MaxL_1023

Hey - is there a way to remove boiloff for cryogenic tanks using config files? I tried using heat radiators and they didn't seem to do anything.

Its just that fusion reactor designs are generally safer than fission, and are less likely to melt down. Neither are capable of exploding. I guess I play too much Realism Overhaul KSP...

I am now streaming the continuation of my Mars exploration mission - Jeb, Bob and Bill are in for an adventure!

What kind of Fusion reactor has the ability to spontaneously explode? It is hard enough to make a fusion bomb when you are trying to.

Jet engines produce no thrust at all above a certain speed, making whatever that top speed is (1600m/s or so for Rapiers, less for other engines) as fast as you can go without going closed-cycle. This extra atmospheric velocity makes a significant difference in the amount of fuel needed to circularize, as well as the amount of TWR you need. At 1500m/s in air, you should be able to get to 200+ km on a ballistic trajectory. This gives you plenty of time to use NERVs or even Ion Engines to circularize - you may not need the Rapier rocket mode at all. This is much more difficult with other engines, as your lower top speed leads to a lower ballistic arc, less time in space and requires you to carry more rocket engines. This is why Spaceplanes are very inefficient in RSS/RO - Jet engines top out at only about 1/5th or orbital velocity and maybe 1/5th of the minimum orbit altitude. 1500m/s and 30km is not that much of the way to orbit - you usually get a better mass fraction just making a rocket SSTO as opposed to a plane. KSP needs a Scramjet engine - basically a jet engine which has a thrust curve stretched to high velocities and low atmospheric pressures. It would produce very little thrust (or none) at low speeds like a ramjet, pick up power near Mach 3 (instead of peaking there) and have peak thrust at Mach 6 or 7, near orbital velocity. It would have the best performance thrust/drag wise near 30km altitude. One has already been tested (X-51 I think) at near Mach 10 and 30+ km - it worked and provided thrust for several seconds. A Scramjet powered SSTO would be able to basically reach orbit on air breathing thrust, only needing to circularize when out of the atmosphere. The engine could be expensive and heavy, high in the tech tree, but it would be ideal for SSTOs especially in scaled-up systems. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scramjet

The stream will be up momentarily - I think I am going to try for a Mars mission including probe landings on Mars, Phobos and Deimos. I would do a crewed landing, but no space agency in their right mind would land Kerbals before a probe - Jebediah is not in charge (thankfully).

At this point you could randomize the entire series and it would still probably be a good read. If I tried to actually write characters it would probably seem like a hybrid between Twilight and Dr Seuss, with none of the positive aspects of either. The first KSP related link in my browser autofill is for KSP fan works, for checking on this series and KSKs First Flight.

I wonder what a Kerbal spaceplane would look like next to the space shuttle? Knowing the Kerbals, they would probably have a 1000 ton space station made by claw-connecting together all the Human's old satellites and spent upper stages left in orbit. Then, they would try and push it out of the solar system to satisfy a contract.

Well, I made it to the moon, although I forgot to fuel up my lunar insertion/return stage. Thankfully, I overdesigned my transfer stage enough to allow insertion, and overdesigned my LM enough to have it push my command pod back to Earth. Thank Kerm for Kerbal Engineering Practices (More Boosters). Also, my computer was performing like crap, so I am going to try and clean it up so the game runs better next stream.

Pale Blue Pixel episodes 7 and 8 are now on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0QP0BvaZg2x2z1YK3tt3AQ In addition, I am now streaming a crewed lunar mission, followed possibly by a Mars landing.

A solution could be to give the special cryogenic tanks a lower boiloff rate and a somewhat lower cooling cost, representing specially designed cryogenic tanks. They would be more expensive - mass would be a wash due to intervening advancements in other materials. You could cool a normal fuel tank, but it would take a lot more energy due to the lack of insulation.

I can see replacing any other planet by cutting and pasting config files, but I think Gael-Kerbin would be much more difficult due to it being your parent planet. Also, the second Realism Overhaul is released for KSP 1.2.X I will be streaming GPP again - SMURFF and Tweakscale just wasn't doing the 10x scale justice. I needed a 32000 ton rocket for my Niven Landing - in RO that is not that hard to make and it is often barely a million funds. In SMURFF it costs over 10M!.

I somehow managed to have a Callisto impact trajectory after making a plane correction burn. I also had to maneuver to dodge a Europa impact. Jupiter's moons are more hazardous than I thought!

I am now Live-Streaming the design and launch of Kerbioneer X, the first probe to explore Jupiter!

I am now live - streaming the second half of my lunar space station mission and then likely a Venus orbiter/lander! I have also posted several more videos on Youtube documenting some of my recent mission highlights: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0QP0BvaZg2x2z1YK3tt3AQ

It would usually cost less delta-v to put the plane change on the ejection burn I admit - I just can't figure out how to do it without using Mechjeb.

I assume that axial tilt determines where on the planet you can launch from to get those orbits, and how inclined they are relative to the equator. If you can't get the orbit you want because you are too far from the equator than your transfer burn needs to include the plane change. Also, can you really get to Moho that way? The plane matching works, but would Moho be in the right place for a transfer orbit or would you need to lower your AP for a resonant capture months later? Seems like a big coincidence for both windows to line up.

I am measuring ejection angle relative to your starting orbit, not the planet's orbit. The problem with figuring out the angles is even knowing what your inclination is - I don't think the stock game tells you much about your orbit, or at least I do not remember it doing so.

Axial tilt effects the inclination you launch into from any specific point on the surface. With Earth tilted 23 degrees to the Ecliptic, you need to launch into an inclined orbit to match the plane of the solar system, allowing an ejection to another planet. You usually only get two launch opportunities per day, and even then only from within 23 degrees of the equator. It may only take 300m/s of delta'v to change your ejection angle to compensate, but figuring out what you need is much more difficult than two-dimensional intercept plotting.

The issue is that annoying Gravitational Constant G - ~6.67*10-11. This is about 20 orders of magnitude smaller than the Electromagnetic constant K, not to mention the fact that the elementary unit of charge is a few orders of magnitude closer to the units the constant is measured in. One electron is 12 orders of magnitude closer to a Coulomb of charge compared to a Kilogram of mass, so you are up over 30 orders of magnitude. This is the difference between you and the Sun, more or less.

They may have installed the wrong version of "Advanced Jet Engine" - Nathankell might be able to help them with that.

Interplanetary burns would be different in the sense that they will have significant normal components in order to get the proper ejection inclination. Launch windows will also be narrower as they are essentially expanded to 3 dimensions. In stock you can get to Eve and Duna by ejecting from an equatorial orbit - this will not work with axial tilt. RSS is bad enough for this - you either need to launch into a perfect plane match (which means you get 2 windows per day to launch if you are close enough to pass under the tilted ecliptic) or add a plane change to every transfer burn.

Now live! I am planning to launch another space station and then additional planetary probes to either the surface of Venus, Phobos/Deimos or Jupiter depending on the launch window timing. Another manned Lunar mission is also a possibility.

I would like to thank everyone for getting my Twitch Channel to 5000 views! I know it isn't much, but it's a start. Any comments or questions are welcome, either here or on Twitch.

Now streaming the first probe to the red planet, finally answering the question of whether or not Male Kerbals originated here. There only seem to be 3 of them on Earth at the moment - they have to be somewhere!