CobaltWolf

Wasn't I just saying to you the other day that KSP rockets always come out looking tall and spindly? Are you accounting for the height of decouplers, fairing bases, etc in that measurement?

YOU'RE BACK!

agreed, needs verniers and the nozzle walls look very straight instead of bell shaped.

Alright, since I've been pretty bad about making github commits, the updated Vega parts are now available on Github! While doing testing on them today I wound up making some desktop backgrounds.

Closest I know is the Packrat from USI Exploration. And yup - that's exactly what it is! Low tech, inefficient ions from before the more recent push to use them on more missions. This would've been used for Comet Haley probes in the 80s, using ion engines developed in the mid-late 60s. http://www.drewexmachina.com/2016/03/06/the-missions-to-comet-halley/

Got distracted... who knows what this is?

Unfortunately, I have a finite amount of time and the UA156X boosters haven't come up yet. Some day, maybe if people donate enough for me to do this full time. I imagine we'll see more engines with mesh switching, maybe similar to the Making History parts where you have shroud/shroudless variants, as well as versions with different diameters of mounting hardware. From what Blowfish tells me, switching RCS modules using B9 won't work. Well I have some misgivings about AST, so I decided to find a copy of that book and order it. Should be here some time next week. Oh? Steaming right along here, Apollo cleanup progressing well. Turns out by rearrangement of the texture sheet means a lot of the Block V stuff needs to be redone as well but no big deal. Shown here is the Aardvark Tug, click the image to see more.

When its done.

A couple smaller new parts from me (Nothing like Beale has been up to!) but the big one is a payload adapter that was necessary to make the upper part of Black Arrow fit together snugly...

Those are all bigger than what I was looking to do Not sure about the retros. Spacelab parts are definitely coming at some point. I'd rather make bespoke parts rather than hacking things together. I more meant it as... filling a texture sheet is a nice stopping point for content for an update. IRL Block III CM? Please do tell. I hesitate to make things specifically for the service bay as I feel they're a big time investment for such limited use parts.

No.

I believe the intent was that the cargo modules would have new functionality added depending on what mods you have installed. So if you have KIS it'll have a KIS inventory option, if you use TAC it'll have life support supplies etc. The only thing I don't feel it should be capable of carrying is actually fuel - the module isn't designed to hold it. Of course, that's something you could easily change on your end. By the way, if it is not behaving that way (if you have KIS and do not get a KIS storage option in the B9 switcher) that needs to be fixed - I don't actively test the mod enough to find things like that.

I'm not sure what you mean by Centaur Roll Control System. Do you mean the RCS that goes on the bottom of the Centaur? Because that already exists in the mod, in two flavors actually. If you mean the Atlas II Roll Control System, which was located on the Centaur interstage, I actually DO have good reference for that (Thanks to @Phineas Freak for a 'naked' image so I could see the thruster layout, and some others whom I can't remember who highlighted it in some launch images so I could see what it looked like in flight) and it is something I am planning on including in the release of the new Atlas parts. Of course, I have no issue making that RCS layout (I just wish there was a way to do it with mesh switching, so I could just have them be one part in the catalog...) and I'll get to it when I can. If anyone has others that they really need, let me know. The Kanaloa AARDV, also known as the Aardvark, from Eyes Turned Skywards. Imagine if you made an ATV derived from Apollo hardware. Basically, the shortened Apollo Block III service module with autonomous/remote control and a big drum full of cargo. It is also used, without the cargo module (so, just the service module and probe core ring) as a tug for delivering station modules to Spacelab and later Freedom.

After helping someone else with their capsule project, I decided I really wanted to work on spacecraft stuff for a bit instead of launchers... revamps of the Aardvark and Apollo Block III+ are mostly done. Note that those new single thrusters are not canon, but I decided to make them since a) they cost literally nothing in terms of texture space to add, and b) I figured they would be helpful for a lot of people. I'm thinking I want to take care of the Block IV mission module while I'm at it. The Block II Aardvark stuff is a bit more of an ask - I frankly don't know if I have texture space to spare right now! Again, if anyone has ideas for tiny 'useful' bits that fit into the Apollo part set, let me know. Low hanging fruit, if you will. I already have an idea for a neat little omni antenna that I'd like to make.

In turn, thanks must be given to @Beale whose solar panel texture I've spent the last two years stealing.

Ah, didn't understand that part. Makes sense. And they nicely also work as power conduits if the use of the part doesn't imply some other form of resource transfer.

I'm gonna state an unpopular opinion. Heck with the kid, get back to modding!

What does this statement mean? It's meant to have ranks attached to it?

Story time! So, when I first started modding BDB wasn't really a US-rockets mod, I originally started by expanding the number of probe parts. One of the first websites I found was http://mentallandscape.com/V_Venus.htm (make sure you also look at the Sputnik and Luna links at the top) - incidentally, this is why many of the BDB science experiments look like those found on russian probes! Ever since then I've been somewhat fascinated with the early Russian stuff. Last summer or so I modeled Sputnik 3 and Luna 3 based parts, and had Sputnik 3 mostly textured. A few months ago I decided I might as well just finish the Sputnik 3 texture and get it in game. Some day eventually we'll have the other two dozen or so new probe parts I made... The specular was set a bit low, but the real issue (that I eventually figured out) was that the spheres were still set to be the basic metal color rather than white paint. Yup, I typically don't update the compatibility configs myself, and I believe the last time they were seriously updated was the 1.0 release of the mod. If anyone updates them and makes PRs for them on Github I will gladly merge them in and give credit when the next release is made. Alrighty, got some quick screenshots for y'all. Atlas-Vega assembled in Unity (don't ask about the nosecone, it's an old model from Tantares I have sitting around), and then partially retextured Centaur engine mount and RL-10. And yes, I do plan on trying to fix and include the RL-10-B during this update.

That actually will cause issues for anyone - most of the line items in the part cfgs are case sensitive.

I don't believe I ever updated the RemoteTech config for the last release... in general all our compatibility files are probably out of date and the community contributors who were maintaining them have gone on to geener pastures. You'll have to fix it in the RemoteTech compatibility patch in your BDB install - just copy the Explorer configuration and change the name to whatever the name is for the Vanguard (the part name, not the display name). Bonus points if you make a pull request on Github so I can merge it into the main mod... Other new probes like the Sputnik 3 and Lunar Orbiter will have the same issue.

Most likely. It's all stuff that people made that I wanted to keep in one place, but none of it is stuff that I want to actually provide support for in any way. Some reading on the IRL Saturn V is probably helpful - they come up if you search for the real stage names (ex: sivb for the upper stage). There is also a manual produced by the awesome @DiscoSlelge linked in the first post of the thread which includes stage-by-stage building instructions along with an overall look at the rocket, starting on page 66. And, just to make sure, you're attaching the lander's bottom to the LAM, not to the bottom of the Apollo engine?

Check the craft files link in the OP, I don't maintain any myself.

I mean, you probably shouldn't have in the first place? But yes, I suppose so. Once this is on Github. I'm switching to Centaur updates now. @Pappystein the lander is named 'Sina', after the Hawaiian moon goddess. @GregT unfortunately, making lander/airlock colliders is one of the trickiest parts of KSP modding. I will log an issue on Github to take a look at it before I release the next update (coming once Atlas, Centaur, and Vega updates are done). However, assuming you have put it together correctly, it should be *possible*, if not *easy* to get them in. I know I've done it before. Probably because the Saturn is underscaled in BDB (for several reasons), which then makes the UA120X boosters small compared to it. @Drakenex probably did it so they'd fit the artwork.