Mad Rocket Scientist

One interesting possibility here is stretching the tanks or payload bay as necessary for the mission, a la KSP procedural tanks. That seems to be undermined by full reusability though.

Basically, risk of lightning strike. The rocket lowers the required potential for a lightning strike as it flies through the atmosphere.

Countdown clock

Hmm, there's a bit of a bug. A rotation input will change the rotation rate by 0.1 degrees/s whether you're in precise mode or not, so you can end up with incorrect rates if you rotate a bit in imprecise mode, then cancel it in precise mode.

Just docked 170 tons of interplanetary transfer vehicle to a tumbling heatshield with zero monoprop left. That 0.1m/s used up the last drops.

https://gfycat.com/periodicplushiaerismetalmark

TWR of 1.5, following KSP design principles exactly.

Dry mass 120 tons, instead of 85.

Wow, this looks amazing.

That's a pretty large impact, especially if other constellations like that are launched. I'm kind of surprised that there isn't some kind of international governing body for this kind of thing, since it affects so many things.

Next week is finals!

This is a clever trick, maybe it should go on the KSP wiki too? @UmbralRaptor (the ping chain never ends) Thanks, I'll put a link to this thread over there.

Reverse image search says it's the "Standard Model Lagrangian," and is an expanded version of everything known about particle physics.

From upthread:

I recall the reason previously given for not having stock moving parts was instability with intra-vessel docking/collisions. (And possibly inter-vessel docking if the docking port is connected to a moving part). Has this been resolved? Or will this use the IR system of ignoring collisions entirely? And how will autostruts interact with this? I'm excited no matter how it works, and can't wait to play with it.

Magnetic tape is probably a better solution in terms of cost. The latest advances are around 25 GB/in^2. https://newatlas.com/sony-ibm-magnetic-tape-density-record/50743/ Really not a ton more space, maybe 20m^3, but also cheaper and more resistant to radiation.

Got a new laptop as a graduation gift, installed linux on my old one. I installed linux mint with Xfce, which seemed to strike a good balance between being easy to get started with and being fairly lightweight. It's definitely a performance improvement over windows 10.

Thanks to @Cydonian Monk, Workers and Resources: Soviet Republic. It's not the most friendly city-building game, but it's pretty satisfying. It's great how large the map is too. EDIT: My primary export is fuel and bitumen, but as soon as the rail line is completed I can start exporting prefab panels, concrete, cement, and asphalt. Then I can start a steel mill and export steel too. Currently I import most of the oil for fuel, steel, and all the miscellaneous stuff for building cities and supporting people.

Bumping this thread since I saw there was a new update: This has convinced me to buy the game.

One of the best landing views, probably second only to those daytime ones with the closeup tracking shots of the landing burn.

Off the top of my head, these are the ones farthest along: SpaceX is currently building flight prototypes for a ship that could land humans on mars. They intend to build a mars colony as soon as physically possible, to the point of building rockets in a field in Texas. They currently have the cheapest and most technologically impressive rockets flying. They plan to launch humans to mars by 2024, which is wildly optimistic. NASA is currently building a launch vehicle that could launch a crewed mars mission, although there's not really a lander yet. Complex politics and cost and schedule overruns, along with a design that looks a lot like previously cancelled designs makes a lot of people think that their plans will be cancelled before they get to mars. Their target date is 2033, which they might be able to achieve if the program doesn't get cancelled, and gets as much funding as they require (way more than they've had at any point since the Apollo program, and possibly even more). Blue Origin is developing (and building engines for) a launch vehicle that could also launch a crewed mars mission. They do not explicitly state a mars landing as part of their goal, rather "millions of people living and working in space." They basically have unlimited funding from Jeff Bezos, and if they're in the position to, will almost certainly try for a mars landing. The European Space Agency, China, and Russia also all have plans to the right of 2040, approximately. This is a pretty good rundown the history of all this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_mission_to_Mars

Are you kidding? This is the peak of web design. Nothing will ever top this.