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St4rdust

KSP Team
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  1. Did you know that NASA has a planetary defense program that protects the Earth?  There are over 26,000 known near-Earth objects (NEOs) according to NASA’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies. NEOs are basically asteroids or comets whose orbit brings them within a zone approximately 195 million kilometers (121 million miles) from the Sun, thus being able to pass within about 50 million km (30 million miles) of Earth’s orbit. Although the vast majority of NEOs aren’t big enough to pose any serious threat, those that are larger than around 30 to 50 meters in size, however, could cause widespread damage around their areas of impact. But NEOs that are greater than 140 meters in size and whose orbit brings them within 7.5 million km (4.7 million miles) of Earth’s orbit are the real concern. These are known as potentially hazardous objects (PHOs) and as of June 2021, 2,185 of them have been identified… as if we didn’t have enough things to worry about in life, right? Luckily, NASA has been studying several methods to deflect objects on a course to impact EARTH. One of the most promising is using a kinetic impactor, which currently is the simplest and most technologically mature method available to protect us against PHOs. NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) will be the first ever space mission to demonstrate asteroid deflection by kinetic impactor on a binary asteroid target: the smaller asteroid of Didymos, called Didymos B. NASA’s goal is to send the car-sized DART spacecraft slamming into Didymos B at 25,000 km/h (16,000 mph) to determine by how much the impact can shift the orbit of Didymos B around Didymos A.  The KSC, of course, was not going to be left out in attempting such a feat, besides crashing spacecrafts into celestial objects is what Kerbals do best, so we have a new exciting challenge for you, kerbonauts!  For this challenge we're collaborating with NASA and @Galileo—creator of great ad-on such as Galieo’s Planet Pack and JNSQ—with a team of experienced KSP modders to bring you the possibility to recreate the DART mission in the KSP universe. But how, you ask? Well, Galileo and his team created an easy-to-use standalone mod that places an analogue of the Didymos binary system between the orbits of Duna and Kerbin. Moreover, these objects are of similar size to the real counterparts and the Didymos B’s orbit is alterable, so the one thing left to do is to do some scientific crashing! To successfully complete this challenge, you’ll need to: Download and install the Didymos mod, which can be found here: Build an uncrewed ion propulsion spacecraft with deployable solar panels that looks as closely as possible to NASA’s DART spacecraft Launch it aboard a Falcon 9-like rocket. Intercept the binary near-Kerbin asteroid. Crash onto Didymos’ secondary object and alter its orbital period. Post a video or screenshots in this thread showcasing your successful mission. (Videos should be under 15 minutes in length.) Additional points if you safely land the Falcon9-like rocket on Kerbin. Besides the Didymos mod, only purely aesthetic mods are allowed. Looking for inspiration? Check out APL’s mission trailer: You have until November 19th to complete the challenge. NASA will be reviewing submissions and liking their favorites, so don’t miss out!
  2. Hi there Kerbonauts! Since the release, some players experienced an issue where they were unable to enter buildings in the KSC. Our team worked quickly to detect the problem and they have released a hotfix. We apologize for the inconvenience, and we thank you for your patience as our team worked to resolve the issue. Changelog: Fix AOORE breaking saves without Making History DLC installed. Note: As this was an unplanned hotfix, players looking for the ground anchor feature will find that included in the next planned update.
  3. Kerbonauts! Have you, by accident, broken or damaged some parts of your vessel while exploring? Part Repairs will be available on the 1.11 update! Keep building, riding, and... repairing to complete exploration missions. P.S. Jeb and Val, pay more attention while riding on Duna! Unlocked.
  4. KSP Loading... Moar RCS! Need more control? Here are some new options and variants for our RCS! This feature will be available in 1.11! Images HQ here
  5. We’re having a Reddit ‘Ask Me Anything’ on Nov. 2, when one of our Space Station experts will compare Kerbonauts’ spacey creations to the real deal. AMA starts at 3 pm Eastern time! Follow this link AMA NASA
  6. Lights, camera, action! Be ready for new Light Parts & Light Changes in 1.11 update! To help craft builders add more variety to their craft, we will add some new lights to the game. Now you can add more customization, especially in small crafts. Image HQ
  7. KSP Loading... Preview: Vall revamp Revamps are not done yet! Vall is getting a visual overhaul in the upcoming 1.11 update. Check it out!
  8. Calling all Kerbonauts! We’re partnering with NASA to celebrate 20 years of human presence on the International Space Station What would 20 years of Kerbal presence look like? Send us a time-lapse video of Kerbals doing spacewalks, science experiments, eating snacks, and everything in between aboard your most accurate recreation of the ISS over its 20-year lifespan. We’ll choose our favorites based on accuracy and creativity. How? On November 2, join ISS expert Dr. Gary H. Kitmacher for a Reddit Ask Me Anything where they’ll comment on the engineering accuracy of the top submissions, and answer your questions about #SpaceStation20th and if Kerbals are really out there in space. We invite you to Tweet us your vids! Jeb in ultra HQ https://www.reddit.com/r/KerbalSpaceProgram/comments/jihyyi/calling_all_kerbonauts_were_partnering_with_nasa/
  9. Heads up Kerbonauts! We are happy to announce that the 1.11 update for Kerbal Space Program is happening! Bop is getting a visual revamp! Check it out and stay tuned for more previews! Video premieres in 15 minutes!
  10. Hey there! Grant here, franchise producer for KSP. I wanted to chime in with a quick update on the ESA content for console. Right now, we are tackling the last few feature additions and are looking towards a release this fall. And while I am here, I figured I would talk just a bit about our approach to updates for KSP Enhanced Edition. When we released Enhanced Edition in 2018, our goal was to bring the KSP experience players loved on PC to consoles. After release, our initial focus was on addressing and resolving console specific issues. Then we turned our attention to bringing over our largest updates, History and Parts Pack and Breaking Ground. Between those updates we looked at what features and parts would have the most impact for console players, and we prioritized those over mirroring the updates from PC. This allowed us to focus on improving the player experience while not being locked into the specific cadence set by PC updates. A great example of this is the addition of a console exclusive launch site on the Mun last year. Another example would be how we brought the maneuver mode from the Room to Maneuver PC update -- even though it was not technically next in line. After releasing the last update in June, we decided to focus on features from the PC Shared Horizons update rather than other content because working with ESA is a huge collaboration for the franchise that we want to share with you, our console players, as quickly as possible. Once we are finished with this update, we will be looking to add a variety of parts, features, and optimizations from 1.8 and 1.9. I hope this helps shed a little bit of light on the decisions and timing of the console update process so far. The best part about this approach is it lets us be flexible, listen to feedback, and continue to make KSP Enhanced Edition great for you. We hope you enjoy our ESA collaboration when it comes out later this year! Happy Launchings! Grant
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