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CatastrophicFailure

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Posts posted by CatastrophicFailure

  1. I added the GeeForce display in my version yesterday, it was quite fun to test it with one of the other feature I m working on ;)

    I m note sure I used geeForce_immediate however, and I found the value quite low while my crew was in my infernal centrifuge testing ship. I'll test immediate, and may just implement my own calculation if I don't like the result.

    Did this make it into the latest release by chance?

  2. A busy day (off) in 6.4x. Another Colossus blasts off...

    eQgtzuF.png

    to deliver the Hub2 module...

    tFRq1jI.png

    to the waiting station:

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    Along with the physical hub, this new module includes a massive procedural battery under the gold foil to power the dual cyclotrons while on the night side of Kerbin, a new module tug WITH a probe core, and the first of several hull cameras for some long-duration photography experiments. The view from the new cam as the module makes its approach:

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    Docking was nominal:

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    Another view from the new hull cam:

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    After the colossal snafu earlier, the new tug is detached and flown around the station to verify it actually, well, works. It's extremely unstable on its own but workable. Will need to add extra reaction wheels for better control.

    rXta4rn.png

    With the new module secured, Edgas & Jerdos Kerman, the remaining S5 crew members, undock their MUL to return home. But they left the auxiliary life support pack they arrived with when the station was in much worse shape. S6 will have to remember to dispose of it at the end of their tour.

    QwwfB2p.png

    After making the deorbit burn and reaching the upper atmosphere, first the umbilical is jettisoned...

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    Then the service module...

    cwbYYhy.png

    This is a proper, controlled, lifting reentry thanks to FAR. The capsule has an off center COM, so it naturally assumes this attitude. It's also slightly unstable, needing active roll leveling, but it works well. The initial point of aim was right at KSC. Thanks to its ability to "fly," the capsule actually travels a couple hundred kilometers beyond KSC (a bit long, but where I actually wanted it to end up). The crew also only gets around 4 G's rather than the 7+ if it were ballistic (non-lifting) entry. This is how Apollo, Soyuz, and the new Orion capsule do it, altho they have much more control and can direct that lifting force sideways or even down to control their trajectory, up to a point.

    h7oPZPv.png

    Passing over K2. It's much less peaky in 6.4x but still huge.

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    Passing over KSC and dropping to lower mach speeds. If the reentry had been ballistic, the pod would have hit the surface about here.

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    A perfect landing, airbags deployed, and Edgas & Jerdos are home.

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    A week later a Colossus Heavy blasts off with the second cyclotron module.

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    The tug works much better this time.

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    And at long last Highlab II is restored to wonderful, wonderful SYMMETRY!

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    A parting pretty shot from the hullcam:

    X0t58SU.png

  3. Not sure if this is the right forum, but title sez it all. I've got an idea for a Kerbal video, and I need to squish a couple hours of gameplay into a couple minutes. How could I go about doing this? Recording the entire time with vidcap software would probably need a huge chunk of space, gotta be a more efficient way. Is there maybe a mod or something that can take screenshots at regular intervals? I know not-quite-nothing about video creating but I wanna see if I have the patience to make something lol.

  4. Today in 6.4x, the S6 crew blasted off...

    OQgIj2V.png

    ...to deliver a small docking adapter...

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    ...and relieve the two remaining S5 crew members, who will be returning to Kerbin after six months in space.

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    Meanwhile, after some cosmetic upgrades...

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    the launch vehicle for the eventual S7 crew undergoes some engine tests...

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    And back at Mission Control, the engineers ran some high-altitude abort simulations:

    m0qoJju.png

    Below 5000m the launch escape system is completely automated; from abort separation & LAS ignition, to shroud separation & chute deployment, to landing. All the crew needs to do is scream. Above that, the shroud separation subroutine is disabled. The pod, shroud, & tower are very aerodynamically stable and have some limited control. At medium altitude, the combination coasts to apogee before shroud separation & standard decent & landing. At high altitude tho...

    fFtyY9f.png

    There's a very limited window between upper stage ignition & LAS/shroud jettison, after that the crew would just separate in the MUL and use its engine to abort.

    N1NwMwD.png

    In thin or no atmosphere, the LAS/pod combination is not at all stable and tumbles quite a bit before control is regained.

    N1NwMwD.png

    The shroud & tower are immediately jettisoned after control is regained and the pod is pointed retrograde.

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    It's a rough ride down. Well below orbital speed, the descent is very steep, but the lifting reentry thanks to FAR manages to shave a good 2.5 G's off the 12 or so that Trajectories was predicting. Things got very hot too, the heat shield temp peaked at over 1500 degrees.

    IbNTfc5.png

    But after all that the decent was completely routine. My Kerbonauts can rest better knowing the trusty MUL/Colossus now has verified launch abort capability all the way from pad to orbit (eat your heart out space planes :sticktongue:)

    MiCekI8.png

  5. If you only need reentry g-forces then you can use drag. For the landing window there's also projected max drag forces. That's good enough unless you explicitly need non-drag g-forces.

    Will take a look, but don't think it'll play well with FAR. A simple G readout for all phases of the flight would really be best, the code is already there in the seismometer so I (ignorantly) assuming tapping into that for an MJ display would be fairly simple?

  6. ahahah, i got those references. i haven't heard that song in forever, dang.

    ok, the song was easy. Waiting to see if anyone gets the cactus.

    That's an awesome station, but I'm curious as to how you manage to run something with that kind of part count. I've tried making stations that size, and the part count always kills my effort about halfway through.

    Part count is just under 300 right now. It's starting to lag a bit but only just. It's really not that big yet, I just picked the right parts I guess lol. See below.

    @CatastrophicFailure (or anyone else who knows) what mods are you using in there for the tanks? I love the look of them!

    Those are Procedural fuselages with the original texture. The modules are from Station Science. The big 3m hab is KW I think. The rest is just a smattering of adapters & docking ports.

    Oh and q6YJt4C.png

  7. They are the same part. Not sure what would conflict though spare parts is part of the community resource pack.

    It's the equivalent of my part uses liquid fuel and so does a lot of other parts. My part does not make the others not work. ;).

    I think it's something to do with that new GUI for transferring resources, since Dangit uses its own. So question is, what can I do to get this resolved?

  8. @Frank_G: Gracias. It's yet to turn into a wobble monster or lag king, so I might actually finish it! If I remember the probe cores...

    Today was much less dramatic. Five months after the near-disaster due to a failed tug & monoprop leak, a new cargo ship lifts off with fresh supplies.

    gZh8Pi1.png

    This is Tenacity-2 atop a rather plain, as-yet-unnamed light launcher based on a Colossus-H core stage, but no longer sharing anything in common but the main fuel tank and standard upper stage.

    R1xTdP7.png

    Just barely able to pull off an almost-two-stage launch. Tenacity burns through a good share of its monoprop cargo to reach orbit, but the main internal tank is still full.

    vDUo5QA.png

    Tenacity. 11.5 tonnes on orbit, fully monoprop powered and quite stable when translating. Delivers a couple hundred units each of monoprop & LOX, plus TAC food & water to last 3 Kerbonauts about 6 months, and could carry other light 1.25 meter cargo in the cargo bay. And just plain looks kewl. Mostly Tantares parts.

    1Z07TKQ.png

    Meeting up with Highlab II

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    Getting crowded up here. That's next on the list to remedy. For now, Tenacity-2 docks temporarily to the aft hub port above Tenacity-1.

    TL4cQcd.png

    All the station & MUL tanks are automatically topped off thanks to Goodspeed fuel pump. Fresh snacks & supplies for the crew, tho they'll be leaving soon. And proper waste disposal provisions so they can be "good stewards" and stop dumping crap overboard into space. Instead it'll be vaporized, aerosolized, and evenly distributed over the heads of thousands of unsuspecting Kerbals. (Chilling thought: if you live below 52 degrees latitude [and pretty much everyone does] you could be breathing incinerated astronaut dookie RIGHT NOW!) Sorry, squerl.... anyways...

    bV2vDOS.png

    With the station supplied and no longer in jeopardy, Tenacity-1 undocks for one final mission.

    Kngenbi.png

    Tenacity-2 then repositions to its proper place at the aft port.

    d8pz11q.png

    Tenacity-1 departs to chase down the errant tug-thing and dispose of it.

    AdWyMyM.png

    After a few days it finally locks on and deorbits. Can't risk something that big and uncontrolled sharing orbit with the station.

    uBYu6jG.png

    Tenacity lives up to its name. Reentry in 6.4x is well over 5km/s.

    8T243Jg.png

    It holds together pretty deep into the atmosphere before it all comes apart at once from DRE heat & FAR aero forces. As planned, nothing survives.

    VY9hr8t.png

    Meanwhile, Chadvey takes the duty of returning with the doomed S4 crew's MUL. There's no way to bring it back on auto so it'll need a pilot at the controls. Mission Control sees the need to retrofit a probe core to the next generation.

    J3crCbW.png

    The MUL's reaction wheels had failed sometime prior, and due to a spare parts conflict, can't be fixed on orbit. RCS is enough to get the ship out of orbit, but there'll be no attitude control after the service module separates. Chadvey knows he's in for a bumpy ride.

    r6vWdZ4.png

    FAR and an offset center of mass let the MUL pod fly a lifting entry usually, keeping G load to around 4 and "gliding" farther. But it's unstable and needs attitude control from the wheels. Without that, the pod falls in a ballistic course and begins rolling wildly. After being weightless for six months Chadvey is subjected to well over seven G's during reentry, and that doesn't count the spinning. He wisely refrained from eating today.

    459FbCu.png

    He's way off course too. Instead of landing in the ocean just east of KSC he's heading for the barren desert of Cocomor. But finally the chutes open, the braking thrusters fire and he thuds back to Kerba firma. The MUL pod is designed for a water landing, but can land on land. It just sucks more.

    BmU9bJL.png

    Chadvey crawls out of his pod, happy to be home. His...hair... had turned from black into bright white. He said that it was from when the pod had smashed so hard (And a texture replacer head pack). He knows he has a long wait for the recovery crew, but it looks like he's already found a friend.

    vp3Cv1E.png

    (reps to the first one who gets those references!)

  9. Right, that's what I figured. Just putting it out there so ya'll can be aware, posted on the MCE thread as well.

    ETA: I think it's something with CIT Kert, a new GUI for transferring resources. Since DANGIT uses its own, the new thing must have mucked up the works. Any chance of a workaround or update?

  10. A dramatic day today (well yesterday) on my fledgling 6.4x station. Everything started off according to plan...

    Third launch of my uprated Colossus/H-R1 LV. This proved it's good for 35 tonnes to 130km LKO, with a couple hundred m/s left in the third stage, can maybe push that to 40-45. Need to try sticking a MUL on top soon.

    eFGitB4.jpg

    Seven NovaPunch M50's fire at launch (that's like 8 MainSails). Crossfeeding boosters burn out about 2 min into the flight, then separate into an "inside-out" Korolev's cross to clear the three M50's on the core stage.

    aOfKIYu.jpg

    Core stage burns for another two minutes, carrying the stack out of the atmosphere. Staging, fairing separation, and the same upper stage I've been using for nearly this whole career continues to ApA, with a typical circularization burn of less than 100 m/s half an hour later. In this case the stage is fitted with a probe core & power to fly the rendezvous, and a 35 ton cyclotron for the station. It's a bit of a pig of course. At 45 tonnes total the reaction wheels can barely turn it. The Vernors can turn it much more quickly but produce so much thrust that using them can quickly throw the trajectory way off. There's no RCS fuel on board for the thrusters mounted on the cyclotron. This later becomes another brick in a wall of fail.

    KHRYBNW.png

    Ah, there she is. HighLab II, 30 (real) days into the S5 crew's 180 day stay. The S4 crew met with tragedy just days into their stay when life support completely failed. S5 was the backup crew, consisting of space hero Chadvey and veterans Edmund & Jerdous, launched in a hurry to secure the station. It takes a couple of orbits, but controllers are finally able to wrangle the cyclotron to within a couple hundred meters of the station, and stabilize it.

    NoJfm7u.jpg

    Time to undock the tug that brought in Hub-1 and go pick it up. But someone, somewhere has made a critical mistake. There's no probe core. The tug has just become a very expensive hunk of debris.

    H8DzFmN.jpg

    Thinking quickly, Chadvey rushes to the extra MUL from the S4 crew and undocks. It's fully fueled but has limited life support

    rnEnER0.jpg

    This is way beyond its design specs. First he tries to maneuver behind the drifting tug in hopes of pushing it back onto the docking port, but he can't see forward, and there's no docking telemetry from the tug.

    hdgvBGQ.png

    He makes contact, but it just bumps the tug away. He desperately tries to maneuver around it again, to nudge it into the docking port's magnet range, but again it doesn't work.

    tAs9N6r.jpg

    Chadvey knows he has limited fuel, a good part of the station's supply is still on that tug. They'll have to deal with it later. For now he goes chasing after the cyclotron. With good telemetry, docking is no problem.

    KQEF16x.png

    The Colossus upper stage is discarded, Mission Control will de-orbit it on auto. Now Chadvey has to guide the massive module back to the station with the MUL's minuscule RCS supply.

    rjLIZ0o.jpg

    Mission Control has been able to reconfigure the docking alignment display to work from his MUL, but first he's got to get close to the station, and he can barely see out the tiny window.

    2sXfa8x.png

    His initial course is off, and in a tense moment 40 tonnes nearly slams into the main hab module. Chadvey recovers, barely missing a solar panel.

    YGIYmcz.jpg

    But he's gotten a feel for it now. The DAI has come online and he's able to nudge the huge module into position.

    DKu1iOk.jpg

    With a thump and some clicks, the latches engage as the cyclotron is secure. Chadvey breathes a sign of relief. He has less than 10 units of monoprop left.

    WybH5gR.jpg

    That's plenty, though for a simple reposition of the MUL to the apex port so he can get back into the station.

    U4YsgUk.jpg

    With disaster averted for the moment, the crew settle in for a much needed rest. But their headaches are far from over. While they're in the other module watching "Batman Begins" a monoprop tank springs a leak. By the time they notice it and isolate the bad tank, nearly all of the station's remaining monoprop has been vented. They're into contingency minimums. The construction schedule will have to be completely revamped now, even using a MUL as a tug they don't have the fuel to dock any new modules, and the next cargo ship isn't due till near the end of their rotation. And that drifting tug will have to be dealt with before it causes more problems.

    But on a lighter note I finally got the MunCastle!

    7N4cxqg.jpg

  11. Hey just throwing this out there... it appears there's an incompatibility now between this and Mission Controller extended. MCE uses community resource SpareParts, and after updating it, the "take spares" button in the GUI no longer works. I get a message saying it did, but no spares on the Kerbal. I can transfer SpareParts to a Kerbal using MCE's GUI, but they're not recognized by dangit for fixing stuff.

  12. Make a poll?

    Personally I'd like to see Bop, Gilly, and Minmus retain their original size but perhaps be equal in density relative to the other bodies (they would thus have much less gravity than what they currently have)

    Now that WOULD be interesting... Being able to actually jump a full kilometer into the "air" on Gilly like the wiki says...

    What would the proper gravity be on stock sized Gilly with realistic density?

  13. I'm surprised no ones mentioned that bunch that wants to fund a one way colony mission by making it a reality show. The comment about oil bugged me first but the guy has a point. If we had a REAL reason to go there other than SCIENCE!, the private sector would find away. And without the same unpleasant "motivation" that govt needs. If we found something there worth $20 million a kilo, SOMEone would get there pretty darn quick.

    Its also worth noting, from a risk perspective, that the vessels that brought the first people to Polynesia, or the first Europeans to America, had no business making voyages of that kind either...

  14. I've been using this for a few weeks, and other than no shadows, it's been working well. Until tonight, it just stopped. I can't get to the main menu. It gets as far as the "loading" graphic in the bottom corner, stays on that for a while, then the screen just starts flickering. Memory usage drops out to around 300k at the same time, if I try to alt+tab I get the not-responding-wait-or-close dialog, also flicking back & forth, hitting "wait" does nothing. It was working just fine last night and I didn't do anything with it except trying to run the regular .exe.

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