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So I'm gonna admit this now. For the past year-and-a-half that I've had this game, I've never gone super in-depth with career mode, as sandbox is just kinda my thing. But career mode has gotten my interest for a good few months now, and I just think the mode itself with its technological progression with the tech tree has made me fascinated. Now I'll actually try to play the mode and be able to go past getting into suborbital flight. I've also not posted that much here on the forums, so I'll do more by showing off missions that I do through logs. I'll be having fun with this and I hope you do too as you read along. I'll post my first log soon, maybe tomorrow or the day after, but I'll definitely make sure I do. By the way, my career won't be completely stock, as I have a few mods (some by Angel-125, CobaltWolf, bcink, and others) along with it. Most of the time when I see other users' logs, they will have a few mods, too.

Should i use the Nuclear Reactor for any long-term planet landing colonies? I'm thinking of having a large base on the Mun to start, and i need a way to power it. I don't know if this is better than a massive battery bank and a load of solar panels. I think it should be stated that although i've had this game for a year or two, i made it once to the Mun successfully, and landed a probe with help from a community member on the Discord. (Find a picture of that on my Steam gallery). I am on sandbox right now, so i don't blow my mind trying to get the tech tree first. With all that aside, is it possible to "refuel" the Nuclear Reactor? And, how do you empty its waste and depleted uranium?

First Light: The Journey of the Phthanophaneron It turns out I've never actually done a mission to Moho. Shocking! I call myself a veteran, with well over 1000 hours (though I don't have records of this, I'm fairly sure) of play over the years since version 0.20.2, but I still haven't managed to actually "complete" the game as far as actually visiting all the objects available. Thus, since the transfer window to Moho is the first to occur in my new Career (after spending the first 110 days or so completing the tech tree by thoroughly scrubbing Kerbin, the Mun, and Minmus for Science), I'm taking the opportunity to document the adventure as a sort of refresher course for myself before taking on the Ultimate Jool-5 Challenge once more (since it's been literal years since I last put down the game). For this expedition, I had been made aware that trips to Moho and back often take far more delta-V than one would expect, especially eschewing a gravity assist from Eve and the extra mission time that would entail, so I set my goal at 10 km/s and a maximum acceleration of at least 0.20 gees to avoid excessively long maneuver burns. I prepared what I considered the necessary payload and, based on its total mass, set about drafting some hull designs in the VAB, whereupon I discovered that the ship could certainly meet my needs, but it would be very, very large. Some of you may remember my "Sights of Kidonia" thread from a few years ago wherein I built a grand mothership to tackle the Jool-5 Challenge. While I eventually finished orbital assembly and performed the ejection burn from Kerbin, while it was en route real life got in my way, followed by several updates to the game that altered part geometry and made some of the mission components unusable. The final fatal obstacle was that, once I picked up KSP again a few weeks ago, I discovered whilst doing a test run in a simple ion probe that Kidonia probably never would have been able to complete the full mission for lack of delta-V. It had been designed with just over 9 km/s in total, but that only meets the requirements of a Jool-5 Challenge mission nominally, i.e. in real life one is unlikely to pull off the mission with that much delta-V with extreme luck, extremely meticulous planning, or a lot of gravity assists and thus a very long mission time. In any case, this thing is... comparable in size and has less than half the payload mass. On the one hand, I'm pleased that this gives me an excuse to build an even huger ship for next time, but on the other, increased sophistication in KSP's code base appears to have made the game less performant when operating ships with enormous part counts, so it might be a taller order than I can handle. But enough about Jool. This is a Moho mission! In this thread I'll be documenting the progress of the mission from start to finish and sharing my thoughts.

Ahoy Rocketeers, Seadogs and pilots, I'd like to see how you tackle my little challenge The Challenge: Build the fastest paddle wheel boat, powered by electricity, then get in to the shore, and show us how fast will it go. The Rules: No mods or expansions for the spinny part(bearing), has to be electric Rating: Speed category: by sustainable Vmax only 1. Pds314 @ 18,4m/s Efficiency category: Vmax/power drain while at equator (power drain=power needed to move the boat at Vmax, measure without generating power at the same time, ) 1.Pds314 @ 8.97 In this challenge you will have to develop a stock bearing system, way of driving it by electric means. Even getting that to spin is a win in my book, so let's go! So far my best design reached Vmax of 9,6m/s, while draining 9,68/s, which is about 1000% better than my first aproach(actual math 2m/s with 20/s) One to get you started:

В карьере схватил контракт: станция на 12кербалов + лаборатория+4000т топлива на устойчивой орбите муны. Премия 208тыс Если строить из mk2 (самолет пассажирский фюзеляж) с 2 тройными адаптерами 6.300 тонны 3 кабины автостопщиков 7.500 Лаборатория 3.500 Горизонт ОКТО, РСУ+коcмоболы, шлюз, научный обвес. 11.810 (с кабинами mk2) 3 бака x200-32 и общая масса 65.810 тонн. И как эту бандуру дешевле всего запулить к муне? Без alt+f12 Пробовал 4хKR-1x2 + 4 бака x200-32, с двух курьеров топливо перекачивается в 2 оставшихся. Ракета вышла длинная, при разгоне опрокидывает, поэтому в голове 3 ЖРД Стукач с тягой 40% Где то около 20000 высоты пустые курьеры сбрасываются.на орбиту выходит впритык. РСУ и гиро на такой массе не помогают, маневрировать получается только стукачами. По науке: прокачано почти все за 90+ тяжёлое ракетостроение+ продвинутая электрика. Из мыслей разделить на части, возвратная ssto, сборка на орбите, и запуск к муне. Upd: пока почти удалось вывести 3 бака (нужно траекторию подровнять а то забрасыва на 110км, на выравнивание и возврат не хватает) twr 2.45 дельта 4300. А ведь стыковка 3 модулей на орбите потребует дополнительного топлива. Да и не уверен я что малых стыковочных модулей хватит по усилию на такую конструкцию.

B9 Stock Patches (B9P) Created by @zer0Kerbal email with continued support from the community. This mod uses Module Manager patches to add an assortment of B9fuelswitch tank types to stock and DLC fuel tanks. Do not bother @Blowfish with support requests for this mod. Installing this adds a selection of B9 tank types to most stock tanks Liquid Fuel & Oxidizer Liquid Fuel MonoPropellant Battery Installing KGEx (some need CRP) and/or SimpleConstruction will also add: Support (EC + MP) Xenon Gas Ore Argon Gas H20+Water Oxidizer RocketParts Metal Combination RocketParts + Metal + Ore Cabin notes: Tank sizes are automatically determined by existing parts existing capacity (thank you to @JadeofMaar) Default tank type should not change, if it was MP it still should be MP If Near Future Exploration is installed, will switch (silver) LFO tank to LF and (metal) LFO tank to Oxidizer. If KGEx is installed, several more combination tanktypes will become available. You can tweak values by editing the part.cfg or using but beware, these are complicated and advanced multi-pass patches. Have a request? Glad to have them, kindly submit through GitHub. Full Changelog: See ChangeLog for full details of mod changes Known Issues: See Known Issuues for any known issues Installation Directions: Use Dependencies Kerbal Space Program may work on other versions (YMMV) Module Manager [^1] B9PartSwitcher Recomends KGex adds more tanks types Community Resource Pack Suggests (other fun mods by zed'K): On Demand Fuel Cells {ODFC)} Field Training Lab (FTL) Field Training Facility (FTF) Docking Port Descriptions(DPD) PicoPort Shielded (PPS) Transparent Command Pods Repressurized)(TCP) Stork Delivery System (SDS) Biomatic Oh Scrap!: ScrapYard: DaMichel's AeroRadial DaMichel's CargoBays DaMichel's Fuselage DaMichel's Spherical Tanks Stork Delivery System (SDS) SimpleLogistics! SimpleConstructon! Not So SimpleConstructon! TweakScale Supports Kerbal Change Log SimpleConstructon! Near Future Exploration Near Future Construction Conflicts none known red box below is a link to forum post on how to get support License aka Legal Mumbo Jumbo Source: GitHub License: All bundled mods are distributed under their own licenses All art assets (textures, models, animations) are distributed under their own licenses Original Author: @zer0Kerbal Thread Download Source: GitHub License: v1.0.0.0 original: 11 Aug 2018 0K updated: 26 Mar 2020 zed'K [^1]: Be Kind: Lithobrake, not jakebrake! Keep your Module Manager up to date

McDonnell Douglas F-4E "Phantom II" Parts: 231 Weight: 26.36t Length: 15.7m Top Speed (asl): 317m/s F-4E Phantom II on KerbalX The E variant of the phantom was an upgrade over previous models of the Phantom, including a built-in M61 Vulcan and an elongated nose to fit the new AN/APQ-120 radar. The F-4E became the leading variant of the phantom, with almost 1,400 produced. This craft has functional airbrakes and drop tanks, and is completely stock. Enjoy!

Description Needs Breaking Ground Expansion otherwise fully stock AG 2 Toggle Cockpit AG 3 Toggle Solar Panels I and K (HOLD) Control Rear Cargo Hold and Ramp To accelerate just hold W (default) press B (default) to brake Does fulll 360 tank turns (awesome turns) gets around 20 m/s very durable and wheels can withstand a lot of force A stock aircraft called RANGER XD. Built with 402 of the finest parts, its root part is structuralPanel1. Built in the SPH in KSP version 1.9.1. Details Type: SPH Class: rover Part Count: 402 Pure Stock KSP: 1.9.1 Download: https://kerbalx.com/InterstellarKev/RANGER-XD https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2109215220 https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2109215220

History of Spaceflight Contract Pack for Stock/RSS/RO/RP-0/RP-1 This mod aims to basically transcribe the entire NASA Master Catalog into missions for Stock/RO/RP-0/RP-1. This project initially started as an expansion pack to Whitecat106's popular Historic Missions contract pack, but after he quit I decided to rewrite the entire mod from start to finish. This mod will feature and expanded 1942-1958 contract set of sounding rockets from all over the world. Plus complete mission sets (including failures) of every spaceflight launched to date(when completed). It also has more accurate orbital specifications for you to reach including historical Apogee, Perigee, and Inclination(RSS Version). Since there will most likely be two version of Realistic Progression, RP-0 and RP-1. I will be making a version of this mod for both RP-0 and RP-1. Currently playing through the beta of RP-1 and collecting historical rocket costs and rollout costs to balance RP-1. The main balancing and release of the RP-1 version won't be until after an official RP-1 version has been released. Currently this mod contains 670 contracts for RSS/RP-0. and 622 contracts for Stock. It contains every mission (might be missing a few but still adding) from the time frames 1942-1967, basically the first 25 years of spaceflight, and contains: - 53 Pre-Sputnik sounding rocket and ballistic missile contracts including but not limited to : A-Series, Aerobee series, Deacon, Corporal, Hermes 1-3, Kappa 1-6, Veronique, X-17, Cajun, Wasserfall, RTV-A-2/ RTV-A-3, Terrapin, Nike series, Eole, Deacon, Skylark-1, R-Series, Thor, Redstone, Atlas, Jupiter and more. NASA Master Catalog USA Missions 1942 to 1967 Ats (3) OGO (2) Gemini (17) MISC (32) Biosatellite (3) OSO (2) Mercury (10) Midas (10) ERS (3) Pegasus (3) Missile Tests (7) Samos (11) Explorer (41) Pioneer (11) DMSP (6) Ferret (7) GGSE (3) Ranger (9) Echo (3) Corona (17) Lunar Orbiter (2) Solrad (7) Intelsat (2) Discoverer (39) Mariner (4) SECOR (8) LES (4) GambitKH7 (36) Vanguard (11) Surveyor (2) Syncom (3) GambitKH8 (9) Transit (22) Vela (3) Telstar (2) Tiros (10) launcher tests (15) ESSA (6) Soviet Missions Sputnik (3) Vostok/Korabl-Sputnik (11) Kosmos (123) Missile Tests (7) Elektron (3) Polyot (2) Zond (3) Marsnik (2) Luna (21) Mars (2) Molniya (4) Proton (3) Venera (6) Voskhod (3) China Missions Dongfeng-1 (3)S (5)RSS Dongfeng-2 (3)S (5)RSS Dongfeng-3 (3)S (5) RSS Dongfeng-4 (3)S (5) RSS Canada Italy United Kingdom Japan Alouette (2) San Marcos (1) Ariel (2) Lambda (2) Blue Water (1) Kappa (6) More info and screenshots to follow. Currently testing and balancing what is done right now and Version 1.0 will be released once that is complete. Should take a few more weeks to finish that off barring any unforeseen catastrophes. How to install History of Spaceflight: 1. unzip contract packs to a new folder 2. Choose which version you want to play. Either RSS/RP-0 mod or Stock 3. Copy the HistoryofSpaceflight folder into your KSP game directory under GameData/ContractPacks 4. When updating to a new version it's best to delete the previously installed HistoryofSpaceflight as well as ModuleManager.ConfigCache, and ModuleManager.ConfigSHA from your GameData folder to make sure it loads the new contracts that were added. License: This pack and associated plugin is Licensed under CC-BY-NC-SA-4.0. The beta for Stock/RO/RP-0 is available here- GitHub Also Spacedock, and Curse Report Issues Here Incompatible with Kerbalism or any other historical contract pack. Do not install these mods with this History of Spaceflight or you will have issues! Requires: Thanks to @Whitecat106 for his hard work on Historical Contracts. A few of his contracts were helpful in understanding the bugs in my own for the early parts of writing this mod. This is my first attempt at a mod and my coding skills are pretty basic. I'm learning as I'm going. I do have a lot of free time though as I am disabled and unable to work a job. So expect a lot of work coming out in the next few months as my condition permits. Websites referenced to make this mod: Encyclopedia Astronautica Gunter's Space Page Spacecraft Encyclopedia National Space Science Data Center Spacecraft Search Wikipedia

I've re-installed KSP via Steam (v. 1.9.0) as neither of the two dlcs were loading properly on start-up. The KSP log file is filled with errors, such as missing texture errors. I don't have any mods installed and I've tried to verify the integrity of the game files already multiple times without noticing any change. Furthermore, I can't place the KAL-1000 controller neither in the VAB, nor the SPH. Clicking it results in a click noise, but I can't get it out of the inventory. Is there any way of fixing this issue? I'd be fine with being able to make use of that KAL-1000 controller. This is the error that I'm getting on start-up: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UWauzQ-F2PKMZDdf4z6fHmMIVrdHlNGB/view?usp=sharing This is the KSP log file: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fNGJmguu_zBqxq3jy8k8vyOOD1zm1QiY/view?usp=sharing

Howdy, Y'all. Way back in ye old days of 2013 KSP, a younger and perhaps less-skilled me tried his hand at building a steam locomotive replica. This was the result: Not too shabby, given the limited part repository at the time. Though I've seen many KSP players build fantastic train replicas, I had yet to come across one that utilized the new stock robotics parts to make working running gear. So, I set out to overhaul Jeb's once-mighty steamer with the latest in Kerbal engineering technology: Jeb's Locomotive was designed to function in a similar fashion as typical modern locomotive replicas do; the running gear is powered by the drive wheels which are in turn powered by electric motors, instead of steam power driving the running gear and subsequently driving the wheels. The 6 rover wheels only provide brakes and steering, while the 6 rotor wheels are coupled in axle pairs using standard docking ports to provide side-to-side consistency in operation. The running gear is largely coupled together using junior docking ports. Engine power is controlled using the KAL controller in the cab. Press action group 1 to engage the drive motors and start up the fuel cells, set the controller to play until you reach your desired speed, then pause it. The play speed is set slow intentionally, as sometimes sudden changes to the RPM can mess up the running gear synchronicity. Unfortunately, the engine plates used to make the drive wheels don't have great traction with the ground (leading to slight slipping), and collision tolerances will limit your top speed to <9 m/s (as you will see shortly). You can of course go faster by disabling crash damage on the debug menu, but beware that at higher speeds the running gear can easily go out of whack. I find it runs quite nicely around 6-7 m/s surface speed. You are welcome to download and add on things like coal cars, passenger cars, etc. if you'd like. The locomotive is already 218 parts as-is, so expect lag if you're planning on adding a lot to it. If anything, download it just to drive it up to 9 m/s, for funzies. The entire vessel is Stock + DLC. Download: https://kerbalx.com/Jamie_Logan/Jebs-Locomotive Here is a gif of the running gear in motion at a slow speed: https://i.imgur.com/bHYKT1b.gifv Gallery: I'M GOIN' OFF THE RAILS ON A... oh nevermind. I hope you liked it! Check out my last build too:

I was wondering what is the delta v for going into orbit and the specific thrust to weight ratio and medium to small lander examples? I am new to Eve but I have been to other planets though. I have sent probes and failed Landers btw.

Hello, everyone! Recently, I took a break from my usual space-faring missions to build a new VTOL dropship. The Hummingbyrd VTOL has four Panther engines which are mounted on hinges that allow the aircraft to alternate between VTOL and forward flight postures. The decision to use Panther engines was made because of their ability to make instantaneous thrust changes via the afterburners, which helps tremendously when landing. The engine housings use two sets of small internal docking ports with one of each offset to the other engine to allow for each set of engines to remain coupled despite no actual axle passing through the engine mount. The downward-facing payload bay contains an extendable crew bench, allowing for quick on-loading and off-loading of passengers. The crew capacity is 10: two pilot seats and 8 seats in the payload bay. The vessel is 119 parts. Notice the highlighted docking port in the far engine housing, as well as the corresponding un-highlighted port in the near housing. Both are attached to the opposite engine housing, but remain docked to the non-offset port in the same engine housing. This prevents flight/aerodynamic forces from causing asynchronous engine rotation, leading to unbalanced thrust and instability. Shown above is the center of thrust, mass, and lift placement while in VTOL mode. While in this posture, all three are collinear in the dorsal-ventral axis. All tanks with fuel in them are laid out with symmetry front-to-back, allowing the C.O.M. to remain stationary regardless of fuel levels. This is critical for VTOL operations, as any significant deviation of the C.O.M. from the net thrust vector will cause a persistent pitch bias. Shown below is the center of thrust, mass, and lift placement while in forward flight mode. While in this posture, the C.O.M. is offset forward of the center of lift due to the redistribution of engine mass, leading to improved stability while in forward flight. The rear engine set is offset above the longitudinal axis to the same extent that the forward engine set is offset below, allowing the net thrust vector to remain in line with the C.O.M. Action Groups: AG1) Toggle engine orientation AG2) Toggle afterburners AG3) Toggle landing gear AG4) Toggle payload bay doors and piston lock AG5) Toggle piston extension Gallery: I hope you liked it! This ship is a joy to fly, and I highly recommend you try it out! Craft file: https://kerbalx.com/Jamie_Logan/Hummingbyrd Also, Check out my last mission:

Stock Glider Catalogue Although KSP lacks wind and thermals, or indeed any means to actually maintain altitude in a glider without self-propelling, I have still found a tremendous amount of fun in building "sailplanes", aircraft with very low stall speeds and very good glide ratios. I think there's a lot of fun to be had in throwing them off cliffs and seeing how far it's possible to go, or what dangerous aerobatics you can perform. Thus, I present the Greenhayes Aircraft Glider Catalogue: four different sailplanes, each with their own handling characteristics and visual appeal. General Advice As a rule of thumb, the best fun can be had when you launch your gliders off a large hill or mountain. A good starting point is the mountain range east of the Kerbal Space Centre - you can use the new "Set Position" cheat to place your craft on the perfect peak. All of the gliders in the catalogue come equipped with three glide extension rockets (or a reusable self-sustaining rocket on the "Stork"), mapped to the space bar. These are to be used at your leisure - to gain speed before maneuvering, or to gain a little bit of altitude and go further, or even to take off from level ground - the choice is yours. An important difference that the gliders show from normal KSP aircraft is their tandem landing gear - they will rest with one wingtip on the ground before takeoff. Thus, it is very important to keep the wings level on takeoff and landing, to avoid any crashes. Remember to start trying to level out as soon as your aircraft begins to move! Greenhayes Model 16 "Cumulus" The Cumulus is a fairly docile, easy-to-handle two-seater with three pairs of Glide Extension RocketsTM strapped to the side, so that you can get yourself out of a pickle, or self-launch in a hurry. Recommended for beginners and for long, calm flights. The wheels don't retract on this one - no need to remember to put the gear down. Greenhayes Model 33 "Vulture" y The Vulture is a single-seat, tailless glider with excellent acrobatic potential - it is highly maneuverable on the pitch axis, and will flip around quite easily due to its wing configuration. It is Be gentle on takeoff and particularly landing, as the fragile fuselage is easily damaged. Not recommended for beginners, but good fun in experienced hands. Greenhayes Model 05 "Seagull" The Seagull is one of the first gliders built at Greenhayes, and its handling reflects its age - very stable, with a good glide ratio and a low top speed. The rudder on this glider is particularly powerful - use it in your aerobatics, or to keep your turns coordinated. Greenhayes Model 15 "Stork" The Stork is a durable, high-performance single-seat sailplane which can be put to just about any use the pilot wants. This is the only glider of the catalogue to feature permanent self-launch engines and flaps, allowing experienced pilots to control their approach speed and angle. Flaps are mapped to Action Group 1. Download link for all four gliders: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/10FbzVH22yt68R8dIGcphNB6VCL_8YvcM?usp=sharing

Show off some of your best helicopters, stock and modded. i am working on a Bell UH-1 iroquois, downoading breaking ground to make a custom rotor using servos and rotors. does anybody know any good mods for small arms weapons like a 7.62 machine gun?

Hello once again! Today I bring you, My latest attempt at an interplanetary VTOL SSTO. When launched fully fueled, it can reach LKO with ~2,200 m/s of delta-V remaining. From there, it can be flown non-stop to Laythe and back, using ISRU to refuel on Laythe's surface. The design is oxidizer-free, and the fuel tank layout preserves the C.O.M. position regardless of fuel levels. The engine layout includes two forward-fixed Nervas, four R.A.P.I.E.R. engines (two forward-fixed and two pivotable), and two pivotable Panther engines. When flying in VTOL mode, it's easiest to set the throttle to allow for a TWR<1 while the Panthers are running dry, and a TWR>1 while running wet. This will allow some fine throttle control by switching the afterburners on and off during landing. When flying to orbit: 1) Once off the ground (via either VTOL or STOL to save some fuel), set the pivotable engines forward (AG1) with the Panther afterburners off (AG2). 2) Activate the fixed R.A.P.I.E.R. engines (AG4). 3) Cruise up to ~10 km before turning on the Nervas (AG5). While this is normally a tad too low to be using Nervas, the ISP should already be 700+ and we'll need as much thrust as we can manage. 4) Once all jet engines flame out, shut them down (AG3 + AG4) and continue to push to orbit on the Nervas. The TWR will be fairly low once you're running on the Nervas alone, so pitch up slightly to keep your time to AP around a minute. Eventually, when your orbital velocity reaches ~2,300 m/s you'll be safe to cruise to AP and circularize. Action Groups: AG1: Toggle VTOL engine pivots AG2: Toggle Panther afterburners AG3: Toggle VTOL engines AG4: Toggle fixed R.A.P.I.E.R.engines AG5: Toggle Nervas Gallery: I really hope y'all liked it, and if you want to try your hand at flying it, you can download the craft here: https://kerbalx.com/Jamie_Logan/Fenghuang-H-77 Also, check out my last build!

"Jeb, it's not a skyscraper if you build it somewhere without an atmosphere." "...A spacescraper, it shall be!" The SPACESCRAPER 0 is a fully stock tower. It has office space for 1,540 Kerbals, and can be flown to Minmus and landed in a single go. The launcher can place the tower on a suborbital trajectory, where the tower's 28 Nervas are used to go the rest of the way. Once in space, attitude is controlled via 16 Vernor engines instead of SAS modules due to the insane mass. There's also a small landing pad in between the upper and lower halves of the building to accommodate visiting landers. If you'd like to give it a go (even if just to fly it into the VAB, which I highly recommend), the craft file is here: https://kerbalx.com/Jamie_Logan/SPACESCRAPER-0 The fuel for the launch stage comes in part from the tanks in the booster itself, and part from the mk3 tanks in the tower in between the crew cabins. Upon burnout of the launch stage, you should have only a sliver of oxidizer left, along with enough liquid fuel to power the Nervas to a Minmus landing. The remaining oxidizer is due to the two 2.25 meter tanks at the base of the tower. This is the fuel that will be used for on-orbit attitude changes via the vernor thrusters, so both have fuel flow disabled at launch to prevent their fuel from being immediately used up by the main engines. Don't forget to re-enable fuel flow on them after booster separation so you can achieve attitude control. While on orbit, it is not recommended that you use SAS until you make your final landing approach. RCS+SAS for attitude stability and control will gladly eat up all your RCS fuel in a jiffy, so attitude adjustments are best made using small manual RCS bursts along with 4x physics warp to save time while rotating (don't worry, the tower is autostrutted to the max). SAS is generally not necessary during burns, as the huge moment of inertia of the tower should keep its attitude more or less consistent during the burn, especially when performing a burn directly out of a standard time warp. Gallery: I really hope you liked it! Also, check out my last post:

Hey! Continuing with my too-big launcher binge, I've got another whopper for ya: A multi-purpose interplanetary ship with ample fuel and propulsion, space for 70 Kerbals, and a variety of ports for expansion and utilization. It can be placed into LKO fully fueled in a single launch: Please let me know what you think! Download the craft file here: https://kerbalx.com/Jamie_Logan/Torus-X-64 Also, Check out:

YO! In this time of solitude, I bring to you: M.O.R.P.H.E.U.S. Moho Operational Research Permanent Habitation Experiment Utility Station The KSC has kindly asked Jeb and co. to put together a Moho research base, so this is what I'm told they came up with: To get the job done, we'll need some serious rocketry to get everything into orbit that we need: From left to right: The MORPHEUS Core, the MORPHEUS External Modules, the MORPHEUS Drive Stage, the Verdon S4, the Verdon Crew Habitation Module, and the Moho Lander. For more info on the Verdon S4 and the Verdon Crew Habitation Module, check out the main post: All MORPHEUS craft can be downloaded at: https://kerbalx.com/hangars/98426 All Verdon craft can be download at: https://kerbalx.com/hangars/97494

Built this over 3 days. Has fully stock (no DLC) working S-Foils, flies fairly well, and only has 321 parts! KerbalX link: https://kerbalx.com/OlMuskiBoi/T-65-X-Wing Doesn't come with a targeting computer because Jeb kept switching it off anyway

Hey Y'all! I hope everyone is enjoying their time in quarantine, as well as staying safe and sanitary. It's certainly given me more time to muck around in KSP, so I've got something new to show. The Verdon S4 (named in honor of the late Verdon Kerman) is an interplanetary transfer vehicle that can be used to drive large and otherwise massive payloads around the Kerbol system. The design was put together to maximize the final TWR and delta-V when reaching LKO without needing a part count that drives your (or at least my) framerate into a slideshow. I've included a secondary vessel; a crew habitation module which will act as our payload for demonstration purposes. With room for 28 Kerbals, it also has six docking ports; one large port for docking with the S4, one standard forward port, and four lateral ports to allow for extra vessels to dock (landers, probes, visiting crew ships, etc.). S4 LKO Vac. delta-V and TWR for various payload masses: payload mass (t) delta-V (m/s) TWR 0.000 6951 0.44 25.000 6288 0.43 50.000 5654 0.41 64.323** 5428 0.40 100.000 4816 0.38 200.000 3760 0.33 400.000 2651 0.27 800.000 1688 0.19 **crew hab. module mass Craft Statistics: Verdon S4 (interplanetary vehicle only) Parts 27 Wet mass 603.235t Thrust (vac) 2,625.0kN Height 5.5m Width 5.4m Length 55.2m Verdon S4 (interplanetary vehicle + launch vehicle) Parts 142 Wet mass 7,342.700t Thrust (vac) 84,000.0kN Height 96.6m Width 13.5m Length 13.5m Verdon Crew Habitation Module (interplanetary vehicle only) Parts 97 Wet mass 64.323t Thrust (vac) 120.0kN Height 7.4m Width 5.0m Length 49.6m Verdon Crew Habitation Module (interplanetary vehicle + launch vehicle) Parts 188 Wet mass 4,890.064t Thrust (vac) 64,000.0kN Height 92.1m Width 9.7m Length 9.7m Verdon S4 on the pad Verdon Crew Habitation Module on the pad At Eeloo! To see this craft in action as part of a larger mission, check this out: KerbalX hangar: https://kerbalx.com/hangars/97494

A Bell X-1 replica, sans B-29 launch vehicle. KerbalX link: https://kerbalx.com/OlMuskiBoi/Bell-X-1

2020 SSTO Fleet + Ground Support Vehicles! Hey Everyone! I haven't posted here in quite a few years, but now that I've gotten back into KSP, I wanted to share what I've been working on for the past few weeks. We all love Single-Stage-To-Orbit (SSTO) spacecraft for their potential for re-usability, so I wanted to create a system that allowed me to legitimately process and relaunch them without recovering the spacecraft and relaunching from the SPH between missions. To that end, I developed a fleet of three SSTOs with a compliment of ground support and processing vehicles that can be used to fully refuel and prepare an SSTO for return to LKO with newly fitted payloads. The fleet consists of three SSTOs, two mobile gantries, three trucks, two trailers, and a crew transport buggy. SSTOs All three ships can reach LKO with between ~500 and ~1,500 m/s of on-orbit delta-V remaining depending on payload mass. All have forward-mounted docking ports and RCS thrusters for rendezvous, docking, payload deployment, etc. All are designed with a center of mass (COM) that remains stationary regardless of fuel levels or payload mass (to the extent that the payload's COM is in the geometric center of the cargo bay). The payload-carrying variants (Mk2 & Mk3) have been tested with maximum-mass payloads (I.E. a fuel tank that takes up the entire cargo bay). All can be de-orbited and landed fully "Dead stick". All have action groups to allow for engine/mode toggle, steering toggle, payload bay toggle, etc. Retract the forward landing gear on Mk1 and both the forward and aft landing gear on Mk2 when towing to allow for steering. Table 1: SSTO Spec. Summary SSTO Mk1 Mk2 Mk3 Max. crew 3 2* 0* Wet mass (t) (minus payload) 16.2 32.0 162.4 Dry mass (t) 12.2 24.0 73.3 Height (m) 3.8 4.4 6.0 Width (m) 6.4 10.1 13.4 Length (m) 13.2 23.0 37.4 Max. payload mass (t) - ~7 ~50 Max. payload length (m) - 4.9 10.0 Max. payload diameter (m) - 1.25 2.5 * Can be exceeded by housing crew in payload. SSTO Mk1 The smallest of the three, the Mk1 is the primary LKO crew shuttle. It has room for three, and can comfortably get from the KSC to LKO with sufficient fuel to rendezvous with an LKO target and de-orbit, but its payload is limited to crews only. The design is Liquid fuel only, so the RAPIERS are set to run on open cycle exclusively. The single Nerva is used to make the final push to orbit, circularize, and perform on-orbit maneuvers. The choice to go "no oxidizer" is partly for simplicity, and partly because the minimal-drag + high TWR RAPIER configuration makes the final delta-V needed to reach orbit low enough that it can be done with the Nerva. It also means that when fully re-fueled in LKO, the single Nerva will yield enough delta-V to go pretty much anywhere, without any pesky oxidizer/tanks to slow you down. When launching, set prograde hold with a ~20 deg elevation due east once you pass 300 m/s. The RAPIERS will take you up to around 1000 m/s at 10,000 km, at which point you activate the Nerva. Even though you're still deep in the atmosphere, the Nerva reaches about 700 ISP and nearly vac thrust at this altitude, plus we need to start our apogee kick early since the Nerva alone will yield a fairly low TWR once the RAPIERS flame out completely around 20 km. The time to apogee may start to drop back down once you're on Nerva alone, so nose up to keep it around ~60 sec until your orbital velocity reaches ~2,300 m/s, at which point you'll be safe to reach orbit after a coast to apogee and circularization. It has 4 linear RCS ports housed in the forward and aft mini cargo bays, which are set to toggle open/closed along with the RCS hotkey. SSTO Mk2 The midsize variant, the Mk2 can take a small payload to LKO along with a crew of two. Its fuel tank, engine, and launch trajectory configuration is virtually identical to that of SSTO Mk1, except with twice the RAPIERS and Nervas. Its RCS ports are contained within the payload bay, so it must be open for any RCS-based maneuvering. The furthest forward and aft tanks are empty; they are for structural/aerodynamic purposes. SSTO Mk3 The largest of the fleet, the Mk3 is a heavy-payload LKO shuttle. The design is RAPIER-only, and the vessel is unmanned. It can deliver an orange tank to LKO without much fuss. Launching is fairly straightforward; set prograde hold with a ~20 deg elevation due east once you pass 300 m/s. You should bottom-out on open cycle mode around 20 km and ~1750 m/s orbital velocity, at which point you switch to closed cycle to push your apogee up out of the atmosphere and reach orbit. Like the Mk2, Its RCS ports are contained within the payload bay, so it must be open for any RCS-based maneuvering. Mobile Gantries The piston array on Gantry Mk3 can be operated using the robotics controller on the side of the claw to ensure that all 10 pistons are operating in unison. Be careful when docking the claw to a payload on a trailer connected to a Truck. Back off the piston right after docking to ensure that the weight of the gantry doesn't force the truck + trailer into the ground and break their wheels. Mobile Gantry Mk2 This ground support vehicle can be used to transfer payloads to and from SSTO Mk2's cargo bay. It has a single XL piston and a claw to use for payload manipulation. Mobile Gantry Mk3 This ground support vehicle can be used to transfer payloads to and from SSTO Mk3's cargo bay. It has a compound array with 10 XL pistons and a claw to use for payload manipulation. It also serves as the primary refueling vehicle for SSTO Mk3. Trucks Trucks A and C have servos which allow for trailer pivoting. Simply unlock the servo and set the torque to zero after coupling. Use the piston before coupling to align the claw. Truck A This ground support vehicle can be used to tow trailers and SSTO Mk1. It has a piston-mounted claw for easy coupling, and the piston is mounted on a servo to allow for trailer pivoting when steering. The spring strength in the tire suspensions sometimes need to be lowered during payload loading/unloading using a gantry, as having Truck A connected to a trailer, a payload, and a gantry can cause the wheels to get a little... jumpy, especially if the gantry piston hasn't been relaxed after connecting. It can be used to tow SSTO Mk2, but this is best done when MK2 is empty after having returned from orbit. A fully fueled Mk2 + payload is best towed using Truck C. Truck B This ground support vehicle can be used to refuel SSTOs Mk1 & Mk2 (Mk3 is refueled using Mobile Gantry Mk3). Truck C This ground support vehicle can be used to tow trailers and SSTOs Mk1 & Mk2. It has a piston-mounted claw for easy coupling, and the piston is mounted on a servo to allow for trailer pivoting when steering. It can be used to tow SSTO Mk3, but this is best done when MK3 is empty after having returned from orbit. Best practice with SSTO Mk3 is to tow it to the runway while empty using Truck C, and refuel and add payload right before launch. A fully fueled Mk3 + payload can only easily be moved using its own RAPIERS and landing gear steering. Trailers Trailer Mk2 This ground support vehicle can be used to carry Mk2 payloads, when towed by Truck A or C. The distance between the two docking ports is slightly larger than that of SSTO Mk2's cargo bay. Trailer Mk3 This ground support vehicle can be used to carry Mk3 payloads, when towed by Truck A or C. The distance between the two docking ports is slightly larger than that of SSTO Mk3's cargo bay. Crew Crew Transport Buggy This ground support vehicle can be used to carry 4 Kerbals around the spaceport. Gallery SSTO Mk1 & Mk2 refueling SSTO Mk1 crew preparing for flight SSTO Mk2 Payload processing and flight SSTO Mk3 Payload processing and flight KerbalX Hangar: https://kerbalx.com/hangars/95963

KerbalX link: https://kerbalx.com/OlMuskiBoi/Stock-Dreamchaser Not perfect but I'm happy with how it turned out. Launch vehicle isn't anything special, feel free to throw it out for a proper Atlas / Vulcan replica if you want

Soyuz This model represents the original Soyuz 11A511 carrier rocket and its payload: Soyuz 7K-OK. The 11A511 was derived from the Voskhod 11A57, upgraded to increase lifting capacity and reliability for crewed missions. It also featured the "Type 1" SAS tower, distinguishable by its dome-shaped fairing. Soyuz flew in this configuration from starting in 1966 with Kosmos-133, up until 1971 with Soyuz 11. Following missions would carry the second generation Soyuz 7K-T. They would also use the "Type 1a" SAS tower which lacked the dome. As for the spacecraft itself, the Soyuz 7K-OK represents the first generation of Soyuz spacecraft. They were commissioned to practice rendezvous, docking, and crew transfer techniques ahead of the Soviet lunar program. To accomplish this, most 7K-OK were equipped with special "probe and drogue" docking ports that allowed them to dock with other spacecraft. Soyuz 7K-OK-A were fitted with the active "probe" port which fit into the passive "drogue" port installed on Soyuz 7K-OK-P. These ports lacked an internal crew passageway, and so crew transfers were conducted via EVA. In addition to these ports the 7K-OK used an early radio-based rendezvous system known as "Igla". Igla was linked to the thruster control system and allowed the Soyuz to approach and dock with its target automatically. Soyuz 7K-OK-A in orbit Flight History Craft Info I started working on this back in KSP version 1.5.1 shortly after the completion of my Proton build. I had built the Proton at 75% scale and so I set about scaling up my existing Soyuz to match. I hit quite a few snags trying to replicate the Soyuz's SAS and the project wound up shelved for over a year. Anyways, I recently tried a new grid fin design which seemed to fix all the problems I'd been having with reliability and stability and whatnot. I found this pretty motivating and so I finally made the final push and finished it! So here it is! Key design features of the rocket include an authentic "Korolev Cross" booster separation sequence, hot-staging between stages 2-3, and of course the SAS launch escape system. On a related note, I'd like to credit @MaianTreyfor suggesting the use of ant and spider engines as LOX vents back on reddit. The Soyuz spacecraft feature special docking ports that attempt to replicate the look of the original "probe and drogue" docking ports present on the 7K-OK models while remaining functional. When properly aligned the clamp-o-tron jr. ports on each Soyuz come close enough to attract each other. This'll keep the Soyuz from drifting apart without actually being docked. Timewarp at your own risk, however. Like I wrote earlier, this is meant to represent the first generation of the Soyuz rocket and spacecraft. I thought I'd start here to provide a good base to iterate on for future variants and upgrades. So stay tuned as I'll probably post more Soyuz variants in the future! And thanks for reading Controls 4: Stage 3 (Block I) shutdown 5: Deploy solar panels and antenna 6: Descent module RCS toggle Backspace: Activate SAS (launch escape) 0: Detach descent module after abort Instructions For the best booster separation, stage at exactly 1:29 or T+89s After achieving orbit with stage 3 press 4 to shutdown the engine. Then stage while throttled up to get the stage 3 vent effect. ***There seems to be a bug where if you try to EVA from a command seat while the kerbal is facing directly towards Kerbin, the kerbal will get stuck. So… don’t do this! Downloads 7K-OK-P (Passive port) https://kerbalx.com/tehmattguy/Soyuz-7K-OK-P 7K-OK-A (Active port) https://kerbalx.com/tehmattguy/Soyuz-7K-OK-A 7K-OKS (SSVP probe port) https://kerbalx.com/tehmattguy/Soyuz-7K-OKS Salyut 1 (SSVP drogue port) https://kerbalx.com/tehmattguy/Salyut-1