Wayfare

Well, it's time to say goodbye to the 0.20 Stock Munshine V. 0.21 is just around the corner and I'll be rebuilding the Munshine V once it hits. Some innovations to look forward to: a slightly more powerful launcher to help those who don't do highly aggressive gravity turns, less excess fuel in the landing stage, and a cleaner ascent stage for the Munar Module. As a last hurrah, I partook in the Apollo 11 Day celebrations, flying a "Deluxe". Arriving at the Mun. How come this never gets old? Shortly after undocking the lander from the CSM, Jeb got a real nice look at a Kerbinrise from his window. Having landed within a few km of the memorial, Jeb and Bill head out to pay their respects. Who needs precision landings when you have a buggy? Happy Apollo 11 Day everyone!

Boom - done. I flew my Munshine V "Deluxe" because obviously, nothing else would suffice. All the nitty-gritty about mission details can be found in that thread. Arriving at the Mun. How come this never gets old? Shortly after undocking the lander from the CSM, Jeb got a real nice look at a Kerbinrise from his window. Having landed within a few km of the memorial, Jeb and Bill head out to pay their respects. Who needs precision landings when you have a buggy? Happy Apollo 11 Day everyone!

If you want to get in on the celebrations but struggle to either design an Apollo-style craft or fly the missions, I humbly suggest you check out my Munshine V: It's light (both in mass and parts) and user-friendly. With an extensive manual, five pages of discussion (including mission reports) and two full mission-length videos it is perhaps the most well-document spacecraft of its kind after Mulbin's amazing Munbug X (which is neither light nor user-fiendly, but it is awesome). Munshine V will be rebuilt once 0.21 hits and I'm flying her one last time today in honor of Apollo 11. A mission report will be posted here.

I honestly wouldn't bother. This game had great promise but after a few hours you figure out that all the missions (seriously, all of them) just amount to "Go there, kill the red ones, come back, receive bacon." It was wildly over-ambitious, went wildly over-time and over-budget and by the time the studio sold itself to Microsoft I'm sure some of the suits over there had a heart attack at the mess they found. So they told them to ship the bloody thing as it was and be done with it. Of course everyone now blames Microsoft for that piece of junk instead of Chris Roberts, the man who drove that game and the studio behind it head first into the ground. So I'm skeptical towards Star Citizen as it is basically Chris Roberts coming back to make good on a decade-old promise. I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt: he seems to have grown up a lot over the past ten years and his humble demeanor and obvious passion for the project have really impressed me so far. Though I'm not about to entrust him with any of my money just yet EDIT: To add something constructive to this thread - I've been killing time with Prison Architect, a great little sandbox alpha game with cutesy sprite-based characters shanking each other in the showers. Fun! Also, I'm using this silence before the 0.21 storm to go out and get some sun, because of summer.

Did we have "Reversing Polarities" yet?

Been there, done that.

Thanks etommytay! I'm really pleased that so many people are enjoying the Munshine V. Don't feel bad about your own design - believe me, I went through a lot of different designs that were functional but just not quite "it" before settling on this one, and it was Jm419's Earth V that gave me the inspiration to build it. Nicking other people's design ideas is what this forum is all about

Part count is the real bottleneck in any design I make, especially if it involves docking multiple things together into a bigger thing. For example, my sixteen probe "Pathfinder" craft to Jool, once assembled, lagged to the point where it was nearly unflyable in space. From an engineering standpoint though, it does force me to consider my designs very carefully, strip off unnecessary bits, try to drop as many parts off the craft as early as I can and ensure that only the bare minimum needed for the mission actually goes into space. Which is kinda cool.

You, sir, are a fiend. Hell I'm gonna fly it anyway Congrats on the new rocket!

Hey folks, if you enjoyed the Munshine V and would like to take a shot at my Skylab-style space station, head on over here: Munshine IB "Skyshack" station and Crew Transfer Vehicle!

WAYFARE Aerospace, Engineering & Kitchen Appliances “Our SCEs don't even have an AUX setting.†Wayfare AE&KA recommends you at least read the bits marked out in RTFM red Downloads To download a single craft, right-click link and select "Save As". If you're having trouble, download the zip file instead. "Skyshack": A simple, functional, and fun little space station. 116 parts, 124 tons. CTV: A basic three-Kerbal orbital transporter. 84 parts, 124 tons. CTV Deluxe: Same as the CTV, but with a launch escape system and lovely antennae. 104 parts, 125 tons. All three craft in one handy zip file. Introduction Encouraged by the success of our Munshine V Apollo-style Mun/Minmus mission craft, Wayfare AE&KA got to work on another historically inspired design. The "Skyshack" space station and accompanying Crew Transfer Vehicle (CTV) are carried aloft by our new Munshine IB medium lifter. Both of these craft continue our tradition of low part counts, zero orbital debris, ease of use and dashing good looks. If you enjoyed going to the Mun on a Munshine V, treat yourself to a nice view of Kerbin with our Skyshack! The Craft Well, two craft really. The Skyshack is launched at a mere 116 parts and 124 tons on the pad, yet still includes our trademark launchpad illumination and a nifty orbital assembly system. The CTV weighs in at 84 parts (104 for the Deluxe) and 125 tons. Between the two of them they should only be capable of melting an abacus - any actual computer should do fine. Action Groups On both craft: 0: Toggle launchpad illumination (we were informed there is no "spare fuses" compartment and thus no place to store sunglasses) 9: Lock engine gimbal on outside engines. Press twice for best results. 1: Extend solar panels. On Skyshack: 2: Extend antennae 3: Toggle docking target lights On CTV: 2: Toggle docking light 3: Extend antennae (Deluxe version only) Pictures of the Skyshack! We'll begin with the Skyshack, shown here on the launchpad at night with illumination engaged. Liftoff! The Munshine IB lifter follows a similar launch trajectory as our Munshine V, though it is a bit less agressive on the gravity turn due to its lower thrust-to-weight ratio. How To: Launch 1. Get rid of the stowaway in the cupola. EVA him and "end flight", then return to the rocket through the tracking station. 2. Engage ASAS, set throttle to 100%, disable outside engine gimbal through action group 9. 3. Stage to lift off. 4. At 5,000 meters, turn the rocket 5 degrees East. 5. At 10,000 meters / 200 meters per second, turn to 20 degrees. 6. At 19,000 meters / 500 meters per second, turn to 45 degrees. 7. Your first stage runs out. The center engine burns about four seconds longer than the outside engines. That's OK. Ditch it once it's completely dry. 8. At 30,000 meters / 750 meters per second, turn to 60 degrees (sort of, halfway between 45 degrees and the horizon) 9. At 35,000 meters / 1000 meters per second, turn horizontal. 10. Burn to a 100 kilometers Apoapsis and cut the engine. Although the second stage has just enough fuel left to establish a dangerously low orbit, it is discarded before circularization so as to not leave any unsightly debris in orbit. The Orbital Assistance Module (OAM) has more than enough delta-v to complete circularization and even make minor orbital adjustments if necessary. The OAM needs about 50 seconds to circularize at 100km, so begin your burn about 25 seconds before Apoapsis. Once deployed to a good orbit, the Skyshack is assembled into its final configuration. An expendable RCS pod on the solar array module does the dirty work. How To: Assemble in Orbit 1. Wait until in daylight, if necessary. 2. Select "Control From Here" on the Skyshack's ventral docking port by right-clicking it. 3. Orient craft precisely North on the horizon and engage ASAS. 4. Decouple solar array and switch to it. 5. Engage RCS. Translate FORWARD to clear the Skyshack, translate DOWN and pitch UP to move solar array over the ventral docking port. 6. Dock solar array back on to Skyshack. Once the Skyshack is assembled, the OAM and the RCS pod are detached and de-orbited under their own power. The Skyshack can now deploy her solar panels (action group 1) and orient towards the sun. Be advised that the asymmetrical design means she doesn't roll nicely. We recommend you roll until you're roughly where you want to be, then pitch/yaw to correct. ASAS works fine though! There she is, the Skyshack - ready for her first crew! Pictures of the CTV Deluxe! The CTV sits on the pad at 104 parts (84 for the basic edition, not pictured) and 125 tons. She follows the exact same launch profile as the Skyshack, because she weighs just about the same and uses the same Munshine IB launch vehicle. In order to achieve a good rendezvous, we recommend launching to an 80 kilometer Apoapsis when the Skyshack is 10-15 degrees ahead of the launchpad. Don't forget to jettison the launch escape system (not included on basic edition) before you circularize! The CTV also leaves the second stage to plummet to its doom before switching to its own propulsion. Once in circular orbit, action group 1 extends the solar panels and action group 3 toggles the antennae (antennae not included on basic edition). Rendezvous with the Skyshack and dock to it. We recommend you pay some attention to your roll orientation to make sure the CTV's crew hatch lines up kinda nicely with that of the Skyshack. Enjoy the beautiful vistas! The joined Skyshack and CTV are at 58 parts and 24 tons (four parts less if you used the CTV basic edition). The CTV is more than capable of returning a crew to Kerbin safely. You can launch a new CTV to bring up a new crew.

Glad to be of service! Enjoy responsibly

This has been an epic project and a great read. Well done!

That's strange. OK, try this: All three versions in one handy zip file.

Through EVE Online. I've played that quite a bit on-and-off over the past few years (currently off, will probably be back on again soon once I feel like ruining someone's day again) and got exposed to TheMitanni.com. And they kept showing little green men. So I went to see what all the fuss was about. And now I have a basic understanding of rocket science. Life is like a box of chocolates indeed

My 0.19 Munbase, upgraded with 0.20 rovers. It was labor-intensive to build and uses a horrific amount of parts. But I still love it. My first base!

You're absolutely right, the orbital velocity is lower - but I didn't want to complicate matters even more From a launchpad perspective, you need to put more velocity (delta-v, really) into a spacecraft to achieve geosynchronous orbit rather than, say, a regular 100km orbit. The weird thing is you need to put even more delta-v into a spacecraft to achieve an orbital velocity that is slower than geosynchronous. Orbital mechanics are weird!

I watched HOCgaming review my Munshine V and felt really chuffed as a result Also, I worked on an upcoming new design. And I spent a day at my desk job. It wasn't horrible.

It's a matter of getting your head around things. When docking was introduced to KSP I raised the question of how it would handle wildly differing inertial momentum. My reasoning? Brace yourself... Say I have a target craft in orbit. And I launch a rendezvous craft a good way ahead of it. I time stuff perfectly so just when my rendezvous craft hits Apoapsis, it encounters the target. Because my rendezvous craft is at nearly 0 orbital velocity at the top of its apoapsis, it should be able to dock in that split second where it encounters the target. And then what? Well as I was soon explained, a lot of stuff would explode into a rapidly expanding cloud of expensive debris. Because the target would have a very significant orbital velocity, and this velocity would be relative to my rendezvous craft as well, given that it would still be at the planet's surface velocity when you look at it sideways. Three-dimensional thinking and all that. It would be a good old-fashioned collision and disaster. When you think about it, this is similar to the problem posed by a target in stationary orbit right above KSC. My rocket goes up straight and encounters the target - but when it does, the rocket has a really high "upward" velocity (ie. straight up, needed for a straight vertical trajectory) while the target would be at a really high "sideways" velocity (needed to keep pace with the planet's surface). The result would be another rapidly expanding cloud of expensive debris. Stuff in orbit is never stationary. It always has velocity relative to something and in some direction. A geostationary orbit is actually really fast - it's so fast it keeps pace with the surface of the planet even at a much higher altitude. To picture this, imagine how fast a race car would have to drive at 500 meters' distance to stay in your field of view while you're gently spinning your desk chair. It would seem "stationary" to your field of view, but it would most definitely not be standing still. And if you threw a brick ahead of it from your desk chair, you'd end up with a rapidly expanding cloud of expensive debris (and probably a dead driver, with all the resulting nasty manslaughter charges - don't try this at home). OK. So where is it useful? It's not for straight vertical launches. But when you launch the exact same rocket into the exact same geosynchronous orbit every time, it will circularize at the exact same spot relative to the surface every time. If you put a space station into a geosynchronous orbit over that exact spot, you'll have a perfect encounter every time. It essentially gives you a launch window forever. This allows you to achieve encounters very easily. Unfortunately a geosynchronous orbit is really high and fast and you'll be able to build much smaller rockets if you just plan an orbital rendezvous instead. In short, yeah it can work if you don't mind building ridiculously overpowered rockets

I grew up on Space Quest. Save early, save often

That is awesome! How do you move the experiment units around after dropping them out of the lander stage?

Warfare319, make sure you save the file to your KSP_win\saves\[your game's name]\Ships\VAB folder and don't let the browser save it as anything else than a *.craft file.

Based on the video reviews by Malkuth1974 and HOCgaming (8 out of 10, I'm well chuffed!), as well as general user feedback, some helpful "How To" sections have been added to the first post. Read up if you've been having trouble with the Munshine V!

Yeah it does make a solid contingency system. I guess it's a good safety rule: RCS on all crewed vessels (much like solar panels on anything that consumes electricity).

j-tk's post reminded me that I haven't paid tribute to Neil Armstrong since 0.17. "Who do you think he was, Jeb?" "I don't know, Bill. But for his people to bring such a massive memorial all the way to the Mun, he must have been one hell of a space badass."