Mars-Bound Hokie

I'm not angry, I'm just saying that it's (generally) an unspoken rule to not use cheats in forum challenges. Even if I was down with you using infinite electricity, you wouldn't have made the time at 480 m/s. The name of the game is "Around the World in 80 minutes," and your current top speed would take you well over 2 hours to fly around Kerbin. Also, couldn't you just attach OX-STAT solar panels to the tops of the wings/fuselage - or at least where they won't become an aerodynamic liability? I don't know @Matt Lowne's top speed for this plane on Kerbin, but this is to prove that overhead panels are indeed possible.

@Flying dutchman, although I never explicitly stated that cheats weren't allowed (I probably should have), it is pretty much implied in this challenge. Besides, even if you used infinite electricity, you probably wouldn't make the time anyway. You would need to go over Mach 2.5 THE WHOLE TIME in order to get around Kerbin in less than 80 minutes, so 480 m/s isn't good enough. Besides, why use propellers when you have supersonic jet engines?

BILL KERMAN'S MISSION LOG: Y54D202 - 2H45M We're now done with the Laythe part of our mission, and preparing for the flight home. Our Jool orbital apoapsis is approximately 277 megameters (277,000 km) above Jool's surface, and we're circularizing our parking orbit there in about 36 Kerbin days. After that, we'll wait until the next transfer window to make our maneuver node back home to Kerbin. We're not going to be alone, since a Mun Hopper with two other tourists and an engineer will also be flying home to Kerbin. The Neptune IV has just left Pol's SOI in this picture, but expected to get a higher apoapsis than the Mun Hopper. There's also the chance that we leave at different times due to our being on opposite ends of our respective orbits with high periods. Perhaps I should start with the Laythe mission progress. Aside from collecting data (mostly atmospheric GCMS and goo observations) that was lost in the Neptune II explosion, we were also assigned to flag down possible landing sites for surface bases/vehicles. After Val flagged down "Poseidon Island" close to the equator, Jeb waited until early in the evening to fly southwest to another island. Much to the tourists' amazement, it took us only 25 minutes to fly about 870 kilometers over (basically) nothing but water - although a couple of them (and Shelus) swore that they saw a fleet of boats sailing. They had taken pictures, but the "boats" were too blurry; I couldn't tell if they were actually boats or smudges on the lens or window. We had to slow down a bit after realizing that our air intakes were about to blow up from overheating. Looks pretty cool, huh. Approaching our target island. We almost crashed the plane to pieces with that landing, not to mention we were less than 3 kilometers from the water. Bob then went for a nice swim for a sample of the water. Good thing he had his suit on, or else he would have died from: Freezing Drowning Poisoning (from whatever minerals were in the water) This would make a great postcard shot. Great that we landed on a side facing Jool. A couple of days later, we got the word from Mission Control that it was time to take the tourists back home. We then filled up all our tanks and took off at a 45-degree orbital inclination before making our burn to Pol to refuel. The Neptune IV leaving Laythe's sphere of influence as it heads for Pol. On our way to Pol, I remotely controlled the Polar rover and had it drive east to find a nice landing spot for a large plane like ours. We got lucky when it picked a location in the highlands, so we programmed the plane's landing autopilot to land near the rover. Bob then got out and got surface samples and EVA reports before flagging down the spot for future landers. Bob standing near Polar after flagging down the highlands landing spot. The Polar rover is the same design as the Elegail rover on Laythe. Too bad we couldn't see it, but then again the Neptune IV was too large for a precision landing. Perhaps the ladies coming here later could say hi for us. And fix that one car whose wheel got damaged upon landing. The Neptune IV on Pol, ready for takeoff. Nice view of Pol from the initial ascent orbit. It's just a matter of time before we make our circularization node and make later make the burn back home to Kerbin. After we land, a couple of tourists will fly to Gilly to finish the rest of their contracts - but we don't need to send any Neptune personnel for it. I think we recovered more than just Lost Data from Laythe; we also got new data from the other biomes we visited on the planet. Not only that, we also got some data from Pol's highlands after we landed for refueling. Since we have a higher delta-V capacity than the Mun Hopper, it shouldn't be too hard to return to Kerbin with our tourists and data safe and sound - even if we hit the you-know-what.

In the beginning of STAR WARS Episode I: The Phantom Menace, the Trade Federation supposedly blockades the planet of Naboo. Its main goal is to pressure its ruler into signing a treaty by cutting off all trade going on and off the planet. However, from an orbital mechanics standpoint, I'm not sure this blockade is even that effective. Wookiepedia image of the Naboo blockade First of all, the image is showing the Trade Federation ships blocking one part of the planet rather than the whole thing. Even if the ships weren't in geostationary orbit above a specific location, a trade ship could simply enter the planet from the other side without risk of getting shot. Since it is established that STAR WARS ships have hyperdrives, couldn't they just jump somewhere else and then approach from behind. If the blockade ships weren't geostationary, then the trade ships could just time their approach and make their Naboo insertion burn when the bad guys are supposed to be at the other side of the planet. Given how dense the blockade looked in the picture, it would have probably put the Trade Federation in debt to cover the whole planet rather than just one side. Besides, if Han Solo was alive at the time, he could just drop out of hyperspeed right as he passes the blockade (like he did in The Force Awakens) Second of all, just how long does it take for Trade Federation ships to get within firing range of approaching ships? Sure, the bad guys can deploy vulture droids, but even they must comply with the laws of physics when moving to intercept. Assuming the blockade is moving in a circular prograde orbit (geostationary or not), they would most likely have to adjust their orbital planes and wait quite a while before making their intercept burn. Not to mention that, if a trade ship enters Naboo's SOI or blasts off in RETROGRADE (or at least the opposite inclination of the blockade), the bad guys would either have to launch their intercept craft from the surface or waste a significant amount of delta-V to destroy the ship. They apparently also forgot to take polar orbits into account, which also deals with the first point I mentioned. The trade ship could be on the other side of the planet from the blockade before they breach the atmosphere. (For this diagram, let's assume Naboo is about the size of Earth for simplicity's sake) Anything I'm missing or overlooking here? Agree or disagree? Feel free to leave your questions/concerns/comments on this thread here. Have fun, and as always, may the Force be with you.

@DRAG0Nmon, here's my first entry for the Spaceliner Challenge. POSEIDON MK. IV ENTRY STATS Manufacturing Company Hyper Speed Category Small Spaceliner Launch Cost (NO MODS) 392,259 Occupant Capacity 20 Total - 4-5 crew (minimum) - 15-16 passengers (maximum) Delta-V ~ 5,000 m/s (on NERVs alone when liquid fuel tanks full) - Has docking port underneath for refueling craft and transferring tourists to landers. Additional Functions - Science - Ore Harvesting (2 x Drill-O-Matic) - Ore Conversion (1 x Covert-O-Tron 250) - Cabin ejection abort protocol (nonexistent in docking-capable model) (Docking-capable variant exists) Here are some more pictures of the Poseidon in action. For more details on what this bad boy can do, read the Neptune Mission Files starting at the entry from Y47D80. As you can see, it is more than capable of flying to Laythe Act now, and you can get a (Moho-capable) Mass Ore Transport to go with your Poseidon.

ANREY KERMAN'S MISSION LOG: Y54D179 - 0H00M My name is Anrey Kerman, a Level-Four engineer in the Kerbal Space Program. Before I enlisted in the kerbalnaut program, I worked in Integrated Integrals. Yes, we were known for only providing the mobile labs used in space stations, mobile bases, and Super Trainer-class ships, but that was an outdated rumor. About ten years ago, the company decided to try its hand in the airplane manufacturing industry; I was part of the design team. We have had many failures during testing, not to mention we were almost in debt from life insurance payments alone, until we successfully flew the S-4 Hamacker. The plane with all its features extended and active at KSC 0-9 (Taken Y45D147) Perhaps you are wondering why I am telling you my job before I got into the space program. Here's the reason: after the test runs were completed with favorable results, my bosses begged Mission Control to let the Hamacker be the Neptune IV. For a while, we thought we would get fame and fortune with our new plane. However, two things happened which led the KSC to cancel its deal with Integrated Integrals. The Neptune II was destroyed,. The scientific and space exploration communities demanded that we replace the Lost Data. Though the Hamacker had an atmospheric GCMS device and the Neptune III didn't, the new Mun Hopper variant and the atmospheric probe were fitted with them. It also didn't have any Mystery Goo canisters in place, and so far it looked like only engineers could use the plane. They just had to take extra flying lessons first. Additionally, kerbalnauts were threatening to resign if they were ever sent to Laythe alone. The KSC got a tourist contract for Laythe after the Neptune III landed. It needed a way to transport a lot of kerbals up and down Laythe's surface, so the Hamacker wasn't going to do it. It was then the Poseidon Era had begun No Hamackers were used past testing again. I then decided to enlist in the space program, and got accepted. Once my former employers at Integrated Integrals got word that I was in, they contacted me and asked me to try and convince Mission Control to use the Hamacker in its missions. I tried for years, but to no avail... Until a couple of months ago. The Neptune IV crew is having fun on its frozen island on Laythe, but the newly-assigned Neptune V crew is not far from leaving Duna orbit. Mission Control finally agreed that the new aerial probe pilot won't fly to Jool without backup, so the rest of the refueling crew will go too. Once they arrive at Jool orbit, they will refuel on Pol as necessary before landing on Laythe - at the same spot. The three of them will leave the probe behind to do its mission unmanned while the crew leaves Laythe in a Mun Hopper; they will return to Kerbin in the same way as the Neptune III boys (minus getting cozy in a pod, but that was unnecessary since their plane didn't explode). As for the Neptune VI mission, you're looking right at it. The Hamacker is back, baby. Not only will I be the first woman to fly to Laythe solo, I will be the first to fly solo in an SSTO to Laythe and back. That other lady in the probe doesn't count, since she has backup scheduled to land with her on a different plane and pick her up. I may have bad thrust with the NERV alone, but it also comes with a high delta-V capacity on liquid fuel alone. Unlike the other Neptune SSTOs, I have enough delta-V to land on Dres to refuel before making my jump to Jool. On a separate note, an exploration crew (not connected with the Neptune missions) will also be going to Dres in a Poseidon SSTO. Perhaps they could flag down a nice landing spot for me while they're there. I'm just itching to get to Laythe and show off how fast I can go. Four rapier engines on a small craft like this would definitely set some speed records on that moon. I wish Lodock and Enmal were still there with a Mun Hopper, then I could beat them in a race.

Got the latest update here (https://github.com/linuxgurugamer/BigBen/releases/tag/0.0.2), and it works great. And before anyone asks, yes the .zip file is safe. I thought I might put it out there in case they're concerned that their browser says that it's "not commonly downloaded."

Thanks for Big Ben (and for reminding me to get the dependencies), @linuxgurugamer. The stopwatch time managed to stay with the warp. I do have a few things to say about it, though. A bigger window to see all the timers would be nice. Though it's not a problem for a single timer, I will have to see only one at a time if I have multiple clocks running. e.g. if I'm timing myself and trying to beat a time limit SCENARIO: timing myself flying around Kerbin while knowing that I have 80 minutes to do it. For some reason, I had to have Big Ben on the screen at the space center or assembly building before launch. It's not a problem if I access a ship from the tracking station, though. How do I adjust the BigBen size? Other than that, great job.

Thanks, @linuxgurugamer. I'll definitely check it out. As for @DoctorDavinci, I downloaded OrX Kontinuum last night and I tried the stopwatch; that was all I needed, anyway. Unfortunately, I found a huge flaw. From what I've noted in the screenshots in the above spoiler, the OrX stopwatch works normally when the warp is not involved. When you do use the warp, the timer goes too fast to stay with the MET clock. Thanks anyway, @DoctorDavinci.

That's exactly what I need, thank you. My original intention is to fly to a starting point, begin the stopwatch when I take off, and stop it after I land. A kerbal stopwatch is necessary for my upcoming (CLASSIFIED) challenge.

Yes, exactly. I want a simple numerical display, like the one on my ironman watch. That's the point, but I also want it to stop whenever I pause (so it doesn't keep going when nothing's going on in-game), and I want it to speed up or slow down depending on the warp speed.

Thanks, @Geonovast. At first, I thought it would be more suitable for the "Suggestions and Development Discussion," since a thread from three years ago asking the same question was in that category. I asked again now, since a lot could have changed between December 2016 and now Got anything?

Okay, here's the story. I'm thinking about timing how fast I can send a plane all the way around Laythe, but I don't want to rely on the MET timer because it also adds the amount of time it takes to: Get off Kerbin Fly to Laythe Including making refueling stops Land Get in position I also don't want to rely on my computer's built-in stopwatch flying because it doesn't account for when I use the warp. Is there a "Kerbal Stopwatch" I can use? More specifically, I need to: Start at 00:00:00 when I want it to, which would be the moment of takeoff Speed up or slow down along with the warp And stop whenever I hit the "Pause" button --> and resume when I leave the pause menu. End at (TIME TO BE DETERMINED) when I want it too, which would be when I land. Be in plain sight the whole time while I'm flying. In case you're wondering, I have MJ and Kerbal Alarm Clock. If no such stopwatches exist (either in-game or mod), then how can I still time my run while accounting for the warp? For the Alarm Clock, I would have to start my engines immediately after the alarm went off. Is there any way I can display a straight-up stopwatch that can go along with the pause menu AND warp? Thank you.

[English]: I'm from the United States, and you did a great job. Keep it up, @Janderklander! [Español]: Soy de los Estados Unidos, y lo hiciste un gran trabajo. ¡Sigue así, @Janderklander!

JEBEDIAH KERMAN'S MISSION LOG: Y54D20 - 1H05M Ladies and gentlemen, we made it. Bill (left) and Bob (right) after landing on one of the northern islands. Bill reset the drag chutes while Bob cleaned up the goo container for collecting data. After our scientists collected the data from the shores, I deployed the drills and began refueling the plane. It didn't matter how high or low the surface concentration was, since we got the big drills here. I don't know if this data was collected before. We definitely know that all atmospheric GCMS and most goo data was destroyed when the Neptune II blew up, so we're working extra hard to keep it safe. Speaking of the Lost Data, I seemed to recall that Johnfrid Kerman obtained some data above Tylo before he encountered Laythe. Since a Tylo fly-by happened with us as well, we weren't going to miss out on recovering some of that information. Gralin Kerman over Tylo, restoring the goo container. Cockpit shot of Tylo (middle of right window). Aside from having the first women to step foot on Laythe's surface - or enter Laythe orbit, for that matter - the Neptune IV also got applause for the first tourist run to that planet. The guys at Mission Control agreed that any tourist contracts involving more than two people and landing on Laythe's surface will be handled with Poseidon SSTOs; smaller missions can be accomplished just as well with a Mun Hopper. Just like with the Mun Hopper carrying Maubin and Obly Kerman, the Neptune IV needed refueling as soon as it entered Jool orbit. While the Mun Hopper made an elliptical orbit and made a Hohmann transfer to Bop, Mission Control dispatched its Vall mass ore transport and docked with us so we can make more fuel. That way, we would have plenty of fuel to spare after we circularize our Laythe orbit. After all, we don't want to end up like the aerial probe that failed earlier. After we refueled, we made our Hohmann transfer to Laythe and established a polar parking orbit before making our de-orbit burn. Me outside the cockpit as the plane passed above Laythe's north pole. The plane flying through Laythe's atmosphere at ~20 km altitude It took me forever to regain control, let alone turn around. It was a challenge to find a good landing spot in this light. I didn't want to land on some "slippery slope" - or worse, in the water. Good thing I used Kerbnet to point out whether I'm over dry land or the ocean. On the subject of the aerial probe, I heard that one of the engineers from the refueling crew is riding along with the new one that's coming here. It may extend our mission by four years, but history has taught us that it's better to wait and keep your kerbalnauts in a larger, more capable craft. Though this engineer (whose name I forgot) is not coming home in that thing, she's flying to Jool all by herself from Ike while her two teammates return to Kerbin in a Mun Hopper. She will also refuel on Bop before heading over to Laythe. Since the Neptune IV is not as good at landing in small spots as the aerial probe, she will either: Land at our position Wait for us to rendezvous with her in orbit. Now that I say that in detail, that actually sounds like a great Neptune V mission. This engineer (whose name I really should write down) could also flag down other neat landing spots to put bases - or even land more tourists coming here. Too bad her plane won't be part of the Neptune Memorial. Outside of the Neptune missions, we've had a couple of oopsies trying to accommodate for the new Poseidon planes; a mass ore transport crash-landed on Ike, and a high-occupancy lander was destroyed after landing on Vall. The lander may not be a big deal, since we already have a three-person lander on standby, but we sent a replacement mass ore transport to Ike. We also have three more Poseidon planes in space right now: An unmanned docking-capable variant for Laythe In case we haven't, we should also send a mass ore transport to Bop. An exploration crew to Dres. There's already a mass ore transport there, and the plane has a TWR of over 1 on NERVs alone when loaded A tourist run to Eeloo. There's a high-occupancy lander on standby. A mass ore transport should arrive years before the plane does, so we should be good. We're going to have a lot of fun on Laythe. Anything in particular you readers want us to do?

@Lisias, you're entry into the Thunder division has been accepted. I am honored, @James Kerman. You were right about the "really hot" part, since everyone who participated in the challenge did so at great risk of blowing up mid-air due to overheating.

After posting my first KSP meme of the new decade, I sent an unmanned rover to the UFO crashed near the Mun's southern polar region. Definitely using this photo for my KerbalX craft file.

ATTENTION ALL FLIERS First of all, I have to say that I am quite impressed with everyone's entries. I bet everyone got their much-needed fix of speed in this thread - and by speed, I mean going at over 2.5 the speed of sound. Second of all, I decided to set a deadline for the challenge to February 20, 2020 at 11:59 pm Eastern Standard Time. If that seems unreasonable, don't hesitate to say something. Thirdly, I suppose some of you want to know who's leading in this contest. Here's the leaderboard. CURRENT LEADERBOARD LIGHTNING DIVISION @nelso - 34 minutes, 19 seconds @vyznev - 35 minutes, 38 seconds @Laie - 39 minutes, 47 seconds @Mars-Bound Hokie (ME) - 53 minutes, 18 seconds @Nantares - 57 minutes, 47 seconds THUNDER DIVISION HEAVY RAIN DIVISION @Klapaucius was disqualified because his kerbals died after landing. Am I missing anything? If I am, please let me know so I can ensure accurate results.

Yes; specifically, the docking-capable variant. And the one that doesn't come with a cabin ejection mechanism.

That video teaser is outdated now. A new trailer just came out three days ago. I hope @Matt Lowne gets this too, because I want to see what the God of SSTOs has in mind for designing conventional aircraft.

VAL KERMAN'S MISSION LOG: Y51D345 - 2H10M Two days ago, Mission Control received confirmation that Laythe had received its first permanent surface outpost. Eriler Outpost. Named after an engineer who died in orbit of Minmus. Geographic Coordinates 10* 13’ 44” S 166* 57’ 37” E Since the map target selector wasn't working, Mission Control had to input the coordinates into the landing autopilot manually. Our safest bet was one of the larger islands, and what better spot than between the Neptune II and III landing spots. Bill then suggested that the rocket delivery craft be modified to save delta-V for the delivery phase, so we added solid rocket boosters for the initial ascent. We're now sending another base to Laythe, but we don't expect it to arrive here for a very long time. Besides the fact that we already have a base ready, we need to: Record some scientific data. A lot of it Mystery Goo data, which was lost when the Neptune II capsule was destroyed. Fix a car whose wheel got damaged upon landing Flag down landing spots Reach out to the Native Laythans. (POSSIBLY) pick up whoever's flying to Laythe with the new aerial probe. Kerbin is also sending a Laythe Ascent Vehicle with the new base. I wrote to Mission Control asking that they send a mobile base, but Mortimer rejected my proposal on the grounds that "the risk was too great, given the cost and the setback in our landing guidance systems." While I was furious, Bob said that we needed to flag down the landing spots first and make sure the landing systems were accurate on Laythe before sending non-amphibious vehicles to individual islands. About two more years until we get to Laythe, and then we're ready to begin Kerbin's fourth crewed exploration of Laythe.

I don't know, nor did bother to write it down. I do remember it was in the low-to-mid 4000s. And that was when I filled up the oxidizer tanks enough for only the initial ascent from Minmus (which is about a little over half the Ox capacity). The NERV engine is where it's at. You could just download it yourself and find out for sure (depending on how you use it). It's on my KerbalX: https://kerbalx.com/Mars-Bound_Hokie/Mun-Hopper-Mk-II

I landed an outpost on the surface of Laythe and named it after one of my fallen kerbalnauts, Eriler Kerman. Eriler Outpost 10* 13' 44" S 166* 57' 37" E EDIT: Here's the craft file on KerbalX: https://kerbalx.com/Mars-Bound_Hokie/Laythe-Outpost-NO-MODS

Steve Kerman got run over by a reindeer. Jerry Kerman - drowning.