What did you do in KSP1 today?

[septemberWaves]

I landed some probes on the Mun. I also sent two kerbals to Minmus orbit and back.

[Tyko]

Landed my first probe on Duna. Discovered that parachutes don't open until about 2-3Km up...that was a nail-biter

Spoiler

Spoiler

 

[septemberWaves]

@Tyko Parachutes have a setting that allows you to change the pressure they deploy at. Set it to the minimum and they will deploy sooner for Duna.

[N_Danger]

 Val become the first kerbal to orbit the Mun.

She is really liking this ...stuff too!

[Clipperride]

Further to my previous report, my second set of Duna communication satellites fared better than the first.  By using a higher periapsis and firing the engines for longer, the main satellite and all three of the mini-relays survived in tact.  There are now six communication relays in orbit around Duna, giving good coverage for the uncrewed landers.

The second set of probes are at an inclined orbit (relative to Dunas equator) which gives at least some coverage to the polar regions and also the result of an encounter with Ike on the way into the Duna system.

 

Once the communications were sorted, the first of two autonomous landers went into orbit, followed by a largely successful descent and landing (my first touch down on a body outside the Kerbin system - yey!).  A slip of the finger sent the lander back up into the air and the bounce caused one of the landing legs to break under the strain.  It didn't cause too many problems as the science lander came to rest on its engine bell.

 

With the lander safely on at rest on the Lowlands, a full set of science was returned to KSP and snacks and medals were handed out to all involved.  The second lander will arrive in another 6 days and (hopefully) biome hop, using all 4 sets of experiments (apart from the single Material Bay) on the ground.

A great Sunday of KSP!  

EDIT - Did a small hop in the above lander to get a couple of science results from the Highlands.  I actually managed a better landing the second time sans parachutes!

In other news, I upgraded 2 of the engines of my Mk1 space plane from Panthers to Whiplash's.  Boy, does that make a difference!?!

Edited December 4, 2016 by Clipperride

[Palaceviking]

Spent bloody ages rebuilding my ksp install,  i see the attractions of going full stock now.

[Program Kerbal Space]

Forgetting to stage

Spoiler

 

Edited December 4, 2016 by Program Kerbal Space

[Brownhair2]

Alright, second Wader landed, and--

why is it missing fuel

JUST KIDDING HAHA PAY NO HEED TO THE FACT THAT THERE IS NOW AN ISLAND AND IT'S DAY

[hellblazer]

STS-1 Columbia's maiden flight

 

Edited December 4, 2016 by hellblazer

[Clipperride]

38 minutes ago, hellblazer said:

STS-1 Columbia's maiden flight

 

Very nicely done!  Looks stunning.

I'd recommend the book "Into The Black" by Rowland White, which covers the development and first flight of the STS.  There's some fascinating stuff about the NROs use of spy satellites, which photographed Columbias heatshield after Young and Crippen noticed an area of missing tiles.  The details of which had to be kept secret until the story was (comparatively recently) declassified. Great read for any fan of the Shuttle.

Edited December 5, 2016 by Clipperride

[Angelo Kerman]

I finished the first part of the Heisinberg's flight deck. Here you can see that you attach it to the Hangar Deck. There is a name tag on the flight deck that works just like the name tags on the hull pieces. The name tag uses the stock flag selection system, and it works independently of the ship's flag decals (so you can have a ship name/registry and a mission flag).

NOTE: This is a Work in Progress (WIP), so the end caps aren't done yet, and I need to make glow maps that outline the deck at night. The nice thing is that with the Flight Deck, I can make a flight deck extension piece (just the flat top), and the aircraft elevator.

[Triop]

Pumping some ore for my friend...

I know the location off the drill might not be the best...

[JadeOfMaar]

Today I developed a new biome for Gael in GPP. Its purpose is to completely replace a biome that's been found to be invalid in the coming release, and to add novelty to Kerbal Sea Programs.

There was a fair portion of flying about as well for visual confirmations, but in anticipation of all that flying + phys-warp I temporarily uninstalled SVE and EVE. Again. Taking away from awesome screenshots I did not anticipate.

 

 

Edited December 5, 2016 by JadeOfMaar

[algwat]

My new best LKO orbiter from  runway to 160km and back. some mods used...8)..extra fuel in the wing strakes...

[Jackelmyer]

Playing on Career and I just finished taking 19 Kerbal's to Jool and all it's moons.  There by also finishing up my entire tech tree with 6k+ science to spare...  What a freaking AWESOME ride...

 

Can't figure out how to get images to show here.  But pulled a total of 12,600'ish science.  I do have 50% of cash gains turning into Science.  And all 19 Kerbal's are now level 5 (mostly engineers and scientists).  In hindsight, wish I only took engineers!  :-p  Funny thing is that the ship I made to do the trip (severely over compensated on delta V) cost 960,000.00 roughly.  But made it all back in 1st time achievements.

 

And now... the building begins.

 

 

[DocMoriarty]

After a problem with the "I wobble everything to death" bug followed by the "I overwrite your savegame with the last loaded quicksave immediately" idioty i decided to start a new career game. Unlike before i use a lot harder values for funds, science and prestige and 300% penalties in case of fails. Science is set to 60%, funds 70% and prestige i think 80% or so. Hoping this will make me leave Kerbin and the moons to get more science before everything is unlocked. I really don't recommend these settings for new players though, it gets very tough and you really need to know what you are doing. Not much room for errors. I had several missions where if they would have failed I would have been done, more or less.

So with much more limited resources you have to find creative ways to do things. An example is my new passenger liner for 1 pilot and 3 passengers which is of course also useful for recoveries. Landing legs and stuff are pure luxury!

 

But not also science, funds and prestige are limited. Also disabled the relay stations on Kerbin so that i have to build my own relay network. Hard to do with limited science too. So far i just have the HG-5 antenna. I think i never built so small satellites, but good thing is you can shove a bunch of them in one go into orbit. Launched 5 comsats in one go and it was just a tad over 30K funds.

Sad part is, that the range of the HG-5 antenna isn't too great. Only 5Mm, so they are only useful around Kerbin. Need to experiment with multiple HG-5 on one sat whether that really extends the range.

On a plus side, the 36lf on each sat gives these satellites around 3500m/s dV. Yet the first one that i tried to install in a high orbit around Kerbin got totally lost. During the burn the signal to KSC was lost (didn't think about that) and couldn't shut off the engine anymore. So the sat accelerated until the 36lf were used up and now i have a sat going between Jool and Kerbin. Did you know you can get to Jool with 36lf? Well kinda ...

 

 

[Kertech]

64k is like playing for the first time. Looking forward to getting a new computer, I think I finally get the appeal of RSS/RO!!!

[elpollodiablo]

First time KSP since quite a while, never had to bother with with relays before.

So I played with some pearls on a string, which made me realize that decouplers also have a recoil. Spent a while adjusting the relays AP with very low thrusts while not crashing with those in front. Docking without RCS seems easy now.

I then broke a promise to myself and landed on that Mun called Iota without Kerbalism (damn i was wrong above, i had to deal with relays, i just never did it properly) because i didn't get any mission for Ceti yet and exhausted every other source of science. Well outside of these stupid part testing contracts.

Here is this version of ElPollo on approach

And the lander on the ground. Stupidity played a big role in only getting about half the science i could've, if only a little bit of was planning involved: I forgot all the Goo in orbit and the lander would've had enough fuel to do all 4 biomes if the whole mission was a little bit more sophisticated than "get back from the surface before you go to bed"

Anyway, really enjoying this planetpack (thanks Galileo and team!), and i haven't even started with the interesting things.

1 hour ago, Kertech said:

64k is like playing for the first time. Looking forward to getting a new computer, I think I finally get the appeal of RSS/RO!!!

If memory/part-count is a problem, i'd recommend something like SMURFF. Reduces weight of fuel tanks -> less parts -> less lag. Well unless you get a new computer at least.

Edited December 5, 2016 by elpollodiablo

[XB-70A]

13 hours ago, Clipperride said:

I'd recommend the book "Into The Black" by Rowland White, which covers the development and first flight of the STS.  There's some fascinating stuff about the NROs use of spy satellites, which photographed Columbias heatshield after Young and Crippen noticed an area of missing tiles.  The details of which had to be kept secret until the story was (comparatively recently) declassified. Great read for any fan of the Shuttle.

 

Thank you for that recommendation I will order it when my budget will allow it.

On my part as Columbia ever was my favorite of the fleet I really enjoy Space Shuttle Columbia - Her Missions and Crews by Ben Evans. The sole negative point to me being that, like all Springer Praxis editors books, the pictures are in black and white.

Their Energiya-Buran book was awesome too.

[capi3101]

On 12/3/2016 at 11:12 PM, Gordon Fecyk said:

When Ediahlil reminded me there's often more than one solution to a challenge, I thought about the urban legend about a physics student messing with their professor. Then wasted five hours to do this:

 

Takes me back to my meteorology undergraduate classes at OU, where we were supposed to use method number four to measure the height of the tower at Sarkey's Energy Center (a 15-story building). One of us used method number three instead. He got a correct answer, and then he got the bill from the department for a new barometer...damn things aren't cheap......

 

(1.1.3, FAR to go) Had another reasonably busy weekend. No screenies, unfortunately, but then again imgur is being jerky again.

Friday began with me picking up contracts to adjust the position of the Bleepity-Bleep 7c probe around Minmus, test a Rhino engine splashed, an equatorial sat around Kerbin and an expansion of the Hojo Beta outpost on Minmus - the last of which with a reward value of √450k. Accepting these contracts put me over the √1M mark for the first time in the current career save, money that quickly got spent as the weekend progressed. I went ahead and flew an Auk IV satellite delivery plane to deliver the Bleepity-Bleep 7d probe for the one contract, reaching orbit and landing the plane safely. After putting the probe into it's final position I got a replacement contract to test a Goliath splashed, so I decided to build a little boating testing rig which I dubbed the Lusitania 7. I conducted the Goliath test first, returning the craft to the Launchpad afterwards, then swapped out the payload for the Rhino on what was essentially an identical mission. Craft worked pretty well overall. Replacement contract was to grab 500 Mün ore for √150k, easy cash for the Piper Alpha 7 refinery. I finally felt comfortable upgrading the Administration Center to Level 3 after that, finally bringing my KSC to full status. Haven't engaged any strategies just yet. I also conducted a orbital junk collection mission with a Bill Clinton 7a grabber probe, a mission to haul a radial chute to low flight level with Jenwin aboard a Bad Idea 1a aircraft (with IVA landing), a mission to grab surface Minmus science using a crew report from the Hojo Beta outpost, and launched Bleepity-Bleep 7e towards Mün, returning the Auk IV launch plane safely. All in all a busy day doing a bunch of little things.

On Saturday I wanted to conduct an orbital rescue mission; since I only had one Kerbal to pick up, I went ahead and modified the Auk V repair craft for the job; the Auk Va successfully retrieved scientist Nasame Kerbin from orbit though I remembered later on why I didn't particularly like the Auk V - as a tailless delta, it has a few issues with pitch authority, enough to make me a little nervous using it for rescue work. After that, my eldest son goaded me into playing with Whack-A-Kerbal; why I didn't switch to my career save, I don't know. Lessons here - if you're going to play Whack-A-Kerbal, A) quicksave first, B) use a Sandbox, C) watch your aim. Fortunately, the damage was reasonably limited - I wound up taking out my 30 kilometer marker buoy for KSC 27 rather permanently. Spent the rest of the afternoon trying to replace the stupid thing, during which time I discovered that the Yeah, Buoy 7b tender craft didn't work nearly as well as I had hoped. After several capsizes and reverts, I wound up deploying the original Yeah, Buoy 7 tender to drop a new marker buoy. Other things that happened was the launch of the Overlook Hotel 7 expansion for the Hojo Beta outpost, a successful adjustment of the Bleepity-Bleep 7c probe and the final positioning of Bleepity-Bleep 7e. And after sixteen days, the new Spamcan 7a lander arrived at Minmusport and docked to the station.

Yesterday began with the arrival of the ferry craft Strange Cargo at Minmusport. With the arrival of the ferry, four Minmus-bound tourists were loaded aboard the Spamcan and sent down to the surface of the minty moon for contract, landing and returning successfully to Minmusport. Their return gives me a total of eighteen Kerbal tourists whose itineraries are now complete, leaving their return to Kerbin as the final step towards getting paid. While that mission was ongoing, I received word that I had successfully orbited the Sun - checking, I found that the Beep-Beep 7c probe had indeed left Kerbin's SOI, though how it happened remains a mystery; I'm guessing a close encounter with Mün probably kicked it loose at some point and since I don't pay attention to my sats, it happened without my knowing. Nothing has come of this just yet, but I'm sure it will. With two passenger ferries parked at Minmusport, the time had finally arrived to set up a refueling operation at Minmus; a new Piper Alpha 7 refinery craft, which was dubbed Deepwater Horizon, was launched with engineer Barna Kerman overseeing the site. It will arrive in eleven days. I then did a crew report for contract, and needing a little extra cash at that point, I accepted a contract to establish a new Münar outpost. The funds went towards the launch of an Old Bessie 7 fuel hauler for Minmus; it was sent there and will wind up arriving ahead of the refinery. I have two extant contract to rescue Kerbals from Minmus - Carta, who was in orbit, and Ziggy, who was on the surface and has been at Hojo Beta for quite some time. With the passenger modules aboard Strange Cargo and Next Objective full, I decided to go ahead and send these two back in the command seats of the ferry craft; Buremy and Jeb were offloaded to Minmusport. The Spamcan was sent down again to pick up Ziggy from the surface, leaving Edner down there alone for now (somebody will need to hook up the Overlook Hotel to Hojo Beta when it arrives, after all). Ziggy was loaded aboard Next Objective and Carta aboard Strange Cargo. I then shifted resources around; with the craft fully refueled, Strange Cargo left the station for Kerbin. Next Objective will remain where she is for now, until the refueling operation is set up - mainly this keeps me from having to deal with a simultaneous rendezvous of the two ferries once again. Last thing I did at Minmus was move Bleepity-Bleep 7c yet again, this time into a position where it could begin scanning the surface for ore readings.

The launch of Deepwater Horizon reminded me that I needed to finish moving the original Piper Alpha site, so I set myself to doing it; the outpost's final landing spot was about 1.7 kilometers from where the refitted Hellhound 7 rover had located a Münar ore deposit at 10.22% (which turned out to be the maximum reading I would find). I got Paphe out and jet-packed her over to mark the site of the rover, then drove it to Piper Alpha's new position, where the ore was measured at 10.20%. I decided not to sweat .02% and let the refinery sit. Since it was now fifty kilometers away and had an ore concentration of less than half that of the new site, I decided the time had finally come to abandon the Wildcat 7 drilling outpost site entirely. I waited until daybreak, then sent the Hellhound 7 rover the fifty kilometers to pick up Valcy and Corbas from the outpost. I drove carefully to avoid sending the rover into small craters, though considering where Wildcat 7 was parked originally (on top of a mesa), I had to enter that final big one. The drive went largely without incident, though since I was steering carefully I guarantee you it went more than fifty kilometers. With Valcy and Corbas retreived, I then drove to where I had marked the flat area north of the site to remove a flag I had planted there and then went to where the debris had landed from the accident the rover had incurred when it was originally driving over to the new site a few days ago. I found the undercarriage plate with the attached ore tank still intact and it was a simple matter for Corbas, who still had the tools from Bill's earlier visit, to re-attach the plate where it had been. The two struts holding the undercarriage plate will need to be replaced eventually but the repair work held for the remainder of the trek. The rover then made the long journey back to Piper Alpha, with rover and Kerbals all arriving safely - overall, a rove of over a hundred kilometers round trip on Mün. Not terrible, but not something I'd want to do again, either. The rover has been a real champion - I need to get around to giving it a proper name at some point...

 

[Leafbaron]

This weekend was spent doing heavy R&D, The goal was to develop 3 SSTO's capable of hauling various sized payloads into LKO. All goals met under budget and on time. The boys in administration were quite pleased with the plucky endeavors the engineering team pulled off. The First SSTO is a small nimble Mk2 variant capable of launching 6 tons to orbit. Perfect  for launching satellites and small landers with ~2300 dV. The second bird developed was quite an undertaking as it used Mk3 parts to effectively carry 40 tons to orbit, it's service will be to launch 2.5m landers with very high dV capabilties. The last bird developed used MRS 2.5m cargo bays to effectively carry 18 tons to possibly 22 tons to orbit, payloads expected to be intermediate landers with capable dV budgets and 3 satellite kernals to deploy relay networks deep into the Kerbin system. These three birds will carry Trehus Propulsion Laboratories space program to the furthest is has ever gone. Next development will be an all air breathing high altitude drop ship for delivering fuel to birds that don't quite make it back to KSC and also for recovering command capsules. In addition to the drop ship a tanker truck and winch truck will also need to be developed. TPL is proud to deliver these reports and pleased with expedience  of the space programs thus far. 

[Clipperride]

3 hours ago, XB-70A said:

 

Thank you for that recommendation I will order it when my budget will allow it.

On my part as Columbia ever was my favorite of the fleet I really enjoy Space Shuttle Columbia - Her Missions and Crews by Ben Evans. The sole negative point to me being that, like all Springer Praxis editors books, the pictures are in black and white.

Their Energiya-Buran book was awesome too.

Cheers, I will have a look for Columbia - Her Missions and Crew.  You're right about it being a pity that Springer Praxis books are excellent for text but quite poor when it comes to images.  

My favourite book for images (and because I am a real Apollo geek at heart) is Apollo: The Panoramas by Mike Constantine.  Sadly it's rather really expensive, but you may find it in a well stocked library. (I was lucky enough to get a free copy) The website (see link) has some of the images and gives a flavour of the book.

I don't know too much about the the USSR space missions after they cancelled their attempt to get a Cosmonaut to the Moon.  I really should read up on the Buran project. 

[Angelo Kerman]

I built an aircraft elevator for the Heisenberg:

 

[superstrijder15]

Not exactly KSP, but was working in a store today, then a girl walked by with whom I have been in primary school like 6 years ago. I knew het first name, but every time I tried to think of her last one my mind went 'Kerman!' When I was home I actually looked it up in my phone, turns out I was just about right: Karman was the correct answer 

[Sharpy]

I had so many plans for this evening.

But all I did was fighting the Kraken.

 

Edit: I managed to get the base under control, although the garage will remain detached.

Afterwards, I managed to complete my plans.

Managed to construct and install Terravore, the super-drill worth about 20 standard ones

and built another dinghy, for Gilly surface operations, then fulfilled three different site survey contracts in one run.

It has about 1600m/s "by the books" but the number is actually roughly twice that - it can achieve escape trajectory on wheels alone, and it can land to a stop from nearly 30m/s horizontal and 10m/s vertical. So the engine is only used for deorbiting

Edited December 6, 2016 by Sharpy