Gods315Pawn

It was a pretty busy day, but most of it was making up from accidentally loading over a lot of unsaved progress. Highlights include the Science Jet (made from 90 science tier parts) which I used for flying around the KSC continent to fulfill contracts. "Bob's Science Car" is pretty much what it sounds like and it is jet powered. I used it for the space center to start and then upgraded to fulfill surface report contracts. Those trips can take a while so I set up some road trip music and have determined that Bob likes Rock music. He was really getting into "Cliffs of Dover" and "Knights of Cydonia." I assume geology IS one of his fields of study, so it fits. Finished the evening by fully catching back up by redoing my Tilion I and II Mun missions. A probe landing and a well scienced manned flyby respectively. I might have enough Science and funding to land a Kerbal there now. I might do a couple of other things first though.

I have always struggled with airplanes in this game, before and after the revamped aerodynamics. I'm not sure if the new situation makes it easier or focuses on realism, but I was able to successfully fly to Gene's field (southern tip of KSC continent), do in-air temp scan for a contract, and return to KSC today. I'm pretty happy about it. The only "successful" flights I'd pulled off before were just quick test runs that did nothing more than do a few minutes of maneuvering followed by landing back at KSC or at the island runway. That said, I had to revert to launch a couple of times just because I couldn't get it in the air from the un-upgraded runway. I finally succeeded when I just made a 90 degree turn into the field to the south of KSC and took off from the grass. So much easier than the dirt runway. I landed the same way when I came back. I came in from the south. I touched down just past the shore and gradually tapped the brakes to slow it down. It got a little hairy when I couldn't slow down before reaching the Space Center, I took airborn again from one of the hills in KSC, glided between a satellite dish and tracking station building. I then managed to steer it around to finally park between the VAB and the Admin building. Nobody was injured, nothing was damaged, I didn't have to use the braking chutes (though I probably should have), I landed back at KSC, and I completed the assigned task. Easily the most success I've ever had with an airplane in KSP.

This is what I meant to do just now. "Oh hey, look at that..." Yeah... you get it.

Oh... hey, look at that. Thank you. I will keep that in mind in the future.

Well, the Dream Team on my Tilion III mission to the Mun have hit a minor snag. As you can see, I managed to successfully dock the lander to the front of the CM, but when I separated them the decoupler didn't separate from the lander portion as well. This is... a slight problem. I can't get it off. I'm going to try to land it as is or if I get really daring I might try to land in such a way as to destroy it, but I'll probably do a quicksave before attempting that. I'm guessing it is because I added the little strut connectors for added stability during the launch. I'll probably need to rework that for later missions. Will update as Tilion III progresses. Update: I said I would... so here it is. The lander is on its side, the solar panels are destroyed, and Jeb is dead. I don't really want to go into how, but I think an explanation is probably warranted. The lander was on its crew hatch side. Jeb insta-poofed upon an attempt at EVA. I will say the quicksave feature should have the same "Hold F# to quick" as the quickload feature does. Quickloads do me no good if I accidentally quicksave over them by getting the two mixed up. I think I am going to take this opportunity to find some Post-It notes and write "Tough" and "Competent" on the top two corners of my computer monitor and then I am going to restart my career mode because I set the science and funding way too easy anyway. I might take time to cry first. It seems completely called for in light of my personal failure.

After last night's nearly disastrous but ultimately rewarding and inspiring mission involving Isaalla (plans are already underway for a big budget Kollywood movie), my KSA has decided to employ "real" mathematicians. The previous mathematicians have been promoted to administrators who are now in charge of hiring mathematicians using the same tried and true method that got them promoted. So, basically I've started experimenting with the Delta-V equation. I had done it once long ago just to have done it, but it took some more guesswork to figure out what order to be plugging in the numbers again. Also, after the Windows 10 update I can't find the the "ln" function on the stock calculator, but I just used google's calculator instead. Anyway, I am reasonably confident that I did it correctly and the CM has enough to transit to the Mun, establish orbit, and return. This morning I finished up my attempt at building an Apollo style mission. I had done one once long ago where the lander launched already docked to the top of the CM. This is the first one I've built where I have to dock them together after the launch and before the Munar transit. However, unlike the actual Apollo missions, I don't plan on leaving a landing stage on the Munar surface. I have built it in the hopes that it can be used for multiple landings to get Science! I don't think it has enough fuel on board the lander to do it more than twice (and even that is extremely iffy especially given my agency's history with fuel planning). Either way, there are docking ports so I may send up a refueler. I'm not sure if it is cheaper/easier to send up a refueler or if it will be cheaper to return the CM and send up a duplicate craft. I still have research to do in that regard. I set my custom settings too easy since this was my first "career" mode since 1.0 launched, so it probably doesn't matter much. Anyway, since my space agency is built on the concept of "Launch first, answer difficult questions later," I have that ship in orbit already. The launch stage performed well, so I am keeping the leftovers around to start the Munar transit. I'll take care of the space junk at a later time. I have a cheap ship designed for that purpose. Unfortunately, I don't have time today to do the rest of that mission so the Original Three (is there some name that the forums like to refer to the collective of Bill, Bob, and Jeb?) will have to wait in orbit for a day or so.

So, I just stranded the lovely and brave Isaalla Kerman on the Mun. She was the first to step foot on the Mun (in this career). However, upon the return things went... badly. Now, when I say I stranded her on the Mun, I don't mean her craft doesn't have enough fuel to return home. I mean she doesn't have a craft to return home IN. This is a picture of her with what remains of her lander and return craft. As you can see from her expression she is either completely indifferent or barely managing to keep from freaking the heck out. I really can't tell which. Anyway, what happened was this. While descending for the landing I made a slight whoopsie that left one of the four engines with slightly less fuel than the others. The "slightly" is literal. Maybe a full "unit" of fuel. Wasn't a problem, the excellent piloting of Isaalla was able to cope and I landed safely. She did Science, got out, retrieved Science, planted flag and prepared to go home. While ascending I realized I would not have enough fuel to return home. I decided to land in case it wasn't enough fuel to orbit safely. This turned out to be a good idea as it, in fact, wasn't enough fuel. The engineers and mathematicians (this agency employs no actual mathematicians, instead opting for the Trial and Error methodology) are still being berated for this failure of a design. While descending, Isaalla realized that she would run out of fuel before she returned to the Munar surface and would need to bail out and RCS her way down safely the rest of the way. She prepared to do so as her fuel gauge dropped, but as her craft burned the last of the fuel it was suddenly sent into a rapid flip, end over end. One engine had run out of fuel first since some had been accidentally used before. Still falling towards the Mun, Isaalla kept her head, righted the craft, and climbed out. Daringly she grabbed the Science from the capsule before leaping clear and propelling herself away from the Munar surface as much as she could as she rapidly descended. Her ship exploded below her as she descended. She hit the ground hard and bounced back, high over the surface. Regaining her bearings, she took her RCS controls back and safely guided herself back down as secondary explosions went off from her doomed lander. She touched down safely and chased after the only remaining piece she could see, still bouncing away. It ended up 400m away in the end. She used a scant amount of precious RCS fuel to reach it and found it was only a landing leg and no use to her in her predicament. Unable to contact KSC or do anything more to save herself, she waits for a rescue. Update: Isaalla is saved! My first rescue craft lacked solar panels. I built in haste. It is currently drifting around in an elliptical orbit thanks to its flyby of the Mun. No idea how long it will take it to crash. While the craft was en route I had Isaalla climb out of the crater to gain higher elevation. Every little bit helps. My second one safely made it, but by the time I had gotten a second rescue craft to reach the Mun Isaalla's position had been engulfed in darkness. I hadn't thought to put lights on it because, again, I built in haste. I used Isaalla's targeting marker as a rough indication of elevation change (I had to estimate because I landed a kilometer away from her). The landing went safely and Isaalla EVA'd her way over to the craft. We can't see her face in this picture, but I imagine her smile was massive. The return was relatively uneventful. I used the last of the fuel as I was approaching Kerbin to slow down enough to prevent too much reentry heat since I neglected to put a heat shield on it (BUILT IN HASTE!). She landed in sunny fields quite near a beach. The Kerbin sand was a welcome comfort after the Munar regolith. You can see the... complete indifference in her expression. Or maybe she is just about to fall to her knees weeping with joy? I really can't tell which. With the Science she boldly retrieved from the original lander I was able to unlock the larger command module and medium size docking ports. Now, I should be able to do Apollo style missions which hopefully will make future missions safer.

You may remember my previous post wherein I explained how KSP gave me a sense of nausea during my first "Rescue stranded Kerbal" contract. I have done four or five of them now and it is getting old hat. Enough so that I made a mistake. I launched my basic rescue craft, tweaked the orbit, got a rendezvous after about an orbit and a half, and switched over to Thomoly so he could EVA his way over to the rescue craft. He makes the 500m journey without incident or difficulty, grabs on the lander can that I use for rescues,... And sees Jeb with a huge grin on his face waving to him from inside. Thomoly: "Jeb! What are you doing in there?!" Jeb: "I heard you were up here, so I thought I'd come visit. It was really handy that this craft was coming right to you. Made it easy." From Mission Control, Gene joins the conversation: "Jeb! How did you even get on the ship?!" Jeb: "Some of the engineers went for snacks when they were rolling it off the assembly line (you guys build a lot of those) and I thought, 'I bet I could go visit my good friend Thomoly in that craft' so I jumped on board." Thomoly, in tears that are puddling into spheres in front of his eyes: "It's a one seat rescue craft! I'm gonna die up here! I don't wanna die Jeb! You've killed me!" Jeb: "Calm down. You're going to land in this can. It's been proven many times already to work just fine." Gene: "What about you, Jeb? That just means you'll die in space instead." Jeb: "Oh, I'm going to go wait in Thomoly's derelict cockpit until you send up another one." Gene: "Jeb. It is now 4 km away from you and drifting fast." Jeb: "Is it? Oops, better go." So now I have to send up a second rescue craft. Thomoly did land safely and I fulfilled the contract, but a lot of the profit is going straight into fetching the idiotic and beloved Jebediah now "safely" in Thomoly's former cockpit. What did I do in KSP today? I roleplayed three Kerbal characters in an accident on the fly. It was fun. Update: Jeb successfully retrieved (I won't say "rescued" since he went up into the situation knowingly).

I got nauseous playing KSP! It was awesome! I just attempted my first ever rescue mission. It wasn't too difficult since I had done plenty of rendezvous and docking things before, but I only just started a career mode so rescuing somebody was new to me. Anyway, it went smoothly and I got the rendezvous close enough that I could switch over to the brave (and lovely I'm sure) lady, Phogey. The rescue ship being on the inside orbit, the planet was dominating my view. I was right over KSC. This was partly cool of course, but I was swept by a moment of nausea at the same time. I have a fear of heights, enough so that it makes me nauseous. The graphics aren't good enough to trigger it through the image, but the very idea of it hit me right then in a way that playing the game hadn't accomplished before. Because I could see a recognizable landmark the whole thing just hit home for me and made me feel a bit sick for a moment.

Late last night was spent in crazy experiments after my failure a few days ago with my Duna "Train." So called because I built it to be able to easily add more compartments to the front or back in a long line. Long story short, it was too long and unstable, the engine was the in the back and it oscillated once I tried to actually move this seven launch docking creation. It was my first planned manned mission to another planet's SOI so obviously it didn't go as planned. I got cocky. So, I've been conducting experiments to figure some things out. First I wanted to know if I could dock multiple ports along the same lateral point AND if by doing so it would increase stability. Second, can I make a larger lifter in order to send up larger segments (to allow for more strut points to increase stability) and I am only on orange tank and Mainsail rockets in the techtree. Third, can I make a front-side pulling engine and design a method of disposable fuel cans to ditch on a long journey. The third issue is mostly a mental exercise and I am still working on that. Issue number 1) I was successfully able to dock multiple docking ports along a single lateral section. Nice. I did this three different times making a four segment craft orbiting Kerbin. I sent a refueling craft to fill it up and proceeded to test the capability of said craft. First test I conducted was to get it flipping end over end as quickly as possible. Not much visible strain. I did notice the center docking ports seemed to be pulling free at times which was a cause for concern. I proceeded to the next test. Will those 12 engines, facing two different directions, rip this craft apart? HA HA HA HA HA!!! SUCCESS!!! Wait... what is that? ... The force was enough to pull the docking ports apart visibly, but they were still "docked." This was hilarious to me. Now, to be fair, I don't actually have a control on this test. I've never tried to rip a docking segment apart before. I don't know that it is even possible in this game (although I'd think it would be). Some of you probably do know. Either way, doing this was incredibly fun. I have one more test to conduct with this rig. I need to send up a few more length attachments and a backside engine to see if it can maintain control against the forces my failed Duna craft could not. I'll probably try to do that today. The other thing I test last night was if building a 19 Mainsail engine Lifter stage was feasible. This is the largest lifter I've ever tried to build. It took fifteen minutes to build and miraculously it works like a charm. On the launch pad. With just a straight launch up, no attempt to circularize or anything. No adjusting of the throttle to maximize efficiency. It had ended in a trajectory that got within Moho's orbital altitude. The probe core was damaged (but not destroyed) by the speed with which it was travelling through the atmosphere. It was also able to circularize an orbit around Kerbin at about 85k without any adjustments to the craft. It had fuel enough to extend that orbit a bit. I didn't actually check to see how much. Finally, would it actually be able to carry something? I put it at the bottom of my Asparagus refueling craft and tested it out. I am reasonably certain this is the largest thing I have ever had on the launchpad. The lifter base worked wonderfully. It made it all the way to about 15-20k, a goodly time after I started my turn for orbit. The problem actually came after that. The craft I put it on wasn't designed to attempt control with the heavy tanks on the bottom and I couldn't control it after the first stage fell away. My experiment's conclusion though is that I will be able to build larger segments of a craft and get them into orbit, thus creating more stability in the final product. Overall, I had some excellent testing last night. I went to bed immediately afterward smiling a Kerbal smile.

I am posting this one a day late, but yesterday morning I started my journey to Duna with the largest craft I have ever built, my first crewed mission to another planet's SOI. Over the past week I have been designing and building and testing and launching and rendezvousing and docking and refueling. It took eight total launches to get this thing ready. It didn't work. It is too long, unstable and the engine is in the back, pushing. It had a wobble that constantly worsened. Until it was flipping. I managed to stop it before it ripped itself apart. I went to go return the crew to the surface when I realized the reentry pod could only carry 3 of the 6 crew. I forgot to add extra reentry pods. I built the space Titanic. Well, I did manage to get a rescue ship up to them and safely return the crew. I de-orbited the darn thing (science mode do the money isn't an issue) and them realized I probably should have taken a picture for you guys. The whole mission was one giant failure. Back to the tear-stained drawing board. Upcoming tests: Can I dock multiple ports laterally to create a more stable ship and does it increase stability as I hope it will. Also I need to try to design a front side, pulling engine that can drop excess tanks mid-mission. That will be tricky for me.

I made it to another planet's SOI for the first time ever today. It was also my first successful ion engine maneuver to get me there. It is a good day. I'm excited to try and get a crewed mission there now. Edit: Okay, who knows why my image isn't showing properly? Edit, the 2nd: Got it! Enjoy your day.

Three hours (two hours last night till I dropped and one more this morning) designing an asteroid fetcher. So much trial and error just getting it into orbit and capable of rendezvousing. At least in terms of dV. The actual execution may require practice.

I've been doing a lot of science!-ing. I sent Munbles Kerman on a double-landing Minmus mission. He came back with a hefty dose of science! I want to say about 700. Not sure. Then, having unlocked the Gravioli detector I sent a ship piloted by Bob to swing round the Mun and then head to just outside Kerbin's SOI doing a lot more science. Currently, he is past the Mun. I think I have readings from "high above" and "just above" 4 biomes. Something like 8 or 9 sitting in my crew module. Bob also did a few crew and EVA reports that it seems I had missed. With that science! I was able to unlock ion propulsion. I then made an ion probe to try and make my first interplanetary voyage, but I seem to have broken my game. I cannot get it to load from the VAB or save the ship in the VAB. That is my day so far. I will boot up my old lappy for another try here in a bit. Edit: After getting back to it the same thing continued to happen. After a small bit of investigation I realized it was just that ion probe. I had named it Feanor because I planned to send it off into interplanetary space without bringing it back. I decided that it was nothing other than the curse of Feanor. I deleted the craft and made a new, smaller one named Finrod. It worked fine. For those that know what those names are, it is very likely that I want to be your friend.

I did quite a bit of stuff today. I managed to initiate a couple of new recruits. I went to Minmus once. I landed on the Mun four times including two single man launches back to back (when I finished the transfer burn on the first one I then proceeded to launch the second one). The second one captured first and it was set into a polar orbit. Lots of science. Much joy. However, the thing I am most proud of from today, the thing that I believe only ranks behind first Munar landing and first successful docking: I flew a total of 33k (reaching an altitude of about 25k) and landed back at the KSC runway. I, for whatever reason, am terrible at building and flying aircraft in this game. I feel so proud of nothing more than landing from 15k away and 25k high. Even more, it was only after sending poor Airman Franklin Kerman up to about 5k that I realized I hadn't built in an emergency evac system. If I wanted him back I would HAVE to land. Then I dealt with my first flame-out at 25k, entered a flat spin (One of my two engines flamed quite a bit earlier), freaked out with Franklin (you know the facial expression he was making), then proceeded to get my aircraft back under control at about 17k. At that point, I turned it around and began my return to the runway. I had some difficulty getting the proper angle for my approach, but in the end I landed on the actual runway without any damage to the aircraft (one of those two conditions is almost always met when I am trying to land). Franklin Kerman was promoted to Senior Airman and is being hailed as a pilot prodigy. He has been signed up for future aircraft missions. He proceeded to make the same expression from earlier. Anyway, what with all the stuff that was accomplished there were quite a few promotions for the Kerbals. Now if my engineering Kerbals can just figure out how to equip a plane with Science! bombs I'll be in business. For some reason the Science! Jr. pod didn't want to orient itself right on the decoupler.

Once freed, SSgt Bill took it upon himself to take the aircraft out for a spin. He quickly noticed an eclipse was happening at that very moment. This was a shot of the aircraft still in the hangar. This was of the eclipse. It is in no way an achievement that I can claim credit for, but it is always nice seeing the eclipse. Another plus side, SSgt Bill was able to land the aircraft (mostly) intact. He only took off and made a quick return to the airfield when his courage ran out. Also, I fully expect to need to to redo these pictures. I haven't posted images on forums in six months. I think I might be forgetting something. EDIT: I was right, I had forgotten something on the pictures. Oh well, I fixed it for you.

After five days out of state, I finally returned home and took the opportunity to try my failure-prone hands at yet another airplane. After reading quite a few tutorials and beginner's guides I did manage to make one that flew! Manageably well even! SSgt Bill was originally intended to fly it, but after a quick redesign after getting the first one on the runway, CMSgt Jebediah managed to take SSgt Bill's spot through underhanded trickery. It has been determined that the incident will be dropped due to his superb (i.e. managed to keep it in the air ten minutes even if it looked like a wounded duck) flying of the experimental craft. SSgt Bill was eventually found and freed from the bonds keeping him in the janitor's closet. Next up is mastering the art of landing. CMSgt Jeb had been forced to utilize the emergency evac and parachute when his attempt to land resulted in a violent loss of control. Perhaps because he was trying to land on an undeveloped island with no landing infrastructure. Perhaps because the pilot is opposed to turning off rockets or jets of any kind. An investigstion into the matter is set to commence shortly.

I sent SSgt Bob to the Mun for some science. He got the science. And a promotion! MSgt Bob returned safely. I then spent an hour or more refamiliarizing myself with how bad I am at planes. Why are planes so much more difficult?!?! They tried consulting MSgt Bob, my least stupid Kerbal, but he just shrugged and said "Move the center of lift, maybe? Or try something smaller perhaps?" That did result in a "successful" 5 minute flight and an absolutely, 100% luck, fully undamaged landing by CMSgt Jeb, who, despite numerous attempts to let SSgt Bill fly the experimental craft, was in the cockpit. I am so bad about everything with wings. I can't build them or fly them.

First a question, where are those asteroids coming from? Second, I would like to report that I did manage to land Chief Master Sergeant Jebediah(he was awarded a promotion) on the Mun and get him back. My painstakingly created lifter had to be slightly tweaked from two onion stages and two asparagus to three and one respectively. Not quite enough oomph to make orbit before losing the asparagus layers and subsequently the necessary thrust. No matter, this layout still got him back to Kerba Firma safely on the landers engines alone. Didn't even need the parachutes. Anyway, after that I built a rookie initiation craft so Bill could take a prospect on their first orbit (and to try out some new tech). Happy to welcome Airman Franklin Kerman to the crew.

I'd been planning on spending my time before my shift at work today updating the lifter for my Mun lander so that I could utilize new tech, but that tech included fuel lines. After an hour of meticulously building a 155 part sub assembly with near perfect balance, two onion stages, and two asparagus stages I realize I don't have time to launch. Asparagus staging is great, but it requires such loving detail. Oh well, MSgt Jeb will get his trip when I get back from work.

So after a six month break I've returned to this wonderful little planet and its precocious spacefarers. I'll be getting a new computer here in a bit and my old laptop (which I am still using and was my original reason for taking a break) doesn't really cut it. Anyway, I figured that I should re-orient myself before starting it "for real." I started out by brainstorming some naming conventions: name my craft after Lord of the Rings characters. Then personal flair: Keep track of accomplishments and award "promotions," based on US air force ranks, to my kerbalnauts. So far in my career mode, MSgt Jebediah has done a flyby of the Mun and I have landed two unmanned landers on the Mun. With the science gained, I hope to have MSgt Jeb be the first Kerbal on the Mun using my Bilbo lander. This game is so great.

So yesterday (posting during my tired thought-haze the morning after that is being valiantly combated by coffee), I managed to send up an Ike lander and a Duna rover on a single launch to dock with my Duna exploratory rocket (this is the second launch of the construction). I had a few hiccups though. I sent the "manned" lander up without crew figuring I would pilot the rocket with the rover drone (which worked), but I had to EVA a pilot over from the Duna rocket to pilot the lander in for docking. Then the rover section's solar panels were mostly blocked by the landing... cacoon... I had built for it so that got a little hairy especially since I was trying to keep the lifter stage rocket that still had fuel on it for a fuel transfer (not originally planned). In the end, it all worked out, but it definitely tested my unplanned difficulties reaction capabilities. I need to send up two satellites yet as well as the actual interplanetary rocket stages. Trying to reach another planet is hard work.

Duly noted. I will test those ideas out and see what happens.

I recently unlocked the Mainsail engines and large tanks, and so I've been experimenting with them. I'm trying to build a design for lifting. I started large scale and watched time and again how everything falls apart for various reasons. I scaled back. This morning I was working with a single orange tank and mainsail with four large solid fuel rockets for beginning support. It then went to Asparagus staging with the thin long tanks (I really need to learn the designations). The payload was a three man crew replacement for my space station. Every time I tried this, the moment I decoupled the solid fuel boosters the Mainsail pushed its way up through my asparagus staging in wanton destruction. Sometimes physics wouldn't notice right away and they would be sharing space, but it happened everything. I added struts. That didn't help. I added more struts. Still didn't help. Is there something I'm missing? Here is a picture of the rocket in question.

And today I finally unlocked Mainsail engines and started experimenting. Before physics sets in. If it survives the physics and I actually get to try a launch. The Mainsails that didn't die or work. Is anybody else reminded of Rocket Town from FF7? Dang it, Shera. You're making me sacrifice my dream.