sgt_flyer

you can also make gaps between two attached parts now (and they remain mysteriously attached ^^) that could help too i've added a howto onto the open source technics thread for soyuz style open latices, but it can work too for creating gaps between the bearings and the rotor for example http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/43086-Open-Source-Construction-Techniques-for-Craft-Aesthetics?p=1709894&viewfull=1#post1709894

If you did not checked it out already, i would encourage you to also check the WIP mod Principia http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/68502-WIP-Principia-N-Body-Gravitation-and-Better-Integrators-for-Kerbal-Space-Program (And maybe ask questions to eggrobin if you need) At least, this mod, once done, will allow you to put to practice what you'll learn about n-body physics

WIP - 1201 parts of soviet engineering (the rocket itself is 678 parts the rest is the launch pad) it uses the same R-7 booster as the sputnik rocket i released here : http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/109961-0-90-Sputnik-8K71PS though - obviously, i added an upperstage + a vostok as a payload (not counting the retractable elevator platform ) and yes - the ejector seat does work (hatch ejection + seat ejection at the same time) (even while the rocket's engines are still firing )

Some components handle overclocking better than others (when they are not outright locked away from overclocking) However, when going high over the reference clocks, even without damaging the components, you can increase calculations errors - so your system can become more unstable the further you push your overclocking (because of eletric noise) ex : you overclock your processir, so it needs more power to run-thus gets hotter. To limit the increase in temperature, you reduce the voltage (and thus the power needed) - but your voltage levels are that much closer to the ambient noise (which is heightened by the higher clocks) Now, when CPU/GPU manufacturers build their processors, they create a large number of dies on a single wafer - however, at the sizes they work with, there will be dies with more or less damage on it. The dies in the best shape becomes the high end processors, while those in lower shape sees some of their damaged sections disabled and sold as medium / low end products. Hence why, some cpu / gpu handle that better than others (even with the exact same processor, if one circuit was slightly damaged during manufacture, so it works at reference clocks, but using higher than reference creates increased resistance in the slightly damaged part - which suddenly stops responding - and your cpu becomes unstable Overclocking is not something to be done without having done some research / having knowledge of it

Mmh wondering - on graphs we can see, ixv's backplate is drilled with holes for those RCS thrusters - now, have they been melted, or covered in somethink like putty prior to the launch, to limit risks of leaks after spalshdown (plus, a coating like that could partially ablate / melt during reentry, taking away some heat from the thrusters - as one of ESA's goals is to know if the capsule is in a partially reusable state (including the RCS system) That, or what's covering the rcs thrusters is the same gooey white stuff the put inside the ring which served as a connection to avum - (stuff that would have been sprayed by divers to prevent hydrazine leaks after splashdown - and some of the scorched color was just washed away on the goo by seawater

@Kulebron - that's basically cogeneration - for cogeneration to work efficiently, the target needs to be close by - because the longer your steam pipes are, the more you'll lose heat. So you'll need to stick what people believe is 'nuclear' steam (and a nuclear power plant) next to drinking water or a city (especially regarding putting a nuclear power plant in close proximity to a city could cause all kind of security issues - and not necessarily for the people at first. (Just check out the ruckus that has followed greenpeace militants sneaking in french powerplants, or more recently drones flying over those) Security (vs attacks or natural disasters) of nuclear sites remains something to be rightly concerned with - because either attacks or natural disasters could much more easily create containment breaches than a simple accident. For containment breaches to follow an accident, you really need multiple human errors , bad reactors designs and / or safety systems to fail to respond correctly.

mmh, checked out some infos for the handling of the spacecraft after the recuperation : (sorry, article in french) http://www.futura-sciences.com/magazines/espace/infos/actu/d/ixv-ixv-mission-reussie-mais-pas-terminee-56917/ but roughly, they are speaking about how they passivate the remaining Hydrazine on board - current techniques use a lot of dilution to neutralize the hydrazine, which takes quite some time (they said it would have taken them 10 days to dilute the stuff to safe levels) however, they decided to experiment on other ways to neutralize hydrazine, by injecting hydrogen peroxyde (they did not specify the concentration though) to make it react with hydrazine (they have to monitor the pressure / temperatures throughout the operation, done in a closed room) seems this technique allows them to reach safe levels in 1 day (they give a figure of 1ppm of hydrazine remaining after only 1 day) - with 5 days to finish the whole passivation operation. (hydrazine / hydrogen peroxyde reaction giving off only water and nitrogen.) as this technique is 'new' they want to check out if it can damage the propulsion system, which will be thoroughly checked after the operation. (as they want to confirm they'll be able to reuse some systems)

@lajoswinkler needs moar first stage engines and the staging is messed up

http://www.spacex.com/press/2015/02/11/dscovr-launch-update here's the answer for 'stage 1 splashdown' : extreme weather at recovery site, + the drone recovery platform only has 3 engines out of 4 working (hard to stationkeep) so they only tried a controlled sea softlanding.

@ techpriest93 nothing - they just announced that the second upper stage burn was quite some time away and cut the webcast

i've heard Stage 1 splashdown in the webcast - mmmh ?

Grr really too much KSP

Well, they said it was for gaining return capabilities from LEO (experiment returns / potentially their own manned spacecrafts - and could pave the way towards reusable first stages for a future rocket concept. (The concept showed a rocket with two twin engines winged methalox boosters around a single engine sustainer (possibly methalox too) with this kind of configuration, maybe for a medium LV (maybe to potentially replace soyuz if it's phased out by russians in favor of angara - once the russians get their new manned spacecraft) - - - Updated - - - Replay of the launch - http://www.esa.int/spaceinvideos/Videos/2015/02/Replay_of_Vega_liftoff_VV04_with_IXV

splashdown confirmed the speedboats are moving in to secure IXV

broadcast is restarting in 3 minutes vehicle still at around 5900 m/s and 68km altitude

thanks, corrected too much ksp ^^

@Nibb31 the first 3 stages are SRBs only the upper stage uses pressure fed hypergolic engine

the mission is still currently in progress - the IXV just separated from the upper stage they'll show a launch replay during the coasting time of IXV

countdown resumed at 4 mn.

i think they'll do a new go / nogo before resuming countdown edit : new launch time : 13h40 GMT

the phrase is 'A tous de DDO' DDO is the abbreviation designating the 'directeur d'opérations' (operations director, basically the person in charge of the launch - equivalent to Nasa's flight director) the phrase simply tells the DDO is speaking to everyone the launch base requested the hold, which could mean a whole bunch of things (maybe someone downrange or inside dangerous zones of the base)

@RainDreamer nah, they use the X for abbreviating eXperimental (because that's the first phonetic letter in the word ) Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle launch on hold at 4mn and 25s for the moment edit : clock recalculated at 4mn - still on hold launch base (ensemble de lancement) requested the hold.

nah, it's just in preparation for the livestream the livestream just started right on time

we'll have to be patient if we want to watch the whole thing Vega's mission can last up to 21 minutes after the launch - IXV's mission will last 1hour and 20 minutes more after separation from the upper stage ! seems all lights are green for the moment (kerbals approve ! ^^) https://twitter.com/esa

Be very careful with this list - read it correctly before saying germany and uk have shutdown nearly all their reactors. Because it includes either prototype reactors (which are not meant to have a long life) and reactors dating from before the 1980's - all german reactors dating from after this are still operationnal. (And three of those closed reactors are inside still active nuclear power plants) - they plan to use them until at least 2022. (And beyond that, they'll still buy France nuclear electricity...) - on the other hand, they still use 50% of fossil fuels (ok, that's still less than the USA thpugh USA faces the problem of the sheer size of it's territory.