Constellation Mission Packs Discussion Thread!

[Majorjim!]

37 minutes ago, Raptor9 said:

Tonight I'm working to get my EV-4 MEV craft files tested and upgraded to 1.1.2 currency.  After that I'm going to resume work on my horizontal landers this week.  I was already working on the cargo lander in 1.0.5.  Main improvements over the ones in my "Red Planet Rivals" video are:

1) Adding the small ISRU and drills to the cargo lander so it can generate propellant for the Duna Ascent Vehicle.  Gives more burn time during landing to ensure the cargo lander gets to the planned landing site if entry trajectory is off.
2) Improving the rovers and rover ramps.  Making the power generating rovers more useful and not reliant on mods like KAS/KIS to use.
3) Making a more logical and better Hab section on the crew/hab lander.
4) Make use of the new clamshell fairings to make the "aeroshell"/drogue chute separation a little cleaner.

I look forward to seeing what you come up with!

[pTrevTrevs]

Does anyone have any advice on how to build Altair? I'm primarily confused about how to fit three seats in such a small area in the ascent stage, whether I should base it on the early models with the horizontal cylinder or the later version with the vertical cylinder. I'm also not sure what the best way to do the descent stage's exposed fuel tanks (I guess that's what they are?).

[Raptor9]

2 hours ago, pTrevTrevs said:

Does anyone have any advice on how to build Altair? I'm primarily confused about how to fit three seats in such a small area in the ascent stage, whether I should base it on the early models with the horizontal cylinder or the later version with the vertical cylinder. I'm also not sure what the best way to do the descent stage's exposed fuel tanks (I guess that's what they are?).

I modeled the Altair with the horizontal ascent stage.  I used a Mk1 Crew Cabin mounted to the back of a Mk1 Lander Can.  For fuel tanks, I used an FL-T200 fuel tank with an Oscar-B fuel tank on each end, and an Aerodynamic Nose Cone enclosing each Oscar-B to bring the entire assembly to a cylindrical 1.25m tank assembly.

On the KerbalX-published LV-3A 'Bullfrog' (which I'm still trying to update to 1.1), I placed a Materials Bay in that gap (on the descent stage where the fuel cell is) and put the ascent stage access ladder along one of the landing legs.  But this photo gives a up close look at the horizontal method.  On the far side is a drop ramp for the rover, which is stored in between the two trios of tanks.

 

Edited May 5, 2016 by Raptor9
Uploaded an example photo

[Majorjim!]

Just now, pTrevTrevs said:

Does anyone have any advice on how to build Altair? I'm primarily confused about how to fit three seats in such a small area in the ascent stage, whether I should base it on the early models with the horizontal cylinder or the later version with the vertical cylinder. I'm also not sure what the best way to do the descent stage's exposed fuel tanks (I guess that's what they are?).

Here's how I did it a year ago:

I have simplified it a little since then to cut down on parts but the descent stage is exactly the same as you see there. I preferred the upright version of the lander. What you see there seats two crew. Two mk-1 crew cabins end on end.

Edited May 5, 2016 by Majorjim

[Mad Rocket Scientist]

39 minutes ago, pTrevTrevs said:

Does anyone have any advice on how to build Altair? I'm primarily confused about how to fit three seats in such a small area in the ascent stage, whether I should base it on the early models with the horizontal cylinder or the later version with the vertical cylinder. I'm also not sure what the best way to do the descent stage's exposed fuel tanks (I guess that's what they are?).

I'm using a mk1 crew cabin stuffed inside an ore tank.  And pick whichever looks the best to you.

 

[Mad Rocket Scientist]

With 450 parts, I had 12.5 FPS (probably lower) with my old computer.  Now 37.  WOOOO!!!!!

[selfish_meme]

59 minutes ago, Mad Rocket Scientist said:

With 450 parts, I had 12.5 FPS (probably lower) with my old computer.  Now 37.  WOOOO!!!!!

I just loaded a 1032 part ISS into orbit, I don't know what frame rate I was getting but it worked.

[Majorjim!]

8 hours ago, Raptor9 said:

I modeled the Altair with the horizontal ascent stage.  I used a Mk1 Crew Cabin mounted to the back of a Mk1 Lander Can.  For fuel tanks, I used an FL-T200 fuel tank with an Oscar-B fuel tank on each end, and an Aerodynamic Nose Cone enclosing each Oscar-B to bring the entire assembly to a cylindrical 1.25m tank assembly.

 

On the KerbalX-published LV-3A 'Bullfrog' (which I'm still trying to update to 1.1), I placed a Materials Bay in that gap (on the descent stage where the fuel cell is) and put the ascent stage access ladder along one of the landing legs.  But this photo gives a up close look at the horizontal method.  On the far side is a drop ramp for the rover, which is stored in between the two trios of tanks.

 

I like the modularity of your lander craft man, although The real Altair was to have no rover. Mine was made purely as a replica of the proposed Altair.

 

5 hours ago, selfish_meme said:

1032 part

Damn!

7 hours ago, Mad Rocket Scientist said:

ore tank

My simplified Altair uses this as the pod too, it's a little fat but a nice low part replacement. My main focus is on the Mars/Duna craft though.

 I am working on the Ares 1 now. Man the fairings have horrible tolerances for release..

[Majorjim!]

10 hours ago, Raptor9 said:

Improving the rovers and rover ramps.

Yup.. The ant engines geometry shape changed.. What are you using as an alternative? I highly recommend my new antenna hinge, the smallest possible in KSP, HERE

[pTrevTrevs]

I'm seeing some good suggestions here, like using an ore tank for the ascent stage. I'll get to work on Altair as soon as possible, but it looks like I'm going to be busy this afternoon. Any time I do get will probably have to be dedicated to Medieval II, I'm planning on running an experiment to determine whether siege towers or ladders are more effective in battles to prove to my friend that the game does in fact involve risk/reward and is balanced.

 

Edited May 5, 2016 by pTrevTrevs

[Raptor9]

2 hours ago, Majorjim said:

I like the modularity of your lander craft man, although The real Altair was to have no rover.

Aside from the fact I don't do pure replicas, the version of Altair I used as inspiration did have a ramp in the same place as mine, and 3D concept animations about Altair missions included a rover.

2 hours ago, Majorjim said:

Yup.. The ant engines geometry shape changed.. What are you using as an alternative? I highly recommend my new antenna hinge, the smallest possible in KSP, HERE

I was referring to upgrading from my horizontal landers' old ramps in my "Red Planet Rivals" vid, which used decouplers, to what I use now on my LV-3A/B landers. And fixing my rovers due to the wheel changes. I never said anything about the Ant hinges being broken.

Edited May 5, 2016 by Raptor9

[Majorjim!]

Just now, Raptor9 said:

Aside from the fact I don't do pure replicas, the version of Altair I used as inspiration did have a ramp in the same place as mine, and 3D concept animations about Altair missions included a rover.

Agreed. Some concepts did have ramps, my bad. The version I made did not though.

 

Just now, Raptor9 said:

I was referring to upgrading from my horizontal landers' old ramps in my "Red Planet Rivals" vid, which used decouplers, to what I use now on my LV-3A/B landers. And fixing my rovers due to the wheel changes. I never said anything about the Ant hinges being broken.

I saw you used ANTs as a hinge in one of your ramps and I know the geometry changed so they might be broken. I was just trying to help man.

 Yeah the new wheel are a P in the A. Good luck with the changes!

P.S I do still recommended having a look at my hinge. It's very useful indeed.

Edited May 5, 2016 by Majorjim

[Frank_G]

13 hours ago, Raptor9 said:

I modeled the Altair with the horizontal ascent stage.  I used a Mk1 Crew Cabin mounted to the back of a Mk1 Lander Can.  For fuel tanks, I used an FL-T200 fuel tank with an Oscar-B fuel tank on each end, and an Aerodynamic Nose Cone enclosing each Oscar-B to bring the entire assembly to a cylindrical 1.25m tank assembly.

...

On the KerbalX-published LV-3A 'Bullfrog' (which I'm still trying to update to 1.1), I placed a Materials Bay in that gap (on the descent stage where the fuel cell is) and put the ascent stage access ladder along one of the landing legs.  But this photo gives a up close look at the horizontal method.  On the far side is a drop ramp for the rover, which is stored in between the two trios of tanks.

 

Your bullfrog lander is very inspiring. I love the ascent stage and the payload bay of the base section. Nice idea to cover additional tanks with nosecones for a clean look.

 

13 hours ago, Majorjim said:

Here's how I did it a year ago:

...

I have simplified it a little since then to cut down on parts but the descent stage is exactly the same as you see there. I preferred the upright version of the lander. What you see there seats two crew. Two mk-1 crew cabins end on end.

Incredibly detailed lander. I love it!

[Majorjim!]

2 hours ago, Frank_G said:

I love it!

Cheers mate.

 I have finished the Ares 1, no major issue to report, just a lot of vernors required! Has plenty of dv, too much maybe but it can be used for HKO missions too which is nice.

 The wheel physics is killing me though. And wheeled vehicle docking to a much heavier vehicle causes all the wheels on the light vehicle to explode.. No matter how perfect the docking.

 I have 'solved' the hab release issue but it is far from perfect at the moment. I think I will have finished the whole pack before the wheels are fixed..

[Majorjim!]

Rant incoming...

 The fact the wheels don't work is driving me crazy.. My SPR rover works fine on it's own. Sat in the lander 5x out of 10 the wheels are at full suspension compression when the craft loads in. For no good reason. The wheels are not clipped, they just sometimes are compressed which deactivates them.. And I mean they are in mid air, touching nothing but compressed completely..

 This is such *&%^£@!! Squad please don't take months to fix this nonsense.

Rant over.

[Frank_G]

I totally agree. Just had my previously working Konstellation lander launch for a test, only seeing it hopping senselessly around the landing pad, before exploding... it came out, that i had increased the spring and damper strength, which caused it. I reset them back to 1.0 and my lander set peacefully on the pad... there are some seriously annoying things going on with the wheels and landing legs, including the wrong offset on two of the landing legs in the VAB...

[selfish_meme]

4 hours ago, Majorjim said:

Rant incoming...

 The fact the wheels don't work is driving me crazy.. My SPR rover works fine on it's own. Sat in the lander 5x out of 10 the wheels are at full suspension compression when the craft loads in. For no good reason. The wheels are not clipped, they just sometimes are compressed which deactivates them.. And I mean they are in mid air, touching nothing but compressed completely..

 This is such *&%^£@!! Squad please don't take months to fix this nonsense.

Rant over.

Have you tried @GoSlash27's script fix?

[pTrevTrevs]

Does anyone have a reliable souce on th engine configurations on the Ares V? I've found depictions which show both five and six (and I think even four) engines on the first stage, as well as models with one, two, or three J-2X engines on the second stage. Is there a definite configuration for the rocket or do we just have to guess?

[Raptor9]

Since the rocket was never built, and the final design never materialized, you could research which was the most recent concept for Ares V before Constellation was cancelled, and then go from there.  Or just pick whatever you want to build.

[Majorjim!]

1 hour ago, pTrevTrevs said:

Does anyone have a reliable souce on th engine configurations on the Ares V? I've found depictions which show both five and six (and I think even four) engines on the first stage, as well as models with one, two, or three J-2X engines on the second stage. Is there a definite configuration for the rocket or do we just have to guess?

Yup, there is no definitive answer. 5-6 is about right though. 6 makes it easier with the powerful motors we have in KSP.

6 hours ago, selfish_meme said:

Have you tried @GoSlash27's script fix?

I'm not going to do any config changes, thanks though. I will try a few different configurations and see if it helps.

[selfish_meme]

12 minutes ago, Majorjim said:

Yup, there is no definitive answer. 5-6 is about right though. 6 makes it easier with the powerful motors we have in KSP.

I'm not going to do any config changes, thanks though. I will try a few different configurations and see if it helps.

His changes were incorporated into stock, the next set probably will be too.

3 hours ago, pTrevTrevs said:

Does anyone have a reliable souce on th engine configurations on the Ares V? I've found depictions which show both five and six (and I think even four) engines on the first stage, as well as models with one, two, or three J-2X engines on the second stage. Is there a definite configuration for the rocket or do we just have to guess?

Are you doing full scale or Kerbal Scale, just the tank diameter waa 8 metres, at least at Kerbal scale it is down to 5 and the boosters around 2.5m. It says on wikipedia 5 ssme's or 5 or 6 RS68's

[pTrevTrevs]

8 hours ago, selfish_meme said:

His changes were incorporated into stock, the next set probably will be too.

Are you doing full scale or Kerbal Scale, just the tank diameter waa 8 metres, at least at Kerbal scale it is down to 5 and the boosters around 2.5m. It says on wikipedia 5 ssme's or 5 or 6 RS68's

I've been using the 3.75 meter tanks for the Ares V, just because I'm not as focused on scale as getting a good amount of detail without sacrificing the part count. I've already used six Vector engines for the first stage and one more (with the thrust limited) for the second. I haven't actually used any other liquid fueled motor in this pack because of how versatile the Vector is.

EDIT: Pictures of my first test flight. The payload was a bunch of ore tanks weighing 70 tons in total. This I believe was the Ares V's intended payload to LEO in real life, so I guess my Ares performs similar to how the real one would have. This does mean that i will have weight limitations for the Duna landers if I ever get around to them, but 70 tons is quite a lot to work with.

 

Edited May 6, 2016 by pTrevTrevs

[Mad Rocket Scientist]

Thoughts?

[pTrevTrevs]

12 minutes ago, Mad Rocket Scientist said:

Thoughts?

What is it, my precious? Is it stealable? Can we duplicate it, precious? No, no, we mustn't! Must come up with our own design, precious. No! We must steal it, making an original design is too difficult! But stealing is wrong, we must make our own. It's only wrong if they catches us, precious...

 

Is the no offset limits mod updated for 1.1 yet? I know Editor Extensions allows no offset limits, but when I tried to use it it would break the  offset and rotation tools entirely, so I had to remove it.

[Mad Rocket Scientist]

8 minutes ago, pTrevTrevs said:

What is it, my precious? Is it stealable? Can we duplicate it, precious? No, no, we mustn't! Must come up with our own design, precious. No! We must steal it, making an original design is too difficult! But stealing is wrong, we must make our own. It's only wrong if they catches us, precious...

 

Is the no offset limits mod updated for 1.1 yet? I know Editor Extensions allows no offset limits, but when I tried to use it it would break the  offset and rotation tools entirely, so I had to remove it.

Don't worry, my previous design, and this one to some extent, "borrowed" ideas from MJ's Altair.

I'm using EE for now.  It only seems to cause a bug with how the angle snap mode rotate gizmo works.