MaverickSawyer

Oh, boy. Hadn't even thought of just how much fun you're going to have with the robotics. Space can wait again, can't it?

*jaw hits floor* Great, now I have to hurry to finish my current save... or at least get everyone back home!

HOLY... I was only kidding about the KIS bit. But my GOD the new stuff looks glorious!

I'm with DDE on Ol' Boom-Boom. That's the ticket to the whole solar system.

They frequently do, at least with more... reputable aerospace firms. I know for a fact that the programs my dad worked on at Aerojet had test coupons as a regular part of the process of manufacturing. Doesn't help much if the QA team is the ones fudging the data at the behest of management, though.

https://twitter.com/blueorigin/status/1123615030098837505

Merlin doesn't use brazed-tube construction, so it's not applicable anyways. BE-4 also will not be using brazed tube. However, for a long time, that has been the go-to method for any regeneratively cooled engine built in the US. H-1, F-1, J-2, RL-10, LR87/91, RS-25... All the big ones. Smaller stuff like the AJ-10 family, which includes the SPS engine from Apollo and the OMS engines off the shuttle, notably did not use brazed tube, or did so only for small sections, with the OMS using electroforming to close out machined channels in the chamber. Not sure if the Agena engine used brazed tube.

After a somewhat extended break, I have returned in triumph! I've don a lot of behind the scenes missions since my last post, such as crew swaps, experiment and science retrieval, and finally decommissioning my Minmus Outpost. But, so far, the crowning achievements are in my Duna exploration campaign. After around 350 days in transit, Viking Lite arrived at Duna, making a quick bank shot off of Ike on its way in, and proceeded to insert into orbit over Duna... It then settled in to wait for the relay and survey satellite Solaris 1 to arrive some 9 days later... Solaris 1 successfully inserted into a polar orbit over Duna after 366 days of transit, and proceeded to relay the commands to the Viking Lite lander to proceed with EDL operations. These were a complete success, and the lander safely touched down in the Midland Seas and promptly returned a wealth of science data. On a completely different technology level from the previously mentioned missions is the Solaris 3 orbiter, which is currently, as I type this, inserting into orbit over Moho. ~4 minutes of ion engine burn time left... Finally, I set a personal best time from LKO to Minmus orbit... 3 hours flat. The CTV - Torch crew say it's a heck of a ride, being pinned to their seats by more than 3Gs of acceleration, but the quick arrival more than makes up for the discomfort. However, several major deficiencies were noted with this design, mainly a lack of non-torch propulsion for orbital maneuvering in proximity to ships and stations. Back to the drawing board. EDIT: And Solaris 3 has completed the capture burn! Welcome to Moho!

I thought they launched the spare unit to replace the missing one?

Not at present, no. IIRC, the APAS the Chinese use requires a significant amount of kinetic energy to properly engage, which is why their docking to Tiangong 1 and 2 usually looked kinda Kerbal. Closure rates were... high. The ISS has put the new LIDS ports over the APAS, so they'd have to remove the LIDS to dock a Shenzhou. LIDS to Chinese APAS would probably break the LIDS port.

IIRC, they do use APAS. It was part of a tech sharing arrangement for Shenzhou.

Yep. It's something I always advocate for with customers... better to have to come back to the store to get money back, than to have to come back and spend more money.

In my six years at Home Depot, that has been fulfilled by everything from a $0.10 washer to having to return and reorder several thousand dollars of flooring because it was "the wrong color". On that note... Retail101: "Customers. Our jobs would be so much easier without them, but then we wouldn't get paid."

The capabilities of smaller satellites is actually getting pretty good. Not quite to Keyhole grade yet, but certainly enough to monitor a battlefield for patterns and large-scale movements.

Not exactly a Maxim, but definitely in the ballpark... Other assorted bits of wisdom: There is no such thing as "idiot proof", merely a high degree of "idiot resistance". The moment you declare something idiot proof, nature will produce a better idiot. "A person may be smart, but people are dumb, panicky animals and you know it." - gratuitously lifted from Men In Black. Murphy's First Law of Home Improvement Projects: No project is ever completed without at least one more trip to the store. Murphy's First Law of Retail: the likelihood of a customer leaving an item at the register is inversely proportional to the cost of the item, and directly proportional to the importance of the item.

I suspect that Stratolaunch is going to aim for the "rapid reaction/replacement" market, especially for the DoD.

Exactly ZERO chance of them making that timeframe.

Rocket stayed at the sortie base, iirc. Why risk damage by flying it somewhere it's not needed?

Stargazer has departed from Mojave Airport. Maybe they're finally ready to launch that Pegasus? EDIT: pic courtesy of https://www.instagram.com/ohwiss/

I will freely admit, this thing had a historically accurate track record during testing... 2 out of 3 launches ended in disaster. But, it works great now! https://kerbalx.com/MaverickSawyer/Delta-III

And because they still don't entirely trust ATK's boosters.

Figured I should share some of my builds here... Starting out with my Delta family of launchers. All listed below REQUIRE Bluedog Design Bureau. Additional packs may be required, such as SmartPart sand Tweakscale for the Delta II 79xx series and NearFuture Launch Vehicles for the upcoming Delta III. DELTA II 7320 The simplest variant of the Delta II. Three groundstart SRBs, Delta II core, Delta K upper stage. 1.5m diameter fairing comes standard, but can be upgraded to larger if required. Download: https://kerbalx.com/MaverickSawyer/Delta-II-7320 DELTA II 7420 Need a little more kick than the 7320 can provide? Say no more. Adds another GEM booster, also groundstart. Download: https://kerbalx.com/MaverickSawyer/Delta-II-7420 DELTA II 7920 When you think of a Delta II, this is probably what springs to mind. Nine solid rocket boosters on the side, sequenced to light six on the pad and an extra three as the first six burn out part way into the ascent. Core and upper stage are still the same as the 7320 and 7420. NOTE: REQUIRES SmartParts (found here) to properly manage staging of the boosters, and Tweakscale (found here) for making the staging controllers unobtrusive. Download: https://kerbalx.com/MaverickSawyer/Delta-II-7920 DELTA II 7925-H Most famous for its use in the launch of the Opportunity Mars Rover, the Delta II Heavy uses the expanded and more powerful GEM-46 motors in place of the GEM-40 motors used on most other Delta IIs to provide a little more kick. The 7925 also adds a STAR-48 third stage to provide some extra kick for missions requiring even more energy. Like the Delta II 7920, requires SmartParts and TweakScale to manage the booster staging sequence. Come stock with an enlarged fairing for bulky pr blunt payloads. Download: https://kerbalx.com/MaverickSawyer/Delta-II-7925-H DELTA III 3940 An evolution of the Delta II, the Delta III swaps the storable Delta-K stage for a Delta Cryogenic Second Stage (DCSS). The larger 2.5m upper stage required revisions to the first stage core tank and mandated the use of 9 GEM-46 motors to help it off the pad. Note: the DCSS REQUIRES the use use of all the above extra parts packs AND Near Future Launch Vehicles, found here. Download: https://kerbalx.com/MaverickSawyer/Delta-III Other historical variants of the Delta, as well as the Delta IV, are currently under consideration or design. All links, versions, and models current as of 9 April 2019. Moving on to the heavy lifters... Atlas V. ATLAS V 551 The largest RTF (Ready To Fly) booster in MAST's catalog at present, the Atlas V 551 is intended for medium-heavy lift missions of bulky and heavy payloads. Download: https://kerbalx.com/MaverickSawyer/Atlas-V-551 Other variants are currently under development, from the 401 all the way through 552, as well as several unique MAST-specific variants, such as the Atlas V 53I and 53P, which use internally-designed upper stages to fill specific mission profiles such as launching Duna exploration habitats or Minmus base modules.

You do remember that the RL-10 as it flies today is hands-down one of the most manual labor intensive engines made? I mean, it's brazed tube construction for the chamber and nozzle. Parts may be cheap, but the skilled labor to actually do the construction isn't. I'm not entirely sure you can do a furnace braze on that or not. I'll have to ask a contact of mine with some experience in such matters...

Huh. Issues with the engine?

Depends on if you're willing to spring for the Planetary Express shipping. After all, torchdrive fuel isn't cheap.