robotroadkill

Back in the day I made my own KSP rocket based on an Estes model. (See here: http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/showthread.php/120-Kerbal-Space-Program-Fanart?p=19466&viewfull=1#post19466) I used the in-game textures printed out on sticky labels for "paint," and they're now horribly out of date. Even the (poorly) carved balsa wood command module isn't recognizable as a part of the game anymore, but it still flies, and that's the important thing. Anyway, I finally got around to taking a video of it being launched. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFg5rqsEXEg&feature=youtu.be My wife took the video and stopped recording when she lost sight of it, but the little sucker goes pretty high.

Their small population size is probably limited by the low biodiversity on their planet.

I spent a minute looking for the 'like' button. Too much time on facebook I guess.

Welcome to KSP! Is your forum name a joke or unintentional irony?

Yeah but... ummm... Damn you and your facts!

That is awesome! ...although the red baron flew a triplane Make it happen!

I received the 'Thank you for your donation' email on Aug 12th, but nothing since. Please send a pre-order confirmation. Thanks! EDIT: Got the confirmation Thanks so much!

Launch in a wide open area, have friends around to help keep an eye on things, and some luck.

Haha, that happened even though I used the proper engines. Actually, it went up about 800 feet, then tipped over about 90 degrees and flew horizontally away from us for the rest of the burn. the nose cone popped off, but I didn't wrap the streamers tight enough so they jammed and weren't ejected. From far away it looked like it was coming down like a missile. Amazingly the end of the tube was only slightly damaged, I found all the parts, and it'll see a second launch.

That's one detail I'm hoping not to have replicated. Not at first, anyway.

IRL KSP! I give you my first (and probably only) real-life Kerbal-inspired Estes mod, HarvesteR I. This is based off of this rocket I chose the mini max because the nose-cone is made of balsa and could be carved to make the command module. Please note I have no proper carving tools or skills, just an exacto knife and some sandpaper. The fins had to be slightly modified and they're still too big, but I'd rather have a stable flight than an exact kerbal replica. The 'paint' job was done by printing texture maps onto adhesive shipping labels. Finally, if anyone's curious, the rockets in the back are the comanche (orange one) and the patriot missile (with custom fins and retro paint job (both are Estes kits).

Evolutionary biologist, pretty solidly in the middle of my PhD studies/research.

Thanks for the info, you two!

This is the shuttle you should not use http://www.kerbalspacerepository.com/?s=orbiter It looks very nice, but isn't a challenge to deal with.

The challenge is to haul up ONE space shuttle and release it in orbit with the ability for command module AND shuttle crew to deorbit. (obviously you can't control the shuttle once you've let go. RULES: 1.Only stock parts (except the orbiter) 2.Orbiter must be 'decoshuttle v 0.3' available here --> http://kerbalspaceprogram.com/forum/index.php?topic=808.0 (the other shuttle out there has barely any mass or drag) 2a. only one shuttle may be used on a rocket. 3.Occupants of both the shuttle AND the command module must have a way to de-orbit. (the orbiter is an SRB. Release it without igniting it) 3a. Show an image mousing over the shuttle (highlighting it and its corresponding icon) to show that it has not been fired. 4. as long as the shuttle is released while the command module is in a stable orbit, the shuttle is considered to be in orbit. (Decouplers may propel the shuttle away so that you cannot observe it throughout the course of a full orbit. 5. Post picture of rocket on launch pad, highlighted shuttle in orbit (with SRB icon visible and un-fired), and end-mission screen. 6. fewer parts = better. Style points for circular orbit, return to launch pad, maintain visual with shuttle for a whole orbit, etc. Here is my attempt, in a very eccentric orbit. The failure is in that I don't have the fuel for a retro-burn to get the command module back. It isn't a very hard challenge, but I blocked out some details on my orbiting rig and won't show the whole rocket at the launch pad just so people are inspired to be more creative. Winner gets my admiration.

I'm looking forward to having a capsule specially designed to contain a satellite! My current work-around is using the 1-2m hollow couplers from Novasilisko's pack (see the Bejeezus and Courier I on my rocket post http://kerbalspaceprogram.com/forum/index.php?topic=1479.msg12987#msg12987 ) The down-side is you have to add some extra couplers and an SAS module in order to fit the smaller satellites inside properly. Nice work!

What video software did you use to capture the mission?

Thanks, this is one of the greatest packs out there.

I am a bit of an add-on monger, and now I have more parts than I know what to do with. I've been trying to come up with some sort of a standardized metric for comparing like items (namely engines, tanks, and boosters) For boosters, I use: BI=(T*BT)/M Booster index = (Thrust * Burn Time)/Mass I am ignoring dry mass because, 1. I usually jettison them after they burn off and 2. I am assuming the mass doesn't change as the booster burns (whether it does or not in the game, I have no idea) The tanks are trivial: TI=C/M (Tank Index = Capacity/Volume) Although with tanks, capacity alone is probably the most important part of what goes into which stage (most of my tanks have a similar TI score close to 200 anyway). Again, dry mass is ignored because empty tanks don't stay attached to my rockets for very long. The trickier one for me is the engines, mainly because some of them have a mass <1. EI=MT/(BR+M) Engine index = MaxThrust/(BurnRate+totalMass) Adding BurnRate and totalMass is arbitrary, except that I want mass to contribute to the denominator. I don't know if engine performance is actually affected by these parameters in this way. Simply dividing by mass has the adverse effect of increasing the score for those engines with 0<mass<1 Another option is to just subtract mass from the total score (lessening its effect on the score greatly) EI=(MT/BR)-M Here's a comparison of the two engine indices (6th and 7th column) Of course these values (especially EI and BI) can't be used by themselves to make decisions, since an engine with very low thrust can have a high score (MM1 ION, for example). These values should be used as a guide to choose among candidates for a given job. Anyway, enough of the blabbering, and on to the questions... I would like to incorporate drag in these indices, but I have no idea how it is implemented in the game. Is it set value for a part, or a coefficient that interacts with velocity? Does anyone with better math skills and/or understanding of game mechanics have any suggestions for improvements on these somewhat naive equations? Have you come up with an entirely different system? Let's hear it!

I've done this using add-ons. The lunar lander has an insane amount of fuel, and can pull off the 'land, orbit, land' portion on its own, if I remember correctly. Of course, stock parts is usually a requirement for these quests, but it's not clear from the post if that is part of the challenge.

Haha, excellent!

Thanks!

Thanks! this game is great. At the moment you can, but it's really no different than leaving behind other junk from your ship while you're in orbit. The 'satellite' (with floating SAS module just behind it) in the picture of Courier I was made by NovaSilisko, and it is concealed by two hollow decouplers. I just started my ship rotating, decoupled the satellite, then waited until the remainder of the ship was far away to do a retro-burn to return to earth.

I like the frantic cycling through stages as they plummet

I\'d like to thank all the creative people here who took the time to make and share the awesome add-ons I used, and the game developers for making such a creative and fun game. Here are some of my creations. Many of them are from older versions of the game using obsolete add-on packs, so I don\'t have .craft files for them even on my own computer. If you are curious about a certain rocket, I would be happy to try to share. Clearly these aren\'t the most efficient ways to get satellites into orbit, but I prefer to make rockets with certain aesthetics (eg. payload must be hidden within the rocket), and in some cases, the point is to see just how far I can go with a rocket design. Death Shuttle. This aptly named machine is only good for one thing: killing kerbals. Courier I. This rocket can leave a satellite behind (in orbit) and return safely, although it looks a bit goofy on arrival. Buzzbomb. The boys always take a one-way trip on this one. Too bad the only thing around to blow up is the VAB. Bombardier. Again, with no nearby enemies, a short-range bomber and a bored crew can be dangerous. This one also is only outfitted for suicide missions. Juggernaut. Why, you ask? Why not! Anyway, it gets the command module into orbit. The Bejeezus. The Bejeezus is a crime against nature. It\'s primary objective is to burn fuel, secondary is to get a payload into orbit. Crew is expendable. At 59m high, you can rest assured that Bejeezus is a slap in the face to all that is reasonable and good on Kearth. 10 of SundayPunch\'s high thrust engines and 8 of Novasilisko\'s boosters get this atrocity off the ground. Throttle down on the LFEs before simultaneously igniting all 18 of those candles. The 2nd stage is 6 2m barrels with medium berthas, just thrusting and thrusting and thrusting... 3rd stage puts you in orbit with an embarrassing amount of fuel left over. Jettison it once you\'ve achieved orbit. In fact, haul up some Kerbal garbage to dump in space while you\'re at it. I was able to get my best orbit yet with this rig, eccentricity of .001 (Perigee @46134m and 2338.1m/s) This shot\'s just nice to look at. Jettison some more perfectly good pieces of ship, exposing the precious cargo from within the capsule. Once you get rotating, let go of the satellite. Congratulations! Now the kerbal government can spy on its citizens even more effectively! Get rid of everything else you don\'t need to return safely to earth. This tiny tank and engine pack make a nice return-home package. Burn, baby burn. In the opposite direction of travel, of course. Upon landing in water with full chutes, be sure to explode violently! It\'s the only way to be sure. I\'m considering this one a success anyway. Forgot to take a screenshot of mission stats. New rocket and mission report: Foreloader The item of interest in this rocket is that the payload, rather than the command module, forms the nose of the rocket It reaches a stable, circular orbit with fuel to spare Blow away the nose fairing panels to reveal the satellite. Begin rotating the ship before deploying Blow away the fuselage fairings to reveal the command module nestled between two bulkheads Decouple the command module from the bulkheads carefully motor away from all the space junk you just dumped, for a retro-burn and return to Terra Firma. New rocket and mission report: Heavy Sattelifter This beast can (in theory) lift a 3-sectioned sattelite into orbit. I\'m close, but there\'s no fuel for error. 8 boosters get this hunk lurching off the ground. perhaps the engines should also be fired, but with minimal throttle. keep a moderate throttle through the ascent, after jettisoning the boosters Upper stage boosters (yeah, yeah, I know) help get some horizontal velocity going Fuselage fairings and the 2nd stage deploy simultaneously, revealing the 3-part satellite Releast the satellite after rotating (because that\'s the way it happens on tv) Final return stage allows you to return in time to watch the first tv shows beamed down by the satellite you just launched. In this flight, I didn\'t actually achieve an orbit. I was about 100 m/s away from that. With some better flying (rotating from 90 degrees a bit sooner) I may be able to achieve orbit with this ship.