Ultimate Steve

Honestly this film is AMAZING in the fact that it gets a lot of stuff right about space travel, even implying a nuclear engine, showing an EVA with some sort of (not very realistic) thruster movement while on EVA, weightlessness while in space, and a few other cool things. So what, you ask? This was 1950. 3 years after the first pictures from space, 7 years before the first satellite. 19 years before the first moon landing. While it doesn't get everything right, and some of the other aspects could use some work, it's definitely worth a watch. We have it on DVD, actually!

Okay, disregard my delta-v estimates for the hopper. So if this is right then it's not just the header tanks, and probably no header tanks. The bottom section is cryogen-tight... If only the bottom section is cryogen tight, but is utilized up until the part that was initially shiny, then that's like 1/3 of a fuel load, multiple kilometers per second of delta-V.

Guess what? I bet you all can't guess the insanely probable and unique thing that is happening! ...There's a launch and I'm in school.

This is the place where I use words that aren't allowed on this forum to describe my excitement and surprise at the current Starship timelines. Even doubling the timespans, that's still like lightning compared to everything else in the space industry!

Sorry for the delays, I've been really busy. I hope to upload pictures of my last two missions sometime this weekend.

BRB I'm going to build a rocket that is as many thermometers as possible oh wait I have homework and improv and jazz band and studying and sleep.

You've got that right, but if it doesn't work out or she's not interested I'd still be absolutely thrilled to have another friend.

So, it's been a while since this thread has been a thing, but I have now had a second relationship. It was not a great experience, but I learned from it. So, why I'm here... I'm really confused to this one girl's level of interest in me. She asked me to ask her to prom (she's a sophomore so she can't ask me directly) via a note, but since then not much has happened. We hung out once (with other people, completely ran into her by chance) and we've talked lots, and once someone asked if we were together and she said no (which could either mean nothing has happened yet or the whole thing is a friendship, it's decently common to go to prom as friends here) and proceeded to either kiss or fake-kiss (couldn't tell from my angle) the person who asked that on the cheek as a joke (he's very gay and also her friend). Since then we have continued to talk and we compared our semester 2 schedules and we were both glad that we share some classes. I don't think it's been long enough to determine, and I don't know if I can determine this any other way then just plain up asking her, but I'm confused as to whether she likes me likes me, or just as a friend. TBH I would be fine with either. Thoughts? Oh, wait, this is the KSP forum... To quote my past self, from December 17 2017, on page 4,

Alright, thanks. That does sound like the easiest way, but unfortunately that means I have to run a few trials to get an average time and I won't have class before the project is due... I could try getting to school early and doing it, but that will be a challenge given how I don't agree with mornings!

I think Scott Manley did a video on it recently, but I have not played it.

So we have this project in Physics (a group project), and we built a ballista for it. It's basically a really big crossbow. Except ours is really small, so it's basically a stationary crossbow. But made out of K'nex because we couldn't get ahold of anything super high quality that would bend enough in the limited build size we had, and K'nex is easily modifiable. Skipping all of the fluff, the goal of the experiment was to see whether mounting it on wheels would have any effect on the range (duh, they reduce the range, it should be a no brainier, but apparently it isn't). So we did that experiment, recording launch angle and range. Here's the problem. Our teacher wants us to calculate maximum height reached by the projectile, as well as launch velocity and stuff. So I plugged the range and angle into an equation to get the maximum height. But it came out really low. I triple checked myself, and I'm absolutely sure it went more than 1.5 feet upwards... I'd say more than 4 feet. But I think I found out why. The launch actually happens 9 inches above the ground, which throws off our equations because the launch and landing altitudes are different. With the data I have, I don't think I can calculate the launch velocity. Not with the calculations I know, at least. What I know: Without wheels: Range is 9.36 feet, launch angle is 33 degrees, launch elevation is 0.75 feet (yeah, sorry for feet, in our situation it was easier to measure in feet due to the materials available). With wheels: Range is 8.64 feet, launch angle is 33 degrees, launch elevation is 0.833 feet. G is 32.2ft/s^2 (probably obvious but I think I should list it here). Diagram: https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1U7d6G1z8_EL99mIxRYK4nZyq61ys65ElC1xBJKwMs44/edit?usp=sharing With the equations given, I can calculate the launch velocity if the two points were at the same elevation. But they aren't, and I don't know the range at that elevation, only the range at altitude 0. And I can't find that, because I don't know the impact angle, which is steeper than 33 degrees because the projectile had more time to fall. But how much time? I don't know. I could approximate it to 33 or 40 degrees but that wouldn't be accurate. The only way I can think of doing this would be to draw this on something that can do graphs and then manipulate the parabola to to start and end at that point while having a 33 degree angle, and then I'd have the final angle and the maximum height, which I think I can use to find the initial launch velocity, but I don't know how to express that mathematically, which is something that is strongly encouraged. Thoughts? If this is an impossible problem then I'll alter our paper so that it displays the values assuming the same altitude, but with a disclaimer saying that it's just for a comparison and isn't really accurate. Edit: I could do several more trials with the ballista and record average time or max height, or even set up a slow motion camera, ruler, and stopwatch to find the launch velocity, but I most likely won't have the time to do that before the project is due.

It appears that that either was a fit test or they are having issues with fitting it in. It's off again. Couldn't get all of them it I guess...

To be fair I changed my title after they announced Mr. Steven. As for the second point... With how long writing takes me, I can't imagine Elon having enough time to write this! Also, I'm changing the BFR design again, it's titanium and will feature a reusable raptor based third stage for direct GEO insertion of communications satellites without refueling. It will also be useful as a Phobos/Deimos exploration vehicle once you dock a Dragon to it. We're also shrinking Raptor so we can have 42 engines. And since the hopper is now outdated we're donating it to Blue Origin as a peace offering, which will also make it practical to launch the New Shepard as a 2 stage vehicle that could reach orbit... Except we're sticking a ULA ACES between the two stages, and we're modifying the New Shepard stage to be restartable and long term storable (really hard with hydrogen). These will be ready for launch in 9-16 weeks, and will have a first mission of intercepting and destroying Starman, who has, unfortunately gone rogue and must be destroyed. We'll launch a replacement in the form of a Starliner spacesuit posed on a tricycle. Or maybe a skateboard. With a cowboy hat on. /s? Unfortunately I think I'll be busy for a few days, but soon-ish. Also I thought a lot about the story and I managed to find a way to fix two future plot problems, and hopefully make the story flow smoother.

AAAAAAAARRRGGGHHHHH!!!

That was painfully close.

I think most capsules have that system. Apollo: Orion: Vostok: Shenzhou: (middle and middle right) And those are just a few, there are probably a few more with this system. I couldn't find pictures of one on Gemini, though, and Mercury's system was only a few wires for the retros, so it almost doesn't count.

That was more scientific observation based, rather than redirection based, whereas this is focused almost fully on redirection, although you have a point.

So, uhh, hi. This is a report for @5thHorseman's Kerpollo challenge: Basically I have to visit all of the planets in just nine missions, plus a pad science spam or two if necessary and NO other missions, in science mode. I can only land in one biome per mission. And all the missions, once I've unlocked docking ports, must be apollo-style with a lander and orbiter. So this is my attempt at that challenge! I did this in my stock-ish 1.4.5 installation, meaning visual, informational, and a few other mods. Actual physics performance should be stock, and I used no mod parts in the missions, although KAS/KIS was installed (I didn't use them though). Mod list: Game was played on default difficulty settings. Enjoy! Robinson I, Science on the pads: Robinson II, Orbiting: Robinson III, Mun (easter egg spoiler): Robinson IV, Minmus: Robinson V, Eeloo: Robinson VI, Duna and Ike: Robinson VII, The coolest looking one, Moho (Easter Egg spoilers): Robinson VIII, Dres (Not an Easter Egg but interesting terrain spoilers): It's late, this took longer than I thought it would, and I have school tomorrow, so I'll wait on the Eve-Gilly mission and the Jool-5 mission.

It's done, hopefully I'll post the writeup tomorrow, although it's actually today now... 12:34:56 AM as of right... NOW!

@GregroxMun I just thought of something... Have you turned off contracts for "Plant flag on Imterril?" I'd imagine that would be very difficult, considering there's nothing to plant a flag on!

https://www.nasa.gov/planetarydefense/dart NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Mission, or DART, is now going to happen! Hopefully! I think that's what the announcement was for, anyway, maybe it's been planned far earlier and this is the first I've heard of it, but there are all of a sudden dozens of articles, so I'll start the thread. Scheduled to launch in 2020 or 2021 as a secondary payload on a military or communications satellite launching to geosynchronous orbit, DART will be a small space probe weighing about 500kg, which will have an ion engine and roll out solar arrays. In October 2022, it will approach the Didymos system, a binary system of asteroids with one 800m in diameter and the other 150m. Then it will crash into the smaller one at about 6 kilometers per second to test how much the collision will alter its orbit, which will be observed with ground based telescopes. It is hoped that this will evaluate the impact method of asteroid redirection in case an asteroid is found on a collision course with Earth. It's about time we tested something like this, even though it will barely change the velocity of the asteroid!

Hmm. I have never seen this problem before, and I don't really know much about bug workarounds, but there are two things I can think of. 1. Does it happen with every craft or just one? Sometimes when a single craft gets corrupted it can do weird things, although I've never seen it do something like this. 2. Does it happen on a fresh installation of the game? If you bought from the store, just re-download and unzip to a new location, and then transfer your save files over to the new copy. If you bought through steam there's a button somewhere that will verify your game's files, but I'm not sure how that works because I don't use Steam. If you want to do a full re-install on Steam I'd copy your saves to another location first, as a backup... I don't do Steam but it is my understanding that the game is always installed in the old location and that might make things weird, or it might not. Also, it could be a mod problem. Can we have a modlist? Also try uninstalling the mods one by one to see if it stops.

Also, @5thHorseman, you say one body per trip... What if you accidentally encounter the Mun coming back from Moho or something? What about gravity assists? Of course, I won't do science around the bodies.

GRR! Defying all odds, it worked on the first try. I'm almost to Moho, and of course now I realize I have no scientist to reset the experiments. I can still get at least half of the science from Moho without multiple uses on the bay and goo, but still, GRR.

@zanie420 As far as imgur goes, yes, the ordering is really freaking annoying. Just some advice for next time - if you have a ton of screenshots, though, you can upload the first flight, and wait, use the add more images option, add the second flight, etc. They will still be in the wrong order, but at least the flights will be in order. It will take a bit longer, though. You don't have to sit through it, you can do something else and come back every once and a while. Or write it up while the screenshots are coming in, flight by flight. @5thHorseman I have now fully finished Duna and Dres, although I forgot to bring a gravioli detector to Dres, so I'm slightly behind on my science goals. I'm crossing my fingers that I'll be able to do Jool, my last mission, without having to science spam. I still have Eve, Gilly, and Moho to go through, but I need 5550 science from those 3 bodies. Which I think might be doable, but it might not be... Maybe I'll only science on some of the Joolian bodies. I'll post the whole update when done, should I do it here or in a separate thread due to the number of pictures? I'll try to keep it pretty minimal, though. I have KIS/KAS installed on the game but I'm not using it. It adds another 550 science tech node, I'm assuming I don't have to unlock that, right? Also, I'm ready for Moho, with something that looks awesome and is hopefully overkill. I do not, ever in a million years expect this to work correctly the first try. Also I'm adding more tanks, the liftoff TWR is a bit high.