meve12

Little bug report: When I install extraplanetary launchpads v3.6, none of the other parts would load. The only ones unaffected are, strangely, kerbal engineer parts.

It does make SSTOs absurdly easy.

Keep going.

A good samaritian tradition seems like a good start.

I figured nuclear reactors would provide a lot more power, but actually consume blutonium. RTGs are low power, long lifespan generators. Fuel cells might work, although I'd also like a generator that runs with intake air.

A "generator" tweak-able option for NERVAs, which converts it into a mere nuclear reactor.(Produces lots of electricity, does not use fuel, only blutonium.) Might be useful when resources come along, since you'll have to power those drills somehow. And also a "turbine" option that does almost the same for jet/rocket engines(uses fuel, and intakes/oxidizier depending on engine to make electricity.) Good for early game power gen, but watch the fuel....

Somewhat unrelated: Wasn't there a plan to use nuclear weapons for landscaping, on both sides? Because it sounded very Kerbal.

Not really, but there was that time a Mun mission went horribly wrong.... My lander had the engines on the sides, but they were too low down and bottomed out when I landed, disabling the lander. That's not the fun part. The fun part was, the return vehicle did not have the Delta-V to return completly(no nukes) and when Bill came out to push it, he ended up running out of jetpack fuel after his first 8 attempts. So now I had to not only recover a return vehicle, but also rescue Bill, who couldn't even reorient himself to grab a ladder, it had to be brought to him. Thankfully, the orbit HAD been dropped pretty far, so rendezvousing with the recover vehicle was easy enough. Bill, on the other hand, needed a great deal of precision flying.

0.20, after installing KAS(before the attachment point bug was fixed) I'd been using a good SSTO for crew transfers to my main space station, both before and after installing KAS. But the last time I did so, the SSTO started acting strangely before reaching the station(without any KAS parts, they were all on the station.) 2 or 3 times, random bits would fly off at highspeed for no apparent reason. Then when I reached the station, and switched over to it to reorient it, several more bits flew off. So I switched back, really worried now....and the whole thing blows up and scatters bits of shuttle in all directions. The cockpit was relatively unaffected, but was moving away from the station at some speed. Cue my first rushed mass EVA as each Kerbal bailed out and burned for the station. It was touch-and-go for a few minutes, juggling three Kerbals into the station(thankfully there was little debris, it had all sped off to parts unknown!)

Life support (CO2->02) in a cup. Fast growing, hardy food crops. Biological capacitors. Self-repairing hulls. Autodocs. Etc, etc, etc. Not NEEDED, but it'd be nice to have. EDIT: sorry, replying to bsalis.

Ya, both of those are pretty good. (Atrocious music otherwise.) Would battles just be medival jousting like Nibb said, or would some ships want to match vectors(for lasers or something.)

KSPX, but you probably already know that one.

How would you control the ERCS? Would it respond to the throttle, or does it behave like RCS? Or maybe both...

Maybe, but that assumes you can actually get them close enough to do some good. Besides, that also assumes there's no such thing as surprise attacks or covert action. The Cuba Missile Crises started, escalated, and deflated within two weeks, and nearly started WW3 right then and there.

Also: Could it be armed? Give it a one bomb bay for a 500 pound bomb and that's a bomb anywhere within a few hours.

It'd have to be very autonomous, with built in navigation(i.e no GPS, not fast enough). Maybe it has a map of the Earth so it can use cameras to pinpoint landmarks, and thus it's location?

What would be the appropriate material? It'd have to be a strong, lightweight and noncorrosive metal. Titanium? And make those habitats at the terminator, so you don't have to worry so much about cooling.

Might be a bit impractical, though. Either it's a building size train(with all the maintenance problems similarly magnified) or you're cooped up on a train sized train on the Moon, in which case why'd you go there anyway?

The main problem with it was that it was expense and wasn't reusable. Every Saturn V costed 185 million dollars to build and launch, and none of it could be recovered. The rest of the mission was small potatoes(unrecoverable ones at that.) So 185 million pissed down the drain for every Moonshot. Yes, it was a great achievement, and a great advance of our knowledge in the moon, but at 185 million a mission we got screwed.

Another Ares thought bubble: 1. If we bulge out the Central Corridor where it links to the Doughnut, we might have a good radiation shelter/ zero-G lab. 2. How viable would a Titanium Aerobrake shield on the Docking Pier be? 3. Heavy Lifting Lander: Possible Ares payload for use with a extended Mars Base. Imagine a squat cylinder with a reusable payload fairing on top, and LH2/O2 engines on the bottom. Again, uses parachutes for landing, but has it's own landing legs this time. Could be used for ferrying heavier payloads from the Martian surface to Ares and back. We'll probably need onsite LH2/O2 production for 3, though. Mars Colony ahoy! Also: Ares Cargo: a follow on craft to the Ares, if a Mars Colony is established Same Service Module, but the whole craft is on remote control/autopilot. Instead of a crew area, there is a box-like Cargo Hold(assembled in space) around the Central Corridor(which is now filled with computer equipment and supports). The entire outer walls of the Hold split open on command to allow access to the cargo. Used to ferry materials, fuel, and equipment to, and eventually from, the Mars Colony. And Ares SpaceLiner: A personnel transport, which replaces lab equipment with more crew spaces, as well as expanding the Doughnut and shortening the Docking Pier. Carries 40-50 personnel, but needs shuttles/Landers on arrival.

You're welcome. Though I duna how you'd make greenhouses in KSP. (Couldn't resist.)

Actually, taking a second look at it, the Ares I designed could use some improvements: 1. Forget using the Reentry Module as a bridge; the secondary bridge is now the bridge, period. The Central Corridor, already having observation equipment(and hence, navigation) becomes the Conn. 2. The Service Module LH2 tank is also inflatable(The interior support needed to hold up the Crew Module remains solid, however), for space reasons. 3. The Reentry Module Launch comes with a assembly-needed Docking Pier, to support up to 8 or 12(Depends on design) crew shuttles, payload packages, Landers, and Reentry Modules radially. 4. The Service Module only launches with half the fuel rods, in shutdown mode, to minimize fallout in case of failure. The Equipment launch carries the other half. 5. Between burns, the vessel is pointed perpendicular to the sun and spun up using RCS. This allows even heating of the entire spacecraft and gravity at the same time. 6. RCS uses LH2/O thrusters, as we're already carrying both for the lander. 7. Speaking of O2, the Docking Pier is also extra O2 and possibly LH2 storage.

The sort of modifications you'd need would amount in a complete redesign. Let's call our redesign Ares, just for tradition's sake. You'd need more delta-V, a better power source, more space(and more crew, for psychological reasons)and better life support. Also radiation protection. You'll also need a higher gain antenna, both on the CSM and Mission control. And you need to lift it all to orbit, so more Saturn-V launches a mission at a minimum. Let's tackle those in order. Delta-V and Power: Bimodal NERVA engine, which is launched into low orbit with it's fuel tank(LH2, so pretty huge.) Heavy, but no personnel on this launch, so no "slowpoke launch" losses(Keeping Gees down means the rocket has to stay in atmos and without orbital speeds for longer, so more fuel burned.) Probably a Saturn-V launch, then. It'll be recovered and reused, because no one wants radioactive fallout due to reentry disposal. We'll call this all the Service Module. More space, life support and radiation protection: Ohhhhboy this is a hard one for 1960's tech. Kelvar won't be invented until the 70's, so either we wait or assemble it in orbit. Probably wait. Designing the Service Module is going to take a bit. Once Kevlar comes out, we can make an inflatable Crew Module. It'd look, when inflated, like a thick doughnut suspended to a corridor through the doughnut hole by other inflated corridor/cable(s). The corridor/cables allow access to the Central Corridor, which leads to the Reentry Module and the Lander on the 'bow', and Service Module at the 'stern'. The Central Corridor will probably have a folding antenna and observation equipment, as well as a secondary bridge and a machine room. We spin either the whole ship or the Central Corridor for gravity(+2 year mission, exercise is not enough.) The Doughnut would have two decks: a lower, outer deck for hydroponics, waste processing and such, and a inner, higher deck for crew quarters and labs. The outer decks would probably be lined with lead, polyethylene and water storage(NOT touching) for some radiation protection. The rest of radiation protection will probably take the form of ingestion of retinoids and iodine pills, which may not be all that recoverable. Solar panels would line all but the inner face of the Doughnut, for additional/emergency power. The Crew Module will also be recovered and reused. The Reentry Module and Lander will be the last Module launched, as it will serve as the crew bus to the Ares. The Reentry Module will carry all 12(yes, twelve, both for psychological reasons and for all the fields required to explore a planet) back down to Earth at the end of the mission, as well as act as the main bridge for the whole vessel. So a larger Command Module. The Lander would be substantially different, however(you didn't think we'd just go to Phobos, right?) It'd have to get down with three men to the Martian surface and back up, probably repeatedly and with no guarantee of onsite refuel. So it'd probably land via parachute and airbags, albiet not disposable ones(they'd be deflated after each landing.) Then launch back into orbit on LH2 and O rockets. Imagine a pyramid with rounded edges, with the cabin(a relatively small one) on top and engines on the bottom. Deflated airbags dot the bottom in such a manner as to completely cover and the engines it when inflated. 3 parachutes on top to slow down the lander prior to landing, which surround a docking node for when you get back up to Ares. RCS is provided by tiny LH2/O thrusters. The most you'd need for a Phobos Lander is a variant of the Lunar Escape System with orbital computers. And even that is more for orbital maneuvers than actual landing/takeoff. Mission Profile: 1. Launch of the Service and Crew Modules(deflated) into Low Earth Orbit a month in advance. The Modules are docked via remote control. 2. Launch of a crew shuttle(based off the Apollo Crew Module) and a equipment launch three weeks in advance. Carries only 3 men plus supplies and equipment, because they're going to inflate the Crew Module, connect pipes and wires, install what couldn't be carried up in the initial launch, etc. Basically final assembly. 3. Launch of the Reentry Module/Lander a week in advance. Carries the rest of the crew plus the rest of the equipment and personal effects. The week is spent finishing final assembly and activating the NTR. 4. Earth-Mars Window, Ares performs the injection burn to Mars(Final GO/NOGO. Beyond this, your arse is committed.) 5. 6 month long coast to Mars, on a strictly nonsmoking flight. You'll need a good head-shrink or two somewhere in the selection process. The Central Corridor's observation equipment could be used for astronomy. 6. Ares reaches Mars flyby orbit and performs a braking burn for capture. 7. A year of orbital/landing operations whilst SCIENCE is done. Samples are collected for further study. 8. Mars-Earth Window opens. Ares performs another transfer burn. 9. Another 6 month coast. 10. Ares brakes into Low Earth Orbit after 2 years of continuous operation. 12. Unless a cheaper method of crew transport is invented and used, the crew and the samples ride the Reentry Module to a water landing on Earth. 13. OH NOES 14. Ares is left in orbit for future reuse.

Although it makes me wonder if generation ships are worth it in anything but a world-killing emergency(heck, as long as the sun's not gonna blow it could just be a space station.)

I like this. Can we add a 2.5mm lab made from a Hitchhiker module? Allows conversion of samples into science points onsite(at 80% efficiency, or something like that) and allows local access to the tech tree. This is mostly for Kethane/Launchpads players who want to make a complete off-planet VAB though, so might be better as a plugin.