What did you do in KSP1 today?

[Kebab Kerman]

Spent 4 hours trying to fix that new giant rocket of mine and failed miserably. Went to bed after giving up for the day; as it turns out, I need to either shorten the first stage tank or reduce the diameter of the second stage, neither of which I want to do, because then it might look weird.

Anyway, page 2204? What's next, 2205?

EDIT: oh no

Edited November 6, 2020 by Kebab Kerman

[Hotel26]

This is Venus: on the launchpad; tail-docked for refueling in LKO; arriving at Eve, where it again refuels; after ejection of the first of 2 Hitchhiker personnel carriers.  [click & arrows]

     

 

Venus under chutes with a Hitchiker in the background; the Hitchhiker landing; Venus ascending after refueling and exchanging passengers^[1]; second stage Vector.

     

 

Refueling S2 in Low Eve Orbit and once more exchanging passengers; under chutes returning to the surface; first landing is 19 km to the East in the background; "who's got the flag?"

     

 

Venus is an unusual ship.  It takes 11 colonists down to the surface; brings 3 Veterans back out; and then takes another 3 colonists down on its final trip.

In the shots above, Venus has an S3 that is Twitch-powered, but it will be removed, as it is unneeded.

                                                                                                                

[1] The reusable Eve SSTO is KSP's Holy Grail, but why should that be?

Here at Hotel26 Budget Space Exploration, our analysis shows that only three things need to come out of Eve:

1. radio communication
2. science
3. Veterans

Quoting our report: "The vast majority of Kerbals setting foot on Eve are colonists with a one-way ticket.  Only the top brass get to visit and leave.  Rank has its privileges."

                                      ->     <-

Edited November 7, 2020 by Hotel26

[Zamolxes77]

2 hours ago, Kebab Kerman said:

Spent 4 hours trying to fix that new giant rocket of mine and failed miserably. Went to bed after giving up for the day; as it turns out, I need to either shorten the first stage tank or reduce the diameter of the second stage, neither of which I want to do, because then it might look weird.

Anyway, page 2204? What's next, 2205?

EDIT: oh no

How about a pic with the giant rocket, I love to optimize rockets, maybe another pair of eyes can give you ideas

[JebIsBestPilot]

I stranded Jeb on the Mun today, no worries he has lots of snacks.

[Kebab Kerman]

4 hours ago, Zamolxes77 said:

How about a pic with the giant rocket, I love to optimize rockets, maybe another pair of eyes can give you ideas

I'd love to post one, but I'm currently at school and don't have access to my screenshots folder. I'll post a pic later, when I do have access. I know the issue has to do with the TWR after the SRBs separate, but I can't really add more engines to the bottom without them clipping, which I'd like to avoid. The payload capacity goal was 600 tons to LKO, as its predecessor can lift 500 tons to LKO, and I wanted something even more powerful, but it seems I may just have to stick with said predecessor.

EDIT: Here's a screenshot of it. It has 8 Freya SRBs and 55 Vector engines for the first stage, and is around 120 meters tall without payload.

Edited November 6, 2020 by Kebab Kerman
Added screenshot

[Zamolxes77]

On 11/5/2020 at 5:00 PM, Selective Genius said:

I designed and flew a crewed spaceplane in a 2.5x Solar System. There's room for improvement, of course. It carries 3 kerbals to orbit and returns them safely, but it looks hideous.

Here is a streamlined design inspired by your Mk2 Spaceplane. Unfortunately is in vanilla, 1x Kerbol System :

Uses tier 4 techs for plane itself and booster (inline docking might not be T4). Pilot plus 2 passengers in LKO, 800 m/s dV once in orbit. 7k dV using Junos in aero mode.

Optimized for landing with rear tanks empty (the ones used by Terrier). It recovers the orbital engine as well.

Off the pad, with booster:

Bottom of the booster is filled with 12 tail fins, to offset the CoL closer to CoM, to eliminate instability during aero flight. Don't know if there is a different method, but this seems to work and it makes booster highly flyable. 

Edited November 12, 2020 by Zamolxes77
images

[Arco123]

[RP1IsSuperior]

go guardian

[antipro]

what did I do today?
I spent days to refine an Eve Relays Launcher in order to spend some other days to perform the mission:
Launch an Eve Equatorial 3- Constellation sat at 40000Km.
Most of the time was spent performing fine tune maneuvers but at the end I've reached a satisfying result.
Yes I know I'm insane and it wasn't necessary to achieve such kind of precision but it was challenging as well as frustrating.
Now I can do the contract without never lose the signal, consequently I can get all the possible science while flying high several times through the Eve atmosphere.


Mods used: Gravity Turn - MJ - KER - Astrogator
Precision maneuvers: manually with mods help.

So far I have not used the mod:

I'll try it, maybe tomorrow, to see if I can match "Orbital Periods" with milliseconds precision.
Anyway actually all the 3 relays orbital periods differ by just 3ms:


 

This is the Launcher:

Payload Mass = 3.871t Fairing included.
Total Mass = 74.544t

It has a little problem about the stack separators: they remain in orbit close to launcher, non good for precision...
I had to delete one from the Tracking Station that was 40m or so in front on the ship , or the relay n°2 was hit by it during circularization.
Furthermore I had not enough fuel to complete the de-orbit (Final Pe=600km), cause the 3 monopropellant tanks was full only by a fifth of their full capacity. damn it!

This video shows the launcher, just before de-orbit, crashes with relay n°1, just to prove again the kind of precision.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/nulcfbuv0cy5cj4/impact launcher - relay1.mkv?dl=0

The simple 3-sat constellation rotating:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/sbgj4lamvn7w2kr/relays rotation.mkv?dl=0

Edited November 7, 2020 by antipro

[Corona688]

Go go disgusting thud-based contraption!

Cheap and cheerful early-game mission to Eve, to either set up an orbiting relay network or, at worst, a world's first and a cloud of short-lived debris.  It's gonna get there with 1000m/s delta-v, so I think it's possible it could survive.

Edited November 7, 2020 by Corona688

[J O N]

I built a skipper missile! It uses jets only, and shoots into the upper atmosphere only to come down once again and repeat the process.

[Astrionix]

@J O N Sounds cool! Reminds me of what was planned by Germany with the A-9 (manned V-2 concept) during WW2.

[J O N]

@AstrionWoah! thats kindof exactly how my design works! take away the 4 tail fins and move the wings back more, and thats how it looks too!

[The Flying Kerbal]

Rusty Star Rockets had a very quiet day today, with only one "real" launch a couple of launches to get various pieces of equipment into the water for testing, and a number of tests done sitting on the launch pad.

The real launch to space was a scheduled crew rotation, Martrude (pilot), Adry (scientist), and Eddun (engineer), relieving Dondo (p), Geneald (s) and Josy (e). 

The Space Ferry On The Pad With The Access Arm And Ladders Still Extended.

As usual a King Rat-B3 Launch Vehicle carried the Space Ferry into orbit, with all propulsion and manoeuvring being carried out by RCS once a stable circular orbit had been achieved and the LOX stage jettisoned. 

The Space Ferry In A 100K Orbit.

Rendezvous with Monstrosity was completed within three orbits, thanks to the piloting skills of mission commander Martrude Kerman.

Approaching The Monstrosity Space Station.

Final Approach...

Because Sergei's too mean and miserable to invest in proper docking technology, claiming advanced grabbing units are much more versatile than a more specialised docking port, RSR pilots have to learn to us Klaws to link up with the space station.

 Docking Complete.

The two crews quickly swapped places, Martrude's 'D' Team settling in to begin their 150 day tour while Dondo's 'C' Team safely undocked and returned to Kerbin for some well earned rest.

[panzer1b]

Well made some ground vehicle things...

And a new command bunker thing...

And a rather basic station thing...

[antipro]

when you have played too much with relays, just imagine cool geometric animations.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/bbkt8sl9c7w2z90/2020-11-08 04-03-20.mkv?dl=0
 

[wisdomsavingthrow]

Today's activities were pretty much just mod testing - writing and re-writing science definitions, fiddling with Rescale configs, etc. - I did take a moment to test an Apollo lander replica on my rescaled Mun, though. That was nice.

[Stosh]

A Minmus Fly-by

A Minmus Polar Orbit kicking Bob out at, Almost, every biome for an EVA report - Guess which one i missed... damn highlands hiding.

Got a Minmus orbit station contract, planning on Polar.

[JebIsBestPilot]

I downloaded MechJeb. Then I flew to Eve for the first time. 

[Altaille]

Today, I made some progress on the construction of Starzino, the most expensive casino around Kerbin. I already had some loaded asteroid-carriers on parking orbits around Kerbin, the difficult task is to now assemble it. Docking procedure with ~400 parts around is always a pleasure (especially considering my proc is not exactly a beast). Some pictures (every non-stock part here must be Nertea's work) :

3 claws to get a strong basement. Not easy to get them all attached, but with free pivot and some thrust it worked.  The visible solar panel belongs to the carrier that captured this big rock here. Well, the second one. The first did not resist to some orbit change through aerobraking. It will remain attached untill its tanks are full.

Then the main casino section, with housing for around 50 kerbals. I need 50 more to get that contract done. I ended docking with less than 50 dV, a bit short to my taste.

I need 4 asteroids. Here is the second one ! The smallest ship is just a triple claw to secure the asteroid to the casino/station and free the asteroid carrier (which is more part heavy, and is now waiting for next mission in parking orbit)

Here is the result, the next 2 rocks are on their way.  2 triple-claws are docked to the right end of the station waiting for them

[Goaty1208]

Just visited Laythe! I won my bet!

But I used some cheats... not extensively though, actually I used them instead of quicksaves mostly, so it actually created some disadvantages. But the lander worked! 

Edited November 8, 2020 by Goaty1208
Typo

[N_Danger]

I sent Val with some new Kerbalnauts to Minmus. 

Val and Jelwin pause for pictures.

Then I move my probe from Edna to Dak. Which is lumpy.

And after checking my newly detected unknown objects, the tracking center is getting a bit busy.

 

[Kerbals_of_Steel]

I've been very busy with the ruthless exploitation of the Mun, so I thought I'd just put up some before/after pics in honor of the Munar population going over 50 Kerbals for the first time.

Munar One, before the solar wings are installed:

After the addition of approximately an acre of solar panels, and spawning off part to become the new LKO station:

Today, after the addition of nuclear power and the retirement of the solar farm:

20 Kerbals live there under Valentina's command, with room for even further growth, and it boasts a school, medical facilities, and a complete orbital manufacturing facility.

My first Mun base, the North Rim outpost, after the installation of the life support systems for 2 Kerbals:

The new base, capable of supporting over a dozen Kerbals who are almost totally involved in the manufacture of fertilizer for all off-Kerbin colonies:

Facilities include (L to R) Workshop, Main base/barracks, nuclear power plant (with storage silo just beyond), Logistics and shipping, and the Fertilizer Plant, with the old base just visible behind it.

Most of the population lives down in the East Crater:

Crew quarters, Science lab, Agriculture and  lifesupport, Workshop (illuminated), Logistics, and the first 3 star Munar lodging facility, the Hotel Kerbalfornia

Thanks to the hard working Kerbals in the industrial park, the entire colony is now self sufficient, though any new buildings still have to be shipped in:

The two mining rigs are L and R, manufacturing facilities in the background, and the foreground includes the local barracks and nuclear power plant, including a nuclear processing plant to export enriched uranium back to Kerbin for sale.

There is an additional fuel refinery site that will soon become its own  independent colony, here the first 4 pioneers mug for a photo to send back to KSC:

All surface colonies are linked by Bobrin Kerman and his spacebus, inexplicably named "Furthur" :

"Furthur" boasts seating for 6 passengers, a 5 ton magnetic crane, and is capable of hauling nearly any kind of cargo, whether bulk commodities, containerized goods, or simply by strapping equipment onto the flatbed.

I've got a long ways before I reach my goal of a 1000 kerbal colony, but now it's self sufficient and even has surplus capacity to help support further expansions. Next step is to add some form of off-planet manufacturing so I don't have to ship in new components all the way from the KSC...

[wisdomsavingthrow]

I spent today fiddling with mod stuff - mostly trimming Bluedog Design Bureau, figuring out which parts I like and which are redundant, etc - that little Gemini moon lander is so cute!

[Guest]

making a train that goes really fast over the flats of minmus