DaveyJ576

Saturday at 07:36 PM

1 minute ago, GoldForest said:

Nice!

I would recommend using more of a shuttle entry profile though. No more than 25 degrees nose up and lower the nose to about 10 degrees once most of reentry is done. 40 is a little extreme, not to mention the lift you'll get off it!

Funny thing is though, I didn't need the extra lift! Darn near overshot the runway as it was! :lol:

Saturday at 07:22 PM

TITAN/X-15

I kitbashed a launcher for the X-15 based on the Titan II. It took a lot of testing to get the parameters set right, but in the end she flies beautifully.

Spoiler

It is a standard Titan II first stage (with the upper tank half fueled), topped with an empty 2nd stage tank (no engines and no decoupler). A Titan III control unit sits atop the 2nd stage tank, with a Tweakscaled Soltan nosecone. The wings were necessary for adequate control with the X-15 on the side. They are Tweakscaled Stock units. At first I did not have the 2nd stage tank and used only the 1st stage. It was not controllable as the rocket ran low on fuel. Uncontrollable pitch ups and tumbling resulted. The extra length along with the wings and placing the X-15 close to the top of the rocket did the trick. I used a Titan III SRB decoupler to attach the X-15. I had to fly the X-15 without the lower ventral fin, but in actuality the X-15 flew many missions without it.

Spoiler

The launch site was a 2.5x KSRSS Cape Canaveral LC-20 with the destination being the runway at the Wallops Flight Facility on Virginia's eastern shore. Mechjeb did an adequate job of controlling the flight, with the roll program at launch being a bit jerky, but controllable. The stack flew well up to staging, which was very smooth. This was a steep 50 degree climb out, but that was necessary to avoid overshooting Wallops.

Spoiler

The XLR-99 pushed the vehicle to 150 km without a problem, and the pilot, Colonel Steve Austin, gathered some science from the science bay and the wingtip pods before buttoning up for reentry.

Spoiler

Reentry occurred with a 40 degree pitch up, and Col. Austin was able to hold that for a bit, before running into some instability in the transonic regime. He pulled it out and found himself pretty close to target, although a XLR-99 relight was needed to get himself lined up properly.

Spoiler

A sudden wind gust (yep, that's what we will call it :wink: ), pushed the aircraft right of centerline, but Austin recovered nicely and afterwards posed proudly with his aircraft.

The booster offers a lot of flight possibilities, as it has plenty of margin for performance. High speed flights or even cross country flights seem entirely possible. Cool stuff @CobaltWolf!

June 14

12 minutes ago, GoldForest said:

Ah. Okay. Hmmm. How'd we get it down for the shuttle or was that just as "bumpy"?

It is my understanding that the issues were related to speed. The very high speeds of the M-21/D-21 and the XB-70/X-15 greatly magnified the issue. The 747/shuttle combo was fairly low speed/low altitude and thus it was manageable. Remember that the shuttle had to be fitted with a tail cone for ferry flights, and on the ALT flights without a tail cone the 747 struggled with vibration and drag issues.

June 14

3 hours ago, GoldForest said:

I use Blk 2 SM, but I think ETS has blk 3/5 asrdvark tugs on their modules.

I want the extra fuel and mono though. The RCS on the modules would work with Asrdvark's rcs from what I've read as well. Unless I misunderstood something.

Yeah, XB-70 is depicted with X-15 on its back on a spinal launcher. Like SR-71 with its drone.

Omg... this was so close to becoming reality apparently. Now, I know it's just the two side by side, but I would like to think they were doing it to get an idea of what modifications the xb-70 would need.

I am running the risk of raining on your parade, but Dennis Jenkins and Tony Landis stated in their book that the XB-70/X-15 combo was never given serious consideration. While the advantages of this type of air launch were well understood, the high speed physics of separating the X-15 mounted in piggyback mode scared the crap out of everyone. There had been a fatal accident with the SR-71/D-21 combo at separation, and even the successful releases were always quite sporty. After the initial concept look, the XB-70/X-15 idea was quickly dropped and never revisited.

Even the drops from the B-52 were not smooth. The X-15 got a bit squirrely right at release due to air flow off the trailing edge of the 52’s wing. The X-15 pilot had to fight it for a few seconds to prevent a potentially disastrous recontact with the 52’s fuselage and wing.

On the other hand this is KSP after all, and I don’t think Jeb et al. are worried about a little bumping and shaking… :lol: :unsure:

Correction… It was actually an A-12 variant called the M-21 that launched the D-21 drone. The A-12 was the precursor to the SR-71.

June 12

On 6/11/2024 at 6:24 AM, Blufor878 said:

The more I learn about the folks on this thread, the less qualified I feel to be here. @Invaderchaos works on rockets for real, @DaveyJ576 is retired military, and now this. Makes the mod feel that much more special.

With that in mind, I predict @GoldForest is a blood relative of Philip Bono, because that would explain a lot!

Wow! I consider that to be a sincere compliment and I appreciate it. Thank you.

It may surprise you to know that my area of military expertise is in submarines, the exact opposite of rockets. If you are interested in that sort of thing (I apologize for going off topic here) check out my website: PigBoats.COM

My only real spaceflight qualifications come from watching Neil and Buzz on TV as a kid, and an insatiable curiosity about spaceflight that came from that experience. I am a well-informed amateur and nothing more. That is why I enjoy KSP/BDB so much. It allows me to exercise that fascination anytime I want.

BTW, I have always thought submariners would make GREAT astronauts. (Insert shout out to Steve Bowen and Kayla Barron here) :lol:

June 8

6 hours ago, Zorg said:

Variants on github now

We also have grey, white, and a slight variation on the IRL atlas colours on the RD180 engine mount. I put some accent colours in there for fun but its a separate switch to the metal ring so you can keep the shroud all white if you want.

You know, I honestly never noticed the old Atlas-style avionics fairing on the Atlas V until I saw these renderings. Just to satisfy myself I went back to the NSF pages and sure enough there it was. Excellent work as always @Zorg. The entire BDB dev team should take a great deal of pride in how far the team’s modding skills have developed over the years. I started flying BDB back in 2019 when you were still on some of the old models. The photo-realism of what you produce now is simply stunning. Thank you! @CobaltWolf, @Invaderchaos, @Rodger

May 28

8 hours ago, Ganyymeede said:

I love Gemini and I will always love Gemini.

#

Hide contents

Bonus Apollo things:

https://imgur.com/2JUIwn

Very well done! Your TUFX profiles rock!

May 24

2 minutes ago, GoldForest said:

Little config hacking will fix that.

Done! I also lightened the LM ascent stage a tad. It is way heavy. Difficult to make it to lunar orbit in KSRSS as it stands originally.

May 24

5 hours ago, GoldForest said:

The Apollo D-2 comes from the Alternate Apollo mod, which has sadly been abandoned it seems. The parts still work in 1.12 though. Heh, perhaps BDB could take it over or incorporate their own D-2, but I doubt it. If Cobalt had any interest in the D-2, I think we would have gotten in during the Saturn/Apollo update.

It’s a great mod, but it needs a little TLC to bring it up to BDB visual standards. Overall it flies well, but beware of bringing it back from the moon. The heatshield can’t handle lunar reentry speeds. One of the best things about the mod is that the 1962 “Bug” LM is included! It interfaces well with BDB.

May 15

1 hour ago, GoldForest said:

Shuttle-Saturn Part 1. (Ran out of time to finish the mission.)

Will Jeb and his four friends make it the Mun's surface? Will Bob stop freaking out about their snack supplies? Will Valentina ever get the chance to do a sick backflip off the LM? Find out next time, on Kerbin Ball Z!

Full album: Imgur: The magic of the Internet

The Flat Kerbin Society will claim these next two photos are fake CGI renders. I assure you, they are not.

Two LMs and extra fuel in one launch? Seriously impressive job of rigging there shipmate!

May 11

2 hours ago, Pappystein said:

Yes, I have done that too with JNSQ. I did a MLV launch though with 4 UA1208 SRMs and Drylab.   I got it into a highly eccentric Munar orbit.   The S-IVC was max MS-IVC strech and the MS-II-396 was also a stretched stage.

I chose a highly eliptical orbit on purpose for maximum communication time since I had no com-sats orbiting the Mun

Err, why not use the S-IVC concept with back to front S-IV hulls, a propulsion hull and then the Skylab with the S-IVC docking collar in between.   Obviously I am talking IRL S-IVC not the ETS S-IVC.    You have the delta V for a S-IVC on the launch yes?

The increase in the fineness ratio would also improve transonic+ performance in Atmosphere (not that KSP models that)

**EDITED**

And S-IVC was in development for the C-1/C-2 Tinker-toy ship to the Moon... so even if you have a point of Divergence to choose C-8 over any other option, the base engineering was done on S-IVC and docking... maybe not fuel transfer, but alteast docking and daisy-chaining.   So a launch with a S-IVC attached to a Drylab Skylab is 100% in both Timelines as a possibility/probability.

Do you have a visual representation of the S-IVC that you are referring to? What were the engines, J-2s?

May 5

I have kitbashed a Titan II first stage derived launcher for a side mounted X-15. I am still tweaking in the design, but I did successfully fly a Cape Canaveral to Wallops mission and put her down on land, just short of the runway. Am having a weird substantial pitch up transient just as the booster is running out of propellent and haven’t figured out why yet. Once I have it dialed in I will post pictures.

May 5

30 minutes ago, Zorg said:

I believe I fixed this 3 days ago? Did you update since then?

Nope! My download is four days old. Missed it by that much! LOL. Thanks.

May 5

@Zorg, for the Atlas LR-89 booster engine, you have two of the engine selections that are the same. There are two buttons for the NA3 version and none for the NA5. The LR-105 is okay. FYI.

May 4

31 minutes ago, NuclearAlchemist said:

Quick question: How do I install this?

Download from Github (see the original post on page one for the link), unzip, copy the Bluedog_DB folder that is in the Gamedata folder, paste it into your Gamedata folder. It is literally that easy. The most current dev version is the 1.14-Development branch. Be advised that some elements of that branch may not be finished. The full release is Master branch, which is also downloadable via CKAN, but you won’t have all of the newest stuff.

May 4

5 hours ago, Zorg said:

i'll take a closer look at what kind of instrumentation was on the SCORE nose and the rocket avionics pods. Might need a small reaction wheel in the nose cone regardless just for gameplays sake though.

Im not particularly keen on yet another custom experiment for something so basic but I'll see if there is an option for a custom UI option for transmission.

Thanks! Don’t sweat the message thing. If it is a pain don’t bother.

May 3

@Zorg, having a great time with the new Atlas parts! One question so far... the Atlas SCORE doesn't seem to have any attitude control once the engine cuts off, i.e. no reaction wheels. Is this intentional? I fly it to orbit using the classic Mechjeb profile and it will not maneuver to the node necessary to complete the burn to orbit. I added a set of reaction wheels and it works great.

Also, how difficult would it be to add a nifty little message to display when you click the "Transmit Data" button? Perhaps a shortened version of Eisenhower's speech that it transmitted IRL?

Thanks.

May 2

@Zorg, how will the new Atlas parts effect my existing Atlas craft files? Will the new stuff cause conflicts with my craft files? I have no problem deleting them as I enjoy the build process. Thanks.

May 2

TITAN 3A

The Lincoln Laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology produced a series of communications test satellites in the mid to late 1960's. These craft were intended to test out techniques and technology for future military communications satellites, and thus the effort was sponsored by the U.S. Air Force. At about the time that the first two sats were being completed the Air Force was putting into service the Titan 3 program which was supposed to be a standardized, flexible, and low-cost space launch vehicle. The initial version was the Titan 3A, which consisted of a Titan II core vehicle structurally strengthened to handle the coming side mounted solid rocket boosters, topped by a new upper stage called the Transtage. The first two flights did not carry a payload and were intended to test the new Transtage third stage. The third flight carried the first Lincoln satellite, but it was not entirely successful due to a fault in the Star 13 kick motor attached to the satellite.

On May 6, 1965 the fourth and final test flight of the Titan 3A took place from LC-20 at Cape Canaveral. Further flights of the 3A were not needed as the program was moving on to the SRM boosted Titan 3C. The payload for this mission was the second Lincoln Experimental Satellite (LES-2), and a simple radar calibration spacecraft, a reflective sphere named the Lincoln Calibration Satellite (LCS-1). Launch, liftoff, and the flight through staging went well. The Transtage inserted itself and the payload into a 1200 km parking orbit.

Spoiler

After insertion into orbit, LCS-1 was released, followed shortly after by LES-2 and its Star 13 kick motor. The kick motor pushed LES-1 into an elliptical orbit where it extended its antennas and began its mission. LES-2 is long dead, but LCS-1 is the oldest spacecraft still in use, regularly being pinged by military defense radars so that they can be properly calibrated.

Spoiler

My kitbash of the LES used a Coatl Toreka core, with stock solar panels and structural elements around it. I picked a variety of antennas to give it some functionality. Admittedly it is a bit bigger than real life, as I am not well versed in scaling. The LCS sphere is a Near Future tank with a radial decoupler attached to it, which was rather difficult to get in the right spot on the SAF fairing base. I love the utility of the Agena, but the Transtage is a handy little upper stage with a lot of capability, and it looks cool in its stubby way. All in all a fun build, showcasing a little-known Titan variant. Now, onto @Zorg's new Atlas stuff! Can't wait!

April 19

MERCURY JUPITER

In the late afternoon of October 19, 1961, NASA launched the final suborbital mission of Project Mercury. Mercury Jupiter-2 was intended to put a Mercury spacecraft on a high speed, high altitude flight as a final test of the heatshield prior to the start of the orbital missions. Air Force Captain Michael Alfred Robert Sampson and his spacecraft "Delta 7" flew a highly successful mission, despite some minor technical issues that delayed the launch and resulted in a twilight splashdown 1450 miles downrange, 700 miles northeast of Puerto Rico.

Spoiler

After clearing some issues with the booster, the Launch Director made the call for the late afternoon launch, clearing it with NASA HQ and the Navy recovery forces. The launch and ride up hill went without a hitch.

Spoiler

The spacecraft separated from the Jupiter booster on time, with the posigrade rockets pushing it clear. Sampson immediately rotated to retrograde and conducted a goo experiment. He had a beautiful view of the Atlantic and the northern Caribbean islands through the periscope as they passed below.

Spoiler

Retrofire occurred 30 seconds prior to apoapsis, with the maximum altitude reached being 149 km. A clean separation of the retro package occurred and Sampson endured a crushing 9.5 Gs for a few seconds as the spacecraft entered the thickest part of the atmosphere.

Spoiler

Twilight over the Atlantic provided a beautiful backdrop as the drogue stabilized the falling Delta 7. A HSS-1 Seabat helicopter from the USS Lake Champlain captured a memorable photo of Delta 7 descending under her main parachute, with the landing bag fully deployed. The antenna fairing can be seen in the background, coming down under the now discarded drogue chute. Everyone at the Space Task Group, NASA, and the astronaut corps was very happy with the flight and were looking forward to the orbital flights with the Atlas.

April 15

2 hours ago, Zorg said:

Box of balloon tank shaped Lego for all your Atlas building needs. Even if not mentioned all historical variants can be built accurately with correct combination of these tanks.

Cylindrical extension tank raceways can be switched to be open ended for stacking since some variants need one underneath a conical tank and of course lets you use them in any combination you like as well.

Very impressive work @Zorg. Really looking forward to this. @Friznit, looks like you have some work here for the Wiki, but for a good reason!

April 15

19 hours ago, Richmountain112 said:

Any plans to make the Gemini heatshields more like the stock ones (if they aren't already)? Last time I tried sending a Gemini spacecraft with the BDB heatshield, it exploded during reentry.

This sounds kinda dumb but I'm planning on sending a Gemini spacecraft to Duna (with or without MOL) btw

I have flown hundreds of Gemini missions with the BDB heatshield with no issues. Could you be more specific as to what you are doing?

April 15

54 minutes ago, CobaltWolf said:

Update - My copy of Hypersonic has arrived and it is INCREDIBLE. I only got to flip through it for a moment but I don't think I've ever bought a reference this dense, with this much detail and this many beautiful images.

But that's not all - a friend ( @Sgt.Shutesie) was able to send a copy of the Photo Scrapbook as well and it should be here soon.

If you like that one, try the space shuttle set. Imagine Hypersonic multiplied by three! It is mind blowing!

April 11

For those of you interested in the X-15 (who isn’t???), I can highly recommend the book Hypersonic: The Story of the North American X-15 by Dennis R. Jenkins and Tony Landis. It is THE authoritative reference to the aircraft and program, no other book on the subject is necessary, except perhaps for their companion book, the X-15 Photo Scrapbook, a collection of photographs that they weren’t able to fit into the book. Both books are out of print, but copies can be found for reasonable prices. Jenkins is also the author of the three volume magnum opus Space Shuttle: Developing an Icon 1972-2013. The X-15 book has an exhausting amount of detail, but is well written and readable.

March 31

43 minutes ago, OrbitalManeuvers said:

Using EngineIgnitor for a few months ruined me forever - I can't un-know that the sustainer has a single ignition, making PVG a must. Now I'm stuck and still use PVG even when I don't have engineIgnitor installed. *accepts nerd award*

I've also noticed on my system that leaving the skirt on for too long compounds the shallow ascent issue, but getting rid of it a little earlier adjusts the angle upwards around the same time as that 2nd pitch phase. I'm not sure why Jso picked 4g, and I can't recall if Zorg has said anything about it, but for me 4g is a little too late with PVG. I think I'm about 30 seconds earlier with 3.7g.

I believe that 4g was picked for booster skirt sep because that is an authoritative structural limit for payloads. Anything higher than that and you risk damaging your satellite, or your living pilot. Admittedly, Al Shepard withstood 6.3g going uphill and 11g for a short period on reentry on MR-3, but both peaks lasted just a few seconds, and he was barely functional during those times. Sustained 4g is something else altogether.

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