purpleivan

It was the island race which I think was 27km or so.

You should be able to. I recently set up a race that was about 30km long, with gates only about every 5km.

Sure Ain't That Unreliable Russian N1

A morale boosting "Living on Mars is great because..." list, as there going to be quite a lot about daily life there that sucks.

Did you say wine!... ah no... the other kind. Then again I like a good whine/moan 6/10

7/10 especially recently (last couple of months).

But sadly no batteries.

The Neil Armstong Memorial on the Mun. Better ask a question. TUBM has left a lone kerbel to a lonely fate in Kerbol orbit.

True. TUBM has not traveled from Kerbin to Eve in under 50 (Kerbin) days

A couple from the latest chapter of LOST on Laythe.

Probably a snowball on Moho's chance of it happening, but I've signed it.

Chapter 10 - Val's Down “I forgot to carry the two” – Unnamed intern at KSC The LOST mission to Laythe had one vehicle left to land, the Lifter, piloted by a very unhappy Valentina Kerman. Her unhappiness being due to her failure to be first to reach Kerbalkind’s new home. As this was likely to be the last mission that 99.9999% of her species would know of, she’d put a lot of effort into being the first Kerbal on Laythe. Being second to Jeb (yet again) she could have handled, but to arrive last, in what was the fastest of the four vessels, was too much for her to bear. Her attempt to ensure her early arrival at the planet had begun weeks earlier, with a series of well placed bribes to some of the interns that were responsible for calculating the trajectories for the vehicles of the LOST mission. This had cost her a lot of canteen credits, as most of the interns wanted a chance to scoff down some of the choice meals that were prepared for those at the KSC with flight status. As a result she’d spent almost every day since Tiddles’ discovery making do with plain noodles, or onion soup. But with her skulduggery at the KSC and the stripping down of her ship in Kerbin orbit complete, she was all set for her boots to make the historic first steps on Laythe. Well... that had been the plan. While the launch from Kerbin had gone flawlessly, setting her up for a gravity turn at Tylo, and then a Laythe encounter, some 9 hours before Jeb’s in the mining ship, one little thing was due to throw a spanner in the works. Either through forgetfulness, or as a result of overdoing it on the pad crew’s “Special Brew” the night before, one of the interns made a small error in their calculations. The intern in question was responsible for the burn that would take place at Tylo, to swing the Lifter towards its Laythe encounter. However the forgetful/hungover number wrangler forgot to take into account the effect of Val’s stripping of the ship for its speedy Kerbin departure. The result of which was the burn being a couple of seconds longer than actually required. Hours after the burn had taken place, Val in the Lifter shot by Laythe at a distance far beyond what her near depleted fuel reserves could adjust for. Val sat at the controls of the vehicle, powerless to do anything, as she shot past her target. As the planet shrank from view, another, much larger object grew at an alarming rate. Jool. Fortunately for her, the error by the unnamed intern didn’t send the Lifter into the atmosphere of the gas giant, but instead on a scenic tour over its rings. She had to admit it was an amazing sight, but one which she’d have gladly given up, to get that original Laythe encounter right. Then once again a planet receded from view, while another grew. It was time for her to meet her old friend Laythe again. It was now almost an hour since Jeb, a school bus of geeks and that old timer piloting the Hab had all beaten her to a landing. The one way she had left to prove her piloting prowess was nailing an accurate landing at the colony site. Val’s landing was to be complicated by it being direct from approach to the planet, rather than a slower, orbital speed. This wouldn’t be her first “bolide barbeque”, but it would be the first without the aid of Kerbin’s global positioning system to establishing her location. So for this landing, the radio signal from colony would be her only guide. Note: Global Positioning System is accurate for small values of global, due to its lack of coverage of the polar regions. The decision to not cover the poles was taken on the basis that it’s too dammed cold there for anyone to want to visit. The Lifter slammed into the upper atmosphere and was rapidly surrounded by a glow of plasma and with temperature readings rapidly climbing, Val deployed the inflatable heat shield. On her console a reading of the direction and estimated range of the colony was displayed which at first seemed fine, but as the vehicle descended, it was clear that her hopes of a pinpoint landing were going to be dashed. Again it was the issue of the missing mass (that mass having been left behind in Kerbin orbit) that was causing the Lifter to decelerate more rapidly than planned. Her only chance to correct for this was to deploy the parachutes late... very late, something that Val was prepared to take the risk of to pull of a touchdown bang on target. However this would significantly increased the chances of the vehicle (and its pilot) being smeared across the surface of the planet. But no risk no gain, right. At first the late deployment seemed a viable plan, with the projected descent trajectory settling within a few hundred metres of the colony. However touching down there would be a short lived victory, as it would require a landing without the use of parachutes or the engine. So this “landing” would be more of a terminal, high velocity impact with the surface, killing all onboard and anyone close by. Realising that she’d run out of alternative options except “die in the attempt and wipe out the colony”, Val let out a sigh and lazily plonked a finger on the Deploy Parachutes button. Above her pyro’s fired and sheets of orange and white fabric exploded from their casings. As she stared out towards the horizon she could make out the location of the colony, with the Mining and Hab modules in place and what looked like the Science vehicle making its way towards it from the South West. But as the Lifter descended, the colony disappeared from view, beyond the horizon. Finally the parachutes opened and her vehicle gently drifted towards the surface before making a perfect landing, something the other pilots had all had major problems with. However that small point was little consolation for the 17km between her and the Colony. So this was going to be yet another time that Jeb would go down in the history books, but at least those books were back on Kerbin and in 3 days they were due to be wiped by the cleansing fire of comet Tiddles. With that thought Val chuckled. “Nothing like a clean slate”.

Ah... the magnificent obsession that is Eve ascent vehicles. I've had a few over the years. 1st design... complete failure and needed a pretty flat landing site too. 2nd attempt... similarly useless, but was a little more stable on landing. My 1st successful design (Jeb looks pleased with it too). Eve Party boat... a team of four sent to Eve and back (along with a deck of cards for the trip). This was followed by my most lightweight design. I screwed up the fuel lines on the first one sent, so had to send a corrected one as a rescue vehicle. Val took a trip in a much more recent, ISRU based lander. Jeb decided he wanted in on that action, so took a more aerodynamic version to the purple planet.

A few suggestions as fixes to your problem. Axe - well placed slamming of this surgical implement into the PC should do the trick. Drawbacks - 1. It can affect the function of other programs. 2. You need to buy an axe. Mods - Install ALL of the mods (any you can find, even if they are not compatible with you KSP build). This will slow your experience of KSP to a crawl, assuming that it loads. Drawbacks - 1. Considerable time required to implement (those pesky mods don't find and download themselves). 2. Can affect operation of other programs (they tend not to like a full drive). Divine inspiration - Burn some offerings to the Kraken. Drawbacks - 1. May cause some parts of you accommodation to function incorrectly, depending on how well they respond to fire. 2. The Kraken is a finicky deity and is very particular about the correct balance of desire and burnt offering. This can result in the revenge of the Kraken in the case of bad balancing, which is something to be avoided.

Thanks... glad you like them.

A couple of images from the latest chapter of LOST on Laythe.

Chapter 09 - Thumbs Up "The Kraken... my fat green ass it is" - Bill Kerman. Quiet for once reigned on the Hab vessel. With Elson busy in the command pod while Bill and Coslin prepared for the landing; there was too much to do for idle chatter. Even Bob made an appearance, leaving the confines of his cabin, to help with preparations. “Cupcakes 62.5” yelled Bill from number 1 of the four arms of the module. Breaking the silence to inform Coslin of the mass of the sugary snack contained in that section of the vessel. “Kerby Krisps... 94” Bill followed, wondering how there was so much left of the delicious purple wrapped snack bars. With the Lab narrowly avoiding a disastrous landing, caused by Gelsey’s fondness for Kerby Krisps, no-one wanted to take the chance of their own eating habits, putting them in similar peril. So the list continued. “Soft blue cheese... uuurgh...17” said Bill, pinching his nose and choking down his urge to hurl. This “delicacy” was a favourite of Elson, and the reason why he was rarely disturbed in the command pod. “Ahhhhh... Flamin’ Kamin chilli dogs... so that’s where you’ve been hiding” exclaimed Bill, excited to find extra supplies of his own favourite. “What’s the weight” shouted Colsin, seated in the central module, with a clipboard in one hand and a pen in the other. “Er.. 24... make that, mrrhp... mmm... 23.5” replied a rather muffled Bill, having stuff a handful of the spicy snacks into his mouth. Bill continued to shout out numbers and Coslin wrote them down, until all stores in that arm were accounted for. With the Engineer’s work done, it was Bob’s turn to check supplies. “Mini-corncobs 13.5... You get that Cosy?” asked Bob. “Sure... 13.5” she replied. “Toothpicks – 18” he shouted, wondering why such a large amount of the tiny wooded tools had been supplied for them. Then he imagined the horror of being stuck on an alien world with corn stuck in his teeth, and no way to remove it. Bob continued, focused on his task, trying not to let thoughts stray. Once the four arms of the Hab had been thoroughly checked, as well as the lockers on the walls of the central module, Coslin calculated the weight distribution for any imbalance. “Looks like we need 86kg in Arm 3” Coslin announced. Bob, realising this was close to his own mass, he took the chance to once again return to solitude, pushing off against the wall lockers behind him and floating off to Bill’s quarters in to Arm 3. Bill and Coslin strapped themselves into the seats mounted on the walls of the center module. “Elson” Coslin called, “Bill and I are strapped in here, so good to go”. “Roger that Cosy, how about you there Bob?” Elson called, waiting for confirmation that all those on board wouldn’t be slamming into the walls when he fired up the F12. No reply came from Arm 3, not a peep. “Hey Bob, you strapped in back there” shouted the pilot, eager to continue with the next point on his own checklist. Still no reply, although Bob had been almost invisible and silent the whole trip, so it wasn’t unlike him to be so now. This fact considered, coupled with Bill’s experience, led Elson to assume that the scientist must be safely strapped in. Bob was in fact floating near a window in Arm 3, wondering if he deserved this chance to escape the fate that lay ahead for most of his kind. Probably not he thought, but too later to do anything about that now. Moments later Elson’s voice came over the speakers of the vessel. “Burn in 10 seconds, so hold on tight” “Huh... burn” exclaimed Bob and tried to push himself off against the ceiling towards one of the seats on the floor. Unfortunately he’d drifted just far enough from it, for to be out of reach as were all other surfaces. “Uh oh... stuck” he thought, and then began franticly blowing as if trying to extinguish the candles on a centenarian’s birthday cake. “Pfffffffft....pfffft” he continued, before the scientist in him realised the futility of the effort, and decided that curling up into a ball and just waiting for the inevitable was a better course of action. “3... 2... 1... ignition” came Elson’s voice over the speaker, announcing a sudden burst of thrust from the F12’s, as well as Bob’s rapid transit to the floor. “Owww... dammit” cried Bob, suddenly feeling that he hadn’t quite earned the wrath of the universe, certainly not one as painful and humiliating as this. Pain from his rapid transit to the floor and the force squashing him against it. Humiliation due to his face being pressed into a collection of dirty laundry that Bill had left loose in his quarters. “So... how long I can hold my breath?” he wondered. Back in the center module Bill and Coslin were enjoying the ride far more than their unfortunate crewmate. For the first time in weeks they had a sense of there being a “down” and it was under the rear ends they were seated on. Coslin beamed a sly grin at Bill, pointing at something on the arm of her suit after giving it a quick polish with her glove. Bill leaned forward, as best as he could in the seats' belts, to try and get a better look. “Kurse of the Kraken” ringed around the number 8 was emblazoned on a badge that was attached to the arm of Coslin’s suit who gave a thumbs up and a big smirk. Wretched “Kriker Kraker” he thought, the truth of the show was far too meaningful for the likes of them, especially “The Saddest Cat”. Only Brothers knew the true meaning of that episode. “The truth is the cat, in cat we trust” he murmured before flicking her a gesture that was definitely not on the HR dept’s approved list. Meanwhile in the command pod Elson was busy monitoring the descent of the vehicle. In the weeks that it had taken to get to the world that they were now descending towards, he had disconnected all but the most vital of systems. He wasn’t going to let some over imaginative engineer spoil this landing with some last minute failure. With the descent burn complete, Elson separated the drive section from the vehicle, then after checking that it was sufficiently clear of the vessel, deployed the inflatable heat shield. As the vehicle descended, an orange glow of plasma gradually grew from the edge of the heat shield, soon blocking much of the view from the vehicle, of the planet below. Bill and Coslin stared into the fiery display, waiting for it to subside. In Arm 3 Bob stared at the floor with one eye and a particularly grungy looking grey sock with the other. He could make out some kind of marking on top of it, a monogram perhaps. “B... K” he muttered, as best as he could, with the force of re-entry and what felt like the other sock in the pair pressed against his mouth. “Ah... B.K for Bill Kerman... makes sense” Bob thought, appreciating the engineer not wanting his laundry getting mixed up with anyone else’s. In reality the monogram was a large B and K, separated by a tiny O that combined formed the acronym of the Brotherhood of Kalkan. These were a sign of Bill’s belief in its teachings and his willingness to splash out a dozen funds on the snazzy footwear. As the vehicle decelerated, it started to pitch over, gradually bringing it into its planned orientation for landing on the surface. Soon after, the parachutes deployed, further slowing its decent. This provided the opportunity for Bob to leave Bill’s quarters and move to the central module. Replacing the physical discomfort he had been enduring, with the emotional discomfort of being around Bill and Coslin. For a moment his sombre mood was replaced by something approaching happiness, as he looked out of a window, to the horizon of the planet below. Perhaps he could get a new start there, even forgive himself a little. He’d had the best intentions with that experiment after all. But the thought quickly gave way to the empty feeling in his gut that he’d suffered for so long. Not the emptiness of missing a 2nd breakfast, or even a pre-dinner snack, but that of feeling he never deserved to eat again. Meanwhile in the command pod Elson Kerman looked out of the window, holding his arm stretched out in front of him, his thumb sticking out to one side. “Errr... ” he muttered, sounding a little uncertain of himself "800". “700, no 750” he continued, these numbers being the distance to the ground, as best as he could judge it, by wiggling his thumb up and down and squinting. He would have had an accurate figure for the distance from the landing radar, but he'd been a little over zealous in his disconnecting of any “unnecessary” systems in the pod, leaving him with just his thumb and eyeballs. At what he judged was 500m, he opened the chutes and the hab slowed to 15m/s. The surface grew steadily larger, as did the mining vessel, which was less than 100m from what would be their touchdown point. The Hab was equipped with small landing motors, to bring it to a comfortable 2m/s for the touchdown, but were not powerful enough to lift it off the surface. So where it landed was where it was going to stay. Elson felt a little smug that he’d managed to land so close to the intended landing point, with only half the electronics in the pod operating. Those kids in the engineering department could have saved a pile of money if they’d just stuck to the basics. However given the Kerbin's imminent demise, along with its currency, that wasn’t going to be an issue much longer. A lot of wasted mass though, enough for a couple extra crates of soft cheese at least. Touchdown was close now, so it was time to fire up the motors for a soft landing. “70.... 60... 50...” Elson counted down, estimating the remaining distance to the surface. “Ok touchdown in 10, 9, 8, firing motors” came Elson’s voice over the speakers, as the vehicle slowed as the small rockets on the vehicle came to life. “5, 4, 3...” he continued, before being interrupted by the landing pads making an earlier than anticipated impact with the surface. The hab shook and its gear groaned under the vehicles' weight, while inside the crew sank deep into their seats. They were a little dazed by the harder than expected landing, but were unscathed. Elson quickly cut the landing motors, then made safe the other systems used in the descent. Back at the KSC Elson's voice, came over the speakers of the control room. "KSC, this is the Hab. We have arrived at Laythe". "Great to hear that" replied Gatler Kerman "everyone there in one piece" he enquired, taking into account the previous, eventful landing. "We're all good here, we'll start stable station prep in a couple minutes" confirmed Elson. "Ok, Val will be with you guys in 21 hours" replied Gatler. In the command pod, Elson, having received the notification of Val's estimated arrival time, replied "Roger that Gat, 21 hours." He leaned back in his seat and stretched his neck "Maybe I shouldn’t have disconnected that radar" he pondered. "Nah... I just need a bigger thumb".

I was recently reminded that I have a version of one of my desktop wallpapers on my phone. So I thought that I'd give some of the images I've made over the years some mobile friendly love. To that end here is my mobile wallpapers collection. I've altered the original images to create square ones (to handle rotation for device that do that) and centered about the main content. 2001: A Space Absurdity More Wallpapers The Truth Can Now Be Told Tinfoil Times

I've made a bunch of KSP wallpaper images, but I use a very boring stock blue Win 7 wallpaper on my PC. But I do use one of them on my phone.

I don't think it's one of mine, although I just checked Imgur and I've got over 3600 images on there, 99% of them being of KSP, so who knows

Thanks... hopefully I'll get around to another chapter this weekend.

Here's one I made earlier... for the Terminus challenge a few weeks ago.

What can the probe do that The Nozzle can't... plus it can calibrate.

Giving them a poke of some kind... private message.

A few pics of Velocirover in action.