GoSlash27

Rodbern, My humblest apologies. I totally misinterpreteed what you were trying to do! Sorry, -Slashy

Rodhern, It seems to me that you are dabbling in circular logic. How do you *know* that the programmers used precisely 9.81 m/sec2? Why not 9.810017, or 9.806, or some other value? You have assumed values for g0 and G, and attempted to use them to prove each other. We need to know precisely what values they are using, and what has changed between 1.1.3 and 1.2 (beta), not an arrogant and logically fallacious "lesson" in kinematics 101 from a guy who didn't even know what the universal gravitational constant *was* yesterday. If you have a way of looking into the code for the values like you do for the mass, *that* would be helpful. Thanks, -Slashy

Rodhern, I use 6.67408 because that's the established universal G to the maximum precision it is known. It is assumed on my part that Squad uses this value in all versions to avoid small errors like this mucking up precision maneuvers... but I don't know that. I think we'll need to get a clarification from Squad about exactly what values they are using. Best, -Slashy

Readjusting the values in my spreadsheet, something must still be off. Using M=5.2915793E+12 r=6E+5 G=6.67408E-11 I get a predicted semisynchronous orbit at 1,581,772 meters, but in 1.2 prerelease it happens at 1,581,516. I have to assume that either Kerbin's mass has changed or they've altered G. haha "I have altered G. Pray that I do not alter it any further"... Best, -Slashy

Ah! That would explain why the calculations are off; it appears they've altered Kerbin's mass slightly. Running with full allowable precision, I get a g0 of 9.810118 m/sec2. I wonder why they changed it. Where did you get that value for Kerbin's mass? Best, -Slashy

Rodhern, I often use the short-hand "9.81 m/sec2" when discussing processes or doing quick back of the envelope estimates, but I do not use that value for precision calculations. In fact, surface "g" is calculated from the body's mass M, the universal gravitational constant G, and the body's radius r. I'm using the same values that @Sippitous is using, which is why our math agrees. What is at issue is that something is slightly off in this latest build. They've either altered the value of G itself, Kerbin's mass, or radius. Could also be that time warping is introducing some rounding error. I'm curious to find out what's been changed. Sippitous, Your SMA value and altitude figures agree that Kerbin's radius is still 600 km. That leaves a change in either Kerbin's mass or G. I propose checking Dunasynchronous orbit and seeing if it is similarly affected. If so, either G is altered or warping is handling it incorrectly. Best, -Slashy

Actually, that's incorrect. I use the same surface g as sippitous for precision calculations. We're referring to the universal gravitational constant "G", not surface gravity "g". "Best, -Slashy

Sippitous, This is an interesting anomaly. How much error did you get with the calculated SMA? I wonder what the cause of this is. Perhaps G in KSP is a little off? Maybe a result of rounding errors in warp? Your result would require a G of 6.67172E-11. Best, -Slashy

Well... they're still in their break-in period, so I haven't taken it over 60 km/h. They're supposed to top out around 105 km/h (around 65 mph). All told with shipping and handling, mine is just a little over $4,000. Best, -Slashy

Spaceception, No, you're right. I'm the ratty lookin' one on the left with the RoboCop t-shirt. Best, -Slashy

http://s52.photobucket.com/user/GoSlash27/slideshow/Bodge-a-Palooza Just got word yesterday that my new toy arrived in DesMoines yesterday, It's a completely restored 1964 Vespa VBB scooter. Up at 2:30AM, 4 hours on the road with a car hauler, unboxing/ prep, and then we drove our new scooters all over creation! I had a blast, but I'm exhausted. Best, -Slashy

Well, *my* source is my copy of 1.2 experimental, now up to build 1500, but you can keep up with the changes here: Things are still in flux, so check often! Best, -Slashy

If you know your SMA and mu, then you can calculate the period precisely. The way I do it, I don't even have to know the mu. I just have to know the relative SMAs of 2 orbits that will give a resonant relationship. Using these relationships allows me to perfectly space any number of sats in any orbit by using another "feeder" orbit to insert them. This does require all sats in the constellation to be launched on the same bus, though. Best, -Slashy

It would've worked there as well because occlusion isn't 100%. But it won't now because they've readjusted the range of all of the repeaters. Best, -Slashy

It took exactly 6 years, 369 days to deploy the entire system. I installed the latest version and went immediately to work on this in sandbox. The sat bus has to make 5 1/2 circuits around the seeder orbit to place the individual repeaters in a perfect pentagonal arrangement, where the repeaters then circularize themselves. The headache was in figuring out mathematically what apoapsis would result in a perfectly resonant seeder/ final arrangement from Kerbin. For a 5/4 resonance, the apoapsis is 18.54 Gm. Best, -Slashy

Alshain, No worries about Duna's SoI. They never get close enough to encounter it. I started building the launcher about 3 hours ago. I didn't hurry deploying the system, so I'd imagine it could be fully up and running in less than 1 hr playing time. The R&D took me most of the day. Comparing costs vs coverage, crunching numbers, etc. I believe this is the best bang for the buck available. Best, -Slashy

Here we go... http://s52.photobucket.com/user/GoSlash27/slideshow/KSP/Cheepnet Not only will this system allow you 100% unblockable access to Kerbin's moons and all inner planets with cheap DTS antennae, but it allows full coverage Dres with an RA-50 repeater or HG-55 as well as full coverage of Jool when you unlock the RA-100. This system is designed to be cheap, low-tech, and easy to deploy once you've unlocked the RA-50. All parts are from lower tech nodes from the RA-50 itself. Launch cost is $60,000 and full system operation is available in 7 years from launch. Upload and instructions will be made available once Wikisend stops acting stupid -Slashy

I have another idea If comm net is fixed, I'll try it out and see if it works. -Slashy

Hooray for spreadsheets! -Slashy

3 sats with HG-5s in a 1 Mm, 120° phased orbit above the Mun will allow for almost complete coverage down to the surface using C-16s on your sat or lander. Best, -Slashy

X-SR71, There's a bug report saying the latest 1.2 build has broken the CommNet. It's high priority, so expect a fix soon. Best, -Slashy

Any organism that actively seeks to expand it's environs is inherently aggressive. I'm okay with that. Best, -Slashy

More good news for @Andem: You got the new suits you wanted -Slashy

@Crocket Go to store and login. View your profile and hit download. Prerelease is in there. You're welcome -Slashy

Downloading from the KSP store now! HYPEHYPEHYPE