Angelo Kerman

TBH, It wouldn't be the Saga without @JustJim. But when KSP 2 is finally released, it would be great to see a new Saga.

Both are correct. The efficiency is 0.2, which, if you multiply 60 by 0.2, you get 12.

Looks great! There will be dedicated submarine parts in Phase 3 that will help make Buffalo 2 more submarine like. suffice to say that if the programming needed isn’t too hard then I can add an electric motor option

The pre-release only has the tilt-rotors. You'll need to install Kerbal Actuators in order to make use of them. You can find the link to Kerbal Actuators on the OP under Recommended Mods.

That was dropped for now. The hard part is the electric motor; the OG version needed large amounts of electric charge, and the way that I had to do that involved oddly defined specific impulse values. Plus, defining the Atmosphere resource across multiple 3rd party mod packs was problematic. Plus, I would need to at least define Atmosphere in Buffalo 2 (it is defined in Classic Stock Resources), and maintaining two sets of definitions has proven to be cumbersome with Graviolium. About the only way to do the above is to create a cusom electric motor part module, and maybe a custom intake part module that senses when you are on a world with an atmosphere rather than looking at a bunch of ill maintained planetary resource definition files. I did account for the possibility of electric tilt rotors when I redid the sound effects. If the part modules aren’t too hard to do then I can see a dual-mode tilt rotor that uses Liquid Fuel/Intake Air or Electric Charge/Intake Atmosphere.

Chapter 33 Orbital Dynamics’ company jet- actually, Scott’s personal jet that he bought when he won the lottery- touched down on Welcome Back Island’s Runway 90 Left on the morning of Itzcoatl 7, 2003, with a load of new employees. The plane taxied past Resolute and Dauntless, much to the delight of the occupants, and then parked next to Hangar 2, home of Ascension. As the pilot performed his post-flight checklist, the new employees, all engineers, exited the aircraft and were greeted by one of the newer scientists to join the company. “Welcome to the Island,” the scientist said, reading from a script. “We refer to Welcome Back Island as ‘the Island’ around here, because saying ‘Welcome to Welcome Back Island’ gets confusing. Anyway, I’m Glenwin Kerman, and I’ll be your mentor to help you get oriented to the Island and help you get settled in. It’s company tradition for recent hires to give the orientation tour to the new hires, so in due time, you’ll be helping new hires to get oriented as well. Let’s get started, shall we?” Calming Kerman, one of the four engineers, grinned. This is going to be a very interesting experience, he thought to himself. * The Blackstar launched into orbit from Jay Kerman Air Force Base, carrying with it an experimental spacecraft known as the Remote Atmosphere Observation Satellite (RAOS). Built from spy satellite technology, RAOS was designed to examine the atmospheres of celestial bodies and perform spectrographic analysis on their composition. The KAF hoped that the technology would one day help the space program research distant planets and look for harvestable resources- and to give a new lease on life for obsolete technology that no longer served a purpose. After rigging the ship for orbital flight, the crew got to work, rotating RAOS vertical and deploying the spacecraft. Once deployed, it unfurled its solar arrays and extended its antennas. As a test, RAOS pointed its sensors at Minmus- the previous Magellan crew were surprised to notice small tufts of clouds that drifted near the surface, which really surprised the team. RAOS had several weeks of observations to make, so with nothing more to do, Blackstar’s crew carried on with the next phase of their mission. The military Mk33 aligned planes with its next target and made a couple of engine burns that parked it next to the Orbital Dynamics Shipyard a day after launch. The flight crew docked within minutes of arriving, and after exchanging pleasantries with the station crew, the Air Force astronauts got to work. The team carefully transferred the nuclear fuel that Blackstar carried over to Minmus Base’s awaiting Support Module. While the KAF/KIA/KSP team had a solution to Orbital Dynamics’ “blutonium problem,” they were still researching how to miniaturize the technology needed and getting policy formed through Kongress, so it was still necessary to bring the deadly resource up from Kerbin. But with that done as well, Blackstar departed the Shipyard and made her way back to base. * Since Drax Aerospace had more tugs to spare than Orbital Dynamics, KSP directed the aerospace giant to send one of their JUS tugs over to the Shipyard, pick up their Support Module, and send it on its way to Minmus. Neither company was particularly thrilled about KSP’s directive, but they did have a point about efficient resource allocation. So, JUS-3- one of the older tugs- undocked from the Drax Fuel Depot, aligned planes with the Shipyard, performed its engine burns, and six hours later, arrived at the construction station. After it arrived, the station’s Harbormaster took remote control of JUS-3 and docked it with its cargo. Once the yard workers determined that its connections were solid, the Harbormaster undocked the JUS/Support Module stack, maneuvered it away from the station, and handed control back over to Drax Aerospace Mission Control. DAMC then aimed the craft towards Minmus and boosted out of Kerbin orbit. * Tesen Kerman (PLT), Elke Kerman (SCI), Glesby mcKerman (SCI), along with rookie astronauts Rosey Kerman (ENG) and Gwenmy Kerman (ENG), launched into orbit via a chartered Phoenix Aerospace Firebird to continue the work started by Dudmon Kerman and his crew during Minmus Base Expedition 1 (MBE-1). Unfortunately, their mission was cut short because Jebman got stressed out from overworking. As before, Firebird docked with Starlab and the crew exchanged pleasantries with the station crew before boarding Magellan and heading out to the Orbital Dynamics Shipyard. A day later, Magellan parked at the Shipyard’s pier, picked up Minmus Base’s command module, and then departed. Lacking sufficient propellium for the trip to Minmus, the vessel made a few transfer burns to rendezvous and dock with the Drax Fuel Depot, partly filled its tanks, and then departed, burning for the mint mϋn an hour later. They had an eight-day trip to Kerbin’s furthest natural satellite. * Not long after the new Orbital Dynamics employees began their tour, Scott and Frolie- mabo declined the offer to fly as well- boarded Skyranger for one final flight. Barely passing its flight inspections, the original Mk33’s fate had finally been sealed. Originally designed and proposed for the Shuttle Launch System, the Mk33 was ahead of its time, and that had originally been her undoing. Her composite fuel tanks suffered from delamination, which meant they would fly apart during launch with catastrophic results. So, the prototype languished in storage for a decade until the SLS program ended and the Kerbin Orbital Transportation Services program began. That’s when Scott Kerman, fresh out of the Air Force and winner of the largest lottery in history, bought the prototype, hired a vonKerman chemist and a bunch of engineers to fix its fuel tank lamination issues, and outfitted it for spaceflight. From there, Mk33-01, named Skyranger, became the first single stage to orbit spacecraft, became the first polar-orbiting SSTO, and set records for the shortest turnaround of a launch vehicle- broken only by Dauntless (Mk33-03) years later. Skyranger was instrumental in creating the space tourism industry, flew the components that became Homestead Hotel- the first commercial space station- and launched numerous other components like the Astro Tug, the first spacecraft designed to reposition an asteroid. Skyranger enjoyed a long history of service with Orbital Dynamics, but the rigors of spaceflight took their toll. Not recovering the spacecraft since her second launch Numerous flights over the years took their toll on the spacecraft, causing gaps between the parts microfractures that even required on-orbit repairs threatened to tear Mk33-01 apart during launch. An extended orbiter maintenance down period couldn’t repair the vehicle without practically rebuilding her from scratch, and the airframe was too old to be modified for runway-based launches like her younger siblings, so the company kept her in mothballs- until now. When Drax Aerospace’s Sunkraker began flying with its own set of KR-2200L Velociraptor engines and had advanced composite fuel tanks of its own, it became clear that the competition had caught up to the Mk33’s technology. Keeping the historical spacecraft out of the public eye- and away from scrutiny by competitors- no longer mattered. So today, Skyranger taxied onto the runway at Welcome Back Island one last time. Continuing a tradition started at KSC when the K-20 KerbalSoar rocket planes retired, Ascension (Mk33-02), Dauntless (Mk33-03), and Resolute (Mk33-04) were all rolled out of their hangars out of respect for their retiring forebear. It brought a tear to Scott’s eye. He quickly wiped it away and steeled himself though, he had a job to do. Cleared for takeoff, Scott reved Skyranger’s engines and the venerable spacecraft lifted off into the sky one last time. They had a half-hour to fly the 150km between Welcome Back Island and KSC, so Scott reflected on Skyranger and her missions. Before long, Skyranger crossed over to the mainland and flew over KSC. The space center paid tribute to the retiring spacecraft by rolling out their experimental planes like the venerable K-21 Sea Goat and the K-25 Sea King. Even their archrivals, Drax Aerospace, rolled out Mϋnraker 1 out of respect. It was a nice gesture, one seen all too briefly as Mk33-01 flew past, arced left, and headed to her retirement home. Before long, the Boneyard, a patch of desert scorched into the ground by some ancient catastrophe, loomed into view, and Scott began maneuvering the spaceplane to land on its runway. A few minutes later, Skyranger set down on the unimproved landing strip and gently rolled to a stop. After turning around, Scott taxied Mk33-01 down the runway and onto the tarmac, parked in the designated spot across from the retired Shuttle orbiters, and shut down her engines for the final time. * Scott received a meeting request with Gene and Adsii, scheduled a half-hour after Skyranger’s retirement party ended. He wasn’t sure why, only that it was important. To kill some time, he took a tour of the Boneyard. While Frolie and a few others enjoyed a tour of the Boneyard after Skyranger's retirement party, Scott reflected on how, many years ago, this site was where it all began. He convinced Sara Kerman to become CTO of Orbital Dynamics, and he revealed his plans to buy the unfinished Mk33 prototype that became Skyranger. He knew that someday, the other Mk33s would find their place here, but that day wasn't today... “KSP appreciates your company putting your commercial mϋnbase on hold to help us with Project Minmus,” Gene said. “Hey, I appreciate the arrangements that you made for us to visit Unity Station,” Scott said. “That’ll help us accelerate some of our tourist contracts.” Gene nodded and hesitated. “So… this isn’t just a social visit. What I’m about to tell could end my career, not to mention land me in prison,” Gene began. He paused, weighing his decision. He sighed and continued. “Project Laythe’s mandate is to search for life on Laythe, but that’s not its primary mission. The primary mission- and we haven’t revealed this publicly- is to establish a new, permanent home for kerbalkin. That mission is based on highly classified knowledge that, according to the Kermantians, the world will end in 100 years. Only a handful of individuals know Project Laythe’s true purpose, and we want to keep it that way. I trust that you’ll keep this to yourselves. “I know that sounds farfetched, but the President of the Kerman States, the Premier of the vonKerman Republic, and the Prime Minister of the mcKerman Kingdom are all convinced that it’s going to happen. We have evidence to suggest that the Kraken are real, and we think that when they wake up, they’ll eats us, or whatever. So, yeah, the consensus is that it’s going to end. But I… well… Adsii, tell Scott what you told me.” Scott's jaw dropped at the news. Adsii looked similarly stunned, but he recovered and spoke up. “Well, uh, wow. That’s pretty… wow… Uh, my theory- uh, well, not just my theory- and it’s a theory, mind you- is that the ‘end of the world’ is just the Kermantian calendar ticking over like an odometer, like our own start of a new year. We, uh, we don’t know why the Kermantian Empire vanished at the start of the Fifth World- uh, Scott, you remember our conversation about the Kermantian calendar, right?” “Yeah…” “Ok, great. So, we don’t know why their nation ended, only that it did. Anyway, I had a chance to visit the Pyramid of Tut-Un Jeb-Anh recently and saw where archeologists discovered the writings that described the end of the Fifth World. The problem is that a portion of the wall with the petroglyphs was destroyed. When I say ‘destroyed’ I don’t mean that natural weathering caused the wall to crumble. It was deliberately defaced. I could tell that by the way that the weathering on the exposed rock was different than that of the surrounding wall. And more to the point, when I magnified and enhanced the pictures that I took, in some areas I could clearly see the indentations of hammer strikes. Somebody tried to make them look like natural weathering, but a well-trained eye could tell the difference.” Scott wasn’t sure what he’d heard. “So, that means…” “Based on the weathering patterns, as early as a few decades ago,” Adsii continued, “someone defaced the wall to prevent others from finding out why the Kermantian Empire ended at the beginning of the Fifth World.” “Adsii’s ‘odometer’ theory is just too simple and plausible to not ignore. I’m starting to think- and I know how this will sound- that the destruction of Kerbin is a hoax,” Gene said. “But I can’t prove that. I need you two to get to the bottom of this. Discretely. Right now, everything is a big secret. If word leaked out about the end of the world- and it turns out to be a hoax- heads will roll, including my own! Now, I’ve done all I can as KSP Administrator to investigate, but the more I keep sending Adsii out into the field, the more I’ll have to justify the expenses. That’s where I need a big favor from you, Scott.” “You want me to fund the continuing investigation,” Scott said simply. “Exactly. Well, not just fund it, but take over. Your company has the resources to keep digging and you’re not accountable to Kongress. And Adsii, if you went on sabbatical or better yet, got hired by Orbital Dynamics-“ “I could uncover the truth,” Adsii interrupted and finished. “But Laythe Fleet arrives in nine months…” “You’ll have that long to complete your investigation,” Gene concluded. “And I’ll make sure you’ve got a VIP seat and a, uh, ‘guest scientist-observer’ slot when the Fleet arrives at Laythe.” “Oof, if I leave now, I won’t get to be there when the Second Duna Fleet arrives. They’ve got a lot of science lined up. I’ll be giving up a lot… but… this could be the discovery of a lifetime… Ok, I’m in,” Adsii concluded. “Count me in too,” Scott added. “Outstanding,” Gene said enthusiastically. “Thank you, both. I owe you. I know I can count on you two. Also, Scott, I’ve got a status update regarding disposing of that blutonium of yours…” * Five days later, JUS-3/Support Module entered Minmus SOI. The spacecraft dropped off the Minmus Base Support Module and went to Drax Fuel Depot 2 to transfer its remaining propellants. With barely had any monopropellant left, Drax Aerospace decided to scuttle the older model Jool Upper Stage rather than return it to Kerbin... A day later, Magellan entered Minmus’ SOI and headed for Gateway Station. After a course correction burn to send the ship into a prograde orbit, the vessel rendezvoused and docked with Gateway a half-day later. Setting up for an extended stay, the crew put Magellan into hibernation mode and moved into Minmus’ newest space station… Once the Minmus Base’s landing site emerged from darkness, Tesen got to work by undocking the ULM, with its underslung Support Module, from Gateway and remotely piloted it to the surface. As the lander approached the desired location, cameras picked up wisps of clouds hovering near the surface of the Mint Mϋn, once again baffling scientists. Unfortunately, Tesen overshot the landing site and had to double back. Then the ULM ran low on propellant, so she set it down 1.5km away from the desired location and drove the remaining distance. A 15-minute drive later, the ULM arrived on site. After slowly lowering its legs, the ULM dropped the Support Module onto the ground, re-extended them again, and trundled away from the module. It wasted no time powering up its rocket motors and lifting off from the surface. Five hours later, ULM docked to the base’s command module parked to Magellan’s nose. “Hey, boss,” Rosey Kerman, one of the expedition’s engineers began, “we’re down to about a quarter tank on the MTM, but the lander is full…” “Uh, Tesen? You need to see this,” Elke Kerman interrupted. Rosey hid her annoyance. “What,” Tesen asked. “Here, look.” Elke sent the data over to Tesen’s console in the cupola module. Tesen read the data readout. “Did you verify this?” “Yes,” the scientists responded. “Three times. Minmus Base is sitting on a huge aquifer!” “What’s an aquifer,” Rosey asked. “An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing permeable rock,” Elke answered. “Which means we found a huge reservoir of graywater! The ground-penetrating radar signature is unmistakable.” “How did we miss that,” Tesen asked. “Rosey, can we activate the Support Module’s drills from here? Can they handle the influx of water along with the ore?” “Not a problem,” Gwenmy, the other rookie engineer, responded before Rosey could. “Great, let’s deploy them…” Down at the surface of Minmus, the Support Module received commands to deploy its drills and activate them. The drills dug deep into the ground and began their work. As tuffs of clouds lazily drifted by, the drills struck paydirt: the module’s holding tanks began taking on bits of ore- and lots of graywater! “Get me Mission Control,” Tesen said enthusiastically. * As KSP poured over the data from Minmus Base Expedition 2’s (MBE-2) discovery, the Duna Climate Observer arrived in Duna’s SOI on Itzcoatl 19, 2003. Three hours later, it made a course correction burn to place it into polar orbit a day later, well ahead of the rest of the Second Duna Fleet. Not needing to wait for the remaining vessels, the Climate Observer got to work. After MoS Mission Control selected the desired landing sites, the Climate Observer deployed the first probe, aiming it towards Duna’s Midlands. Successfully powered up and prepped for landing, the probe initiated its deorbit burn. A half-hour later, it bit into Duna’s atmosphere, and as it neared the ground, it deployed its chutes and took atmospheric readings. While the probe bounced on landing and fell over, it completed its job and transmitted the results. The next probe headed for some notable craters, with similar results. The third probe only needed to take readings while flying high over the lowlands, but as with the other atmospheric probes, the probe landed as well. This time, it stayed upright. The fourth probe headed for Duna’s highlands, took its lower atmosphere readings, and fell over during landing. But it still transmitted its results. For the final two atmospheric probes, the Climate Observer realigned its orbit to match planes with Duna Basecamp’s equatorial orbit. Despite the large delta-v requirement, the Climate Observer had plenty of propellant to make the burn. Once the fifth landing site entered daylight, the penultimate atmospheric probe detached from the carrier, ignited its engine, and plunged into Duna’s atmosphere. It too fell over. The final atmospheric probe was brought along as a backup, but since the other probes completed their missions, the last one was available for testing. After considering various targets, the Ministry of Space selected the crash site of Estonian 1 to find out what happened to the spacecraft. The goal was to try and land next to the crash site, but frankly, the atmospheric probes lacked precision landing capabilities. Despite the fiery atmospheric entry, DCOP-6 emerged from its plasma sheath unscathed. Unfortunately, it landed a mere 2.3km away (just outside of physics range) from the crash site- and during a dust storm. With its mission complete, Duna Climate Observer briefly went sub-orbital to discard the probe dispenser before quickly restoring its orbit. Then it rendezvoused with Duna Basecamp. After docking to the complex via its obsolete predecessor, the spacecraft performed a series of preprogrammed maneuvers to undock the prototype tug’s outrigger tanks and mounting them to the production model tug to form a makeshift fuel depot. Then the prototype tug repositioned itself on one of its former outrigger tanks. It would have to wait another three years for the launch window to open for a return trip to Kerbin… * The Orbital Standard Shipping Container was designed by Orbital Dynamics to ship cargo between destinations throughout cis-minmar space and potentially through interplanetary space as well. As the company gained experience with the Block 1 models, they refined their design. Their latest iteration rearranged the RCS thrusters so that they could mount dorsal and ventral docking ports and they added additional internal bracing. Plus, Orbital Dynamics created a pallet that could be docked to the ventral port, enabling the OSSC to be landed as well. The space company also had other ideas to support intermodal transportation, but they were still on the drawing board. Since Orbital Dynamics was forbidden to ship anything to Starlab, KSC bought a shipping container, filled it with goods, and handed it over to Drax Aerospace for launch. Drax mounted it onto one of their low-cost Moho launch vehicles and shot it into the sky. A day later, the aerospace giant delivered the container to KSP’s premier space station… Phoenix Aerospace directed PPE-1 to rendezvous and dock with Starlab, and it arrived a few hours later. Using some special components brought up in the OSSC, Starlab’s engineer stepped out to mount the components to the ion tug per instructions that Phoenix Aerospace sent up. After veteran astronaut Gerrim Kerman completed her tasks, the space company uploaded a firmware update that overclocked the ion engines. Software tests concluded that the overclocking had the desired effect; PPE-1’s ion engines had a 360% increase in thrust. Finally, Gerrim refueled PPE-1’s xenon gas stores and finished prepping the ion tug and its cargo for departure. With its second refit completed, PPE-1/OSSC departed Starlab and “burned” its ion engines as it headed out on a fast track to Minmus. Two days later, it docked with Gateway Station. * Crammed full of field modification equipment delivered via OSSC, ULM/Ostrich touched down at the polar mining site once more, lined up with the Landing Puck, and grabbed it. Immediately, AMMO began filling the lander’s tanks. Once satisfied that their tanks were full, Rosey stepped out to disconnect the Puck’s hoses while Tesen remained inside. With just the two of them, they could stretch Ostrich’s life support longer if needed, but they didn’t expect to need to. Instead, Rosey coiled up AMMO’s hoses, performed a quick visual inspection, and then headed back inside the lander. With their task completed, ULM/Ostrich lifted off the surface with the Puck full of propellant. They weren’t headed into orbit though. Instead, they took a suborbital hop towards Minmus Base to deliver the Landing Puck. Should anything go wrong, one of the MBE-2 crew up on Gateway could board Sea Duck and rescue them. Fortunately, everything went according to plan. ULM/Ostrich landed at Minmus Base, dropped the Landing Puck near the Support Module, and Rosey went outside to connect the hoses and modify the Support Module to convert the graywater into propellium and oxidizer. A day and a half later, fully refueled, AMMO retracted its drills and lifted off as well, following in the footsteps of ULM/Ostrich. It landed a scant 18 meters away from the Support Module, extended its drills, and started drilling. Unfortunately, several failed, but Rosey simply grabbed several repair kits as she stepped out to hook up AMMO to the Support Module. She quickly found the issues, repaired the drills, and restarted them before connecting AMMO to the Support Module via a hose. With her work completed, she unhooked ULM/Ostrich’s fuel hose and went back inside the lander to relax and continue playing Surviving Duna- she just researched the tech needed to construct a Mega Dome in the game! As Rosey tried to keep her colonists alive after a meteor struck and broke a critical water pipe, Tesen backed the lander away from Minmus Base and blasted off the surface of Minmus. Six hours later, the spacecraft docked with Gateway Station once more. Sadly, Rosey had to save her game and reconfigure the ULM to deliver the Minmus Base’s Interim Command Module to the surface. At least that was the plan, until refueling the ULM nearly emptied the Multipurpose Tank Module. It had to be refueled, which would also put the automated mining system to the test. So, as Tesen got some rest, Rosey grabbed the MTM via Gateway’s PLM and docked it to the ULM’s underside. “I like how automated these systems are,” Rosey remarked. “All I have to do is tell it what to do, and the autopilots handle the rest.” “Hrmph,” was all Tesen managed before she zipped up her sleeping bag... The ULM performed its deorbit burn 30 minutes after departing Gateway Station and landed on automatic 15 minutes later. After it positioned the MTM over the Landing Puck, the ULM retracted its legs and settled onto the platform. AMMO sensed the new craft and its propellant needs and automatically began refilling ULM/MTM’s tanks. The only problem that Rosey could see was that AMMO’s converters were designed for the pure water at the poles and not for the graywater in the aquifer. Fortunately, the Support Module’s converters could handle the job thanks to Rosey’s modifications. KSP just needed to send more equipment so she could modify AMMO’s converters as well. Fortunately, Drax Aerospace was already working on the problem. * A few days later, Drax Aerospace launched their Minmus Fuel Tanker into orbit and sent it to tank up at Drax Fuel Depot. Basically just a rover platform with a large tank on its back, the MFT had the ability to interface with the Landing Puck as well as visiting spacecraft that don’t have an interface for the Puck. After taking on propellant, the MFT departed the station, aligned with Minmus, and set out to the Mint Mϋn. A day later, Drax fielded a Block 2 Propellium Tanker into orbit. It didn’t need to be topped off; it just briefly parked in orbit, aligned with Minmus, and set out as well. The Block 2 sported a skirt extension that mounted new landing legs and it had new solar arrays and comm arrays, but it was otherwise the same as the Block 1. Meanwhile, ULM/MTM lifted off from Minmus and docked to Gateway Station a few hours later. Then, a week later, Minmus Fuel Tanker entered orbit and aligned itself Gateway Station. It remained in its parking orbit as the Propellium tanker arrived, circularized its orbit, and began its landing protocols a day later. It touched down next to Minmus Base. Shortly after, MFT initiated procedures to dock with Gateway Station, after which JUS-6 detached and headed to Drax Fuel Depot 2. Once it completed its docking maneuvers, Tesen and Rosey again boarded ULM/Ostrich and departed Gateway Station, taking the new MFT with them. They set down at Minmus Base an hour and a half later. Once Tesen released the MFT, Rosey used the equipment that it contained to modify AMMO’s ISRUs to handle graywater and setup filters in its water tanks as well. After the engineer hooked up the hoses between the MFT, the Landing Puck, ULM/Ostrich, and the Propellium Tanker, she tested the refueling system by transferring propellants into the MFT, ULM and the Propellium Tanker. Satisfied with the results, she disconnected the hoses, got back into the lander, and commanded the MFT to conduct its automated refueling operations. First, the MFT extended its refueling arm and connected it to the Landing Puck to take on propellant. Then it trundled over to the Propellium Tanker and plugged in via its refueling arm. Both tests proved successful and demonstrated that the new tanker could be refueled automatically. Finally, ULM/Ostrich returned to Gateway, picked up the Interim Command Module, and brought it to Minmus Base. Once Tesen positioned and dropped it, Rosey hooked up AMMO’s umbilical and extended the module’s airlock tunnels. With their tasks completed, Tesen docked ULM/Ostrich to the Landing Puck to refuel for the trip back to Gateway Station. KSP would have to wait a few days for Drax Aerospace to refuel their depot orbiting Minmus and to send their Jool Upper Stages back to Kerbin before they could ship more components for Minmus Base out to the Mint Mϋn.

Today I finished up the B2 Tailcone Type 1. I'm 2 parts away from the Get To Da Choppah release. Here's a preview: Context - Da Choppah:

That only means if KFS isn't installed then use the Blueshift's configs for SpaceDust. Otherwise, with KFS installed you'll use the SpaceDust configs from KFS (which are virtually identical).

It's also possible to remove the Blueshift patch for FFT. That would restore the parts. That might remove some functionality, so perhaps you could just remove the sections that remove the parts when FFT is installed.

Blueshift 1.9.0 is now available. - Enabled warp engines to function even during timewarp. The caveat being that you cannot change your vessel's course during timewarp. - While warping during timewarp (referred to as supercruise), you can tap on the brakes key or the kill throttle key to immediately drop out of supercruise. - To initiate supercruise, your vessel's throttle cannot be at zero. - While warping when not in supercruise, you can tap on the brakes to immediately kill the throttle - With EVA Repairs installed, increased the MTBF ratings on all the warp tech parts to support warping during timewarp. - Added new 3.75m Graviolium tank.

I would say that at this point, the Whipcrack isn't essential to solve the problems of long distance interstellar travel. With the new timewarp function, you can get where you need to go in a matter of real-time minutes. So, it's on the back burner for now. You can supercruise (warp during timewarp) to the nearby star, and either find the alien jumpgate if you have that option turned on, or build a gate in system. The gates are definitely more cost-effective and might need a graviolium price increase given how much more you need to cross interstellar space on warp. For the graviolium tanks, I'll look into it. The way things are, the interstellar speed boost is set to 1, meaning you won't have any speed boost. The idea being that if players should be using timewarp to get around fast. If you really want to go faster between the stars, then just give the interstellar speed bonus a boost.

For those too young to remember… https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Frontiers This is what the Star Frontiers warp engine is named after. Planets Edge was named after another game. If I hadn’t come up with the Whipcrack name, I was going to name the BSG style jump engine Traveller. Given the improvements to the warp engine, I don’t think a jump engine will be needed. Just aim for the target star, go full throttle, and then hit timewarp. If you need to stop, just hit the kill throttle key or the brakes key to drop out of timewarp.

I'm almost done with the updates to the warp engine plugin. Today I fixed a bunch of edge cases including problems with running the generators and engines during high timewarp. As a test, I refit the Star Frontier- equipped with the Star Frontiers warp engine- gave it an extended Graviolium tank, and hightailed it to Nova Kirbani. The interstellarWarpSpeedMultiplier still exists and it applies to warp during timewarp, but I dialed it all the way back to 1. With my changes, warp + timewarp (hyperwarp?) really does the trick. In game, it took the Star Frontier two weeks to reach nova Kirbani at 4.6C, but about 5 minutes realtime by using maximum timewarp. And if you use EVA Repairs, I buffed the MTBF on the warp tech parts. I also burned through about 3/4 of my Graviolium. You will go through a lot of Graviolium at high timewarp, so plan accordingly for your interstellar adventures.

Orbiting around @StarCrusher96's Kormann 16A while I cruise around and test the new ability to warp during timewarp:

For sure the interstellar speed boost will need to be dialed down. It currently affects how fast you go during interstellar timewarp. If you look at the image I posted, the part action window tells you how far away you are from your target. I have been going into map view, selecting the target star, pointing the ship at the target, and then warping. Now, I also hit timewarp. When I get close, I tap on the brakes (the warp engine now detects when you kill the throttle or press the brakes key), and the ship kills timewarp. Then I just fly on "conventional" warp the rest of the way.

Speaking of Nova Kirbani, check out the Blueshift thread...

So, on my way to designing and building the Whipcrack jump engine, I tried something out, and, um... I'm working on the details of this, and am fixing the edge cases. Suffice to say that the Whipcrack jump engine won't be needed. The caveat to warping during timewarp is that you won't be able to adjust your course or speed until you drop out of warp. You'll still be able to adjust your course and speed when not in timewarp.

The config file is called rotatingHub.cfg and it can be found in WildBlueIndustries/DSEV/Parts/Utility/StationParts. The part is called Rotating Hub. You should find it in the DSEV parts category as well as under the Utility parts category.

If you have Breaking Ground, try DSEV's Rotating Hub.

Whipcrack is an FTL jump engine that I'm working on for my Blueshift mod. This discussion actually belongs in the Blueshift thread; this is Buffalo, and I'm currently working on the parts needed to make a tilt-rotor. But I clearly need to work on Whipcrack before somebody comes along and steals my idea. So, I'm putting B2 on hold again, and working on the jump engine.

It's not so much a question of do I want to make the Whipcrack, it's more a question of, is it a viable solution considering that Blueshift already has warp tech and jumpgates.

The plan is to make two parts: the Whipcrack, which is the jump engine, and the Whipping Post, which is the jump beacon.

Today I fixed some mesh issues on the tilt-rotor, got the smoke trail working, and reworked the engine sounds. The chopper parts are by no means complete, but you can find a pre-release of Buffalo 2 v 1.1: Get to da choppah! here. Remember, you will need Kerbal Actuators in order to use the new parts. It's on CKAN, but you can also get it here.

This is why Blueshift's tech nodes are set up the way they are, and why I considered how the technologies are used together. They're expensive, but you could conceivably research both warp tech and jump tech in the same game. Warp tech lets you move quickly in-system, while jump tech lets you yeet across interstellar space quickly. But jump tech's convenience is balanced out by having to travel to the desired destination at least once by other means to either discover the alien jumpgate that is already there (if you have that option turned on), or building your own. Whipcrack would fit into the trio by still making you traverse interstellar distances yourself, but allowing you to yeet in one long jump instead of taking a long road trip. You could conceivably point your ship at the target star, make one giant leap (or 2 or 3...) with Whipcrack, and then "conventionally" warp the remaining distance. Then once you're there, build a jumpgate or find the pre-built alien jumpgate.

Thanks! What a difference 7 years of skill improvements makes! Back in 2015, I styled the Buffalo to resemble the vehicles driving around KSC- hence the boxy shape. This time around I went for a sliced cylinder look to make it easier to turn into station parts. Unfortunately, I have too much on my plate to revise the Bison as well. Looking at the parts that I have slated for Buffalo 2, and how long it's taken me to get Phase 1 done, I expect to be busy up to the end of the year- my cutoff date for finishing modding KSP 1. I don't see finishing mods like SunkWorks or the mothership for Kerbal Flying Saucers (which will make an appearance in KSP 2), let alone older mods like Heisenberg in the cards. Parts simply take too much time to make, and I have to work for a living, so my free time is limited.