Weekly Challenge #3 - Land On Minmus

[Speeding Mullet]

Over the course of yesterday and today I had an honest crack at the Jeb level challenge (Minmus Elcano and return). I knew it was going to be tricky - My first visit to Minmus in KSP, my first rover in KSP2, and my first Elcano attempt in KSP2. 

Unfortunately, after getting an appreciable distance under my belt the rover randomly evaporated, and despite restarting and driving about 1/10th the way round Minmus a further 2 times it happened again and again. On top of that reloading was corrupt so each time I had to start from the beginning as this was the only save that would load, so I settled for the primary mission goal and beat a hasty retreat back to Kerbin.  Its a real shame as the rover absolutely would have been capable of doing it.

I found the rover wheels to be very lacklustre in terms of power, but the suspension travel was excellent.  There's definitely some work to do on rover wheels in KSP2 as rocket engines were definitely required to help build up speed.

Here's the full mission report of the (failed) Elcano, but successful round trip to Minmus.  Couple of postcards below:

Skycrane manufactured on Kerbin by Experimental Engineering Group.  They recently rounded their logo to present a softer image to the public

 

Seans Cannery sure do make an itchy space suit

 

Periapsis rocket supplies did the grunt work in building the rover and it shows - Hardly anything fell apart on the way to Minmus

 

After the third genuine attempt was foiled, there was nothing to do but return home to face the music of failure.

 

Interesting plants we have on Kerbin.  Must have been a good summer

So how would I describe this mission?  Frustrating but fun.  In essence the whole thing worked as intended in terms of my design being sound, fuel margins, TWR etc. but the mission was unfortunately borked by bugs that in the end I just couldn't work around.  I'll definitely be back to Minmus post a couple of patches to make another Elcano attempt.  Once you get off the glass, the mountainous terrain is interesting, and a real challenge compared to KSP1.

SM

 

[JebediahMilkshake]

I would love for these weekly challenges to be on Reddit again (like ksp1) solely so I can have the "Master Kerbonaut" Reddit Flair... anyways on my way to build a crazy Minmar SSTO

[KincaidFrankMF]

8 hours ago, Speeding Mullet said:

I found the rover wheels to be very lacklustre in terms of power, but the suspension travel was excellent. 

Great mission report! Re. rover wheels, the problem as I understand it is that lack of gravity = lack of traction. You go slower on the Mun than on Kerbin, and slower still on Minmus, because the wheels won't grip. And if you do manage to get up a decent turn of speed, you hit a bump and take off.

So I think that's just how it works, unfortunately 

[Speeding Mullet]

43 minutes ago, KincaidFrankMF said:

Great mission report! Re. rover wheels, the problem as I understand it is that lack of gravity = lack of traction. You go slower on the Mun than on Kerbin, and slower still on Minmus, because the wheels won't grip. And if you do manage to get up a decent turn of speed, you hit a bump and take off.

So I think that's just how it works, unfortunately 

Cheers! Ah you are probably right there. I remember doing a Minmus Elcano in KSP1 (similar design powered by 20 ruggedized rover wheels) and not finding it as "floaty" though so there might have been some changes along the way. I tested the rover on Kerbin with the smaller rover wheels and it wouldn't move, and even with the larger ones it barely gets up the most modest hills on Kerbin so torque could definitely be tweaked in the interests of playability, I think.

You still have to then design around low gravity with downforce engines etc. but at least assuming you design for the gravity conditions of the planet or moon you are on you aren't immediately thwarted by a slight rise.

SM - I'll have another shot at the Elcano a few patches distant!

[Anth]

Spent quite a lot of time on this challenge (over 20 hours) but KSP2 doesn't seem to like what I was wanting to do so see you all at Challenge 3 with the first patch.

Made an incredible little rover though. But the rest of the game just didn't want to cooperate well enough.

Edited March 14, 2023 by Anth12

[Socraticat]

It's my pleasure to provide this: my week 3 challenge submission- In video format!

Instructions unclear: made a rover in an SSTO instead of a Rover SSTO?

I'm convinced I could have made a legit circumnavigation mission out of it if the game was more stable. I at least wanted to do some more sweet stunts in my fancy rover!

Either way I'm having serious fun. Bugs and all. It's both frustrating and comical. Like watching the devs kerbal together a game the way I put together a ship.

 

For Science! (And Fun)

[Anth]

9 hours ago, Anth12 said:

Spent quite a lot of time on this challenge (over 20 hours) but KSP2 doesn't seem to like what I was wanting to do so see you all at Challenge 3 with the first patch.

Oh I meant Challenge 4.

@Socraticat Oh so you feel my pain! That video is nuts especially the wings. Loved the music and was that the tone of a heart monitor after a person has died at the end after the woo woo music?  haha!

[Socraticat]

59 minutes ago, Anth12 said:

...was that the tone of a heart monitor after a person has died at the end after the woo woo music?  haha!

@Anth12 It's a "pumping sim once" load screen, lol. And yeah, it's just a static 1K tone.

I figured there better be something enjoyable to listen to after that. 

Edited March 14, 2023 by Socraticat
Shoutout.

[Anth]

7 hours ago, Socraticat said:

@Anth12 It's a "pumping sim once" load screen, lol. And yeah, it's just a static 1K tone.

I figured there better be something enjoyable to listen to after that. 

Nice. I haven't had too many times where KSP2 has stopped at the "pumping sim one" point.

[Socraticat]

3 hours ago, Anth12 said:

Nice. I haven't had too many times where KSP2 has stopped at the "pumping sim one" point.

I embellished this a bit- just enough, I think. The game never put out a tone. I did have it pause here on load reapeatedly after crashing. Every time I started up this is where it stopped, even after reinstalling. Except, there wasn't a tone... it's a representation of my hopes to play... dead hopes... 

 

I was recording when the bug that killed the game hit. My screens turned black and blue with ancient Kree lettering all over, then shut off. I was so scared for my computer.

Booted back up, everything fine, but the video I was recording was corrupted, and KSP2 was forever "Pumping Sim Once"

 

Spoiler

Until I learned about the Private Division folder in /appdata. Delete that bad boy and the game acts like a fresh install. All bugs gone! But all game data gone too unless you save craft files first. Spoiler tag for Disclaimer: don't blame me if you try my anecdotal advice and you lose data.

 

Edited March 14, 2023 by Socraticat
Formatting

[Anth]

The appdata folder I actually deleted for the first time yesterday to see if I could break KSP2 but it just rebuild the whole thing from scratch which was nice. As time passes more and more people will be accessing that folder.

4 minutes ago, Socraticat said:

I was recording when the bug that killed the game hit. My screens turned black and blue with ancient Kree lettering all over, then shut off. I was so scared for my computer.

KSP2 gave you a system crash? weird. The worse I have had is a CTD.

[Socraticat]

1 hour ago, Anth12 said:

KSP2 gave you a system crash? weird. The worse I have had is a CTD.

It was, as you say, "Weird". The game may have triggered something else. I learned later that my corsair service was probably a year off of updates and I was also probably 2 months behind Nvidia updates.

[Anth]

1 hour ago, Socraticat said:

It was, as you say, "Weird". The game may have triggered something else. I learned later that my corsair service was probably a year off of updates and I was also probably 2 months behind Nvidia updates.

Hopefully it's a one off and isn't anything more serious.

[Malathion]

Completed the 1st part of this challenge.  Decided to burn the remaining fuel just sightseeing around Minmus instead of making the return trip.  Love the way the terrain looks and all the elevation.  Currently working on a rover to go back and explore some more.

.

 

Edited March 15, 2023 by Malathion
image problem

[determinationmaster]

weekly challenge #4: get ksp 2 to run on your computer without causing nuclear fallout.

[BeakyBuzz]

18 hours ago, determinationmaster said:

weekly challenge #4: get ksp 2 to run on your computer without causing nuclear fallout.

Don't be rude... It's not nuclear...

[whiteturtle0923]

https://photos.app.goo.gl/tt3zMG92EyNhTxW18

My album for the challenge, too lazy to caption it, idk what category this falls into. (One craft mission, no circumnavigation, no Mun landing)

[thewhitemetroid]

Did the deed. Still buggy but it was fun and challenging.

When it looks like this now, I can't wait to see it in a year or two.

[Vanamonde]

Interesting design.

[Socraticat]

Week 3 Submission (Post Patch One): SSTO Rover, Surface Deploy on Minimus, Rover Exploration, Rover Orbital Circumnavigation, Rendevous Valentina with Return Vehicle, Return Trip to Kerbin, Land on Beach. 

The Vehicles are "Horse of Another Color", and "Antony"

Soft Touchdown at Minimus!

Awww, "Antony"... Isn't it cute?

Patch One, GO!

 

Spoiler

Well, there's little time to edit a video after today's excursion, but I am pleased to say I have some nicely curated screenshots dubbed the "selfie gallery". I present:

Week 3 Submission (Post Patch One): SSTO Rover, Surface Deploy on Minimus, Rover Exploration, Rover Orbital Circumnavigation, Rendevous Valentina with Return Vehicle, Return Trip to Kerbin, Land on Beach. 

The Vehicles are "Horse of Another Color", and "Antony"

 

Even the engineers scoffed at my fuel calculations...

 

We flew colors to represent our hopes to fly "Over the Rainbow". All of them, actually. All of the rainbows.

 

Yep, we flew over them.

 

Take a glance at the galaxy's premier source of minty misconceptions. 

 

Soft Touchdown at Minimus!

 

Docking Port Jr. Safely Undocked!

 

These flats are not completely flat! Beware!

 

Awww, "Antony"... Isn't it cute?

 

Full circumnavigation via monopropellant. There was something suspicious going on with AP and PE, and there was no vector line the entire flight. Relied solely on the NavBall and Instrument readings. It's going to be an interesting video!

 

Valentina was tired after her long journey. Someone take her home!

 

Selfie to commemorate.

 

One safe landing on the beach! Couldn't get the atmospheric engines to fire (only one of 6 total would fire) but the Biplane design allows for some amazing high altitude gliding. Had about 300 dV from Hydrogen to help direct choosing a landing spot.

 

One bug wiped my craft shortly after planting the flag. On reload the vessel was a crumpled heap that fell through the ground. On second reload the vessel was landed just as before (before planting the flag) and this was my completion page. Recovering 4 kerbals from a random Kerbin beach, and it took me zero time.

Well... Guess that means I didn't get enough kerbal time today. Better get some more tomorrow! 

 

Edited March 18, 2023 by Socraticat
Reducing my footprint.

[DadJokeCinema]

Well, ran out of it time for this one, but I think I came up with a pretty interesting solution: 

 

[Kaa253]

Lander with a rover and an in orbit rendezvous refueler stage.
Minmus, Mun and return. 
Val ran into a bit of trouble from the reconnecting after docking back with the refueler in Minmus orbit and was forced to perform the Mun landing with the refueler still attached.
All just a part of the plan

 

 

 

 

[IbanLoL]

May I present to you, the ultimate Minmus sightseeing vehicle: the Minmus Tour Bus ! With no less than a 104 passengers (AND a viewing cupola), it takes you to a pleasant (but painfully slow) ride around Minmus ! 

Obviously the mission was filled with immense pain and I've had to re-do it a couple of times to be able to reach minmus and get back without any intervention of the Kraken... We managed to land on a lake then ride towards the statue.

It took me like 3 hours to get all of the kerbals out, unfortunately as I changed vessels to get them out one by one, most of them were eaten by the kraken in the process, so we only see what's left in the picture, about 40 Kerbals. So that aimed to reach the Jeb Level goal, except I didn't circum navigate minmus, I would have to be insade to inflict myself such a chore ^^

By the way, I try to post my challenges also on the discord but as soon as I post the message, it disappears (the bot takes it ou ?) and I don't know why. Couldn't post last week and this week on the new thread, I have the same issue. I have the right role though. Any ideas why ?

 

[Bingmao]

Maybe a bit late since the next challenge already started, but I finally reached the Val Level goal. Single-Stage-To-Minmus-And-Back-Rover. I did't have the patience to do the roundtrip drive around minmus, but I visited the flats and mountains, so theoretically it might be possible...

Ready to Go


3..2..1... 

With a little help from my friend Mun


Approaching Minmus


Visiting the hills


Look how proud he is!


Going back home (again with a little gravity assist)


I can see my house from here! (Only a delta v of 8m/s left, that was close!)


I missed the shore, but I returned home safely

[KincaidFrankMF]

That's damn impressive! Especially using the gravity assists that way. I rather assumed we just needed the rover to be able to land & return under its own steam - you might have hit some kind of super-Val-level there...