Ultimate Steve

Just got back from vacation in Florida. On the way back we cut through Alabama to avoid the Atlanta traffic - and I got to see Space Camp and the museum next to it! That 1:1 Scale Saturn mockup is really something! And I got to stand in Apollo 12's astronaut quarantine airstream! Also there was a LEM landing simulator. Sort of like KSP actually... I would have landed it right if someone hadn't hooked up the joystick wrong. I got to stand in the Service Module swing arm! On the way home tonight my sister was messing around with snapchat's filters. We ended up making up a game: We would say something into the phone and then reverse it. We would play the reversed audio 20 or so times and write down what we heard. Then we'd say it back into the phone and reverse that. Whoever got it the closest to the original won. Results: "That's one small step for man (...)" - Almost got it. Sounded really weird. "It's raining Tacos! From out of the sky!" - Closer than the first one. "Supercalafrajalispicexpialadocious" - didn't sound a bit like the original no matter how hard we tried. "I AM A DALEK!!!!!" - I got it to sound okay, but my sister? It came out as "I AM UNCHALLENGED!" EDIT: I also bought the NASA CRS-8 patch! That booster was the first to land on a barge and also the first to be reflown!

In the first video I can see five dots with one dimmer one. Later on in the video it all merges into one symmetrical dot without the dimness on one side. In the second video I can clearly see the six dots. Now, it may look like an engine failure, but I don't think it is. The Proton uses an oxidizer rich cycle (I don't remember what for) and as a result it vents some of the Dinitrogen Tetroxide (the red stuff, I think). Above a certain temperature, N2O4 is red, but below a certain temperature it is clear. The disappearance of the red plume during the videos would be because it got to a certain altitude where the air is colder. What I think happened: Video 1: N2O4 plume obscures engine #6 making it look like it failed. Later on N2O4 becomes transparent, but only after the rocket is far away enough for the flame to be a blob. However it was a very symmetrical blob, and at that point we were seeing the rocket directly from the bottom. The symmetry of the blob would mean that all engines were functioning. Video 2: the camera angle is as such that the N2O4 plume (which there is only one of) does not obscure engine #6. All engines appear to work properly. Plus, Proton appears to fly straight through both videos, an engine failure would have meant somewhat crooked flight. Plus, EchoStar is reporting that the sat is in orbit.

Stream live! Ooh, it's in English! P.S. Found the cover I'm using tonight! Starting at T-34 seconds for maximum dramatic-ness!

Good find! However, the last few streams they have done have been all montage and have lasted <30mins. So, that may or may not end up actually being the actual cast. EDIT: The montage is pretty cool! I wouldn't have expected ILS to do a montage at all! Also, at every single launch I play a different cover of "The Final Countdown" so that the most dramatic part synchronizes with liftoff. I've been searching one for tonight, and I came across this. Oh... My... one of the best versions I've ever heard! I have decided that Proton is not worthy of it... I'm saving that for when Falcon Heavy flies! Now to find a cover for tonight...

Welcome to Last Minute Launch Threads, where I, @Ultimate Steve, post about rocket launches that nobody has made threads for! (Thread #6-ish, #1 since I started counting.) Today, we will see the launch of Proton with the EchoStar 21 satellite. TL;WR: Livestream! Long version: This is Proton. Even if you follow space often, you may not have heard of it. The reason for this is that it hasn't flown in a while. This is because of a string of failures Proton had. Proton, throughout its many iterations, has been in service since 1965. It is also fueled nearly entirely using hypergolics, including the notorious UDMH, a toxic fuel. Launch time: 0345:47 GMT on 8th (11:45:47 p.m. EDT on 7th) Launch site: Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan An International Launch Services Proton rocket with a Breeze M upper stage will deploy the EchoStar 21 communications satellite, formerly known as TerreStar 2. EchoStar 21 will provide mobile broadband services over Europe with an S-band payload for EchoStar Mobile Ltd. Delayed from June 25, Aug. 29, Oct. 10, Nov. 23, Dec. 22, Dec. 28, Jan. 31, February, April 29 and May 29. [June 5] -SpaceFlightNow Enjoy the Last Minute Launch!

Well, @xendelaar, truth be told, it would have been more efficient to do it in two launches. However, I was sort of making the mission up as I went along, and I found it more enjoyable to do many launches. I enjoy building tiny lifters sometimes. Glad you enjoyed! Also, part 3 coming when I get back from vacation.

I'm on vacation and there was one of those rare moments when I can use the internet, so I decided to check on my Minecraft factions base. It had been raided. I know I shouldn't be that upset, but I am... I didn't even get to finish it! Notes to self: Find a better factions server. Rexcraftia isn't the best. Build a smaller base. Build base under a far-flung ocean biome, or out in the end (Rexcraftia doesn't have an end. Don't return to rexcraftia!). Friendly signs saying "Oh, hello raider! Welcome to my base!" don't help. Even if you have junk in your chests, it will all get taken. Don't be the only person in the faction.

If I had the money, I would totally buy it!

Wait, a delay?!?!?! Okay, so now it's on Saturday... *crosses fingers for a delay of one more day so I will finally be able to see a launch in person* (I'll be in Florida starting Sunday)

In before lock, someone should dock this station to the new one. That would be epic!

Thanks for the responses! Now that you mention that, I think that would be a more accessable solution for everyone. I'm strongly considering this now.

Part two is up!

Both aren't actually real trains. But I wish they were.

Hahaha! Very nice! Sort of reminds me of the time I cheated a sailboat into orbit... and crashed it into the mun...

Sometimes it can be even harder to stick with what you think up. I have a couple Google Drive folders full of stories I never finished, as well as a few real life folders. I have continually put off opening up the save file for Project Intrepid, and I have been putting off the next chapter of Voyage for a week or two as well. But - nine times out of ten, I'll always come back to it at least once. So, @Kerbiter, if you get burned out, just let it happen. You'll probably come back to it eventually, with a refreshed mind full of new ideas, trust me. I know from experience. Thanks. I didn't realize it until now, but that is the true reason I started writing Voyage. I think I write a bit too much of myself into the main character... We're both obsessed with Wintergatan, we both are obsessed with The Final Countdown, we both want to go to space someday, and we both own dusty, old, out of tune spinet pianos... Scratch "wrote a bit too much of myself into," I think Ethan is literally the fictitious version of me, except for our names and out hometowns (although his school's auditorium is based on my school's auditorium). So, I fully agree with everything @Just Jim said. Write about what you like!

There was an entire research group for ion planes a while back. We determined that taking off from the runway with only ion engines is practically impossible, even with infinite electricity available. I had one of the more successful designs, as it could take off from a mountaintop with a crew of one and ascend to 22km. However, it could not take off from sea level. The reason your challenge is impossible (from sea level at least) is that the specific impulse, and therefore thrust of ion engines drops to near zero levels, meaning you can have the highest possible TWR configuration plane (E.G. practically the same TWR as the ion engine itself) and it won't get above 19m/s on the runway. Eve would be even harder, as even on the highest mountaintops the ion engine produces next to no thrust. That being said, if we don't have to take off from the runway, and can use mountains, suborbital is definitely possible if you have a good enough computer. My second best flight attempt, back from the days of the Ion Plane Research Challenge. Took off from 6km and rose to 18km. IIRC it was around 500 parts.

You NEED to see the Saturn V building. Besides the obvious giant rocket hanging from the ceiling, they have a used Apollo capsule on display off to the side, an assortment of various spacesuits (I think Mercury through Apollo) next to the capsule, as well as a stand where you can touch a moon rock. If you can time it so that you can see a launch, then DO IT. I'm heading down to Florida in a few days, but sadly not in time for CRS-11.

I finished my first ever Eeloo mission - meaning I've been to every body in the stock game now. And I forgot the parachutes.

We have Bop and Pol, still... Let's hope those stick around for a while.

So, on May 28 (yesterday for me right now) I realized two things: 1. I've never been to Eeloo. Eeloo is the only body in the game I've never gone to and returned from (and, yes, I've been to Eve and back). 2. I haven't uploaded anything to YouTube in four months. Do you see where I'm going with this? The first of a 3-ish part series. All feedback is appreciated. Enjoy!

Huh, interestingly enough I'm also doing an Eeloo mission right now... actually two. One with the bits of timewarp you mentioned, and one in a different save because I said "Eeloo's the only place I've never been. I should go there!" For some reason this affected me emotionally way more than it should have. *goes off to think of something dramatic to say inside my head*

Can I have the co-ordinates for that wall, please? I've never heard of it before!

I realized I haven't uploaded to YouTube in, like, four months. The problem isn't the amount of footage to be edited, but the motivation to edit it. I have a backlog of around eight model rocketry videos to be edited, but I don't really want to do that. There's also Reusable Space Program to edit (series never took off), a video I made with a friend, and a failed lightweight Moho mission (had plenty of DV, but 1.01 TWR when I tried to land it). I also realized I had never been to Eeloo. I have a Project Intrepid ship on the way, but I don't have the motivation to continue with that series just yet, especially with Voyage and maybe the collaborative cinematic taking place. So I built an Eeloo mothership for use in a YouTube video. And literally half a second after I dock the final module, the sun rises over the horizon. I'm starting to wonder if the game is rigged so that every docking happens at sunrise. Literally HALF of my dockings happen at sunrise! Not that I'm complaining. EDIT: I was de-orbiting my crew spaceplane for the mission. Just as I entered the atmosphere, the sun rose eclipsed by the Mun. IT'S A CONSPIRACY!

C=~3.14*D. C=~3.14*26000 C=~81640 Longest part in the game = Kickback booster (I think). Kickback booster = ~15m Parts = Distance/Part length Parts = 81640/15 Parts = ~5443 That's assuming that your structure is perfectly circular with no docking ports (Spoiler: It won't be perfectly circular with straight segments). Also, that's Gilly's radius from Sea level (I think). Highest point on Gilly is 6400m, more like 5000 on equator (estimated). So, your structure will theoretically be around 8,000 parts minimum, over 9000 if you do it legitimately (using docking). Perfectly doable based on part count. I got bored once and made a colony ship that was over 5000 parts. With optimization, lowered settings, an Alienware computer, and lots of patience, this is perfectly doable. I'm curious to see what the game does with gravity, though. Plus, when you time warp it locks rotation. That would get weird.

I have to leave right now, so I'll explain more later, but I googled a Delta V map and with 10-ish KM/s and RAPIERS for Kerbin ascent, and with the gravity assists it's about 4500 from Kerbin to escape, 500 for corrections (5k), 2 for slowing down and landing, and 2 for the transfer back, totaling 9km/s. I think its' doable.