A(nother) Brave New PS4 World - The Continuing Story

[Clipperride]

There has been less activity around the Space Launch Complex this weekend due to the outbreak of a particularly virulent plague (I've had a bit of a sniffle!).  Jeb did find time to test fly the hastily constructed MK3 jet liner.

As you can see, Jeb may have pulled back on the yoke just a little too hard and was heard to ask, "Did anyone hear that 'clunk' from the backend on take-off?"

In other news, another Generic Lander was dispatched, this time to the Minmus Poles in an effort to restart the flagging R&D advances and plans are afoot for the Mun Orbital Laboratory.

Edited February 11, 2018 by Clipperride

[Clipperride]

With the recent focus on building and testing Space Plane's, the R&D department has been rather starved of new science data to work on.  In an effort to help unlock the last few, rather expensive Tech Tree Nodes, we have been working on conducting further experiments.

Following the success of the Minmus Orbital Lab, it was decided to send a similar facility to Low Mun Orbit.  In an attempt to be slightly more mindful of the Kerbal tax Roots the space program has been sucking up, a light weight lander was included as part of the launch.  The lander will descend to the Mun, conduct experiments and return to the lab for data processing.

On The Launch Pad

Testing Shroud Jettison

Solar Panels & Communication Dishes Deployed

The Lab In Orbit (After the lander has repositioned)

Edited February 12, 2018 by Clipperride

[Clipperride]

There was some exciting news from the Space Launch Complex today.  The Large Mun Rover has been given the go ahead, with testing already underway.

I like to base my larger rovers around a Cupola and Science Lab.  Add some wheels, batteries, science stuff, communications, solar panels and a landing system and it's done!  The main problem is with the CoM.  The Rover design tries to push the CoM as low as possible, which causes problems when you add it to the top of a launch vechile.  I've been experimenting with offsetting the Separator between the Rover and Lander and conducting a simple test.  Adding a small girder to the underside of the Separator and sending it, vertically, out to the launch pad, it's soon very apparent if everything is in line.  If not, the whole thing topples over, showing you in which direction you need to move the attachment point.  I'm almost there, but it's late and it can wait until tomorrow - when we hope to bring you pictures.

[Casualnaut]

On 2/10/2018 at 11:08 PM, Clipperride said:

There has been less activity around the Space Launch Complex this weekend due to the outbreak of a particularly virulent plague (I've had a bit of a sniffle!).  Jeb did find time to test fly the hastily constructed MK3 jet liner.

As you can see, Jeb may have pulled back on the yoke just a little too hard and was heard to ask, "Did anyone hear that 'clunk' from the backend on take-off?"

In other news, another Generic Lander was dispatched, this time to the Minmus Poles in an effort to restart the flagging R&D advances and plans are afoot for the Mun Orbital Laboratory.

Why isn't Jebediah pulling back on the yoke in that other Generic Lander?  

1 hour ago, Clipperride said:

There was some exciting news from the Space Launch Complex today.  The Large Mun Rover has been given the go ahead, with testing already underway.

I like to base my larger rovers around a Cupola and Science Lab.  Add some wheels, batteries, science stuff, communications, solar panels and a landing system and it's done!  The main problem is with the CoM.  The Rover design tries to push the CoM as low as possible, which causes problems when you add it to the top of a launch vechile.  I've been experimenting with offsetting the Separator between the Rover and Lander and conducting a simple test.  Adding a small girder to the underside of the Separator and sending it, vertically, out to the launch pad, it's soon very apparent if everything is in line.  If not, the whole thing topples over, showing you in which direction you need to move the attachment point.  I'm almost there, but it's late and it can wait until tomorrow - when we hope to bring you pictures.

When I saw large, I expected you to talk about hauling the equivalent of an 18-wheeler in space to orbit. I like how you put news in between missions, I might end up copying that... 

[Clipperride]

15 hours ago, Casualnaut said:

When I saw large, I expected you to talk about hauling the equivalent of an 18-wheeler in space to orbit. I like how you put news in between missions, I might end up copying that... 

Thanks for the kind words and feel free to use any ideas from this thread.  One of the joys of KSP for me, is seeing how other people do things.  I've copied been inspired by plenty of ideas I've seen on the forums.

Jeb wasn't on the most recent Mun landing and continues to cause problems around the Space Launch Complex.  At this rate he will certainly be on the first mission to a more distant target!

Generic Lander - Mun Report

Although only mentioned in passing in the above news summary, the GL Mun mission had one rather hair raising moment.  When playing on the PC, I had all the graphics options turned down so low, I was never able to read the dials inside the capsules properly.  Now I can clearly see the radar altimeter, I was using the internal view between 2,000m and 100m, trying to a make a more fuel efficient descent.  When the crew looked back out of the windows, it became obvious that they were coming straight down on a steep looking crater wall.  The discussions about whether or not to panic took so long, that two of the Landers legs touched down (uphill side) and the whole vehicle started to slowly topple over before a decision was reached.  Some quick thinking and fancy throttle work sent the Lander up to around 100m and away from the crater wall, allowing for a successful second landing attempt.

Tea and medals were served on the crews return.

 

[Clipperride]

We are proud to be able to exclusively* present these amazing images from the recent "Large Mun Rover - High Fidelity Field Test"!  We can confirm** that this is almost exactly what NASA would have sent to Earth's Moon had they had the Kerbals budget skills.

Legal Notice.
* They are not exclusive as they are also on Imgur.
** We can confirm nothing of the sort.

1. Initial testing of the deployment system.  After landing, three legs are retracted and a cluster of Separation Rockets fire.  That tips the LMR over onto it's wheels ready to separate from the Lander. The truss structure was removed after this test as it became fouled in the LMR wheels.

2. Bob ventures out onto the front step, ready for a simulated EVA.  The ladder is mainly for Kerbin tests.  When asked if the flight model will include a ladder, a spokesman replied, "The things been balanced now, nothings moving."

3. Rolling Westwards, towards the towering mountains, at over 65mph (30m/s) takes it toll on a rear wheel.  The mission will carry an engineer to carry out basic repairs.

4. The crew celebrate after a successful shake down trial.

Edited February 13, 2018 by Clipperride

[Geschosskopf]

20 hours ago, Clipperride said:

1. Initial testing of the deployment system.  After landing, three legs are retracted and a cluster of Separation Rockets fire.

I've used the toppling lander for rovers myself and it's fun.  However, you might not want to have Sepratrons and instead just let gravity take its course.  If that doesn't topple the tower, a nudge from the reaction wheels should do the trick.

The reason for this is Mun's lower gravity.  Gravity-dependent things tested on Kerbin to perfection will give very different, often dangerous, results on Mun.  I've found this out the hard way myself    So, a Sepratron adjusted to give just a gentle nudge on Kerbin will be MUCH more powerful on Mun and I'd be afraid of sommersaulting.  OTOH, a reaction wheel that doesn't do anything on Kerbin will likely be just enough on Mun, and can also be used to cushion the impact.  Or you can have a jetpack Kerbal push it over.

[Clipperride]

Thanks for the tips @Geschosskopf. On Kerbin, the rover topples over as soon as the 3 legs are retracted.  I'm not sure how it'll behave on the Mun, so the Sepratrons are there for backup.  I have turned down their burn time to minimum in the tweakables.

[Clipperride]

Thanks to @The Dunatian mission reports for inspiring this venture.....

 

Destination - Mun.

Last night's KSP session was rather strange!  After completing the deployment and field tests for the Large Mun Rover (LMR), I decided to build a launcher and do a quick test.  The test went so well that I just kept going.  Therefore, some of the images were taken after the event to illustrate the mission.

1. The test launcher and payload on the pad.  Luckily, I had included a full crew in the unlikely event that all went well

2. A close up of the actual Rover.  The Separator connecting the Rover to the Lander is offset to account for the payloads CoM.

3. The launch went surprisingly well, although the crew did need to transfer the propellant from the landing stage to achieve orbit.  A refuelling mission was quickly dispatched.

4. Getting ready for the capture burn as we approach the Mun.

5.  The descent stage ended up being way overpowered.  The decision was made to use this wide descent stage, in the hope it would provide a stable platform. 

6. As soon as it touched down, the top heavy combination started to topple over.  Having had recent experience of a similar situation with the Generic Lander, a quick stage and flight to flat ground saved the mission.

7. Three landing legs withdrew to allow the Rover to deploy.

8. Separator Rockets fired and the craft tipped over.

9. The front wheels were damaged during the launch, but it'll be an easy fix for the teams engineer.

10. All ready to explore the Mun and produce some extras science points

11. Map showing the Landing Site.

Edited February 14, 2018 by Clipperride

[Clipperride]

** To Read Further, Please Click Here **