Jump to content

The Gaelan Space Race (we have a winner!)


Recommended Posts

37 minutes ago, Spaceman.Spiff said:

Alright, I’ve figured out the first few rockets I want to launch. Haven’t actually started the space race save though; I’m designing all the missions in a test save. I also need to figure out how Historian works. 

"Test save"? :mad: The whole point of the "no reverts" thing is so that you don't know if it'll work until you try it- testing everything in another save is reverting by proxy (as are any simulation mods like KRASH) so quit pretending to do the missions and just do them!

Also, Historian works automatically every time you press F1. The default config includes plenty of information- craft name, altitude, biome and which SOI it's in.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@jimmymcgoochieHere is the required order of some tasks:
 

  • First flyby of Iota;
  • First impactor on Iota- must hit the ground at >100m/s;
  • First orbit of Iota;
  • First soft landing on Iota;

Is it legal to launch a craft from the KSC bound for "First orbit of Iota" prior to  launching a craft from KSC bound for "First flyby of Iota".  Or do I have to wait until after the "First impactor on Iota" is completed before launching the craft bound for "First orbit of Iota"?

If the answer is that it is legal, then can we assume that multiple missions can be launched in parallel, and each task is completed in order based on UT.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, jinnantonix said:

@jimmymcgoochieHere is the required order of some tasks:
 

  • First flyby of Iota;
  • First impactor on Iota- must hit the ground at >100m/s;
  • First orbit of Iota;
  • First soft landing on Iota;

Is it legal to launch a craft from the KSC bound for "First orbit of Iota" prior to  launching a craft from KSC bound for "First flyby of Iota".  Or do I have to wait until after the "First impactor on Iota" is completed before launching the craft bound for "First orbit of Iota"?

If the answer is that it is legal, then can we assume that multiple missions can be launched in parallel, and each task is completed in order based on UT.

  1. Yes. Originally I had intended the Iota and Ceti objectives to be done in parallel, but since I've moved those then go ahead.
  2. Still only two active missions (that will complete objectives) allowed at once, the objectives must be completed in order and you can't launch anything for phase 2 without completing everything in phase 1 (and so on).

Here I was thinking I'd gone into too much detail with the rules, when it seems I wasn't detailed enough :rolleyes:

Edited by jimmymcgoochie
Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, jimmymcgoochie said:
  1. Yes. Originally I had intended the Iota and Ceti objectives to be done in parallel, but since I've moved those then go ahead.
  2. Still only two active missions (that will complete objectives) allowed at once, the objectives must be completed in order and you can't launch anything for phase 2 without completing everything in phase 1 (and so on).

Here I was thinking I'd gone into too much detail with the rules, when it seems I wasn't detailed enough :rolleyes:

@jimmymcgoochie I think you may need to add (2) to the rules in the OP.  "only two active missions (that will complete objectives) allowed at once"

Also, I still don't seem to be added as an entry, do you need anything else from me?

 

Edited by jinnantonix
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've updated the rules and objectives a little bit- added the rule about "active missions" which I thought I'd included before but hadn't, and removed the objective to put a relay network around Gael as it doesn't really accomplish anything.

I'm not seeing very many progress posts so far... But when you do do them, can you please include a summary at the end of which objectives you've completed and the UT time you completed them, it'll make it easier for me to track everything (I might need a spreadsheet...)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

YKFpWOo.png

Greebfap II

After the resounding success of Greebfap I, the gaelan engineers set their task of creating a more stable one.

hW7W5Oe.png

*whispers*

WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE PUT LESS FUEL IN IT?

*2 minutes later*

Z7dDmZo.png

Well that was fun. Let's get some science from the Launchpad, since there's nothing on the Runway.

ITatiXf.png

Objectives acheived:

Nothing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Getting back into KSP after almost a year was a truly humbling experience. I don't intend to win this challenge, I can barely steer a rocket straight after being away for so long! :DThis is how far I have progressed in the first two in-game days.

n5U2DIB.png

Society of Monolith Priests

Through Exploration, Salvation.

1. The Suborbital Hop

Spoiler

To get to the initial height of 5km AGL, a specialized rocket stage powered by 4 mini SRBs was launched. Dubbed the Sub-O II, the rocket handled poorly, only just making it past the mark.

bn6aScE.png

This next iteration of the rocket, (dubbed Sub-O III)  has three stages, the first two stages being almost identical Hammer SRBs , with the Sub-O II acting as the third stage. This rocket would reach the 100 km mark.

nPv2iHU.png

The rocket does not have SAS which makes it difficult to control. The GearKerbs of the Society of Monolith Priests came up with a solution: The Spin Stabilization. The fins are angled in such a way that aerodynamics makes the rocket spin on its forward axis rapidly, thus dampening any lateral perturbation which led to loss of previous versions of this rocket. However, that means that the rocket can only go in one direction, straight up.

0aw8Pk1.png

But that was sufficient for the GearKerbs as they watched the rocket break through to the upper atmosphere. The first stage separation happened cleanly and the second stage fired.

NRZo2lI.png

The second stage separation and the third stage ignition was... less than harmonious. The hot flames from the violently rotating projectiles exploded the empty second stage. If a GearKerb said that his heart did not clench at that moment, he/she is either lying, or is the Great Priest.

Zk9V3zZ.png

The rocket achieved its target to reach outer space while collecting all the science it can. More launches would be needed to collect all available science.

Myx8XEr.png

The upper stage of the rocket crash landed just beyond the mountains. Precious data was lost, but GearKerbs gained knowledge of the re-entry behaviour of the upper stage. Apparently the angled fins caused heavy aerodynamic deceleration which reduced the speed to 30 m/s at impact. In theory, this would be survivable, given the cage in which the instruments were packed has an impact rating of 80 m/s. But the impact angles matter. If the upper stage hits the ground nose-first, it is destroyed. But if it lands on its side, the empty SRBs act as crumple zones to absorb the impact. The following is an example of the sideways landing which survived

VEOcx4H.png

Notice how two of its four SRBs sacrificed themselves to protect the probe core and the data. To think we could land back objects from outer space without a parachute... Praise the Monoliths!!

 

2. The Orbital Shot

Spoiler

After repeated suborbital launches of the Sub-O III rocket with a 80% success rate of safe landing and recovery, the Society of Monolith Priests decided to take risks. The Sub-O rocket was designed with a LFO upper stage for more efficiency and maneuverability.

HJH7Z27.png

While the concept was sound on paper, reality was more often than not, disappointing. The rocket tended to veer off in all sorts of unwanted directions. Roll control was practically non existent, and the rocket found its nose pointing in the wrong direction quite often. However, the second failure saw the rocket go quite far to the east of the space center and collecting a lot of science, enough to unlock the FLYWHEELS! Praise the Monoliths!

eNM3RFx.png

The modified Sub O IV was now much more capable. The first test was launched to be suborbital flight aiming for testing the avionics and control authority of the upper stage, but the rocket was good enough to make orbit.

EGCq3FX.png

meTtEkx.png

dovs2gD.png

The rocket got into orbit,  and after an hour of floating about aimlessly, was deorbited.

zdGwuvm.png

While the initial plan was to bring back only the probe core and the science experiments along, the operators got wayyyy too attached to the upper stage. Recovering it would take a while as it landed in another continent. But thats not a big deal, we will have to launch a few more of these to get enough science for getting a probe anywhere near the moons of Gael. May the Monoliths illuminate our path to victory.

Objectives Completed :

1. First Launch (5km AGL): Y1 D01 03:41:39

2.  Leaving the atmosphere : Y1 D01 03:51:34

3. Orbit around Gael : Y1 D02 00:03:32

4. Return from Orbit : Y1 D02 01:23:44

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just to chivvy you all along a bit, here are some highlights of my own random blundering through my own challenge:

OP2kqHp.png

Not my first launch- that was a puny Spudnik-based thing that barely cleared the atmosphere and didn't warrant a screenshot- or even the second- that was a cluster of atmospheric sounding rockets, all carried by the same core rocket and fired off into the upper atmosphere for pressure data and stuff, then parachuted back down- but it'll do the job.

NkWMSDf.png

Reached orbit after 2 hours and 17 minutes, ended up half way to Iota due to an overpowered SRB second stage.

Then I launched a terrible noodle rocket with about 20 FL-T200 fuel tanks in the stack, meaning it bent almost 90 degrees at times due to a lack of rigidity and a lack of attitude control from gimballess SRBs and not lighting the core Swivel until said SRBs had burnt out. Ended up in vaguely the right orbit, headed out to Iota.

oRqbXZH.png

Everything was working fine, but then it got stuck pointing straight down towards the moon and the signal died so it ended up crashing. Which is actually what the objective wanted in the first place.

Du8mO8z.png

Is it just me, or is that mountain to the north of the GSC an obvious volcano?

Moonshot 2 succeeded where its predecessor had failed- first by not trying to fold itself in half, then by aligning its orbit with Ceti only to go to Iota instead (whoops... but Iota happened to be in exactly the right place to salvage that mistake for minimal fuel cost), and finally making it to Gael's inner moon, capturing into orbit and landing with both sunlight and signal. And a nice view.

KrUQo2T.png

At 3200m/s remaining in the tanks after the landing, this thing was stupidly overbuilt.

A few minutes short of ten days in so far. I've only been doing single missions at a time so there's plenty of scope to go faster! And I've just realised that I've forgotten about the "orbit Gael and return" thing...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, Spaceman.Spiff said:

@jimmymcgoochie where did you get the Scatterer configs for GPP?

I’m just using the default scatterer configs.

There are GPP cloud textures on CKAN too- I have the high res version.

Edited by jimmymcgoochie
Clouds are EVE, not scatterer
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Phase 1: First small steps

aHTpxSO.png

MISSION 1:
  Y1 D1 00:05:14  - Y1 D1 00:09:01

  • First launch- must reach 5km AGL;  Completed Y1 D1 00:05:58
  • First to reach space- must leave the atmosphere; Completed Y1 D1 00:09:01
Spoiler

Started with a whole bunch of science experiments around the KSC using missiles and probes, and manually controlled soft landing with the Swivel engine.  Many crashes and explosions, but the probes are tough, and so got plenty of science points.  The first launch was an old caveman design of an asparagus launch craft from my archives, which can get about 1 ton payload to orbit.  The craft is very stable and comparatively rigid, but doesn’t like the high drag of the payload with no fairing - the craft flipped over at altitude 30km, but I was able to regain control and get to space and an Ap altitude of 350km, with more science points.  By the end of this mission I had just enough points to upgrade the tech tree with Survivability so I could get a chute – useful for the next mission with orbiter and soft landing on Gael. 

Paq7JTI.png

uwQUNQE.png

4m8YTNS.png

 

MISSION 2:  Y1 D1 00:028:51  - Y1 D1 00:52:45

  • First orbit- must complete one full orbit;  Completed Y1 D1 00:36:11
  • First orbit and return- must complete one full orbit before returning;  Completed Y1 D1 00:52:45
Spoiler

For this mission I again dug out an old caveman design return probe which has passive orientation control and so can land safely with no power or SAS, and uses a chute so doesn’t need a risky powered landing.  I wasn’t sure about the rules so to be certain I completed 2 orbits before de-orbiting and landing.  On the way I dropped off two probes which collect and transmit science.  The lander had some Goo experiments which were recovered after landing.  At completion I got another tech tree upgrade with Stability, and so go a PreMat barometer (for more science), and nose cones to upgrade my orbital launch vehicle.

XUNvmom.png

aHTpxSO.png

m7TgKG2.png

 

ksXSTXr.png

pkz63eY.png

 

MISSION 3:  Y1 D1 00:55:38  - Y1 D2 00:03:42

  • First flyby of Iota;  Completed Y1 D1 05:51:35
  • First impactor on Iota- must hit the ground at >100m/s;  Completed Y1 D2 00:03:42
Spoiler

Using the same launch vehicle, to get two probes to orbit, and then I burn straight at the centre of Iota, decouple and then burn another 200 dV prograde so that the fly-by passes Iota at about 6000m and reaches Pe before the impactor explodes.  The impactor collides with Iota at over 2000m/s

3QbPhXk.png

2cbyP2c.png

twbL63C.png

 

 

 

MISSION 4:  Y1 D1 02:25:17  - Y1 D4 05:32:40

  • First orbit of Iota;  Completed Y1 D4 05:10:15
  • First soft landing on Iota; Completed Y1 D4 05:32:40

 

Spoiler

Craft was very stable on launch and easily achieved Iota orbit.  I had some difficulty with the landing, the craft being somewhat top heavy and so was unable to keep the craft vertical.  But there were no explosions, and the craft collected science and transmitted it all to Gael.  Why did I take a “Science junior”, when there was no chance of returning samples?  Chalk that up to silliness, and a lesson learned.

fPUz5rR.png

kkZwJmq.png

 

rEUEqBv.png

 

rqo3wZW.png

 

p71T8mM.png

 

 

 

MISSION 5:  Y1 D5 02:01:13  - Y1 D6 02:16:55

  • First flyby of Ceti;  Completed Y1 D6 02:10:35
  • First impactor on Ceti- must hit the ground at >100m/s;  Completed Y1 D6 02:16:55
Spoiler

SWl08rk.png

 

OAHQ8VW.png

 

KGeZwPV.png

 

zhRnLVM.png

 

LqtKtUe.png

 

 

 

 

 

MISSION 6:  Y1 D2 02:58:54  - Y1 D6 05:58:49

  • First orbit of Ceti;  Completed Y1 D6 05:33:34
  • First soft landing on Ceti; Completed Y1 D6 05:58:49

 

Spoiler

With some lessons from the Iota mission, this craft adds more dV to the probe for a greater margin for error.  The LV is more powerful and stable, adding thumper SRBs .  I had one spectacular launch failure where I tipped the craft too quickly and stabilising fins would not allow me to steer the craft back to vertical.  Aborting by staging everything rapidly while under full power and at max q provided a spectacular explosion.  Forgot to hit F1 - I know, pictures or it didn’t happen, right?

The landing on Ceti was problematic, as I wasted a lot of dV dealing with a system bug.  The craft ran out of fuel 20m above the surface and hit with some speed causing the craft to tip over, but no explosions.  Lesson learned – over build landers with reaction wheels so they are easy to keep upright – important for the sample return missions.

gPXj5OS.png

YJKtXHg.png

 

 

Rs4YIU3.png

 

 

BhVpySN.png

Notice the weirdness in the graphics?

 

 

MISSION 7:  Y1 D6 02:21:43  - Y1 D7 00:23:44

  • First interplanetary probe- leave Gael's SOI to claim this one, however you can aim at another planet if you want!  Completed Y1 D7 00:23:44

 

Spoiler

I just made this a very light probe with suitable science instruments, and then threw it out of the Gael SOI at maximum speed.  Don’t know where it will end up, but hoping the antenna is powerful enough to send back some deep space science, including radiation and magnetometer readings.

2ySvQCo.png

 

wED1VVo.png

 

hW8JZgf.png

 

 

MISSION 8:  Y1 D7 02:04:48  - Y1 D15 04:53:00

  • Sample return mission to Iota- must soft land on the moon, run an experiment and then transport the data/sample back to the surface of Gael intact!

 

Spoiler

Although the craft and mission was (I thought) meticulously planned, things did not go perfectly.  The plan was to land on Iota, and then dock with the mother craft in orbit to refuel.  I had forgotten that there is no fuel transfer across a heat shield.  Lucky there was enough fuel still left in the tank to return to Gael.  With this lesson learned I changed my strategy for the Ceti mission, using the mothership fuel tank during descent, and ditching it just prior to landing.  The return to Gael was still quite fast, as I had enough fuel to accelerate by 800m/s to reduce the return time.

9abZR9P.png

 

6pjeFhM.png

 

JlB4Mkg.png

mUO4l1T.png

 

q6c0S90.png

 

IvFR1iD.png

 

 

 

 

MISSION 9:  Y1 D7 01:51:33  - Y1 D12 01:12:27

  • Sample return mission to Ceti- same conditions as above;

 

Spoiler

The Ceti mission was launched just prior to the Iota mission, yet completed later due to the additional time to transit to more distant Ceti.  Again this mission did not go to plan.  After landing on Ceti, and on returning to orbit  a delay in rendezvous caused by a signal blackout resulted in the sample re-entry craft losing  all power.  The Ceti lander needed to complete docking with a derelict craft.  This was nerve wracking and required patience, but was successful.  Due to a modified mission plan, there was less fuel for the return than hoped for, but enough to accelerate by over 1000 m/s to reduce transit time.  The sample return craft hit the atmosphere at over 3000 m/s, but the heat shield  easily handled the re-entry heating.

 

8E1kYDi.png

j7rSQEa.png

 

HHYBDIu.png

 

ERI4W6R.png


OsUuEEs.png

 

3Sn71iO.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by jinnantonix
Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, jimmymcgoochie said:

I’m just using the default scatterer configs.

There are GPP cloud textures on CKAN too- I have the high res version.

Default scatterer configs get me this:

Spoiler

rxPNkC5.png

 

(sandbox btw)

My first report will just be hideous I guess ;.;

Edited by Spaceman.Spiff
Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 minutes ago, Spaceman.Spiff said:

Default scatterer configs get me this:

  Reveal hidden contents

rxPNkC5.png

(sandbox btw)

My first report will just be hideous I guess ;.;

Try scatterer v0.0723 instead of the latest version, I had some serious issues with the newer versions but 0.0723 seems to work fine.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, jimmymcgoochie said:

Try scatterer v0.0723 instead of the latest version, I had some serious issues with the newer versions but 0.0723 seems to work fine.

Yay! That worked!

Anyways:

 

Nacho Average Space Program: Entry 1

Launch 1 -Success

A basic sounding rocket to get some science and complete the "First Launch" and reaching space objectives.

Spoiler

LJNWWNA.png

ASlUNpT.png

FVH2lA0.png

4OaMHxN.png

 

Launch 2 - Success

First orbit and a weirdly shaped scientific satellite.

Spoiler

15GlQVd.png

qKvTf1P.png

7YJAVNH.png

oh no! the oceans gone! (scatterer issues have been resolved since)

XCaTfik.png

KPGcObz.png

proof of orbit

LFJxA5d.png

 

 

Did a little science thing on the launchpad.

Spoiler

XFcGZPN.png

Then another one to get flying low science:

IyEgX2g.png

sg5Fwvf.png

aTEETJZ.png

 

Launch 3  -  Failure

Attempt at a scientific sat and first orbital return

Spoiler

It, uh, didn't go as planned.

Mp6Hvxz.png

e0OQuhJ.png

Launch 4 - Success

Modified the launch vehicle to be more stable; 

Spoiler

EtRH1u1.png

SZhbjv1.png

JJn6o0T.png

Orbit^

th11y3p.png

mA4mpOx.png

Deorbited and separated the return bit. Burned all the fuel prograde to get to a high orbit. Got a ton of science from the MITE experiment.

GL3A2fJ.png

dpz77iH.png

did a spicy flip, but we survived.

lxu8ugi.png

2CK2mxj.png

SO MUCH SCIENCE!!!!!

N7AegYl.png 

STRUTS!

That's all I've got for today. All of the Gael orbit objectives complete! Next up, Iota! 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

19 minutes ago, jinnantonix said:

@jimmymcgoochie what are the rules about concurrent active vessels and assembly of craft in orbit with docking ports.  If I launch stage 1 to orbit awaiting docking, then launch stage 2 intent on docking in Gael orbit, is that two active vessels?

What exactly are you launching to dock together?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 hours ago, jimmymcgoochie said:

What exactly are you launching to dock together?

For the Iota sample return mission, I will be using an Apollo style craft.  It's large, and so I was thinking to launch it in two parts, and assemble in Gael orbit prior to transfer to Iota.

Edit:  I don't need to to this any more, I can launch as a single craft.  But it may be worthwhile knowing the rule for later in the challenge.

Edited by jinnantonix
Link to comment
Share on other sites

@jinnantonix can you post the times that you completed each objective?

@Spaceman.Spiff Going to have to give you the "first launch" at the same time as crossing 70km as that's the first UT time stamp in your screenshots- maybe try using Historian to make it easier for me to track this stuff and/or include the times at the end of each post? Unless you have another screenshot with the UT time in it?

@minerbat and everyone else- times for first orbits must include the time it takes to complete one full orbit- with a screenshot at the start and end of that orbit and the orbital period visible in at least one of them, or a video that includes that.

Putting all the times into my patented scoreboard.xls tracking system, I have first launch and first to reach space times for everyone except @Lewie so far and a few orbits/returns too. Can everyone please include the times that they completed each objective at the end of their posts, it makes it much easier for me to track everyone's progress!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@jimmymcgoochie Sorry! I have been playing lately, but I have also been incredibly busy! ROTC at 7, school gets done at 3:15, go to work, get done at 8:15, after homework we're looking at around 11 pm. I have time today, so I will make some progress+post it. Cheers!

Edited by Lewie
Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 minutes ago, Lewie said:

@jimmymcgoochie Sorry! I have been playing lately, but I have also been incredibly busy! ROTC at 7, school gets done at 3:15, go to work, get done at 8:15, after homework we're looking at around 11 pm. I have time today, so I will make some progress+post it. Cheers!

No problem, take your time and do what you can when you can.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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.

×
×
  • Create New...