pTrevTrevs

I’m sure this question has been asked too many times already, but how do you get Modular Launch Pads to play nice with Katniss’s Cape? Does it involve trickery with root part offsetting or something?

A Tale of Two Saturns Saturn I SA-8, carrying an Apollo boilerplate command module and the first Pegasus satellite: Saturn IB AS-201, lofting the entire Command/Service Module assembly on a high suborbital trajectory to test spacecraft systems from launch to recovery: Not the first photo in the album, but I'm not about to risk someone scrolling past this post and missing the greatest screenshot I've produced in years. I also have a Saturn V in SA-500F's markings built up and ready for screenshots, but I'm having trouble getting Modular Launch Pads to play nice with Pad 39 from Katniss's Cape Canaveral. I know there are solutions to the issues but I can't remember what they are right now.

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Gemini and Agena floating above Australia after an apogee boost to some 1,000km: Saturn I SA-6 and Apollo boilerplate: Side note, I've recently realized that I might have LC-34 rotated about 90 away from how it was in real life. Will confirm and rectify if necessary. stand-up guy lovechild of Pioneer 6 and OSO inserted into heliocentric orbit on Delta E: It occurred to me that I'm missing a lot of science by only making sun observations from LEO and MEO. Now I can stare at the sun from around the same distance, but without that pesky Earth in the way.

“Did you by chance compare the costs in the editor for this launch vs a Titan IIIC? Cool setup and display BTW!“ Drip is more important than cost efficiency.

Second screenshot dump in one day; I have to work tomorrow and really shouldn't be up doing this, but I saw the release and thought "To hell with it, I am flying a Saturn I tonight!" The payload for tonight is a ridiculously oversized lunar orbiter to make high-resolution photographic maps of the surface, built around the ScanSat VS-3 and kitbashed with a variety of BDB parts from projects such as Mariner, Lunar Orbiter, and OGO. Its large size and weight gives me an excuse to use the beautiful Saturn-Centaur to loft it. Actually had this mission planned before the new Saturn I dropped, so I did have to refit it to fly on the new vehicle. Not that I'm complaining. Saturn-Centaur basically does the same work that Titan III did in real life, only in a much cooler way.

TIL about the Lincoln Calibration Sphere; literally a large metal sphere launched into orbit on a Titan IIIA to serve as a target for ground-based radar calibration. It's still in orbit today and is still used for its intended purpose, making it technically the oldest active spacecraft, although it's nothing but a ball of metal. Also, Gemini docking with ATDA. This mission had an AMU carried in the trunk of the spacecraft, but every time I disconnected it from the Gemini the Kraken took over it and caused it to freeze in place and fly upward precisely on the the radial vector. Dunno why that happened, but I might fly it again on a future mission and see if I can fix the problem. Also, I finally unlocked MechJeb Ascent Guidance in my game, so I tried flying a Thorad with PVG. It worked absolutely fine, which makes me even more puzzled as to why I had so much trouble with manual flight...

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Was about to crack a joke about materialist advertising, but then I saw the Raid Shadow Legends decal and realized you did it for me.

This is my Gemini rendezvous; there are many like it, but this one is mine.

Is anyone currently working on new Saturn I parts or is Cobalt planning on doing that himself? Considering that Cassini is in Coatl Aerospace (albeit in a very outdated state), I’d love to see Galileo first. I don’t know of any mods which have a proper set of parts for that. Other than that, there’s a whole laundry list of probes I’d love to see eventually; Surveyor, Viking, Mariner 9, maybe even Magellan. Of course, I’m getting ahead of myself…

Flew another KH-4 on Thor-Agena D last night, and the rocket violently flipped before the navball marker was even outside the circle of the prograde vector. My biggest suspect right now is BDB in Colors, considering how it messed up the old Apollo chutes, so I'll remove it and try launching again.

Is the addition of the notorious Pioneer Plaque going to cause this mod’s ESRB rating to go up to “M for Mature”?

I wouldn’t think so, but I’ll try my next few launches with a steeper trajectory and see if that helps.

Kind of an unrelated comment, but my God, do those booster plumes look beautiful! Waterfall is a great addition to KSP's visuals, but now we really need something for SRB plumes and for bigger smoke clouds in the first few seconds after liftoff. Like... if I can still see the booster at T+2 seconds the smoke isn't thick enough.

I guess if you want to get technical about it Cooper was the last American to *go* into space alone; Apollo CSMs went into space with two crewmates and were only alone for a portion of the flight. The only other mod I can think of that might be causing this is BDB in Colors. I’ve heard about how it messes with aerodynamics of the old Apollo parachutes, and since it includes a texture variant for SEASAT maybe it’s causing Agena to have the same problems. I don’t know why I don’t seem to have the same problems when I fly Atlas-Agena though, I’m pretty sure it mostly happens on Thor.

Faith 7, a two and a half day orbital flight to prepare ground crews and astronauts for the long-duration flights planned for Gemini beginning next year: KH-4A launch on TAT-Agena: Syncom-1 launch on Delta-D: I need to ask again about aerodynamic problems on Thor. You can see in the second photo above how the Castor SRBs seem to spiral off in random directions after jettison, despite being fully burnt out. I'm wondering if this is related to the horrible aerodynamic stability I get when flying Thrust-Augmented Thor rockets. We now return to your regularly scheduled screenshot tax. Titan-IIIA development flight: Saturn-Centaur development flight: I'm still trying to think of a payload which would actually give me an excuse to launch this thing. Best ideas I've had so far is a MOL or Centaur-derived (headcanon) proto-space station for the later Gemini flights to use, and a KH-7 Gambit-derived lunar orbiter to produce high-resolution visual maps before Apollo gets into full swing. Does anyone have any information on what NASA actually planned to launch with S-V-equipped Saturn 1s? Speaking of, KH-7 Gambit launch, Vandenberg AFB: Finally, Mariner 1 and 2 Venusian flybys: I would show Mariner 3/4 and their Mars flybys, but since they aren't in BDB (yet) I'm stuck using the Coatl versions. Anyway I think I made a couple of movie-poster-worthy screenshots this time; really loving my new computer.

Has anyone else experienced severe aerodynamic problems when flying Thor derivatives? With a lot of them I can’t even exceed a two or three degree angle of attack without the entire rocket flipping over and trying to stabilize itself on the retrograde vector, and neither stock SAS nor MechJeb SmartASS can keep the vehicle under control. The effect is worse on Thrust-Augmented Thor/Delta and Thor-Agena, and virtually unmanageable when the two are combined on Thorad or TAT-Agena. Honestly, trying to keep the vehicles on the right heading during the early stages of flight feels like trying to press two magnets with the same polarization together, or trying to balance a yardstick on the palm of your hand. I’m guessing one of the parts (maybe in the Agena) at the top of the rocket is causing way more drag than it should be, causing the booster to be unstable in prograde and stable in retrograde, but I don’t know for sure. Also FWIW I’m playing in KSRSS but I don’t have any mods that would (to my knowledge) affect aerodynamics, and I also experienced the same problem to a lesser extent in JNSQ earlier this year.

>Saturn-Shuttle YOOOOO! My man!

Fair enough.

But do things like the science experiments and data transmitters work? Could I actually use them as part of a career mode lunar mission or are they only good for sandbox shakedowns right now?

Wait, are these new Apollo/Saturn parts functional enough to be used in normal gameplay? I thought they were still prototypes missing a lot of functionality.

More Mercury flights: SAMOS-1 Kitbash: Ranger Block 3:

It’s Kerbal Space Program, do you really have to ask?

What is that SPACEHAB actually made of? I know it’s a kitbash, but is it made of custom flag decals or what?