MaverickSawyer

Looks like good effect on target!

That cut-off in the emissive is where the regenerative cooling ends and they switch to radiative cooling.

*Starts playing Sol Squadron*

Or, they knew that there were issues with #1and opted to test it anyways to test the powerpack and verify startup/shutdown stability, with #2 having already received the fixes for the known issues with #1.

Ooooh, shiny! (Literally!) I'm seeing a bunch of other new parts lurking in those screenshots, too... New Xenon tanks, new fuel tanks, a new dish antenna, the new 2.5m docking ports... And a new Materials Bay.

Ah, that may explain it. The only version I've ever seen was the 1997 re-release, before Lucas really sunk his teeth into retconning the movies.

Huh. I don't recall that, but I'll take your word for it.

The slanted gear? Yeah.... They're buggy. Problem with how the suspension is modelled and processed in Unity, iirc.

And yet, we only see an election seat in action for the first time in canon in The Force Awakens. (I am familiar with the fact that Expanded Universe content does have ejection seats for fighters, but since that's of questionable status these days...)

I agree that some degree of redesign is needed, but not as much as you'd think... boost the pilot's seat a little bit (say, 20-25 cm?), drop the droid down into its socket a little more and only pop it up when it needs to, and you've got a LOT more view even with the S-foils in their opened position, especially on the T-70s of the sequel trilogy. The second-gen X-wings are seriously compact, and the reduced profile of the s-foils and engines helps with visibility. Also, just reviewed the reference images of the T-70, and the canopy is significantly more open than the T-65B we're familiar with from the Original Trilogy. The A-wing is more of an equivalent to the F-104... it's little more than a powerplant with a cockpit attached. It's meant more for harassment, hit-and-run attacks, and reconnaissance than for getting into a prolonged turn fight. That's more of the X-wing's job, as it's noticeably more beefy both structurally and defensively. Also... why not have ejection seats? I mean, if you look at the Trench Run in A New Hope, an X-wing that gets hit badly enough to blow up seems to take several seconds to fully explode. That's more than enough time to reach between your legs and yank the ejection handles, seal off your flight suit (provided you've got a sealed helmet), blow the canopy, and rocket you to a safe distance. And yeah, sealed helmets are actually a thing in Star Wars, even without going to the TIE pilots... In the new Resistance series, one of the characters flew with the New Republic up to a few months before the events of The Force Awakens, and his flight suit was equipped with a fully-enclosed helmet...

Hmm... Y'know, I've always been bugged about the fact that starfighters are used in dogfights, yet have absolutely abysmal visibility from the cockpit. I mean, look at the X-Wing, which is often held up as a superb fighter. There's a huge opaque panel above the pilot's head, they have a tiny little slit window for rearward visiblility, the canopy frames are heavy and thick... ugh. I'm convinced that the pilot of a P-40 Warhawk, which isn't well known for rearward visibility, has a better idea of what's going on on his six than an X-wing pilot. It'd be more of an engineering thing, but coming up with a bubble canopy, or even the equivalent of a Malcom Hood mod for the X-wing would be a game-changer for fighter pilots. And don't even get me started on the TIE family...

One last post for tonight... That's a science return canister for my Minmus outpost. The Agena is used to insert into Minmus orbit and to land, and the crew at the outpost will then unbolt the upper cargo canister and the support frame beneath it, move it over to the outpost, and then bolt it on top of the outpost. They'll then load two completed MOLE lab experiments into it and fire it off, back to Kerbin. The Agena will be drained of fuel to top off the crew lander and, along with the support frame, will be recycled with OSE Workshop to be used to make new parts in situ. Or I might reuse the Agena. Not entirely sure yet. *shrugs*

Hmm... That dual-pulse mode looks promising for low-gravity missions. One pulse to punt you off the surface, and the second to push you into orbit.

Hey, @DiscoSlelge... Where'd the gear on that lander come from, FASA?

Details, details.

Finally got to flying an Atlas V 55x (self-contained upper stage and payload, no Centaur), and got an opportunity to catch the booster jettison... Please forgive the fugly fairing... the payload is a rather bulky (but light) mini-base bound for Duna.

First off, this isn't from today, but instead from last week... "Supply drop inbound!" A more recent one... Accurate jettison of SRBs off of an Atlas V 55x? Check.

Not all heat shields have that functionality, though I think stock ones are equipped as such.

Hmm... So, they're only able to catch one fairing half?

I think DDE hit on a winner... Finding a way of countering/overriding/ignoring the effects of a gravity well projector. You wouldn't believe the glee I felt when the Interdictor showed up in Rebels...

Aaaaah. Okay, I see. Airlock is kinda covered by Making History, though, right? I've not actually used that part, tbh, but... *shrugs*

Polyus, I think.

Nah, got a few unmanned orbiters and landers en route as well. Just need a small crew for collecting goo, materials exposure, and EVA reports. Or, as it's going to turn out, to run down to the surface, board a rover, and go exploring while I wait for the return window.

For science, of course. If I was in sandbox, I'd be running a torchdrive.

Aahhhh. Okay, looks like I'm too late for an opposition mission. Darn. Looks like the Duna mission will have to be a full-stay mission.