DDE

@The Raging Sandwich @vonBraun That's what you get for calling your rocket "fog". Also on August 3 2004, the launch of MESSENGER.

By popular consensus among hard sci-fi experts, stealth in space is nigh-impossible, with some very small possibilities primarily revolving around trying to confuse the enemy rather than hide outright, or becoming invisible across a very small angle. This is because even with our measly current sensors, we can still detect the ~6 kW signature of Voyager-1's RTG and perform a general whole sky survey in 4 hours, which will reveal an anomalous signature. You can't fully get away from the thermal signature without breaking the basic laws of thermodynamics, whereas the need to reflect its own signal from the target gravely cripples active sensors (e.g. RADAR) in comparison.

Great. My taxpayer roubles at work. Already have noticed three typos.

I meant their rotation, similar to the solar panels. I have checked. And here's another clueless player: http://steamcommunity.com/app/220200/discussions/0/360670708795448585/

Hey, sorry for piggybacking the thread, but are you sure they still work this way? They don't for me (while solar panels do), and I think I remember seeing a mention of such an issue.

@Frozen_Heart FYI, the new lunar lander the Orion could have been combined with has been axed. So, it's Apollo 8 Mark 2, at best.

So, basically, I'm considering a Mun Buggy (pun attempted); and I'm thinking what the better choice of power source is. RTGs are excluded at the start, and I have great doubts about solar; if I can have enough gas to outlast my own patience, then why bother with infinite power?

I particularly like @adsii1970's statements imply that the Orion is the last and only hope for the totality of human manned space exploration.

Oh, look, another supposedly revolutionary crowd-funder! These things should be banned already.

Nope; even if verniers are part of the primary engine (e.g. RD-107/108) they apparently still are heavier than a gimbal.

RD-180 is a half-size variant of the RD-170, which was one of the two engines used in the pronouncedly asymmetric Energiya. Nobody uses kerolox on submarines.

But then we run across the whole "Is going into space after resources even economically feasible?" problem. Corporations are bound by economic reasoning; governments engaging in diсk-jousting are not.

I have to agree with the OP. Eyesores cannot count as Easter eggs. And with vismods it surely is an eyesore. Anyone knows which files the anomalies are defined in? I'd love to eliminate one or two of them.

The Soviets built the first ever digital controller for it. Processing power wasn't the issue. The issue was that they did not and could not test-fire the entire assembled first stage. Seems like history disagrees with you. There has been a move from verniers to gimbals.

The guy behind Children of Dead Earth disagrees with that staple of hard sci-fi thinking. They'd be glowing red, though. The hotter they are, the more efficient they are.

I believe the distortion is due to all the PR SpaceX is getting; NASA's in the long haul stage, with not nearly enough innovations to keep even moderately literate space fans interested for long; their probes cannot really compete with SpaceX's fancy propulsive landings and big plans. And SpaceX is just the least overhyped of Musk's hobbies. Hyperloop is the new cold fusion, Tesla's probably failing...

Copper and bronze see plenty of use in rocketry; not only for electric conductivity, but don't forget heat conductivity. Also, speaking about unexpected colours... those are bronze:

FYI the four prograde RCS motors on the Soyuz have higher Isp than the central engine, so on one occasion when the Progress needed to keep enough dV round because it was going to take Mir for a swim, they went for those over the main engine, the whole way. With a torchship like Orion you can really cut down on travel time using more energetic trajectories. Say, less than a year roundtrip, then you're in the realm of the long-term missions on Mir. Add the possibility of full-on armour, and you're off!

Your wiki appears to have become significantly easier to understand since I last checked it. Slap me. However, why did you unlink the resource selection on the Big Map and the Small Map?

Biome lock yes, Instant resource scan no, Requires narrow band scanner yes, Disable stock scanning yes, Stock scan threshold yes 90%.

Guys, minor question. When using the Big Map, I get resource concentrations in full percents. When using the Small Map, I don't get info at all. However, when displaying the map via the M700, I get a Small Map with data down to 0.01%.

I'm not shopping for an inflatable greenhouse. Yet. A partial modlist was in the OP; yes, I am; re: Vulkan, the twin RCS thrusters are from Nertea's NF Spacecraft, the radial motors are from an old Bahamuto mod, there's a mix or RT's original antennas and Ven's ones; note that I'm using an old version of Ven's mod (1.9.3?) because I use an even older version of his panel retexture. There are also Smart Parts fuel ejection valves and grid fins from USI Sounding Rockets coming into play. The towers are from FASA...

Chapter 14: Is Everyone’s on Mental Shore Leave? “CAPCOM?” “We’re go,” “Booster?” “Go, Flight,” “Network,” “Go,” “FIDO?” “Go,” “EECOM?” “Go!” “Surgeon?” “All readings at ‘badass’, Flight!” “Local Orbital Control to Pad Firing Team, Hermes Mk 2 test flight is clear for launch, stand by to initiate launch sequence,” Gene Kerman announced, moonshining in the more routine department while the watch roster was being filled up. “Hermes, you’re clear to launch,” Bill Kerman echoed in his post as FAO-CAPCOM. “Copy that,” Jeb noted, glanced at the mannequins "manning" the upper deck, and turned to the flight computer. The inertial nav system had calibrated, and the output showed the guidance computer was now in mode 02. Unsurprisingly, there was a button called LAUNCH; there was no need to time the launch, so he just pressed it. The rocket shook as the gantries began to retract. Then the Rockomax MAXX ignited. It sounded like an explosion. The new solid-fuel first stage had even more thrust than the Mainsail, and was even bigger. It kicked in like a sledgehammer, and the rocket blasted off. The computer nonchalantly went into mode 11, and began to spit out raw telemetry; the new booster relied on the RV’s computer for the entirety of the flight to save weight, unlike the entire ring of electronics in regular Hermes cores. The flight continued as usual for the solid-fuelled loft-and-sustain boosters – with ever-mounting, crushing acceleration until well past twenty kilometres, where the motor slowly died, and the ullage Sepratrons pulled the regular Tunguska upper stage. Still without Jeb doing anything, the ship pushed for orbital velocity, jettisoning the LES. The circularization burn was also carried out with Jeb passively watching the computer do its work. Unlike past launches, the fairing separation was not to happen until the upper stage was done. The SM formed part of the hull from the onset, with its RCS thruster clusters on the exterior; a whip antenna extended out of one of them. The new RCS system was redesigned to minimize the use of the RV's thrusters. Finally, the motor died. “CAPCOM, Hermes, confirming MECO, all systems nominal,” Jeb called out. “Hermes, confirming.” “Hey, Bob, Gene, if I’m reading this correctly, I’m only 60 klicks behind Athens with a full tank of monoprop.” Gene sighed. He should have seen it coming. “Roger that, Hermes, preparing rendezvous solution. Stand by to receive first burn program,” Bob responded without a pause. Launching from the 250 km staging orbit allowed to avoid the need for multiple orbital phasing burns; instead, Jeb just waited an hour before pulling off a direct Hohmann and the velocity kill burn, putting the ship within visual range of the station. “CAPCOM, Hermes is about to come in for final approach, commencing staging.” The ship’s deployment operation was another heavily automated aspect. The solar and thermal control systems had been mounted around the elongated bell of new SM motor; the Breeze and the RCS clusters now used the same fuel and plumbing system; the Tunguska was equipped with passivation valves to reduce chance of explosion. So, Jeb flipped in the autopilot again, and watched the ship fire its main engine and began its final approach. Athens was growing larger and larger, but the autopilot of course aimed for a near-miss. The closest approach came… Nothing happened. The ship kept flying. No retroburn. Jeb tried to fire it manually, but the computer kept its iron grip on the controls. Then he tried again, and this time there was a sizzle as the motor fired. “Are you seeing this, CAPCOM!?” He reset the computer, triggering another approach. The engine fired again. And then again, on closest approach the controls froze. “Bob,” Jeb growled as he programmed in a descent burn, “We’re going to have to talk.” ---------- “So what’s with the second briefing this week?” Lisgrid wondered. “Guess Jeb’s… outraged,” Raygan shrugged, “At least that’s in the SAT, so it won’t be all plastic.” This briefing included no-one but the newly formed flight crews. Some faces were really unfamiliar, but Lisgrid’s optical sensor array locked onto a trio already sporting a mission patch reading “Heimdall” and “NUC SEC”. “Who are you lot?” she asked. “Heimdall crew, spaceborne nuclear power endurance test,” Jeb’s voice boomed from across the room, “Bit of an autonomous project for now. That’ll be our third station, unmanned for most of the time.” “And…” Jeb cut her off by pulling back one of the partitions to reveal Piraeus. Wasn’t nothing really interesting. The trunk, including the airlock and cupola, had been rebuilt, with what looked suspiciously like a Gadfly pressure vessel acting as a science station and inline airlock. It also mounted the second docking collar and enlarged manoeuvring fuel stocks. There still were a few whistles, though. “Note the small docking ports on the sides,” Jeb continued unperturbed, “We’re going to send another model of Intern up…” There was a horrified scream from one of the gantry, and someone began to run to the nearest fire exit. Jeb just shook his head. “…as an external scientific payload, and it’s also compatible with Vector’s docking probe. “But this of course is just routine orbital flight where the egghead has all the fun,” he chuckled, “The future is over here”. The Vulkan stood in the other assembly area, missing come minor components, but already mostly flyable. “We’re not done with the drive section yet – that’s Heimdall’s job – but this is what it will be carrying. Twenty solid tons of spaceship. Five major systems over here. “The Return Vehicle is broadly the same as on the Hermes, but we’ve removed the docking collar and made a whole lot of internal alterations, most of them in the astrogation systems. Oh, and there is a hatch through the middle of the heat shield. “The primary Habitat is more than half the size of the Athens habitat. We’ve loaded the primary usable space with everything that can stave off boredom and muscular degeneration, with the RV acting as the science and conning deck for the entirety of the flight. Back of the module is stuffed to the gills with ration packs, and leads to the tunnel that ends at the aft docking ring and collar. “The upper half of the tunnel mounts the racks for the ECLSS components. Unlike past flights, where we just ejected the crap and liquid, we’re trying to recycle everything, so we’ve got primary oxygen and water tanks, a hydrogen buffer tank, CO2 and greywater collectors, a water filter, a Sabatier reactor and an electrolytic cracker; all we’re throwing out is solidified waste and methane. Should cut down consumables by more than 90%. “The aft of the ship is the Orbital Manoeuvring System, composed of the main tanks and two twin retractable clusters of Sparks. Used at the beginning and the end of the trip. “On the other hand, the Orientation and Docking System is composed of eight twin clusters and four unidirectional motors, and is fed from the blisters on the sides of the habitat. “Finally, the Cladding is composed of these surface-mounted panels and radiators. Ultimately, it looks like that the tug will need the same Gigantor panels as the station. “Any questions, fliers?”

Known bug. Posting to close thread.

Please start with Jessica Valenti's team.