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Ussari Space Program! A highly [unstable] modded 64K career from behind the iron kertain!

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CatastrophicFailure

CatastrophicFailure

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Greetings Comrades! Today, we get first glimpse of not one but two incredible sights! Just after dawn Technology Demonstrator 1 blast off into cloudless sky!

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T-DEM1 is carrying several advanced new technologies for communication and planetary observation, and is boldly bound where no probe has gone before? Why does sound familiar...?

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Stolitsa places payload into initial 180x120km orbit at 42 degrees inclination. Immediately visible are new highly advanced sun-tracking solar arrays, to avoid embarrassing loss of power due to incorrect attitude. High-pressure balloon fuel tanks, orbital telescope, and long-range conical antenna also visible on new ultra-lightweight deep space chassis.

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Hypergolic transfer stage places T-DEM1 on trajectory to Minmus!

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Long-term storage monopropellant engine provides minor course correction, and soon T-DEM-1 is approaching last unexplored body in local Kerbin area!

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First stunning high-resolution image from near Minmus returned by advanced long-range dish antenna!

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T-DEM1 passes within 22km of Minmusian surface, returning treasure trove of useful Science!, before swinging back past Kerbin. On-board engine then boosts speed to well beyond Kerbin escape velocity! Finally, after much work, T-DEM1 successfully leaves Kerbin SOI while maintaining contact with Kermangrad control! 96Gm-range antenna should maintain communication well into future. Science from interplanetary space has at long last been returned!

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We move from victory to victory, Comrades! With preparations for historic launch to orbit of brave Sergei Kermanski proceeding as planned, Imperious Academy of Sciences has announced Sergei will command first flight of new, next-generation space ship!

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Pioneering Orbiters of early crewed space program are, by necessity, greatly lacking in utility. New space craft will open door to not only exist but perform useful tasks in space! Shown here with Sergei is early mock-up of yet-unnamed craft, showcasing capacity for two crewmembers.

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Docking port, RCS with full translation authority, and reliable hypergolic engines capable of multiple restarts will open way to long-term presence in LKO and beyond!

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Shown here are high-capacity toroid fuel tanks in service module, along with multiple banks of batteries. Later revisions will feature fuel cells for long-duration flight, once technology has been researched. Crew tunnel and small living space runs down centerline of ship from return capsule to docking port.

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Despite exponential increase in capability, new ship is only modest increase in mass. Current Orbiter flight article masses hefty 4.5 tonnes, mostly due to heavy launch escape system and protective nosecone. Next generation ship weighs only 5.7 tonnes! Great weight savings have been realized by replacing heavy escape tower with radially-mounted solid abort motors. 5.7 tonnes being just out of reach of current-model Stolitsa launcher, new high-capacity launch vehicle will be required!

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Stop that, Sergei. Is undignified.
Edited by CatastrophicFailure
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Ten Key

Ten Key

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We move from victory to victory, Comrades! With preparations for historic launch to orbit of brave Sergei Kermanski proceeding as planned, Imperious Academy of Sciences has announced Sergei will command first flight of new, next-generation space ship!

The photos landed on the drafting table without any announcement or ceremony. The engineer spared a glance at the interloper, knew better than to ask where the pictures had come from, knew from experience that it wasn't healthy. He squinted, reached over to flick on a second light, took a closer look.

"Bigger than their IAS-3 pod. What's this probe on the back?"

"You don't miss much do you?" The intruder's voice was casual, friendly even, but the engineer knew better, the compliment settling cold and hard in his gut. "It's too big to be a pitot tube. Could you mount an antenna axially?"

"Sure. Why would you want to?" The engineer leaned over the grainy photos, frowned. "These structural supports are symmetrical. Right down the long axis of the pod. Almost looks like an gangway tunnel. . ."

"How about a docking probe? Could that be an access hatch on the back?"

"Nope. On the wrong side of the heat shield." The frown deepened. "Unless. . ."

He sat back suddenly, tapped the photo. "These boxes. . .this could be an inflatable heat shield."

"Excuse me?"

"It's. . .a bit like an emergency life raft I guess. You go up to orbit, run your mission, pass everything you need through the aft bulkhead on the capsule, and then, when you're done, you pop this shield open and it covers all the delicate bits on the way down. All the protection of a rigid ablative shield, none of the drawbacks." The engineer ran a finger over one of the photos, couldn't help a bit of longing. "We messed with this a couple of years ago. Couldn't make it work." He shook his head.

"They really built this, this isn't a mock-up?"

The intruder smiled. "They shipped it to their integration facility this morning."

The engineer rubbed his eyes, his annoyance getting in the way of his better judgment. "We have file cabinets full of mission profiles that we've had to abandon because we couldn't figure a way to pass propellant or personnel through or around the heat shield on the capsule. If we'd had this. . ." He caught the other's careful poker face, cut himself off, was aware now that he was being measured. "Well, we work with what we have."

"That's right." The other settled his hat back on his head. "Make sure you remember that."

===============================================

Having spent a significant amount of time beating my head against this particular problem, I'm afraid I have to ask. . .how are you handling reentry with that docking port and access tunnel? :)

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CatastrophicFailure

CatastrophicFailure

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æSSÃâ€Ã¯I æÃâ„¢IäÃâ„¢ äF IMP×ïIäæS STÃâ€TíS

þñъÑÂòûõýøõ : ÑÂòõрхÑÂõúрõтýþù

тþûьúþ óûð÷ð!

ÙÚäTì

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ßрõôуÿрõöôõýøõ: íтþт ôþúуüõýт ÑÂðüþуýøчтþöøтÑÂѠò ÿÑÂÑ‚ÑŒ ÑÂõúуýô

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CatastrophicFailure

CatastrophicFailure

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Greetings, Comrades! Today, at long last, we put work of Kerbal hands safely on Mün, beginning with yet another flawless Stolitsa launch!

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Pay no attention to debris cloud from massive explosion.
Stolitsa places Müna 6 into slightly irregular 165x86km orbit...

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...then corrects it to slightly less irregular 156x95km
This marks upper limit of Stolitsa lift capacity, heaviest launch yet at just over five tonnes! After approximately 45 minutes of dwell time, powered transfer buss propels Müna 6 to Mün!

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Buss inserts lander into 38km circular Münar orbit, and begins several days of data collection and analysis of potential landing sites. Strange signals are detected emanating from equator near 45 degrees East latitude, but terrain is considered unsuitable for landing at this time. Further study may be warranted...

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In mean time, Müna 6 continues to return haunting images of magnificent desolation.

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With landing site finally selected, powered transfer buss initiates descent maneuver before being discarded.

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After semi-automated landing sequence, Müna-6 successfully touches down in powdery regolith! Primary science mission will have to wait, however, as this site was chosen for suitability of terrain and communication line-of-sight, and does not yet provide adequate illumination of solar panels for reliable data transfer.

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Several days later, Sun is now fully risen over landing site and science observations can begin in earnest!

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Fixed camera returns images of site that is extremely... suitable.

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Next begins power-hungry laser ablation and dynamic albedo of neutron studies, returning plethora of valuable science!

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With primary science mission completed, Müna 6 has been designed for long life span and will remain operational as communication link for future missions, perhaps to investigate anomalous signals!
Meanwhile, Münar exploration program of squishy bourgeoisie foreigners has met with considerably more limited success.

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(file footage)
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CatastrophicFailure

CatastrophicFailure

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Greetings Comrades! Our satellite delivery division is simply overwhelmed with demand these days, so today, a simple science experiment...Münar Grabbity Explorer!

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(pay no attention to random explosion)

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Stolitsa places MGE into standard orbit, then provides initial boost before separating. Münar Grabbity Exploer is clone of highly successful T-DEM1 project, minus expensive and unnecessary superfluous science equipment.

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MGE has simple objective: study effect of Münar grabbity perturbations and how they may influence future missions.

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After circularizing into wide orbit just inside orbit of Mün, MGE separates from transfer stage, still with significant fuel on board for future maneuvers. Now, we wait, and observe where satellite goes!

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Meanwhile, testing of new spacecraft design proceeds as planned. Here, flight abort at Max-Q is tested with boilerplate Blok C capsule, demonstrating powerful abort motors!

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After burnout, abort motors provide aerodynamic stability just like fins until apokee is reached, and they are jettisoned. Parachute deployment follows at proper atltitude

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Live recorded footage of pad abort test!

The day now grows close, Comrades! Tune in at specified time for spectacular live television coverage of historic flight of Sergei Kermanski into orbit!
Edited by CatastrophicFailure
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Shania_L

Shania_L

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Awesome! Glorious just doesn't quite cover it, so you'll have to take a standard Glorious, and dunk it in pure refined Gloriousness and then put a cherry on top (sprinkles are optional), congrats on a great laun ... ohh wait what?

Err, let me guess you never wanted that orbit anyway? :)

You do realise that for the rest of the evening I will be touring the Soviet folk songs section of youtube?

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CatastrophicFailure

CatastrophicFailure

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Awesome! Glorious just doesn't quite cover it, so you'll have to take a standard Glorious, and dunk it in pure refined Gloriousness and then put a cherry on top (sprinkles are optional), congrats on a great laun ... ohh wait what?

Err, let me guess you never wanted that orbit anyway? :)

You do realise that for the rest of the evening I will be touring the Soviet folk songs section of youtube?

For my first real attempt at an edited video I'm pretty happy how that turned out. Now I just have to hope no one comes along claiming copyright (and the irony thereof).

I can't be arsed to read Whispers (I'd love to but at this point I'm so behind theres no point trying to catch up) so I'm guessing that atm theres a bunch of sadness because of Sergei's death?

You can probably read faster than I can write :P

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Sharkman Briton

Sharkman Briton

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Caught up right after I said that I won't bother yesterday, and I got Sergei confused with Igor -.-

- - - Updated - - -

I might do a mission report based in the same time as this, with the same modlist. (albeit slightly tailoured so my computer won't kill itself) Who's ready for the space program of the best country analogue I can find on that there map?

- - - Updated - - -

Okay, do you know anything in that map I can use for an analogue of a European country or the UK? If not I guess I'll use Andacania.

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CatastrophicFailure

CatastrophicFailure

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Thankee :D

Altho I think it's largely a case of form following function (and gratuitous use of Procedural Parts). You can brute force your way into space in stock, but in 6.4 scales the tyranny of the rocket equation kicks in hard. It's challenging getting anything into space, let alone something that works well. So once you've put in that effort and finally do, you're naturally encouraged to keep it and just make small refinements. So you end up with something very polished, and ProceduralParts just amplifies that cuz you can dial in *just enough* rocket. Shania_L's designs seem to reflect that too, even tho we seem to have completely different approaches to solving other problems. Much credit also goes to the mod crews like FAR & PP, etc, who keep making them better and better to where even the taper of a rocket affects stability.

My first forays into 6.4 scale suffered from alot of aesthetic inefficiency...

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... and also, explosions.

ETA:

Speaking of aesthetics, I actually got

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to work including futzing around in GIMP and I'm rather pleased with it [/tootingmyownhorn]
Edited by CatastrophicFailure
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Shania_L

Shania_L

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Shania_L's designs seem to reflect that too, even tho we seem to have completely different approaches to solving other problems.

That would be your love affair with solid boosters and face melting G forces yes?

I may be further ahead in terms of "things done" (I have no idea how much actual in-game time you have burned though) but then you are tying your game in much closer to a cohesive storyline to a level I can only dream of.

I will freely admit though, I am slightly less restricted than you by (still) using 0.90 I do not have to deal with RealFuels ullage simulation and limited ignitions. This can drastically simplify my orbital craft by having a single engine that can do circularisation, orbital adjustments and then retro burn. Then ofcourse there is the equatorial launchpad :)

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CatastrophicFailure

CatastrophicFailure

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I was curious to see how far I could get with just unguided solids, after learning about the Japanese Mu series. For a (brief) moment I had visions of massive wedding-cake like launchers made of slapped-together BACC's. Went about as well as you might suspect. :blush: There's a reason Mu never launched more than a ton or two.

And in the interest of full disclosure, somehow my RealFuels install is broke. The "fuels" part works fine, but only a couple of engines have limited ignititions or ullage requirements. Kinda bummed about it but unwilling to risk borking anything else up trying to fix it anymore.

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