DeepSpaceDutch

Cool, finally putting my new C&C Module on my spacestation! ..euh...wait a minute...CRAP!

I just send my first probe to Duna yesterday, having not yet unlocked the LV-N I used a X200 fuel tank and a Poodle engine as the transfer stage. Worked perfectly! And with the science from that mission I was able to unlock the LV-N

Well, thanks I guess, and no, not living under a rock. Besides KSP I still actually have a life....

This little detail needs a bit of explanation

This the tale of "Jimmy" the refueling rover. It's the very first part of my very first Laythe Colony and the heaviest thing I ever landed on the Joolian moon. The next mission will be an unmanned shakedown mission of "Billy" the Crew Shuttle that will make scheduled trips between the surface of Layhte and the Low Laythe Orbit space station still under construction for crew rotation. "Jimmy" is needed to refuel "Billy" on this shakedown mission, so that´s the reason "Jimmy" got to go first. A lonely but vital mission! Lift-off! "Jimmy" is backwards, upside down and accelerating hard towards LKO. Next up is the Heavy Interplanetary Transfer Stage (H.I.T.S) that will push "Jimmy" towards the Joolian system. In an 200x200km orbit the two entities meet for the first time. A gentle kiss turns into a solid embrace for the 6 months long journey.... And yes, soulless machines can become a bit poetic. As Kerbals don't do no stickin' math we top-up the fuel tanks using our very trusty and old LKO tanker, this gives the best chance of actually reaching Layhte. It's GO time!! The 8 NIRVA engines start to push our combined craft further away from Kerbin. Coasting towards the end of Kerbin's SOI after which deep space maneuvers will lower the Periapsis at Jool. Deep space maneuvers completed and we are now on a very nice trajectory. Time to pull out the whiskey and playing cards! "Jimmy" testing out the new heat resistant rubber on the rover wheels while aerobreaking at Jool. The Periapsis was put at 114km and that actually put us right on an encounter with Layhte. The Gods of Orbital Mechanics were good to us today! With Laythe, Tylo and Vall in the background we perform a small burn to get an 15km Periapsis at Laythe with the aim of getting into a 150x150km orbit after aero-capture and aero-braking. Wwwwweeeeeee, it's landing time!! A small probe found a beautifull beach on the west coast of one of the larger islands and this is were we are going to build our colony.. Drogue shutes out and we're aiming directly at our intended landing spot, yay! All chutes out and looking good, our shadow in sight and ready to engage the landing engines for the last time. Getting the speed down to around 2m/s for a gentle touchdown.. Tango Delta Nominal! Yes, this looks like an excellent location for a colony!

First Duna, now Layhte

A new piece of the Jool Fuel Depot #1, stranded in orbit around Jool with a near empty tug. Because I wanted to keep the fuel depot module fully fueled I send in a derelict tug that still had just enough fuel to haul everything to the Fuel Depot

Hi guys, I'm currently doing some R&D for my new Laythe colony, one aspect is the modular base design which will be constructed using my shiny new construction rover. The goal is to have a static base with as few parts as possible. Unfortunately I'm having some problems getting the base modules to dock with the construction rover. Without docking it's virtually impossible to drive. So the base module will be delivered using a skycrane, than my contruction rover will pick them up and put everthing together. The rover and base modules are designed in such a way that the rover will park itself over a module, 4 KAS winches will pull the module towards the Sr. Docking port and once docked it will drive to the correct location. But for some reason, 9 times out of 10 the base module will not dock with the rover. Sometimes it works, but most of the time it doesn't. When I retract the KAS winches to the max the message "Docking not possible, ports are not aligned" is shown. This while the ports are most definitely aligned. Below is picture of the situation, and this applies; I've checked, double, tripple checked that the Sr. docking ports are installed correctly When I connect the KAS winches I choose (Undocked) for all 4 connectors, my reasoning is that the (Docked) option it will inhibit the Sr. Dockingport to dock In the image below the lander legs on the module are extended, I thought that maybe this was the culprit as the two docking ports are quite close to each other. I've also tested the same setup with the legs rectracted, but it made no difference Does anybody know what's going on? Is KAS just not so robust when it comes to docking? Or am I doing something very stupid?

Please post your oldest continously used craft. Your most trusty tug, tanker, interplanetary mothership, etc! For me it's my LKO Tanker Mk1, I've created it when I was playing KSP only a few weeks (somewhere in May I believe) and it has served me very well the last 4 months. It's perfectly balanced, quite nimble for it's size and I use it for all my refuelling needs in LKO. Two of a slightly updated version will be send to the Jool system to support the Laythe Colony under construction there. Just after launch and just before the circulization burn; Approaching a Jool Colony Crew Shuttle for a top-up. The Crew Shuttle will run a regular service between Laythe LLO Station and Laythe Groundbase; Almost there, I just love docking This poor specimen has outlived its useful days;

Early prep work for the colonization of the Jool System. The first step involves putting a huge fuel depot in Medium Jool Orbit. Fuel Depot - Part A and Part B are now in LKO, docked with their Kerbin - Jool Transfer Modules and awaiting the window to open. When they arrive in Jool Orbit they will dock together to form the MJO Fuel Depot #1. Part A being launched using the biggest rocket I have ever made (took a few attempts and more than a few explosions, I felt very Kerbal throughout the whole process ), 498 parts and 1231 tons eventually worked like clockwork. Also I know now that my system can handle 500 parts without too much lag. Good to know and All Hail the Mighty i7!! After putting Part A in a 200x200km orbit it was time to launch the transfer module; Gently docking the two big craft; Afterwards I'm sending my trusty old LKO Tanker Mk1, the longest continuously used craft in my inventory, to top-up all the fuel tanks; While I´m giving Part B of the fuel depot the same fueler treatment the Kerbals back at KSC are very busy experimenting with a novel way to construct a Layhte base. They have built a massive construction rover with KAS winches in the "roof". The goal is too construct a large Laythe base with a relatively low part count. So the modules will not have wheels and batteries, only the center module will provide power. Bob testing out the new stairs; Surprisingly sturdy, this manouveur only needed two wheels fixed; A proud Bob beneath the hangar-like structure that is still lacking the winches and docking port; Version v1.1 now with winches and other goodies, ready for a test with Test Item #1; Ha!It works!!

This was already answered, in very simplified terms;

64bit in laymans terms means the numbers used in calculations can be a lot bigger (good news for accuracy and rounding errors). Also the Register Addresses to store information in memory become a lot longer, hence the possibility to massively increase the RAM, which is very good news for the performance. A system is 64bit when the processor and motherboard is 64bit (the connections between CPU, memory and board have 64 "channels" instead of 32)

After 100+ manual launches it became a bit boring, so MJ took over most of that, leaving the hardest and biggest to manual control. Same for correction burns, have MJ do what it can handle, sit back and relax. But I will never ever automate docking, even after so many times. The feeling of satisfaction, especially with big craft, just doesn't go away. I've sped up rendezvous because of experience and using Smart A.S.S for pro/retrograde steering, but when I get to around 150 meter from the target all the automation is turned off (except periods of SAS), RCS is turned on and the fun begins. I do use the LazorDockingCam, but mainly because it just looks cool. What I've learned is that to truly master docking you need to understand the relation between the prograde marker (in Target mode) and the target marker, this will show you presicily if you're drifting to the sides or up/down. The prograde marker can be moved around with the translation controls, when they overlap, you're going straight in buddy! This is from yesterday, refuelling one part of a new huge fuel depot destined for a Medium Jool Orbit in support of the new Laythe colony;

So after mucking around near Kerbin and Duna I've set my sights on the Jool system. After some probes and a succesful manned return mission I now want to set up a permanent colony on Layhte and explore from there. However, during the manned return mission I barely managed getting back into orbit around Laythe. I was really confident that I over-enginered the ascent stage so that was quite a surprise. That made me wonder if my launch profile could have been more efficient. I just winged it during the last mission, starting the gravity turn at 8km where I went to an 45 degree angle. So was this a wrong move? Or did I just underestimate the requirements of getting into orbit around Laythe?

If I would be working at SQUAD these would be the replies that would keep me going. How cool is it to develop something that has such a positive impact on younger people!!

^THIS Also I have been interested in spaceflight since I can remember, but now actually knowing about orbital mechanics, I LOVE it!! Working the nav-ball on a manual landing on Vall or the Mun, understanding how to rendevouz, the patience and satisfaction of a manual docking. I can really sit back with a cold beer and just watch my 400 ton spacestation peacefully orbit Kerbin. I have quite a busy work and personal life, so I really need to schedule my KSP time, or my "playing with the little green men" as my GF puts it. But outside those scheduled hours I am thinking and drawing new designs. What do I need for a tour of the Jool system? How am I going to make lander capable of returning from Laythe and Vall? Eve is still on the list but I'm not confident enough yet. Installing Kethane and KAS is still on the list too. So many things, so many challenges....I will play this game for years to come.

Dat water! Is that a mod?

This weekend I finished construction of my Duna Base. Now I just need to setup a station in LDO, send some rovers and create an infrastructure between Duna and Kerbin before the first inhabitants can move in. Here are a few pictures for your enjoyment; The second to last piece, the node and light tower, coming in for a picture perfect landing. You can see the incomplete base just left of the node. Touchdown! With the base and Duna Probe A in the background. Duna Probe A was part of a group of four probes that surveyed Duna. Probe A found the best surroundings for exploring and fun, ie; high hills for big rover jumps Jettison sequence of the lander-packs: Almost done! The last hab-module coming in low and fast, a bit too fast it turned out.. I wasn't really paying attention during this landing, and it shows. Overshooting the base by quite a margin. After a 3km drive from the landing spot to the base we now have a complete Duna base, hooray!!

Sure looks like it!

The recently completed Krüger LMO Station A discarded tug (from Krüger Station) in a 6 x 6km orbit around the Mün

Testing my Mun Base Relocation Platform

The best advice I can give you is fly through the nav-ball! Make sure your retro-rockets are pointing the correct way and fly all the way down pointing towards retrograde. When you start to see ground scatter (if you have that turned on) start throttling up until you're going between 25 - 75 m/s, when you start to see your shadow throttle even further up until your going around 10 - 15 m/s, when you're almost there decrease your speed to around 2.5 - 5 m/s. If you make sure that you're always pointing towards retrograde during the descent you shouldn't have any horizontal speed left. Well where's the fun in that?!!

I shouted out loud happily, alone, alone in my room

Haha well done! Loved the narration

Gotcha, thanks!