orbit, and I never made a test for that purpose. This will solve both! However, I did have issues while launching it, namely that I didn't test the rocket properly and I didn't have enough TWR to reach orbit. So I needed to replace my skipper engine with a mainsail, wasting about 20 days. The rocket is carrying two modules: a node, and the Orbital Agriculture Experiment: namely a large recycler and a few USI greenhouse-cupolas. Meanwhile, after an inordinate amount of time spent reconstrucing the space station, I finally got in into this configuration. Honestly, I have mixed attitudes on this expansion: I think it corrupts the "small station" vibe I wanted Cornerstone to have. Also designed the Oasis Habitation Module: Its designed to be used twice by the Nova-Z program for its minmus missions. Since I'm using USI life support, it means I have to consider their mental health, and unfortunately being stuck with 3 other astronauts in a tiny metal tube isn't conducive to productivity. It's got an airlock and even a cupola, recyclers and supplies for the crew, and an antenna, as those are a necessity for Minmus. The plan is to launch it separately before the launch of Nova-Z III and then have it rendezvous with it in low orbit. I may have to launch a second one after the mission is over though, unless I can come up with a daring solution to use it again...

I decided for my next mission, Merlin would set up a demo communications network in GKO. This is Merlin VII. The crew complement is Pilot and Mission Commander Jebediah, Chief Scientist Bob, and Radiologist-Scientist Kimny. We're bringing him because this is the first time that we'll be leaving low kerbin orbit, and we really have no idea how the radiation will affect them. Therefore, we're attempting to minimize how often they'll be in the belts. No more than 3 days. However, I couldn't fit more than two satellites in the service bay, so it'll be somewhat of an incomplete network, but again, we'll replace it with a more capable network once we have a more capable vessel. This version of Merlin has boosters, and it's even harder to fly than the ordinary Merlin. I must say, I'm regretting my downgrade from passenger SSTOs! Once orbital insertion is complete, we boost to Geostationary orbit. Shattering Merlin V's record of 400km, we reach nearly 2800 km above Kerbin, geostationary orbit altitude. FGN satellite one is released first. Then the second, a few hours later. I made sure that the orbital period of Merlin VII was 3 hours so that I would end up with a perfect 180 degree angle between the satellites. I didn't, I ended up with a 170-75. In other news, the Outer Halo Orbiter was launched with its destination at minmus. Similar to MIO, it is a dual lander and orbiter. The idea is that it will orbit extremely close to the surface: only a few hundred meters up. Therefore, it can take samples of the halo and study them, allowing the scientists back at Kerbin to determine its exact composition. In addition, those samples can be collected later by kerbonauts in the future. OHO is similar to another satellite I did in another save. Unfortunately, said save died an untimely death when an antenna placed in the wrong position caused an RUD of an entire space station that I had spent hours working on. To add insult to injury, it killed numerous kerbals and also took out a large spaceplane docked to it. So I wanted to recreate that feeling I got with it the first time. After several orbits, the lander separates. Its target is a primary point of interest for a future base: a tall mountain with an 11.33% ore concentration, overlooking the greater flats. The idea with this lander is that it can precipitate a Nova-Z landing about a year from now. With the lander on the surface, OHO begins its spectroscopic and observational mission. Since we're never more than a few kilometers above the surface, we can image the surface as if we were landed on it.

My plans continue to progress: I'm planning a series of 5 missions under the Nova-Z program that will land the first kerbals on the Mun and Minmus. The rocket involved will be the largest rocket the Program has yet designed. It's a simple apollo-style rocket. Now, you may be wondering about the plane stuck on top of the rocket. It was decided it would be easier to use a modified version of the MCTV the Program already uses as the command and return vehicle. It's not much different except for the frontal docking capabillities, and a shortened wingspan from 9 meters to 7 meters. Connected to it is a service module containing supplies, an engine, and the computer core. Nova-Z 1 will target the Mun for the first kerballed landing on another body. As you can see here, it has a rather large lander below it. The Harpy, as its called, is overbuilt for the task, specifically so it can do multiple hops. The interior of it is empty, so it can carry an extra ground science monitor beneath it. It will separate it just above the ground and land next to the science platform. Now, some prep work will be necessary. Merlin V (technically VI, as V was planned to be launched beforehand, but VI was expedited so that Cornerstone could be crewed in time) tested the capabillities of Merlin as an orbital science platform, similar to the Merlin III mission. Except, its mission had a scientific purpose: deploying the Kerbin Gravmax and Magnetometer spacecraft. Its purpose is to measure Kerbin's magnetic field so that future missions can be aware of the radiation hazards we could face leaving Kerbin's safe magnetic harbor. After that, Merlin V boosted into a higher orbit, setting an altitude record for Kerbalkind: 400 kilometers above Kerbin's surface. From here on out, the MCTV program will be primarily concerned with preparing for the Nova-Z program. Merlin VII will involve geostationary orbit satellites, and Merlin VIII will be a mun mission in all but name: it will carry a small unmanned munar lander and boost most of the way, but won't make the encounter: instead, it will do a mock munar return and aerobrake, before returning to the KSC. Merlin V makes a safe return. In other successes, MASS 2 makes the Program's first landing on the Mun. Once its landed, a ramp deploys from the lander. And out comes a rover! It's mission: to survey this site and analyze the surface conditions. This area is an interesting area of the Mun that's rather prominent but I don't think I've ever visited: the nearside East crater. It will be the site of the first kerballed munar landing: Nova-Z 1.

First launch of the day: launching the logistics module to Cornerstone. Suffered a minor mishap during launch: However, I only lost a single fin. The rocket is designed to operate with a faulty fin, so the flight engineers were able to quickly pivot and successfully continue the mission. And added! However, there's no-one to use those supplies, as there's no-one currently on the station. Merlin IV was only a 5 day mission to ascertain the habitability of Cornerstone. Second launch is the final module of Cornerstone: The Gravity Wheel Experiment: to see whether a small-scale inflatable gravity wheel is feasible, and to conduct experiments about how microgravity will affect the body compared to small amounts of gravity. While launching: the same failure occured! I lost yet another fin. Ended up with a very quick intercept: Within 15 minutes we were at the station, preparing to dock. Merlin VI soon takes off. Now, you may notice that this one is launching from the runway: You would be correct. Technically, Merlin V has not even launched yet. They were unexpectedly delayed due to problems with the rocket and with the Kerbin Gravmax and Magnetometry Surveyor. As a result, SPH division had to take charge of assembly of Merlin VI ahead of schedule, using the backup version of the MCTV. After I docked, I realised a huge mistake I had made when launching Cornerstone: I docked the truss module in the wrong orientation. There should be a tube extending outward from the truss, but instead, it was docked to the rest of Cornerstone. I mean, the mistake was sealed the moment I launched the fourth module, so I had to improvise. Thankfully, I was able to dock horizontally. Meanwhile, Edson conducts a visual inspection of the gravity wheel from outside, while Alamin begins the pressurization of the gravity wheel from within the station. With their job done, the crew prepare to leave. Valentina will remain at the station for two more days, before she leaves alone, leaving Alamin, Munbree, and Edson Kerman to man the station for the next 2 years. However, Cornerstone is complete! With Valentina by herself, she begins to plot her return to the KSC. I left at an inopportune time, and I had to make a costly plane change maneuver so I could reach the KSC. This is because of Cornerstone's inclination, and it's made all my Merlin reentries hard to plan. It's hit-and-miss as to whether the KSC will be in the right place at the right time. Most of the time however, I do need to make a plane change maneuver. After a rather steep reentry, Valentina succesfully lands Merlin, marking 5 successful launches.

Probably my favorite shot of a new save I've been doing. A scene of an MCTV docked to Cornerstone Station for the first temporary expedition to the station.

Launched the Minmus In-depth Orbital Investigator, (MIOI) combined with a small lander. It's armed with some mid-sized scanning equipment and a large antenna. It'll operate for the next 250 days in LMiO. Once we're in high orbit, I deployed the lander to land in a polar highlands region with a large amount of ore. Upon landing, we discovery the area has an ore concentration of 11.33% - perfect for a base. But I wouldn't choose this place just yet. Meanwhile, Cornerstone is starting to become more recognizable. I added the truss portion. Soon after I finished my Minmus mission, I launched Merlin IV, with the aim of visiting the station temporarily, as the Logisitics module containing the majority of our supplies hasn't yet arrived. Several hours later, we arrive at the station and dock just as night falls. The Merlin crew will have to wait for a couple hours for the station to pressurize and heat up so they can board it. In the morning, the crew finally enter the station and start to spread out throughout the station turning on vital systems. Notice Mission Commander Valentina's rage at discovering her pathetic excuse for a control center. Meanwhile, Mundee begins his spacewalk to check recyclers and scanning equipment. One thing he does notice however, is the fact that the magnetometer is at an odd angle. Clearly the automated docking system must have erred and docked it at the wrong angle. As such, Mundee gets to work. He installs the magnetometer on the bottom of the Science and Utility Module, allowing the magnetometer to deploy smoothly.

I've been thinking about the next step beyond Cornerstone's completion. The next step would be to set up a station and a mining base on Minmus to serve as a launching pad for future missions. However, in the near term is MASS: the Moon Advanced Survey Strategy. It involves a series of probes and manned missions to explore the Mun and Minmus to gain suitable information about them to launch bases. This includes the shadowy Project DEPTH, of which considerable resources will be expended towards. But first, the Program launches its first Mun probe - an orbital surveyor and impactor called the Mun Impactor and Orbiter (MIO) It involves by far the smallest rocket I've launched in this save (it feels like returning from a long Hiatus that every rocket I build is overkill). Took an agressive gravity turn, so we start feeling some heat. One of my great joys in KSP is designing probes. I'm not sure why. However, I love to subvert the simple antenna dish + okto + solar panels + battery + engine that most people use. It contains some rudimentary survey equipment, and an impactor. A burn is undertaken to speed the impactor on it's way once we've reached the Mun. The impactor unfurls its short range antenna, as well as a prominent boom. The purpose of this boom is to slightly extend the life-time of the probe, so that it can measure the force that the surface imparts on the impactor. By taking into account the velocity and angle of the impactor, we can then make a rough estimation of the surface texture (hard, soft, granular, dusty, etc.) and an estimate at composition. Cheaper than a lander, I suppose Several minutes later, the Mun Impactor and Orbiter conducts orbital insertion, where it will continue to survey the Mun for the next 6 months. In addition, I designed a couple of probes:

I do think that the KSP1 subforum should, perhaps, be lower than KSP2's subforum. However, it shouldn't be this low, to the point of being below the community subforums. They're still quite active and contain the vast majority of posts in this entire website. I think they should be at least above the community subforums. I think this kind of arrangement would cause more harm than good. They should be arranged by game rather than by topic, because that make it much easier to accidentally post in the wrong subforum.

Began assembling Cornerstone today: First up is Triple-C: Core, Command, and Control. Contains power supplies for the station before the truss arrives, some KIS storage, RCS for the station, and a small amount of supplies. Second up is General Habitation Module, containing a spacious habitation module where the crew can eat, relax, and sleep. To spice things up, I launched Cornerstone at a 30 degree inclination. Third up is the Processing and Scientific Experiment Module. It's central feature is an MPL Mobile Processing Lab, and it's storage module also contains scientific equipment, as well as more recyclers for the crew. I also played with using Merlin as an LKO scientific platform as well as a . The second Merlin mission involves Jebediah as pilot and Bob Kerman as Science Manager. Together, they launched Merlin into polar orbit with a Scansat radar antenna attatched to it. Over the course of 5 days, they mapped 90% of the planet. After spending the last few minutes of relaxation before reentry to admire the auroras of Kerbin from space, they approach the KSC from the south. Now here's something interesting - I've flown countless SSTO missions, and I don't think I've ever tried to land a single SSTO from a high inclination. So certainly a new one for me. A much smoother reentry than last time, we bring in Bob and Jeb for a much smoother mission. For Merlin 3, I launched with a small relay satellite, with the goal of scanning kerbin with a multispectral scanner. The satellite is launched with no issues, again with a crew composition of Jebediah as pilot and Bob as Science Manager (only the 4 veterans have been properly vetted for the Program at this point). Reentry, however, wasn't as thought-out as last time. I nearly overshot the KSC, and found that roll authority really was too much. However, I was in fact able to bring it down. Merlin makes another successful landing.

It's a small station by my standards Anyway, I'll probably start assembling Cornerstone tomorrow. For now, I've been playing with the Multi-Crew Transfer Vehicle (MCTV), or "Merlin." I decided to avoid the typical SSTO crew transfer vehicle I use in my saves, and used a small, rocket-launched spaceplane. It's closest equivalent in real life is the Dyna-Soar. To test it, I launched it from a modified Stearwing A300: (I thought the idea of replicating the Enterprise test was pretty good) I separated it, and glided it down to ditch in the water below. Now for the real version: The rocket has rather large fins to make sure it's stable, and as an extra precaution, I'll be maintaining a vertical flightpath till 20km. It's one problem is that it has a rather nasty habit of shimmying during Max-Q, but this is fixed by quickly turning of SAS and turning it back on. Separation confirmed just as first light arrives. In orbit, the spaceplane has a propulsion bus attatched to it. On this mission, it won't be doing all that much, as it's primarily designed for facilitating rendezvous with Cornerstone. After a day in orbit, we use the avionics pack for the first and only time to deorbit the vessel. I chose a rather shallow reentry, which proved to be a mistake later on. Several minutes later, we're flying at the KSC like a bullet, just as the last red light of the sun disappear. I probably should've undertaken a steeper reentry. Thankfully, it didn't break apart due to it's rather small size, but that also means that it will flies like a bullet in the upper atmosphere. This is when things go a little off-script: I overshot the runway and had to do a U-turn and come at the runway from the east. However, I managed to bring it down. The MCTV is a success.

Conviently, you ignore the other problems with KSP2's maneuver nodes. Firstly, there isn't a way to fine tune them like in KSP, and it has the same problem as KSP1 where at certain angles you can't pull the node, forcing one to awkwardly mess with the camera to get to it. It's even worse, in fact, due to how wide the arrows are. There isn't a way to fast forward it multiple orbits, pretty critical for rendez-vous. Also, they're missing burntime until after you start the burn, which in my view is rather important. I want to know whether I'll be here for 1 minute vs 5 minutes. It's just a basic QOL feature that isn't hard to implement. I maintain that it's an edge case, for KSP1, in case it wasn't clear earlier. In the vast majority of rockets, you don't usually exceed 5 minute burns when it becomes a necessity. For KSP2's scope, it is necessary because missions will last for months or years under constant thrust, so it is rather important. But for KSP1? It remains an edge case, as it only applies to large ion engine craft (which no-one makes) and large interplanetary vessels, which are also rather rare. Just because I call my preferences "basic necessities" doesn't make them one. I dispute this. Intercept has got off a on pretty bad foot too, so I'm not sure why you seem to commend them. I'm also not sure what Squad did to deserve such enmity from you, to seriously state that "their output was pathetic for a dev team," and "KSP 1 could have been developed by literally anyone else and it'd have been better off," with no evidence to back it up. In indie dev years, 10 years is practically forever, and I think that they at least deserve some commendation for that feat. I mean, look at it's competitors. SR2 is by all means cleaner, more polished, and less buggy than KSP1, and yet it didn't really catch on. Before you accuse me of I'm by no means doing that. Firstly, I'm not sure why you believe that there is some kind of "bandwagon mentality" focused on "praising squad," obviously in opposition into your completely calm, utterly unbiased approach towards KSP1. However, KSP2 does have one commendation that I think is impregnable: You can't just say, "oh, you can just redo what KSP2 does in KSP1 with mods," because while you can, doing so in KSP1 is seriously stretching the game's capabilities. Believe me, I've tried. I had bases that would jump and shift for no reason, space stations that involved 2 dozen man-hours to build suffering an utter RUD (destroying a large spaceplane docked to it as well) because of a wrongly placed antenna, performance issues. KSP2 on the other hand, promised to do that from the outset. But what I've already seen so far calls into question whether it's any better than KSP1 in that regard.

I've fired up KSP once again, and I decided to start a fresh new save. The first objective of this save is a small station planned to be inserted into LKO It's a pretty small station - about Mir sized, with 6 modules attached. It has some amnesties, such as an experimental gravity wheel experiment a cupola, and a science panel. I've already designed rockets for most of the modules - all that's left is to finish that and launch them.

This I think is a valid point. The rest of this is not. It essentially amounts to a rant about how KSP1 didn't really fulfill your preferences. I would argue that persistent thrust really only matters for interstellar travel - which is why it was introduced in KSP2. Otherwise, it's essentially an edge case that you won't encounter, except in the example you cite most often, ion engines. Procedural wings are again, an intentional simplification whose merit's are debatable, but aren't a serious issue except in solely your view, apparently. KSP2's part menu also has it's own problems, such as performance issues. You continue to criticize KSP1's UI apparently without even reading my previous objections to it, based completely on your own pet peeves about it rather than on its merits. I'm really sorry you feel so strongly about this, I really am. However, I think that if you take out KSP1 and judge KSP2 completely by itself - it's a rather poor game. This statement is questionable. There are many who could have done a worse job. KSP was maintained for 10 years. It remains to be seen whether KSP2 will be able to top that.

I think that's the opposite. What we're faced with right now is a game that is a lot more unstable than KSP1 is. I mean, perhaps the patch will improve things, but it's a real shame. To be fair, KSP2 UI has it's own issues. Sizing for example. KSP2's UI readability right now is pretty poor. One of the things that I liked about the KSP1 UI as opposed to KSP2's is that firstly, KSP2's UI is really too large for the screen. Secondly, I think it was a good thing to have the altimeter so large and hard to miss, as opposed to KSP2's when it's rather small and doesn't offer the same readability. It's interesting that you're hyperfixated on nuclear engines, to the point of calling them a bug, as opposed to other simplifications that KSP1 did. Reaction wheels are ridiculously overpowered compared to real life for example. However, this was simplified simply to make controlling vessels much easier, not to frustrate your preferences. I think it's ridiculous to call a simplification "a bug," in the same manner that fact that KSP's rockets don't have limited ignitions is "a bug." I'm sorry that Squad didn't seek your input on your preferences when coding their game. I don't think enjoyability is at stake here. If it is, it's pretty easy to modify the configs in-game. I mean, while you may support changing the nuclear rocket, others would be opposed to it. Making a change like that would essentially break every past vessel that uses a nuclear engine engine, which I think it's fair to say the majority of interplanetary vessels have. For people who use steam and have no way to roll-back or prevent the update, this would wreak havoc on essentially every past save. In the end, I think the reason that not many sweeping changes were made past 1.0 is for this reason.

One could argue the exact same thing about KSP2, just with the references switched. But KSP2's many game breaking bugs and foundational issues are not? I mean, given KSP1's easy modability the nuclear-rocket/jet-fuel problem is an easy problem to fix if you personally don't like it. It would be more difficult, in my opinion, to manage several fuels on one SSTO - I've built numerous ones, and managing two fuels is already a handful - would be more difficult.