Smokey the Bear

A good question. The test units we have running at the University are not fueled, I probably should have made that more clear in my first post xD. We have electrically based heat emitters inside the fuel sections of each test unit to simulate the plutonium because, like you said, the world's running out of Plutonium 238. A perk of using electrically based heat sources for long term testing is that we can change the heat output as we desire. For example, if we want to see what the unit will be outputting in say 20 years from now, all was have to do is change the electrical output to the heaters to reflect the decrease in fuel mass (half lives are great, right?). Saves precious Plutonium for actual RTG usage on future missions.

Combo of both, actually. I'd been sitting on this idea since Tuesday abouts, but reading your challenge today really prompted me to get off my butt and give it a go. So thanks!

Hello anyone that's reading this! A few days ago, I came up with an idea for a 'campaign' of sorts... How would I go about designing, building, then assembling a submerged ocean-floor base in KSP? Well, that's what this series of mission reports is all about. In this series, I will be detailing my observations and efforts to create an undersea base on Kerbin. I'll write mission reports probably once a week or every other, detailing my progress as the base expands and as accidents occur. Ill be organizing the mission updates via spoiler boxes, in theory below. Mission Report #1: Necessity is the Mother of Invention (8/12/17) -If anyone could help me figure out how to post albums directly to the forums, that'd be awesome. Thanks in advance!

In any event, this will be my placeholder for my actual submission for the challenge. I'm in the process of constructing the base now, courtesy of KIS/KAS. I've found that, for those of you who use the mod, placing one of the concrete blocks in the Kerbal's inventories is enough to counteract their positive buoyancy, allowing for under-water EVA, a critical component in my base. Figure 1: Bill assembling a loading ramp on the Nemo Base Fuel Depot I've been using Vessel mover to get the various sub-components to the ocean surface, but have had to manually sink the sub-sections down, arranged them via winch, and secure them with Kerbal EVA's. Coming along so far, I'm interested in adding a more permanent docking pylon, something akin to an airship anchor, but for subs. I also need to design a more efficient sub, the one I have now isn't going to cut it for material transportation.

The base doesn't have to be one full craft file, correct? For example, I could launch various pieces of the base in different launches in order to accommodate for different functions. Does that make or break the challenge? Also, is KAS/KIS allowed?

Here's my sub(mission) for the challenge, the XSEV-Mk1.1 Part Count: 25 Sub Weight: 19.47 Tons Length: 5.7m Height: 2.6m I should note that I've never made a sub before, but this was quite fun! So, If I did my math right, It took me 79 seconds to go from the bottom of the ocean at the KSC (Approximately 632 meters) to Sea-level, 0 meters. Odds are, there's a much deeper place on Kerbin, but this location worked for me. One of the things I'd like to improve on in this craft is better buoyancy. The rear of the craft was floating higher than the front, meaning I have to shift the rear-ballast forward to counteract it.

I was planning on embarking on a long-term mission report based on recovering a downed satellite using a submarine, I'll have to post my sub design when I finish with it. At the moment, I have no easy way of delivering my sub prototype to the ocean besides launching it in a rocket and attaching an ungodly amount of parachutes. My other thought was to build a wheeled delivery system that would 'launch' from the Runway and wheel out to the ocean-front, deposit the sub there. Any thoughts on a delivery system?

My avatar is Smokey the Bear. Seemed fitting, based on the username.

I'm a wee bit south of one of those "Great Lakes"

Wow, that'd be great, actually. Thanks for the help!

Suh dudes. Forgot my password for my old account (Previously known as 'Indy'), so here I am. Decided to make a new account for posting pictures, mission updates, stuff like that. I recently graduated with a degree in Electrical Engineering, and I'm currently sitting in the MMRTG (Multi-Mission Radio-isotopic Thermoelectric Generator) Lab at my University where I work. Its the power supply for the Mars Curiosity Rover. My boss and his colleagues run tests on two copies of the MMRTG here on Earth to better predict the capabilities of the unit on Mars. Figure 1: MMRTG, "The Thing Matt Damon put inside his Rover on Mars" Little about me, I guess: I'm a young man applying to the USAF or an officer commission, I like gaming, and KSP gave me some much needed motivation/outlet for Engineering. If anyone here has any questions about Electrical Engineering or questions about Engineering school, please feel free to ask, I'll provide whatever help I can. Looking forward to perusing the forums again, -Bear