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Leganeski

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  1. Leganeski
    Are the orbital eccentricity and SOI radius of Grannus supposed to be changed when using JNSQ_Rescale_1X (and not GPP)? Currently, there is a patch for integration with JNSQ at 2.5x and 10x scales, but nothing at stock scale.
  2. Leganeski
    These planets look great, and occupy an area which I agree was previously neglected too much. Would there be any problems using it with a system replacer pack (such as GPP) as long as the central star is about the same mass as Kerbol and there aren't any existing planets in the way?
  3. Leganeski
    I have found that just turning the engine gimbals way down (to about 20-30%) fixes wobbling in a lot of cases, especially with long rockets.
  4. Leganeski
    These changes look great! Now I can finally land on Calefact with only a reasonable risk of overheating! Wait, Gelis was untextured? Its terrain seemed a little bland, but I can't believe it looked as good as it did.
  5. Leganeski
    When I say "terrain artifact", I mean an irregularity with the physical planet itself. It looks like there's a spike at the pole because there really is a spike at the pole, which can be seen and interacted with on the ground. The spike is part of Kerbin's actual terrain as defined by JNSQ, which is why you're seeing it on a clean JNSQ installation. The terrain glitch is always present. However, from the picture, my guess is that a low texture quality setting is causing the problem to appear much worse than it actually is. You could try increasing your texture quality to see whether that helps.
  6. Leganeski
    This is a well-known problem with KSP's terrain system, which stores terrain as a grid of latitude-longitude trapezoids. It shows up to some degree not just in JNSQ but in every planet pack I've ever seen, including the stock system. Because the problem is deeply baked in to the game's internal logic, it would be extremely difficult to fix, and I doubt a general solution currently exists. (Kopernicus certainly can't fix it.)
  7. Leganeski
    For me it would be coding in Befunge, which is pretty similar to ><>. If you're unfamiliar with what these languages look like, here's an example program I just wrote to compute Collatz sequences: &#+<1*3_;#%2:_@#-1:.:;2/#; (It works!)
  8. Leganeski
    For KSP planet packs, the "1x" standard is usually either the stock system or 1/10 size RSS. For example, a "1x scale" Earth-like planet, with a surface gravity of 1 g, has a radius of approximately 600 km (Kerbin) to 637 km (1/10 size Earth). JNSQ's Kerbin has the same surface gravity but a much larger radius of 1600 km, which is 2.5-2.7x as big. Other JNSQ planets are similarly about 2.5x larger than a body of the same surface gravity would be expected to be in stock, so it is said to be at 2.5x scale. In this case, the planet Echo is similar to Earth/Kerbin, with slightly less surface gravity (0.93 g). This means that at 1x scale, its radius would be about 0.93 times as large, or approximately 558-592 km. Its actual radius is 550 km, which is about the same, so the "1x" designation is correct. Other planets in the system are at similar scales: the ice giant Serenity, for example, has a similar radius and surface gravity as 1/10 scale Neptune.
  9. Leganeski
    One presumably rocky planet has a radius of 550 km and a surface gravity of 0.93 g, strongly indicating that the system is set at stock scale.
  10. Leganeski
    Are ore tanks allowed for the same purpose? What about ion engines? They run mainly on electricity, and the emitted xenon isn't harmful.
  11. Leganeski
    Part 24: Niven Niven is the largest body without a thick (≥0.5 atm) atmosphere containing a reactive gas that would allow a jet plane to work. Instead of a plane, TGGT must land on the surface itself. For this reason, TGGT was designed pretty specifically for Niven; this is why it has so many engines providing what is in most circumstances way too much TWR. However, it wasn't designed very well. When I was planning out the ship sizes back in May, I thought "the TWR on the surface of Niven is above 1, so it should be fine," and then proceeded to add as many fuel tanks as I could without dropping the TWR below 1 (corresponding to a vacuum TWR of 5.412 m/s2). How wrong I was. Well, that's not quite true. It ended up being fine. Eventually. After a lot of explosions and quickloading. (24.1) Reaching Nero Niven Theoretical Δv: 4357 m/s Actual Δv: 1108 m/s (gravity assists at Otho, Gratian, Gael, and Gael; aerobraking at Niven) (24.2) Landing on Niven Theoretical Δv: 1697 m/s Actual Δv: 905 m/s (aerobraking) (in addition to 1687 m/s worth of ore jettisoned) (24.3) Launching from Niven Theoretical Δv: 1416 m/s Actual Δv: 3064 m/s (+ 273 m/s worth of fuel dumped) (drag, gravity losses) (24.4) Otho Tarsiss Tellumo Thalia Where next? Theoretical Δv: 3613 m/s Actual Δv: 980 m/s (gravity assists at Gael, Tellumo, and Nero) This concludes my grand tour of (the secondary layout of) Galileo's Planet Pack! I remember landing on Leto for the first time, used to textures from the stock system. I looked at the ground, in all its detail, and thought "how is this even the same game?" But it's not just the graphics: every planet and moon fits together wonderfully, and the level of internal consistency was so much better than anything I had seen before that I had to go back and re-evaluate my understanding of the stock system. Nowadays, I hardly play stock anymore because the atmospheres, densities, terrain, and many other things just feel so wrong compared to what I have seen from Team Galileo. Thank you, @Galileo, @OhioBob, and @JadeOfMaar, for creating such an amazing system! Gravity assists so far: 32 (7 performed this chapter) Flags remaining: 20 (1 planted this chapter)
  12. Leganeski
    Part 23: Nero Bonus update! I wasn't sure whether to combine Nero and Niven into one update or not, but they are very different from each other (and more importantly, I haven't actually gone to Niven yet), so I decided to leave them separate. Nero's airless regular moons pose no challenge aside from their 10-degree inclination, but the views there are quite good. (23.1) Minona Theoretical Δv: 1634 m/s Actual Δv: 1782 m/s (23.2) Muse Theoretical Δv: 894 m/s Actual Δv: 1002 m/s (23.3) Narisse Theoretical Δv: 848 m/s Actual Δv: 954 m/s Flags remaining: 21 (3 planted this chapter)
  13. Leganeski
    There are both universal and variable maximum and minimum altitudes; it's just that for small bodies, the universal minimum and the variable maximum are what end up mattering. From the wiki page on the M700 Survey Scanner: Bodies larger than 15 Mm radius aren't scannable either, but that isn't much of a problem at stock scale.
  14. Leganeski
    I had forgotten until I re-read this sentence, but it's not just the small sphere of influence that causes the problem: the maximum altitude for a scanning orbit is five times the body's radius, which for Thresomin is 11.55 km. This is already outside of the SOI, but it means that raising the SOI radius wouldn't fix the problem. (And of course, it's not just Thresomin: Denna, Plaph, and Didd all have both of these problems. Jifgif does have a valid altitude range, 25-31 km, but its SOI ends at 23.8 km.)
  15. Leganeski
    Part 22: Leto and Gauss (Gauss was below the horizon, so I took a picture of everything else in the planetary system.) TGGT gets a test of its steering capabilities in atmosphere and its sliding capabilities on slopes. (22.1) Julia Leto Theoretical Δv: 2082 m/s Actual Δv: 1585 m/s (aerobraking) (22.2) Lili Theoretical Δv: 3558 m/s Actual Δv: 3315 m/s (gravity assist at Otho) (22.3) Loki Theoretical Δv: 3231 m/s Actual Δv: 2980 m/s (gravity assist at Catullus) Gravity assists so far: 25 (2 performed this chapter) Flags remaining: 24 (3 planted this chapter)
  16. Leganeski
    From the Whirligig World forum post: (spoilers for anyone who hasn't yet mined at Thresomin)
  17. Leganeski
    This seems completely reasonable, assuming Catullus was initially rotating quickly. You're right; it certainly wouldn't be in its current orbit if it had formed as a regular satellite of Catullus. This means that it must have been somehow introduced to the system later, probably after Catullus was already locked to Gauss. I'm probably even less of an expert on this than you are, but I do have a guess as to how Tarsiss could have ended up where it is now. It could have formed independently, and then happened to get captured by Catullus at the end of a chaotic interaction with the Gauss-Catullus binary. After that, it would be orbiting faster than Catullus's rotation, and would slowly migrate inwards, eventually reaching its current orbit. I have no idea how long this would take, but it doesn't seem completely implausible. Tarsiss would transfer angular momentum from its orbit to Catullus's rotation. Initially, all of it would then be immediately transferred to the Gauss-Catullus binary orbit, causing the planets to migrate farther apart from each other and (I think) Catullus to remain locked to Gauss. However, as Tarsiss spirals inwards, its tidal force would eventually overtake that of Gauss, causing Catullus's rotation to become unlocked. It does seem unlikely that Tarsiss would have enough time to lock Catullus to itself, especially with Gauss constantly extracting angular momentum from the Catullus-Tarsiss system, but it would definitely speed up Catullus's rotation somewhat by the time it reached its current orbit. Of course, the process I described is pure speculation, and as a mod developer, you're free to do anything you want. Leaving Catullus alone is a totally valid decision, and lets it retain all of the challenge it is known for. (Reducing its rotation period would reduce the delta-V required to get to orbit, and make aerobraking safer.) What I was trying to say is that even ignoring the history of the system, Catullus's current rotational period isn't stable in the long term with Tarsiss where it is now. This isn't a problem on its own, but the fact that it happens to be exactly equal to its orbital period is a coincidence that can't explained by the current tidal forces.
  18. Leganeski
    I recently started a career mode save in this system, and it's amazing! The challenges starting from Mesbin are totally different than on Kerbin, and it's really fun to explore them. For example, after setting up a refueling base at Thresomin, I eventually got it to work, but not before running into problems that I totally didn't see coming. (Minor spoilers for docking in Thresomin orbit. Everything I describe is a logical consequence of information already on this thread, but it was fun to discover for myself, and you might feel the same way.) Also, I really like the diversity of moons in the system. So many other planet packs focus too much (in my opinion) on the planets, with only a few moons. Whirligig World does the exact opposite: there are moons everywhere, of all shapes and sizes, making the system feel so much more complete. The Mesbin-Derbin system, for instance, has nine explorable bodies plus a binary trojan and an asteroid belt, and its diversity is completely unmatched by any other planetary system I've ever seen in KSP.
  19. Leganeski
    In Whirligig World, delta-V isn't the only challenge in getting to other planets. The home planet's high gravity means that to avoid prohibitive cosine losses, you need either a lot of periapsis kicks (which run the risk of accidentally encountering a moon) or extremely high TWR (which is impractical to maintain throughout the ~4500 m/s burn). However, unlike most other systems I've seen, the inner planets are packed full of moons, and the home planet has a small moon pretty close to the surface. Establishing a refueling base there makes the trip to almost anywhere else a lot cheaper, and breaks down the long ejection burn into manageable ~1500-2000 m/s pieces. If you don't want to do that either, there's also an option to start on a habitable Kerbin-sized moon that's significantly less deep in the planet's gravity well. Edit: The homeworld Mesbin is an unusual case because it has so much gravitational compression, but the rest of the bodies have densities and atmospheres consistent with stock scale (0.1x RSS scale).
  20. Leganeski
    Wow, even more resonances? Including Cerberus-Haven (which is 0.03% away from a 5:3 resonance), I count ten of them already. I don't see too many places left where a new resonance would even make sense, although some (like Prometheus and Rime) certainly do exist.
  21. Leganeski
    Part 21: Otho and Hox TGGT goes to Otho's remaining moons, as well as Hox. (21.1) Hephaestus Theoretical Δv: 1870 m/s Actual Δv: 3019 m/s (inefficient transfer) As it turns out, my previous "actual Δv" calculations were in some cases off by up to 0.1 - 0.2% because I was ignoring the 282 kg mass of the crew members and their personal equipment. Now that I've fixed this, my future calculations should be more accurate. This means that TGGT's true Δv capacity, assuming full crew and oxidizer storage, is 8843 m/s. (21.2) Hox Theoretical Δv: 2267 m/s Actual Δv: 2323 m/s (some aerobraking at Hox) (21.3) Icarus Iota Jannah Theoretical Δv: 2123 m/s Actual Δv: 2898 m/s (some drag at Hox, inefficient transfer) Flags remaining: 27 (3 planted this chapter)
  22. Leganeski
    Nice! I've been thinking about doing a Whirligig World grand tour, but it looks like you got to it well before me. These landers look really well designed, and follow the same basic layout as what I would have done except that they have many improvements I wouldn't have thought of (such as the floatation pad for Imterril and the asteroid capture arm). How are two ion landers going to get to three places? Those bodies are nowhere near each other, and I don't see any extra xenon on Kilonova that could be used to refuel the landers. Getting to Fophie is certainly really inconvenient, but using a Gememma assist to get into a polar Kaywell orbit and then meeting Fophie at its apoapsis seems like it would be well within the capabilities of Kilonova itself without the need for a dedicated lander. Is that parachute going to be enough for Lowel's thin atmosphere? If Workhorse uses rocket braking to land there, the delta-v margins for ascent seem pretty tight.
  23. Leganeski
    Part 20: Hadrian Hadrian doesn't really fit into either of the adjacent chapters, and I have a lot to say about it, so it gets its own chapter. Why is Hadrian so special? It's the only body with a dense inert atmosphere, and this combined with its low gravity makes flying there completely different from anywhere else. In fact, the conditions are so unusual that I've often said one could fly a brick there. Well, TGGT is shaped approximately like a brick. It's time to find out whether or not that's true! (20.1) Reaching Gratian Hadrian Theoretical Δv: 2485 m/s Actual Δv: 3340 m/s (inefficient transfer, but then some aerobraking) (20.2) Descent Theoretical Δv: 985 m/s (from elliptical polar orbit) Actual Δv: 135 m/s (aerobraking) (20.3) Ascent Theoretical Δv: 816 m/s (from pole) Actual Δv: 1559 m/s (drag, suboptimal ascent profile) TGGT is now in low Hadrian orbit, ready to go to the next moon, Hephaestus. However, the trip to Hadrian has left some unresolved questions. Can TGGT really fly there? It was certainly using lift to steer, but it never managed to entirely stop its vertical descent. That can't really be called "flying". Yet it did manage to get close, and that was with moderately full tanks. What if the tanks were empty? (Spinoff 1) Flying the brick (Spinoff 2) Flying an actual plane instead Flags remaining: 30 (1 planted this chapter)
  24. Leganeski
    I totally agree; a gravity assist chain would be much more safe and effective. As long as the incoming speed isn't too crazy (the upper limit is somewhere around 20-25 km/s), a craft could get captured around the Sun with a Jupiter assist. After that, a series of alternating gravity assists between Jupiter and Saturn could slow the craft down enough relative to Saturn that it would be able safely aerobrake at Titan. From there, it can simply parachute down to Titan's surface. This trajectory would take decades if not centuries, but is quite safe (with enough assists, the final aerobraking speed can be as low as ~3200 m/s), and requires only minimal fuel for correction maneuvers.
  25. Leganeski
    I don't have experience with RSS specifically, but what I personally do to get to moons orbiting the home planet at a lower inclination than the launch site's latitude (for example, Iota from GPP) is to estimate the launch timing as best as I can, but then launch into orbit without worrying much about inclination. Once in low orbit, I wait until the moon is 65-70 degrees behind a relative node, and eject entirely prograde at the previous node in order to meet the moon there. It's certainly slower in terms of total mission duration, but is more efficient for achieving a flyby than changing inclination during ascent. Also, at least for me, it's a lot easier to perform.
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