Norcalplanner

Continued kudos for what I consider to be the most useful parts pack out there. One small request - is there any possibility of a 1.5x or 2x version of the largest 5m tank, either as part of this mod or as part of FTP? I've been using the 2x 2.5m and 3.75m tanks a lot as a first stage tank, and it helps a lot with avoiding the downward CoM shifts that happen with stacked tanks. It would be great if the 5m tanks had something similar. Thanks again for all your efforts.

I would tax all people quoting Monty Python.

Thanks for the info, everyone. I'll go ahead and mark it answered, but I think I'm going to do some experiments. I have an idea for a test rig that should answer this definitively.

Hatch is obstructed and can't be opened.

Um, have you seen gregroxmun's aap challenge thread?http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/121201-The-Apollo-Applications-Program-1-0-Edition I and a few others have done Apollo 11 and then some.

I think it would be like the golden age of exploration all over again, only with starships instead of sailing ships. Government sponsors exploration first, followed by the bolder companies seeking to make a buck. Skirmishes amongst various nations and trade companies comes afterward. And unless communications can keep up, I think that the odds of a flourishing piracy and privateer culture are higher, because of the greater plausible deniability. Just like gold or oil, platinum from an asteroid is a fungible resource.

This. I've also used it on occasion to increase TWR on the first stage on an iterative design.

In all my time with KSP, I don't ever recall seeing anything about the strength of struts in tension vs. compression. Does the physics model go in to this level of detail, ot is the strength the same in both directions? It would seem intuitive that they should be stronger in tension.

I've never used hyperedit, but I have used and abused both SpaceY and KJR to loft some pretty darn big loads, including large unaerodynamic space stations. Launched this 700 ton station in just two parts. Only has four struts.

You may want to try fuel tanks plus. It has a double-length orange tank that largely eliminates the flipping caused by a two-tank design. And then tick the "limit angle of attack" box if you keep using MJ.

Pictures would help a lot. What does your rocket look like? How wide and/or unaerodynamic is the payload?

I have a special place in my heart for the Mainsail. I generally try to stay two steps off the bleeding edge with my workaday lifters, and a Mainsail first stage (with a Poodle second stage) can launch just about anything you need in the midgame. The price for the power just can't be beat.

I tried this precisely once. For a much better modded solution, load up Kerbal Joint Reinforcement (for a strong connection) and SpaceY, which includes 3.75m and 5m docking ports.

I'm doing a happy dance right now. Awesome overhaul of one of my favorite mods. Let me shove some more rep your direction...

Totally agree. Fewer, larger parts plus KJR and a plan for the station ahead of time will go a long way. I try to keep my workaday stations under 50 parts and my big impressive ones below 150.

I used the K1 Kiwi from SpaceY. It's a 1.25m engine that has 425 kN thrust. I also only used 7 of them, because my stack was 3.75m in diameter; I'm not a big fan of part clipping, especially where engines are involved.

Here's one of my recent stations, called Regula 3. It's 700 tons, has room for 58 Kerbals, and features Necrobones' SpaceY, Nertea's Stock Space Station Expansion, and ethernet's Station Science. Has all the station science labs, including two cyclotrons and enough power to run them both, so it can do all of the station science experiments (generally docked via small craft, then deorbited). Also wouldn't have been possible without KJR and MechJeb. With just a few struts and only two launches, I had the thrust limit the ascent to 15 m/s acceleration for most of the way up, for one of the most inefficient launch profiles ever. If any of you station builders also like doing challenges, I run the Grand Orbital Space Station Challenge. Pop on over and take a look!

Congratulations, Glaran K'erman! You have completed the Grand Orbital Space Station Challenge with a Modded Division entry scoring 84,662 points! This is the first entry that used TweakScale extensively. Since the main benefit appears to be lowered part count and slightly better engines (such as the shrunken KR-2Ls) I've decided that it's a modded division entry. That is the biggest Rockomax-16 I've ever seen! Definitely a fuel depot first and foremost - it looked a little odd at first, but it grew on me. That's a heck of a lot of lander for the number of landing legs you have on it - I hope you're always able to put it down where it's flat. Feel free to add the badge to your sig. If you enjoyed the challenge, rep is always appreciated. Well done!

I'm partial to Vall myself. I've also read (but haven't yet actually done this) that a station in orbit around Jool itself, between the orbits of Vall and Tylo, is supposed to be the most efficient. You don't have to circularize around a moon, and you can reduce delta v requirements using gravity assists from the other moons, particularly Tylo.

Glaran, Real life is busy at the moment, but I should be able to look at this and verify the score tomorrow night. First impression - that's the biggest Rockomax-16 I've ever seen!!!

It sounded to me like the signal they received was just a quick "everything is still working, here's the amount of data I've collected so far, now I'm going to go back to collecting data for the next few hours" prior to the first scheduled transmission (the "New York Times" packet) tomorrow morning. It doesn't sound like it's going to be transmitting continuously for the next year.

Just a quick question - what are the factors which affect the speed of eureka generation and science experiment completion? Is it better to have the lab fully manned with experienced scientists? Any clarification would help.

Just wanted to say thanks for this awesome mod. I've really been enjoying it the last few weeks. Just made a monster science station that's going to go to Minmus, then Duna, then finally Jool, all to complete contracts thanks to Contract Configurator and the Station Science pack.

You can certainly launch a tank empty and then refuel it later; just be sure to either a) fill it up using the station's own dedicated mining/refining apparatus and dedicated craft, or count the tonnage of the refueler as part of the total launch weight penalty. If you're doing a spaceplane, then the landed mass of the plane doesn't count towards the launch tonnage penalty. - - - Updated - - - This isn't an entry, but I thought this crowd would appreciate the station I just made as part of my 1.04 career game. Regula 3 has 58 comfortable seats, is over 700 tons, and has three science labs, two cyclotrons, and a whole bunch of other goodies. I'm going to send this thing to Minmus (to run a few orbital experiments), then Duna (to run a few orbital experiments), then finally Jool (to run a few orbital experiments and leave it as a permanent outpost). Enjoy.

Here's my entry for 1.04, the Fractionator 4. 45.27 tons of payload out of 200.17 tons of total craft mass works out to a 22.62 percent payload fraction. Description is in the photos.