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Starhawk

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    Low Tech SSTO Spaceplane Challenge

    in KSP1 Challenges & Mission ideas

    Posted

    Starhawk,

    Scary how similar our designs look!

    -Slashy

    That's exactly what I was thinking, lol. :)

    Mine was running on fumes when I landed, though. You had tons in the tank when you made orbit.

    BTW, what's the max speed you can get out of the regular jets? I just sort of flew an inefficient profile and muddled my way to orbit. Never tried without turbos before.

    Duna Lander DV Requirements

    in KSP1 Gameplay Questions and Tutorials

    Posted

    My handy delta-v map says you need about 1300 m/s to make low Duna orbit from the surface. You should need very little to land if you use parachutes.

    I would probably shoot for about 1500-1800 depending on the safety margin you want. Orbital maneuvers for rendezvous usually don't need very much.

    As far as advice goes -

    Build your lander only as large as it needs to be for the purpose. Don't forget the chutes. You don't need a very big engine in Duna's low gravity.

    Happy landings!

    Low Tech SSTO Spaceplane Challenge

    in KSP1 Challenges & Mission ideas

    Posted · Edited by Starhawk
    moar stuff

    - Any and all abuse of the offset tool is not only allowed, but encouraged!

    That's what I've been waiting to hear!

    I figured the real challenge of this for me is that I've never built a jet-based spaceplane. Only turbojets. It took a couple of iterations to find the right balance.

    Here is the maiden voyage of the Exploded LT spaceplane.

    Javascript is disabled. View full album

    Happy landings!

    Hey Batz, I love some of the little planes you've created. I'm hoping to see your entry in the challenge soon.

    [EDIT] Here's a link to the craft file.

    Is there any reason to not use nukes for interplanetary anything?

    in KSP1 Gameplay Questions and Tutorials

    Posted

    Plan a maneuver at your periapsis; plan a second maneuver and shift it until it is at your desired time of transfer (ETA=08:15:23). Now add prograde to the first maneuver until the second one sits squarely on the periapsis.

    You can do that!? I clearly haven't played around with the maneuver node system enough. I finally just executed my first successful gravity assist yesterday. :)

    Is there any reason to not use nukes for interplanetary anything?

    in KSP1 Gameplay Questions and Tutorials

    Posted · Edited by Starhawk
    clarity

    that approach costs about 1120m/s compared to the nominal 1050m/s of a single maneuver

    I'm just doing another split-in-half (well, 900 and 1080) transfer burn to Jool myself.

    It seems to me that the efficiency loss is because the orbit precesses a bit as you spend the seven Kerbin days to orbit, and then your periapsis is no longer quite at the optimal point for the next maneuver node for the next burn. I noticed I had to adjust the position a fair bit after coming back around. But the efficiency loss is fairly small if you plan for the length of time in orbit. Unless you're doing the Laythe Capitalism Challenge.:) Then it's a lot.

    Happy landings!

    [EDIT] I'm pretty darn sure there's no way to split that second maneuver up! :)

    And yeah, if your burns take too long, you're doing too much of them away from the maneuver node/periapsis and you can lose lots that way.

    Would you have bought kerbal space program if it didn't have any kerbals in it?

    in KSP1 Discussion

    Posted

    As somebody else mentioned, I tried the game because of the xkcd cartoon 'Orbital Mechanics'. One of the things that I liked right away was that the game had a humourous feel. The image of a smiling Kerbal set next to the image of the crashed Mun lander really helped set that tone for me. It definitely made it fun to fail (well, that and the explosions.:)), and I bought the game after only a short time trying the demo.

    Who knows? If it hadn't been for that Kerbal, I may have been put off by the learning curve and decided not to purchase the game (although I kind of doubt it).

    Anyway, Kerbals definitely help set that humourous tone which adds a lot of enjoyment to the game for me.

    Satelite placement contracts buged?

    in KSP1 Gameplay Questions and Tutorials

    Posted

    In the original contract are the orbit specifications. If the inclination value is between 0 and 89 degrees that orbit is counterclockwise when seen from the top. This is the normal orbit players will usually use and is commonly called a prograde orbit. If the inclination is between 91 and 180 degrees, the orbit will be clockwise when seen from the top. This is usually called a retrograde orbit.

    When you look it the orbit in the map view, there are small beads of light moving around. This is a visual cue showing you which way you need to orbit.

    When you are trying to match the orbit, the AN and DN values will show you how far your inclination is from the required orbit. 1 or 2 degrees is quite close. 180 degrees means you are traveling the wrong way.

    Hope this helps.

    Happy landings!

    New Kerbonaut recruit reporting for duty

    in Welcome Aboard

    Posted

    It’s just of these games that you can’t put aside once you started. Last Friday I intended to play until around 9pm and then watch a movie before going to bed around midnight, but when I quit KSP the clock was showing 5am the next day :confused:

    It definitely can be extremely addictive.

    I am absolutely passionate about everything about space and the exploration of it.

    You're in good company here. There are a lot of people who are passionate and knowledgeable about space, science, engineering, etc.

    What I really enjoy about KSP it that it is both fun and challenging. It's easy to learn the game, but hard to master it. And it has a really good difficulty curve where each new mission incorporates well known elements that are no problem by now, but also new challenges that need some serious figuring out and probably testing to get right.

    That is definitely one of the most important aspects of the game. One of my favourite quotes is 'KSP doesn't have a learning curve, more of a learning wall.'

    And there is also a high feeling of accomplishment when you get it right. When I first went to the Mun with a completely new and untested heavy rocket and made it there, had a perfect landing and got back to Kerbin with the last drop of fuel (meaning my guestimating about the fuel needed for the mission was absolutely spot on) I felt like the king of the world :cool:

    I know exactly what you mean. It's so rewarding when you get it right!

    if time allows I will show up in some of the threads here as it seems to me that you have a really great community here :)

    Welcome to the forums! Look forward to seeing you around.

    Happy landings!

    What's an ideal Space Station Design in orbit around Kerbin?

    in KSP1 Gameplay Questions and Tutorials

    Posted

    Do I want a Mobile Processing Lab on it?

    I've never found a use for a mobile processing lab in Kerbin orbit. I've only ever found the lab useful when brought to the orbit of a body I'm studying.

    Would I want some Nuke engines in order to perform orbital corrections?

    My choice is usually just to have one or two fairly heavy tugs docked at the station, and use these if it needs any orbital adjustments.

    Would I want RCS Thrusters and SAS Parts?

    I generally don't, but you certainly could. The tugs I dock usually have SAS and RCS.

    Anything else I would want on the station?

    Extra docking ports can be good.

    Then there's the matter of how high of an orbit to put the station. I'm guessing I'll want to stick it slightly above 120km just so I can use 100x Time Warp, but would I want to stick it up even higher?

    The determining factor for me is ease of access. Specifically, I like an orbit above 120 for time warping and for timely rendezvous from 75 x 75 orbit. I wouldn't go much higher, though.

    And as a final question, what do you guys tend to do with lighting on your space stations? No lighting? Enough to let you just see docking ports when on the dark side of Kerbin? Or so much the thing is lit up like a bonfire?

    Do you want to see when you dock? is the first question that comes to mind. The second is about aesthetics. What looks good to you? More lights blazing does increase the battery requirement, of course.

    I really do appreciate any advice you guys are able to give me.

    Glad to be of service.

    Happy landings!

    What does "Jettison" do?

    in KSP1 Gameplay Questions and Tutorials

    Posted

    Interesting. I just did a couple of tests. One with an LV-N and one with an LV-909. The engine shrouds appear to be very different. While the 909 has a jettison action in the action groups, I'm not sure when this could be used.

    On the launchpad, with the LV-N and then a docking port. I decouple the docking port and it drops off leaving the LV-N engine shroud in place. The shroud is two parts each of which has a jettison option. When I do the same test with the 909, the shroud is one piece and drops away with the docking port when it decouples.

    Fun bonus fact - while the docking ports are certainly made of explodium, the LV-N engine shrouds are not.

    advanced ssto payload plannimg

    in KSP1 Gameplay Questions and Tutorials

    Posted

    One of the methods I've used is to balance the craft without payload, then add the payload and add a fuel tank at the other end to balance it out. By right clicking on a fuel tank you can turn off the flow for each type of fuel it contains. You accomplish this by clicking the small button to the right of the gauge in the info panel for the tank that pops up. You can do this in the VAB or in flight.

    Once you release your payload, you pump the fuel out of the balance tank and into your normal fuel tanks. This is done by right-clicking on one of the tanks and then Alt+right click on the other tank. You can then use the buttons that appear to pump fuel.

    Hope this helps.

    Happy landings!

    Itty Bitty Aeroplanes!

    in KSP1 Challenges & Mission ideas

    Posted

    I would like to hereby formally withdraw my challenge to Tank2333's entry. I believe inaccurate information provided by the game interface led to an incorrect value for distance and that the error is entirely innocent.

    I would like to request that the 'suspicious entry' tag for Tank's entry be removed from the front page.

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