Kerbalsaurus

N 10

Greetings new players! I'm sure I already know what you want to do: get to the Mun! I mean, look at it! It's just sitting there, all smug. But your issue is, you can't even leave the ground! Well have no fear, this guide will possibly help you reach that rock high above, and other rocks much much further away! Once you learn, it really isn't rocket science. Oh wait... CHAPTER 1: ROCKETS Kerbal Space Program (KSP) is very much a game about trial and error. You learn from doing. But sometimes, you still can't get a good idea about what's wrong with your spacecraft. Well, maybe you can draw an example from real life, or visually learn. Watch and look at a rocket. Observe its behavior. Does it fall apart? Does it turn while flying? When and where does it fire its engines? Let's look at perhaps one of the most iconic rockets, the Saturn V. The Saturn V was built by the United States in 1967, and at the time of writing this it's the most powerful rocket to ever fly. It carried the world's first explorers to the Moon, and completed 6/7 of its intended Moon landings. Safe to say, it's a good rocket to observe (unlike the N1 ). Apollo 4 lifts off from LC-39A The Saturn V was divided into three stages: stage 1 (S-IC), stage 2 (S-II), and stage 3 (S-IVB). The rocket was so big that the S-IC and S-II simply had to lift the S-IVB. Typically with three stage rockets, the first stage lights on launch, the second stage fires when the first stage runs out of fuel, and the third stage fires at apoapsis, or the highest point in your trajectory. If it's a Moon rocket, the third stage fires to push your spacecraft towards your intended body. Whenever you watch a rocket fly, you typically see it turns. Why would it turn? It's supposed to go up, dummy. Well, rockets turn because it makes the orbital insertion burn much more efficient. If a rocket turns, the planet gives you a boost, and you can make it to orbit with fuel to spare. Simple as that. Now, going to the Mun is cool and all, but you should probably start out small. Kerbin orbit should do. To simply put something in orbit, you don't need a whole Saturn V. You just need a 2 stage rocket: the first stage puts your trajectory above the atmosphere, the second stage puts you in orbit and possibly lets you return. This would be easier to use for simple orbital crew missions or satellites. Hopefully this guide helps you with rockets. Next time, we will go more in depth with actually getting to orbit.

Nice! I like how you’re thinking like an actual engineer. You make test vehicles, learn from them, and improve your design! Many KSP players just see what sticks, instead of actually testing designs.

N 6 Calling all negatives! @Abel Military Services @Nazalassa @Dunas Only Moon @WaldeB

Pleasure doing business with you!For blueprints, I usually use Kronal Vessel Viewer (KVV). But you can’t mod console KSP without jail breaking your console. I'd suggest just drawing it as best you can on paper. That's what I used to do. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ YEAR 2, DAY 267: MINTY 3 Crew: Debo, Danfal, Albert The Minty Program continues, as Beyond readies Minty 3. The goal of this mission was to figure out the conditions of the rough areas of Minmus, as well as get many pictures of Kerbin and the alien landscapes of Minmus. With the tanks aboard the transfer craft full, we have no need for a resupply mission. This makes the Minty Program cheaper, and thus allows more attention from the UKA. The Tendagurensis Rocket fires it's mighty engines, and climbs high and fast into the sky. Stage 2 ignition and orbital insertion burn. Uhh... I accidentally took this. Approaching habitat TMI burn Danfal watches Kerbol rise over Kerbin's horizon. Minty 3 now enters the coasting stage. It'll drift through empty space for around 7 days, before firing its engines retrograde to enter low Minmus orbit. Minmus braking burn Albert snaps a picture out of the window. Debo enters the lander, followed by her crewmates. One orbit is done of Minmus before detaching from the lander to make sure the landing site is in optimal position before deorbit. Sardine's engines fire, and it slowly descends toward the the ice cream world. "Touchdown is confirmed, mission control. Albert reports that all systems are good, over." - Debo Kerman The crew step out of the lander, and begin working on Minmus's surface. Beyond's flag is planted, science is done, and rocks are collected. "Unlike the flats of Minmus," Danfal later reported, "the samples we picked up from Minmus's highlands are actual rocks, rather than flakes of ice." The crew begin what they really came for, though. Pictures. The point of this mission to pick up various samples of Minmus's highlands and compare them to those of its flats. But they also wanted to use the clearer views of the highlands as a way to drum up support for the space program. Pictures of distant flats, Kerbin and the Mun suspended in the sky. Stuff that a little kerblet might want to hang up in their room. Newspapers later reported it as being "the prettiest spaceflight". Debo snaps this picture of Kerbin and the Mun Albert looks upon a flat that was the site of the probe landing on Minmus. All too soon, though, the crew have to get back onboard Sardine. They say their final goodbyes to Minmus, and then head back home. Burning for the habitat Ascending Burning for the habitat. Docked Heading home The ride home is quite boring. Just 7 days of coasting back. Minty 3 adjusts the inclination of the habitat, refuels it, and then deorbits. After a... rough reentry, Minty 3 safely returns back to Kerbin, pictures, experiments, and samples all onboard.

So, should I maybe add Airbrakes at the bottom of the rocket? That's should increase surface area, and thus drag.

Technically, it was yesterday, but whatever. On April 12th, 1961, 62 years ago, Yuri Gagarin pioneered exploration forever becoming the first man in space aboard the Vostok 1 mission.

Sorry not much of a move has been made on this thread, I'm just lacking in inspiration. The main reason is that the ELLV-1 isn't reusable, and I have to launch another lander. Which is already a pain in my... backside.

It's pretty hard to predict good weather for a launch window, especially in French Guiana. It's on the equator, and the atmosphere is very unstable this time of year. I'm sad that it was cancelled, but the weather there looks good tomorrow.

Geez, I've been having no luck with the Mun recently. I was trying out Tantares, and for some reason the pre-built N1-L3 stack that comes with the mod puts the LK lander's engines as the very last stage! Ah, soviet engineering. Shh... don't tell America.

Definitely the N1. I feel like that'd be much cooler. There have been variants of the Energia that have launched, but there's never been an N1 launch... that's succeeded.

Wow, this is uh… this is definitely a timeline.

Here's all of the craft thus far for you to use: Aurora Orbital Crew Vehicle (Aurora 1&4): https://kerbalx.com/Some_KSP_Player/Aurora-Orbital-Crew-Vehicle Aurora Lunar Crew Vehicle (Aurora 2, 3, 5, & 6): https://kerbalx.com/Some_KSP_Player/Aurora-Lunar-Crew-Vehicle ELLV-1 (Aurora 6): https://kerbalx.com/Some_KSP_Player/ELLV-1 Enjoy!

PARTNERSHIP! After sending a message to companies for a private space mission to Kerman Station, Beyond is happy to announce the winner: Winter Owl, owned by @Dunas Only Moon Kerman! Using the very enthusiastically named Mun Lander One (MLO), a new age of space travel will be ushered in where any Kerbal can go to space! Thank you Winter Owl for this partnership! X

Ooo, so close, yet so far. Hey there, @ColdJ!

JANUARY 1ST, 2030 - AURORA 6 To celebrate the new decade, the ESA launch Aurora 6 to begin it with a high note (better than last decade's start). All the world watches as the ESA begins its first Moonshot attempt. After almost after almost 6 years of testing, proving, and considering, the ESA will finally just do. This will be a formidable flight, but those who fly on it will go down in history. Who are these people being talked about, exactly? Well, let's meet them! First is our mission commander, a French pilot named Élisabeth Neuville. If all goes according to plan, the first European on the Moon will be her. Next, we have our pilot, a man from the Netherlands named Levi Michiels. He will remain on ACTS while the crew do their surface activities. Then, we have Patricio Vega, a Spanish engineer and one of out mission specialists. And finally, we have Sotiria Antonis, a Greek scientist an a mission specialist. She will preform experiments and collect surface samples on the surface. These ladies an gentlemen, will be the first Europeans to go to the Moon! The world watches as the countdown starts going down to zero. The crew are nervous as ever, as they're about to pull off one of the most difficult journeys a human could ever take. But mission control re-assures them that they're in the most capable hands they could be in, including they're own. T- 10, 9, 8, 7, 6... Ignition sequence start, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1... We have liftoff! Liftoff on the Ariane 6, carrying Europe to the Moon! Fairing sep and LES ejection Aurora 6 is now in orbit! After 8 minutes, the crew of Aurora 6 arrive in a parking orbit. The crew check systems, again and again, wanting this flight to go as perfectly as possible. With virtually nothing wrong with the spacecraft, the crew are given the go for TLI. AUS at full power The crew now coast for 3 days towards the Moon. The crew don't really report anything new, just kind of waiting. But the excitement builds the closer they get. And finally, they arrive. With Aurora 6 successfully in low lunar orbit (LLO), the hard part begins. Anticipating that the lander will not be in position long enough for a lunar transfer window, the ESA put it into a higher lunar orbit than the ACTS spacecraft to allow for a quicker approach to the spacecraft. Aurora 6 changes it orbital plane to match it to that of the ELLV-1, and then fires its engines to rendezvous with it. Successful docking to the ELLV-1! After one more orbit of the Moon, getting the ELLV-1 online and checking its systems, the crew board the lander, and fire retrograde down towards the Moon that eagerly awaits to greet them. De-orbit burn Flight Verbal Log Élisabeth Neuville: Mission Control, I'm getting a warning light. Are getting the same thing? Mission Control: Uh, that is affirmative, Aurora 6. We're also getting a warning light. Apparently, there's been a malfunction with your automatic landing system. Élisabeth Neuville: What?! Mission Control: This extremely threatening to the mission. We may have to abort the landing. Élisabeth Neuville: No way. We've come this far. We're not giving up now. Switching to manual control. The suicide burn begins. Mission control holds their breaths, and the crew stare intensely at their instruments and out windows. "Almost there..." - Élisabeth Neuville "Kourou, this Aurora 6. We have touchdown!" - Élisabeth Neuville Mission control erupts into a frenzy of cheers! They have they're own astronauts sitting on the surface of the Moon! The world breathes a sigh of relief. It was a very tense time during touchdown. With manual control enabled, there was a huge fear that there was now a large area for human error. But Élisabeth's ability to remain calm saved their hides. Mission Control sends a little bug fix to the craft, and Patricio quickly installs it. The crew suit up, depressurize the capsule, and Élisabeth steps out of the door. "On the stepping pad now, beginning to climb down the ladder." - Élisabeth Neuville "Wow, is this pretty. At the ladder's base now. Stepping off the ladder." - Élisabeth Neuville "That's one fine gray footprint" - Élisabeth Neuville All of Europe now erupts into cheers! One of their own people are standing on the lunar surface! The EU has become the second power to put a man on the Moon, over 60 years after the U.S.A. Next to come out of the lander will be Patricio Vega. "Alright, careful. We don't want to trip and fall, do we?" - Élisabeth Neuville "I know, I know. Be extra careful." - Patricio Vega Finally, Sotiria Antonis steps down the the ladder. Patricio gets the flag of the EU ready to be planted, with the very ominous plaque. The crew mess around and play around the landing area for a little while, before they head out far beyond the landing site to find rocks worthy of researching. After 2 hours walking, working, and playing on the lunar surface, the crew board back onto the ELLV-1, and spend around 21 more hours aboard the lander. The crew analyze the data they picked up from the lunar surface, and store the rock samples in various little pockets and pouches. They spend one last resting period on the surface, before firing their engines to return back to lunar orbit. Liftoff from the Moon Aurora 6 adjusts its orbital plane to match it with the ACTS, and burn to return to their main spacecraft. ELLV-1 arrives at ACTS Aurora 6's crew is reunited. Everyone gets back onboard the ACTS, abandon the lander, and return back to Earth. Aurora 6 gets some wonderful fireworks to celebrate their return! Parachute deployed Touchdown in the American dessert. Sorry America! The U.S. was no longer alone on the Moon. A new age of lunar exploration has begun. It's time for the blue Moon.

That’s not a space station. You’ve straight up built a colony. That’s amazing!

Ah, okay. I added the docking port on the bottom because that’s the docking port on the space station, but I’m adding adding an avionics module, so I could add a small docking port to it. Well, I’ll get to work!

I'm having an issue with this. I've been trying to design a spaceplane in a style similar to the ESA's Hermes concept, or the more modern Dream Chaser concept by NASA. But here's the thing: it keeps flipping over! I've tried airbrakes on the side, fins, RCS, and a billion SAS units and it still wants to flip. How can I combat the force.

Something like this?

I don't really know what to do, then. Am I supposed to just kinda make it up? Because I don't really know what it looks like. Also, what's the Owl Agency flag?

Oh. Can you send a screenshot of what it looks like? I think you an do that on the PS4. And I think you can also export photos (I haven't had a PS4 for a loooong time).

I might remove the landing legs, just becuase it's simply meant to dock with an orbital space station. But other than that, just post the KerbalX link, flag, and yeah.

Oh, I'm just looking for a simple orbital craft, that's all. Something like the CST-100 or Dragon. But a commercial Mun flight's an interesting idea...

MOHO MID-COURSE CORRECTION BURN: YEAR 2, DAY 264 We're on the road to nowhere, come on inside.... Nothing much, just getting ourselves a better encounter with Moho. However, one issue is we can't get into orbit. Journeyer 1 is moving so fast that even making the apoapsis as close as we can make it still makes the spacecraft move in a straight line. We'll probably have to make a new design for the spacecraft. but we'll still get a close encounter, and we can still get a lot of insight onto Moho, and get good pictures of it's surface. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ NOTICE Beyond is currently looking for commercial partners to deliver Kerbals who have signed up for a commercial flight to Kerman Station. These guests will be very special (*cough* *cough* rich *cough* *cough*), and we want to give them top quality service. So rather that riding in our designated crew vehicles, we will instead use spacecraft from a private space program. All you need to do is: Share your craft of KerbalX Tell us what your company name is Give us the flag for it (we need to know who made it!) Thank you for helping all of Kerbalkind with their dreams of reaching the cosmos!