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The martian can now be replicated (a bit) with the rover! though slightly faster than the original it has the same range (half batt default is 35km wth a full batt it is 70km) currently working on ntergrating an exit hatch and adding an IVA http://spacedock.info/mod/30/Ares%20III-%20the%20martian p.s. this is without the pivot activated

I'm just wondering about something. I get it that insight has been delayed till 2018 but why haven't we seen an animation yet? (I always like to watch them and recreate them in KSP) does anyone else feel the same way or know why we haven't seen one? Thanks -Banana

So, I'm curious about how smart it would be for the world's space agencies to collaborate on building a Hermes style transport ship for manned Mars exploration(picture below). My thought is, if they all get together, splurge and build a highly efficient/designed to last ship where the computer systems and electronics are easy to replace, then it could also likely be used for beyond Mars exploration missions. Such as a flyby of Venus, etc. Yes it would be required to overengineer some systems and to include a nice buffer on the amount of dV onboard, but I was curious if otherwise it makes sense to do it this way? Am I totally off base here or does that actually make a decent amount of sense?

I'm looking for a mod and i know it exists i just can't find it anybody know where i can find it? it looks like this http://i.imgur.com/tL3ycwf.jpg

If SpaceX gets its booster return down to a science, and Falcon Heavy performs as expected, then an interesting possibility emerges. The Falcon 9 v1.1 FT Stage 1 booster is capable of SSTO on its own, though without payload or capacity for return. If a Falcon Heavy was launched without any second stage, however, you'd end up with a nearly-full first stage in orbit and two empty strap-on boosters returned safely to the ground, ready to refuel and relaunch. A single Falcon 9 launch costs $61 million, with fuel accounting for roughly $200,000 of that. Thus, Falcon Heavy would allow SpaceX to put a nearly-full Falcon 9 first stage into LEO for marginally more than the cost of a single Falcon 9 launch. With a $1 billion investment, that would be no less than fifteen nearly-full Falcon 9 first stages in LEO. Strap them together and you've got a launch stack capable of a Brachistochrone transfer to Mars for a manned mission in a minute fraction of the Hohmann transfer time. A short transfer time means your consumables budget can be much smaller, enabling an even-faster transfer. Can't think of a cheaper way of doing it.

Because a recent thread was derailed by an argument about whether or not a Venus colony was a good idea or not, I'm going to try to make this a thread for discussion. I, personally am rather biased by landism, so I'd say Mars would be the better choice.

Hello, I am doing a project with some friends on Mars and how people can colonize it effectively, which also involves constructing a space elevator and strives towards terraforming. Where can I find the most reliable and accurate resources on these topics? Info on how ecosystems, climate and agriculture work would be very helpful. Thanks!

I launched a mars rover to Duna. I planned interplanetary transfer by reading the wiki Tutorial. Actually you have to wait for the planets to align i.e., Kerbin and Duna should be around 44° with sun as center. Then I launched it to a 100km orbit around kerbin. And after the prograde burn my spacecraft was on the transfer orbit around the sun to Duna. I did a retrograde burn after arriving Duna so that my periapsis is beneath the surface for an aerobraking. Then I opned the parachutes to slow it down to around 10m/s. After that the engines of the skycrane were ignited to land it safely and later detachd the skycrane and crashed it somewhere. I will be uploading the pics soon.

Original title: InSight 2016 launch SCRUBBED So yea... NASA's next Mars mission, the lander InSight, won't launch in March 2016 becuase of a leak in the vacuum compartment of the seismometer, the main instrument onboard, provided by French CNES. This means at least a 26-MONTH delay. InSight's original launch window was March 4th to March 30th. Press briefing to follow at 1530 EST.

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-34845483 This cannot be for real. Whats the point of a robot. Anyway the link is glitchy.

This thread has moved to New Releases: Click Here In collaboration with @GregroxMun: The Coming of the Martians Chapter One The Eve of the War NO ONE WOULD have believed in the last years of the nineteenth century that this world was being watched keenly and closely by intelligences greater than man's and yet as mortal as his own; that as men busied themselves about their various concerns they were scrutinized and studied, perhaps almost as narrowly as a man with a microscope might scrutinize the transient creatures that swarm and multiply in a drop of water... ...Yet across the gulf of space, minds that are to our minds as ours are to those of the beasts that perish, intellects vast and cool and unsympathetic, regarded this earth with envious eyes, and slowly and surely drew their plans against us... --> <-- OK. So Kerbals don't exactly look like particularly fearsome Martians and their intellect has been brought into question more than once. But as the story goes, the Kerbals, whom we call Martians, arrived on Mars in days too ancient for us to remember. As their planet slowly and steadily lost its vast oceans & atmosphere, the Kerbals moved underground... This is the premise of "Little Green Men From Mars" based on Nathan Kell's awesome Real Solar System (RSS) mod. Essentially, it moves the KSC to Mars (where little green men belong). Step I - Move the KSC to Mars. The low delta V required for orbit and significant lack of atmosphere make Mars the ideal spot in RSS to explore the rest of the solar system. With its 2 moons, Phobos and Deimos, much science can be gained in the campaign game without leaving the SOI of Mars, much like the Mun and Minmus. Step II - Add Content. Hmmm... What can we add? Maybe a "War of the Worlds" part pack complete with giant cylinders, fighting machines, heat rays! That means we would also need a mission pack that includes H.G. Wellian missions to peacefully explore (conquer) the earth! Alternatively, with the October 2015 release of "The Martian" we could create its habitats and vehicles on Mars. We would also want to add sites to include the Viking landers and Mars rovers for the Kerbals to explore. Maybe some missions to keep an eye on those pesky earthlings. Martians... I mean Marbles... I mean Kerbals have developed "jet engines" that work in the Martian Atmosphere (what little there is of it). Also they have researched advanced Air Brakes rather early in the career game. Why? Because... well, you'll find out. Currently, here is the setup and debug notes: Real Solar System (RSS) & Module Manager are required. KSP is now on RSS Mars close to Olympus Mons. Air breathing engines work on Mars as I have set the atmosphere to contain oxygen. This will change to a more exotic solution. Climbing through the atmosphere to orbit has some weird atmospheric fades. KillAshley is working on smoothing them out for RSS. Scatterer configs are in work with help from Blackrack, but currently are set to Mars in a dust storm. I also have a well known modeler working on some 1952 era Martian parts. I can hardly wait to see 'em! Thanks to GregroxMun for all the atmosphere help. It will be lots of work to get it just right. To add an extra bit of fun to this completely alien environment, I recommend you use: The Engineering Tech Tree Futuristic mods like Interstellar, Near Future, Atomic Age, Solaris Hypernautics and don't forget the airbags (you'll need 'em): SXT Airbags by Lack & USI Survivability Pack by RoverDude. To set the mood listen to: . Remember to build everything in threes, as 3 is the Martian "lucky" number. Download the WIP Development zip and install: DOWNLOAD I prefer to play with RSS textures at 2K but I install the Mars files from the 8K version. Known Issues: 1. Double Fade high in atmosphere. 2. Surface reflection coloring needs tweaking 3. Phobos has a blocky, quicksandish surface in RSS. NathanKell is looking into this. This mod is not for the KSP beginner. More to follow... Released under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 license. You are free to redistribute and modify the work so long as it is not used for commercial purposes.

► Download Chaka Monkey 161 ◄ Chaka the monkey supports Test Shot Starfish: https://soundcloud.com/testshotstarfish/tracks Chaka Monkey Exploration Odyssey is a space program based on NASA and Boeing proposals for future missions. Part models from a wide variety of authors have been licensed, and new original models made, then combined with all new textures, sizes and configurations, to create craft files depicting the proposed missions. This project is modeled at 75% real scale. ♦ Recommend installing this pack into a clean KSP install for the first time. ♦ Latest version of Raster Prop Monitor needed for IVA function. Link included in download. ♦ Copy everything in provided GameData to your GameData ♦ Copy VAB folder to Ships ♦ Copy Subassemblies to your save (optional) ♦ Please remove any previous version files before installing! Chaka Monkey Exploration Systems includes products commissioned or licensed from the following authors: Winston & Kickasskyle - KW Rocketry https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ Alexustas - A.L.C.O.R. Pod https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ Alexustas - ASET IVA for Monkey Rover and Mk1-2 Pod https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ Bobcat, Ind. American Pack - all rights reserved and belong to BobCat, expressed written permission from Bobcat for American Pack components to be distributed with Chaka Tiberion - NovaPunch https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ Kosmos Spacecraft Design Bureau - all rights reserved, expressed written permission from Normak and CardBoardBoxProcessor for components to be distributed with Chaka Lionhead Aerospace https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ Sumghai - SDHI Service Module System https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ Alexey Volynskov (Keramzit Procedural Fairings) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ BahamutoD - RS-68 Engine - All rights reserved - expressed written permission from BahamutoD for components to be distributed with Chaka Sumghai / Fustek / Nothke - Habitats https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ LandeTLS - SLS Block I fairings https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ TALISAR - Talisar Large Upper Stage https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ Porkjet - Habitat IVAs - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ and expressed written permission from Porkjet for components to be distributed with Chaka Blackheart612 - Aerojet Kerbodyne https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ expressed written permission from Blackheart612 for components to be distributed with Chaka Kommitz - Chaka Nuclear Thermal Engines https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ Nertea - Octo-Girder Argon Segment https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ NoOneSpecial - NOS Altair pod and lander https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ Hanson Ma / xxhansonmaxx - CST-100 Parachute, Dock Port, and CST-100 pod IVA https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ CXG2827 - CXaerospace Station Parts - All Rights Reserved (Models and Textures are permitted for modification and distribution by YANFRET in Chaka Monkey Exploration Systems) Chaka the Monkey would like to extend a special thank you to these developers. They worked very hard to make these parts and we have organized them for Monkey Exploration because they are excellent. Also, Chaka wishes to thank our awesome 1.3 beta test team: @Space Kadet , @OV-102, @Jarlgnarök, @davidewei , and of course @MeCripp for putting in many hours of science which made the quality of this release possible. Special thanks to @rsparkyc for updating Procedural Fairings to 1.3! Monkey Rover Wheels provided by: BMW, AG Chaka the monkey supports using Raster Prop Monitor by @MOARdV LICENSE Unless otherwise specified, all materials available for download on this page are copyrighted and released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ Included plugin licenses: Kerbal Joint Reinforcement is licensed to be distributed only with Chaka Monkey Exploration Systems on express written permission from Ferram4 due to specific critical requirements. Distribution of Kerbal Joint Reinforcement from this download is expressly prohibited: KJR License is GNU GPL v3 http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-3.0.en.html For the latest version and updates to KJR, please visit http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/55657-1-0-2-Kerbal-Joint-Reinforcement-v3-1-3-4-27-15 KSPAPIEXTENSIONS is licensed via Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/81496-1-0-2-KSPAPIExtensions-V1-7-4-Utilities-for-shared-mod-use-1-May CC BY terms (attribution) Procedural Fairings is licensed via Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/39512-0-25-Procedural-Fairings-3-10-payload-auto-struts-%28October-11%29 CC BY terms (attribution) Animated Decouplers ( Starwaster ) is licensed via Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0) https://github.com/Starwaster/AnimatedDecouplers http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

OVERVIEW: 04/14/16 DUNA DIRECT 1. HAB This is where Kerbals will live both on their journey to Duna, and while on Duna. A. Crew i. Seats: 6 (No Designation) ii. Provides a common area for crew members to eat, sleep, and be entertained. iii. Contains Life Support recourses: 1. Food 2. Water (1/2) 3. Oxygen (1/2) B. Command i. Seats: 2 (Pilot, Commander) ii. Provides control of the spacecraft and docked spacecraft. iii. Reaction Wheels. C. Science i. Seats: 2 (Scientist, Scientist) ii. Contains science experiments: 1. Mystery Goo. 2. PresMat Barometer. 3. Science Lab (Experiment processing) D. Utility i. Seats: 2 (Engineer, Engineer) ii. Contains resources: 1. Electric Charge. 2. Mono propellant. 3. Liquid Fuel & Oxidizer. iii. Contains Life Support resources: 1. Water (2/2) 2. Oxygen (2/2) 3. Empty Waste Tank. 4. Empty Co2 Tank. 2. KRV This craft will be sent ahead of the HAB and crew in order to start processing fuel for the Kerbals journey home. Only the second stage will return to Kerbin. A. Return Module (Stage 2) i. Seats: 6 ii. Provides control of the spacecraft (No docking capability) iii. Reaction wheels iv. Contains resources: 1. Electric Charge 2. Mono Propellant 3. Liquid fuel & oxidizer B. Utility Module (Stage 1) i. Contains recourses: 1. Liquid Fuel & Oxidizer 2. Mono Propellant ii. Contains chemical processing plugin. 1. Converts Co2 into Liquid Fuel and Oxygen ( For engines and life support) Design concept images from the Mars Direct Program. Dev. Blog: <no posts> Duna Direct by Tyler Grommesh is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Inspired by Nova's images of the new Mars like plannet and some posts refering to the August 9th Mars Curiosity landing I decided to branch from the KSP fantasy world and check out some NASA videos on the subject. Now for all of your viewing pleasure I present the most Kerbal thing NASA has ever attempted. The Mars Curiosity Rover: - $2.5 billion US dollars - 8 month transit time - Powered by plutonium - The size of a mini cooper - 4 Stage untested powered descent with a "Sky Crane" to lower the rover the last 21 feet. (I repeat "Untested") - Oh and one more thing.... The landing is done completely in the dark under computer control. In short one of the coolest things NASA has created since Tang. I hope this inspires some new part designs from the community. http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/videogallery/index.html?media_id=146903741