Hotel26

What orbital altitude would you like to start from (is it 23.5km or higher?) and is a return to any safe orbit OK? And in other news, I appear to have completed the 1.6.1 -> 1.7.3 upgrade without hitch. (I'll be continuing the same campaign.)

Live and learn. That's exactly what I said!!! In fact, you can see I drafted a reply but settled on a Like. I'll let it stand...

It looks like 48 Kerbals in the pictured version? And fully probe-guided? Another impression. Seeing this engineering system -- modular / commoditized / fully reusable -- feels like peering into a future century. ...this mgiht be some feature (1.7.3) I'm not yet familiar with...?

(Hoping not to be distastefully effusive, but I just have to remark...) Brilliant work, good sir. Inspirational. The MOS is a stroke of ingenuity. You've taken a concept and made Art. Originality has always been your trademark. Outstanding.

I've been on 1.6.1 since January but am preparing 1.7.3 for a cut-over shortly. Meanwhile, my Silo project has just had a major refactor with a purpose-built booster and a couple of Goliath engines for the "cruise phase" of the flight. And for the final touch, I thought I'd try my first attempt at robotics. The final step, when landed, is to fold out the twin docking booms so that aircraft can dock for the exchange of fuel and passengers. The "cruise phase" has a range of something like 90 degrees so you only have to bring it down in the general area. The Goliaths can manage level flight at 200 m/s maybe as high as 6km which should be enough for terrain clearance. [Click an image and then use arrows for a slide show1.] I'm not too thrilled about no auto-strutting in 1.7.3 but we'll see how it goes... and be advised I've only flown this machine once in 1.7.3.

Now I'm blushing! Thank you for your support -- and especially for the seed idea in your tutorial to use highly-elliptic orbits. It's been incredible fun. The story told herein is a mix of hope, disappointment, joy, tragedy, forgiveness and triumph -- but not necessarily in that order. Only the conclusion, coming soon, can reveal which.

FOR YOUR EYES ONLY TO: KI6: STATION M FROM: AGENT 086 SUBJECT: OPERATION BOOTSTRAP CAN NOW CONFIRM ALL KRAKPOTKIN LAUNCHES INCLINED. REPEAT INCLINED OUT OF THE ECLIPTIC. TRACKING CONFIRMS A TETRAHEDRON FORMATION BEING ATTEMPTED. FURTHERMORE ALL LAUNCH TRAJECTORIES HIGHLY ELLIPTICAL. APOAPSIS ESTIMATED 75,000 KM AND PERIAPSIS AROUND 75 KM. COMPUTERIZED TIME-LAPSE SIMULATION FOLLOWS. ORBITAL PERIOD APPEARS TO BE ROUGHLY 36 DAYS. KRAKPOTS: ONE -- KOMBINED NATIONS: ZIP. IF I'M NOT MISTAKEN, YES? 086 OUT. 086 really shouldn't have included the final jibe but the longer he stayed in Krakpotistan, the more belligerent he seemed to feel. And it was, after all, HIS plan now. The first launch went into a polar orbit. The next three went into southern lobes with a 19.5 degree inclination, spaced 2 hours, or one third of a 6-hour Kerbin rotation, apart. The result was that the four new Bootstrap vehicles were mutually angled 109.5 degrees apart, just like the bonds of a carbon atom (which always reminded Maxwell ruefully of a particular melody, "Diamonds Are Forever"). As an interim boot-up plan it looked fine. The key to the plan that Maxwell was most pleased about was that each of the four Gull relay satellites was crewed and therefore needed no signal for control. A few days were spent tuning the initial orbits of the southerly vehicles to get an exact inclination of 19.5 degrees. A small boost was then made by each vehicle as it touched 19.5 degrees North to mark it as periapsis. On signal, all crews then boosted to 75 megameters x 75 kms as each next arrived at its periapsis. Particular care was taken with tuning orbital period of the southerly lobe vehicles and good synchronization is seen in the video. Not so much care taken in the case of the pack leader going North with the expectation that subsequent tuning could be easily undertaken within the space of one orbit. Nevertheless, the concept was proven satisfactorily, as evidenced by the close synchronization of the southerly lobe vehicles. The Mission Control Nav Teams had a ball bringing the Spunks back again with a score of FOUR for FOUR: [Click any image and use arrows for a slide show] ---------------------------- "Now, James.", Dr Evil commenced smoothly in private session with Agent 086, who had quickly become something of a Big Shot around the KSC... Maxwell blushed. "Dr Evil. Please pardon me for reminding you again, but my first name is Maxwell.". "I'm sorry, ahm, Krakpotnik. Somehow you remind me of the son I never had. I would have called him James..." Dr Evil went into some kind of distant reverie for a moment of two. Sighing resignedly under his breath, Agent 086 whispered, "KrakpotKIN, MAXwell KrakpotKIN". But it had no flair and he knew it. "Ah, pardon me, dear boy. I'd like to know what the schedule is for bringing the Gull satellite crews home, if you wouldn't mind..." Unexpectedly flustered, Agent 086 admitted, "Dr Evil. I'm sorry. With so much to plan and do, I'm not sure about the details of that. I can supply you the information if it's important." "Well, my boy, devilishly CLEVER to launch crewed ships, I readily admit, and astoundingly brave of those four individuals to volunteer, but you know those satellites will be in duty for at least six months. No Kerbal, not even Krakpots, can endure the harsh radiation of space in unshielded cans, not to mention the lack of food, oxygen and uhm waste storage for that period of time. You have a plan to bring them home early, surely?" "Ah yes," falteringly, " I think I see what you're getting at, Dr Evil". "No James. Perhaps I think you don't see. Do you remember how we acquired our Bootstraps in the first place?" "Well, yes, Dr Evil, some bright spark in the Submarine Command made the rather cunning initiative to purloin them downrange from the Kanaveral Testing Program." "Yes, my boy. Formerly Submariner Helvetika Krakpotkin. Now promoted to the Astro Corp. And one of the four volunteers in your Bootstrap program... My daughter." Agent 086 gulped.

FOR YOUR EYES ONLY TO: KI6: STATION M FROM: AGENT 086 SUBJECT: OPERATION BOOTSTRAP REPORTING FOUR LAUNCHES LKO IN QUICK SUCCESSION DURING THE NIGHT FROM KSC. LAUNCH VEHICLES ARE RECYCLED SPUNK LIFTERS BEARING GULL COMMS RELAY INSTALLATIONS. REPEAT. FOUR (4) LAUNCHES. EXPECT TRANSMISSION RADIO TRACKING READOUTS WITHIN 12 (TWELVE) HOURS 086 OUT. Agent 086 was experiencing intense stomach pains from the GUILT incurred by his two KEY omissions from his latest, and very terse, report. The first omission was in regard of the INCLINATIONS of the launches: TRUE NORTH; followed by three (3) launches, made at precisely two-hour intervals, each on a heading of 109.5 degrees true. The second omission in the report was concerning personnel. (And perhaps the third was of his own role as Team Leader in the unfolding enterprise.)

FOR YOUR EYES ONLY TO: KI6: STATION M FROM: AGENT 086 SUBJECT: OPERATION BOOTSTRAP IMMEDIATELY AFTER ESTABLISHING FIRST (SHORT-LIVED) RPSK COMMS NETWORK, NAVIGATOR TEAMS RED, BLUE AND GREEN AT MISSION CONTROL INITIATED RETURN SEQUENCES FOR BOOTSTRAP/SPUNK VEHICLES IN LKO. RESULTS ARE AS FOLLOWS: RED TEAM: BOOTSTRAP 1 SPUNK BLUE TEAM: BOOTSTRAP 2 SPUNK GREEN TEAM: BOOTSTRAP 3 SPUNK SOME RE-ENTRY OVER-HEATING DAMAGE INCURRED; ADJUDGED EASILY REPAIRABLE FINAL RESULT: ALL SPUNK VEHICLES WITHIN 30 KMS OF THE KRAKPOTNIAN SPACE CENTER. DESPITE AND PERHAPS IN LIGHT OF THE SUBSEQUENT DEFEAT AT HANDS OF KOMBINED NATIONS PEACE-KEEPING FORCES, RPSK RETAINS ITS LAUNCH CAPABILITY AS A RESULT OF THE INESTIMABLE RELIABILITY/REUSABILITY OF SPUNK LIGHT-WEIGHT LAUNCHERS[*]. KRAKPOTNIAN SPACE PROGRAM STILL VIABLE. MORALE HIGH. NAVIGATOR TEAMS HIGH-FIVE @ WATER COOLER AND REFER TO SELVES WITH GLEE AS THE 'KRAKPOT MENACE'... KRAKPOTNIAN SPACE PROGRAM ANALYSIS DETERMINES THAT SPUNK PREFERS REAR ENTRY AND A VERY LIGHT FUEL LOAD BEFORE GOING 'MANEUVERABLE'. RECOMMENDATION: AT FARSIDE: LOWER APOAPSIS OVER DESTINATION TO 50KM; ATTITUDE:RETROGRADE OVER BOMBAY: REDUCE SPEED TO <1,600 M/S; MOVE ALL FUEL FORWARD; ATTITUDE:PROGRADE; DEPLOY SPOILERS AS DESIRED SPEED < 1KM/SEC; ALL FUEL AFT TANK; MANEUVER FOR LANDING, RUNWAY; MAINTAIN SPEED ABOVE 120M/SEC; STAY HIGH FOR STEEP FINAL PENETRATION * for posterity, credit must here be acclaimed to Dr @Pthigrivi Kerman, the designer/inventor of the original Spunk launcher.

FOR YOUR EYES ONLY TO: KI6: STATION M FROM: AGENT 086 SUBJECT: OPERATION BOOTSTRAP CONGRATULATIONS UPON SWIFT SUCCESS IN KN FORCE ERADICATION OF INITIAL ENTRY OF RPSK INTO LOCAL SPHERE OF INFLUENCE. BE ADVISED "KRAKPOTNIK PLAN" HAS FAILED. "KRAKPOTKIN PLAN" NOW IN MOTION. DETAILS WHEN AVAILABLE. Agent 086's daily reports were becoming more and more uncharacteristically terse. Dr Evil Krakpotnik lowered himself gingerly into the plush executive chair at the head of the board room table in the KSC Administration Center, very carefully cradling his favorite feline companion in his lap and positively beamed as he surveyed the occupants of the meeting room: Krakpotniks down the left-hand side of the long table and Krakpotkins on the right. "Hello then, yes, are we all here? Everyone well? Shall we start?", quite jovially. He was fully enjoying the spectacle. "Does anyone recall what KIND of plan I asked for?", head bobbing gently... Not waiting for a response: "I asked for a SIMPLE plan. That's what I think I said. Yes, perhaps I mentioned 'a foolproof plan', yes?? Did I?" Pinkie. "Does ANYONE REMEMBER THAT??", he fairly bellowed, pursing his lips and glaring directly at the Chief Engineer of the Krakpotnik faction. "But, Dr Evil! It was simple, so simple, and most perfectly executed!" Dr Evil waited, theatrically, stroking the head of his furry friend with his gloved left hand, once more pursing his lips. In measured tones, "and... General Krakpotnik... how SIMPLE do you think it was for those Kombined Force drones to OBLITERATE our precious relay satellites and MONTHS of work?!? Was it MONTHS of work?? Yes. I distinctly remember waiting MONTHS..." "But, Dr Evil!". Dr Evil lunged forward under the table with his right hand and immediately every spine along the Krakpotnik side of the table snapped upright with a goodly number of pairs of hands also gripping the table at the same time. (Dr Evil was pleased also to spy a similar reaction from one or two Krakpotkins on the right. This was going well, he thought.) "Well...?" "But... Dr Evil!", pleadingly, "we chose an apoapsis just inside the Mun's orbit to avoid gravitational conflicts!" Gen. Krakpotnik was rushing his words in explanation lest he be pre-empted. "How could we know the blasted KN had a base on the dark side of the Mun?!!?? Who even does that???!" Dr Evil made another, slightly lesser lunge for one of the buttons under the head of the table, evoking the same spine-jarring reaction of terror, but quickly straightened up and beamed at everyone. Finally, with a glint, Dr Evil soothingly intoned, "well... I don't know... if you ask me... what we have here... is a failure to communicate." "Let's call it, 'my bad'. An error in communication, could we say? Live and learn??", most quizzically. Like the darting motion of a deadly adder he once more jerked forward with right hand lunging under the table, eliciting another most-satisfying reaction of abject terror from the left-hand side of the meeting room. "Don't fret so, esteemed colleagues! No one is to blame; punishment for this setback won't move us forward, will it?". Again he made the smallest of lunging motions, causing fright. He chuckled increduously, "I'm just 'frikkin' with you, guys! Come on!!", most affectionately now. "OK", suddenly business-like, "when I said SIMPLE, what I think I may have meant was CUNNING. Devilishly COMPLEX. What I want... is a plan... that is... SMAAARRT!!!", he bellowed. "DR EVIL!! I KNOW HOW TO DO IT!!!", came a voice from the back of the room on the Krakpotkin side. All heads turned and gaped at the speaker. One Maxwell Krakpotkin... Agent 086. "Oooooppsss...", was the only word next escaping his pie hole.

Round 2 coming up!

[Five days later] "The Director for Public Relations of the Kombined Nation Peace-Keeping Forces released a communique at 21:45 Kernwich Mean Time today that a KN squadron of nuclear-propelled laser weapon-equipped sat-killer drones launched from a base on the far side of the Mun has successfully destroyed three vehicles that appear to have been launched into space recently by the Rogue Pariah State of Krakpotnia in contravention of international regulations/treaties." "The Krakpot menace has been eradicated from space..." KOMBINED NATIONS: ONE -- RPSK: ZIP

FOR YOUR EYES ONLY TO: KI6: STATION M FROM: AGENT 086 SUBJECT: OPERATION BOOTSTRAP FORGIVE SOMEWHAT PERFUNCTORY NATURE OF REPORT. SIGNIFICANT CELEBRATIONS UNDER WAY AT THIS TIME IN KRAKPOTNIA. FIREWORKS. SMALL ARMS RAPID FIRE. TRACKING IMAGES ABOVE SHOW RESULTS OF THREE CIRCULARIZATIONS FOLLOWED BY A SINGLE-ORBIT CORRECTION[*]. FINAL RESULT APPEARS RPSK HAS ACHIEVED OBJECTIVE OF BASIC COMMUNICATION RELAY NETWORK IN SPACE DESPITE KN SANCTIONS. RPSK: ONE -- KOMBINED NATIONS: ZIP AWAITING FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS END TRANSMISSION * Agent 086 omitted two details in his report. He was significantly intoxicated at the time of writing. (more crucially) it was he who had guesstimated the orbital adjustment for Bootstrap 1 to get a closer co-relative spacing of 120 degrees for the Bootstrap vehicles [Click an image and then use arrows for a slideshow]

This "Mission Report" is actually heavily inspired by your tutorial cited in your signature! Particularly the usage of heavily-eccentric orbits. ["Eccentric. Quite appealing, strangely.'] (You may have seen the video I posted in WDYDIKSPT in the last day or so. Krakpots at work.] I've arrived unfashionably late -- nay, unconscionably late -- to the most stringent challenges of Commnet; heck, I have only just discovered ground stations are real! "The topic is quite fascinating, really."

FOR YOUR EYES ONLY TO: KI6: STATION M FROM: AGENT 086 SUBJECT: OPERATION BOOTSTRAP [Maxwell Krakpotkin, secure in his room within the Astronaut's Complex at the KSC, studied his notes and was well-satisfied with the results of his day. His real name was Maxwell Kerman and he was a KI6 agent. Agent 086 was also an infiltrator of the Rogue Pariah State of Krakpotnia, more commonly known simply as Krakpotistan. His life, as such, was in grave danger. On Her Majesty's Secret Service afforded him grim satisfaction, however. Kerman pondered again for a moment how his mother had wished to name him James, because that was a very fashionable name in the year of his birth; but his father had objected -- for the same reason. So he was Maxwell, Maxwell Kerman, which had no ring to it at all. He couldn't help thinking bitterly this was the reason his superiors made no acknowledgement of how smart he really was. He surely felt worthy of the higher pay grades, down in the double-O ranks!? Nevertheless, he was well-satisfied with the crisp analysis of his day's report, about to be transmitted.] At 0645 this morning, Krakpotnian Space Command boosted Bootstrap 3 from 2,000 km apoapsis up to 7,500 km. This maneuver was performed with the comms relay assistance of Bootstrap 2. At the next arrival of a Bootstrap vehicle at its periapsis and contingent upon steady relay coverage, Bootstrap 1 was similarly hoisted in orbit. Finally, Bootstrap 3 was boosted, with the aid of Bootstrap 1. The initial boosts earlier to 2,000 km apparently served four purposes: mark each orbital lobe angle with its periapsis for the subsequent maneuver -- at that periapsis; accomplish the boost maneuver in a reasonably quick fashion before relay coverage evaporated; increase satellite relay coverage to allow maneuvers at periapsis at a more opportune moment; not necessarily within line-of-sight of the KSC tracking station; yet maintain a lower orbital period to minimize latency between orbital boost maneuvers Points 3 and 4 are important to ensure that the Bootstrap relays reach their ultimate orbital altitude as soon as possible within each other to maintain 120-degree spacing within the final, circular orbit. Expect next transmission in 24 hours. 086 OUT

More to come!

Good evening. Kerman, Maxwell Kerman. Agent 086. Currently On Her Majesty's Secret Service in Krakpotistan keeping an eye on the locals' urgent desire to gain a toehold in space, despite KN sanctions to prevent same. "Leave it to the big boys", I say. It is quite fascinating what these jokers are up to, though, especially when you consider they are doing it all with stolen equipment/technology. Not to give the show away but this is the result of their second attempt... Anyway, Mum's the word. Loose lips and all that tommy rot...

FOR YOUR EYES ONLY TO: KI6: STATION M FROM: AGENT 086 SUBJECT: OPERATION BOOTSTRAP Three recent launches from Krakpotnian Space Center observed. Spacecraft were comprised of Spunk light-weight lifter plus a large relay payload of unknown manufacture. Each launch entered a circular 70km+ LKO under control of direct signal from the Krakpotnian Space Center. It appears then that, at two hour intervals, as the next relay in LKO passed overhead of KSC, it boosted its apoapsis to 2,000km. Thus the rotation of Kerbin itself to turn 120 degrees in each 2-hour period timed the release and angle of each relay into its orbital lobe. The spacing of the orbits is thus set and some initial, albeit intermittent, comms is established for the control of subsequent maneuvers, whenever signal from KSC is available. The following (somewhat dark) shot shows the current relay path (via Bootstrap 1 and thence the KSC) in the top left hover info, confirming that no external ground stations (e.g. Larkes) is being used, which would be subject to enemy jamming at critical junctures. NOTE: the three Spunk boosters are identical types to a number that went missing downrange from Kanaveral Space Center that were to be retrieved from water landings but were nowhere to be found. It appears that while the Krakpotkin/Krakpotnik factions were arguing over their respective schemes to proceed into space, with the program stalled, the Krakpotnian Submarine Service had taken the initiative. A promotion is in the works for young Captain Helvetika Krakpotkin.

FOR YOUR EYES ONLY TO: KI6: STATION M FROM: AGENT 086 SUBJECT: OPERATION BOOTSTRAP BACKGROUNDER: Krakpotistan -- or more formally, the Rogue Pariah State of Krakpotnia (or RPSK [*]) -- is a small, equatorial, peninsular nation composed of two indigenous but fractious clans, the Krakpotkins and the Krakpotniks. As far as can be determined, the constant feuding between the clans, which has significantly held back the nation's economic/technological development, is related to an ancient disagreement over the important matter of "spelling". Mercifully, the lush pasturelands of each clan are separated by a significant mountain range which has prevented the mutual extinction of both. With the advent to power of one Dr Evil Krakpotnik, Krakpotistan has become unified in seeking a space-based capability for, presumably, Weapons of Egregious Hostility. Such is the energetic, rambunctious and virulent nature of the Krakpotnian character. For this reason, the KN (Kombined Nations) placed the following sanctions upon the RPSK: no use of communications relay ground stations outside of its own territory (thus limiting it to the facility at the Krakpotnian Space Center) occlusion of use of radio wavelength penetration of other territories (Occlusion Modifiers = 1) signal required for control (by embargo upon export of sophisticated computer technology) naturally, launching at other sites (external to Krakpotistan) is disallowed and rigorously enforced by KN Peace Keeping Forces Up until now, these sanctions have effectively kept the Krakpots out of space... there is mounting evidence that the RPSK is making a concerted effort to reach space despite these limitations. NOTE: the "Rogue Pariah State of Krakpotnia" is not just the term of address perennially used in the KN, but really is the country's official name and what Krakpotnians themselves proudly call their homeland!! MORE SHORTLY

OHMS: PROJECT BOOTSTRAP FOR YOUR EYES ONLY TO: KI6: STATION M FROM: AGENT 086 BRIEF: RECENT UNEXPLAINED ACTIVITY IN THE ARCTIC RAISES CONCERNS REGARDING OBJECTIVES SUSPECTED KRAKPOTNIAN ORIGIN. MORE TO FOLLOW.

OHMS: PROJECT BOOTSTRAP -- under way

tl;dr: here for those who are interested: List of Kerbin Ground Stations So I've turned off "Extra Ground stations". And am deploying a couple of polar RA-100s. I got curious about ground stations and followed some of the arcs. I had seen the one at Baikerbanur and thought it was just because it was a space center. I've seen the one on the giant rim in e.g. Cupcake's videos but presumed that might have just been a mod. So I took a MiG out to reconnoitre. Found the crater rim location in the dark. Flew on to this one, near what I call Flamingo Island... Yup, guess I am still a 'noob'!! OK, so the question I now wish to posit is, 'is there a list of the skeleton set of ground stations with locations and names and also with the superset when you turn on 'Extra Ground Stations'"? I've searched but not found... I'm also now very interested in the question of building ground relay stations and seeking advice or pointers to topics or KerbalX craft with guidance for how to do it correctly...

Me, sandbox. Light fuse. Go boom. Yeah, Molniya seems to have greatest application to GPS, but I think it's just highly-eccentric in order to "loiter" over an area. This application might be similar except polar specifically to be above/below the ecliptic. Of course, as you point out in the tutorial, nothing is perfect, because things are only generally in the ecliptic.

Depending upon how you wish to deploy satellites, an alternative is to limit engine thrust to 0.05% for that final tweak. My relay satellites use a Dawn for the final orbit circularization, allowing also subsequent, autonomous fine-tuning of orbital period to maintain spacing (has never been necessary yet), so 0.05% thrust from a Dawn is about as miniscule as you can get. I use the KER "orbital period" in a HUD for millisecond precision. @Geschosskopf thanks for the tutorial and particularly the idea about the eccentric, polar (Molniya?) orbits for the interplanetary comm!! That's great.

My log reminds me tonight that I captured my very first asteroid on 2018-08-09, RXR-929, weighing in at 83t. (Or, at least, Kenfal Kerman caught it.) I caught a total of 7 asteroids in that long-running 1.3.1 world. I switched up to 1.6.1 in January and have just started paying some attention to 'Roid Hunting: I just bagged my 3rd, HVP-683, Lafrid Kerman, just after midnight now on 2019-08-10, on or just after the anniversary of that very first asteroid. This one weighs 2,784t. Yo, mama!! Meanwhile, I have jockeyed VRT-042 into a 30km orbit around the Mun and brought up another Mosquito to milk it faster. And have attached a Nova space station to it as well. The shot on the Right shows a Mule tug bird-dogging a spent Escort that had boosted some interplanetary transit and then burned back into the Kerbin SOI but with no further fuel to get back. It's going to be docked also to VRT-042 for refueling... Finally, another asteroid, KKD-055, is in the works. It's 1,775t and has been caught by Andrea Kerman, but its inclination was very close to 90 deg. I sent an LKO Escort out to assist but concluded it wasn't worth matching orbits, so went with the following "orthogonal" rendez-vous. 505 m/s closing speed is not too bad. That Escort will be low on fuel but will be refueled from KKD-055 prior to lighting its "herd of Rhinos" (5). I have to say, I do love my job here at Mission Control!