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Alpha 360

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Everything posted by Alpha 360

  1. I can't believe that it was May 2016 when I bought the game. KSP has sent the quality of my life skyrocketing. Happy Explosions!
  2. Here is a shot of my Dres Spacecraft. I hope you like it. This would be my second recorded interplanetary mission, so I am making sure I have enough Delta-v. Even then, in my equations are falling short. Hopefully I can get a refueling spacecraft over there as well... Happy Explosions!
  3. I understand the feeling like you don't have to drive to write. I find the best thing to do is not jump to a different story, but to change up your story. Drastically. Therefore my stories can get a little disjointed, but I keep writing on them. Happy Explosions!
  4. Its a part of the mod list. I use it because I just can't stand the physics and the floppiness of everything. Better than spamming struts, especially since the VAB can only hold 255 parts. Anyway, the 50th Installment might take some time. The deadline is around Thursday, but probably will be finished before then. Happy Explosions!
  5. 49th Installment: The Actual Launch of the Transfer Stage Here it is. The monstrosity that will carry the transfer stage to a rendezvous with the Dres Endeavor. Yes, Mr. Kerman is aboard as well It also fits in the VAB if you want to know. Very surprising. This rocket consumes about 300,000 credits in cash. Or just about our last bills. With only 93,000 left, things will need a bit of help. The real budget of the mission goes to the mainsail engines. There's 8 of them! You might also have noticed the lack of nosecones. This maxes out the VAB right now, so I will need to upgrade it really soon. If rockets keep getting bigger.....As they always do. Detaching the outer boosters. The thrust limit goes back below 1 g. Okay, we can deal with it. Coasting up to the Apogee. Look at all those struts . Hopefully it will be enough. And the burn into orbit. It drains the rocket completely of fuel, but there looks to be an intercept. After detaching the rocket, the transfer stage has now an intercept with the Endeavor. Now approaching the Dres Endeavor. You can see the poodle engine I just detached. Now I will have to flip the entire spacecraft around. Yippee. After 10 minutes of laborious maneuvering, the transfer stage can finally dock. Here it is now coming to berth. I can feel the nerves rising steadily. I am about to complete the most vital part of the entire spacecraft! Inches closer to the docking. Inches closer to completing the goal of interplanetary space travel. Inches closer to Dres and beyond! And Docked! Success of the Transfer Stage addition to the Endeavor. Look at how beautiful it is! It is finally a true interplanetary spacecraft! You might be wondering why the pictures are smaller. I am using a new image site instead of imgur. Its a much higher grade image account called ImageShack. I recommend it if you want great photos, but there is the fee to be paid. I will launch up the landers with posting about them. All you need to know is that their ugly and will be left on sub-orbital trajectories after use to provide us with explosions. The 50th Installment is upon us soon, and I propose to make it one of the best! The Story of Mr. Kerman will continue. May all you readers have Happy Explosions!
  6. Obberty Kerman will soon start to live up to Jebediah Kerman's standard of laughter, as only Jebediah called. Jebediah might not be as smart as some kerbals think. On another note, it will be a couple of years days until the next installment. Can't play KSP where I am and there will be a couple more days here. Of course, the previous statement is the legal statement. Not the illegal statement........ Don't encourage me.
  7. When docking with RCS, keep the prograde marker above the target indicator to make it move up to align with the docking port. Do the opposite for the retrograde indicator. That's how to dock easily.
  8. Thanks for reminding me of that mod, @Geschosskopf. That is a very usual mod that I should download.......Actually I'll do that soon. Thanks! Happy Explosions!
  9. 48th Installment - The Story of Mr. Kerman - The Conference of the Dead We rushed into the hitchhiker storage container where Assey had entered. A giant Jeb stood over her. She screamed again. “Stop it Jeb!” Obberty cried. Jeb shrunk down to an average size. “I couldn’t resist.” He said, with a massive smile plastered on his ghostly face. This was the infamous Jebediah Kerman. He must have been the regular hoot at the kerbonaut corps. “Alright. I’m sorry. I’m sorry I disbelieved you in the first place.” Assey apologized. She took a scared glance at Jeb floating in the air motionless. “Its okay. We’re a crackpot of weridos without us spouting about ghosts.” Obberty said. We all glared at him. Including Jeb. He shook himself, “Wait. I said that?” Jeb started to laugh uncontrollably. “Jeb. You made me say that!” Obberty accused. “Of course, I did. You’re too tame to say that.” “Cut it out Jeb.” Valentina Kerman appeared on one of the seats. “Sorry Sis.” Jebediah slunk back to one of sides of the hitchhiker. Bill Kerman now appeared on one of the seats. Roni gasped. “Yes. I’m here as well.” Bill said. Finally, Bob appeared on the last empty seat. They had appeared in seniority of how long they had been dead, or so it seemed as Bob died first. “It looks like we are all here.” He said, “Let the meeting adjoin.” “What meeting?” asked Assey. “The conference of the dead.” “To start, I believe that all of you have met your guide?” asked Bob. Roni, Obberty and I nodded our heads. Bill, Jebediah, and Valentia floated over to us. “What about me?” asked Assey, slightly nervous. “I am your ghost or guide as you would prefer to call me, but our relationship is going to be much more formal. I will appear in the science lab for 2 hours daily, I’ll tell you which hours after the 2 hours are finished. I am a busy ghost and have to mentor a couple other kerbals.” “Okay.” Assey sounded relieved. Our respective ghosts now floated a meter in front of us, staring at us. “I will need your permission for the assimilation to begin.” “Wait what!” Obberty cried, “Am I going to become Jeb!?” “No.” Bob replied loftily, “Jeb’s personality will start to live through you. The reason behind this is so that all of you receive your opposite into yourself. This would mean all you unstable kerbals will be balanced. We need perfect kerbals who are experts on their subject.” “It’s the same for all of you. But, you will be able to control your opposite to a certain extent. Of course, you may opt for a formal relationship with your guide as me and Assey. I would recommend it.” “What does this do for the ghost?” “Well. It will allow you to locate the ghost’s origin on the planet Eve. As the goal of the program as changed to rescuing the original four from the surface of Eve and defeating the Kraken.” “Wait. Is that official?” “Yes. We need all our kerbonauts available to fight off a pending attack on our solar system.” “What the blooming…” “We’ll explain it all by the time you reach Dres.” Bob glared at Obberty. “Do you want to assimilate Jebediah Kerman into your being? Or will you chicken out.” Obberty took a deep breath, “I might as well. I’m always an idiot.” Obberty slapped himself, “Jeb! You are already affecting me.” “I’m going in to affect you for a long time to come.” Jeb winked. Then he vanished. “Gosh. Where did he go?” Assey asked. “His spirit has just combined with Obberty’s. Obberty should be speechless for a few minutes, then he will be mostly normal.” “Won’t the KSC notice something is wrong with us?” “The KSC won’t be in connection with the mission after 20 days of the exit burn. They don’t have enough communication power to reach outside of Kerbin’s SOI. Therefore, it is a manned mission.” I strengthened my resolve and then said, “I’m willing to assimilate you, Valentina. Just as a side note, you’re not going to make me feminine, right?” “Only my none feminine traits are passed to you. The law of gender forbids anything but that.” Valentina disappeared. I couldn’t describe the sensation of absorbing another person. I felt that this wasn’t as personal as it could be. She was keeping most of her personal memories away from me. But the rest bit into me. I was suddenly living another life. I watched the vital parts of Valentina’s life from her perspective. I could write a book about the life I just witnessed, but there is no time for a book here. Finally, the visons stopped, and I came back into this blessed world. Obberty had recovered and now was babbling about something, I didn’t have the interest to listen. Assey stood well away from us three, probably frightened out of her mind. Bill had disappeared, and as Roni was gawking at the floor I assumed that she also absorbed Bill. Bob now float down in front of our lot. “You might be wondering this is necessary. To absorb another kerbal’s entire life is a great burden. It wasn’t meant to happen, but it we managed to do it just fine. You might be wondering as well if the KSC would place you into a padded cell when you get back. Probably. But as I have enough influence with Gene Kerman, I’ll get you out without any harm done.” “You also might be wondering if the absorbing will have a negative affect instead of a positive one. You don’t have to worry. Your opposite will have only a passive influence on your life, not an active one. But a passive influence on your life should round your edges and make you much better kerbonauts.” “For example, Mr. Kerman who has a very low compatibility with other kerbals, will become much more bearable. But he will do so naturally, and all the information he tells will be controlled by himself. But, as he sees that he better with communicating with others, he will probably tell more information about himself.” Bob took a sigh, “Well. I believe that your exit burn in within the hour, so let us draw the conference of the dead to a close.” A ghostly bong rang out from nowhere. And then Bob vanished. Roni shook herself, “I can’t believe this is happening to us.” “Well, we’ll now be a dozen dozy dodos up in a tin can on a 2-year mission. Yippee.” Happy Explosions!
  10. Today, with this post, I now have 4 DOTS. FOUR DOTS PEOPLE! FOUR DOTS! YIPPEE!
  11. Wow. That was pretty good. That nuclear engine seems to have a pretty bad TWR, but really good Delta-v. I'm trying to play without any mods involving nuclear engines as I occasionally think them overpowered. But here, that was pretty amazing. Download a life-support mod and this would be absolutely incredible. Life-support mods really up the bar.
  12. Sorry for the lack of posts. Been really busy the last couple of days. There will be an installment by tomorrow. I swear. Maybe. Also, @Geschosskopf, you will see the cause of those "encouraging signs" in the next installment.
  13. Actually, I'm doing this in career mode, as I might have mentioned before. In this career mode game, I haven't unlocked any fancy stuff yet, not even Twin=Boar Engines or Recycling, or Mining. Zilch. This mission is very low tech, so that is why it is so large. I need quantity, not quality. That's for that! That is an amazing idea that I should try.....later. The main body of the spacecraft has already been determined so I can't make any major changes. What I can change is the transfer stage which hasn't been launched, even now. It is an inner planet, but I have included couple of radiators just in case. Yes, I will need fuel for landing on Dres. I think I will simply just send it up full of fuel, isolate it, then when we arrive at Dres, detach and land. Thanks for all of this feedback! It is really nice of all of y'all! Happy Explosions!
  14. No. It was the vengeful shade of Bill Kerman who Roni left on the deck. I was humming that tune for ages afterward. Precisely, or more accurately, the 4 corners of the Kraken's Hell. In otherwords Eve. I'll let your imagination take over on how the space program will reach the corners of a spherical planet. Installments will be coming less frequently than usual this week due to even more traveling. I'm a busy man. Happy Explosions!
  15. Ah, here are a couple more beauty shots This is a Dres Spacecraft waiting in the wings of action. Happy Explosions!
  16. 47th Installment - The Story of Mr. Kerman - Insane or not? I sat upright, strapped to my seat. The two kerbonauts floated in front of me, frowning. "So, why do you have a bullet in your skull and your foot, multiple bruises, and duct tape covering said wounds. Plus, you hid in an empty RCS fuel tank you screwed onto the side of a rocket while in that condition?" I smiled feebly, my confidence cracking, "Thanks for bandaging me up." In fact I was so bandaged up I could hardly move. I felt like that was intended on their part. "You were practically dead when we picked you up. And you can't tell us why you were almost dead?" "I would hate to harm somebody down on the ground with my words, so I'll stay silent." "Mr. Kerman. You are the most idiotic, stubborn kerbal I have met." It was intended as an insult, but I took it as a compliment. Life continues even if a fellow kerbonaut insults you. "My pleasure." I nodded my head low, then looked them in the eye again. "Alright. You will give us a full account of what happened down there and what drove you to stow away on a rocket bound for Dres? If you don't then we will send you down with the trash and you will die burning up in the atmosphere. Nobody will miss you." True from her stand-point, but she didn't know about Elibert. Then again it would be wise not to test her. "I decided that being on an experimental rocket to Dres, even if it meant stowing away and facing your wrath, was safer than my present position." "Roni." Obberty spoke, "We can't just throw him away like a piece of trash. He's a fellow kerbonaut. We got an honor code." Roni sighed, "Mr. Kerman. You have been a pain to all of us. Why do you plague us with your lies and misinformation. If we are to help you, we need to know." That hurt. "Roni Kerman. I mean seriously when I say that I am safer up here than down there." I decided to tell a half-truth, "I was a diplomat to too many foreign countries. I attracted the wrath of a country I will not name, and have been running for my life. The rocket part you found me in, Obberty, was a part of a rocket I was supposed to fly to Minmus. The reason I picked up the skills of a kerbonaut was so I would be off the ground, and therefore safe." "The agents of this country though had found me again when I returned to Kerbin. Elibert's house was torn up in the process of them searching for me. I decided I need to get off world, so I went to the VAB in the middle of the night, and discovered it was a trap. I managed to fight off the agents, one of them I now dead and the rest fled. Then I, in my wounded state, assembled that hiding place and got in. And you know the rest of the story." "Why would the agents tear up Elibert's house? If they were agents from a foreign country paid by the taxpayers, they should be good at doing their jobs. Unless you were at Elibert's house. Why would you be at her house in the middle of the night?" I should have kept my mouth shut. But, they wanted a story. What to say? "I have the right to remain silent." Roni smiled. Obberty looked from me to Roni. "Surely, Mr. Kerman. You're not that bad." Obberty said. "Oh, he's far worse than that." Not very encouraging words. "To ease your mind, Eli suggested it." That was a lame defense. Very much so. My mind was clogging up and I was talking like a 10 year old. Roni laughed, "Is being a kerbonaut some game for you. Just another occupation for a politician." "Roni, I know your background. You came up from the bottom. You despise higher classes." The snarl on Roni's face deepened. "I profess to be royalty. Doesn't your opinion seem biased now?" There, back in my groove. "Everyone is biased in their own way." Roni answered. "For the Kraken's sake, girl! I've seen things that you wouldn't dream of seeing. Horrible things that have forced me to take a fake name and to be an outcast forever!" I took a deep breath and tried to regain my composure. Sweat stuck to my face. "I was once on the top, but then I fell the bottom. I am at the bottom now. Everything's a wreck in my life. " For Roni's credit she looked relaxed. Obberty looked sorry for me. He was a compassionate fool always. Roni was much more experienced in the way of the world. "It was the same for me long ago, but it was temporary.” She turned her back on me and floated up to the command module. Obberty looked at me, then at the tunnel. "Obberty. Please stay. Just please." Obberty stayed, "Mr. Kerman. I was wondering. I heard that Eli was found wounded on the top of the scaffolding." "Is she alright?" I asked. "Yes. It looks like she is okay. The police found that Eli's house is in ruins. Also, they found a man with a gun. He claimed to have protected the house while they were attacked. They're prosecuting him now. It doesn't look too good for him." "What's his name?" "His name is Harjo. I just overheard Roni swearing to herself when she heard the news." I smiled weakly. Then Obberty too turned and left. I waited for a day. And a night. Then Obberty came and unstrapped me. My wounds had cleaned up, but my leg still dragged behind me, in a cast. I was brought up to the cockpit. Apparently Assey had come aboard some time. I didn't know when. The three of them examined me. Assey started, "Obberty and Roni have both told me your story. I am inclined presently to toss you off the ship, as I have the deciding vote I chose. Obberty has voted for you to stay on, while Roni voted to throw you off ship." I nodded my head, "What do you want to know?" "I want to know your motivation beyond saving your skin. You want to be safe, but what else are you looking for?" "Redemption. I'm looking for redemption." "What makes you think you can find it here?" "A ghost told me so." Roni and Obberty both startled. Assey looked at the two of them, "You know what he is talking about?" Obberty answered, "Well. Kinda. Jebediah Kerman appeared to me on that mission to Minmus. He said that the ghosts of the original four linger around, looking for kerbals to mentor. I was his kerbal to mentor. But Roni, why would a ghost haunt you?" Roni lied. I could see it in her face, "Oh, for the same reason a ghost would haunt you, Obberty. The ghost of Bill Kerman appeared to me and said the same things." "There can't be ghosts. They defy the laws of nature." "They follow no laws but those of the Kraken." Roni answered. "Ah. That explains things." Obberty muttered to himself. "Mr. Kerman. What ghost appeared to you to say such a thing?" asked Roni. "Valentina. Valentina Kerman appeared to me as I waited for you to arrive to pick up the transfer stage. She said I could find redemption if I kept going straight ahead. Here I am." I replied. "Alright. Get him off the ship. He's delirious." "No. I reverse my vote. I vote for him to stay on-board." Roni said. "Really, I'm starting to doubt my entire crew. Well, I guess he stays on-board." Commander Assey left for the science lab. Of course, the commander of the mission would fail to understand me. "Why did the people on the ground make her commander?" I asked. “She is supposedly the most stable kerbonaut. They want a sane commander for an insane one would wreak havoc.” Then I heard Assey scream, “There're ghosts here!”
  17. Look back at Installment number 34. This is the story of Jebediah Kerman's return. And yes, he's is a regular hoot.
  18. Very observant, @Geschosskopf. Yes, the original four have started to influence events beyond the kerbals themselves. Bob in particular will have an important, if not extremely obvious role in the story. You might be wondering where I am going with this, but don't panic. I have a plan and end goal. Also, to answer a couple of questions, here is a short couple of paragraphs.
  19. The point is that that delta-v number is estimated. As well as the fact I need to finish designing the transfer stage. Funnily enough, my story about Mr. Kerman is a little bit ahead for its time.... That was not intended.
  20. I'm playing on a no quicksave career mode. Also, with the mod I'm playing with, I have to wait for a new sandbox game to be fully visualized. I know I could suck it up and wait, but I think it would be interesting to do the mission with math instead of luck.
  21. Alright. I have a Dres spacecraft which I want to go to Dres. Since I am using a mod that rearranges the planets, I can't us a delta-v map. But with TWP, I have calculated the transfer windows and stuff. I have USI life-support, so that means life-support is in the picture. Here are some of the numbers to run. With my current recycling abilities, I can reduce supplies per kerbal to 2.3 daily. There are 4 kerbals on-board the spacecraft. That means 12.8 supplies daily. The mission is set to be about 700 days long, and therefore I want 50 extra day's worth of supplies for margin's sake. That is a total 750 days of supplies. 750 days worth of supplies at 12.8 supplies daily is 9,600 supplies. I'll bump that up to 10,000 supplies so now I have an ample margin of error. For the delta-v side of things, I need 3,000 m/s to arrive from Kerbin orbit to Dres orbit. It then takes another 3,000 m/s back to Kerbin. But the ejection burn from Dres to Kerbin is half of the delta-v meaning that if I throw away the spacecraft, I could use a smaller one. Or just do a bunch or areo-braking, which I am fine with. I will be coming out with new numbers as soon as I can. The reason I am doing this is so people can see my work and critic it so I could have a better spacecraft to visit Dres with, and to prevent my kerbs from dying. Also here is a pic of it so far. The transfer stage is missing presently. I do have a poodle for orbital maneuvers, but that will go soon. Happy Explosions!
  22. 46th Installment - The Story of Mr. Kerman - A Ghost I woke up floating. Droplets of blood drifted across my vision. My neck stood stiffly from my collar bone, hardly able to move. The sun glared at me in the face through the crack in the fuel tank. A ray of light passed through a drop of blood, and emerged red. I blinked my crusted eyelids. My arms and legs, which I expected to be asleep, ached from the launch. I rubbed my legs with my hands, jostling my helmet and causing the blood inside to splatter on the interior. I blinked away my blood as I soothed my limbs. I searched my pockets and found a cutter, which I started to employ to cut myself out of the fuel tank. It didn't take as long as I expected. Soon I kicked the panel out into space. The sun blazed in my vison. The blessed sun. It started to set behind Kerbin. As I watched the rays refracted off the atmosphere, creating a million different colors I never expected to see. This brilliant rainbow occupied my full attention. It stunned me with its beauty. A truly awesome spectacle. I pushed myself out of the fuel tank. I turned around and observed the ugly thing floating behind me. It defiled space. Its ugly fuel tanks sticking out from it, ready to detach once they were unnecessary. Wasteful. We could have waited for the next Transfer Window, but we had to take our opportunity. We had to. I looked down on Kerbin rotating below me. Down there a million kerbals did a million things. Some right. Most wrong. I gazed out into the darkness. Stars appeared, lighting up the celestial globe. Beautiful. This comprised of my first true experience of space. The other time in the crack-pot capsule, that barely even had a window. This time, I stared out of a clear glass dome. I could see everything. I looked back down at Kerbin. Kerbalkind's acts defiled that planet, which in turn defiled the solar system. Everything outside that planet's atmosphere was pure and clean. Down below, nothing was sacred. I glanced at my timer. I still had 3 hours left of life-support. I waited outside the transfer stage, then I decided to take a closer look at the transfer stage. There the ugliness reigned. Fuel lines tapped from the outer fuel tanks into the middle one. Struts connected them together. I was appalled at the horridness of the rocket. Then I reminisced on its goal. It was going to propel Kerbalkind to land on another planetary body. Did the work that booster would do, purify it? I left the question lingering in my head. I saw exhaust from an engine. Somewhere, the Endeavor was coming to pick up its engine. There. A flare of white issuing into the blackness. Then I saw the lights coming off of the habitation module. Roni and Obberty Kerman were already on-board. Assey would join on a transfer vehicle sent up from the KSC to the station to pick her up at the KMOSOS. Then, myself, Mr. Kerman, would be surrounded by friendly kerbals seeking to discover another world. To advance science throughout the world. "Hello." I looked around. A ghostly kerbal floated by me. It was a ghost. She was partially see through, but had a solid feel about her. I wasn't startled. I reached out my hand to grab hers. Her hand passed through mine. "Mr. Kerman. Why do you hide yourself, even when you yourself admit that you are among friendly kerbals?" "Valentina Kerman." I bowed my head reverently, "I cannot. You probably know my name, but please do not say it. That life has been erased from the annals of time. If I should ever be placed on a throne again, I will live up to my name. I swear." "Mr. Kerman. You have to have a name before hand, don't you?" "My present name is Mr. Kerman." "Don't fool with me. You claim the name of the rest of kerbalkind. You feel responsible for what kerbalkind has become, yet you had no power to change a thing. What causes that?" "My heritage. I was born a king. A king takes responsibility of his people." "Are you the king of kerbalkind, to feel responsible for all of them?" "No. But I have touched the face of that who holds death in his hands. I have touched the face of the devil, and it has tarnished me with responsibility of the world. Tarnished me with a critical eye to the rest of the world. Tarnished me to fail myself over and over." Valentina looked me in the eye, "Do you want to be redeemed?" "Yes. Desperately." "Your redemption will be through a sacrifice. Redemption happens only because of sacrifice. Now. I must depart. Your road is ahead of you. Go straight, and you may be redeemed." Valentina disappeared in a beam of light issuing from the Endeavor spacecraft. It was a couple of meters away now. Its docking port perfectly aligned with the one on the transfer stage. "Unidentified Kerbal. Who are you? Speak." It was Roni. Of course she would take the initiative. I spoke into my mic, "I am Mr. Kerman. Stowed away on the transfer stage. Please let me aboard." There was silence on her end. I started again, "I'm running low on air." "Alright. Come in. We'll need to speak to you."
  23. I like that road map. Its always good to have a plan on hand .
  24. I believe that SSTO rockets are very useful, but recoverable stage rockets, like the Falcon-9, are better. I have FMRS, which allows me to jump back and forth between stages to recover them. Very useful mod. This means I can use staged recoverable rockets which I find can carry a much higher tonnage to orbit.
  25. I think I will do that, @Geschosskopf. In fact I have already set up alarms for the transfer windows set up by TWP. I expect that after I do a couple of undocumented things, I will timewarp to that point, set up a maneuver node, and then set off for Dres! After some more fiddling, it is discovered that there is a transfer window from Dres to Kerbin 100 days after we arrive there. The whole journey will take about 2 1/2 years from departure to return. That means I can burn some of the supplies on my spacecraft for I have 3 years plus some supplies
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