sirscott

Anyone doing requests? I really need a mission badge made up based around the letters "SH". Any takers?

I also chose to take the Duna-Orbit Roundevouz approach to my missions. Two of them in fact , for a total of four ships. The program used two types of vessel , the "Dark Star" lander and the "Columbiad" class transfer vehicle. The "Dark Star" is a all-chemical vessel intended to support one crew member only for a maximum of 100 days (any longer and it is assumed the poor kerbal inside will go nuts). What it lacks in crew comfort it makes up for in reliability and endurance. Dark Stars I & II were successfully used to land and return from the Mun and Minmus using stock parts and I got quite used to handling these little craft. Thus when the time came to go to Duna I was loathe to replace them and decided instead to merely add a second craft to the mission profile. The "Columbiad" Is about as simple as Interplanetary craft come , but boasting a 3 man-capsule compared to the Dark Stars single seat. More importantly it is powered by the NERVA engine , allowing a feasible return trip in about 270 days. The first double mission was intended to be a "Dry run" for a full Duna landing , targeting instead the small moon Ike. This first mission again used stock parts exclusively , lining up the Phase and pro-grade angles entirely by eye. Though I successfully managed to get both vehicles into transfer orbits this lack of precision meant that more fuel then I would like had to be spent on adjustments mid-flight. This in turn meant that after Dark Star III had successfully landed on the surface (see attached picture) it could only manage an orbit of 10,000m or so , far below the intended meeting at 50k+. Fortuitously I had completely underestimated the efficiency of the NERVA rig , and ultimately Columbiad I had more than sufficient fuel to match orbit and transfer the heroic Lolin Kerman. Again , given my human imprecision the closest meeting of the two craft was more than 7000 metres , and there were several anxious moments during the long flight between the two. The ride home was uneventful in comparison , but did allow me to make my first ever Interplanetary-aero-braking manoeuvre. Following this succesfull trial I decided to proceed to the full Duna mission , but with one key addition. I added mecha-jeb modules to both craft to allow for much more precise timing of burns , and to save the F5 button that had been so harshly treated during the Ike Excursion Anyway , after a standard insertion Dark star IV was parked in a low orbit over Duna whilst Columbiad II was allowed to swing around on a very wide orbit far outside that of Ike. The lander was manually brought to the ground close to the border with the northern polar region , and after after several scary moments my brave kerman walked his first steps upon another world. Alas his little tin-pot lander had few supplies so he was permitted only a day on the surface before returning to a 60km orbit. Mecha-jeb came in very usefull here as its ascent auto-pilot allowed for Inclination matching that of the orbiting Columbiad II , saving the later a considerable amount of fuel. On day 99 Columbiad II was brought into the lower obit , and using the much more precise orbital data provided by mecha-jeb I got it to within 1000m before transferring the landing party. Though much of the return fuel had to be used on re-aquiring the orbital plane the return trip was again succesfull. I didnt have to quick-load once during the second mission , something for which I was very glad. Anyway , here is a shot of Dark Star III on Ike. Enjoy!

Where exactly do I put it?

Sorry guys , me again. Ive come back to the game after a few days away , and found all the old problems came back after I started up my computer again. Ninja , can you remind me what we did to Fix this and suggest a way to stop it all undoing itself?

Just want to thank Ninja for helping me trouble shoot my issues with this mod. It now works perfectly!

Mecha jeb is a TOOL , and like any good tool it can only be used by somebody who understands the basics of its operation in the first place. As such , it is exceptionally usefull to those of us who strive to do something more than repeat every mistake caused by our inability to make a split-second course correction , or a timed burn that is far beyond human computing capabilities. Ill admit , it does cause you to avoid some of the crashing and burning (which some would say is the point of KSP) , but on the other hand it can only really be used after youve grasped the basics of space flight , and even then it will only go so far. For example I almost always use the Ascent computer function to automate orbital insertion , but have to go fully manual for any sort of roundevouz.

Thank you! Ill try to work out the IRC client and chat. As I say , its a strange one

Its not actually just Mechajeb , im getting error messages on start , upon downloading ANY mod , in fact with every action in the manager. It wont actually download anything. Ive reinstalled and im having the same issue It appears to be several different messages.

Hey there. This is a great tool that ive been experimenting with , but I keep getting errors that prevent downloads. Can you help? I tried to download the Mechajeb via the URL function , but got the following error It also occurs on start up. Thanks for any help!

Despite having considerable trouble downloading the update , I have to say EVA makes up for a lot of it. The extra dimensions(s) added offer incredible opertunitites , and EVA is insanely fun! I got to say that it was a supurb idea to intergrate it as a whole package (including swimming , jumping , ladders , Etc) rather than doing it piecemeal. Good work guys!

Thanks for the opertunity!. Ill hold off booking another slot for now , got another trip at the start of next week and its for a fortnight. Ill get in touch when Im avaliable for a new take. Now that our communications are in place I feel like putting in some infrastructure...

Ive added the mechajeb.

MISSION REPORT: MUNAR COMMUNICATIONS UNIT Good news everyone! After a hectic few days I have finally had a chance to sit down and fly. Thank you Khyron42 for being so flexible in this matter. After a little technical trouble I managed to get the persistance file to work and added the neccesary mods. For my addition I chose the mecha-jeb plugin. If you arent familiar with the system , it provides a limited number of 'autopilot' functions that can help a clumsy pilot like me get complicated parts into orbit , or as in this case , land them somewhere safely. In this instance it was also usefull to be able to land on an exact set of co-ordinates , something that I suspect would have proved impossible otherwise. Anyways , enougth banter , onto the mission! Full Report below. If you don\'t want to see my holiday snaps , skip past to the summary In this first shot you can see the Launch Vehicle , my Patented 'maximum overkill' setup. In the fairing at the top lays the communications relay package destined for the Cloria Base. On take off the mecha-Jeb was programmed to put the craft into a equatorial orbit at about 151Km , using the small guidence fins and gimballed thrusters to adjust heading. Here it is shortly before booster stage seperation Shortly before mecha-jeb circularised the orbit I hit the staging button to prematurely eject the first stage. There was more than sufficient fuel left in the second stage for orbital operations and I didnt want to clog up LKO with junk. After a single orbit of Kerbin the Mecha-Jeb was given new instructions to line up for a trans-munar burn. Though I am more than capable of doing this part myself the advantage of mecha-jeb is that it you can alter the periapsis of your munar encounter to put it into just the right altitude for a landing , about 100km to start with. following circularisation of munar orbit I ejected the near-spent second stage and began preparations for landing Mechajeb is capable of landing a well-built craft within metres of a given point. In this case my relatively small vehicle could by guided into place without RCS , aiming at a point close to Cloria HQ. Note the clunky mecha-jeb unit (with its green 'Engaged' light) , and the GUI in the corner that allows one to enter landing co-ordinates. Prepare for touchdown! Landing was succesfull and within 5 metres of predicted site. However , much to my chargin it appears that the target was too close to the wobbly HQ lander and when the terrain loaded during landing it fell over and broke up! My apologies there chaps...at least we now brought you a big radio to call for a pick up =P The Munar Communications Unit. The latest in Cis-Munar telegraphy , it uses patented string & can technology to allow almost instantaneous streaming of calls between Cloria and the KSC. Calls charged at rates set by your provider. No collect calls. Exact change only. Mission Status: Operational Mod Added: Mecha-Jeb Base Picture Persistence file added below. Good luck sanctionenvy!

Kyhron your going to have to slide me down the list. I didnt think we progress this quickly and im going to be away at the weekend. Sorry about the hassle.

Holy...

Glorious! I was hoping to see a new community base. I have improved a little since the last time I flew here , and more importantly can now use mechajeb =P Anyways , id like a slot for the Mun base if possible. I have some ideas for a solar panel array.

Anything by the guys behind symphony of science gets my vote

I remember the days before time compression , nav-balls and orbital maps , when achieving a perfect orbit meant an hour or more of gradually trimming your orbital speed and checking calculators. All I can say is , thank god for mecha-jeb =P

We must mount an expedition at once! This question can only be solved by taking samples of its Ice/Rock/Chewy-nougat centre!

That was supurb. Now comes the hard part...Capturing it again 8)

So , my efforts to add to the Mun base were...less succesfull than planned After contemplating building a larger and more ambitious 'lunar outpost' , I decided to stick with what I knew and plumped for the 'Super Laika' variant of my 'Laika' class orbiter. This launcher-capsule was originally designed for simple orbital flights but the addition of some landing legs and a switch from the Kosmos RCS modules to stock (to reduce the number of mods used) extends its range into Cis-munar space. I has some strange problems with the persistance file refusing to load the last few missions , so I apologise in advance for glitches when I pass on the batton. Oh , and for those of you wondering about the name of the capsule I include a completely optional history lesson. Shortly after the launch of Sputnik in 1957 Premier Khrushchev demanded that the space program produce a 'Space Spectacular' to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the October revolution and one-up the Americans who were preparing to launch their own satellites. Deciding that the triumph of an animal in space would be sufficient , they cobbled together the Sputnik 2 spacecraft in a matter of weeks. As for its passenger , they chose a young mongrel stray called Laika that had been found wandering the streets of Moscow. On Nov 3rd 1957 she was lifted into orbit on an R-7 Launcher , becoming the first living creature to be launched into an orbit around the Earth. Though the mission made headlines at the time (Laika was lauded as 'Mutnik' in the American press) , the story was rapidly eclipsed by the race to put a man into space and the subsequent dash for the moon. Laika herself was destined to die in space , for the Russian engineers had neither the time nor the expertise to design a re-entry module. Within hours of launch the poorly designed systems began to fail and Laika died of heatstroke before the day was out. Despite this the mission must be considered highly successful , for it proved that creatures not unlike humans could Breath , sleep eat and talk (bark) in zero gravity. In recognition of this triumph , I named my humble lander after the dog. Mission Log 1. On the pad. As you can see , the Laika class is a small ship , and usually does not launch with a fairing. One was added for this mission for the sake of the delicate landing legs. The first stage is all liquid , but would normally include the addition of four small solid 'payload assist' rockets from Jordancox\'s pack. I ommited them believing that the lander could make the one way trip. 2. Shortly after 2nd stage separation. Here you can see the lander itself. The legs and large RCS units rather mess up the lines of this beautiful pack , and usually I fly with the smaller Kosmos RCS. This is where leaving out the Payload assist rockets came back to bite me , forcing me to use the capsules main engine to boost orbital speed and make the Trans-munar burn. Much valuable fuel was wasted 3. Munar Disasters! Firstly , I mistimed my TMB. I ended up in front of the mun and had to make an emergency course correction. Then , after correctly lining myself up and burning off velocity to come down manually on the base-site , it became apparent that I would run out of gas. I was forced to take an agonising decision and commit myself to landing on the Capsule rockets alone. That was pretty hair raising. I finally managed to get her down only a few dozen metres from the beacon...and was then mildly suprised to see the rover go rolling past the window! for some reason it decided to start moving when it loaded in range. I have no idea why. This is the view I got after I shifted it back into position manually In conclusion , ive had better missions. I include the Persistance file , I only hope my next crew take a spare jerry can [ftp=ftp://www.filedropper.com/persistent><img src=http://www.filedropper.com/download_button.png width=127 height=145 border=0/></a><br /><div style=font-size:9px;font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;width:127px;font-color:#44a854;> <a href=http://www.filedropper.com >online backup</a></div>] <a href=http://www.filedropper.com/persistent><img src=http://www.filedropper.com/download_button.png width=127 height=145 border=0/></a><br /><div style=font-size:9px;font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;width:127px;font-color:#44a854;> <a href=http://www.filedropper.com >online backup</a></div>[/ftp]

Working on getting a ship there now chaps. I have a nice little craft off the shelf that I use for nigh on every mission , and which has some nice history with it. More later.

Sign me up for modded moon-base Trbsinc! I will land us a habitable 'outpost' if I can

I will join! What is the list of suggested mods? I cant see the rules or picture in that post.

Somebody call Nova...I think he is going to want to see this...