ShaggyTed

The 3v3rDr0n3 (My first attempt at flight in other atmospheres) So after quite a few endeavours now and a great transportable buggy I built for the last ship, I realized how slow exploring in a buggy is lol! So I have decided to make a science drone plane for other planets. Its untested in any atmosphere other than Kerbin but what I ended up with I was quite happy. Whether it will fly anywhere else is another question entirely lol Being on Ps4 I have to hope it works or it is gonna be a serious lesson learned and a waste of time Lol I also wanted to build it to be able to explore any atmosphere which meant turning it into a seaplane basically. So this is where I have gotten so far....... The first iteration flew surprisingly well and weighed 12 tons but barely broke 200m/s and flew stable. The problem was learning what actually provided the best bouyancy because it could land but not reliably take back off from water, usually nosediving into the water and scattering itself at 60m/s. Eventually I made the pontoons from ncs and mk1 tanks. At one point I even used pistons to elevate the plane above water but I still couldnt solve nosedive issue! After several more attempts of redesigning the floats and trying to reduce drag this is the final version that flies incredibly well, and can take off from water or land at 45m/s with little ontroller input and flaps deployed. The fit I had trying to get the prop rotations and pitches correct and finding best angles to set the Kals at was an absolute nightmare, almost made me regret going electric and prop Lol I made a "reactor" for it in the first bay consisting of 24 rtgs with non scientist reset experiments and the kal1000's crammed in the back bay. Even used the barometric sensor to look like a cooler for it Lol I was even happy I managed to keep the weight down to less than 10t. It took a lot of tinkering and struggling to keep drag down from all the equipment crammed in the bays. I even made a build that had the central fuselage built out of 2 fairings and Ibeams to reduce drag but that didnt work. After several days this final version I couldnt believe was more stable in flight and had a higher top speed than any version I had built at a very happy 252m/s! With the drag remaining and no easy way to reduce it, its all I could squeeze out of it. Water performance is quite nice with even somehow managing to accidentally get it sitting just right, that the back props nip the water and can push it around at 5m/s in a trolling mode of sorts. It rides on the water at speeds of up to 60m/s before wanting to become airborne with flaps or about 100m/s without flaps deployed. Kinda fun but steer like a super tanker at thise speeds lol The next step I am going to be working on will be a lifter. When i realized i would not be able to cram this into a fairing at 11m wide, I decided I will launch it from the moon. I mainly decided this because with no way to just hyperedit/telelort and test the craft on PS4 I am going to make this just a little bit easier. Tomorrow I decide on where to take it, with Duna probably being the easiest choice and probably the most disappointing with its thin atmosphere. No idea if it generates enough lift or not even with a deployable flap design. Laythe and Jool I have only ever done flybys of so I have no idea of what to expect from trying. So let me know your thoughts and if ya have any questions about the build ask away. I really wish console could upload craft so others could try it but alas this is the best I could do. Fly safe y'all and keep the Kraken fed!!!

So I chose to go to Jool, it was hard to pass up when I got this easy intercept.... So Bob gives the ship another once over before departing to Jool.... Knowing very little of anything about the Jool system it is decided to land on Pol for the refuel....on first orbit the crew realizes that the terrain is extremely rough and finding a spot to land will be risky... With refueling underway, the crew decides its time to do a selfie on Pol....with a pole...... Once full on fuel and in orbit it is agreed that a slingshot around Jool will get them home.... After 8 yrs and 24 days the crew safely returns to Kerbin with fuel to spare....enough to recrew and restock experiments and head back out... (Its ashame this pic turned out like this because the corona in that screenshot looked awesome on my tv lol) So as the crew awaits its taxi home, R&D is gnawing at the teeth to get that data and build the F class.....

Thanks, but what I learned here helped make it possible. The E class that has already left dres for Jool I am even more proud of. Soon as it gets to Jool I will upload a post of its progress. Thanks again for the compliment!

Today Meeh Aerospace is finally going interplanetary and to signal the arrival of this momentous event, engineering presents the newest class of vessel.... The KSS Kerbalprise D1b This vessel is another Nerv build and is equipped with living quarters for 6 , full science compliment, and a rover with full science compliment and medium scanning arm. Jeb, Bob, and Helrick are the senior crew for this mission and they will be bringing Cernand, Valentina, and Dinie along for experience in future interplanetary missions. The crew become familiar with the apsects of the new explorer class and prepare for escape from Kerbin SOI....as Bob inspects the ouside of the ship he calls over comms, "Hey guys, you see there is ANOTHER ship attached to this thing!?!?!?!? Looks like they expect us to land with that...that....THING!!!" The crew contemplates on the looooong trip to Duna if this KerbBrain idea the enginners have to save fuel will actually work!!! Let alone land at both bodies........... The crew prepare and enter Ikes SOI and seperate from the new "Mothership" as Jeb coined it and yells at Valentina, "Don't get any bright ideas and go for a joy ride!!! We are a looooong way from home!!!" The landing goes far smoother than Jeb expected almost having autopilot of a sort with the new prograde and retrograde locks. As they land the debate becomes which body wpuld be better for the new deployed science....Bob presents his argument, "Surely Duna would be better because it is BIGGGER....BIGGER is BETTER!!!" Helrick speaks up and says, "BUT from a fuel standpoint we could technically jettision the extra weight here!!!" Bob stomps his boot "Bigger is better because bigger equals more research!!! End of discussion!!" Bob decides to scare Helrick back into his way of thinking lol They redock with the mothership and head for Duna.... Upon circularizing at Duna they realize the lander used over 85% of its fuel on ascent....the decision is made to refuel from the "Mothership" and continue the mission...... Once on the ground the crew get hard to work deploying the science tech....meanwhile Bob and Helrick go for another ride...... Once the crew returned, as enjoyable as the D1b lander was to fly, the decision was made it must be left behind to conserve fuel.... They say farewell to Duna and begin the long journey back to Kerbin hoping the rendevous ship is on time......someone at ground control thought it would be funny to give Jeb some Taco Night MRE's... sigh R&D revels at the sheer amount of data brought back from Duna and begin turning the gears on the next interplanetary mission..."If we can do Duna AND Ike then surely we can do Dres!!!!.....get to work!!!" The Kerbalprise E class was then commissioned.....Duh duh duuuuuuuuuhhhhh Side note: To those who struggle with piloting rovers especially small wheelbase rovers, I stick a small reaction wheel on the rover and set it to SAS only....I could make almost full speed turns and stay entirely level while also changing this resulted in no longer pitching forward with the throttle. That aspect only helped me greatly in PS4 and piloting my rovers. Hopefully that helps someone so until the Dres episode.....Fly safe!!! Or the appearance of it.....

With the mission to both moons complete engineering rolls out the next craft in the Meeh Aerospace fleet... The KSS Kerbalprise D1b Meeh Aerospace is finally shooting for interplanetary in the next post and the crew can't wait!!!

Third and last biome hop on Dres and it had best yield at 6.4%. It took just under 2 days to fill up. 50k orbit and after processing the 141 ore I mined during time accel refuel, I ended up with 6868 dv returned to orbit. By far the best I have ever hauled back up. Now to decide if I try for Jool system flyby and maybe 1 refuel or go home and restock on science experiments, swap out crew, and head for Moho lol Decisions decisions....... Shag

So mission was a success to Dres and on this landing I did night side to test my nonstop stop mining capabilities. I got a crap shot at 5% concentration but in Lf+O mode on the ISRU I can not only maintain full oxidizer to the fuel cells but also fill while operating. It is letting me switch between Lf only and Lf+O modes to maintain constant refuel. Scary landing in the dark lol Lights didnt show surface until about 300 meters and couldnt tell it was a slope until 100 meters....it came down safe none the less so happy with that lol

I built this lil bugger as a sub assembly that can be added to any of my 2.5m craft. Rover weighs in at just over half a ton and just under a ton as an assembly. Can be unloaded and loaded for as many stops as I want or need it for. Includes medium scanning arm along with basic science compliment and 2 kerbal seats or okto2 for self control. Most recent lander I had it attached to... And deployed with Bob at the wheel Been very useful to me and maybe a design you could try yourself, best of luck to ya Shag

This is my first craft I am posting here and a part of my Mystery Inc. Space Solutions playthrough on PS4. We damn near MISS everytime lol This is a stock craft utilizing parts from the DLCs. This craft went through a few evolutions as you can see by the designation and just like Preparation H you will wonder what happened to A through E. The last 3 versions ended up yielding a craft I was truly surprised with and hope to be able to see all of the non atmosphere bodies. It has a full science compliment along with 3 complete sets of science equipment for atleast the first few stops. 2 large drills, 1 large ISRU and 1 set of medium heat sinks at 11% saturation, refueled it on Mun in 6 hrs. It holds 18.2k LF and 220 oxidizer to power the 8 fuel cell arrays...realize this is probably excessive but testing always had skewed results. There are also 4 rtgs to cover keeping everything topped off during flight. It weighs in at just a hair over 150t and with 8 Nervs it has a TWR of 1.97 and 7.2k DV at Mun Launchpad. It was launched under its own power from that location. Due to part count issues and fps I kept this build as light as I could at 123 parts. Fps was the demise of the E3e which did successfully make it and land on Dres. This is a SS of the E3e and its original mining startup at Dres before my fps plummeted for some reason using the drills which prompted the comissioning of the E3f and the same current outfitting. I'm sure it could use improvements and obviously is why I am posting here but I am really looking for an opinion also on if this would keep capable of visiting the no atmosphere bodies in a single run. I'm not sure I can even make Moho or Eeloo. Unfortunately with PS4 the only gravity assist i can do consistently is Mun to Kerbin and exit SOI. It is currently the route this craft is taking to Dres. So sorry this was soo long winded but I really did enjoy this build as of so far. Im just unsure I can manage to see them all with this craft and no grav assists. Side note, those pylons were a nightmare to design and the E3e had to have external struts added to them to keep the from krakening lol I' m not sure I will try it with the F class when it is commissioned. Thanks for reading Shag Going to post a mysterious pic of the MISS Kerbalprise D1b. Its lander inspired me to build the E class. I'll post the pics of that build and details of its landing at both Ike and Duna as soon as I upload pics.

After many days of research and assembly (no testing....this is the way) engineering presents the newest flagship for a trip to Mun and Minmus in a single expedition.... The KSS Kerbalprise C1a The engineers take note to mention that all chutes ARE included this time with new drag chute technology.....the lander comes with a rover built with full science compliment including scanning arm for research on crater impacts and surface scanner for active biome location data. Side note: this was my largest complete craft yet and it barely got up there...entirely stable going up but it took awhile to get to there for sure. The lander also performed well and the loading and unloading of the buggy went incredibly well so I will use this design again. In the wee hours of the morning, Jeb and Bob depart for Mun and Minmus. Achieving orbit the crew starts their burn for the first stop....The return to Mun After achieving orbit at Mun the lander is deployed......on descent Jeb and Bob realize they are missing something important....an engineer to deploy the new solar panels for experiments to remain on Mun! Bob looks at Jeb and says, "Looks like double duty for you today, get those solar panels setup!!" "Time to get another Mun stone and study some craters....To the buggy!!!!" KSC, this is MunRaker 3....we are returning to lander and departing for KSS Kerbalprise rendevous....Next stop Minmus!!"

Knock knock Kerbalprise, lets get out of here.... Down safely on the ground the research provided from Minmus and a few of its biomes will lead to some nice technological advances... As Jeb and Bob gasp at the fresh Kerbin air, the contemplate the many ways the engineers will pay for forgetting the chutes TWICE!!! In the meantime, with the outrageous sign on bonus required by Kerbin Law to all new hires, we have decided to take the route of rescuing more employees from other corporations failed endeavours and recruiting them instead.......Kerlennials will be the end of this world.....facepalm.......

As KSS Kerbalprise returns to Kerbin orbit the rescue mission departs, far too early lol Valentina being the only pilot with rendevous experience launches prematurely but still manages a 1 hour rendevous....."We gotta get some rescue missions going, not sure that new guy knows we aren't union....he is never here sigh....we will check the skies for any fellow kerbals in need of help...." This is KSS Kerbalprise, how about getting us down first, we do have all that juicy research from Minmus.....would hate to see it go to waste......GET US DOWN NOW!!!!! Three weeks with Jeb after taco night has been Kell!!!!!

KSC, this is MunRaker 2 over....we have touchdown on Minmus over....Repeat touchdown on Minmus.... "Hey Bob, they want some of that green stone for fuel research, grab it!!!" KSC this is MunRaker 2, we are departing for KSS Kerbalprise rendevous over.....better have that rescue there over....quicker i get to those engineers the better!!! over...... Side note: this was my most difficult rendevous lol I was pampered in my first playthrough not having tried rendevous until I had leveled pilots and better drones....no target lock was a nightmare for me. The slightest bit off marker and then it was try to figure out which way I was drifting coming at port.....several bounces and almost worst on one approach...glad its over with lol

Today the 27th day of Year one we embark on a journey to our furthest moon, Minmus.....Godspeed KSS Kerbalprise.... We have achieved orbit and ejection for Minmus is a go over.... KSC this is KSS Kerbalprise over....We have achieved Minmus orbit over....Repeat Minmus orbit achieved over.....Spacewalk commenced to do science and give MunRaker 2 a once over... KSC this is KSS Kerbalprise, upon embarking MunRaker 2 we have found that the engineers must hate this program over....they failed to install chutes on KSS Kerbalprise yet AGAIN!!!!!! over.....please have rescue mission available for pur return over......AGAIN over..... MunRaker 2 on approach for landing over .....contact after touchdown over....

By the 26th day of Year 1, engineering has rolled out the newest Meeh Aerospace Flagship........ "We gave her the new Mainsail and Bobcat engines!!!!! It will have more thrust than Jebediah after taco night!!! It also has our newest docking port, RCS, and retractable solar technologies.....The Mun gave us valuable advances so we all suggest B1a have its maiden voyage be the moon of Minmus....." The KSS Kerbalprise B1a Next launch will be departure for Minmus, with Jebediah at the helm and Bob as resident scientist, on the 27th day of Year 1.....