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What did you do in KSP1 today?


Xeldrak

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2 hours ago, linuxgurugamer said:

If any of you want to send me patches & fixes for 1.6, I'll curate this and do a real release once there are significant updates.

 

That is the USS Stargazer. Captain Picard's old ship

You forgot to say "make it so!"

1 hour ago, Mad Rocket Scientist said:

Wow, SciFi shipyards is some nostalgia.

Does anyone remember B9? And Spaceplane Plus? And the Lazor mod? And FASA?

I'm pretty sure 3/4 of those are still going or available on ckan.

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1 hour ago, Loskene said:

I'm pretty sure 3/4 of those are still going or available on ckan.

B9 is currently under development.  Spaceplane Plus got integrated into stock, with other spaceplane parts available in many other mods.  FASA is still available, especially its launch clamps and towers and RCS parts, and if it doesn't get directly renewed, there are many other mods with similar parts.

@Romfarer hasn't been on the forums in over 2 years.  His LazorSystem, latest version for KPS 0.90, was only released under a licence that doesn't allow derivative works; so no updating for later KSP.  To develop on it in any way would need his explicit permission.  The forum topic still exists but the Curse download no longer works.

 

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9 hours ago, Hotel26 said:

Tail re-entry worked for me.  Pump the fuel to the aft tanks.  De-orbit.  When the speed is low enough, pump forward and turn prograde.

(I usually de-orbit by lowering periapsis to 50km, but this spacecraft likes 25-30.)

I started with 2x RAPIERs and a NERV, like @JacobTheFoxx but then tried 2x NERVs and a RAPIER and that worked, too.

Four Of DIamonds:

AQzhS9s.png

Looking good, although I see a few issues. Don't put two nuclear engines, that reduces D/v while only increasing TWR, which is pointless. Just keep one of the nuclear engines and take advantage of the Oberth effect when ejecting from Kerbin. I only see one RCS thruster, ideally you'd want two on the top and bottom at the front and rear of the craft, and the same on the sides. Also, with those reaction wheels, there is no point on adding the extra canard and that huge elevon on the wings, they increase drag and weight, while only really being useful for getting off the ground. If you had two R.A.P.I.E.R.S and one nuclear engine, you wouldn't have to have the huge control surfaces to get off of the ground. My design can take-off on the runway at 120m/s even without the reaction wheels, although I recommend keeping them, as that is mostly what caused my Duna mission to fail.

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6 hours ago, JacobTheFoxx said:

Looking good, although I see a few issues

Yes, thanks for the input!

There's a couple of schools of thought about this and it depends on whether it's just an SSTO to shuttle to and from LKO, or whether you want to go somewhere else with it: SSTO-beyond-LKO.

In the case you are concerned about dV because you want to go somewhere, even if it's just local Kerbin SOI, then the argument is that RAPIERs are dead weight if you are not going to use them.  And because the ISP of the NERV(s) is so much better in space, you are NOT going to use them if you are concerned about your dV.  Some even make the argument that using an SSTO to go anywhere other than LKO is inefficient in all cases (but they're neglecting the fact that people do SSTOs mainly for fun).  A good quote here that guides me is Heinlein's maxim that "getting to orbit is halfway to anywhere".  The subtext is that the first half of the journey is generally a very different task than the interplanetary part.  As a result, I am not so bothered with "keyhole"missions.  If I want to do it efficiently, I'll refuel/assemble in LKO and then embark on the Second Half with what is effectively a newly-purposed vehicle.

If I could have figured out how to get one RAPIER and only one NERV on it, too, I would have done it, for the reason you cite.  Apart from the symmetry issue, though, frankly the performance of the lone RAPIER needs all the help it can get from the NERVs to go supersonic.  It's worth noting that the dV remaining arriving at LKO is actually worse with 1x RAPIER / 2x NERVs because it's slower to get to orbit and burns much more fuel.  This -- doesn't matter -- if you are refueling in LKO to go elsewhere.  This is important to point out, though, because if one's objective is to build an SSTO that can go as far as it can and return without assistance, then there's no doubt 2x RAPIERs to get to space pronto are hands-down better.

There's a 5-way RCS thruster on the top of the fuselage above the CoM and there's a mirror equivalent below.  That's all you need.  In fact, if you are only going to dock once (and presuming you are good at docking), you don't need the MP tank and I did hesitate before putting it on.  There is a grand total of 7.5 units of MP in the cockpit and that's likely sufficient.

I've gotten this machine back with the airplane elevators but I have updated them with a couple of the heat-insulated elevons: I just didn't bother updating the KerbalX photo.  The wing-tip feathers and even the canard are decorative, I'll admit.  I have canards because you did (your shots showed various versions in your evolution, so you may have taken them off).

As for take-off speed, it's important, but not for some things.  Supposing I have a 225t SSTO and it can rotate and climb after 85 m/s...  that' wouldn't be bad at all, would it?  But why would you start paying for drag caused by lift by rotating early?  Why not fly off the end of runway and then begin to climb??  The acceleration down the runway is all free of drag-producing lift because the concrete is countering gravity for you for free.  So for a machine with a mission-profile in which it only takes off once and always somewhere flat and long, naturally you are going to use it all, yeah?

Normally, when I do a knock-off, I copy as faithfully as I can so that I can fly the machine and gauge its performance and flying characteristics, before attempting any improvements (if I do at all).  I have learned so much from reverse-engineering!  I am also pretty bad, and will always be awful, at imagining a good look.  In this case, I saw that the part count varied between your two posts so it actually became a moving target and I trailed away.  The result is not intended to be better than what you did (which I think looks better still).

Final points.  1) I understand you abandoned the Mk1 cockpit due to re-entry difficulties and that may also be the common wisdom.  That's fine, too, especially if your objectives are, say, to make an easy-to-fly machine.  I'm pretty happy that my first Mk1 SSTO works and with a Mk1 cockpit, too.  2) 2x RAPIERS is effortless to go SSTO, especially in the Mk1 format.  Easy to fly is appealing.  My "4D" is NOT easy to orbit and NOT easy to bring home.  Challenges provide learning, though.

Take a look at what I think is best-in-class for an SSTO-beyond-LKO: download Atkara's SSTO Mk1, (Mk1 = "his 1.0 SSTO"; not "Mk1 components") and note that it is powered by 2x Whiplashes and 2x NERVs.  It's a real treat to learn to fly!

UPDATE: I took the advice about the RWs, though, and reduced to just 1.  I took the MP tank out.  And I reduced the authority on the canards and wing-tip feathers to 50%.  (The canards are there to get the CoL hard up behind the CoM, btw.  The wing feathers are purely decorative (imagine the shape without).)  As I mentioned, control authority and RWs were not intended to achieve early rotation!!  It just flies off the end of the runway.  Here's an updated pic:

BcdYhmB.png

Edited by Hotel26
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Loving those SciFi ships.  Is there a Firefly?

 

 

I've been rejigging my KOS docking scrip this morning, now instead of matching velocity with the target ship at the closest intercept point, and then burning towards the target, it instead uses RCS to steer the velocity vector on to the target from 5km out.  I  my current test setup (launch to 80km then rendezvous at 150km) this means it's approaching at 50m/s, braking down to 5m/s at 200m and then steering to an offset point 20m out from the docking port, before using the RCS to approach the port at 1m/s while maintaining the alignment on the ports facing direction.

This means the whole process is faster in ship time (although a bit slower in real time as I have to come out of time warp sooner, and it now uses about 8 monopropellant instead of 3, not sure if the increased monopropellant usage will be an issue when I switch to heavier ships.  The previous version used the main engine and torque for manuovering except for steering to the offset point and maintaining alignment on the last 20m.

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I saw the 1.5m Spaceplanes here and thought why not?

This one flies really well. More controllable than I expected.

zLvLc5G.jpg

 

 

Then I thought why not make the front end a lander capable of landing on the Mun, returning back to Mun orbit and reacquiring the craft.

 

Q98JnHV.jpg

The lander itself has over 2000 dv so ... nailed it. :)

D.

 

 

 

 

Edited by Daveroski
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31 minutes ago, Hotel26 said:

сколько космонавтов нужно, чтобы установить флаг?

Assuming google translate was correct, this is asking how many astronauts does it take to set the flag.

It only take one (1) astronaut to place a flag,  In earlier versions of the game, each occupant would have to set their own flag to get credit, but I think that was changed in the last 1 or 2 versions so that all occupants of a vessel get the credit for a flag being placed

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45 minutes ago, linuxgurugamer said:

How many astronauts do you need to nail the flag?

Thanks.  So I think the answer is 3.

yTzF6vE.jpg

Or maybe a maximum of 5...

As best I can tell, it's a Soviet-era space program riddle...

(P.S. as I said before: I love this shot.  A pilot who knows how to land on the Mun!  A beautiful sight.)

Edited by Hotel26
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1 minute ago, Hotel26 said:
5 minutes ago, linuxgurugamer said:

How many astronauts do you need to nail the flag?

Thanks.  So I think the answer is 3.

What do you mean by "nail"?  as opposed to placing the flag

Edit:  Riddle, I missed that...

Edited by linuxgurugamer
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3 hours ago, Hotel26 said:

Thanks.  So I think the answer is 3.

yTzF6vE.jpg

Or maybe a maximum of 5...

As best I can tell, it's a Soviet-era space program riddle...

(P.S. as I said before: I love this shot.  A pilot who knows how to land on the Mun!  A beautiful sight.)

When you place the flag, every person in the scene gets credit.

 

Google translate:

 

Когда вы устанавливаете флаг, каждый человек на сцене получает кредит

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I made a new ssto using the near future mods. I like to make small spaceplanes and this is like my usual design but with a crew cabin and docking capability. It has ~3000 dv in orbit depending on the settings for the ion engines. I am not that good at making sstos so i had abit of a problem getting over mach 1.2 at earliar design phases due to using the wrong nose cone and having too much fuel. But i did some tweaking and this is the result. It is capable to land on minmus and go to space stations and similar things. Although it could take a while to get out of lko due to the low twr in space mode...

wjybYXX.jpg

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No boating today in the Kerbin Sorta_Circumnavigation, but plenty of refuelling.

First one thristy little ship.

czEoCE7.jpg

Then on to another tanker, to top up it's tanks so it can fly on to Fuel Depot Alpha and get back in the boat refuelling game.

Gusman Kerman who ended up stranded outside his cockpit, swam for it then clambered up on to the wing to get back inside.

rTPnhAM.jpg

"Just happy to be here."

xWyd7yp.jpg

 

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5 hours ago, linuxgurugamer said:

It only take one (1) astronaut to place a flag,  In earlier versions of the game, each occupant would have to set their own flag to get credit, but I think that was changed in the last 1 or 2 versions so that all occupants of a vessel get the credit for a flag being placed

I've been playing on and off for years and did not know this

 

 

 

6 hours ago, Hotel26 said:

Сколько космонавтов вам нужно, чтобы прибить флаг?

A légpárnás hajóm tele van angolnákkal

 

 

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7 hours ago, linuxgurugamer said:

What do you mean by "nail"?  as opposed to placing the flag

Edit:  Riddle, I missed that...

Nail, plant seems to be the same word in Russian.

1 hour ago, Daveroski said:

Two... "when I nod my head son, you hit it." ;)

 

I know that one. That's how the apprentice became the new blacksmith.

 

The version I was taught included "As hard as you can".

 

ME

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