Search the Community

Imho we will see the V3 reach 160 meters of total stack: 90 for superheavy and 70 for Starship, with 5000 gross tons for superheavy and 2500-3000 tons for starship ( in normal and tanker configuration respectively), at 10k tons of thrust that's still a respectable 1.3 of TWR at liftoff. Utter insanity, and we are all here for this. In the end SH will have something like 20x350 tons raptor boost and 13x 300 raptor SL that gimble, and the starship will have 6x350 tons raptor vacuum fixed and 3x300 tons SL gimballing raptors, for a total of 11k tons for SH and 3k tons of thrust for starship. This will give a 1.5 TWR for normal starship stack and 1.2 for Starship in particular, and 1.4 and 1 for the tanker version. Let's do some math: So, assumptions: - Isp avg of raptor 2 sea level during ascent: 350 ( it's 330-360 at sea level and vacuum respectively) - Isp of starship during ascent: 370 ( sea level is at 360, raptor vacuum at 380). - starship empty weight 150 tons - superheavy empty weight: 300 tons - remaining props and deltaV for starship to deorbit and land: 950 m/s aka 50 tons prop at 350 Isp, and I'm being very conservative. (100 meters/seconds for deorbit like Shuttle and 800 m/s for landing) - remaning props and deltaV for superheavy for boost back and landing: 400 tons, good for 2900 Ms/s of DV - payload: 200 tons - so total mass that has to reach orbit: 400 tons (150+50+200) - DV needed to reach orbit : 9.2-9.4 km/s of DV ( probably even lower for starship because it has a lot of thrust so way less gravity losses, but it is a good ballpark). - total mass of 2nd stage: 2700 tons (2350 tons of prop, 150 starship, 200 tons payload) - total mass at stage separation: 3400 tons (2700+ 300 SH +400 SH prop for boost back and landing) Total weight of the stack: 7500 tons, 4500 tons are props for the 1st stage, of witch 4100 will be burnt before staging. So: 1st stage gives the 2nd stage 2700 Ms/s of DV ( if you want to calculate with a DV calculator: full mass 7500 tons, dry mass 3400 tons, Isp 350) 2nd stage DV with 400 tons of stuff ( 200+50+150) with 2300 tons of props burnt , 2700 tons full mass and 370 of ISP: 6900 Ms/s of DV Total DV: 9.6 km/s of DV total, way more than needed. I would say that that if they can make the raptor really to 350 tons for the fixed/vacuum ones and 300 tons of thrust of the gimballing ones, we are golden, and 200 tons of payload might be conservative.

Yeah. A net loss of ~$200 million in cancelled projects and severance packages. An approximate 5% reduction in the overall workforce. But a reduction in overall operating costs by ~$165 million annually. What really gets me about the article is that they are touting GTA VI as being the next big game, and it's expected to be the top-selling game of the decade. I know that Rockstar and Private Division are two entirely separate subsidiaries of TT...but one has to wonder how much management is shifting overall corporate focus to GTA, and how much that shift is impacting other titles such as KSP. I'm not saying it is, and I'm not saying it will happen. I'm just curious, is all.

And that's another issue with the developers using the up-vote process as a way to determine what bugs should get priority. As an example, docking is a critical component to the game; without it, you (not you personally, but you in a general sense of players) might not be able to go interplanetary, and will certainly not be able to go interstellar. But if nobody sees the bug, and therefore they don't up-vote it, the developers think "Well, this isn't all that bad" and they ignore it in favor of something else that's actually not important at all. Like in your example, the mission to get 35 science for landing 200+ tons on Minmus. That developers are relying on this system instead of using some common sense with bugs is mind-boggling. If they want to use the up-vote system to determine what non-critical bugs the community cares about should get fixed next, then fine. But don't prioritize something small over something integral to the game simply because a lot of people want more science rewards instead of being able to dock.

Is being done for centuries. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osteoporosis#Potentially_modifiable The bedridden patients and low-mobility people suffer from it even at 1 g. P.S. It's a remedy! The Martians should be fat and heavy! The potato diet is excellent for Mars. 0.4 g means 200 kg of normal body mass for a Martian. For Mars!!

Since you don’t have to open steam to actually play KSP2 it’s hard to draw any useful information from this. I have less than 6 hours logged, yet I’ve dumped at least 200+ hours into KSP2

“Counterpoint” (from a more recent interview) But I also prefer the 200-300 estimate, @Genekermanisamoneylaundere

Given the extreme environment of Eve, I’ve always wondered what effect this has on engine performances. The Vector, Dart and Mammoth are often recommended for Eve, but I never really saw any quantitative numbers backing them up. Fortunately, the staging interface in the VAB lets us set the environment to Eve at sea level and it’s only a matter of using math to derive Isp values from the deltaV values. As expected, I found that the Vector, Dart and Mammoth do pretty well while most other engines suck. Interestingly, the Thud also performs pretty okay. The highest Isp values for Eve are: Dart: 267; Vector: 152; Thud: 101; Mammoth-II: 97; Mainsail: 96; Spider: 74. All others are below 50 (except possibly the Rapier; I forgot to test that one). The Isp values translate to the highest thrust values: Mammoth: 1332; Mainsail: 501; Vector: 411; Bottle-Rocket: 230; Clydesdale: 228; Dart: 142; Kickback: 115; Thud: 92. Using Eve’s gravity of 16.68 m/s2 (1.7x Kerbin), the highest TWR values are: Dart: 8.5; Vector: 6.2; Hammer: 5.6; Mammoth-II: 5.3; Mainsail: 5.0; Thud: 3.5; Kickback: 3.3. Optimal launch configuration While the Dart has the highest efficiency and TWR, it lacks absolute thrust and an efficient engine is useless if it can’t get its payload off the ground. Since the delta-V calculation doesn’t account for gravity pulling the rocket down, I find that instead the most useful quantity for a launch is the total change in momentum (or impulse) that an engine can deliver, which is equal to the net upward force integrated over time: J = integral (F - g*(mpayload + mengine+ mfuselage + mfuel - R*t)) dt Here F is the engine thrust, g is the local specific gravity and R is the fuel burn rate in kg/s. We can assume that for most cases mfuselage = 0.125 * mfuel . The total burn time can be calculated from t = mfuel /R. The equation then results in: J = (g/R) * ((F/g - mpayload - mengine)*mfuel - 0.625*mfuel2) By solving for dJ/dmfuel = 0, we can find the amount of fuel for which the maximum impulse is achieved: mfuel = 0.8*(F/g - mpayload - mengine) Interestingly, this means that for every ton of payload, you need to substract 800kg of fuel to keep the impulse maximized. From this, we also get the optimal launch TWR: TWR = 1 + (F/g - mpayload - mengine) / (9*F/g + mpayload + mengine) This means optimal launch TWR is always <1.111, getting lower with increasing payloads and gravity, depending on the engine. By adding the optimal fuel mass to the impulse equation, we find the maximum impulse: Jmax = 0.4*(g/R)*(F/g - mpayload - mengine)2 Since g=16.68 m/s2 for Eve, and F, R and mengine are constant for each engine, the only remaining free variable is mpayload. Engine comparison As you can see, the Mammoth-II can potentially deliver the most impulse by far for any payload. In second place is the Vector for payloads below 12t, but above 12t the Mainsail would be a better second choice. Without any payload, the Dart has almost as much maximum impulse as the Mainsail, but that quickly drops off. However, to get the most out of the Mammoth, you’d need an enormous amount of fuel. Without local production, this would all need to be brought in from Kerbin and you would need to manage to land it on Eve without burning up in the dense atmosphere or smashing too hard into the surface due to the high gravity. So, maybe the best value to look at would instead be the maximum impulse per kg of starting mass. The math becomes a bit more complicated at this point, but the Dart would now become the best choice for payloads below 2.5t. Between 2.5t and 5.3t the best choice would be the Vector and for payloads above that the Mammoth-II brings the most impulse per kg: Now, do keep in mind that these are the values per engine. Given the LG size of the Mammoth-II, you could argue it should actually be compared to 7 SM or 3 MD engines for similar footprints. In that case, the Mammoth becomes completely inferior to 7 Vectors and would only be better than 7 Darts for impractically heavy payloads of over 40t. It would perform about the same as 3 Mainsails or 36 Thuds: 7 Vectors would however require much more fuel for maximum impulse than a single Mammoth. So yet another way is to compare the amounts of engines that need a similar starting mass to achieve their optimal impulses. For very large payloads, that would be the case for either 7 Darts, 3 Vectors or 1 Mammoth-II. For smaller payloads, the 7 Darts would deliver far more momentum, followed by the 3 Vectors: Staging configurations For a final comparison, I considered a payload of about 3t (a command pod, a Terrier, sufficient fuel for a circularization burn and some appendices) and an asparagus staging configuration. Using 7 Dart engines would require 3.6t of fuel for the center engine and 13t of fuel for each of the 3 outer stages (so 6.5t per engine), giving a total of 24,000 kNs of impulse and a starting mass of 58t. Using 3 Vectors would require 14t of fuel for the center engine and 34t of fuel for the outer stage (so 17t per engine), giving a total of 22,500 kNs of impulse and a starting mass of 70t. A single Mammoth-II would require 50t of fuel for a total impulse of 18,300 kNs, with a starting mass of 74t. Again the Dart comes out on top, but I do have to note that I used sea-level values for all stages. Performances of the Vector and the Mammoth would especially improve a lot while gaining altitude, while the Dart would only improve a bit. You could consider using a Vector at the center stage with 6 Darts on the outer stage, but the additional fuel for the Vector would then count as a higher payload for the prior stages. This makes the Darts much less effective and it would only result in a total of 19,300 kNs of impulse, while having a starting mass of 74t. In fact, since the Dart suffers so much from higher payloads, asparagus staging is probably not even the most efficient way to use it. Just using 7 Darts without staging would give us a much larger impulse of 43,200 KNs, for a starting mass of just 55t. Using drop tanks while keeping all the engines would be even better. Of course, this doesn’t account for the effects of drag as a result of the wider rocket and the increased acceleration, so the best results might actually be achieved by an in-between solution. Conclusion Given all these results, I would at least have to conclude that the Mammoth-II and the Mainsail are never good picks, at least not when they have to be brought in from Kerbin. The optimal choice would be to use Darts. For larger payloads the Vector is a viable choice to lower the amount of engines, or when stabilizers aren't enough and you really need thrust vectoring (which the Dart doesn’t have). The only advantage that the Thud brings is that it’s radially attachable, but you would need a lot of them to make them work. This was pretty interesting to work out as preparation towards the Under Pressure mission, but it's all just theoretical. I don't have a lot of actual experience with Eve, so I'm wondering how this all corresponds with your experiences.

Hi all Here's my entry - I'm already second place I made it with 11.77 tons. I have ~150 hours in KSP2 and ~200 hours in KSP. My first tries were without a reaction wheel as well but I found that way too annoying and invested the 75kg.

Neptune Camera Download and Releases (GitHub) Source Code (GitHub) Only compatible with KSP 1.10.X and above. Neptune Camera is a utility to add basic camera functionality to parts. Images produced by the camera are saved to the KSP Screenshot folder. The following features are present: Different camera types (Full colour, Red, Green, Blue, Ultraviolet*, Infrared** and Greyscale). Optional errors (dropped pixels) on images taken. Optional noise grain. Configurable FoV and resolution. Full colour cameras can produce separate Red, Green, Blue, and greyscale images if required. * The "Ultraviolet" images are produced with a Protanopia colour filter. ** The "Infrared" images are produced with a Tritanopia colour filter. Examples Here are a few tiny 128x128 images produced from the launch pad, using various modes of the camera: Here are a few tiny 128x128 images, demonstrating how the R, G, and B images can be stacked to produce cool "exposure effects" when the craft is moving: Result: Images of Kerbin, in ultraviolet and infrared respectively, with some general grain noise. A tiny 256x256, full colour image, with no error noise, and an animated sequence of frames. A live preview window can be toggled to view what the camera is currently looking at. Finally, images can even be stacked to create panoramas! Setting Up Neptune Camera If you're a part-modder, setting up Neptune Camera is easy! Step 1, when setting up the part in Unity, add a transform, with Z+ pointing the direction you want the camera to point (Y+ being the "up" direction). Step 2, add the Neptune Camera module to your part. MODULE { name = ModuleNeptuneCamera cameraTransformName = cameraTransform cameraType = FULL_COLOUR cameraHasCustomFieldOfView = True cameraFieldOfView = 70 cameraFieldOfViewMax = 110 cameraFieldOfViewMin = 20 cameraHorizontalResolution = 128 cameraVerticalResolution = 128 cameraHasErrors = True cameraErrorRate = 5 cameraHasNoise = True cameraNoiseMaxStrength = 25 cameraHasCustomNearClipPlane = True cameraCustomNearClipPlane = 0.01 cameraHasCustomTitle = True cameraCustomTitle = "Camera" cameraHasDisplayWindow = True cameraHasConfigTransform = False cameraConfigTransformPosition = 0, 0, -0.125 cameraConfigTransformDirection = 0, 180, 0 } A few things are configurable here: cameraTransformName - the name of the transform on the part to attach the camera to. cameraType - the type of camera this is (see below). cameraHasCustomFieldOfView - whether to use a custom field of view. cameraFieldOfView - the field of view of the camera. cameraFieldOfViewMax - the maximum field of view of the camera. cameraFieldOfViewMin - the minimum field of view of the camera. cameraHorizontalResolution - the width of the image produced. cameraVerticalResolution - the height of the image produced. cameraHasErrors - whether errors (dropped pixels) should be added to images produced. cameraErrorRate - the percentage % of the image that will be scrambled with error noise (whole numbers only 1-100). cameraHasNoise - whether noise should be added to the images produced. cameraNoiseMaxStrength - The maximum percentage % strength of the noise produiced (whole numbers only 1-100). cameraHasCustomNearClipPlane - whether a custom near clipping plane should be used. cameraCustomNearClipPlane - the clipping plane distance. cameraHasCustomTitle - whether the camera actions should be prefixed with a custom title (Allow multiple cameras on the same part). cameraCustomTitle - the custom title to use. cameraHasDisplayWindow - Whether a live preview window is available for this camera. cameraHasConfigTransform - whether to use a transform specified in config. cameraConfigTransformPosition - the position of this transform. cameraConfigTransformDirection - the rotation of this transform. Values will be defaulted if not specified in the config. You don't need to specify every value in your own config. Valid camera types: FULL_COLOUR FULL_COLOUR_ONLY RED_COLOUR GREEN_COLOUR BLUE_COLOUR GREYSCALE_COLOUR ULTRAVIOLET_COLOUR INFRARED_COLOUR A note on cameraErrorRate, though this runs 1-100, this value is actually 1-100% of a 10% maximum error rate. Therefore a value of 100 will equal 10% error, and a value of 10 will equal a 1% error rate. You can exceed this if you want, a value of 200 will equal 20% error - but anything above 10% scrambling is basically garbage. Why? I wanted a very basic camera util to capture space probe style photographs, I.E. Venera landers: Another major draw was the idea of creating multiple single colour images and stacking them, to get cool parallax / sliding / exposure effects. Compatible Mods TantaresSP Bluedog Design Bureau (Some support) Know any others? Let me know and I'll add to the list. Credits and Special Thanks This would not be possible without some major help setting up the render-order, culling, and taking care of various other technical hurdles encountered during development. Without further ado, major thanks to: @sarbian @sirkut @JPLRepo These guys are wizards, and it would take me months to get this working without them. My huge gratitude. Licence All Rights Reserved

A selection of my eclipse photos. Taken from Midlothian, Texas. Nikon D90 300mm zoom telephoto. ASA 200. f/11. A partial phase shot through a cheesy filter (made from the lens of some old eclipse viewing glasses, mounted in a cardboard frame). 1/30 sec. You can see the two sunspot groups that were easily visible on the face of the Sun. Diamond ring just before second contact. 1/1000 sec. This shows the inner corona and solar prominences. 1/30 sec exposure showing middle of corona. The reason any eclipse photo has problems looking anything as cool as the naked-eye view is that your eye has a much larger dynamic range than a photograph, so the inner parts of the corona get washed out while the outer tendrils of the corona are too dim to register. One can take a lot of photos covering a range of exposures and then combine them in Photoshop...I did that with a sequence of photos I took of a 1999 eclipse, but it was a lot of effort and I didn't get good exposures of many intermediate times during this eclipse. Below is a 0.6 sec exposure showing outer corona. The ghost image on the left is due to internal reflections in the lens. The corona shape for every eclipse I've seen has been different, and in this one the two spikes off to the left were most noticeable (although the dark rift at the bottom in the photo above was also interesting). Diamond ring after third contact. The largest prominence was visible in the lower right during this half of the eclipse. You can see that we were fighting some clouds that were moving across the face at this time. Cruise ships are a possible way around this problem.

I've built some pretty big stuff recently, and although it still requires the judicious placement of some struts manually, it's way, way better than it was before. My docked together Eve 10 stack on LKO must be like 200 meters long, and although the framerate on it is terrible and it occasionally develops phantom motions and shakes itself to bits apropos of nothing, it doesn't exhibit any wet noodle behavior that I've seen. As to the solution being "duct tape", i.e. autostruts, are you sure there is actually a better solution than that using this physics engine? If you call those "tack welds" rather than autostruts, it seems like a llegit solution to me. There are definitely much worse problems currently they should be focusing on before they try to improve their wobbly rockets solution, unless of course that solution is in fact what is tanking the frame rate.

CHAPTER 0: OUR DREAM YEAR 1, DAY 1 - LAUNCH OF THE CKR SPACE PROGRAM 200 years ago, the nations of Kerbin agreed to join into one global government, called the Communist Kerbin Republic (CKR). Ever since the start of the CKR, its citizens had always looked to the stars. Even with its shaky start, the dream stayed alive. Unfortunately, the nation formed just as the industrial revolution was starting, so the stars always remained just out of reach. Well today, the dream comes alive, with the creation of the brand new CKR Space Program. Its goal is to conquer the new frontier of space travel, and spread all across the Kerbolar system. Of course, we're thinking too far ahead. For now, we need to figure out one thing: can we even get there? CHAPTER LIST Chapter 1: Dawn of the Space Age Chapter 2: Mun and Done Chapter 3: Expanded Influence Chapter 4: Stepping Out Chapter 5: Advancement and Innovation Chapter 6: Walking Among the Stars Chapter 7: Gaining Experience Chapter 8: Setting the Foundation Chapter 9: Full Force -------------------------------------------------------------- Well, here we go again. Another mission report. Maybe this time I'll actually get around to updating it. Why exactly am I making this mission report though? Well, I'm honestly very disappointed with the huge lack of soviet based mission reports. There are several based on NASA. Hell, even Beyond is based on NASA. But there's something about Soviet spacecraft that has character to them. The round spacecraft shapes in contrast to the sharp-pointed fairings, the round circular windows. Sure, the Soviet Union wasn't the greatest of countries, but from how much they've contributed to space travel, they at least deserve some form of recognition on the forums. Inspirations: @Hotaru's mission report CCKP: An Eventful Return for giving me the idea of doing a Soviet thread. @Misguided Kerbal's mission report Starbound - A JNSQ Adventure for the semi-historical thread idea and what I'm basing my layout off of. @TwoCalories's mission report The Sky is Not the Limt: A modded KSP1 Career Playthrough for his Kerbalized Soviet craft, as well as TwoCalories himself being a valiant friend of mine on the forums. THIS IS NOT A PRO OR ANTI COMMUNIST THREAD, NOR A POLITICAL STATEMENT. I WANT TO SAY THAT BEFORE SOMEBODY YELLS AT ME.

uhh... guys, I have a most precarious situation to share with you. I currently have a spacecraft ferrying three tourists on track to do a free return flyby of the mun. The problem is, however, is that I have never done such a long mission before, and forgor to pack solar panels. (I DIDNT know that probe cores requires elecrticity to stay alive, not just to execute actions) My only hope is the 200 units of electricity and 175 m/s of delta v. Should I decouple , and hope for the best, or should I find some weird shenanigans to do to save it legit? Another fail for me :))

Y5 D35 - Y6 D74 - Sarnus Explorer Now that we've gotten things squared away in the Kerbin system, it's time to turn our attention to the outer system once again. On Day 35 of Year 5 of our program, Sarnus Explorer finally arrives at the outer reaches of the Sarnus system, after a journey of almost four years. Now that we're here, it's a good time to review the mission objectives for the probe: Minimum Objectives: One flyby of Sarnus One flyby of Tekto Primary Objectives: Two flybys of Sarnus Two flybys of each of Sarnus' major moons: Tekto, Slate, and Eeloo. Deploy the probe's atmospheric sub-probes, one on Sarnus and one on Tekto. Secondary Objectives: Perform flybys of Sarnus' minor moons: Ovok and Hale. Perform additional flybys of Sarnus and its major moons. As can be seen from the mission plan, one of our major goals for Sarnus Explorer is to study Tekto, which appears to have a dense, nitrogen-rich atmosphere. So, as luck would have it, Orbital Dynamics informs me that Sarnus Explorer has the opportunity to fly by Tekto immediately upon its entry into the Sarnus system. This is obviously a chance we can't pass up. So, here at the edge of the system, the probe burns to intercept Tekto. See you back here in a couple of months. ---------- Things move slowly in the outer system. Here we are almost two months later, and Sarnus Explorer is rapidly approaching Tekto. This is obviously the closest anyone has ever been to the Sarnus system, and the imagery we're getting back is just stunning. Since we have no assurances that we'll ever get this close to Tekto again, we're going to take this opportunity to deploy the Tekto atmospheric probe. As Sarnus Explorer reaches the release point, about half an hour away from periapsis, it releases the probe. Sarnus Explorer then immediately burns to raise its periapsis above Tekto's atmosphere. Now that Sarnus Explorer is safe, we can turn our attention to the Tekto probe. It strikes the upper atmosphere of Tekto and is immediately enveloped in plasma. Thankfully, the heat shield holds, and soon the probe is free-falling through Tekto's atmosphere and returning data. The probe continues to fall, slowed to ridiculously slow speeds by the dense atmosphere. It appears to be falling towards an area in Tekto's northern hemisphere that is dominated by rugged mountains and lakes of liquid hydrocarbons. Five hundred meters above the surface the probe deploys its parachute. In an incredibly lucky break, the probe touches down on an island in the middle of a lake. It continues to transmit data to Sarnus Explorer until it passes out of transmission range. Unbelievable. Sarnus Explorer passes within a hundred kilometers of Tekto, and then continues on to Sarnus. What an incredible start to the mission. Well, despite losing some velocity from its Tekto flyby, Sarnus Explorer is still on an escape trajectory out of the Sarnus system. We should probably do something about that. A gravity assist from Slate would probably allow us to capture without a burn, but unfortunately Orbital Dynamics just can't seem to find an angle for that. However, they do come up with an angle for an Eeloo flyby. Any port in a storm. Sarnus Explorer performs a minor burn just after leaving Tekto to line it up. ---------- Two days later now, and Sarnus Explorer is closing in on its encounter with Eeloo. Although the probe will lose even more velocity with this flyby, it still will not be in orbit around Sarnus when it exits Eeloo's SOI. So, in order to capture around Sarnus, it will have to burn at Eeloo periapsis. So now Sarnus Explorer is officially captured at Sarnus! (And, even though the requirements of the burn reduced our scientific gain, the Eeloo flyby was still scientifically significant, so it meets the requirements for our mission objectives.) Sarnus Explorer swings wide around Sarnus and heads out to its apoapsis. Meanwhile, Orbital Dynamics plots their next move. ---------- Okay, so it has been almost another two months. Sarnus Explorer is approaching its apoapsis, and we're all waiting with baited breath to hear what rabbit Orbital Dynamics has pulled out of their hat. <reads brief handed to him by OD supervisor> Well, it seems that the plan is to burn at apoapsis for a flyby of Slate, then to use the gravity assist at Slate to reduce Sarnus Explorer's periapsis enough to release the Sarnus atmospheric probe. I like it. Sarnus Explorer burns at apoapsis. And now we'll come back here in another couple months to see where that gets us. ---------- Here we are back on Day 191, and now Sarnus Explorer is passing by Slate for the first time. Once it has exited Slate's SOI, we get our data back...and it's not quite there. The periapsis is not quite low enough to release the probe. So we require another burn. <disapproving glare at OD gang> So now, Sarnus Explorer is finally on course to release the Sarnus atmospheric probe. As it descends towards Sarnus, we have more bad news. It appears that the atmospheric probe will be making its descent on the night side of Sarnus. So while this will have no effect on most of its scientific data, we will not be receiving the kind of stunning visual images we received from the Jool atmospheric probe. We could delay the release of the probe until such time that it could be released on the day side, but the visual images just aren't important enough to warrant the risk. In any case, Sarnus Explorer continues its descent. About half an hour away from periapsis, it releases the probe. Sarnus Explorer immediately burns to raise its periapsis so that it doesn't burn up in Sarnus' atmosphere. This consumes a large amount of fuel, and Flight informs me that this brings us below 50% of our initial fuel load. It seems early in the mission to be this low, but apparently this is going to be a very different mission than Jool Explorer was. In any case, the Sarnus probe hurtles towards its doom. However, its heat shield holds, and it descends through Sarnus' atmosphere, transmitting data to Sarnus Explorer as it goes. When it reaches 300 kilometers below the cloud tops, it deploys its parachute. It then continues transmitting until it fails at about 200 kilometers altitude. Although Sarnus Explorer is obviously in transmission blackout on the night side of Sarnus, when it reaches daylight it transmits the data it received from the atmospheric probe, as well as the data it collected from its own close flyby of Sarnus. Two more successful mission milestones! While Sarnus Explorer is climbing back out of the well to its apoapsis and Orbital Dynamics is plotting its next maneuver, we can turn our attention to the upcoming crew rotation, which will take place entirely before Sarnus Explorer returns to the vicinity of Sarnus. ---------- Day 207. Orbital Dynamics has interrupted my very busy morning to inform me that Sarnus Explorer has the opportunity for a double whammy. A burn at the next apoapsis can set up a flyby of Hale, and then on the next orbit, with no burn necessary, it will get a flyby of Ovok. Normally I wouldn't approve of fuel expenditure on secondary objectives before the primary objectives are complete, but this seems like the sort of opportunity that will only happen once on this mission, so it's too good to pass up. So I sign off on the flight plan. Then I get back to herding the cats through the crew rotation. Two days later, Sarnus Explorer burns at apoapsis. I guess we'll see how this works out. ---------- We're here on Day 227 now, and Sarnus Explorer is approaching Hale. It's a captured asteroid. I'm glad you guys are excited. I've pulled bigger rocks out of my garden. Anyway, since its so small, it has no appreciable affect on Sarnus Explorer's velocity. OD tells me that we are still on course to intercept Ovok on the next orbit. ---------- And now it's Day 256, and we're coming up on Ovok. Apparently this worked. Good job, guys. First images are coming back from Ovok...and...it looks rather odd. It's an egg.... Well, now I've seen everything. If any of the images come back with a giant space chicken, let me know. No, actually, on second thought, don't. I have enough to worry about. So, that was a very successful maneuver, killed two...birds...with one stone. So to speak. We've got another couple of weeks now until Sarnus Explorer reaches apoapsis again. ---------- So, SE is back at apoapsis again. OD looked at our objectives and poured over our options. So now we're going to make a minor burn to line up for an Eeloo flyby. And apparently the gravity assist will sling us around for another Eeloo flyby on our next orbit. Sounds good. ---------- Day 286, and Sarnus Explorer is cruising by Sarnus towards its second flyby of the little iceball, Eeloo. And there it goes. And OD informs me that the next Eeloo flyby is lined up perfectly. Good job. You've almost worked off that screw up you made with the Slate gravity assist. <wink> Meanwhile, the next day, our intrepid crew on Duna reach the end of their mission. They stow and secure the hab and rover at Duna Base, and then make their way to Olympus to prepare for their departure. Then, as Draco passes over the horizon: Liftoff! Guided by Captain Krueger's expert hand, Olympus glides into orbit next to Draco. And then he guides her in to dock. Draco's departure window is about 12 days away, so the crew has time to get their gear stowed and bring all of Draco's systems back online. In the meantime, we can get back to Sarnus. ---------- Sarnus Explorer reaches its apoapsis, but it is on course for its next Eeloo flyby and requires no intervention. I guess we'll leave things here and get back to Duna. ---------- Back aboard Draco, the crew is ready for departure. Although their time on Duna has been rewarding, and their names will go down in history, they are all ready to go home. As Draco approaches its burn time, everyone checks and double-checks their systems. When everything is GO, Captain Krueger gives the GO, and Kline ignites the ship's engine and burns for Kerbin. Several days later, Draco exits Duna's SOI. The crew spins up the habitat and settles in. Their course correction burn is more than a couple months away, and home is three times as far as that. So they might as well kick their feet up. ---------- Back at Sarnus, SE arrives at its third Eeloo flyby. While I appreciate everything that OD does for us, I think I speak for everyone when I say: We've had enough of Eeloo. However, this flyby will give us a gravity assist and push the probe's orbit further out, which should give us more opportunities for flybys with other moons on our next orbit. ---------- As Sarnus Explorer approaches apoapsis again, our fortunes have improved. OD's new flight plan involves a small burn which places us on a course back to Tekto. Excellent, more study of Tekto will improve our mission success. ---------- Okay, we're here on Day 366 for our second Tekto flyby of the mission. Well, that was a little anticlimactic. But Science is telling me they did get good data. And OD says if we had flown any closer it may have gravity-assisted us right out of the Sarnus system. Okay, I guess. Better luck next orbit. ---------- Day 397, back at apoapsis. OD has us burning for Slate this time. I guess we'll see everyone back here next year. ---------- Okay everyone, it's Year 6, Day 3 now. Happy New Year. Sarnus Explorer is cruising on down to its encounter with Slate. There now! That's a flyby! However, OD tells me that the gravity assist has seriously reduced SE's orbit. However, with a slight burn at the next apoapsis, which is now in just two days, we can plot another Slate encounter that will gravity assist the orbit back up to a reasonable distance. SE burns at apoapsis to raise its periapsis and intercept Slate. ---------- And now, two weeks later, Sarnus Explorer has another close encounter with Sarnus. And when it pulls out of that, it swings by Slate again. And, OD informs me, with a burn now, just outside of Slates SOI, we can plot another flyby of Tekto. Excellent work, everyone, excellent. However, Flight informs me that Sarnus Explorer has, as of the end of this burn, dropped below the threshold of 25% of its initial fuel load. Since we have officially met all of our primary and secondary objectives, that means we need to begin to look at our end-of-mission options. ---------- Four days later, Day 25, and Draco has reached its course correction burn. Time flies when you're having fun, right guys? The next day, Sarnus Explorer reaches its third flyby of Tekto. Orbital Dynamics has a final flight plan for me. Two days out from the Tekto flyby, SE executes a burn, which plots a course for another Tekto flyby. That flyby brings it around to a course to intercept Slate. Then the gravity assist from Slate will bring the probe's orbit down such that its periapsis intersects with Sarnus' atmosphere, which will result in the disposal of the probe and the end of the mission. So, two days out from Tekto, SE burns again. It begins its descent towards Sarnus. ---------- Day 54 now, and Sarnus Explorer is approaching its fourth and final Tekto flyby. It's another distant flyby, but it is certainly worth the effort from a scientific standpoint. As it exits Tekto's SOI, OD informs me that we will require another small course correction to finalize our trajectory to Slate. This brings the probe below 20% of its fuel load. Good thing we're ending this now. ---------- Day 72 now. Sarnus Explorer is in its last few days now. It completes its final flyby of Slate. And once it has exited the SOI, OD informs me that everything is lined up perfectly. Two days later, the probe is rapidly approaching the cloud tops of Sarnus. Slate, Eeloo, and Ovok showed up to see Sarnus Explorer off. And as the probe enters the atmosphere... ...end of transmission. Another excellent mission. Couple of hiccups in there, but we still vastly exceeded the mission objectives. Once again, good job everyone! Next up on the agenda is the homecoming of Draco and her crew. Beyond that, we will be planning our next mission to Duna, as well as possibly commissioning another vessel in the Draco class for additional missions in the inner Kerbol system. So many possibilities await!

Also: Raptor 3 thrust: SL 280 tons Vacuum: 306 tons Raptor boost: 330tons Compared to raptor 2: SL 230 Vacuum 258 Raptor 1 SL 185 Vacuum 200

By “next” manned launcher, I mean the next space agency in the world to achieve manned spaceflight after the Russians, Americans, and Chinese. By the way, I looked up the Apollo Command capsule and found that the capsule itself without the service module only weighed 5,800 kg. The Apollo service module provided the propulsion for entering and exiting from lunar orbit and wouldn’t be needed for missions just to LEO: COMMAND MODULE Crew size: 3 Length: 3.5 m Maximum diameter: 3.9 m Habitable volume: 6.17 m3 Total mass: about 5,806 kg (structure 1,567 kg; heat shield 848 kg; reaction control system 400 kg; recovery equipment 245 kg; navigation equipment 505 kg; telemetry equipment 200 kg; electrical equipment 700 kg; communications systems 100 kg; crew seats & provisions 550 kg; crew mass 216 kg; misc contingency 200 kg; environmental control system 200 kg; propellant 75 kg) Reaction control system thrusters: 12 x 410 N propellant: NTO/MMH specific impulse: 290 s total impulse: 257 kNs L/D hypersonic: 0.3 Power: Ag-Zn batteries; 3 × 40 Ah each, 28 V DC; 3.4 kWh; inverters produced 115 V AC Environment: pure oxygen at 340 mbar http://www.braeunig.us/space/specs/apollo.htm Also, surprising is how little mass is required for the environmental control system, at only 200 kg out of the 5,800 kg. Bob Clark

I originally posted the following in the April Fool's Day thread about converting to imperial units. However, to avoid turning that thread into another one like this, I'm moving the post here so, in the event people want to discuss it, they can do so in this thread, where it belongs. A lot has been made of the development teams (coders, artists, etc.) not having anything to do with communicating with the community, and I'll say up front that I agree with that statement. No, I do not want the developers to sit around and talk on the forums or Discord all day long; they have a game to write, for pete's sake. I'd rather they spend their time on the clock coding, or drawing, or whatever it is they need to do to get the game done. Go. Please. With that said, it is the job of the Community Managers to interact and engage with the community. As far as EA goes, it should be their job to engage with us and let us know exactly what is happening with the development of the game. Yes, this involves interviewing the developers, and compiling lists of bugs, and all the other stuff that goes along with that. But it is their literal job to interact with the community, and the issue here is that instead of the CM's doing this, they are worrying about things that the community quite frankly as a whole doesn't care about. This leads me to believe that one of the following 2 situations is true: The CM's are understaffed and overworked to the point where they simply cannot interact in meaningful ways. Dakota is on his own right now as Mike is off on paternity leave (and coming back this month, I think?), and the organization either hired but has not trained the new person they posted for months ago OR they simply decided not to do it. And this is on top of all of the vacation and time off that was taken over the holidays. If this is the case, if it is a situation where Dakota simply does not have the time to effectively do his job and interact with the community in thoughtful and meaningful ways, then I have to ask why he has the time to come up with weekly challenges and joke threads. I get that those things may be part of his job, but we have begged for more meaningful communication and have not gotten it. Does he not have time to ask the developers where they are at? Do the CM's not have the ability or authority to ask the artists what they have drawn up lately? Has Nate decided that he doesn't need to give interviews to the CM's or host AMA's any longer? And if this is all the case, why hasn't the company hired more CM's to help alleviate the strain on Dakota? It's either this, or... The developers honestly have nothing to show or discuss at this point. And if this is the case, there's a whole box of Lego's that need to be unpacked with this. Because, quite frankly, how can you be 6 years into development, and 1 year+ into early access, and have nothing to discuss? We have bugs that have been persistent since launch, promises made both before and during launch that haven't been met, and yet they have nothing to divulge? Bug reports that aren't discussed but end up in the archive with no explanation, and no talking about them? The company hired 2 of the best and brightest minds from the KSP1 mod community to help write this game, and you've got nothing to show at this point? For Science! dropped almost 4 months ago, and since then we've seen like 1 or 2 images of what might be in colonies, but you have no words to go with that? Where are we at on the road map as far as colonies goes? I know you can't give any dates, but are we even close? And those images of gigantic parts in space - are they going to be in the game, and if so, how do we get them up into space? Where are we at with all those bugs for months you just keep saying "Researching"? On those bugs you are looking for additional feedback on - what do you need from us to help you? What information are you looking for that we haven't already provided? And what do you say to those people - like myself - who have mid-range equipment and are supposed to see performance increases but aren't? (Side note - anything greater than 200 parts on my rig drops my FPS to 10. In orbit. 32 GB RAM, 2060 Super, Ryzen 9 3900 12 core. Tell me again how performance has gotten better.) It's no secret that I have been very vocal about where I think the game is at, and where it is headed. I've complained enough, so I'm trying not to do more of the same here (even though I'm sure this will all still be seen as complaining). But I want this game to succeed. I want this game to outplay, outperform, and outlast the original. I do not want to have to see the community come together and have the modders create KSP3. Nobody wants that. We shouldn't even have to float that idea, to be honest. But enough. Enough of the joke threads. Enough of the weekly challenges. Enough of the silence. We have held up our end of the bargain here in EA by not only shelling out the cost of the full release game, but we've been up front and honest with you about bugs, feedback, and telling you what it is we want. We are simply asking for the company to hold up their end. Too much damage has been done over this, but we are still willing to overlook that and give you back our trust if you would simply communicate with us and let us know where this whole thing stands. No corp-speak, no double meanings, no half-truths. Just be honest. We will understand. Heck, we've been understanding for the better part of a decade now; honesty will only help to repair the relationship.

So, my wife and kids talked me into starting a Stardew Valley co-op game with them. Against my better judgement. But I learned that playing Stardew Valley with the Starcraft soundtrack loudly playing in the background makes Stardew Valley 200% better.

A lot has been made of the development teams (coders, artists, etc.) not having anything to do with communicating with the community, and I'll say up front that I agree with that statement. No, I do not want the developers to sit around and talk on the forums or Discord all day long; they have a game to write, for pete's sake. I'd rather they spend their time on the clock coding, or drawing, or whatever it is they need to do to get the game done. Go. Please. With that said, it is the job of the Community Managers to interact and engage with the community. As far as EA goes, it should be their job to engage with us and let us know exactly what is happening with the development of the game. Yes, this involves interviewing the developers, and compiling lists of bugs, and all the other stuff that goes along with that. But it is their literal job to interact with the community, and the issue here is that instead of the CM's doing this, they are worrying about things that the community quite frankly as a whole doesn't care about. This leads me to believe that one of the following 2 situations is true: The CM's are understaffed and overworked to the point where they simply cannot interact in meaningful ways. Dakota is on his own right now as Mike is off on paternity leave (and coming back this month, I think?), and the organization either hired but has not trained the new person they posted for months ago OR they simply decided not to do it. And this is on top of all of the vacation and time off that was taken over the holidays. If this is the case, if it is a situation where Dakota simply does not have the time to effectively do his job and interact with the community in thoughtful and meaningful ways, then I have to ask why he has the time to come up with weekly challenges and joke threads. I get that those things may be part of his job, but we have begged for more meaningful communication and have not gotten it. Does he not have time to ask the developers where they are at? Do the CM's not have the ability or authority to ask the artists what they have drawn up lately? Has Nate decided that he doesn't need to give interviews to the CM's or host AMA's any longer? And if this is all the case, why hasn't the company hired more CM's to help alleviate the strain on Dakota? It's either this, or... The developers honestly have nothing to show or discuss at this point. And if this is the case, there's a whole box of Lego's that need to be unpacked with this. Because, quite frankly, how can you be 6 years into development, and 1 year+ into early access, and have nothing to discuss? We have bugs that have been persistent since launch, promises made both before and during launch that haven't been met, and yet they have nothing to divulge? Bug reports that aren't discussed but end up in the archive with no explanation, and no talking about them? The company hired 2 of the best and brightest minds from the KSP1 mod community to help write this game, and you've got nothing to show at this point? For Science! dropped almost 4 months ago, and since then we've seen like 1 or 2 images of what might be in colonies, but you have no words to go with that? Where are we at on the road map as far as colonies goes? I know you can't give any dates, but are we even close? And those images of gigantic parts in space - are they going to be in the game, and if so, how do we get them up into space? Where are we at with all those bugs for months you just keep saying "Researching"? On those bugs you are looking for additional feedback on - what do you need from us to help you? What information are you looking for that we haven't already provided? And what do you say to those people - like myself - who have mid-range equipment and are supposed to see performance increases but aren't? (Side note - anything greater than 200 parts on my rig drops my FPS to 10. In orbit. 32 GB RAM, 2060 Super, Ryzen 9 3900 12 core. Tell me again how performance has gotten better.) It's no secret that I have been very vocal about where I think the game is at, and where it is headed. I've complained enough, so I'm trying not to do more of the same here (even though I'm sure this will all still be seen as complaining). But I want this game to succeed. I want this game to outplay, outperform, and outlast the original. I do not want to have to see the community come together and have the modders create KSP3. Nobody wants that. We shouldn't even have to float that idea, to be honest. But enough. Enough of the joke threads. Enough of the weekly challenges. Enough of the silence. We have held up our end of the bargain here in EA by not only shelling out the cost of the full release game, but we've been up front and honest with you about bugs, feedback, and telling you what it is we want. We are simply asking for the company to hold up their end. Too much damage has been done over this, but we are still willing to overlook that and give you back our trust if you would simply communicate with us and let us know where this whole thing stands. No corp-speak, no double meanings, no half-truths. Just be honest. We will understand. Heck, we've been understanding for the better part of a decade now; honesty will only help to repair the relationship.

Multiple sources give a 3,400 ton propellant load for the booster and 1,200 tons for the ship, for 4,600 ton max propellant load. The 4,500 ton total given in the SpaceX tweet is only 2% off this value. That could be just round off error or it could be you don’t want literally the tanks to be filled to the very top to allow for boiloff of the cryogenic propellant. Bob Clark

Mission Report: Space Truckin' ...or... If It's Crazy, but It Works, Maybe It Ain't Crazy I got a contract to build a space station in orbit of the Mun. I also already had one on deck to dock two vessels in Munar orbit. This gave me a crazy idea. If I were to position a station loaded with fuel in Munar orbit, it would expedite my Munar science collection efforts. I could dock a lander at the station and just make hops to and from various biomes on the surface. This may sound like a trivial task for most of you, but I'm still hardly what anyone might consider a qualified space program simulation administrator...or pilot...or engineer. I'm nothing if not perseverant, though, and I don't appear to have any qualms about throwing Kerbals into the danger zone. I'll leave the sorting of that one to my therapist. Almost giddy, I handed the project of designing a vessel that could get as much fuel as possible to the Mun to the Kerbal engineers. They seemed excited by the prospect. Then worried. Then scared. Then excited again. It's really kind of tough to gauge their moods at any given moment. Anyway, after hours at the drawing board, this is what those krazy little kritters came up with... It was clear they were working with house money, because at well over a quarter-million funds, this is by far the most expensive vessel we've ever designed. They assured me that it would be a success...or it wouldn't. I guess that's the sort of professional, educated projections I've come to expect from them. I'm sure there is a far more efficient method to go about this, but this level of precision is what I've come to expect for what I pay them. Out to the launch pad we go... Honestly, what were the chances this thing was going to make it to space in one piece, anyway? As it turns out, those chances were 1 in 4, because that's how many trips back to the VAB it took to get this monstrosity to avoid rattling itself apart by 1km altitude or just pitching over and making a beeline into the mountains/ocean/Space Center...well, you get the idea. Once I was able to get out of the atmosphere, things went pretty smoothly, though MechJeb doesn't seem to have ANY idea how to handle a vessel of this size, repeatedly missing burn windows. Nothing a minor correction burn or two wouldn't fix. Finally, here is my Munar fuel depot, quite surprisingly right where it's supposed to be. The mission was a success, and I now have a full 7,200 liquid fuel/oxidizer reserve, ready to supply some Mun hopping. My next trip up will include all the station science modules and gear and the Kerbals to run it. I feel like I actually accomplished something with this one.

I added the starlab to my life supported space station in Kerbin orbit today, it had 200+ days of each LS category plus recycler/converter/greenhouse attached and running. I had to restart KSP2 after docking in order for LSS not to kill a kerbal when I transferred them to the Starlab part. Couldn't find a similar report of the bug in here, so it could have just been a random glitch.

@AmanitaVernaYou were right! Compressing the 200+MB .log file into a .zip file had shrunk it down to a little less than 8MB in size. Anyways, here's the file download for those who'd like to view the .log file for further troubleshooting (which I'll probably delete later to make room for other files as needed).

Excerpt from Pathé news Monday 14th November 1955 “In another exchange deal with the Americans, Puck Aerospace once again launched one of their Bailey cameras on a Yeti II rocket from Merrit Island in Florida. Travelling over 540 km north from the launch site, it took detailed high-altitude pictures of the mainland US beneath it. “Chief Administrator Mr Vincent Glasgow said afterwards that he believed that they had probably extracted as much information out of these suborbital camera tests as they were going to and that the focus of the organisation would now switch to developing and testing an orbit capable launch vehicle. The first test flight of the first rocket is expected to take place in March or April next year.” Excerpt from Pathé news Monday 2th April 1956 "PUCK AEROSPACE READY TO TRY FOR ORBIT" “Anyone who has been paying attention to the news, knows that there have been rumours for a couple of years now of programmes underway in both the Soviet Union and United States of America to place an artificial satellite in orbit around the Earth. Recently, there has been a new contender, Puck Aerospace, the brainchild of excentric multimillionaire Peadar Ùisdean Cameron Kincaid. In November last year they announced that they were moving on from the suborbital rockets they have flown so successfully lately to make an attempt to build an actual orbital launch vehicle. “Today at a press conference in his offices in Kourou, French Guiana, Mr Kincaid announced that the rocket is now ready and is undergoing final testing on the launch pad prior to a planned launch of Wednesday. The members of the press were taken on a tour of the launch facility a few kilometres north of town, culminating in a look at the rocket itself standing proudly on its launch pad. “Standing just over 24 metres tall and, according to the engineers, weighing in at a little over 25 tons, it certainly looked impressive in the blue, white and black livery that has become familiar from other Puck Aerospace rockets. Hidden away inside a protective cowling at the very summit of the rocket, we were told, sat the satellite itself. A small half metre cone of metal, weighing a mere 50 kilograms, most of that being the batteries that will power it. “While carrying some scientific instruments, the chief engineer Mr Monty Scott, admitted that the batteries would only be sufficient to power them for a few hours before they would need to be shut down to conserve energy and allow the satellite to continue transmitting regular radio beeps to allow it to be tracked by observers on the ground. Even in this low power configuration, he said, the satellite would only be able to send out its signals for a few days before falling silent forever. “I think I can speak for everyone present when I say that we are all eagerly looking forward to the launch on Wednesday.” Excerpt from Pathé news Wednesday 4th April 1956 "WORLD'S FIRST ARTIFICIAL SATELLITE LAUNCHED" “’If I have seen further today, it is because I stand on the back of giants.’ Starting his press conference today in Kourou, French Guiana, Peadar Kincaid was in a jubilant mood as he quoted Sir Isaac Newton’s famous saying from three centuries ago. Why was he in such a good mood you might ask? Because his little upstart aerospace company had just achieved something that had eluded the might of the American and Soviet space programmes. Today, they launched the Earth’s first artificial satellite. Circling the Earth, high above our heads is a small metal cone packed full of batteries and electronics, triumphantly proclaiming its presence to amateur radio operators all over the world as it passes overhead. Elaborating on his company’s achievement, Mr Kincaid acknowledged the considerable contributions in skill, technology and experience that they had received from many countries around the world, especially from Hawker Siddeley who manufactured the engines used in today’s rocket and the manufacturing breakthroughs that had allowed the construction of much lighter but still immensely strong fuel tanks. He further explained that it was his conviction that it had been through working as a small team with a single unified goal that they had been able to achieve what had escaped the grasp of the more fragmented efforts of their larger competitors…” Excerpt from Pathé news Friday 27th April 1956 “Puck Aerospace, today announced that they had hired French pilot Marguerite Laurent as their first test pilot for their fledgling X-Planes programme. Marguerite has several years’ experience as a test pilot for Avion Marcel Dassault (a French aircraft manufacturer) and will initially be trained in the handling of the Hawker Siddeley experimental rocket planes. The training is expected to take a couple of months after which she will be taking HSXR-02 Nessie for its first flight and attempting to break the sound barrier and achieve some (company) speed and altitude records. Excerpt from Pathé news Tuesday 19th June 1956 “A heavy transport plane took off from the new 4800m extended runway at Kourou in French Guiana today, carrying a most unusual cargo. Tucked under the right wing was a small plane, and not just an ordinary plane either. This one was the second Hawker Siddeley eXperimental Rocketplane – the HSXR-02 Nessie, fitted with a powerful rocket engine that was intended to take it through the sound barrier and high up above the ground. The first HSXR plane was flown three years ago from the Woomera Royal Air Force base in southern Australia by RAF Flight Lieutenant Peter Simonson. “Alas, it was not meant to be, as pilot Marguerite Laurent discovered when she dropped away from the carrier plane and pressed the button to ignite the rocket engine. Despite performing flawlessly during a ground test just the week before, on the day, something went wrong and the engine just failed to ignite. Cycling the systems and making a second attempt got no response whatsoever, so Marguerite was left with the sad realisation that she didn’t have enough height or speed to glide all the way back to Kourou and would need to ditch the plane in the Atlantic. “Fortunately, the weather was calm, with only a moderate swell, so as she eased the plane down at a little less than 200 kph, only moderate damage was done to the airframe. The failed engine would have needed to be replaced anyway, so submerging it in salt water was not an issue. “A support boat was dispatched from Kourou harbour to collect Mlle Laurent, and a barge will be sent to recover the plane.” Excerpt from Pathé news Friday 3rd August 1956 "THIRD WOMAN BREAKS THE SOUND BARRIER" “Mademoiselle Marguerite Laurent again boarded her experimental rocket plane at Puck Aerospace’s Kourou facility in French Guiana today. The carrier aircraft once more took her 350 km off shore before she released the X-Plane from under its wing and ignited her rocket engine. This time, unlike the prior flight, the engine lit without a problem and Mlle Laurent began picking up speed and gently pitching up into a shallow climb. She reached a peak altitude of just over 20 km at 535 ms-1 before levelling off and throttling down to hold her speed between 450 and 520 ms-1 as required by the pre-flight planning. “Roughly nine minutes later, her fuel was exhausted and she pitched down to glide safely back to land at the Kourou runway, travelling at a comparatively sedate 51.5 ms-1. “Mlle Laurent is the third woman to break the sound barrier, following in the footsteps of American Jackie Cochran and Jacqueline Auriol from France who both flew faster than sound in 1953. She is however, the first woman to do so in a rocketplane.” ==== Gameplay notes and screenshots:

Well, the calcs show that Baltimore loses up to 200 mil a day idling and the new bridge would cost 1000 mil, so...