moronwrocket

Wildfire contracts ideas? These might fit under the Coast Guard chain. Been watching some of the videos of wildfire fighting, and thought they would make a great addition to GAP. 1. Spotter - Go to locations to spot signs of potential wildfires/assist firefighters. Is it possible to add a smoke source? Maybe a rocket engine with a fuel tank to represent a fire and/or cause 2. Rescue - Helo - Rescue trapped firefighters on the ground from their emergency shelter (use command pod to represent a tent). 3. Fire retardant dump - Carry oretanks to location and stage to decouple them from aircraft (low altitude, like 50m AGL). Inspiration https://www.facebook.com/InstructorChrisBaker/videos/876172322589207/?hc_ref=ARTxJ-oJjqAEFgL79sputGwmdVF_an1Nx2IAR9z6YYeipgeie8GZNqH9XZhSZpYfUdk

That is one benefit I really liked about Kerbal Construction Time. Once you have visited a planet, you can start a "simulation" in orbit of that planet, with a chargeback based on length of the simulation. So testing EDL on Duna becomes a lot more like real engineering. The simulation feature has been split into its own mod, so you can use that without KCT.

That is one benefit I really liked about Kerbal Construction Time. Once you have visited a planet, you can start a "simulation" in orbit of that planet, with a chargeback based on length of the simulation. So testing EDL on Duna becomes a lot more like real engineering.

Not one, but two stock X-wings. We truly live in an age of wonders!

I do it for science!

Well someone is happy he made it to Minmus!

The window already says the instantaneous thrust, so adding the potential max thrust won't take up any space. I'd argue that losing instantaneous thrust isn't a big loss - who cares what the thrust is right this second? What's more important and useful is maximum thrust and max fuel consumption (as modified by thrust limiters), which drives acceleration and maximum dV, when paired with amount of fuel consumption. Also, since the maneuver node burn times are still broken, estimates on how long before the node you need to start thrusting. This is information that has to be recalculated by hand with every node. Yes, I know the mass is available in the map window - but not all the time. If you are focused on another object, you lose the mass information. And since it is constantly changing, you always have to switch back and forth with Map mode. Yes, I have adjusted to learning the thrust of the engines I currently use, but this type of information should just be available all the time anyways, and would obviate much of the need for KER. And no, it's not so much "I want my mod in stock" as it is "this should have been stock to begin with".

In lieu of KER, it would be nice to have the current vehicle mass always available, as an item in the Consumables window. Also, when right-clicking on engines, show the current fuel consumption and thrust numbers as a maximum of the preset value. IE 125kN / 250kN and 3.0 / 6 liquidFuel. This way we can at least calculate an easy rough estimate to acceleration and total dV on a stage instead of having to click back and forth between the map mode (for mass) and a wiki page (for thrust).

I installed my GOG KSP 1.2 for a clean setup with no mods, and increased the UI size to 150%. I made a simple rocket with parachute, command pod, advanced in-line stabilizer SAS module, coupler, two FL-T800 tanks, a Swivel, and 4 AV-R8s for aerodynamic stability.. So, with all torque enabled, the roll/yaw/pitch return from railed back to SAS in HOLD mode takes about 6 seconds to damp out completely. There might be some microtorque, but after 10s there isn't anything noticeable to my eye. I disabled the advanced inline stabilizer, and it was still able to stabilize the rocket after 10s. I reduced the pod's reaction wheel torque to 10, and then it does take quite a bit longer for rolls to dampen down, and interestingly, there is a strange behavior noticeable. As the SAS engages and counters the rotation, it stays at a low value until the rotation is almost stopped, and then pops up to almost half, before switching direction. Seems like there is an issue with the algorithm when it pops higher and then switches direction, probably when it is close to the hold position. I put up a short video at Example of SAS behavior. Looks like a legit problem, esp with low SAS authority. One interesting thing I noticed, the indicators at rest don't point to the center of the middle hash mark, but to the left edge. I wonder what that means for the navball indicator. (bottom edge for pitch)

Daveroski - Thanks for the details, I'll keep an eye on it. I haven't noticed this myself, but then again I don't do much rolling in space. I usually only do it when docking, and having seen anything in particular. I've got a bunch more docking coming up and I'll see if it happens to me. Does entering/exiting timewarp make it go away?

Not really, no. What does the placement of your SAS modules compare to the control point? If they are far away, and your ship is like a giant noodle, the time for the twist to get to the control point could be long enough that it starts setting up a reinforcing beat.

One way to get around the upper limit on impact velocity is to use a dual magnetic railgun to shoot two shots, one at your target, and one directly away so that your launcher doesn't get affected. Granted, it would require lifting 2x the mass so that 1x could be thrown away, and to deorbit a rod would require a pretty massive railgun with astronomical power generation/storage/delivery requirements, but the kinetic energy delivered is only limited by your Congressional budget appropriations.

Yeah, the thing to remember is the relay antennas have a much shorter range between each other than with KSC. So the right way to use them is to put them in orbit around the target body, not so much Kerbin. IE, put three around the Mun & Minmus, not 3 at high altitude orbiting Kerbin. This way they can link up to get around the Mun/Minmus, and then the long hop is to the strong antennas at KSC or the ground relays. Once really high power antennas open up, put those in polar or Kolynia orbits to provide links to Kerbin from Duna etc. @KerikBalm, that spreadsheet would be great for the wiki.

You'll have to head slightly west of what you calculate, because of the "free" rotational velocity provided by the equatorial launch site. Once you get to 35km altitude or so, switch to Map mode, and wobble around the prograde marker, watching the effect on your AN/DN numbers. Figure out which direction you need to tweak to get the numbers as low as possible. Once you get there, start heading prograde again and get into orbit. From there, follow normal rendezvous techniques to get to the 'roid. The key thing though is trying to launch when the AN/DN passes directly over KSC. Mk 1 eyeball FTW!

One other thing - a stayputnik core cannot act as a relay point, it has to be a "better" core.

It's actually been refreshing to go "old school" and hand - calculate TWR and minimum dV (starting with a full tank, anyways!). Really missing the orbital period functions though - Makes it difficult to build a full coverage commnet without accurate orbits! And I can't develop my Duna infrastructure without more accurate dV numbers. Thanks for all your work Cybutek and Padishar!

@Leafbaron - Every cockpit has a small reaction wheel, so you'd have some control authority. Might not be super fast, but should be possible. @WanderingKid - Haven't tried much with spaceplanes in 1.2 yet. Have you considered slicing the plane in two and letting it dock on the landing strip before launch? I've done something similar, except with a payload in the middle http://imgur.com/a/vYnGC It might be possible to do this with two initially separated vehicles, but the first one on the strip would have to roll backwards until it is far enough away the UI lets you put another vehicle down. It might be easier to do 3 slices longwise: left wing, center cockpit + rocket, right wing. Sounds impossible, but would be very Kerbal! Another possibility is to make your spaceplane with <30 parts but needing >18t with fuel, deploying it to the landing strip empty, and roll up a separate ground vehicle to fuel it up. That seems a bit more possible.

Due to a mission requirement failure, we only brought our phone cams and not the DSLR. Really wish we could have come both days, but we had to fly back Sunday. Getting to JPL from Disneyland/Anaheim was about as harrowing as a Duna landing, with complex traffic flow patterns and jams. Due to Google Maps screwing us yet again, we had to pull an Akatsuki-like manuever through a "roll em up" part of LA to get back on mission. Note to future travelers - Bring a real GPS, don't rely on your phone! Open House was crazy busy this year compared to 10 years ago when we last went. We vowed to never come again, but I bet if the planets align again we'll probably be there. We focused on the hardware side of things with visits to the high bays, rovers, etc. My favorite parts: The tool "vending machine" in the high bay. The robot wheels/grippers/feet using tiny claws to hold onto surfaces. This is just begging for a 3D open-source model. Cal-tech can be pretty fierce with patent/copyright protection, otherwise I might add "learn 3D modelling/print on demand/rover building" to my bucket list of projects to do before I die. Getting to see up close the holes in Scarecrow's wheels (Curiosity's Earthbound sister, nick-named Scarecrow because she "doesn't have a brain". As shown, her Earth weight matches Curiosity's Mars weight, and allows for accurate testing of things like wheel wear. Spent quite a bit of time in the Earth Observing Missions hall - collected a lot of loot there, including a SMAP USB memory stick with information on its mission! It will have a 6-m antenna on a rotating platform to measure soil moisture. Spent quite a while talking to a NISAR engineer about their mission (working together with India) to monitor millimeter level changes across Earth using Synthetic Aperture Radar - they will be using a similar antenna to SMAP, but 2x as large. Also talked a bit with the Orbiting Carbon Observatory 2 PI - The mission is nominally 2 years, but they have consumables to last a decade or more. However, the mission is single-string. They have plans to put up a duplicate instrument on the ISS, so in the event of failure they will continue to collect some data. The ISS orbit covers most of the populated planet, so the data loss isn't catastrophic. Their data is now being released publicly, would be interesting to have amateurs try and generate videos from it, but I think it might be difficult. AVIRIS is a fascinating mission to observe coral reef colors with high-resolution spectroscopy to monitor health - the PI was starting with plane based instruments to understand the process and limitations, but was hoping to launch a space based mission to provide long-term coverage. I was impressed with the number of plane-based missions @ JPL - these typically don't get much press, but they are still critical for timely data, and proving out new instruments. We hit the planetary exploration hall right before the end of open house, so we didn't get a chance to talk as much as I'd have liked. We saw a nifty Enceleadus model with steaming geysers (I took a few pics but no video, trying to conserve memory space). Got to talk with some people about Dawn. Talked to an engineer in front of an RTG display for a while - he was impressed with our level of knowledge of the RTGs, and their dire situation re: Pu239. Even with the restart, the amount of material is just a trickle compared to the number of missions that could use them. Stirling engines are great, but lack the long endurance track record, and with their mechanical parts mission planners are reluctant to use them. We need another series of Deep Space missions I guess to prove their long-term viability. I jokingly suggested a Kickstarter to setup a Stirling RTG long duration experiment in a lab corner - most boring webcam ever, next tohttp://smp.uq.edu.au/content/pitch-drop-experiment but I'd still put some money on it! Really disappointed in the t-shirts this year. I think I'll create a few of my own using pics from here. Dawn and New Horizons practically beg for T-shirts, but I am kinda stumped as to how to present all the amazing pictures on a shirt in a comprehensible way. Pics are at https://hendric.smugmug.com/Vacation/20151012-JPL-Open-House/i-v4TTkHc I think KSC needs more warning signs.

Yeah, I noticed that I couldn't drive in translation mode any more in 1.0x. Do you know the logic behind why that was disabled?

Mun circumnavigation thread: http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/128950-Project-Aphrodite-Elcano-Challenge?p=2085351&posted=1#post2085351 @damerell - Well, they get retracted before driving, obviously. Right now, I am doing F5/F9 frequently as I learn the limitations of this vehicle. So far, it seems reasonably safe at 15m/s @ 4x warp. While it is taking along an ISRU module, I don't plan on thrusting unless the way is simply impassible (might have to do that to enter the crater at the north pole). I am thinking the saddle-mounted ore tanks might be useful for CoM shifting on high slopes. It seems like right after disabling the brakes, the first few seconds the wheels don't behave quite right, and it is easy to rip off the front end. I also forgot a fuelcell on this design, which is a big oversight for night driving. If I get further along and something non-fatally bad happens, I might send a new rover to break the monotony a bit instead of reloading.

"They want us to do what??" "You heard me Anlie, they want us to *drive* to the Munliths. Someone back at Mission Control thought we could pick up some great science and hit the suspect Munlith locations at the same time." "It'll take us days, if not weeks, to make it around the Mun! And doing it polar...Lucky we started near the dawn terminator!" "Mission Control sees it as a chance to test out this vessel design." "I know Nedfield, I *am* an engineer, I helped design it! It's supposed to be a Moho support base, not a long duration rover. I can fix any tires we blow along the way, but..." "Yeah, I know, we're going to have to be very careful, or else we'll keep getting Deja Vu!" (caused by excessive F5/F9 use!) And so, our intrepid explorers, Engineer 3rd Class Anlie Kerman, and Scientist 3rd Class Nedfield Kerman, set out on the first circumnavigation of any body. Pilot 3rd Class Merrey Kerman should have been here, but he was tasked with taking a Moho Rover clone to Minmus for some gravity scan contracts, and to test the balloon tires in low gravity. Luckily, Anlie's from a long line of car mechanics, practically born holding a wrench. We shall see how it turns out for our team! - - - Updated - - - "What do you mean, you forgot to put batteries in the camera Nedfield?" "Uhh, I thought they would have put them in back at KSC!" Oh well, looks like we lost some of our glamour shots of the start of our journey. Luckily Anlie decided to stop at a scenic overlook at the north end of the Mun Canyon for some pics. Wernher managed to find an engineering photo of the Moho Support Base (same design as MUN GROUND BASE) lying on his desk. The southernmost flag below the waypoints is where this journey started. Our team is currently at the red marker. Our scientists estimate they've gone about halfway to the northern Munlith, but should be hitting some new Biomes ahead, and really rough terrain.

I'm giving this a shot as well. I've got 2 "rovers" heading to Moho - one is the entrant, one is a refuel/support vessel that happens to have wheels. I sent a copy of the rover to Minmus for trials and contract clearing, and a copy of the ground support vessel to the Mun for testing and clearing out biomes. The Mun ground support rover has cleared the northern canyon and is heading to the polar wastes on its way to the Munolith on the other side. Unfortunately my ground support rover tops at about 15 m/s, so lots of hours ahead to complete the circumnavigation - I included a Mobile Lab and ISRU on the support rover so it at least makes science. For Moho, I plan to leapfrog this ahead of the main rover to scout and refuel, and leave it as a "space station". Moho/Minmus Rover http://i.imgur.com/RvaahE4.png http://i.imgur.com/LYKirHx.png Moho/Mun Support Rover http://i.imgur.com/fwXQ390.png

You can also use the Tab key to switch between all the SoI in the solar system when in Orbit mode.

Good news is you have 30 years. You can land an ISRU and fuel up a mostly-empty lander in that time. The bad part is this contract taking up space in your Mission Control until it's cleared.

A better place would be the wiki, when is that going to be opened back up again?