Hotel26

Gilly, in the dark, where your target is so close, but you don't notice it's on the far side until it's too late... Still, I like Gilly. It's the only place you keep the space station you're refueling 42km directly overhead (geosynchronous) and it's a fast elevator ride up and down with the mining rig. No more orbitally curvy Hohmann hocus-pocus...

This is actually very strange because it looks as though the wings are not attached at all. I'd be curious to look at your craft file, so if you care to post it on Drive or Dropbox...

I've been shuttling pax/equipment between LKO and GKO (geosynchronous Kerbin orbit). Supertanker powered by a Mule proves quite effective for moving fuel between orbits. (I plan to send Supertankers to Gilly and Ike, too.) Meanwhile, on the Mun, a Spider and a Jetta: "Shall we?" "Yes. Let's go!" "Hey, ho! Exploring, we will go!!"

(You can't do it in the VAB. But I was sufficiently desperate.) I created a 4-part Omnidock like yours, with the medium and small docks radially-attached to the battery. Then edited the .craft file. The battery part has two 'link = ' directives that associate the radially-attached medium and small docks to it. (The large dock is attached via an "attN,TOP" directive, I suppose.) I moved the "link = " directives into the largeDock part which effectively radially attaches those docks to it. Then I removed the battery PART from the file and moved the largeDock PART up into its position at the top of the .craft file (which makes it root). Then went back into the VAB editor and fine-tuned alignment/orientation. Try this yourself or just take a look at what is connected to what in my 3-part version. When you're done, if you like, approve, etc, you are most welcome to post your own revised craft as a new version or update to your original Clamp-o-Tron Omni post, as I view this as a collaboration, and am most grateful to you for publishing your original and intriguing idea! If anything about my description above is not clear, please do enquire here or PM me @Hotel26.

I will start by acknowledging the Clamp-o-Tron Omni, which was published by jansenart on Sep 3. I found it most intriguing! And as as it happens with me and intriguing things, I just cannot let go. The Omni is a 200Kg 4K battery used as the base for attachment of the three sizes of dock: small, medium and large. I generally didn't want the battery, so, as I began refitting certain craft to use an Omnidock, I would reconstruct the setup every time. This also involved some time-consuming testing each time to ensure correct orientation and alignment. A couple of days ago, I hit on the idea of a 3-part Omnidock in which Mama and Baby docks were radially attached to Papa dock. Very excited, I published this as the Jansen Kaizen Omnidock. Regrettably, I had assembled enough of these by then, that I skipped the testing. When I followed up with a test, I found that undocking Papa from some other large dock also released its own smaller docks that I thought had been radially attached. "Disappointment!". This evening, I verified in the VAB that it's not possible to radially attach anything to a large dock. Nevertheless, I was able to overcome this obstacle (ex VAB!) and have produced v3 of the Jansen Omnidock. It's been tested in 1.7.3 and I will be testing it in 1.10.1. If anyone else finds this intriguing (e.g. application in space stations to enable docking with any kind of craft, large or small) and cares to give it a try, I'd be very keen to hear any feedback, especially about any problems that remain... If it does appear to be working "cold fusion", I'll detail the technique I used in assembly...

Rather than make your plane stronger (good), improving technique will pay-off the most in the long run. For aircraft that are tricky to land, it's a good idea to find out how slow a particular airplane will still fly, straight-and-level. This speed will be somewhere not far above the stall speed. Rather than attempting to "fly the plane onto the runway" (which will likely result in a bounce and loss of control), reduce speed appropriately and permit a modest sink rate. Landing an aircraft which has already lost the urge to fly is a much safer proposition. This is something you will soon get a feel for. You can estimate the same speed simply by attempting the earliest rotation from the runway on take-off and noting the speed at lift-off.

For future reference (for Kerbin): 0: SMA = 42162782 ECC = 0.98387 INC = 90 LPE = 270 LAN = 0 MNA = 0 EPH = 0 1: SMA = 42162782 ECC = 0.98387 INC = 19.5 LPE = 90 LAN = 0 MNA = 0 EPH = 0 2: SMA = 42162782 ECC = 0.98387 INC = 19.5 LPE = 90 LAN = 120 MNA = 0 EPH = 0 3: SMA = 42162782 ECC = 0.98387 INC = 19.5 LPE = 90 LAN = 240 MNA = 0 EPH = 0

OK, final report, I think! First some shots. Arriving in geosynchronous orbit: Only the last piece remaining for placement: Voila! I forgot to select Same Vessel Interaction on all (2 x 6) ports involved in positioning the last piece... But after some magnetic, autonomous movement, all but one join was made completely, but it was pretty close: I have now set SVI in the VAB on all the beam ends, which might be enough. The construction ship, after separation: And the final result: I had a lot of fun with this project!! And published the result: Hyperkube And opened a mission topic : Project Andromeda: the Hyperkube Docking Marathon Yahoo!

This is a "hyperkube" and the kit to launch and assemble one is provided here: Hyperkube. It is constructed out of 16 x 16 x 16 structural fuselages (pretty big) and It has some rather special properties. For any kerbonaut who gets one assembled (preferably in synchronous orbit), please do contribute a snapshot of it to this thread and relate your experience. (If there's sufficient interest, I'll provide a badge for participation.) In addition, this thread is open to other designs for "hyperkubes"... Have fun and let's see what you've got! Here's the ship; and what's left after construction has been completed: The cupola/RA-100 module should be left docked to the hyperkube for normal operation (e.g. orbit adjustment) but I took it off for the title image.

Sheer talent.

I've returned to this project and have some success to report. [click & arrows for slides] I'm aiming to use 16 segment spokes, but decided to run a pilot with 6-segment spokes as a proof of concept. I've made a new,very light-weight MP tug (Midge) and two of those will be included in the package. In the fourth shot above, I can testify that every join in this cube is perfectly made. Q.E.D. You will also observe that the result looks like a Normandy Beach on D-Day, due to the ugly guide rails. Nevertheless, I plan to make a Midge attachment that is capable of straddling the light-weight hub connectors and performing the same function, but is also then removable. Guiding the final spoke into position was simply a matter of approaching on a diagonal from above, stopping, squaring everything up to ensure the guides would engage and then moving into position for magnetic forces to finish the job. The full payload is mounted on one of my Methuselah lifters. I believe that, after LKO refueling and with an Escort interplanetary transit injector lit up under it, it has the legs to go to any destination in the system. Completing a Hyperkube is a marathon docking exercise, but very satisfying when a perfect result is obtained. I'll report back here again when I have published a fully-fledged, tested machine.

The two major things I have learned (over a very long time; duh), about mining, have been: fuel cell arrays (accept no substitute) optimize everything on the assumption of 12+% ore grade (sfc), because if, on any particular operation, you don't care to find and land on a gravy location, then you are not looking for 'optimum'. The Convert-o-tron is the heaviest (most expensive) piece of equipment, so optimize the balance of everything else around that. Ensure it's always able to run, unlimited by lack of other equipment, given the best ore flow.

Looking at the photo I cannot definitively confirm that the spacecraft is sitting fully on the ground, although it probably is. On the other hand, I see that your drills are attached quite low on the base of the spacecraft. They are the Jr drills, I see. Try it on the KSC launchpad (deploy & drill!!) and see if you get the same problem because, if you do, it's a lot easier to test there than on Minmus. I would then try raising the position of the drills on the ship (i.e. attach them at a higher position). What I suspect are problems when the extension of the drills might be raising the ship itself off the ground. This would explain the ship jiggling around (movement). It can also summon the Kraken when you switch back to the vessel while the drills are operating. It might not be why you're not getting ore, but it might be too. In any case, I do recommend testing operation at KSC as much as you can.

Unfortunately not. However, if you let me know what version you are running, I will test it there and let you know. The mod was, in the main, working very well, with the problem being on the teleport to Baikerbanur. The first teleport worked fine. Subsequent ones would get "the shakes", an unusual, non-destructive kind. You could work-around it by switching focus to a nearby parked craft (left-bracket) and back, but I couldn't solve this problem and became somewhat discouraged. Thanks for your interest.

+1, Lebrowski!

If you attempt to delete the Favorites hangar, you will not be permitted to delete it, but you will be given the option to Reset it, which should remove its contents.

Nemo, under the capable direction of Kapitan Dantop Kerman, ferries a replacement crew out to the Marianas Neptune oceanic research base. [click & arrows] I woke up this morning feeling the "need for speed". Dynamite cruises at M5.6 @ 24.2km.

So for my second (and probably last) foray into "Kraken technology", I built a 3-bay submersible hoping to apply vertical thrust for buoyancy control. Did not succeed in that (too weak), but did produce a nice 1-bay result. Nemo cruises at 200+ m/s in the air, 39 on the surface and 10 underwater. It's a hydrofoil in order to enable lift-off...

Nemo undergoing trials... [click + arrows] 3 service bays for 3 "electric" drives. It's rigged for "silent running". 200+ m/s in the air. 16-18 m/s on the surface. Maybe 8 m/s underwater. Looks like, once it's properly rigged/trimmed for underwater running, it won't need the bow and stern vertical drives at all. They are nowhere near sufficient to keep the submersible down, so Nemo does have the usual Tardis ballast system. This format does seem to lend itself to a conventional sub which would be powered by wingtip Juno stacks.

Are we not using WorldStabilizer? Also: I note your drills were extended and operating...? Do check that extending your drills does not lift your craft even partially off the ground. (Shift them higher on your craft as necessary.) [All of the above is folklore and superstition. Your mileage may vary.]

One has to be careful about extrapolating solar system rules out to this scale. Spiral galaxies, for example, spiral as a disc with no or little relative movement in the spiral arms with distance. This "anomaly" is what kicked off the "dark matter" speculation. (Your post is a stimulant to further thought.)

Had been quite looking forward to a bright, sunny day out on the water in my busy schedule. KAC gave me a break and... ...here we are, mapping the floor of Lake Tahoe, barrelling across the Lake at 110 m/s. [click & arrows for slide show] At the end of every pass, we slow to a crawl, turn slowly and proceed 1km northward, and then ... do it again. So far, greatest depth recorded beneath the keel has been 948m. Very cool. When we're done, Cousteau will come in and do a more detailed survey. Lastly, no doubt, I will probably get the idea to create some kind of "flying quotes" diving bell "flying unquotes" that will trap the occupant deep under water such that it can unseat itself momentarily to Plant-A-Flag for the obligatory photo-shoot. Anyway, here's the next few passes we made...

Welcome to the Wonderful Wild World of Vee Tee, Oh Hell!!

As you might recall, I have a couple of projects going. One is to map the floor of Lake Tahoe, the big lake over at 21S 67E. And continuing the Mercy inter-planetary rescue project... In today's Comic Strip [click the first image and then use arrows to slide the show], I launch 8x Mercy capsules plus a Mule tug on an Aquila VIII lifter to rendez-vous with a Hedgehog, already in LKO. All the Mercy capsules had to be transferred from the Aquila VIII to the waiting Hedgehog (which already had 4), in what eye-witnesses called "a complex ballet in space". Mission Control is not too convinced it will want to do this again the same way. The final shot shows the transfer injection destined to GKO (Geosynchronous Kerbin Orbit).

Good tip. I have a ship on the way to find out (it's almost in position). In my case, I actually want to find asteroids close to Moho's orbit but in a 0-degree inclination. If that means I have to put my ship in a 7-deg incline, that is OK, as long as I can filter for asteroids that are a) Class E (huge) and b) as close to 0-deg as possible. My intention is to find an interplanetary transit station, in a convenient inclination. Moho obviously won't suffice for this since it is notoriously hard to get to. I guess an interesting Plan B would simply be to put a huge space station into a Moho-like orbit but with 0-degree incline, same period and synchronized so that Moho and this station arrive at the same point in space once per year, in order to transfer a year's supply of fuel from Moho to the station. (That's still a 7-degree inclination change though for that rendez-vous to occur.)