What did you do in KSP1 today?

[eddiew]

With the sun rising over W-EVE-1L, and Eve Station sweeping into the sky above, it was time to begin the long 80km trek towards what the survey scanners tell us is most likely a liquid ocean.

We're hoping for blueberry, but we'd settle for blackcurrant. 

W-EVE-1L turns out to be remarkably stable, maintaining a cruising speed of 50m/s without so much as threatening to slip or spin. Eve herself may be helping us here, with her high gravity and dense atmosphere having eroded the landscape to a gently undulating series of hills.

And here we must leave our brave little rover, because the Eve environment is pretty brutal and without an engineer on-sight, he's sadly starting to struggle.

--

Or more accurately my homebrew ruleset only allows gathering of 3 biomes worth of data with an un-kermanned rover. I am however using Science Relay to beam experiment results to the orbital lab, which now has about a thousand data points to chew through.

Also I really like roving around Eve... not sure if it's the colours, the oceans, or just the easy driving, but it's remarkably satisfying. Very tempted to drop a lab and a kermanned rover down there on the assumption that we will develop the tech to bring them back "later"... The question is, who would be crazy enough to volunteer for that? And can the program manage with senior crew being on a long-term assignment?

Edited January 11, 2019 by eddiew

[Triop]

56 minutes ago, RealKerbal3x said:

This is one for @Triop....

A tiny plane I built. Incredible manoeuvrability (pulls 10G in turns ) and it can reach speeds of up to 700m/s.

Awesome. I love tiny stuff.

[MaverickSawyer]

12 minutes ago, Triop said:

Awesome. I love tiny stuff.

If it doesn't have a name yet, name it "Bantam".

[Triop]

2 hours ago, MaverickSawyer said:

If it doesn't have a name yet, name it "Bantam".

Too late, it has a name: "The Egg"

-edit-

LOL, just googled Bantam, it's a chicken...

So the egg did came first.

Science people.

Edited January 11, 2019 by Triop

[Triop]

Into the abyss . . .

[cantab]

The station of a thousand parts starts with a single docking. Here's the beginning of Alekhine Station over the Bolivian Andes, the first space station of what I'm calling K Star Line.

The upper module is just decoration, the middle plain-looking module is full of TAC Life Support gubbins, and the lower module with the two beams is the Botvinnik Assembly Tug that I'll be using to dock everything together. The tug's capable of handling 3.75 m parts and itself fits in a 5 m fairing.

Bonus pics in the imgur album showing how effective the Botvinnik's lights are. I spent a bit of time figuring out the best way to place them, and maybe 30 floodlights and 4 spotlights was overkill, but hopefully it'll make nighttime dockings a breeze. https://imgur.com/a/9zMxi07

Edited January 12, 2019 by cantab

[Martian Emigrant]

Today (And yesterday) Jeb got to fly a baby plane

 

 

 

Get the Space-Viper in actual space.

 

And orbited the High-Lab

 

 

ME

[Triop]

3 minutes ago, Martian Emigrant said:

 



  

That is gorgeous, nice viper.

[Cavscout74]

Didn't do a whole lot today.  Played with a Minuteman from kerbalx by KAS .  I thought it looked & flew pretty nice

Then I tinkered with a prop airliner, just took a quick trip from KSC to the island airfield.  Still needs work, but on the very first flight I was able to take off, climb, cruise, descend & land without too many problems.  That already puts this design ahead of most of my other aircraft designs.  Actually, just getting off the ground on the first attempt puts it ahead of most of my other designs at this stage

Finally, the Duna Flyer departed for Duna finally.  Hopefully it will actually fly once it arrives

[Espatie]

23 minutes ago, Cavscout74 said:

 

 

Which mod is the flying fortress cockpit from?

[Lapis]

airplane plus I believe

[Cavscout74]

9 minutes ago, Espatie said:

Which mod is the flying fortress cockpit from?

 

8 minutes ago, lapis said:

airplane plus I believe

Yes

[Martian Emigrant]

2 hours ago, Triop said:

That is gorgeous, nice viper.

Wow, thanks.

I'm honored.

 

ME

[Bubbadevlin]

Today I finished the second stage of my lander when i do not even have any of the rocket completed (or the first stage of the lander for that matter!)

 

 

Overhauling my old 1:1 Apollo replica is going to take a while... At least now there will be some significant aesthetics improvements with the new part skins, stock KSP parts don't look TOO bad anymore

[Mukita12]

2 minutes ago, Bubbadevlin said:

Today I finished the second stage of my lander when i do not even have any of the rocket completed (or the first stage of the lander for that matter!)

 

 

Overhauling my old 1:1 Apollo replica is going to take a while... At least now there will be some significant aesthetics improvements with the new part skins, stock KSP parts don't look TOO bad anymore

Is this stock (using DLC) or Modded (I mean if it was stock it was impressive)

[Bubbadevlin]

Its a stock craft, although with DLC parts too

[Cyrious]

I'm back! Got distracted with other games but now I'm back to playing KSP. First thing I did: go into the sandbox save I have setup and build a system-wide comm network, well, the primary elements of it at least.

I went a little bit overboard on the redundancy, main save will be even more so.

Here's how I got it set up. System is split into 2 halves, Inner (Moho, Eve, and Duna) and Outer (Jool, Sarnus, Urlum, Neidon, and Plock). Every planet within their own half is linked to the next planet further out, and the one further in (ex. Eve has links to Moho and Duna). Every planet has a direct link to Kerbin. For the outer system they have backup links to Dres, which then moves on further in to Kerbin. I should have set up the inner system with direct links to Dres as well, but eh, I'll get around to it later.

For planets with 1 moon, its a simple point to point dish link between the main relay and the moon sub-relay. For planets with more than 1 moon, I do the same chain linking + direct link to master relay I do with the greater system.

Eventually, there's going to be 3 tiers of commsat:

1. Master Relays: Connect planetary subnets to each other and Kerbin. Dominated by massive satellites/stations (Sarnus' relay needs a whopping 8 of NFE's 500EC/s Blanket arrays to generate enough power, with the support structure for clearance to match; getting that one out on the real save is going to be an interesting exercise unto itself.). Typically no more than 1 per planet. Sometimes equipped with omnis, but usually use a short/medium range dish keyed to point to the active vessel.
2. Moon Sub-relays: Connects the moon subnets to each other and the local Master Relay. Smaller than the master relays, and dont have the dish range to get out of the local planetary system. Are always equipped with omni-antennas. Always 1 per moon, only omitted if the SOI is too small to effectively support one without losing it to the parent body or having the game eat it because it's too close.
3. Equatorial sub-relay ring: Around the equator of each body, 3-4 Omni-only satellites link to each other and the local Sub or Master Relay. If the target body's SOI is too small for them they're omitted. If the target body's rotation is fast enough, they're placed into stationary orbits.

I am using RemoteTech, as it gives me a greater level of control over how my network is set up and ran. Certainly more of a pain to set up, but it works out in the end I think.

Now, you might be asking why I chose Dres for the backup relay links. My answer: Its there, might as well make it useful. The higher than normal inclination relative to the rest of the system helps keep a link running as well.

The system I built on the sandbox save is meant to essentially serve as the prototype to the network on the main save.

Edit, neglected to add:

Speaking of relays and other craft, I also launched this around Kerbin on my main save.

It is the craft for my Eve/Gilly exploration and setup mission. It contains:

• The mothership itself: ferries all other craft alongside it. Power is provided by a mix of solar and the nuclear reactor at the center of the vessel. Propulsion is provided by 6 argon ion engines, 3 of which are throttled down a bit to keep within the power envelope.
• The Eve lander: Has a full fairing shroud and heat shield on it. Deployment will be from very low Eve orbit just outside of the atmosphere, and the onboard thruster package in the shroud will bring it in.
• 2x R.a.T.S: mapping and resource scanner probes
• 2x Dedicated sub-relays
• 6x Equatorial commsats

BTW, if any of you ever get the chance, try playing on a large screen, it is leagues better than doing it on a 19" screen.

Edited January 12, 2019 by Cyrious

[NHunter]

Today, I've sent a probe to Hox. Once it was put into a properly-inclined Ciro orbit, all it took to send it to its destination was a single small* burn.

* 13042.6 m/s

[Xurkitree]

As part of my mod  I made this.

Have fun!

[ARS]

Testing the Tomahawk cluster missile variant (Don't worry, it's legal. We just call it rocket engine test)

Aim at the juiciest target in KSC, the VAB. Set all engagements options, inputting GPS coordinates and submunition dispersal proximity...

LAUNCH!

Submunitions dispersal confirmed

Large-area destruction, the VAB is saturated with explosives blanketing the wide area around it before collapsing

Test completed successfully!

[eddiew]

Well, it's 4pm and I haven't had breakfast... or even left my seat... but, I do have this thing now:

Roughly 115 tons, onion staging of 4 vectors and a central aerospike (not to be used below 30km). I know it will lift 3 kerbals off Eve into a 200x200km orbit, but getting it to the surface is awkward.

Naturally I want to use the inflatable heatshield, but it's so draggy that I can't get rid of the dang thing from underneath the rocket!  

[Espatie]

I've been playing around with part and config files to see if I can make a scaled-down version of the KIS storage parts for a 1.875m stack.

 

Not succeeded yet, but learning!

[eddiew]

7:30pm. I have forgotten the taste of food. Daylight is a mere memory. Is there a world beyond my curtains? I am no longer sure. Perhaps this is all that there is to the universe.

However...

Which makes me happy   I had been considering dropping a lab-rover down with a crew to be recovered "later" but it turns out that I already have the tech needed to bring them home.

After 5 simulated drops, I'm happy to say that it's not 'hard' to get EEVEE down to the surface without anything blowing up. A retrograde probe core aligned with the ejectable fins gives a decent measure of control and allows the vessel to keep the heatshield between itself and the... heat.

Ascent is largely a matter of overriding the pilot's instinct to lean eastward. Don't do that before at least 10km. Not even a little bit. The most efficient ascents have maintained a gentle 1.5-1.6 TWR all the way. Final crew transfer to Eve Station will have to be done via EVA since there is no room for a docking port.

EEVEE sims have targeted the highlands biome, about 1-2km above sea level, and some of the landing sites have been somewhat 'suboptimal' with regards to the landscape. Lithobrake Exploration landing legs prove much more competent than stock legs in the high gravity. The W-EVE-1L rover's landing site turns out to be pretty respectable and will serve as a useful target.

Whether I can launch this 115 ton monster and get it into low equatorial Eve orbit... that's yet to be seen. There's enough data aboard Eve Station to unlock 5m rocket parts, which I hope will trivialise the matter of lifting power. Also 2 of my 3 scientists are on that station and since it has a return capsule, they might as well come home before launching the next mission.

Also... we're going to need a bigger rover. Something a little... sturdier than we used on Duna. Engineering have released this artists' concept.

Edited January 12, 2019 by eddiew

[capi3101]

(1.5.1, T-6 days to 1.6.x). I've had an interesting past couple of days. After fixing some issues with the remote pads at my bases and orbital shipyards, I launched a Bill Clinton 7b grabber probe from the Non Caseus Yards over Mun. The probe intercepted Lerod's Debris, grabbing the craft and taking it safely to Kerbin for a successful junk-and-kerbal mission. The Venkmann 7a science probe over Kerbin completed a long-term cryogenics study in orbit and then de-orbited, reaching the surface safely. 

At that point, I checked in with the crew at the nascent Boot Hill outpost on Mun. It was quickly clear to me that something was slightly awry...

 

 

 

I'm pretty sure the underlying issue was leaving that new KAS resource transfer station attached to the base while I went to do other things. It was obvious that Boot Hill was a write-off, and after piling the crew out, the base was scrapped and a Spamcan 7a lander was dispatched from space station Munport to pick them up. Owing to the timing at which the 'Can arrived, the crew headed on to Non Caseus, where the ferry ship Next Objective was still parked. A second Spamcan already at NCY departed for Munport (docking safely before the day was out) while the first docked and refueling mass driver shots from the Piper Alpha outpost on Mun took place. Once refueled, Next Objective departed for Kerbin. 

Pilot Gregald Kerman embarked aboard a Minnow 7 utility craft docked at space station Kerbinport and went to go pick up retreive pilot Janpont Kerman over Kerbin; a successful rendezvous and jetpack took place and the pair of pilots returned to Kerbinport. The South Base near KSC successfully brought its Pipeline mass driver online, bring the base one step closer to being able to commence operations. Last thing that happened on Thursday was an attempt to go ahead and get the Muad'dib 7-type Alcubierre Drive ship LSV House Harkonnen to a stable low orbit over Kerbol, despite not being fully fueled; I had spent the past few days pumping up her exotic matter tank when I had a spare moment, and decided to see if I'd done it enough to get her to a position where the onboard solar panels could finish the job on their own. Only 150 units of exotic matter were spent in the transit, as it turned out...

On Friday, I decided to take the final steps to try and get South Base fully operational; thirteen Chuckwagon warehouses were hauled out to South Base from the KSC runway tucked in a Buckboard-600 loaded on a Wisent 7 utility rover. The plan was to attach the rover via KAS connector and then just transfer the warehouses over to the base from there. It was here that I figured out the KAS connectors were causing issues; the rover went airborne upon docking but held the connection, and after the warehouses were offloaded and the KAS pipe undocked, things went back to normal. Eight of the Chuckwagons were added to South Base, giving the base storage for fuel, oxidizer, monopropellant, rocket parts and equipment as well as extra power. I was able to undock the original TBD 7a rover that had set up the base and recover it, and once I'd installed three SAFER reactors for the base's mass driver, operations were able to commence, starting with an op to refuel Kerbinport. Kerbinport took three shots to refuel fully; it had been a tad neglected since the loss of Swamp Castle...

Next, a new Venkmann 7a probe was printed up at the Dystopia Planitia shipyards for an experiment that, as it turns out, requires one crewmember; I have yet to do anything with the probe as of this post. House Harkonnen completed filling up her exotic matter tanks and warped back to a relatively low orbit over Kerbin. Next Objective safely returned from Mun and set up a rendezvous with Kerbinport. Meanwhile, an Auk-II 8-passenger plane was sent up to Kerbinport with pilots Wilfrey and Gwenlock Kerman aboard as well as tourists Kelsey, Shepus, Rodlorf, Melfrey and Siguki Kerman. The tourists boarded Strange Cargo docked at the station, which then departed for Mun, coming within three klicks of Dystopia Planitia during the transfer burn.

Next up on my agenda is to get a crew aboard House Harkonnen. The craft still needs to get to Minmus, but with a full tank of XM now, it should be able to warp there directly if I'm careful about it. Push comes to shove I can get her close enough and going slow enough to be able to bring her into orbit on conventional drives. Once there she'll be filling up on Xenon stored at the Deepwater Horizon outpost, and from there it's on to Duna. I need to deliver more Research Kits to the Stevie Wonder 7 solar observatory over Mun so it can finish up an important experiment there. I also have a few experiments to on Mun, and with Boot Hill's cancellation, they'll have to be done at Piper Alpha. To that end, Bob's heading out that way now - he's the only scientist I've got with the prerequisite level of experience that isn't already deployed. In fact, at this point I've got everybody deployed - not a good state of affairs if something comes up back home...

[Newtie]

After following @UnusualAttitude's awesome story for the last few years, I finally decided to give RSS/RO a try. With a Falcon 9 analog it wasn't to bad to get the first few small satellites up for a RT communication network around Earth.

 

 

Spoiler

Falcon 9 on the pad:

Burning for orbit:

Wohoo!

 

My first manned mission didn't go as smooth... The capsule made it home but poor Jeb died due to excessive G's during reentry. Mission control planned a much too steep reentry trajectory

Spoiler

Launch:

 

Flyby of Moon: