Hotel26

My Chief Test Pilot said that, just looking at that plane gives him "Tunnel Effect". Yeah, I can see that. She's a beaut.

This is a European hedgehog: This is a Czech hedgehog: This is a Kerbal Hedgehog: This is a working Hedgehog in LKO: It's intended to be a near-by adjunct to a space station and used for docking equipment (not e.g. space planes which require a wider berth). In this shot we see the central Hedgehog providing 14 berths. Docked are: 4x Zephyr boosters, 3x Mule utility tugs, 2x Sparrow tugs, 3x Spear claw tugs, 0x Kraken... Yup. No Kraken as of yet. Today's effort, Duster, a rework of Four Of Diamonds, has the distinction of being a sample of the elusive Mk-1 format SSTO. 10 pax which necessitates cabin service (pilot must venture aft once an hour to serve beverages; bc "fed reg") and this model is all Hi-Tox fuel (LF). Test pilot, Kermany Kerman, has just coaxed it into LKO (722km) with 1.2 km/s dV remaining, utilizing speed runs at 4.5km, 10km and 20km. (He's now on break, with a cognac, as we view...)

I'm certain this is Hill 303: Not so sure this is the well-named Ross Bay: Co-ordinates provided (via PM) upon request.

Hotel26's Second Law: "robotics, claws and wheels do NOT mix" Of course, there are always exceptions! The monstrosity on the right is my old Krew Bus. It's so kugly[1]... The beauty on the left is my new Paxmover. The secret is in the springs. Not quite sure yet it goes low enough for the smallest in my airline fleet... Accommodates 8 pax and sports a ladder for individual boarding/disembarkation. Main use for this is KSC (and maybe a couple of selected major airports). I generally do not like to recover airplanes at the KSC but rather leave them on the tarmac for refueling/reuse. Paxmover will provide an acceptable way to accommodate/recycle Kerbals on the airport, as well. ShipManifest makes it convenient to load/unload. Kudos to @Brikoleur and his LIFTMECH, which inspired (and provided a good part) of the design. Making it work with the claw has been perhaps my only contribution. [1] "kerbal-ugly"

Just experimenting...

I didn't really understand what this thread was for, until last night, when I used it to have a good rant. Blowing steam really worked, actually: I got the mod (that triggered the rant) to actually achieve my objective. The original mod (that was the basis of the rant) will always be 'horsnip' (horse + redacted), I suppose. Imagine if Albert Einstein built a Time Machine with a console like a Space Shuttle (and the form of Tardis), published no papers, and said, "figure it out (or build your own), if you want to use it"... IQ has actually just got nothing to do with this. It's more about the Tower of Babel and the Reinvention of the Wheel. The antithesis of the "division of labor". Go in peace.

If there was ever a case to make for Squad to pick up a mod and "finish it" and "deliver it", this would be it. Artists give the world unfinished ideas and then it is up to the world to decide whether or not to materialize it...

You are quite correct. Artists make Art for themselves and no one else. If this wasn't true, it wouldn't be Art. The bystanders just get lucky... In the early 80s, two things were innovated: "periodic incompatibility", dubbed "planned obsolescence". Documentation was phased out and replaced with "sink or swim". Business decisions. Good or bad, the verdict is extant. You can tell I hate it. It used to be that business believed that its role was to serve its clientele and make a profit doing so -- so that it could continue doing so. Win-win. An early definition of 'enterprise' that included a moral dimension. Now outmoded. How are we doing?

What's the difference between a person with IQ:100 not explaining something to a person IQ:92 and IQ:120 not explaining to IQ:100 IQ:135 not explaining to IQ:120 Not much. Someone gets to feel dumb (when they're not). Someone, haughtily arrogant, gets to feel smart, when they're not. And nothing gets done, which is what renders everybody actually stupid and unproductive. I'm not a mod-person, although I love the concept, but there's one KSP mod I absolutely lust for. Its concept is so great! I would say such bad things about it, though, that I can never reveal its name. I've down-loaded it at least five times in five years and used it for a total of 25 minutes, all totally unsuccessfully. Due to the IQ gap: the people who invested thousands of hours in their valuable concept thought it was beneath themselves to explain the concept to people who didn't just "get it". No quick install guide. No "Hello Kerbin". No tutorial. No examples. No manual; no reference guide... No Cigar. And despite its strong download rankings, I actually believe from lack of evidence in the Forum, this mod has relatively few continual users... Flop! Even IQ:120 to IQ:120, any powerful software needs some guidance to be used effectively. If I need to "figure it out" for myself, I might as well fork your repository and make it intuitive to use -- and document it. But if you didn't care enough about your own idea to do the work, why would anyone else feel so inclined...? "If you don't test software, it's broken" Broken until proven correct. Similarly, "if you don't test software with its intended users: it's unusable" Ego is not saleable, sad to inform!! Hotel26' Paradox: "if everyone was IQ 120, they'd all be IQ 100..."

(monocle to good eye...) Mein Gott, das ist wunderbar!

Yes. Chelsea Kerman is eager to be an ace test pilot so she takes the assignment nobody wanted: test the new, strap-on rocket pack. It's designed to get one Kerb into lunar orbit for rendez-vous. Unfortunately, her high-school co-student and competitor for the same boys, Pheromone Kerman, has removed a pin from a valve in the RCS assembly. Chelsea Kerman lifts off and goes instantly into a flat spin, out of control, only achieving a maximum altitude of 30 km. By some inexplicable coincidence, her chute has been swapped for a drogue and Chelsea crashes into the ocean at 65 m/s. Pheromone Kerman dies from steam-scalding.

Man, Kerbal, as if we don't have enough to worry about IRL...!! This video really disturbed me. I've had nightmares ever since I first saw it. But I think I have the answer?? is it Bill? where is he now? "Kill Bill Kerman". With a cross-bow. He is... ...he is... ...in the most obvious place in the Kerbolar system to perpetrate this dastardly kind of deed... ...he is in the... Tracking Station! [1] Bowmen!! Rappel now from the TS roof. Kill Bill! [1] heck, I do this all the time...

Now that I have a tourist space station and think I will put one into a 60-deg inclined orbit around the Mun, probably at some altitude like 20km, I thought it might be nice to have a cruiser to go lower for a closer look. And use the same to land at the equator to exchange passengers. [click & arrows for slideshow] So I started working on Toboggan. I wanted something sleek, lightweight and in a Mk-1 format. I didn't like that original so went through 2 more variations: (ugly and ugly) before arriving at Toboggan IV: It doesn't quite have enough dV to make a round trip to/fro orbit, so I may sneak an (ugly) Oscar or two back into the engine pods. It's a vertical lander that falls on its wheels, allowing taxi for fuel and passengers; but it needs a small hill with a gentle slope to reboot into space -- which is why it is called Toboggan.

>Today, he succumbed to CoViD-19. I wish I knew his name as I will grieve today for his loss. The world has lost a good mind and a clear thinker. He will be missed.

How lovely. What a beauty. And its name? "Cakewalk", did you say?

Having loads of fun in a 45-degree incline. The yellow-marked target is the KISS (Kerbal Instructional Space Station; or "Keep It Simple, Stupid"). Three other ships are "invisibly-tethered" nearby (orbital period tuned within a few milliseconds) while the newcomer approaches with a key connector part that will break the log-jam. Learned so far: launching east from Woomerang into a 45-degree incline passes you overhead of Dessert Runway. (not useful) Dessert and KSC get two launches a day while Woomerang only gets one. really, really difficult to dock with anything at 65km even though the atmo is so thin there. (so don't get snookered there.) KAC (Kerbal Alarm Clock) has a special Launch Rendez-vous marker. (Useful for anti-asteroid launches, too) no longer afeared of non-equatorial launches: Orbit (your incline) and Surface (what you are doing) won't match because Orbit includes the initial launch rotational component but you can null it out, using Surface to drag Orbit onto the heading you want the NavballAlignmentIndicator is the Working Astronaut's goto for docking. It slices; it dices; it cans and preserves. It does rotational alignment. It is the only Docking Aid you will ever need. Or your money back. (I used the NavyFish mod for a very long time before switching). The red dock alignment pole marker on one side of the target and the yellow prograde on the other give you a very pleasant, stress-free asymptotic ride into dock. Simple Is Brilliant. and the scenery... wow. after five years in equatorial orbit. It's a Fresh, New World!

I think, in five years from now, the only thing I am going to remember from this thread, as valuable as its detail is now, is this banner, posted earlier. I fear this is ultimately going to be the crux of the matter.

And everyone knows Cher... but no one knows this guy's name. What a world we live in, eh...!?

The V.A.B. Advanced Research Team had tried, and failed, before to conceive an ECO (Engineering Change Order) to retrofit all Zephyr booster cores to be re-entrant & re-usable. Landing legs to protect the most valuable component -- the engine -- simply would not reach far enough... Gen. Icarus I. Kerman (2 stars) came by to find out what the hang-up was. After a perfunctory survey and a withering glance, Kerman's only comment: "I-beams, you duff-bags!" Meanwhile, I have my first, real, fake space station (KISS), split into sub-assemblies. (I haven't used Subassemblies since before Load begat Merge...!) Makes it a cinch to plop them on top of the lifter-of-the-day.

Artist's rendition of KISS to be launched from Woomerang this week into a 45-degree inclination. It strips down into 9 pieces.

aphelion, isn't it? from Greek, 'helios', for Sun

I already have a million dollars. So I'm out. Because all I really want: is to taste steak again...

I called my Mom a couple of weeks ago. She turned 86 this month and is in good health. Her long-time ambition has been to make 100 and receive that congratulatory letter from the Queen. (I haven't had the heart to tell her that QE2 will likely not be with us in 2034.) I wanted to know what she knew about 'coronavirus'. She's on top of it. She has her "social media". Plays cards with them on Saturday nights, and they talk. They continue to smoke cigars and drink whisky, but wearing latex gloves now. She's "distanced" herself from the lawn bowls set... The only thing she might not have known is that she can order her groceries from the supermarket and have them delivered. There's a two-week order backlog now, but she says she has a couple of sides of venison in her back-yard deep freeze... she's a Depression Era baby, so she knows she has to fend for herself. She's canceled trips. Washes her hands etc. Avoids unnecessary trips to the mall. She's been retired since '92 or so. Easy for her to lock herself in and protect herself. She doesn't have to work nor support anyone else. I guess she feels just a little bit sorry for the rest of us: waiting to be told what to do. Meanwhile, my company canceled work in the office last Monday. Really on-time call and progressive. I was impressed and gratified. My only problem is that the public school system here is still dithering. My 14 year-old wants to continue due to the pressure of this crucial year -- and he knows HE won't get sick. I've been to trying to persuade him that this year is a "black swan". (I live in a state in which the Black Swan is the state emblem. I think this is where the black swan was first discovered, of all places in the world, actually. The river that divides the city into north and south is the Swan River.) I want to take my son out of school and relieve the pressure of having to catch up or muddling through "home schooling" when we don't have time (nor expertise) to guide him. "Take a Sabbatical. Do something useful but interesting. Feel no pressure." Restart the year, next year. Or does the Grist Mill really not want to skip a beat in the economy, around his graduation time in about ten more years, even if that pressures livelihood and elders: now...?? His math teacher told him, at the start of the week: "school should really be closed: NOW." But his math teacher is only 24. What does he know about how things work?

Hard day at work today (i.e. too much work today): so how to "unwind"? This is Project "Windsurfer", but I think it's going to become trade-marked as Amphibian: It's a hydrofoil with an aviation clearance. It's a trike to clamber out on shore to reload pax/fuel, but it can actually make conventional TO/landings at KSC. "Every lake and shore on Kerbin is its airport." That could be a game-changer for me. I truly hope so. I haven't calibrated its cruise flight yet. It's only been 5 minutes since first test flight, but I'm in love already, (Nod to @Lisias for his recent inspiration.)

Glass half empty: "coronavirus will result in some significant, unknown number of deaths worldwide" Glass half full: "Nature is taking back some of the remarkable gains mankind has made in extending life expectancy" Maybe we've just let our expectations get out of sync with nature and life?