Kassandra (interplanetary compact ship) v3.01, gravity turn? automatic once again!

[syfyguy64]

What a good ship! And a revolutionary return vessel! And I like the cool little manual that came with it xD

You totally NEED to put these fairings on it!!!

http://i.imgur.com/UEZT2Jv.gifhttp://i.imgur.com/4mi5T4b.gifhttp://i.imgur.com/LcUymyn.png

I'm still tweaking them, but if you'd like some, give me a shout ;^) (I don't charge)

They will be way better on your ship rather than my useless Apollo xD

I'd like a set for my ship similar to the Kassandra (Inspired by it, least).

[Albin Xavier]

I would use this rocket if I could fit a 3.75 meter command pod on it. I really do like it, it's just too small for my tastes.

[H2O.]

I would use this rocket if I could fit a 3.75 meter command pod on it. I really do like it, it's just too small for my tastes.

Thank you for your compliment anyway, but it is the nature of this ship: to be reasonnably small.

There is a 3.75 meter command pod?

[CRCError1970]

I just downloaded the ship and it's very nice.

I just have two questions...

First, how did you attach the decoupling ring to the parachute on top of the command module?

When I try to do that on ships that I make, I cannot get the ring to snap to the top of the parachute.

Second, how do you use a subassembly with a command module in it? Whenever I try to create a new ship, the subassembly button is missing until I place a command module. Then when I use your command module subassembly, I cannot use it because the first module I placed is the primary command module.

Any help from you or anyone else that knows more about how to use the VAB would be great.

[Albin Xavier]

Thank you for your compliment anyway, but it is the nature of this ship: to be reasonably small.

There is a 3.75 meter command pod?

I have a mod that adds one. But now I decided to use the rocket anyway, I don't need 7 Kerbals in space at once.

[H2O.]

How did you attach the decoupling ring to the parachute on top of the command module?

When I try to do that on ships that I make, I cannot get the ring to snap to the top of the parachute.

I'm glad to help, thank you for your interest in my ship.

There is a cubic strut under the parachute. The cubic strut is attached to the command module, the parachute is attached to the cubic strut and the decoupler is attached to the command module.

(or the other way around, I don't remember and I can't launch KSP right now)

Second, how do you use a subassembly with a command module in it?

A subbassembly cannot be the first part of a ship. The command module subbassembly provided in my file is in case you build a ship and you want to add a command module on top of it.

If you want to use the Kassandra command module as the main part of your ship, load the whole Kassandra ship in the VAB, delete all the parts under the command module and save your ship under an other name. You can now build your spacecraft under it.

...

Glad you decided to give it a try!

Edited April 23, 2014 by H2O.

[Albin Xavier]

I would recommend putting a small engine and small fuel tank on the emergency escape system, so it will work on planets and moons without an atmosphere. Your escape system saved my Kerbals lives, though, what happened was I was trying to get to Minmus with Mechjeb, and I had sped up the game too much and it went past Minmus before I turned off the warp, and I had been de-orbited and was landing in the ocean.

[H2O.]

...

You mean, putting a small engine and small fuel tank on the escape tower?

[Albin Xavier]

You mean, putting a small engine and small fuel tank on the escape tower?

What I mean is putting a light engine and fuel tank under the command pod.

[H2O.]

What I mean is putting a light engine and fuel tank under the command pod.

Unfortunatly, I don't think it is a realistic solution.

First of all, in order for such a system to work on several differrent celestial bodies, the fuel tank and the engine will end up not that small.

Second of all, a suicide burn with such a ship will be a really hard manoeuvre, and in a lot of cases simply impossible.

Then, even if it works, Kerbals will be stuck on the celestial body. I know they have boardgames and stuff but still...

It will add a lot of weight, and by doing so, the ship will need a massive redesign (the ion ring and the lifter, mainly). The ship will end up not small and with higher part count. I don't want to release a new version that has more part than the previous one (on this ship my goal is to reach 150 parts at lift-off).

Finally, there is enough abort possibilities with the existing design (you have successfully use one of those possibilities to abort your mission if I understand your previous post correctly).

On the topic of landing a command module, a few months ago I did play with separatrons to make retro-rockets. It worked; but without an automatic attitude control and an automatic altitude trigerring device, there is no way of making that a reliable emergency system.

Anyway thank you for your feedback, it is much appreciated!

[Albin Xavier]

Unfortunatly, I don't think it is a realistic solution.

First of all, in order for such a system to work on several differrent celestial bodies, the fuel tank and the engine will end up not that small.

Second of all, a suicide burn with such a ship will be a really hard manoeuvre, and in a lot of cases simply impossible.

Then, even if it works, Kerbals will be stuck on the celestial body. I know they have boardgames and stuff but still...

It will add a lot of weight, and by doing so, the ship will need a massive redesign (the ion ring and the lifter, mainly). The ship will end up not small and with higher part count. I don't want to release a new version that has more part than the previous one (on this ship my goal is to reach 150 parts at lift-off).

Finally, there is enough abort possibilities with the existing design (you have successfully use one of those possibilities to abort your mission if I understand your previous post correctly).

On the topic of landing a command module, a few months ago I did play with separatrons to make retro-rockets. It worked; but without an automatic attitude control and an automatic altitude trigerring device, there is no way of making that a reliable emergency system.

Anyway thank you for your feedback, it is much appreciated!

What I did was put a poodle engine and one of the rockomax x200 fuel tanks, and it seems to be just fine, it gives you ~3 minutes of thrust on full throttle, that should work if you get de-orbited (which is why I put it on)

Edit: I downloaded a emergency escape pod that has everything I want in an escape pod, RCS, Liquid Fueled thrusters, and parachutes. The only problem? It has only one seat.

Edited April 24, 2014 by Albin Xavier

[H2O.]

I downloaded a emergency escape pod that has everything I want in an escape pod, RCS, Liquid Fueled thrusters, and parachutes. The only problem? It has only one seat.

If you have it installed on the Kassandra, don't hesitate to provide a screenshot.

[Albin Xavier]

If you have it installed on the Kassandra, don't hesitate to provide a screenshot.

It's a mod, though, but I can make a Stock version in a jiffy. It just won't look as nice as the mod.

Edit: http://imgur.com/wVW9u15

Edited April 25, 2014 by Albin Xavier

[H2O.]

v1.5 is out, with fairing variant included

Unfortunatly, my trials with Overfloater's fairings were unsuccessfull. I had to stick with something more conservative. I hope he won't mind.

Everything fits nicely in it of course!

Changes against v1.4

• solar panels now horizontals
  
• battery on the lander moved near the hatch of the pod
  
• decoupler between the nuclear stage and the material bay is now a tiny red one
  
• decoupler between the third stage and the nuclear stage is now a big white one
  
• separatrons on the third stage removed
  
• slight refactoring of the first stage (now composed of 2 clusters of 2 liquid fuel boosters instead of 4 liquid fuel boosters)
  
• part count is now 154 against 157 in v1.4
  
• added a fairing variant of the ship
  
• added a fairing subbassembly
  
• imgur album modified to match changes
  
• rewriting of some of the manual's sections to match changes
  

Hope you will enjoy it!

Edited May 24, 2015 by H2O.
image removed

[Kevin Kyle]

Thanks for all your effort in doing this. I made my first trip to another planet with this awesome ship. I just followed your pdf file and other assorted tutorials and like magic, I made it there and back. I couldnt have done it without this ship and guide. It went just like the guide said Thanks so much. Where else can this ship reach and land and return? Very cool and rewarding, I want to do that again.

[H2O.]

Thank you!

The ship can go and land on Gilly, Duna, Dres and the Jool system (not Tylo; and without parachutes, I think Laythe is a no-go either, but you can add some). I don't have KER installed right now so I don't know if Eeloo is a possibility.

I'm glad you like it, interplanetary missions are so fun!

[Bandus]

I downloaded the .craft files, and placed them in C:\Program Files (x86)\Games\Steam\SteamApps\common\Kerbal Space Program\saves\savegamename\Ships\VAB and once I've done that, whenever I go into the VAB and hit "Load" nothing happens. No window pops up, etc. The moment I remove the downloaded .craft files and hit load, the lists of rockets appears as normal.

I am confident this is my fault and I'm missing something, however, I'd appreciate any assistance. Thanks!

(P.S. I'm having the same issue when trying to use the .craft files for the Skylon Cargo space plane (http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/78229-Skylon-Cargo-SSTO-v2-0-%28UPDATED%29?p=1158801&posted=1#post1158801)).

[H2O.]

Hi!

You are not the first one that have this kind of problem. You did everything right in my opinion. The behaviour you are experiencing is typical of a ship with mod parts loaded in a game that does not have the right mod installed in. Wich does not make sense since my ship is stock only (and I am pretty positive about this).

On the other hand, it seems to work with some people that don't have any mod installed.

So what I am gonna do is take an old computer of mine that does not have ksp installed, install ksp, and load the ship on it. I'm sure I will find what the issue is.

I will do that as soon as I come back from work (it is seven in the morning here).

[Bandus]

Hi!

You are not the first one that have this kind of problem. You did everything right in my opinion. The behaviour you are experiencing is typical of a ship with mod parts loaded in a game that does not have the right mod installed in. Wich does not make sense since my ship is stock only (and I am pretty positive about this).

On the other hand, it seems to work with some people that don't have any mod installed.

So what I am gonna do is take an old computer of mine that does not have ksp installed, install ksp, and load the ship on it. I'm sure I will find what the issue is.

I will do that as soon as I come back from work (it is seven in the morning here).

I really appreciate that! Looking forward to it! Have a great day!

[H2O.]

Ok so the problem is actually pretty simple.

You have not unlocked all necessary parts on your career game to load the ship.

If you unlock every part or test it on a sandbox, it should work just fine.

Tell me if it works or not.

[Bandus]

Ok so the problem is actually pretty simple.

You have not unlocked all necessary parts on your career game to load the ship.

If you unlock every part or test it on a sandbox, it should work just fine.

Tell me if it works or not.

Again, I appreciate it! Unfortunately, my game is actually a sandbox game, not a career game.

I should mention that my game is modded, however, none of the mods add parts as far as I know. I think some of the mods might retexture parts though...

Edited May 15, 2014 by Bandus

[H2O.]

Can you provide a screenshot?

[Bandus]

Can you provide a screenshot?

I am not really sure how I would accomplish that, I'm afraid. I enter the VAB, I click load, and literally nothing happens. It is as if I just did not click anything at all. I mean, the game isn't frozen or anything like that...all the Kerbins are running around like normal. It just won't open the list of saved ships unless I remove the files for Kassandra from the VAB directory.

[H2O.]

Ok, I've read you have problem with an another stock ship; so I think your game is somehow corrupt.

But which mod caused that?

A way to troubleshout is to delete ksp and all the mod you have installed.

Then, on a clean ksp install, load the ship.

If it works, then install a mod. See if you still can load the ship

Repeat the operation for each mod until it brokes.

[Kevin Kyle]

I just flew this ship last weekend. It worked as expected and no loading problems. Only mods I run are UniverseReplacer, KerbolAlarmClock, Chatterer, PreciseNode and FlightEngineer which I dont use during flight.