Mars-Bound Hokie

Bill Kerman, who had entered the Unconventional Gilly Lander contest on a dare, got drunk with his friends and designed the Smallstep while still intoxicated. He then got his friend Dade, who was also drunk at the time, to help him test it at the launch pad. You can pretty much guess what happened from here. (SORRY IF I SEEM NOSY HERE. AS MUCH AS I WANT TO LEAVE THE CREATIVITY UP TO YOU ALL, I JUST COULDN'T RESIST USING THIS WACKY SPACECRAFT BEFORE SOMEONE USES SOMETHING "CONVENTIONAL" (E.G. A RE-ENTRY FAILURE OR FORGETTING TO CHECK STAGING). I'LL GO LEAVE THE FUN TO YOU NOW) Victim: Arfield Kerman Manner: Poisoned

Nice one, @Dirkidirk - and pretty much like any other day in the KSC. Who are you going to kill next? That's pretty much the game here: You tell how the name above you dies. You then write your next victim and his/her manner of death.

I'll take a booster... and ADD IT! Here are the rules: Kill the kerbal whose name is written in the post right before yours. You can either: Use pictures. Write in detail what happens that causes the specified target to die in the specified manner. (IF YOU ARE DARING ENOUGH) Make a video which involves the target dying in the specified manner. Write the name of your next victim and the desired manner of death; and no, you can't use "heart attack." This is Kerbal Space Program, you have to be a bit more creative than that (within physical possibility, of course). Don't get too specific; it's up to the person after you to describe exactly what happens. Kill ONLY the intended target; no additional deaths in your scenarios. Bystanders/crewmates wounded or knocked out okay. No double-posting. Manner of death is okay, but you can't use the same exact scenario twice. No derailing the game by posting irrelevant material. No inappropriate stuff (PLEASE!) EXAMPLE Person 1 Target: Jebediah Kerman Manner: Plane Crash Person 2 The guys at the SPH forgot to add control surfaces in the new supersonic jet prototype. As a result, Jebediah Kerman lost control at the runway and crashed into one of the corner lights. His plane flipped over and blew up; the resulting explosion killed him instantly. Mark Kerman – shot Person 3 One of the interns splashed coffee on the central computer controlling the KSC’s automated defense systems. While the intern was trying to fix it, he inadvertently triggered BDArmory’s heat-guided laser targeting system. Since Mark Kerman was returning from his run around the facility perimeter, the laser’s system mistook him for an intruder and opened fire. The first shot killed him. Valentina Kerman will die from poisoning AND SO ON Have fun, everyone. I'll start us off. Bob Kerman - explosion

I ACCEPT YOUR CHALLENGE, @Robonoise Below are the pictures I took of my 14-person amphibious craft, the Amphibian. The Amphibian parked at 0-9 KSC, ready for action. In hindsight, I should have installed a fuel duct connecting the external tanks to the engines.

Even though this bad boy is in LKO right now, it's standing by for its maneuver node to Jool. The Laythe outpost prototype with the protective fairing split apart. Its capabilities include, but are not limited to: ~ 60G Relays All science with lab ~ 8230 Electric Charge 4 x Gigantor Panels 2 x RTG 19-person capacity PPD-12 Viewing Module looking upward Entrance ladders Surrounding lights I'm also sending this 20-person plane to Laythe right now (after refueling on Minmus and Ike, of course). If you want more details on my Laythe exploration and colonization efforts, don't hesitate to read the Neptune Mission Files down below.

While I agree with the banning of mods that provide extra parts (and straight-up teleport you), I don't with you banning MJ since I made it standard-issue for all my spacecraft. And, according to my experience, for good reason. Besides, spacecraft in the real world use computers like that to navigate. Why is MJ not allowed? It has other purposes besides the autopilot; some of the most useful ones would arguably fall under the "informational" section. These functions include, but are not limited to: Orbit info Useful during the initial ascent to LKO, especially when you read the apoapsis height. You will know instantly if your periapsis falls below or above the atmospheric height without having to switch the orbital info on and off all the time. Plus, you know if your apoapsis is getting closer or farther away after your rapiers run out and you're stuck with rockets with a TWR of <1 Surface info You can get more precise readings of surface and sea-level altitudes without having to switch altimeter modes. It can supply your vertical speed so you know if you're in trouble during the initial ascent. Also giving the user a more accurate reading of when the plane is starting to drop/rise. Your current geographical coordinates are displayed whenever this function is on Rover autopilot waypoint info. I used it in the Neptune III missions so I know how close I am to my targets. Don't worry, it's useless in the air. Delta-V gauge Sure, the regular game has it already, but my experience has led me to trust MJ's gauge more than I trust the in-game one. It also comes with TWRs for each stage. I can also see whether or not it's increasing/decreasing for the jets during the initial ascent. Vessel info I can see the maximum acceleration, thrust, and the mass at any moment so I know if I have the proper TWR for a celestial body. Although it also comes with a TWR feature. It also comes with a crew capacity tab, so you can see proof on how many people my SSTOs can carry. Besides that, the aircraft autopilot functions are useless on Kerbin (or Laythe, for that matter). The only time I ever use it is to see how far away I am from the KSC; whenever I used the "autopilot" features, I ended up losing control and spinning around instead. Overall, I've only ever used MJ for the: Ascent guidance Useless for planes Maneuver planner (CAN'T GO WITHOUT) Rendezvous autopilot Docking autopilot Although, you're probably not looking for a docking-capable plane in this case. Orbit info Surface info Vessel info This is very useful for the "presentation" part of the challenge. Delta-V gauge Landing autopilot More or less useless for celestial bodies with atmospheres. Aircraft approach and autoland But ONLY to see the distance from the KSC. Everything else is useless. Rover autopilot But ONLY to see the distance between me and the target. IF YOU WANT THE CRAFT FILES FOR THE SSTOs, I'LL REMOVE MJ FROM THE VESSEL BEFORE POSTING THEIR LINK Can it also be able to fly without any pilots at all? Aside from the fact that probe cores and antennae of at least 2G are mandatory for my SSTOs, I have placed relays everywhere in my career save. Do I still need to include a pilot when I tally my capacity, because I honestly don't need any at this point. Also, what qualifies as a "flight attendant?" Can an engineer count, because they have proven extremely useful when refueling the planes. What do you mean by "unless stated?" We can make these up on our own, right? Should our flag also be that of our made-up company, or can we use the in-game ones? By how much must ticket revenue exceed launch cost? What are the minimum and maximum boundaries for the launch cost percent. Realistically speaking, companies wouldn't want to sell a good/service if they only get a specified amount of money (e.g. $10 profit regardless of price, which is very annoying if the good/service in question is very expensive). Profit = {REVENUE = (Launch cost - (10% launch cost))} - {LAUNCH COST} = 10% Launch Cost Then again, we can't make tickets too pricey either. EXAMPLE: ticket revenue must also include a profit of 15% - 50% of the launch cost. Okay, I can see how this can be misinterpreted. Does it mean that the craft should be able to: Hold 2-6 people total, with at least 1 pilot and 1 other non-tourist crewmember Can pilots also count as "crew" and the pilot at the same time? Hold 4-9 people total, with: 2-6 tourists 1 kerbalnaut 1-2 pilots Honestly, do you really need more than 1 (let alone 2) pilots per spacecraft? If a spacecraft with more than one pilot loses control and one pilot ends up dead, odds are the others are either dead or stranded. I have three working SSTO models (2 Private, 1 Small) that I would like to enter in this competition. If you want a preview of them in action, please visit these posts. Mun Hopper Read the parts mentioning "Mun Hopper" and "Neptune III" for further information about that specific craft in action. Dirtblood Poseidon* Late in the Neptune Mission Files entries, but it's now being used as a tourist transport while official KSP members conduct their surface mission I also made a docking-capable modified variant of this plane. What do you think? I hope these planes qualify for the Spaceliner Challenge, because I've already commissioned them as tourist transports in my career save. Plus, they're the only working interplanetary spaceplanes I have, so you need to accept them if you want me to show more. * the Poseidon craft known as Neptune IV hasn't made its burn to Duna yet, but I'm confident in its ability to land on Ike and make it to Laythe with ease.

What exactly do you want us to do? Is the goal to: Load the tourists in the KSC Tour the facility Either on the surface or in the air Swim/fly to the island airfield Tour the place upon landing IN THAT ORDER

FROM THE OFFICE OF WERNHER VON KERMAN To sum it up, MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! Less than a day ago, Johnfrid Kerman and the Vall Girls safely splashed down on Kerbin's surface. For more details on his landing, read Johnfrid's entry from Y47D408 on the following Mission Report thread. Congratulations on his proposal to Olivia Kerman, by the way. Picture of Johnfrid and Olivia standing in front of the Pluto I capsule at night. Though we currently have most of our personnel back home now, a good chunk of our active-duty kerbalnauts are still out in space. However, they're either part of ongoing tourist runs or the Laythe exploration efforts. Only a couple of kerbalnauts are at Duna testing the Dirtblood, but they're scheduled to return to Kerbin shortly. While we're expanding our presence on Laythe, we have been improving our game in the SSTO department. This is bound to have save us money on tourist runs, not to mention we'll increase our reputation as an efficient space program. Even if the model in question can reach the planet, but has inefficient thrust to land on the surface, we're working to make them docking-capable so that the landers and ore transports already in place can reach them. Aside from the usual tourist runs that we get, if we need to send someone to another planet again, we could always use one of our new plane designs. I swear, if we don't get to Tylo and Eve's surface soon, we'll be stuck as an airline company forever. All talk about our new designs aside, I'm glad that everyone involved - including the one who was not to begin with (Johnfrid) - has made it back safe and sound. OPERATION: HOMECOMING IS A SUCCESS Wernher Von Kerman Year 47, Day 409 3H30M

JOHNFRID KERMAN'S MISSION LOG: Y47D408 - 4H15M A couple of years ago, I was supposed to die. In case you're new to this thread - and haven't read the earlier entries yet - the Neptune II capsule I was supposed to arrive home at blew high up in Kerbin's atmosphere. Fortunately, I was inside another spacecraft with the Vall Girls at the time. While it didn't turn into Kerbi Kerbi Lit Club in the pod, it was more like a reality dating show. The competition for my heart was fierce among the girls, but I guess that's what spending 15 years with each other will do to you. I even had to break up more fights than I cared to remember to count (but Mission Control logged), but good thing none of them sustained serious injuries. As far as I know, no fights broke out in the pod that the Neptune III crew is in right now. In the end, I proposed to Olivia. Naturally, being the only man she saw face-to-face for over a decade, she said 'yes.' Below is a picture of the two of us in front of the Pluto I capsule. Pretty romantic spot at the KSC, huh. I noticed that a solar panel was added to the capsule to power the lights. I hope that they can hold forever. Back to the mission here. Our pod had run out of fuel, and we had to use almost all the monopropellant to fine-tune our approach periapsis. Before we hit Kerbin's atmosphere, we detached our pretty-much-empty engines and fuel tank and deployed the inflatable heat shield while approaching at over 5 km/s; the weird thing is that it's faster than the velocity Bill and Val sustained after returning from Eeloo 20 years ago. I sure hope nothing bad happens during re-entry. Sure enough, a second after we passed a 70-km altitude, the capsule itself caught fire even though we were spinning while pointing at retrograde (with our heat shield taking the heat (pun intended)). While the heat shield was close to giving in, the fuel tanks made some theatrical explosions behind us; good thing that Ralo got this picture while we were all too dizzy and scared for our lives. After a few minutes, we were finally in an elliptical orbit above Kerbin. While we were still on fire, we knew that we would somehow end up back on Kerbin's surface on the first try - either in one piece or in ashes. After a few minutes of flying through the sky, we managed to get a negative periapsis and a sub-70 km apoapsis. It was beautiful to splash down to this view right here. Once again, I'm glad the Vall Girls took the time to pick me up and let me in. If they hadn't, Mission Control would still be looking for my ashes in the ocean by now. Guess I'd better prepare for the press conferences later, and everything associated with the "First Small Step" missions. I'm also honored to be part of the "Till CATO Do Us Part" Club, which involves married couples with both members in the KSP. If we hurry, we can build an SSTO to intercept the Neptune IV on standby in high Kerbin orbit and Olivia and I can meet the original kerbalnaut couple, Bill and Val Kerman. I'm also excited for the Laythe colonization program. I heard that we made a docking-capable "Laythe Ascent Plane" that's primarily designed to go up and down the surface so that users can rendezvous with a space station in orbit. While it looks very similar to the Poseidon plane prototypes (which is the same model as the Neptune IV), the SPH engineers say that at least it's a design that should work. Same case for the new Laythe ore transport. I don't know why we would even need one, but Mission Control said that it would save time and increase convenience when we leave the conventional ore transport out of Laythe's SOI. Hopefully, the ore tank at full capacity doesn't affect the flight performance too much. S.S. Flyboyz, a prototype of the Laythe Ascent Plane. This new plane now rivals the Super Trainer-class rockets as a tourist transport. A prototype is currently 35,000 km above Kerbin's surface, ready to fly to Duna and Ike for a tourist contract. It may not have the thrust necessary for Duna, but there's already a lander (and an ore transport) on standby. This may also be the case for other planets/moons where the TWR for the NERVs alone is insufficient.

BILL KERMAN'S MISSION LOG: Y47D232 - 3H15M Although it is possible for the Neptune IV to park in an elliptical orbit around Jool before refueling at a smaller moon, the current plan is to make a refueling stop at Ike before heading straight for Laythe. Why do that, you ask? Well, we need an engineer (specifically, me) to speed up the refueling process for our supersonic aerial probe. Once everything is all gassed up, we can go to Laythe after our Ike stop. Call us lazy if you must, but at least we can speed things up with our Laythe exploration efforts. Speaking of which, Mission Control has decided to upgrade from exploration to colonization. The guys at the VAB have been working on a 19-person surface outpost that could look straight up at the sky while generating some science points. They made sure to have extra support at the corners for increased stability. The Laythe outpost prototype with the protective fairing split apart. Its capabilities include, but are not limited to: ~ 60G Relays All science with lab ~ 8230 Electric Charge 4 x Gigantor Panels 2 x RTG 19-person capacity PPD-12 Viewing Module looking upward Entrance ladders Surrounding lights Any ideas on where we should put our first Laythe outpost? Besides that, we have a second Laythe car in orbit and cannot decide where to land it. Should we try one of the poles, or one of the other islands? No, I'd rather not put it at the same island that Johnfrid Kerman landed on. It already has a car on standby. We're still working on assembling Odin Station in orbit above Laythe. It's a slow process, but at least it will be a sure one - just like Hades Station above Eeloo. After that, we'll need to send an SSTO that could go up and down Laythe's surface while docking with the station; just like any moon lander, only the conventional design won't work there. If our engineers at the SPH keep up the efforts, we can truly call Laythe a New Kerbin.

Beat me by five hours, @Gargamel. Thank you very much. COME ON, everyone. I told Matt that we had his back when I shared this thread link, so let's all be helpful here. Are we going to just be a bunch of angry hotheads doing nothing but fuming all day, or are we going to actually use our brains and come up with action plans? I vote action plan. On an unrelated note, if any of you nerds feel like venting, you could always try this site (Adobe Flash Player required). Just remember that you don't need to apply 1500 kN of force when eating potato chips.

Bet Mark Watney wished he had this bad boy while he was stuck on Mars. DIRTBLOOD The Mun Hoppers were lame when it came to Duna flight, so the KSP made a plane that had a TWR ratio of over 1 when it came down to NERVs alone. Though it required a refueling stop on Minmus after the first takeoff, the Dirtblood was able to fly to Duna easily. When it re-entered Duna's thin atmosphere, though it took a while to fire the engines and keep the stabilizers in place, the craft was flown like a plane. As you can see, I'm getting the plane in an upward flight while going at a 45-degree heading - not something you'd expect from any other craft that just re-entered any atmosphere. The on-board pilot (I forgot her name) hanging on the ladder while flying. Good thing the air was too thin to push her off. Took a while holding the controls down to change course, but I pulled it off. Now, would your average rocket do that? After landing and repacking the chutes, the plane deployed its drills, panels, and radiator before refueling itself. Several days later, I did another flight test with the Dirtblood. I loaded all the tanks up with fuel and oxidizer before using the rapiers only to take off. I relied solely on the rapiers for a while before the oxidizer levels got low enough, then I switched to the NERVs. Once again, doing what it was designed for; flying with a good enough TWR with just NERVs alone. Flying over Duna's canyon as soon as I realized that I was in a suborbital trajectory bearing south - and overshot my target. I had to wait until I got back in the atmosphere to turn around. Finally, I'm heading north again. Picture taken minutes before landing. Need a cheap way to transport tourists and give engineers Duna experience? Here you go.

JEBEDIAH KERMAN'S MISSION LOG: Y47D158 - 3H15M Over 30 years ago, before Bill's and Val's near-fateful trip to Eeloo, the two of them, Bob, and I were among the first kerbals to explore Dres. That was the last time all four of us got past 1,000 kilometers above Kerbin's surface for the same mission. Bill and Val Bob and I Bill and I (INDIVIDUALLY) None with all four of us together. None of us have even left Kerbin's sphere of influence since Bob came back from his rescue mission 19 years ago - which was a while after Bill's and Val's more famously-known Eeloo return - nor did we have any real interest to. We had plenty of rookies on the payroll, so why deny them the chance for experience? BUT NOW, WE'RE COMING OUT While Bill was running Laythe simulations for the Poseidon, I "borrowed" one of them for ascent testing - and to show off to my date that I can pilot big planes as well as the little ones. She expected me to set a sound barrier on fire, but for some reason I could barely crack it before slowing down. I thought Bill and Val would team-smack me for that; Val did slap me, but Bill thanked me for warning him about the problem. He redesigned the plane to reduce overall drag so that the initial ascent won't end with going barely supersonic. Days later, Bill, Val, Bob and I got the news that the four of us - and three other crewmembers - are using the latest Poseidon model for the Neptune IV mission. To top it all off, we'll be transporting three tourists with us that paid for Jool sightseeing (one of them also added a Laythe landing). Bob was especially excited to recover the lost data But also disappointed that we couldn't bring a materials module NEPTUNE IV MANIFEST NAME LEVEL (AS OF Y47D158) ASSIGNMENT JEBEDIAH KERMAN 5 - MISSION COMMANDER - SECONDARY PILOT VALENTINA KERMAN 5 - LIEUTENANT - PRIMARY PILOT BILL KERMAN 5 - CHIEF ENGINEER - SPACE NAVIGATOR BOB KERMAN 5 - CHIEF SCIENCE OFFICER - LAYTHE NAVIGATOR GRALIN KERMAN 3 - SCIENTIST - KERBIN LIASON SHELUS KERMAN 1 - ENGINEER - MEDIC TRAGEE KERMAN 1 - SOFTWARE ENGINEER - GUARDIAN OF THE LOST DATA DEBWIG KERMAN 1 - TOURIST LIZGAN KERMAN 0 - TOURIST MITZER KERMAN 0 - TOURIST I gotta admit, I thought we would flop again in the initial ascent. However, Val finally got it to go past 405 m/s before acceleration resumed. All three tourists and two of the rookies were scared that we were going to catch fire. The one rookie that didn't scream like a baby apparently took the time to read the parts where previous SSTOs look like they're on fire when going that fast in the atmosphere. Besides, as big a daredevil as I am (or at least I was before Bill and Val got stuck), even I know when to hit the "ABORT" button. Finally, a real atmospheric breach. Nice picture for a postcard, huh. Cockpit shot over Kerbin right before making our exit burn to Minmus for refueling. After we refilled our fuel tanks (but only filled the oxidizers enough for Minmus orbital ascent), we ascended to make a 60-km parking orbit above Minmus. I tell you, you can never go wrong with the Flatlands when it comes to Minmus landing spots. Right now, the Neptune IV is parked at a 65-Mm orbit above Kerbin with 4,712 meters per second of delta-V left. As of now, we're still stuck on what to do when we reach Jool's sphere of influence? Which periapsis should we have before making our Pol burn? Should we go for a direct Laythe approach? What? Yes, it's Pol - one of our tourists paid for Pol.

Why would I put parachutes in cargo bays? I probably should get rid of some of the parachutes surrounding the cabin, though. They're only to be use after I use the abortion sequence, which detaches the cabin from the rest of the plane. That many parachutes seems like overkill, so I'll have to cut back. I'm definitely keeping the rear parachutes, which brings me to this. I may remove one or two sets of brakes, but there's no way I'm using open cargo bays for braking. I need something more powerful to slow down a plane that big, especially on the surface of Laythe. With my plane's current design, how am I going to fit and deploy the panels from the cargo bays? Even if I could, I'll be significantly reducing my solar panel intake. To sum it up: NO WAY! After reading @bewing's answer, I took his advice and kept the science in the downward-facing front cargo bay; I also installed a ladder so that the scientist can reach the goo. I then switched antennae and reduced my number of medium TCS units to 1. For the next test, I launched as normal. I then noticed I started to lose speed at around 370 m/s before leveling out my plane. As soon as I got to 400 m/s, I knew I was back in action. I don't know if I actually did better, or just got lucky. I used the thermal overlay on this image because the plane looked like it was covered in a white shock-wave-shaped blanket. Don't you just love the smell of burnt titanium in the morning? If you all want to read more about the Neptune IV, feel free to read the attached Mission Report in the original post.

I already used one - check my earlier post. I was in the middle of typing it when @Lisias beat me to it.

More like him buying a car from what seemed to be a legitimate dealer, only for him to get arrested years later and find out that it was actually stolen. Sure, Matt was technically "in possession of a stolen vehicle," but doesn't the dealer get the blame too for not stopping him from obtaining it - assuming they're not the ones who stole it in the first place? Shouldn't YT get some of the blame for allowing the songs in question to be mislabeled as "Royalty-Free?" More like [snip] biased content. Unfortunately, this also includes KSP videos since they have no political agenda (which is good). Their only agenda is to show off what they can do, regardless if it succeeds or fails. COPPA isn't exactly helping either. KSP is meant for all ages to learn and play, but I doubt kids will understand orbital mechanics or good rocket design nearly as well as people 13 and over. Besides, what exactly qualifies as "for kids" under the new rules? [snip] Whatever happened to "be better parents" or child filters on computers - or simply keeping young children off the internet? That has been heavily debated recently, especially with social media and the abuse of "hate speech algorithms." If Matt can prove that he had reason to believe that the music he used was royalty-free (which I'm sure he can), then the IP owner AND the host will have some serious explaining to do - if not just surrender already. Perjury won't be an option, since that could be debunked. Sure, the IP owner has a legitimate claim that the songs are protected, but Matt should also have a solid claim that at the time, he had no reason to believe he would get in trouble if he used the songs since they were from a royalty-free library. Hmm... Objective: Za bo taj (JUST KIDDING) In all seriousness, though, it's up to us to make sure that Matt shows up on time to his own court date. I don't care if his enemies do; if they don't, then good for him. You sure about that, because thanks to the number of shenanigans [snip] pulled off in recent years, I'm getting the "smiling Grinch face" thinking of ideas to at least disrupt them. You got any websites in mind? Hopefully, not one owned by Sony or Google - or one that panders to the losers that ruined them.

Heavy emphasis on "unknowingly," since someone FALSELY labeled it as copyright-free. The timing of the copyright strike also seems way off to be in any way reliable, if you ask me. Those could be good arguments for Matt's lawsuit: false labels and claim timing. He also has the right to face his accusers in court, where a judge and/or jury can see that they're lying. So why is Matt taking the blame for it - and why now? Why didn't they tell him earlier, like closer to the time/s he posted the video/s in question? And why copyright-strike the entire channel and not just the videos that contain said material? I could say the same thing about people who claim copyright violations when there are none - or about assault/discrimination claims in the real world. False copyright claims, which (like false assault claims) can also be used for EXTORTION, aren't the only type of shenanigans these crooks pulled off. The best example where I live is the deranking, demonetizing, and deplatforming (censoring) of conservative (or at least non-"politically correct") outlets in the United States. That's an explicit violation of one's freedom of speech. If Matt takes this to court and his accusers don't show, his rights would have been violated further since he has the right to confront them. It will also look bad for SonyATV if their representative commits perjury. Then let's have an action plan here. I told Matt via forum DM and Gmail days ago (and DMed his discord just now) that we have his back, and now's the time to prove it.

Correction: I have TWO cargo bays: a downward one in the front, an upward one in the back. Both of these contain the drills and the ISRU unit, respectively, so that I can refuel this bad boy. For further details, read the Neptune Mission Files post I put up earlier. You're right, I probably should put the scientific instruments in the cargo bay; specifically, the front one, where a scientist can reach the goo from the ground. I'm not sure about the Atmospheric Fluid Spectro-Variometer, though, since I don't know if it will work stowed. As for the antenna, I can probably afford to downgrade to an RA-2 since I have extensive relay coverage (pretty much) everywhere. The rear cargo bay has a Convert-O-Tron 250 in it - along with two small ore tanks (enough for 150 capacity). Is it possible for me to place the radiator panels directly on the unit itself and not risk damage from overheating while it and the drill are in operation? If not, then can I just reduce drag by having small TCS panels in a line? Or is one medium TCS enough? There's no way in hell I'm taking the Gigantors off. Aside from the fact that they worked just fine in all the previous tests - and they caused minimal to no drag interference in other SSTO models of mine - I need that kind of power generation (combined with a large capacity) to refuel this plane. For that matter, you think I need to do anything with the aerobrakes? And no, I'm not stupid enough to fly with them out while not landing. "or there has been a slight change in the version of the game and the aero calculations have changed a little bit" Actually, I noticed this weird anomaly in the plane BEFORE I updated to 1.8 today. I thought it would fix the issue, but it either did nothing or screwed me up worse.

I've made this kick-ass SSTO that could get up to 20 people to Laythe. In previous tests, I managed to get to LKO (and Minmus' surface for refueling) and re-enter with no problem. However, after I was done with the ALT-12 Laythe tests, for some reason the Poseidon started to fail. More specifically, it lost thrust and speed as it got to Mach 1 and never got past 400 m/s during the initial ascent. For more details regarding the previous Poseidon tests, read my "Neptune Mission Files" post about them. SPH image of the latest variant CORRECTION ATTEMPT 1 Tried the "low-angle" approach to get to a high enough velocity so that the engines can't stop working CORRECTION ATTEMPT 2 Tried to ascend as fast as possible at a 30-degree angle. Backfired miserably How do I fix this? This plane used to be awesome, and now for some reason it's a "massive flop."

Only as a last resort. After all, if YouTube finally gets shut down, we'll still need some place to watch each other's videos, right? Which brings me to this question (aside from any action plan ideas): Should we try to Save YouTube PROS: We'll get our beloved content-sharing platform back Innocent content creators that have nothing to do with what happened to Matt won't suffer in the end. CONS: Executives may betray us. Will need some kind of "Leverage"-style contingency plan and/or legal agreement Let it live/die on its own Kill it PROS: Revenge Justice for their repeated civil rights violations. They're hurting normal content creators anyway, so YouTube's death may make no significant difference to them CONS: Average everyday content creators (YT victims or not) who don't even know Matt will be hurt as well. We'll have to rebuild on our own

They'd better, unless they want to incur our wrath and have their lives ruined... PERMANENTLY. Oops, too late for that. Pretty much a last-resort plan. If they won't side with us and do what's right - not only for Matt, but for all their previous censored victims - we'll make sure YouTube shuts down forever. If they keep censoring us without reason, we'll censor them too without mercy. We will then welcome our own, new website where we can show our KSP creations in peace. Anyone here feel up for the task?

Nice call-to-arms, but it will take more than that too. Then we should be able to come up with feasible ACTION PLANS against these crackhead losers. And if we can, so can the God of SSTOs himself. Since we work on our kerbal space programs (more or less) individually, imagine what we can do TOGETHER. Any ideas, everyone?