Constellation Mission Packs Discussion Thread!

[Majorjim!]

On 05/10/2016 at 5:18 PM, Majorjim said:

some game bugs..

Saints be praised, testing on Duna shows that the wheels breaking when docking is not present! There is nothing stopping my progress now. I will get to work on the Ares V then it will be time for launch!

 This pack has been worked on for over a year. It has gone through many many internal redesigns already but is finally nearly ready to go.

[Servo]

I've been flipping through this thread and have been inspired to begin my own replicas. I'm focusing more on functionality than aesthetics, but I hope to make them look good (after I make them work.)

What I've built:

SLS block II (200 tons to orbit)

Ares I (Orion or 18 tons to orbit)

6-crew Orion

Altair (4-kerbal mun lander)

Earth Departure stage (though I used chemical rockets instead of nukes)

Copernicus

WIP:

Cargo lander

 

 

[Majorjim!]

Just now, Servo said:

I've been flipping through this thread and have been inspired to begin my own replicas

Welcome to the thread! And to the life destroying mission that is a constellation recreation!

 What you have so far looks great! You have made quite a lot of progress and I look forward to seeing what else you come up with.

[Mad Rocket Scientist]

Is this good enough?

I'm not quite sure if I like the joins in some places, but the stock fairings made the engines explode.

[Servo]

I've been working on the cargo lander as well, though I haven't gotten to the aeroshell yet. I have a working MAV (I assume, the dV is there), and have built the frame.

 

[Majorjim!]

Just now, Mad Rocket Scientist said:

Is this good enough?

 

 

I'm not quite sure if I like the joins in some places, but the stock fairings made the engines explode.

Looks great man! I do agree the shell needs a lot of cleaning up but it does look very cool.

[pTrevTrevs]

How many crew members is best for the Mars portion of the mission? I was considering bringing only three to make it easier to manage during the surface activity portions and to not have to put as many crew capsules in smaller areas of the ships, like Orion, the Ascent Vehicle, and the transfer vehicle, but I think that only sending three to Mars seems a little... off... to me, like if NASA were sending people out into space on an extremely prestigious mission that could probably only be flown once due to time and budgetary constraints, you think they would send more than that.

[Majorjim!]

36 minutes ago, pTrevTrevs said:

How many crew members is best for the Mars portion of the mission? I was considering bringing only three to make it easier to manage during the surface activity portions and to not have to put as many crew capsules in smaller areas of the ships, like Orion, the Ascent Vehicle, and the transfer vehicle, but I think that only sending three to Mars seems a little... off... to me, like if NASA were sending people out into space on an extremely prestigious mission that could probably only be flown once due to time and budgetary constraints, you think they would send more than that.

For the real one they where sending 6 I believe.

 I am sending 5 in the rebuild, unlike my original packs 6.

[pTrevTrevs]

44 minutes ago, Majorjim said:

For the real one they where sending 6 I believe.

 I am sending 5 in the rebuild, unlike my original packs 6.

I would send six, but keeping up with that many while on EVA and with three or four other ships to cycle through will be a pain. Also, when I tried to make a small duna ascent vehicle a while back, I had lots of trouble finding a way to fit so many crew into a smal enough ship to fit in the lander. I think three will work, and I'm definitely not sending more than 5

[pTrevTrevs]

Altair 1 and Orion 2 docked in orbit for an LKO test of Altair and the rendezvous and docking techniques, like Apollo 9. After the miserable failure that was my first munar landing attempt, I decided to take it slow and call in the intelligence agencies to cover any indication that the first flight was flown at all. Those gold tanks you see on Altair's underside are drop tanks meant to provide a little extra DelatV for Altair, since it seems that its descent engine is to be used for course corrections and the burn to slow into Munar orbit. Once they are empty (and they are supposed to drain out first), they detach, and the spacecraft's own tanks can be used for the landing itself.

Man, look at that Earth Departure Stage, isn't she sleek? New fixed solar panels + Vector + awesome.

Edited May 17, 2016 by pTrevTrevs

[Servo]

I'm sending 6, because accuracy and why not. I don't see a need to flip through kerbals on the surface (KER rendezvous tool is pretty handy), and six clipped mk 1 pods isn't that much more than five.

 

Update on the Cargo lander:

+ frame/shell

+ drop-down FSPS and dock

+ slightly longer, makes it look better.

 

[Majorjim!]

3 hours ago, Servo said:

I'm sending 6, because accuracy and why not. I don't see a need to flip through kerbals on the surface (KER rendezvous tool is pretty handy), and six clipped mk 1 pods isn't that much more than five.

 

Update on the Cargo lander:

+ frame/shell

+ drop-down FSPS and dock

+ slightly longer, makes it look better.

Looking great man! Keep up the good work.

 

[Frank_G]

Here are my Constellation crafts. I dont really plan to build a complete Constellation pack or do specific replica craft, but i like to watch space videos and do some interpretation of existing concepts from time to time. And the NASA Constellation videos are some of the best for sure. And i really have a thing with horizontal landers. They are simply cool.

If you like to take a closer look, you can download all craft from my craftfile thread and the Duna Trek mission report thread here in the spacecraft exchange section.

 

 

13 hours ago, Servo said:

I'm sending 6, because accuracy and why not. I don't see a need to flip through kerbals on the surface (KER rendezvous tool is pretty handy), and six clipped mk 1 pods isn't that much more than five.

 

Update on the Cargo lander:

+ frame/shell

+ drop-down FSPS and dock

+ slightly longer, makes it look better.........

I really like the superstructure you created. Looks pretty solid.

 

19 hours ago, Mad Rocket Scientist said:

Is this good enough?

.........

I'm not quite sure if I like the joins in some places, but the stock fairings made the engines explode.

The aeroshell is simply awesome - pretty close to the original concept. Does the lower aeroshell section detach without problems, so close to the engines?

[buhochileno]

On 5/10/2016 at 10:05 AM, Majorjim said:

I appreciate the offer mate but I honestly don't need any help with it. I have rebuilt it so many times already! Those other rebuilds didn't pass muster so they sit on my HDD never to see the light of day. If you like, you can post your progress here man.

 I prefer not to though, I like to keep it a surprise!

5 minutes ago, Frank_G said:

Here are my Constellation crafts. I dont really plan to build a complete Constellation pack or do specific replica craft, but i like to watch space videos and do some interpretation of existing concepts from time to time. And the NASA Constellation videos are some of the best for sure. And i really have a thing with horizontal landers. They are simply cool.

If you like to take a closer look, you can download all craft from my craftfile thread and the Duna Trek mission report thread here in the spacecraft exchange section.

 

 

man looks great!!, do the dune lander can actually land on duna?...I looking for cool constellation crafts for a NASA presentation in September...I work on the AAQ project of NASA and I have some cool ideas to present using KSP but not time to fully implement from scratch all the ships...contact me if you are interesting...

 

sure I understand, are you planning to release a package later?, 

...anyone interest into participate/collaborate on a presentation of a potential mars mission using constellation or architecture reference 5 of NASA for september please let me know, I work in the AAQ of NASA

 

[Frank_G]

1 minute ago, buhochileno said:

man looks great!!, do the dune lander can actually land on duna?...I looking for cool constellation crafts for a NASA presentation in September...I work on the AAQ project of NASA and I have some cool ideas to present using KSP but not time to fully implement from scratch all the ships...contact me if you are interesting...

Thanks a lot! The answer is yes. It can land on Duna. Check the Duna Trek link in my signature to see it in action around Duna and to download the craftfile, if you like.

[Majorjim!]

1 hour ago, buhochileno said:

anyone interest into participate/collaborate on a presentation of a potential mars mission using constellation or architecture reference 5 of NASA for september please let me know

Yes please! My rebuild will be ready long before then and I would love to put it forward for that.

14 hours ago, Servo said:

Update on the Cargo lander:

Parts of your frame look quite similar to mine man. I won't say what but you made some great design decisions there!

[buhochileno]

18 minutes ago, Majorjim said:

Yes please! My rebuild will be ready long before then and I would love to put it forward for that.

Parts of your frame look quite similar to mine man. I won't say what but you made some great design decisions there!

it will be great Majorjim !!...that's why I waiting for your parts, but I would need more than the crafts, I looking to show the complete mission hopefully including resources, can we speak more directly by mail or something?...how would be the best way to get in contact?

..sorry but I can't go into much details in such a public way, but more than willing to share the intentions with people that gets interesting...

 

[duk]

sooo can anyone post what they made for a constellation pack?

[Majorjim!]

Just now, duk said:

sooo can anyone post what they made for a constellation pack?

There are a few people working on their own packs man, some have shown WIP pics on here too, this page included. It takes a huge amount of time to make and is very hard to do. Some people get blown out by it, quit or take a break and some just want to make parts of it. You can do as much or as little as you like. This thread is for anything KSP and NASA DRM 5 constellation hardware.

[pTrevTrevs]

6 hours ago, buhochileno said:

sure I understand, are you planning to release a package later?, 

...anyone interest into participate/collaborate on a presentation of a potential mars mission using constellation or architecture reference 5 of NASA for september please let me know, I work in the AAQ of NASA

 

If you want you can use my Altair, Orion, and their respective launchers, although I think other people here have made better versions of Orion and Ares I than I have. I'll post the craft files when they're complete.

[Servo]

I completely scrapped my first cargo lander because the part count was getting insane (it was at 550 without aeroshell). I kept the basic design but simplified it (no more stacks of orange tanks), and have a new design which is working much better. I still haven't fit a MAV inside, but that shouldn't be terribly difficult.

+ Smoother top

+ hinges that work (most of the time. Haven't tested landing/ time warp)

+ landing gear isn't jittery (it slowly spun in circles)

+Rover (Seats 4). I couldn't fit the DIPS (I may expand the front trunk at a later date).

UPDATE:

Added an Aeroshell, though hyperedit isn't working great, so testing is limited. Deployment seems to be the biggest issue atm, especially of the MAV (it keeps exploding). Also, I fit the DIPS into the front trunk by expanding it another I-beam. No real testing has been done though, besides the hinges, that's for after I get hyperedit to work again.

The front needs a little work, I may wind up replacing that part with a heat shield, though I don't think it would help much. Has anyone done testing with a similar setup with regards to aerocapture/heat problems?

 

Edited May 18, 2016 by Servo
Update that didn't warrant a new post

[Majorjim!]

8 hours ago, Servo said:

Has anyone done testing with a similar setup with regards to aerocapture/heat problems?

Yup. There will be no issues at all with heating. Duna's atmosphere is very forgiving even at interplanetary speeds.

 Looking at the first pics I can see that the wheels are blocked on both of your rovers. You will need to move them away from the main body so they can operate.

 I am happy to see you using a thermo hinge! Any issues with it?

[Servo]

1 hour ago, Majorjim said:

Yup. There will be no issues at all with heating. Duna's atmosphere is very forgiving even at interplanetary speeds.

 Looking at the first pics I can see that the wheels are blocked on both of your rovers. You will need to move them away from the main body so they can operate.

 I am happy to see you using a thermo hinge! Any issues with it?

I was wondering why the wheels weren't working. Do you have any suggestions that fit in roughly the same area and still work?

As for the thermo hinges, they're a really primitive design (I'm not using editor extensions/NoOffsetLimits), but they are working well thus far. The only major problem was with a drop test, but I don't think that was the hinges's fault.

[Majorjim!]

29 minutes ago, Servo said:

I was wondering why the wheels weren't working. Do you have any suggestions that fit in roughly the same area and still work?

As for the thermo hinges, they're a really primitive design (I'm not using editor extensions/NoOffsetLimits), but they are working well thus far. The only major problem was with a drop test, but I don't think that was the hinges's fault.

The wheel issue is tricky. Unity 5, the present used version broke wheels completely. That is why it was heavily advertised as a 1.1 feature and then dropped from every single 1.1 release notes.

 As a fix Squad had to disable them when they are clipped a certain amount into other parts to stop a phantom force. It is trial and error to get them to work. Make sure they are not too clipped and see if the wheels work. If not move them outward a little bit at a time and test them.

If your ramp is secured away from the hinge area you will need to strut it to keep it secure until it is released.

[buhochileno]

23 hours ago, Frank_G said:

Thanks a lot! The answer is yes. It can land on Duna. Check the Duna Trek link in my signature to see it in action around Duna and to download the craftfile, if you like.

can you help me to test your duna lander?, I was trying to separate that craft from the rocket but then I was not sure which one was the root to control the lander...also I get confuse with the action key, for some reason is not able to lift off not even a little bit from the ground until I make some of the shell to be separated...Action key 7 dosn't seems to cut the drag parachutes or even deploy the regular oes...but I'm probably doing something wrong...any tips to test the duna lander alone from kerbal surface and orbit?....

 

Thanks!

Just now, buhochileno said:

can you help me to test your duna lander?, I was trying to separate that craft from the rocket but then I was not sure which one was the root to control the lander...also I get confuse with the action key, for some reason is not able to lift off not even a little bit from the ground until I make some of the shell to be separated...Action key 7 dosn't seems to cut the drag parachutes or even deploy the regular oes...but I'm probably doing something wrong...any tips to test the duna lander alone from kerbal surface and orbit?....

 

Thanks!

...also can't get the ascent vehicle to separate...