Jump to content

(Mostly) Solid Rocket Booster Grand Tour (Episode 2 - Gilly)

Ultimate Steve

By Ultimate Steve
in KSP1 Mission Reports

 Share

Recommended Posts

Ultimate Steve

Ultimate Steve

Posted
Posted (edited)

 

So, yeah! It's happening!

An important note, I was originally going to do an entirely SRB grand tour, but since I'm playing on a pretty old laptop and I don't have an infinite amount of patience, I resorted to using Vernor engines to dock. However, I have strict rules about how I am going to use them, and I will try to use them as little as possible.

  1. They may only be used during a rendezvous.
  2. They may not be used on any lander.
  3. They may be used within 2.5km of the target vessel if you are going less than 10m/s relative to the target.
  4. They may be used outside 2.5km from the target for maneuvers of less than 0.5m/s.

Related to refueling: In a normal KSP grand tour the vessel is refueled either by ISRU or by docking a vessel and transferring fuel. However, neither of these are possible with solid fuel, so for "refueling" I'm going to launch new stacks of SRB's to the mothership. If I could do it all at once I would, but that would most likely require a vessel in the 10k part range.

So, no, it's not really a true 100% SRB grand tour, but it's pretty much as close as I can get without setting my computer on fire.

 

Questions are welcome. More coming soon-ish. Enjoy!

Edited by Ultimate Steve
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Guest

Guest

Posted
Posted

Well I'm here watching this video with my kids aka Lisa and Nimzo...and we all agree this is totally insane. Just getting close enough for a rendezvous on SRBs only has to be ridiculously difficult. Good luck and godspeed!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Ultimate Steve

Ultimate Steve

Posted
  • Author
Posted
3 hours ago, Kuzzter said:

Well I'm here watching this video with my kids aka Lisa and Nimzo...and we all agree this is totally insane. Just getting close enough for a rendezvous on SRBs only has to be ridiculously difficult. Good luck and godspeed!

Thank you for the kind words!

As for SRB rendezvous, it's alright once you get the hang of it. The really hard part was designing everything. I think I started working on this back in June (!) and the two biggest challenges were the Eve lander and the launch vehicle. Originally the LV was supposed to take 1200t into orbit instead of 600t, but that didn't work out so well...

And I managed to forget solar panels on the Eve lander (which is out of EC) so Steve is stuck on Eve for now. :P I'm in the middle of designing a rover/plane klaw thing with solar panels to rescue Steve (myself, I guess). I've also completed a Mk2 refueler, which is lighter, shorter, and should not have the Kraken problem. Hopefully. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Ultimate Steve

Ultimate Steve

Posted
  • Author
Posted (edited)
16 hours ago, CatastrophicFailure said:

What's that "kaboom delay" in the Kerbal's context menu? Have you filled your Kerbals with solid fuel, too?

Oh, that's the "Kaboom" mod, it comes up on every part and allows you to blow stuff up at will. I don't really intend to use it for the actual mission, it just happened to be installed.

I will admit, though, I used it once (to get rid of residual strut nubs on the lander) but I'll reload the save and do it legitimately. Thanks for reminding me, I almost let that tiny bit of non-stock behavior through... Wouldn't want that to happen! :)

Spoiler

In case you want to know, the struts (used to connect the Eve lander to the mothership, they weren't present during testing) on the landing gear (which I really should have attached the other way) were the only parts touching the surface, causing the lander to slide down hill. I Kaboomed them off in order to get the shot of the flag planting without the lander sliding away. I will wither reload the save just after the landing and plant the flag much closer, or reload the one before landing and land hard enough the struts blow up.

 

16 hours ago, CatastrophicFailure said:

Love that one little wing at the end that goes derping off on its own. :D

Hahaha! Well, interestingly, I had landed, minimized KSP for about five minutes to do something else, and I checked and the wing was still flying. I went to record it but it only flew for another ten or so seconds before crashing. I think one of the other wings survived, though. It's currently on the steep side of the mountain, if I recall correctly.

EDIT: I reloaded the save and I'm only sliding at 0.1-0.2m/s (down from 0.5m/s) and I still have EC left, so, yay! I don't need the roverplane!

Edited by Ultimate Steve
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Ultimate Steve

Ultimate Steve

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Quick update:

After many attempts and for many reasons, I had to redo the landing from the point where I jettisoned the heat shields. Steve is on the mothership again and I'm almost done constructing the first of two "refuelers" in LKO. However, I have not had access to the computer I use for KSP for the last three days, and currently it's being defragged... It is at 0.82% and five minutes ago it was 0.81%. Hooray.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
DAL59

DAL59

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Ultimate Steve said:

Quick update:

After many attempts and for many reasons, I had to redo the landing from the point where I jettisoned the heat shields. Steve is on the mothership again and I'm almost done constructing the first of two "refuelers" in LKO. However, I have not had access to the computer I use for KSP for the last three days, and currently it's being defragged... It is at 0.82% and five minutes ago it was 0.81%. Hooray.

At that rate, it will take 34 days...

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Geschosskopf

Geschosskopf

Posted
Posted
On 11/25/2017 at 7:48 PM, Ultimate Steve said:

So, yeah! It's happening!

This.  Is.  In.  Cred.  I.  Ble. . . . .  Brilliant!  Good luck!

7 hours ago, Ultimate Steve said:

Anyone else think that sort of looks like a Kerbal without the helmet? It just needs a face... And legs...

Or just paint it brown and say it's a replica of the statue by the pyramids :)

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Ultimate Steve

Ultimate Steve

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Update, the gameplay for part two is done. Took me long enough... So now I need to do the video editing, which could easily take just as long as filming did (several hours of video I need to go through).

So, to pass the time, I'm also going to be doing really short videos about the funny moments I've encountered during my endeavor. :)

First one:

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 3 weeks later...
Geschosskopf

Geschosskopf

Posted
Posted

Well, I ran out of adjectives on the 1st episode but.... FANTASTIC!  First the whole Eve thing, which is hard enough normally, and then that cute little 1-legged lander :wink: 

I think I'm beginning to see some method in your madness.  I'm thinking you always have a number of SRBs of different sizes available to fire for burns of different sizes as needed, and all the stage rejiggering going on along the left edge of the screen was you picking the right ones for the job at hand.  Something like that?  Genious.  I'd have never thought of that :) 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...
This thread is quite old. Please consider starting a new thread rather than reviving this one.

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
 Share
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...