Shadownailshot

He's talking about a theoretical space drive. I believe he's talking about the Bussard Ramjet.

About Mars One, no, none of the people that are planning this have much, if any, expertise in engineering, exo-biology, exo-geology, astronomy... or probably anything that you would need to survive an extra-terrestrial colony. But they've secured contracts with the important people. I know one for sure is SpaceX. I'm not sure who the others are.

I also disagree. Profit has a lot to do with how much and what kind of metal is in the 'roid. If there's more metal there than it costs to get it back to the surface... then you've made a profit. There is a business model there. I think someone will try it within the next couple decades. I would love to start a business doing that.

The reality show idea was to provide funding for the project. It would also incite interest in possibly even the dullest of people.

Can you get a link? In everything I read (mind you, I read about this around a month ago) said that they wouldn't be going home and it was a permanent settlement, therefore bypassing the difficulties of other manned mars mission concepts of the return trip and also having the first extra-terrestrial permanent human colony.

If you read all about the mission, those people aren't coming back. That's supposed to be a permanent settlement. The rovers will prepare it for human settlement, then people will come, I think five at a time. They will live out the rest of their lives there. Possibly the greatest human experiment of all time. By 2070 I think single stage to orbit flight will be more common than vertical rocket launch craft. There's this craft from Reaction Engine LTD which will be a key starting point. The same company is also developing hypersonic (mach 5 & 8) airliners. I also think that construction may have started on a space elevator, as we've just now reached the level where all the technology exists, but has not been pieced together yet. I think there will be mining of metals from NEOs within the next 20-30 years, probably only starting on a small scale. But the business model for that is extremely profitable. There's enough metal in a small asteroid to make any money hungry idiot drool over what his bank account would look like after harvesting that one asteroid. But so far, space has been almost primarily exploration and communication. I think other industries will pop up, and some of them already have. There's space tourism companies now, and soon there will be mining companies. If MarsOne is successful, then there will eventually be public transit through space.

I didn't realize 18 bucks was steep for a game. You didn't have to donate. No one is obligated to, you can still get .13 without donating. You shouldn't complain about an alpha because in alpha they're still building the groundworks. They can't add all of these features you want because the underlying code necessary to add it correctly isn't there. And 18 bucks is not steep, considering you usually can't get in on an alpha unless you work for the company, and most games today cost about $60. So I consider this a great deal. If you have such a problem with it, why are you here? Alright, I'm done discussing this, it's gone way off topic, and this thread is going to get locked again.

People, seriously, not complaining about docking. This game is in EARLY ALPHA STAGE. Squad has barely scratched the surface, you should feel lucky you even get to play the game at this stage. You're an alpha tester. You made a donation to support a good company with an awesome game concept. They are giving you free updates for what I believe is right up to the final version. Stop complaining, you have a good deal here.

A lot of people seem to want this thread locked. For all the people that are bashing Squad, let me say, if I was Squad I would send you an apology email for wasting your time and money with a game and company that you don't like and disagree with. I would credit your money back, and stop supporting your game. I mean, seriously, if all you're gonna do is complain about what Squad is not doing and saying that they're lazy (to me this means you have absolutely no idea what goes in to making a game), then just leave.

I am hoping for some polish on existing features (like planets, i currently get a glitch where Kerbin has a Duna texture which twitches to Jool's texture when I have large launch vehicles). Also, maybe just a couple more parts, like automated rovers/probes. The rovers would allow you to pick out a landing site and aim for it, the probe would allow you to go somewhere you haven't yet been with a very light launch vehicle and see if there's anything worth visiting there.

Yes it certainly does. I've now learned how to burn straight from my parking orbit above Kerbin to capture both Duna and Jool. I'm just testing orbital craft first to see what the atomic engine can really handle. The TWR is extremely low and frustrating, and I don't know how to physical time warp outside an atmosphere, so I have to live with it.

Only 4.4 Earth years! My friend did it in 75 days lol.

The good thing about docking will be the ability to bring transfer stages in to space independent of the command module and lander. Look up the Constellation Program. It was basically what I just said on a small scale, although I don't think it ever left the drawing board.

Docking would pretty much give you your multi-capsule wish. It wont exactly be apollo style, more like Constellation style. And please please please no oxygen, food, or water. I'm pretty sure the dev's said they wouldn't do that. But can you imagine having a little more than enough consumables, making the tiniest error, and then your kerbals die right when your mission was almost complete? I would be soooo mad.

If you don't plan on coming back, or you just want to make an orbiter at first, your launch and transfer stages can be a lot smaller. I have a craft (still running .16) that can reach either duna or eve's orbit with fuel left over for an orbit capture, and it's running only on chemical rockets. Fuel efficiency is key on interplanetary stuff. A lot less room for mistakes than moon landings. And as for how you get there, Check this out

Prodigy... double post. I'd rather have official squad docking/electricity/fuel/anything than a modders version of it. The mods may be good, but there's nothing like the official stuff from the guys that built the original code for the game.

I know, now you'll have to do docking Harv, with all of these mods coming out. You'll have to show them how to do it the right way. Or just hire them.

I concur. Well, the two most exciting parts of this next update for me are now NERVA and the new planets. I will be first establishing a good space infrastructure in the Kerbin system, and then sending single-man orbital craft to Duna and Eve to test fuel consumption. (I already have a craft designed that worked before I found the fuel bug, and it works even better using the fuel bug). After that I will be designing more orbiters with NERVA, maybe some landers, and possibly even a permanent Duna ground-base. I don't know about orbital stations before docking comes out, the launch stage without docking would need to be massive and I'm pretty sure my computer would disagree with that.

I would think that the NTG would provide more than enough power. Or solar panels. You could even go so far as to say that the crew module has piezoelectric generators in it. Although I don't think Kerbals would be able to work out that concept.

Yes but aren't they adding up to 10x physical time warp later on? It doesn't matter really, we have NERVA for now, we'll see what they do later.

I'd bet on around 5 or so, yea. They're adding in the physics time warp though. So that shouldn't be all that painful.

I know, I think it's awesome. I hope when (if?) ion engines or something of the sort makes it into the game, they'll do a VASIMR or MPD thruster. Standard ion engines have disappointingly low thrust. I'm also hoping for hybrid rocket engines... and I'm also going off topic. The NERVA certainly is a great addition. I've said it before, but I'll be using this on every interplanetary craft I made. I'll only be starting out with orbital craft. It helps me feel out how much fuel I use. And I may even be able to come back after my first trip.

Off topic. And you're not gonna donate because a moderate explained common courtesy? I don't see any reason Ion engines would no longer be viable because of NERVA. NERVA's ISP is 800, and an ion engine's real world ISP is anywhere from 4000-8000. That's a lot of difference, and it means a very little fuel can go a very long way.

They wouldn't be close enough to see. Unless the put Duna in the asteroid belt.

I cant wait to compare my current design for an interplanetary orbiter to a new one with these NTRs. I'm sure the NTRs will allow for a lot more variation in design.