Ho Lam Kerman
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KSP2 Release Notes
Posts posted by Ho Lam Kerman
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55 minutes ago, ThatGuyWithALongUsername said:
They were actually starting to livestream just a bit more a few years ago, but then the second flight of the Long March 5 failed live on camera and they haven't done anything like it since.
Aww, snap! I'd love to have seen a few livestreams, but I wasn't as into spaceflight as I am now!
I really look forward to them doing it again!
(Just a quick question... did they livestream on YouTube, or a different platform? I'm guessing they were livestreaming on a different platform as YouTube is banned in China.)
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Being a citizen of their country, I've never understood it too. I remember watching Shenzhou 10 launching live on television*, but I've never seen any other Chinese launch live. I'd understand if it was a classified payload, but BeiDou navigation satellites and Chang'e 4? I simply don't get it.
*(I was out eating in some Chinese restaurant somewhere, and I remember the news flashing the countdown clock for Shenzhou-10. We were about to leave, but I persuaded everyone to watch the launch until it gets to orbit. This was the first time I had ever watched any launch live.)
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Cool. I saw an entry "KSLV-2 TLV" on watchrockets.com, and I was wondering where the video was.
Thanks.
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Chapter 9: There's always more under the surface
Since the launch of the mining module, Draconis, was scrubbed, Jeb had a day's worth of extra time. Mission Control put him to work, obviously, with him already having had a day's worth of free time looking at Kerbin. So they put him on a full day of dedicated excursion to investigate the anomaly.
As Jeb starts up the ladder for the second time, he hopes he doesn't hear... that.... k-word... again.
He climbs to the top.
He hesitates to look down. Will it be a porthole to a kraken's lair?
He looks.
He slips.
And he falls.
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As he descends into the hole, he feels a strange sense of calmness.
And before he knows it, he's touched down.
"Wow! What is this place? It looks like kerbal technology to me."
"Is this a light switch? I'll need it. It's a bit dark down here."
"There we go. Wait, what's this? KSC, this looks like a tunnel!"
He walks up to the end of the tunnel.
Or what he thought was the end.
"Which way do I take? Meeny meeny miney mo..."
"I'll take the left first. The right can wait."
"Hey, these canisters... they look like they contain something. I'll take a small sample back to the lab."
"Down to the other end... these look like canisters too, but they look different. I'll take a sample of these too."
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Back in the safety of Mun Base, Jeb pores over the samples he's collected. He puts small amounts of each in the onboard spectrometer.
"KSC... take a look at this! The square samples apparently contain large amounts of copper! There's hydroxyl groups in there too!"
Wernher: "Hey, show me a picture of this?"
Jeb: "Okay, Wernher. Yeah, this stuff is quite obviously blue."
Minmus: "Hey- that looks like Minmusite!"
Wernher: "Oceanite, Minmus."
Minmus: "Oh, right. Oceanite."
Jeb: "You guys mean the stuff KOSS found while nobody's on it?"
Wernher: "Yes, that stuff. But we thought it was associated with water...?"
Jeb: "We'll get onto that, later. But what about the stuff in the round cans? It's a dark, olive green, but my spectrometer isn't making any sense of it. I'm not, either- it was white, but once I repressurized the cabin, it turned green."
Minmus: "That sounds like Fe(OH)2. Anyways, whatever you do, just keep the samples with you as you return to Kerbin. We've got much better spectrometers in R&D. Oh, and get a sample of white Fe(OH)2 and seal it before you repress."
Wernher: "Now, back to the Oceanite thing: if it really is associated with water, we will either need to reevaluate our understanding of the Mun, or somebody's been in this new ocean before us. And I don't mean Val."
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On 11/5/2018 at 11:49 PM, Alpha 360 said:
this is extremely cheap. I feel like you started off great in the beginning, but now you resorted to cheap phrases like this. Please give us the suspense that you say is occurring. Sure it might take ten minutes and an extra hundred words, but it ups the quality of your work very much.
Tell me if that's any better. Thanks for the advice!
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Oooh, nice! Sounds nice so far- I can't wait for Chapter 2!
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On 11/1/2018 at 1:09 AM, IncongruousGoat said:
the original SM-65 Atlas. Even then, both of those were rather quickly augmented by the addition of a third stage when they were put to use as orbital launch vehicles.
Wait- am I missing something out, or did Mercury Atlas use an upper stage?
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I've decided to make this a tribute thread to other spacecraft too. Incidentally, both were launched by Delta-IIs.
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On October 31st, NASA decommissioned its Kepler spacecraft. Discoverer of 2662 exoplanets. Revolutionised the whole field of exoplanetology- gone were the days of sitting in cold, dark towers, laboriously examining spectroscopy data! Just sit and wait for the discoveries to roll in!
In 2012, Kepler experienced problems with its reaction wheels, rendering it useless. Fortunately, project scientists came up with an ingenious plan to harness the power of the solar wind, and Kepler's hexagonal solar panels to keep it alive.
Designed for 10 observation runs, it was successful beyond anybody's wildest dreams, completing a total of 19 observation runs.
Kepler, the telescope that was raised from the dead, has now died a second and final time, succumbed to fuel run-out. It will forever remain in orbit behind the Earth, lasting until the end of our solar system.
Ad astra, Kepler. Hearts across the globe will sorely miss you as a pioneer in exoplanetology.
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Just one day after Kepler, NASA's Dawn spacecraft has fallen prey to the same tyrannical, inevitable cause.
Launched back in 2007, Dawn was a mission of firsts. First spacecraft to orbit two independent celestial bodies. First spacecraft to orbit either Vesta or Ceres. First spacecraft to visit a dwarf planet. First mission to orbit a dwarf planet, for that matter. All made possible by the use of revolutionary technology, the ion engine.
Dawn has revolutionised out understanding of the asteroids, but has also created new problems for a new orbiter to solve. Occator crater and many other places on Ceres has prominent white patches on them, hypothesised to be mixtures of salts that were left behind after slushy solutions evaporated relatively recently, after it gushed out from underground.
Dawn has also discovered terrain on Vesta that look like gullies, eroded by flowing water. Vesta is believed to be the last of its kind, the last large planetesimal left over after the formation of the solar system.
Dawn has done its job of opening up the time capsules of the earliest chapters of the solar system. Now, it will be left in orbit around Ceres, serving no longer as an outpost for planetary exploration, but as a monument to it.
Ad astra, Dawn, mission of firsts.
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Feel free to add your own tributes. In any format- be it a poem, a verbal tribute, an image, a song: whatever you like.
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Chapter 8: Oceanite
"KSC, this is SC-1. We are approaching the site."
"Roger SC-1. "
"We have a visual. Confirm blue colour, confirm association with seawater."
"We have braked at the sampling site, sample collection in progress."
Now let me whip out this flag and plant it here so we can mark the collection site."
(By the way... slight teaser- note that I have a Kerbin => Duna transfer window alarm set... hehe)
A few hours later, the team carefully lays out the samples, 75 pounds in all, on the sterilised tables.
Wernher: "Interesting... this new mineral must form in the presence of seawater. What a journey this little rock must've taken."
Minmus Kerman: "Sir, the composition and molecule structure data of the minerals have come in. It apparently is Cu(OH)2." (@The Minmus Derp )
Wernher: "Yup, that confirms it's a new mineral. Publish the results, but what should we call it?"
Minmus: "Minmusite, after the moon I discovered?"
Wernher: "No, that would give it the false impression that it was discovered on Minmus. What about Oceanite?"
Minmus: "Oh, well. We'll call it Oceanite, for this new ocean."
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No.
I have a professional radio licenseI don't play around with radio, but I will if I decide to go the route of Aerospace Engineering after I finish school.TUBM has read my fanfic, This New Ocean.
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Aww, I'm late for two whole days?
Impossible! I must catch Chapter 100!
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I'm looking forward to a certain something that starts July 16th next year. It has a special place in the hearts of anyone remotely interested in space travel.
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Godspeed Dawn.
It will stay in orbit around Ceres, not longer an outpost for planetary exploration, but as a monument to it.
You will be missed as a mission of firsts.
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Godspeed Kepler! You will be missed by many people across the globe!
The loss saddens me on a more personal level: I've been working on Kepler data myself via a citizen science webpage.
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My name is on the fastest ever object relative to the Sun and the closest object ever to the Sun!
Take that, Helios 2!
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Chapter 7: Checkout
Jeb stares at the screen, looking at KC-2, poised to lift off of the very same pad he and his crewmates lifted off from.
Jeb: "Wow, that pad has a quick turnaround time, doesn't it? Especially after a Saturn V launch!"
The crackly radio voice of the launch commentator roars to life.
"T-15... guidance is internal... 12, 11, 10, 9, ignition sequence start, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0... liftoff! We have a liftoff! 32 minutes past the hour, liftoff of KC-2, a triumphant return to the KOSS!"
Jeb: "Nice work team! I'll be watching from above!"
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An hour later, the team is silently watching as the suspense builds up.
"50 feet out, closing in at 2 feet per second."
Each foot in is a thousand more reasons the mission could fail.
"20 feet out, stopping for GO/NO GO checkpoint."
Anything could go wrong right now. Will KC-2 dock? Will the docking probe fail to extend? With nobody on the station, no-one can tell.
"Control, this is flight. GO/NO GO checklist commence."
"Pyro?" "GO!"
"Aux propulsion?" "GO!"
"Docking mech?" "GO!"
"CTRL?" "GO!"
"Attitude control?" "GO!"
"Payload and scan systems?" "GO!"
"KOSS?" "KOSS preliminary telemetry indicates GO for docking. Docking command sent.""We are GO for KC-2 docking, 10 feet out, closing in at 1 feet per second."
Will KC-2 miss the docking port? Will it impact and irreversibly damage the solar panels? Will it run out of power? Will it lose attitude control at the very last minute?
Jeb ponders that, 25000 miles away on the surface of the Mun. Before he knows it, the crackly radio voice roars to life aboard Mun Base:
"We have docked with KOSS."
The crowd gathered at Mission Control erupts into applause. Jeb, along with the rest of Kerbankind, thanks all that has happened in the past few hours, and secretly takes Holy Communion.
"Checkout of KOSS.
"All hydraulic and electric motor systems are looking good.
"Solar panel deploy/retract are in working order.
"Cabin pressure has been maintained.
"All systems are GO. We are currently transmitting collected data from KOSS..."
"Hey, the resource scanner appear to have found something."
"Hey von Kerman, can you come look at this? This bluish terrain... appears associated with seawater... this might mean the discovery of a new mineral... the first terrestrial mineral to be discovered by space observation..."
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And as Kerbol sets on Mun base, Jeb calls it a day and goes to sleep.
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Mun base is surrounded by pitch black.
Nothing can be seen. Nothing can be heard. Mun base is just floating, floating in the vast void.
The heavy air is thick with the suspense.
Jeb sits in a corner, scared.
He awaits the morning.
Hours pass. Days pass. Jeb can't tell. To him, each minute is an hour.
And suddenly, the voice booms into his head.
"I am the Kraken Lord, your galactic overlord."
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For the second time in a week, Jeb sits up in bed, sweating and screaming.
It wakes his fellow astronauts Bill and Bob up, orbiting in their Apollo capsule.
Careful not to break any FCC regulations, Bill says, "What the holy kraken, Jeb?! Why would you ever do that in the middle of the night?"
"I... uh... no... nothing. Nothing at all."
"Then why were you screaming?!"
At this point, Mission Control intervenes.
"If you three value your life, please stop."
Bill: "Okay, fine. I would not like to lose my life in this new ocean."
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On 10/21/2018 at 10:56 PM, HansonKerman said:
How did you do this:
It's a mod called "Reentry particle effects". https://kerbal.curseforge.com/projects/reentry-particle-effects
On 10/21/2018 at 10:56 PM, HansonKerman said:And, although I slightly disagree with calling a CRG-25 "cylindrical" (and the fact that it looks a lot like our very own @Matt Lowne's Dunian vent)
Well, from a distance it does look sort of cylindrical. Jeb wouldn't have known it's a CRG-25, so he called it "cylindrical".
And yes, it's based on the Dunian vent. More in the next chapter.
Regarding the next chapter, I haven't been able to produce them on a more regular basis as I've been busy re-watching From the Earth to the Moon, like I do every few months. (Apollo nerd incoming!) I'm currently starting Chapter 9 of FTETTM, so probably in two more days you'll hopefully be getting Chapter 7 of This New Ocean.
The reason I've been posting much more frequently in the past week was because I was having a holiday. This week I'll be getting back to school, but I'll start to have a bit more homework next week. I'll try to post more This New Ocean chapters, but the rate won't be nearly as frequent as last week.
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Chapter 6: What's this?!
As Jeb, Bill and Bob sit inside the cramped Apollo capsule, ready for their return to the Mun, they get ready for their launch checkout, each crew member going through their own checklist and re-checking again and again until they're sure everything's okay.
"We have liftoff of Horizon 18!"
From the inside, a Saturn V launch is much more powerful than watching it from the roof of the VAB.
Everything's shaking. The gee forces build up. Jeb gets pressed down into his seat, which thankfully is tailor-made to fit him and him only to stop the vibrations from tearing him apart.
The shaking and the gee forces stop suddenly. Then a loud bang.
The shaking resumes.
Jeb realises they've jettisoned the 1st stage.
By some chance, Jeb sees a white dot moving quickly against the background stars.
It's the KOSS.
"I hope it's doing fine," mutters Jeb.
KSC suddenly booms into the headphones. "You are GO for TMI."
The three crew cheer as they hear the good news.
A day later, the Mun greets Jeb and his crew as they prepare to enter Mun orbit.
As Jeb pilots his spacecraft to a precision landing at Mun base, he's greeted by magnificent desolation.
"KSC, we have a landing at Mun Base."
And then, Jeb performs a ceremony that all crews visiting have performed: plant a flag to immortalise their mission, and commemorate all who have worked towards the goal of space travel.
"Expedition 3 of Mun Base has officially begun!"
"Welcome to your new home, Jeb."
As Jeb climbs the ladder to enter the habitation module (jetpacks are discouraged as they can damage the fragile solar panels), he receives a transmission from KSC, telling him what to do for the next ten days.
Expedition 3 schedule
Day 1: Perform science experiments and conduct research, conduct visual inspection of modules and rover
Day 2: Drive rover and conduct visual observations of surrounding area
Day 3: EVA and collect samples
Day 4: Perform science experiments, conduct research, research munar night
Day 5: Observation of Kerbin
Day 6: No activities- Munar night
Day 7: Help with docking of drilling module
Day 8: Perform science experiments
Day 9: Expedition to midland craters and lowlands
Day 10: Expedition to Northwest Crater"Ha," thought Jeb. "This schedule gives me a lot of free time. The visual inspections and science experiments won't take long, so I'll have a lot of time to look at Kerbin!"
And Kerbin is beautiful indeed.
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A day has passed. Jeb starts the day by eating a hearty breakfast, then crawls through module Turtle to make his way to the Crater Crawler.
"Hello again Turtle. Nice to see you again."
He then struggles into the Crater Crawler to begin a systems checkout and to conduct visuals of the surrounding area. It's already been done before, but mission control wants to make sure nothing has changed since then.
"All systems are GO. We are GO for undocking."
Little did they know, something had changed since Val left.
"KSC, this is Expedition 3. We have a visual of something dark up ahead."
"Roger that E3. It's probably a rock."
"Well, that's where my SCANsat comes in."
"Machines break, Jeb. Do remember that this thing has sat, on the Mun, unused for a decade. And it was used to drive around the Mun just before that."
"I'll still go check."
"KSC, This is E3. The anomaly I was talking about- it's clearly cylindrical."
"Holy smokes, Jeb. Are you sure it's not just your eyesight, Jeb? There's this new paper citing data that eyesight deteriorates in space..."
"No, KSC. It's clearly cylindrical."
"KSC, this thing I'm talking to you about- it looks like Kerbal technology. Do you guys have records on any ship that crashed into the Mun with a CRG-25 cargo bay and a Kelus-LV ladder?"
"No Jeb. This is weird. Can you report to us your current coordinates? We'll keep note of that. Please re-visit the anomaly on the return trip from the Midland Craters."
"Okay- my current location is 4˚ 30' 6" N, 46˚ 19' 50" E."
"Roger that Jeb. Please return to the Crater Crawler."
"Nah. There's a ladder- I'll go check what's inside."
"No Jeb. You don't know what's in there- it could well be a porthole to a Kraken's lair."
Too late. He's already up the ladder.
But hearing the word "Kraken" made him think of his dream...
He faints.
And he lies, unconscious, on the midlands of the Mun, thousands of kilometres away from any other kerbal...
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Half an hour later, he snaps back into consciousness.
Giddy and drowsy from the loss of consciousness, he staggers back into the Crater Crawler, and slowly drives it back to Mun base for a well deserved rest.
"I wonder what mysteries this new ocean holds," says Jeb as he staggers back into the crew quarters.
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Chapter 5: AAAAAHHHHHHH
Jeb sat up in his bed, sweating like a pig.
He notices a weird noise, but he thinks he's heard it before. He hasn't heard that noise since his childhood.
He realises what it is. It's his screaming.
"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"
He stops when he remembers who he is: Jebediah Kerman, daredevil extraordinare, former commander of the KOSS. Munwalker. Minmuswalker. Dunawalker. He gathers up his blankets, as if they were precious treasure, and hugs them tightly.
He looks outside. He sees the VAB from his vantage point in the Astronaut complex, and a crescent mun hanging low over it.
He remembers. He needs to go see a launch to Mun base tomorrow, and next week he'll command a mission to the base.
He tries, in vain, to get back to sleep. He can't stop thinking of the nightmare he just went through: a routine landing on Kerbin, then suddenly teleporting to Tekto, then... then...
He tries not to think about it too much.
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As the countdown clock for the ADAP-1 launch, affectionately known as "turtle", edged closer and closer to zero, Jeb hoped his nightmare last night wasn't an omen for things to come.
"That's stupid," Jeb thought to himself. "Nightmares and teleportation can't possibly be real- can they?"
"Can they?"
Jeb pondered that while he watched Turtle climb towards the sky.
From this picture it's pretty evident why it's called Turtle.
Shoot for the Mun! Let's hope we don't miss.
The base-building car has docked with the module.
Turtle has docked with Mun base.
Crater crawler has docked with Mun base.
As Jeb hears about the welcome news, he thinks to himself, "We've done it this time, but will my launch conquer this new ocean?"
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Hello. As I do this in my main save, and I also play on a regular basis, I might not document each and every launch in the chapters. Instead, I will be posting regular The Kerbal Daily front pages to let you guys know what's going on in the save, so you guys don't find anything weird. These The Kerbal Daily posts are part of the story, they just let you guys know about things I do in the save that I don't feel are text-worthy.
The Kerbal Daily (Year 37, Day 219)
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Chapter 4: Where are we?
Jeb: "KSC, we have undocked with the KOSS."
Emiko: "Welcome news! Now time to reconfigure your capsule into a reentry vehicle!"
"Oh here am I sitting in a tin can
Far above the world..."
Jeb: "Service Module jettison in 3...2...1... we have confirmation of service module jettison."
Manley: "Good work team- but don't get distracted. Reentry is up next- arguably the most risky part of any space mission."
Parachutes have deployed.
We have confirmation of full parachute deployment.
Bill: "KSC, we've landed."
Emiko: "Great news! The boys have landed!"
Jeb: "Wait. The gravity wasn't as hard as I remembered it..."
Bill: "The lighting wasn't as weird as I remembered it..."
Jeb: "I'll turn the capsule to get a better look at the outside."
To the whole crew's horror, they weren't on Kerbin...
Manley: "36, do you hear?"
Jeb: "We hear you loud and clear, Capcom. But we have the slightest problem: We're on Tekto."
Manley: "Holy Kraken."
Then, a voice came booming into their heads.
"I am the Kraken Lord, your galactic overlord."
Jeb, in his ever courageous tone, "What do you want with us?"
"I have come to tell you that your efforts at conquering this new ocean will be entirely futile!"
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Thanks, it means a lot.
(Step 1: gather support, done. On to step 2: conquer the UNIVERSE! MUHAHAHA! Oh sorry did I wake you up?
)
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Chapter 3: Shoot for the Moon
"Have you heard that news? They've decided to make it modular."
"What modular?"
"The Mun base."
"Yup. In light of the recent failed Kerbin orbital launches, they've put KOSS on hiatus, and while they're at it they've told us to refocus our efforts at the Mun. That Mun base no-one's visited since Val left a decade ago? We'll be refurbishing that, and making it modular. Haven't you heard of that? It was making the front page of the Kerbal Daily! It was designed to be modular, after all, they just haven't secured the funding to realize that project; so you really shouldn't be that surprised."
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Status check to proceed with the terminal count!
Titan-
Boosters? GO!
Ignition systems? GO!
Stage 1 AUX pump systems? GO!
Stage 2 AUX pump systems? GO!
LOX? GO!
LH2? GO!Centaur-
Ignition systems? GO!
Centaur AUX pump systems? GO!
LOX? GO!
LH2? GO!Flight termination system? FTS is armed and ready for flight.
Range safety? Range safety officer is GO for flight.We are GO to proceed with the terminal count.
KSC, we have a pitch and roll program.
We have a clean sep of both side boosters.
The Eagle has wings...? (AKA the flying space car)
Commencing apoapsis raising burn to intercept the Mun 4 hours later.
We are in orbit around the Mun!
Descent towards Mun base.
We have landed on the Mun, systems checkout in progress. All payload systems are nominal, unfortunately we cannot say the same for the remains of the Centaur...
We have docked with Mun base.
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"Heh heh heh," says the Kraken Lord. "They might have escaped this time, but Gene's right: This new ocean is hard to conquer indeed."
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I see what you did with "Zuyos".
It's "Soyuz" spelled backwards.
)
Chinese Space Program (CNSA) & Ch. commercial launch and discussion
in Science & Spaceflight
Posted
They're doing it again?