sevenperforce

Clever use of wheels to turn it. I like it.

Tested. Definitely does not work. I wonder if they changed the code since that version.

I wanna hear about #DearMoon.

Do you still have this craft file? My attempts to replicate it for a different challenge keep torching the Kerbal.

We here at Kaikonur know a thing or two about destroying...unwanted...documents. We also are aware that taking a long time to do it, or employing expensive, low-thrust mechanisms is simply not goot enuf. Therefore we are pleased to present our solution for your pleasure: the KrotonM Soviet Shredder!

Yes, that's my experience (and plan) as well. Under testing, being inside the fairing collider via a clipped/translated opening doesn't seem to help. Jeb still blows up.

Are we allowed to enter and exit capsules to get more dV? Ooh, that's a good idea. I did a BUNCH of warp-translating inside of even very giant fairings, with no success (the fairing collider always smears them). I also tried using a structural tube that would slide open and shut, but no success there either. Let me see what I can do with an unclipped fairing.

Yeah, it looked incredible. The whole sea was lit by that descending fire. Makes a lot of sense too. There was so much speculation about how it went together but I can see why it works so well. Multi-point compression fit with simple release. Someone got a promotion for designing that. They probably would have said so if they did? Then again Elon is off Twitter right now, so who knows

After a lot of testing, I have determined that it is most likely impossible to protect a Kerbal from re-entry unless the Kerbal is at least in a seat. The heating code doesn't realize there is anything blocking the heat and so the Kerbal gets torched even inside fairings and wrapped in heat shields. Doesn't mean you can't do it; just means you have to do propulsive entry, which is expensive.

I'm sure all of us watched happily as Crew Dragon launched successfully to the ISS this past weekend. It's the first time humans have flown on a completely new capsule and vehicle since Shenzou in 2003, so it's right to be a little excited. In the past few weeks I have been nerding out on the design of Crew Dragon as well as the particulars of the designs of Soyuz, Mercury, Apollo, Orion, and the rest. It gave me an idea for a fun challenge. Pick any crew capsule that has actually been built (note, it does not actually have to have flown with crew; for example, Dream Chaser or Orion) and try to build it in stock KSP using command seats rather than actual capsules. No capsule parts are permitted. Go nuts on part count; try your best to replicate dimensions, propellant tank placement, thruster configuration, seat placement, chute design, and more. The only limitation is that you cannot make it LARGER than the real thing; for example, you can use 5m parts for Orion or 1.87m parts for Mercury, but you couldn't use 3.75m parts for Gemini or 5m parts for Crew Dragon. If possible, have a functioning abort system. Demonstrate it if you can. Feel free to mess around with gravity or other settings if you need to, but kudos if you don't!

On the positive side, I just sent Bill to LKO easily, standing on top of a capsule with nothing whatsoever protecting him (and not even any ladder in sight).

Exciting challenge! I just tested what I thought would be the straightforward Kerbal-protecting re-entry solution -- a ladder inside a service bay in the lee of an inflatable heat shield -- and it didn't even slightly help. So back to the drawing board.

The "9.5 tonnes empty" number comes from the FAA disclosure on the pad abort test, which is where they made it clear that it includes propellant but no cargo. EPIC

The capsule is 9.5 tonnes WITH propellant but without cargo.

I just did a frame-by-frame count of the end of the second-stage burn, from T+08:49 to T+08:50, and got a whopping 39.2 m/s2 just before SECO. That's almost four gees. So evidently they did not downthrottle very far...especially given that we know they had ample residuals. If we assume an 18-tonne burnout mass (12 tonnes of capsule, 4 tonnes of dry mass, 2 tonnes of props) then that is 705.6 kN, which is about 75.5% full thrust.

Minimum throttle on the Soyuz-FG's RD-0110 upper stage engine is 90.5% of its 298 kN, or 269.69 kN, which is a burnout acceleration of 2.89 gees (7.1 tonne payload, 2.4 tonne upper stage). Merlin 1D Vac can throttle down to about 2.45 gees at burnout with the higher mass of Dragon. I did a frame-by-frame count of velocity just before first-stage burnout, around T+02:26, and got 23.9 m/s2 or 2.44 gees. The Shuttle limited its burnout thrust to 3 gees. EDIT: See below; S2 burnout was nearly 4 gees.

Or you can just squeeze it. Only thing easier to drink from would be a flattenable pouch.

My two-year-old sat with me and watched the launch and then went outside and waved to the ISS and to Dragon as they went over before she fell asleep. Sounds like we were right about it being GSE.

This is my first time seeing any humans launch to space from US soil. I never watched any of the Shuttle launches...wasn't interested or aware of space growing up.

The capsule has enough internal battery power to do the whole mission without the trunk, for contingency.

I checked twitter and no dice so I guess it hasn't been announced yet.

No, if it was a propulsive vent they would call it a propulsive vent. I am sure it was a burn......as noted this had lots of margin. Yes, but if you did a three-engine burn you could give the upper stage even more margin. That's what I wondered too but at the time I figured it was LOX condensation. bump

Interesting that they did a burn rather than a propulsive vent. I guess they reserved hella margins for this mission. I wonder who decided to do a single-engine landing burn. Reserving extra props for a single-engine burn means a lower staging velocity, which means lower S2 residuals. Probably like an 0.0000001% greater chance of LOCV in exchange for a better shot at a norminal landing.

The Orion space toilet would fit on Crew Dragon with room to spare. Does anyone know if they doff the suits en route to the ISS? Also have we heard what they named the capsule?

Correct. In fact the very last abort mode before abort-to-orbit would have called for separation and firing of the nosecone Dracos to hit the Ireland coast.