Norcalplanner

It's been far too long since I've posted, so it's time to put up pretty pictures again. I'm nearing the end of the tech tree, largely thanks to all the science which has been cranked out from Jade Station circuling Iota. No real method to all these, just a series of snapshots of the space program. Enjoy. I made a big rocket to take Jeb and Bill to Ceti and back, along with enough supplies and habitation to survive the trip. Here's the craft that went to Ceti. Sort of a variation on lunar orbit rendezvous, using the capsule and service module as a lander while taking along a disposable habitat for luxurious accommodations on the trip. Docked to Cuyahoga Station briefly. The "station" isn't much bigger than the habitat which came along. Mugging for the camera. Getting back in. Lots of nice detail on the Bluedog Design Bureau capsule and service module. I really like the decoupler, which properly routes the umbilicals around the heat shield (and not visible in this photograph, unfortunately). Back on Gael in classic style. Did a bit of biome hopping on Iota to grab more science for Jade station's lab, and give some Kerbals additional experience. A scanning probe arrived at Tellumo, but didn't quite have enough fuel to circularize and complete the required scans. Another probe is sent at the next transfer window. I don't remember what craft this is, but the lighting is pretty awesome. One of the two "Wuthering Heights" class DSN comm relays, each with three of the huge JX2 antennas. These are put into highly elliptical polar orbits for better lines of sight to distant interplanetary craft. The name comes from the old Monty Python sketch where they're using semaphore flags. Finally unlocked the Karborundum scanner, so I built my first-in-this-save ion-powered ship to go sun-diving and see where the resource can be found. Much to my surprise (and thanks to a glitch because I'm still running GPP 1.2.2) the Karborundum concentration right outside Gael's SOI was 140,000%. Hmmm. That makes things a bit easier. This lifter carried the Klondike I Karborundum miner/tanker. It dipped briefly outside Gael's SOI, filled up it's tank with 900 tons (!) of Karborundum in less than 10 minutes, then came back home. Here's the Klondike I on one of its orbital insertion burns. Because of the low TWR when fully loaded, it took three insertion burns to fully circularize at 700 km. An Icarus-bound probe was subsequently launched, filled with the new wonder fuel. Because of the solar power bug in this install, I'm able to power the Karborundum engine without using a reactor. For people who like numbers. 170 km/s on tap. It's actually more than that, because the craft separates into two parts so the majority of the fuel (which is heavy for its volume) can stay in orbit. More numbers. The beginning of the 22 km/s insertion burn. It all has to be done at once - the burn is 50 minutes, and the craft's transit through Icarus' SOI (without any insertion burn) is just 56 minutes. Almost done with the insertion burn. We're well past the periapsis. Fuel is pumped around, and the lighter lander casts off to land in three different biomes and complete the Icarus Probes strategy from Strategia. Added a few million funds to the bank, then the probe ascended and docked with the orbital fuel tank / comm relay sat. And in classic Kerbal style, one of the radiators broke during the landing in the second biome. We'll need to be extra careful with future landings - we can barely skate by with two radiators, but we're out of commission if we go down to one. I hope you enjoyed this peek into my 10.6x GPP space program. I take way too many screenshots, so if you want to see more shots of a particular type, just let me know.

So I tried using this along with KCT in a new career. What is the best way to make parts more reliable? Is it recovering and flying the same part over and over, or is it building the same part over and over? Just trying to understand the game mechanic so I don't send Val to the Mun in an unreliable rustbucket.

If you're open to mods, OhioBob has made an engine mod specifically for high pressure atmospheres.

Not a huge amount. In my testing during Kerbin reentry, it would generally increase the G load by 1 (e.g. going from 5 to 6 Gs). If I had to guess, I'd say it's equal to maybe a third of a single airbrake. But if you already have one on your craft anyway, just keep it open. Here's an example I from my 3.2x GPP career, when I was landing on Niven: In this case, it also helped to keep everything oriented correctly to have a bit of extra drag at the back. It also doesn't get very hot in this sort of configuration, as it's shielded by the rest of the craft.

My response was more generalized to .dll files from any mod.

This. I've had this happen many times. No matter how many settings I change on my system, the overzealous anti-virus software still occasionally quarantines a .dll (particularly a brand new version) and wreaks havoc.

One trick I discovered is that an open shielded docking port acts like a mini-airbrake. If you've got one on the nose of your craft, make sure it's open during a Duna atmospheric entry.

I think GPP at 10x or 10.6x would need to have an image of Lt. Reginald Barclay from TNG when he's in the holodeck and tied in to the Enterprise main computer. https://goo.gl/images/AT6CJT

I've never used Deep Freeze. This may be the time to check it out.

I'm sure there's a better way using gravity assists, but I'm actually thinking about manned craft. With life support. Multi-year gravity assist shenanigans probably aren't the best idea when the LS clock is ticking.

So I'm approaching the final nodes of the tech tree in my modded 10.6x GPP career. For planning purposes, I decided to calculate delta V requirements. This was a mistake. To make it to the surface of Thalia in 10.6x, it costs about 25 km/s of delta v. If you actually want to bring the ship back to Gael, then it's around 35 km/s needed. [Gulp] Ok, difficult but not impossible. After perusing the delta V chart, it looks like Icarus is the worst case for a vacuum world. And it's... around 40 km/s for a one way trip. If the ship comes home, then we're looking at 65 to 70 km/s. The longest unrefueled leg for this trip, consisting of Gael ejection and Icarus insertion, is in the vicinity of 26-27 km/s. Oy. Let's see... how much science does it take to unlock the Karborundum parts again? :-)

The next version of GPP should be 1.2.5...3

@Pinchy One more thought - if you're using solar power for ion or other advanced engines, I'd strongly recommend entering orbit retrograde around Icarus or Thalia, so that you have full solar power available during both your insertion burn and your ejection burn (if you're coming back to Gael). A standard prograde orbit will put you on the dark side of the planet during these maneuvers, neutralizing access to the abundant solar energy available when near the inner planets.

Anyone have any thoughts for a good quiet video card which would be a step up from an EVGA GTX 960 SSC? Still playing 1080p at the moment, but may want to step up to 1440p, and want to max out all the graphics. Mainly for KSP, but also Fallout 4, Skyrim, Planet Coaster, and Cities Skylines. Currently leaning towards some flavor of 1060 or 1070. Rest of the system includes an i5-6600k with a mild OC, 16 GB DDR4, Z170 mobo, SSD, etc.

As others have said, it's like asking which car is best - it all depends on how much cargo and passengers you're bringing, the characteristics of where you're going, and your own driving (piloting) preferences. This is a game, after all, and nobody should feel forced to do something that they don't find fun.

I think the best route is to not worry about coming back until you have better technology unlocked. In my modded 3.2x GPP career, Niven was the only planet my Kerbals set foot on and then returned to Gael using stock-ish technology and parts. Orbital ISRU refueling using exospheric Karbonite is a huge thing, as is atmospheric flight using Karbonite jet engines. For what it's worth, I was only able to get Kerbals to Icarus and back once Karborundum was available. Because I play with life support, it doesn't make sense to do multiple gravity assists when Kerbals are on board.

@Galileo thanks for the update. Sounds like I'll keep on trucking with my GPP 1.2.2 install for now, then jump to KSP 1.3 and the new version of GPP at the same time. I give you my word that I'll keep my Kerbals away from Icarus and Thalia until I switch to the new version of GPP. :-)

Hello @Galileo @JadeOfMaar and the rest of the team. I'm continuing to enjoy this planet pack a ton, although work and other RL issues mean that I'm not able to play as much as I'd like the's days. While not placing any pressure on you whatsoever, is there any estimated timeframe for GPP being updated to 1.3? The only reason I ask is that i haven't tried GPP 1.2.3 yet, and I'd like to give it a go. I'm weighing whether to create a new KSP 1.2.2 install for GPP 1.2.3, or wondering if I should simply wait a little while until a version compatible with 1.3 comes out. Once again, no pressure - just trying to chart a path for maximum GPP appreciation while minimizing new installation pain in my highly modded 10.6257x career.

Keep in mind that you can also use Sigma Dimensions to increase the stock system up to 10.6x to get realistic rocket sizes and constraints.

I've read the excerpt again, and the Kenya thing is making more sense. It's the Kenya Space Corporation, and Artemis is referred to as an off-shore platform and considered international waters for legal purposes. When one thinks of the current practice of "flagging" a ship in Liberia for legal and tax purposes, or incorporating a business in Ireland to minimize taxes, this structure makes sense. Artemis is, quite literally, a company town, owned by a corporation instead of a government. For all we know the seed capital was provided by tech entrepreneurs who went "shopping" for a country willing to change its laws in exchange for a once-in-a-lifetime economic development opportunity.

Looks interesting...

EJ made this in his stream last night.

I'm seeing a lot of hand-wringing right now. My take is that this is a good thing. Turning an IP into a franchise is par for the course - think of how many fallout or civ games there have been. Getting a new version of KSP every 4 or 5 years sounds great to me.

The front half looks an awful lot like a Harrier to me...

Just wanted to share a lovely shot of the Ohio Swirls on Niven in my 10.6x career. Thanks yet again for this wonderful mod. FWIW, I've decided to hold off for the moment on upgrading GPP, so I'm still on 1.2.2. I'll make the jump to the new version before I start doing any real surface bases, which will probably be next weekend.