Vagrant203

Tell us about the craft they used and the route you took!

Amateur Radio Operator V203 To: KSP and other agencies Subject: Preliminary analysis of anomalous signals Have been monitoring spaceflight communication out of scientific interest. Recent transmissions have included anomalous encryption, followed by apparent confusion. Anomalous transmissions have been partially decrypted with both ROT13 and ROT10 ciphers. All interested parties can decrypt and verify independently. Will continue to monitor.

K. Never been to Eeloo, but I've taken plenty of readings in The Sun's SoI and they always say "The Sun." Are you sure that's not Community Science or whatever the mod is that lets fans submit science reports? EDIT: Slightly misremembered this entry in the wiki, my bad. https://wiki.kerbalspaceprogram.com/wiki/Kerbol

This is a fan designation, a portmanteau (mashup) of Kerbal and Sol. The game simply calls it The Sun.

1. What about the science data? 2. If you can hit the target that far out, it wouldn't take much more to make it a rescue rather than an execution. 3. Rude.

Concur

The Forgotten Space Program may be good reference.

It has once again been quite a while. I've been playing other games, but have recently returned to KSP with a pure science playthrough. With this new save comes a new generation of Long Service Vessels. Details and screenshots of LSV5e to follow.

Gotta keep your crew fed, after all.

*wordless glee*

That's like exactly opposite my approach. Several of my probes have been named some variant of Rock or Brick because I decided to just fling them up there in the right general direction.

Waitwut

So a funny thing happened on the way to a solar relay net. I'm deploying my first proper relay network because I haven't quite figured out long term life support logistics. KAC is indispensable for this. I've been using it to note times and swap relays as the maneuver nodes arrive. I go for another swap and suddenly I'm staring at a rock. Which, y'know, space rocks are a lot cooler than regular rocks, and this is the first time I've positively identified an asteroid, so cool, right? I head to the tracking station to read up on it. Turns out there are three key facts that put me in a bit of a panic. 1. The object is a class E. 2. It will pass through Kerbin's SoI, with a periapsis of about 15 thousand km. 3. I grabbed contracts for it before realizing: I have no idea WHAT I'M DOING! My very first rock and it's the largest class. I've created a first draft of a vehicle that may be able to capture it, siphon ore, and process it. I'll be crewing it with the rockstars of Kerbal astronautry (or whatever the word is,) the First Four, Jeb, Val, Bill and Bob. I'll need to make provisions for agroponics. Fortunately ISRU technology can synthesize fertilizer. The real trick will be to make sure the farms grow fast enough to replace the supplies consumed, with at least a small surplus. And then I'll have to catch the darn thing. I'll pause for some suggestions and update this thread when the mission itself is executed. This could have gone under the Pathfinder Files, but the act of rendezvous and capture were well outside the scope of that project, especially considering the LSV's would be tuned for efficiency instead of hard thrust. I will be adding entries to Pathfinder Files if I capture the bugger, because I'll definitely turn that rock into an LSV if I catch it. Big if. halp

LSV4a has been decommissioned due to inadequate life support reserves. LSV4b was short-lived as well, with only a scant 1500 ∆v once it had been joined by an ISRU refinery, despite using the largest 2.5m tank and four of the largest 1.875m tanks. 4c is being brainstormed, likely going back to a smaller form factor for all parts, even the refinery despite the hit to efficiency. I have definitively settled on excluding the research lab and trimming the crew to four, two pilots and one each in science and engineering specializations.

LSV4a is go! This marks the first LSV I've designed with the REMEMBER modpack (although I left out KCT because *fart noise*.) Obligatory glamour shot Better details Stats and other technical details There's a "Pier" station core beneath all that, crewed by two pilots for the probe control goodness. I've included storage for all three resources added through USI-LS, a small greenhouse and two recyclers. The engines are, as you may have guessed, good old Poodles. There's a central FL-T800 and two outboard, as well as two outboard tank adapters going from 1.25m to 1.875m. There's a midsize docking port on the central tank as well.

As is only right and proper.

I find it fitting that an engineer is the first to move in. Who better to work the kinks out?

I'm removing BDB. There's just... Too much.

Because I have a new computer, Pathfinder is now generation 4.

Great news: got my new computer! Not so great news: loaded all the mods and the mk16 chute doesn't show up in staging and there's no deploy button in the right click menu. What the hell. Also, this construction time bull excrements is just... Nah. I want no part of it.

I'll post some screenshots later, but Pathfinder 3a's command/propulsion module has been launched. 3a is an attempt to fill the same roles with simpler technology. This model utilizes fixed small solar panels, jr-sized docking ports, and perhaps the biggest difference lies in the fuel tanking and mounting. Other LSVs have utilized the spaced decouplers and 2.5m fuel tanks. This version has side mounted FL-T800 tanks and a central 1.875 half-tank. The downsizing has led me to consider other methods of cutting down on mass and cost. Generation 3 will explore the use of a four-kerb crew and will also forgo adding a research lab to the vessel, as well as swapping to the lighter refinery once unlocked. More research will be devoted to communication so that experimental data can be transmitted back home and the crew can immediately rerun the experiment to store the results in "hardcopy."

Whilst unlocking a few nodes of research, I've found a part provided by Stockalike Stations that provides a probe control point, in Advanced Flight Control. This would provide the first step of Pathfinder 3a, with the next being to unlock docking nodes through Miniaturization. It's likely I will also wait for Heavy Rocketry and Fuel Systems before deploying the first section.

*long exasperated drawn out sigh* Another save has suffered the damned "Value cannot be null" death. Therefore, this post marks a transition to generation 3 and perhaps a bit of a hiatus for the Pathfinder Files.

It is with great pleasure that I announce that this space program has successfully researched ISRU technology. The final stretch of research was made possible by data retrieved by a Mun lander, which bore a pilot, scientist, and a tourist. A 250-scale refinery has been delivered to the Pathfinder 2b in Minmus orbit, and will soon be followed by another small section dedicated to solar panels and thermal control systems, with a few high-capacity batteries for good measure, along with a drill lander with a probe core and seating for an engineer. Model 2c is already on the drawing board, retaining the functionality of 2b including the refinery. In addition, there will be a centrifugal habitat section to help the crew maintain some level of adaptation to gravity.

It's been long enough that I'm writing a new post as opposed to editing the beginning operations into the previous. The tug drone mentioned in the previous post was not very effective in its first iteration. I have yet to design a new one, but I do have the large inline cans of monoprop unlocked now. I've also managed to unlock nuclear propulsion. This will be heavily relied upon for the C variant of this generation's Pathfinder. The class B will remain within Kerbin's SoI, while the C will be going interplanetary. Also benefitting from nuclear propulsion is the Bloodhound science lander. So far, the Bloodhound has landed on Minmus, and returned to orbit, three times. With the extra margin of ∆v, it was decided to feature the full complement of unlocked science useful for landers. The inbound trip and the first landing were enough to stock the lab with its data quota, and the other two had their data transferred to a sample return drone. Said sample return had managed to pass beyond transmission range at apoapsis after leaving Minmus SoI. Some confusion regarding control points burned enough of the return's ∆v that this had effectively stranded it for the moment. However, I sent a Mk1-3 pod with nuke engines to guide it home, manned by everyone's trusty pilots Jeb and Val. Mission Control got tired of the sibling squabbles early on, but they remained mission effective and brought home 723 points of Science! and some strays they picked up on the way back, and managed not to ruin the vacation of the three tourists they brought along for the ride, probably due in large part to being in a separate pod.