[Success!] Purple Space Program (For real this time) [Updated 04 NOV 2018]

[Gordon Fecyk]

Purple Space Program

A Big Celebration due to Gravity!

AKA: What happens when you strand Jeb on Eve for too long

Hullo! "Not Manley" here, back with a for-real-this-time attempt at mastering Eve. Last year I put together a joke play-through based on an old Scott Manley YouTube video where he made fun of its auto-transcriber. This resulted in a, "big celebration due to gravity."

I know at least one person thought I was taking it seriously. A recent career change has left me with several days of paid vacation time, and since Alien Space Programs was fixed I thought I'd have a proper go at it. Only, let's have a proper goal:

Develop a single-stage-to-orbit craft for use at Eve.

No small task, considering it's nearly impossible to do in pure Stock. And while any number of add-ons can enable an Eve SSTO craft, let's try to keep it as close to Stock as possible.

The Conditions:

• Career mode play-through, Normal difficulty
• Only Purple Space Centre as a ground station
• Signal required for probe control, terrain and plasma interference enabled
• Part pressure limits, part gee-force limits, kerbal gee-force limits enabled

The Universe Changes:

• Eve as starting point
• OhioBob's Realistic Atmospheres (55 km ceiling at Eve, surface conditions unchanged), included with Alien Space Programs
• Ferram Aerospace Research aerodynamics, default settings for part failures and such

The Part Add-Ons:

• OhioBob's Eve Optimized Engines
• My own Explodium Breathing Engines
• Kerbal Engineer Redux modules
• DMagic's EVA Struts, EVA Transfer
• Bon Voyage automated rover control

Quality-Of-Play Add-Ons:

• TriggerAu's Transfer Window Planner and Kerbal Alarm Clock
• Kerbal Engineer Redux
• Stock Visual Enhancements
• Kronometer (22h 22m days)

This closely mirrors my Agencia Espacial Kanada / Hosers In Space story environment.

I'm up to four episodes so far. I'm curious about what other experienced Eve explorers have to say. Until then, I'm "Not Manley." Fly Safe.

 

Parts 1-4 Milestones:

• First launches, part tests on land and in Explodium Sea.
• Managed to get to space unexpectedly, gets low space science.
• Aircraft! First explodium-breathing engines. And no one dying, oddly.
• Survey contracts, first reusable craft attempts.

Edited November 4, 2018 by Gordon Fecyk
Success achieved!

[Gordon Fecyk]

Episodes five through eight are posted to the playlist.

Parts 5-8 Milestones:

• Orbit! Low orbit, EVAs, high (400 km) space science, discovery of blue-green and grey dots.
• Tourists, killing tourists, reviving tourists, and The Science Dance ^tm.
• First rescue from low Eve orbit.
• First rescue from really high Eve orbit. First comms failures. First probe to another world.

Edited April 14, 2018 by Gordon Fecyk
Milestones

[Gordon Fecyk]

Episodes nine through twelve are posted to the playlist. This series is at a point where I have tough decisions to make.

Parts 9-12 milestones:

• Achieving our first retrograde rescue. Added Bon Voyage for rovers and possible mobile launch platforms.
• First proper geo-stationary satellite deployed for The Rick Kerman Report. Began assembling our Gilly mission craft in orbit; a single launch just wasn't feasible with current technology.
• Bob Kerman departs for Gilly and sciences the [censored] out of Gilly. More The Sims play um, I mean, rescues.
• Bob returns from Gilly, and our engineers discover their biggest mistake yet. And, singing!

[Gordon Fecyk]

Episodes thirteen through sixteen posted to the playlist. More tough decisions, and please, experienced Eve voyagers: What should I pursue next? What would you do? Remember that this is a slightly modded Eve with OhioBob's Realistic Atmospheres, and I have access to his Eve Optimized Engines and my own Explodium jet engines.

Parts 13-16 milestones:

• The Science Dance ^tm Part Deux, and sending Doug Kerman to Gilly.
• Where on Eve are all of these engineers coming from? Plus our first attempts at high altitude launches.
• OK, that's enough high altitude launch attempts until we can find a better location and better wheels. Doug sciences the [censored] out of Gilly as well.
• Trust me, he's [yet another] engineer. Doug emulates his brother on the way back to Eve. Help wanted: What to do next?

I'm also looking at re-editing previous episodes to apply experience I gained getting better quality out of voice recordings. There are too few views and likes to worry about preserving the existing versions.

After building upgrades, we stand at minimum Level 2 facilities with some Level 3 facilities, just under one million Funds, and just over 2700 Science. Rep is over 50%. Further, I have a prototype space plane just waiting for the parts research, and a prototype 2.5 m launch vehicle that can take 9 tonnes to low Eve orbit tucked away in a sandbox save. Kerbal Engineer is definitely helping with the designs.

[Gordon Fecyk]

Episodes seventeen through twenty added to the playlist. There's enough science here to progress toward a space plane program, but I've been experimenting in a sandbox save to come up with a feasible SSTEO craft.

Parts 17-20 milestones:

• Using Explodium Breathing Engines as boosters, which isn't as strange as it sounds. Our first 2.5 m assemblies go into low Eve orbit.
• Gilly Amusements opens its doors and becomes a major Funds source. Our first Gilly base also makes it to the surface.
• Snipe hunts! Oh the joy of funds grinding. And our Gilly Amusements tourists have to save themselves... somehow.
• Let's do these tourist trips safer, OK? And the PSC is fully upgraded to all Level 3 facilities. Now for that space plane...

Speaking of space planes, I need help naming this odd-looking craft.

While I managed to construct a Mk3 craft, it couldn't take anything to orbit aside from passengers. It was also very difficult to return. This craft, however, actually works.

This was no solo accomplishment. It builds on Scott Manley's space plane tutorial, AeroGav's strange wing constructions, and Mark Thrimm's SSTO mathematics. 

So what should this be called?

[Gordon Fecyk]

Episodes twenty-one and twenty-two added to the playlist. These were rather long ones detailing the goal, construction, launch and (eventual) return of a single stage to Eve orbit craft.

Parts 21-22 Milestones:

• Get the new SSTEO to orbit and deploy a one tonne payload.
• Never send a probe core to do a pilot's job. And finally, success!

I want to tie up some loose ends and somehow design a better Mk3 craft with the lessons learned here, so it isn't over yet. But I need to be away from KSP for a while for real life issues. Until then, I'm "Not Manley." Fly safe.

 

Edited June 3, 2018 by Gordon Fecyk
Grammar. And video is still uploading.

[Gordon Fecyk]

Episodes twenty-three through twenty-eight added to the playlist. It's been quite a while and I hope I'm not breaking a forum rule necroing my own old thread.

Parts 23 through 28 Milestones:

• Completing the Mk2 SSTEO Razorforce Seven. @Razorforce7, thanks for the inspiration.
• Our Gilly Amusement Park continues to earn funds. Natalorf Kerman cited for performance beyond the call of duty.
• We go interplanetary with a combination of space plane and conventional rocket launches. We're actually Jool-bound.

I'm hoping to send a crewed expedition to Bin for the end of this series, but I must first construct a viable SSTEO capable of bringing 2.5 m assemblies up to LEO. For that I'll need the L.U.C.I.F.E.R. engine and a considerable redesign.

For now, we have a viable design for sending 1.25 m assemblies up on the cheap.

 

Edited November 4, 2018 by Gordon Fecyk