Rokker

Ah, I see. The Huygens probe, part of the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft/mission was a little bit of a different story. We did receive the signal, however it was fairly weak and so far as I know, was used mainly for Doppler experiments and most data came from the Cassini spacecraft. While more data was lost than should honestly have been, I don't think it was half. They lost half of all pictures and a Doppler experiment. These losses were not due to any actual signal issues, but rather the fact that the ESA forgot to write a program to turn on one of the channels leaving only one working. While the channels were mostly redundant and transmitted most of the the same information,the doppler experiment was only on the non-working signal and the 700 pictures were split between the two channels.

I feel inclined to point out that while landers and rovers have relatively weak transmitters and do often transmit up to an orbiting satellite for relay, they are fully capable of transmitting to Earth and said transmitters are designed directly for that purpose. The orbiting satellites used as relays are not essential in any way to the operation and data gathering of the rovers. The transmitters are not designed specifically for relay use and those "several times" that a Mars transmission has been received were not luck nor fluke, but intended design and operation. Also, sending info the other way is not really a different story and if you are receiving data from a vehicle you can almost 100% of the time send info back. The only reason for relay use is a faster data transmission rate as well as satellites having a more constant supply of power, spends much more time in view of Earth, uses less energy than direct Earth transmission.and often has larger, higher powered transmitting equipment due to somewhat less constraint due to weight.

but... but... r4mon coded the one i posted

Nope, try again, add moar engines.

Already exists. Not sure if it works on .23, but it does exist. http://kerbalspaceprogram.com/samplecollector/

Of course it does, NASA didn't design it to not look sweet

You could just install editor extensions and use alt-r

Psh whaaaat? The Millenium Falcon doesn't use broken physics. Hell, it made the Kessel Run in 12 parse... oh wait. Seems like a solid argument from someone who likely knows a bit. more on the subject than most of the others who commented including me.

If/when kOS and Remotetech can work together it would be nice to see an ability to set a program to run in the event of signal loss and also be able to set comms targets from kOS, it would certainly solve this whole failsafe issue and allow me to write my own failsafe.

I see 3 and 8 as the best options. Another option, though unlikely, complicated and other negative words, is to work with Maijir and set up some kind of data tether that would allow a spacecraft to communicate with it allowing the dish to be pointed, though ultimately the EVA idea would be easier to implement and perform. Overall I support 3 because software already plays a major role in antenna pointing for spacecraft as evidenced by the cause of signal loss for the Viking 1 lander (code update overwrote antenna's tracking software) so one could assume that software would be written to assist during communications loss. There also is at least one case of re-acquisition of communications with a satellite (thought it was still launching to be honest) after it lost it's main signal with the launch craft. I believe it was the recent launch of the IRIS craft and the pegasus launcher lost comms with the launching plane and was re-acquired by NASA TDRS.

planet factory? what? im running like 20-30 mods with planet factory

Inability to activate a dish without a connection might not be realistic since, if such a scenario was possible in real life (which it likely isn't,) a fail safe, in the form of a couple lines of code, would be built in that allows the dish to be activated and pointed at a specific location.

Drift wouldn't be a major issue if we assume the satellite is using GPS (which technically would require communication to some extent) or a decently accurate IGS and/or star trackers from which the satellite can track its position and use that data to figure out where a previously selected satellite would be at a specific time from previously programmed information.

allow me to re-phrase, it might not always accomplish the goal you are trying to with the suggestion. it would completely wreck any case where this occurs in which i am travelling to the moon. it also has no logical purpose as radiowaves and satellites dont tend to care about a difference in SOI.

I think that in the event of satellite communications failure the satellite should go into failsafe mode in which it attempts to regain communications by pointing at the location of a communications device previously set by the user. While in failsafe mode, there should be at least a slight increase in electricity usage (toggleable preferably) and once a connection is reattained, the vehicle will require time to re-establish systems along with a systems check causing a delay of time in which no engines or aiming systems (sas, rcs, etc.) can be used (also preferably toggleable. during this time you can activate dishes or change where they aim.)

Not that I care on either side of this particular discussion, since I have full confidence in the modder to make the mod well, this suggestion might not always work. For example, a large number of Munar arrays i create typically aren't even in the Mun's SOI I find it much easier for communications with Mun bases if I just put a comsat on the Mun's orbit but just outside of its SOI therefore allowing what is essentially a stationary mun orbit.

Two suggestions, and they may have been suggested already, but I am too lazy to go through 23 pages... huh 23 pages as of .23 release... trippy, anyways back to my pre-distracted rambling, I would love to see, if possible, some inline/stackable, non-rigid, compact, airship envelopes (they could expand sideways if regular expansion is too complicated.) Preferably they would come with a second, or attached part containing the actual hydrogen/helium that inflates it and is quite heavy to balance out the ease of having the envelope. Secondly I would absolutely love to see airbags (preferably inline/stackable) that i could put them under vessels to slightly cushion their landing and so they will float upright in water. Like a combination of the Apollo capsules' water flotation device and all of the airbag landing system that was looked at for use on the Orion capsule for land landings. Anyways, I have always loved the Hooligan Labs "brand" and I think you are doing an amazing job Jewel. Keep up the amazing work.

eh, i just have 4 sats in LKO with the 2.5km antenna and the 90km dishes

Whilst he may have exaggerated that they said "EVERYTHING", it is nonetheless an informed assumption that is very likely. You say you don't wish to violate physics then suggest that all the planets have black holes in their center. Lets look at the physics of that. In order for all the matter of any of these planets to avoid falling into such a core they would need to be orbiting around it. These orbits would be insanely fast making the planets impossible to land on. At such high speeds you might not even have a solid mass of ground, the energy could easily be so high that chemical bonds break and its just a mush of elements. If they weren't orbiting, they would simply all be condensed and all the planets would be black holes. Honestly the most plausible explanation using physics is that this is a universe in which everything is scaled by 1/11. Now, as for the magnetosphere thing, seeing as the mathematical definition of a magnetosphere is expressed in terms of planet radii and Kerbal System planets have radii that are 1/11 the size of realistic then the numbers are likely 1/11 the size of realistic. Now you are the one making assumptions just as you criticized others before for doing. Who ever said that the Kerbal Universe is the same as our universe. The Kerbal Universe is so different from ours that the only explanation could be that it isn't the same universe. In the Kerbal Universe we have densities much higher than even possible in ours. Stars form at much lower masses than in ours. Hell light doesn't even work the same way in the Kerbal Universe seeing as its just as intense after travelling through gas energy-wise and doesn't follow the inverse square law. The Kerbal Universe is most certainly not the same universe as ours.

I mentioned the Moon and Mars because, lacking a magnetosphere and therefore subject to higher radiation, the most common and feasible plans for radiation protection of long term bases there is to either pile dust on top of it (or make some kind of concrete analogue out of the dust) until the radiation levels are safe. Your assumption of "a jet engine works equally well so oxygen must be the same" only applies if the engine is 100% efficient and burns all the oxygen entering often jet engines don't burn all of their oxygen meaning that as long as the ratio of oxygen entering the turbojet is above the amount being burned. However, Air intake efficiency is lower I think, implying more of Laythe's atmosphere has to be sucked in to maintain the levels of oxygen at the amount they burn. This would keep the engine's ISP the same whilst still being less efficient due to less oxygen. Distillation of water can be easy, but it would all depend on how large the landing party is and how much water needs to be produced, the larger the amount of people, the more complex it can get to produce enough for them to have enough to drink and maintain an active lifestyle.

Ok seriously guys, can we please just agree that IF radiation was high then they would fall back on the plans for colonization of Mars and the Moon and cover themselves in pre-existing top layer minerals until the radiation is shielded. and instead explore the habitability of Laythe as a place with a lower oxygen concentration than Kerbin, low temperatures and no apparent access to drinking water.

In addition to Avera9eJoe's comment about tidal heating meaning water doesn't always freeze at 0 degrees C, let me give you a short history lesson on the magical non-SI temperature of Fahrenheit. One thing I have heard criticized about Fahrenheit is that freezing point is 32 instead of 0 and that Fahrenheit's 0 is, I believe, -17.777 etc.. The reason for this is that Fahrenheit when it was being formed was to be somewhere around the freezing point of brine at avg atmosphere, yes this is vague, I know, it doesn't mention the concentration of solution and whatnot, however, the point is that only pure water and certain solutions freeze at 0 degrees C and many solutions of water, specifically salt based, the freezing point can get drastically lowered. If you guys would simply read the wiki, it is even suggested that the lack of freezing implies that the seas of Laythe have a relatively high concentration of ionic compounds, likely salt. This combined with tidal forces, combind with volcanic activity, combined with a decent amount of heating from the radiation trapped in Jool's magnetosphere (depending on where you stand in the magnetosphere argument) say that the ocean could stand a chance of not being frozen.

Well the thing about this radiation is it isn't just one type of radiation, it is a combination of, assuming Jovian based conditions, EM radiation in the form of radio, near-IR, UV, and soft X-rays, and, to a much larger extent, particle radiation. The X-rays would simply be scattered to the point by the atmosphere itself. Ozone would likely form due to the UV radiation but the ozone formed could become an ozone layer behaving fairly similar to Earth's, however the particle radiation can break down ozone which could prevent the formation, however believe that the UV rays would not be too big of an issue as long as the proper minor UV shielding such as powerful sunscreen. Due to the particle radiation, there could be a decent amount of irradiated substances in the atmosphere and on the surface however the proposals of underground and underwater living would still likely be fairly feasible.

Yes, I probably should have expanded on the explanation Uber

I even have an acronym a space agency can use for it Cosmic Radiation-Advanced Protection.