Telumendur

PART 2 -- JumboDART In typical Kerbal fashion, the KASEI decided that the best way to build on the success of the DARTling rocket was to go bigger and faster. Thus, about one month after the DARTling DF04 flight, the first JumboDART (a single-stage prototype) was rolled onto the pad: At almost twice the radius of the single-stage DARTling rocket (62.5 cm vs 37 cm) the JumboDART prototype also goes twice as high: it reached a maximum altitude of 10 km during the JumboDART DF05 flight, and landed safely on the KSC grounds a couples minutes later. It is also the first rocket to feature slightly pitched fins to induce a stabilizing rotation. From there, the next step was to move to the full-scale, 3-stage JumboDART: This model costs just 1 k§, and should be capable of suborbital spaceflight. Its bigger payload truss also allows new experiments to be carried into the air, such as the Mystery Goo Containment Unit. JumboDART DF06, the first flight of the 3-stage JumboDART, went awry shortly after 2nd stage ignition: because of the lack of fins on the upper stages, the rocket went tumbling, and dislocated. Nevertheless, the payload made it intact, and landed in the foothills of the mighty Krakenfells mountain range, just west of KSC. Here is a shot of the launch, with the mountains visible in the background: JumboDART DF07 - This flight made history, when it became the first Kerbal-made object to exit the atmosphere, reaching a record altitude of 133 km and landing about 80 km southwest of KSC. The success of the DF07 was mainly due to the addition of fins to the upper stages of the rocket, allowing a spin-stabilized flight during all three stage burns. Here is the rocket, midway in its stage 3 burn: The payload truss and parachute nosecone in low space, just before fairing jettison: And finally, the payload truss, safely on the ground in what we will call (for now) central southern Kafrica, awaiting pickup by a KASEI crew: Next time: more DART, and the birth of the Arrow Pathfinder Program !

Hey, thanks Geschosskopf ! The long time I spent lurking in Brotoro's excellent Long-Term Laythe and Developing Duna threads makes me feel like you're an old friend of mine As for the system, maybe it wasn't clear enough, but I'm not using Galileo's Planet Pack per se: rather, I'm using a version of the Outer Planets Mod that happens to be maintained by Galileo. I thought KASE was in a limbo... could you link me to an active thread ? All I could find was this one, but it doesn't appear to be up-to-date (last post was more than a year ago).

Part 01 -- Project DART & the DARTling Flights Soon after pioneers like Kerbert Goddard showed that the principles behind firework launches could be turned into a useful and autonomous form of propulsion, it was suggested that this could be used to make Konstantin Kerbkovsky's dream of space travel a reality. Thus, the DART Project (Development of Advanced Rocket Technology) was initiated as Kerbalkind's first attempt at escaping their home planet's atmosphere. From its inception, the project was placed under the patronage of the newly-created KASEI (Kerbal Air and Space Exploration Initiative). Headquartered at the KSC (Kerbal Space Center), ideally located at the Equator, the administration would soon become responsible of all things space-related on Kerbin. The DARTling sounding rocket The DARTling is the very first rocket-powered vehicle designed and built at KSC. It is a single-stage, solid fuel sounding rocket capable of reaching a maximum altitude of 5 km, and costing just 300 § (kerbodollars) a piece. Here it is, sitting in KSC's Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB): The DARTling rocket is outfitted with a suite of basic atmospheric and engineering sensors that are welded onto its payload truss, together with an avionics package and a battery providing 14 minutes of autonomy. On top of that, an aerodynamic nosecone houses a rudimentary parachute. DARTling DF01 (DART Flight 01) was an embarassing failure, due to a staging mishap: the parachute deployed upon main engine ignition, causing the rocket to tumble over and explode on the pad. DARTling DF02, however, was a success ! The rocket reached an altitude of 4800 m, and the science package landed intact on the KSC grounds. Here is the rocket sitting on the launchpad, seconds before liftoff: DARTling DF03 renewed the previous flight's performance, gathering more useful flight data. DARTling DF04, the last flight of the DARTling series, was an experimental 3-stage variant of the DARTling rocket. It demonstrated the feasibility and usefulness of staged vehicles, and reached a record altitude of 8900 m. Here it is on the launchpad, moments before liftoff: With those proof-of-concept missions done, the KASEI decided it was time to take the next step in the DART Project: the JumboDART rocket !

[ Reserved post for later content ]

WELCOME to the Kerbal Air and Space Exploration Initiative (KASEI) ! This thread will serve as a place to store and share my KSP-related After Action Reports (AARs). I'm a long-time KSP player (first played in Spring of 2012); however, it's been more than two years since I last played it in any serious fashion, and so after a short warm-up stint, I feel comfortable trying out a new modded Career playthrough, which I hope to share with you. The playing sessions will be relatively short (less than one hour), but will happen regularly. Updates will be to-the-point and illustrated. Game mode and House rules Game version is 1.3.1 Career mode, customized Hard difficulty settings to make Science collection more of a driver, and hunting for Funds less of problem. Values changed are: Science rewards: slider down to 50% (extra-hard) Fund rewards: slider up to 100% (normal level) Starting funds: 35'000 kerbodollars (normal level) A realistic delay must be observed between two consecutive launches inside a given program: I will start with 20 days for sounding rocket launches, and 60 days for early crewed launches, and will adapt these values as I see fit. No single-crew missions beyond Kerbin's SOI: crews of 2 at the very least, 3-4 would be better. Even though no life support mod is used, sufficient space and housing must be provided for long-duration flights: this will be done by using crew compartments at half-capacity (ie a Hitchhiker module is considered a good housing solution for a 2-person crew going to Duna, even though its max capacity is 4 people). Mods used Celestial Bodies: Galieo's version of the Outer Planets Mod (do not install CustomBarnKit as instructed! The JX2 antenna listed in the "Parts" section below takes care of communication problems) Visual Enhancements: Scatterer Planetshine Distant Objects Enhancements Pood's OPM Visual Overhaul Engine Lighting Tech Tree, Science and Crew: Community Tech Tree Hide Empty Tech Tree Nodes Crowd-sourced Science Reports DMagic Orbital Science SCANSat Final Frontier Engineering and Flight Planning: Kerbal Alarm Clock Transfer Window Planner Kerbal Engineer Redux Trajectories RCS Build Aid Parts: All of Nertea's Near Future Technologies Other Nertea projects: Stockalike Station Parts Expansion Kerbal Atomics Cryogenic Engines Heat Control JX2 Antenna Lithobrake Exploration Technologies Hullcam VDS Continued Surface Lights Sounding Rockets Alcubierre Warp Drive Table of Contents Part 01 -- Project DART & the DARTling Flights Part 02 -- JumboDART That's it for now. Hope you will enjoy !