ethan829

2nd stage is being tested now!

The hardware for the Constellation Program went through a lot of revisions, and from what I've read there wasn't a definitive decision to use 5 or 6 engines.

Everything's coming along beautifully, if I do say so myself. If everything goes as planned I'll get the upper stage done later today.

The new, slimmer version is coming along nicely. Thanks for pointing out the size issues, looking back it did look way too thick. Right now the first stage has a TWR of 1.15 and 5966 m/s vacuum dV on the pad, but that's without an upper stage, payload, or SRBs.

Working on making it slimmer, and this happened: Not to worry, it's fixed now.

I see your point, and I'll definitely look into it. The problem is that when you start squeezing a lot of fuel tanks that close together you lost the ability to have a girder running through the middle that everything can be supported by. I'm sure it's possible, it's just gonna require a lot more clipping and some creative finagling.

Yeah, they are a bit wide. Fixing that is easy enough, though. Although to be fair, they perform the same as those in the Ares I, and are more accurately to scale with the Ares V core stage. The Ares I "SRB" had to be so narrow to look right with the orange tank 2nd stage.

Exciting things happening

Sorry for the long silence, everybody. I've home from school for winter break now and work on the Ares V has resumed. I was recently reminded of thrust plates, and I think it's going to solve a lot of stability and fuel flow issues I was having before. Expect some updates soon!

It's probably safe to assume that if there were updates to post, they'd be posted.

Just wondering, did you keep both Mercury Cap decouplers in the pack on purpose?

I know it'd be a pain in the ass, but voting should probably be done somewhere that requires registration.

The issue with the Constellation program is that the Mars mission wasn't very thoroughly planned. I haven't really seen any finalized vehicle designs. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constellation_program#Orion_Mars_mission

It's finals week, so not much of anything KSP related is happening here. There were some awesome stock Ares I, Ares V, and Orion MPCV crafts posted here: http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/59591-Munation-Constellation-Replica-with-Ares-V-Ares-I-Orion-and-Altair I may work on this more in the future and/or try my hand and some other replicas, but for now I don't really have anything planned. Of course, I'd be open to suggestions!

That's an amazing Ares V. I never got past early test flights of the core stage. Great work!

I know the first stage is an SRB, but I was going more for an accurate appearance and performance. Unless bigger SRBs get added in the future, I think liquid fuel is the way to go.

I like the flag a lot.

To those who voted for me, thanks a lot! I know my craft isn't the flashiest or most impressive thing around, but I think it has a nice simplicity to it that would be good for new players. With so many other great designs in this contest, it means a lot to me that I got any votes at all!

It's pretty much impossible to see the craft properly when the pictures are so dark.

Here's my entry, the Kerbal XI: Low part count, easy to fly, and demonstrates asparagus staging just like the original. Perfectly capable of flying a Munar free-return trajectory with a bit of fuel to spare. MechJeb is visible in the screenshots but I was just using it to fine tune the delta-V. It was removed before uploading. Download here: http://www./?0qk43xbmroofjah Action group 1 toggles the solar arrays.

I feel your pain

Haven't tried with anything besides Orion, and it's more than enough for that. With the Delta IV Heavy being as overpowered as it is, the strap-on boosters and core stage do most of the work. There's always more room for awesome recreations. I look forward to seeing what you build!

Not as much as the last design, but it has a 2.73 TWR and 4020 m/s of delta-V.

For now all I've got to show is a redesigned upper stage for the Delta IV

The only real reason to not include pics is laziness. People want to know what they're getting. If you want to share your craft (which I assume you do since you posted here) you have to take that into account. And acting like your craft is a gift to the world makes you sound like an ass.