PredawnElk1

@Dman979 The Saturn V (pronounced "Saturn five") was an American human-rated expendable rocket used by NASA between 1967 and 1973.The three-stage liquid-fueled super heavy-lift launch vehicle was developed to support the Apollo program for human exploration of the Moon and was later used to launch Skylab, the first American space station. The Saturn V was launched 13 times from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida with no loss of crew or payload. As of 2018, the Saturn V remains the tallest, heaviest, and most powerful (highest total impulse) rocket ever brought to operational status, and holds records for the heaviest payload launched and largest payload capacity to low Earth orbit (LEO) of 140,000 kg (310,000 lb), which included the third stage and unburned propellant needed to send the Apollo Command/Service Module and Lunar Module to the Moon. The largest production model of the Saturn family of rockets, the Saturn V was designed under the direction of Wernher von Braun and Arthur Rudolph at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, with Boeing, North American Aviation, Douglas Aircraft Company, and IBM as the lead contractors. To date, the Saturn V remains the only launch vehicle to carry humans beyond low Earth orbit. A total of 15 flight-capable vehicles were built, but only 13 were flown. An additional three vehicles were built for ground testing purposes. A total of 24 astronauts were launched to the Moon, three of them twice, in the four years spanning December 1968 through December 1972.

This is the WIP progress thread for my first ever mission, Subnautika, based off of and inspired by the sci-fi survival game Subnautica. Built in stock KSP, no mods required. The Kaurora was just beginning its 6-month long exploration mission to document the newly discovered ocean moon of Laythe. Built around orbit of Kerbin, the Kaurora began its journey to the green gas giant Jool and arrived about 3 months later. The crew consisted of 4 kerbals: Valentina, Bill, Bob, and Ryley. When the Kaurora finally braked into low Laythe orbit, however, it was hit by an unidentified energy pulse. All contact was lost. The Kaurora's 2 lifepods deployed. Ryley was alone in Lifepod 5 while the other three bundled into Lifepod 4. While descending through the atmosphere, Ryley was hit on the head with a stray panel and knocked out. Hit pod safely deployed parachutes and flotation devices and landed by the shoreline of one of Laythe's scarce islands. And this is where the mission begins. Ryley must investigate the strange circumstances of the Kaurora's destruction while plumbing the deeper and darker secrets of this isolated and (so it seems) lifeless moon. The mission is still in its early stages of development, and I'll post an alpha version as soon as I get the story working (fiddling with some recreations of Subnautica's buildings).

I'm about halfway through Chapter 4, and I wanted to say great job! The story is mysterious and engaging, the final chapters are all polished and very professional-looking, and I had great fun playing through all of your missions! About your Beta Notes: 1. The missiles worked pretty well, I didn't have to manually set them off, but they didn't really hit their targets, which is what I think you were going for. 2. Yeah, I had to manually switch the cameras after a missile strike. Don't really know a way around that. 3. The truck's steering problems come from the fact that the cupola is turned sideways. Turning it right side up (so when the interior overlay is turned on the Kerbal is sitting in the cupola upright) should fix the steering problems, but I got around the steering by disabling steering on one of the front wheels. Turning was slow, but it worked. I had a look at the mission builder, and that is a TON of nodes. I have to say, you did a great job getting these missions together, and I will be eagerly awaiting the next installments of this story!

It's summertime! I finally can start this story up again! So...I can't seem to get OPM to update, I think I forgot to update Kopernicus as well... (plus I'm too lazy to do it now) but I thought, my mission is going to Jool, not Sarnus or any of those other outer planets! So I decided to go ahead and start flying the next part of the mission anyways. That's the reason my map screen doesn't show any of the other outer planets. Enjoy this (long-overdue and boring) transfer montage! Section 2

When you're bored of waiting for something, so you try to timewarp through it

Use reusable rockets. What I do is slap some fins, airbrakes, and landing legs on an SSTO rocket, and spam parachutes. I like to have at least 4000 m/s of delta v on the rocket and payload. Don't forget a probe core and some battery capacity on the rocket itself or it will run out of power. Once reaching orbit, I decouple the payload and de-orbit the booster as close to KSC as possible (the closer you land, the more money you get from recovery). Survive re-entry by activating airbrakes and spinning the rocket, then deploy parachutes and landing legs. As soon as you touch the ground (or water), spam the recover button so the rocket doesn't fall over and blow up some expensive parts. As long as the rocket is recoverable, you can make it as large or as powerful as you want, as you will be able to recover the majority of the booster's cost.

Legit no joke Elon Kerman. I saw him in the Astronaut Complex and immediately hired him. I wonder if they added his name as a tribute or it was originally there. He's still alive in that save...

No, I haven't yet, but after finishing up the Neptune I may create the Cyclops. It's surprising that nobody but me has posted a Neptune replica yet, as I would suppose that the Neptune would be best suited for KSP.

I don't think it's possible to re-create that in stock KSP, as FTL travel they just doesn't exist (unless the Kraken wills it). The closest that you can get with stock is an ion-powered second stage, but if you used mods you could probably create a better replica.

Edited and revised the Mk I to the Mk II. Some things that I added are the plating around the boosters and fuel tanks (which really helps the looks of the rocket), the two side antennae (retract before liftoff!), and removal of the heat shield and parachute system (the actual rocket doesn't have it). Again, if you have any suggestions, I'll be glad to hear them. Some things I could add to the Mk III: more detail on the boosters and fuel reserves, better shaping of the cockpit, better-looking gantry (maybe with elevator? Need help with that), and perhaps a floating launch platform (just like the real thing). If you have any ideas for constructing any of these details, please leave them below.

@LithobrakeI see that In the background there!

Thanks! And no, it's very safe, it's only a nuclear powered giant tank of fuel drifting right next to you in space . (I'm working on Subnautica's Neptune Escape Rocket in KSP, kinda difficult to get the shape right though.) I finished, if you'd like to see it it's in the Spacecraft Exchange

After trying out Subnautica, I realized that the Neptune Escape Rocket could be built in KSP. First, some background (in a spoiler because it contains quite a few spoilers) followed by a picture of the rocket. This is my second iteration of the design, the Neptune Escape Rocket Mk II. It was designed to looks more like the Neptune than the Mk I yet still retaining much of the same functionality. It utilizes two stages (even though the real rocket only has one) to get you off the planet and into orbit with enough fuel to spare to get you to the nearest interstellar warp gate. It includes 5 Vector Engines in the first stage, 1 Rhino engine in the second stage, and a cupola as the cockpit. The launch tower on the side allows you to enter and exit the rocket like the actual one. It is capable of getting into orbit with lots of fuel remaining. Be sure to retract the antennae before liftoff! Download link for N.E.R Mk II: https://kerbalx.com/EnderTamerz/Neptune-Escape-Rocket-in-KSP-Mk-II Stats: Part Count: 278 (lots of structural wings and radiators) Mass: 380.98t Cost: 295,588 I know there's lots of room for improvement, so feel free to leave a few tips or ideas below so I can improve on my design. Download links: N.E.R Mk I: https://kerbalx.com/EnderTamerz/Neptune-Escape-Rocket-in-KSP N.E.R Mk II: https://kerbalx.com/EnderTamerz/Neptune-Escape-Rocket-in-KSP-Mk-II The Mk I and its test flight: Thanks for viewing!

You do realize that @Lithobrake can't be on their thread all the time, right?

Update 2: Got really into Subnautica, playing through it now, but I'll try to come back to KSP in a few weeks, and hopefully I can get the expansion and continue this thread. I've had a look at the new parts and I'm very excited to get to mess around with them. I also have to wait for OPM to update so I can use it, as it plays a relatively major part of my story. "Oh wait, all of the new planets disappeared again. Oh well." "What are we supposed to do now?" "IDK"

When Piper has that face you know things are not going to end well...

I like how all of the kerbals have that face. How long did it take your kerbals to all have the same expression? Also, 200 pages! What?! I remember reading this entire story one day. This thing is long!

Update: I'm waiting for the expansion pack to come out so I can have more parts to play with. Assuming integration into the tech tree, I will also again have a reason to do SCIENCE!, so I can unlock some of these new parts. Also, 1.4 came out and I was too busy throwing kerbals off airplanes, then using the parachute to try to land on the VAB.

Section One:

Well done @Lithobrake! I especially like your acronym (you might want to add that to your op). You're doing well so far!

Prologue:

Kerbal Rocketry, Aeronautics, and Space Hub (KRASH) This is the story of KRASH, and its adventures into the unknown. I just got bored with my career save. I unlocked the whole tech tree, and to be honest, landing on other planets just wasn't fun anymore. So I downloaded Outer Planets Mod, and it really helped me get back into this very successful career savegame. This is also my first forum topic, and I got inspired by reading so many of the incredible mission reports in this section. So, we'll see how this goes! Prologue is live! Index to the Chapters/Sections

This seems to be styled like the book "Thing Explainer". I don't know whether or not this is intentional or if you are just trying to sound like a caveman. Great job, by the way. These settings are really difficult to play with, I certainly would not be able to do what you have done so far.