Jump to content

What did you do in KSP1 today?


Xeldrak

Recommended Posts

4 hours ago, MisterKerman said:

You build neat stuff. What's your strategy for re-entry generally to make landings using a shuttle on the runway? I eventually want to use shuttles Merica' style for literally everything.

Hold the nose about 20-30 degrees above prograde, use the Trajectories mod, and remember that it's going to show you hitting the ground much further west that you actually will.

Beyond that the strategy would vary plane by plane. There will be an optimal distance from KSC at a given orbit to make a specific burn such that you come down on a glide path that puts you very close to the end of the runway by the time your velocity is below mach 1... but you'll have to find that out yourself according to your vessel and preferred parking orbit :)   If I had a single vessel design, I might start by putting a waypoint on KSC and making 250m/s descent burns from 100km to see where I end up. Eventually I'd know to make a burn when I was N kilometers from the waypoint, hold the nose at X degrees, and I'd land basically on top of it every time.

That said, your life will be vastly easier if you equip your shuttles with jet engines for manoeuvring on the return journey, since that way you won't have to do all the precision planning. Didn't the soviets once consider this on their shuttle design?

Edited by eddiew
Link to comment
Share on other sites

31 minutes ago, eddiew said:

That said, your life will be vastly easier if you equip your shuttles with jet engines for manoeuvring on the return journey, since that way you won't have to do all the precision planning. Didn't the soviets once consider this on their shuttle design?

Yep, Buran actually had 2 jet engines originally and they'd tested 4 engine configurations as well. IIRC the big problem was protecting those engines during re-entry.

CS5OQSa.jpg

Edited by Tyko
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, Tyko said:

Yep, Buran actually had 2 jet engines originally and they'd tested 4 engine configurations as well. IIRC the big problem was protecting those engines during re-entry.

Much less of a problem in KSP. If the nosecone and aerobrakes survive, so will the rest of the shuttle :) 

I notice that the Buran's rocket engines are a lot smaller than the US shuttle... one day I should investigate the differences.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

53 minutes ago, Tyko said:

. CS5OQSa.jpg

Sigh. Such a shame about those birds. ;.; They deserve better than being left to rot. 

 

50 minutes ago, eddiew said:

notice that the Buran's rocket engines are a lot smaller than the US shuttle... one day I should investigate the differences.

What you see there are the orbital maneuvering engines (bottom middle), the Buran had no launch engines on board. The Energia booster was a complete launch vehicle in itself, able to fly without the Buran. And did, once. Worked great until the payload turned around backwards for its circularization burn...

Buran was basically Shuttle 2.0, since the Soviets pretty much literally looked at the American Shuttle program, copied it, then fixed everything that was wrong with it. Then realized it was too expensive and ultimately unnecessary.  :rolleyes:

Edited by CatastrophicFailure
Link to comment
Share on other sites

45 minutes ago, Tyko said:

Yep, Buran actually had 2 jet engines originally and they'd tested 4 engine configurations as well.

No, the one with 4 jet engines is OK-GLI - airframe test aircraft. It was never meant to be a space-worthy orbiter, just a full-sized model for testing approach and landing. And 2 extra jets on the sides were needed just so it can take off and gain some altitude on its own (not by dropping from a larger aircraft). The actual jets were not powerful enough, since they were meant just for extending the gliding range

45 minutes ago, Tyko said:

IIRC the big problem was protecting those engines during re-entry.

Well, the only reason the jets on the top weren't there on the actual flight of Buran (they actually were uninstalled from the orbiter!) was exactly because they weren't fully approved for reentry by that point

51 minutes ago, eddiew said:

I notice that the Buran's rocket engines are a lot smaller than the US shuttle... one day I should investigate the differences.

Those are orbital maneuvering engines. The ascent engines are on Energia.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 hours ago, Enceos said:

Wow, you probably have the oldest forum profile with the least number of posts. Unbelievable O.o

Yes, he joined July 10, 2012... Nice find.

Should we say welcome to the forum ?

^_^

Btw, good to see lots of new members.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Today in my careermode I first flew a Apollo style ship to mun,minmus,olei and olemut.(yes I am using mods... GPO to be precise.). Did some funky n-body maneuvers for fun and profit.

Then i launched Timmy 1&2 for minmus and mun respectivly to complete some sattelite contracts.

Timmy 2 was fun becauce i used a resonant orbit to do mun insertion with almost no deltav.

1FZaQ17.jpg

n-body physics is fun stuff. 220 deltav for 50km mun insertion, thats qiute good right?

 

ps. how do you do so that images show without having to go to imgur??

Edited by Eriksonn
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ran a simulation of a potential VTOL design for use on Gratian.

elt5VEr.jpg

Spoiler: it hit the ground at 15m/s and smashed the tailfins off. The lift fan didn't have >1 TWR at 0.5 atmospheres. Redesigning for 2 fans... doesn't look quite as good, but at least it'll not explode.

That aside, if I get this working, 4 kerbals, decent science package, and 6 years of flight time sounds like a good deal. No, it can't make orbit, but it won't have to :P 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, Triop said:

giphy.gif

RAPIER !

unGvHki.png

First model and testflight:

  Reveal hidden contents

MlSeh50.png

th8ex7l.png

2nd test flight into orbit:

utZwoZ9.png

AzaMIJ4.png

 

Nice work!!!

The SABRE engine (real life version of the RAPIER) will hopefully power this awesome thing at some point:

RlgXAnj.jpg

*hype intensifies*

Edited by RealKerbal3x
Link to comment
Share on other sites

After yesterdays VTOL bellyflop I doubled up the fans and sent it for another run in the simulator...

AuWKvYj.jpg

Results are much more positive. The twin Banshee engines (MK2 Expansion) provide over 1 TWR up to about 4km even in Gratian's thin atmosphere, and the air verniers (ThorTech) can be used to supplement an additional 0.4 TWR for emergency braking.

Tbh, I could float the entire thing on those air verniers if I chose, but that would require keeping a finger mashed on the RCS button throughout the entire landing process and I'd much rather handle that via throttle control. Other improvements include a vertically aligned probe core so SAS can just be set to radial-out and the ship will do its darnedest to stay horizontal. And since this is all-electric with no liquid fuel anywhere on board, the CoM doesn't move an inch during flight. Whether it's cheaty I dunno, but I really want to explore atmospheric planets with planes and there isn't really any intermediate option between rockets and electric in the absence of oxygen...

Having intermittent problems deploying the front/rear wheels... the old "cannot deploy while stowed" even though they're attached to the outside. Probably just move them onto the mk2-1 adapters

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, Mythical Donuts said:

is there any way to put images up without imgur?

Any image hosting site that allows direct linking to the images will do. If you mean can you upload them to the forum directly, no.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 minutes ago, Mythical Donuts said:

is there any way to put images up without imgur?

 

15 hours ago, Cavscout74 said:

Copy the "Direct Link" selection on Imgur instead of "Imgur Link"

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is Nike: [click the first and then right-arrow for a slideshow]

sjxuX09.pngHeLuDGv.png

15 minutes to build and the rest of the evening figuring out the ladder(s) to get back into the machine when vertically-parked (after a VTOL landing).

Then I figured out how to climb up the leading edge of the wing and get close enough to the cockpit hatch to get in.  Q.E.D.

https://kerbalx.com/Hotel26/Nike

Edited by Hotel26
Link to comment
Share on other sites

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...