Koviet Space Program � A Career of Uncertainty

[Cydonian Monk]

Very nice so far. Komrade Kermanov will be remembered as a true hero of space and the Koviet Union. Úõрüðýþò!

[Landwalker]

Just out of curiosity / guilt complex, I ran a final "posthumous" simulation, using the same Swallow I design but taking a shallower ascent angle. Valentina reached a top speed of 1.3km/s and an altitude of about 35.3km. Her descent was pretty hairy, and had the expected "nose-flip" once things got too difficult to control. I suspected a similar fate, but at an altitude of 1.5-2km the parachute dialogue finally showed "Risky" and I deployed.

Boy, parachutes take their sweet time now, huh?

The Mk16 finally finished fully expanding about 200 meters above the ocean surface, and just barely slowed the craft enough for splashdown (courtesy of nearly 10G of force...). Fins were destroyed, but the entire rest of the craft (including the Goo containers) stayed intact and connected.

This final simulation was, I think, very useful, both for personal learning and for story-writing. It suggests that the "fatal flaw" in Jebediah's doomed flight was probably ascent angleâ€â€the craft climbed too high, and as a result came down too steep to slow down sufficiently. However, it also shows that the design of the Swallow I, at least as far as being viewed in the light of its intended objectives, was barely on the edge of viable, and any deviation from the ideal flight could result in disaster. Thus, the disaster of Swallow I seems to be a combination of poor design (in relation to mission objectives) and a failure to follow the necessary flight path. A better design would have included an additional TR-18A Stack Decoupler between the Mk1 Command Pod and the Stage 2 RT-10 Hammer Booster, or would have perhaps replaced the second-stage booster with an RT-5 Flea in order to prevent the craft from picking up too much speed. This would have also allowed more "slack" in terms of survivable flight trajectories.

The Koviet Central Auditing Commission is expected to complete its inquiries into the incident and issue its report to the Central Committee later today.

(Edit: The ribbon in my signature has also been updated in memoriam of Jeb's sacrifice with the Black Stripe. 1/34 shall be a day that lives in Koviet history until such time as I forget about it.)

Edit 2: Ran one final simulation. Same construction, but with a second TR-18A Stack Decoupler. Took the "Jebediah" route, topping out at about 90km, then separated the command capsule from the RT-10 Hammer Booster. Re-entry was uneventful. The capsule maintained the appropriate orientation for the entire descent with no correction necessary, and reached a safe parachute deployment speed at an altitude of about 5.5km. This casts further shade upon the engineering of the rocket.

Edited July 3, 2015 by Landwalker

[Geschosskopf]

The Koviet Central Auditing Commission is expected to complete its inquiries into the incident and issue its report to the Central Committee later today.

Cleary the imperialist bourgeois running dogs of KATO shot the rocket down

[Landwalker]

An Official Inquest into the Swallow I Incident

The days following the Swallow I disaster were somber at best. The crashâ€â€and the death of the Koviet Space Program's first and most public kerbonautâ€â€was an international embarrassment, and Kerblin officials swore an official inquiry would determine where responsibility for the catastrophe resided and that those culpable would be held accountable. All work at the Koviet Space Center campus ground to a halt for nearly a week, awaiting not only the outcome of the investigation but also a determination as to the fate of the entire program.

On Y1-D41, the Koviet Central Auditing Commission submitted its report to the Central Committee. The KCAC found ubiquitous errors, failures of judgment, and abuses of authority throughout the system surrounding the design and launch of the Swallow I. The Úáß had been forced to operate on a shoestring budget, relying not just on recycled and used parts but on equipment and materials that had been discarded as too unreliable or too dangerous by other industries. All the while, the Ministry of Rocketry, Aeronautics, and Space had pushed increasingly demanding milestones that had to be met in order to secure further funds or authorization for the acquisition of new components.

This in and of itself was not especially damning, but the KCAC reported that the reason for such tight operations lay in the fact that much of the funds appropriated by the Central Committee for assignment to the Koviet Space Program never reached itâ€â€rather, over half of the monies found their way into the pockets of the Minister himself and scores of deputies and other bureaucrats. The program had been under immense pressure from the Minister himself to produce results in short order, leading to several serious design and engineering defects due to a combination of budgetary restrictions and Ministry interference. At the KCAC's request, the engineers and technicians at the KSC walked the investigators through a number of simulations, demonstrating the fundamental flaw in the Swallow I design that had been rammed through by the Ministry. The necessity of recovering as much of the craft as possible for recycling and reuse had led to the command capsule being directly attached to the second-stage RT-10 "Hammer" Solid Fuel Booster, rendering the uppermost portion of the craft horribly ill-suited to any sort of controlled descent from high-atmospheric altitudes, let alone atmospheric reentry from space. Simulations of the design that had been originally submitted by the KSC engineers (and rejected by the Ministry as wasteful), which included an additional TR-18A Stack Decoupler between the command pod and the second-stage booster, showed that it even under atmospheric reentry conditions a fully separated command capsule would have no trouble reducing to the speeds necessary for safe parachute deployment provided it did not have to contend with the bulk of an attached solid fuel booster.

Further findings regarding the flight path taken by Swallow I simply served as salt in the wound. Simulations showed that shallower trajectories than those of the actual flight would have dramatically increased the probability of successful recovery and safe return, although they would not have reached the highest of the milestones set by the Ministry. A KCAC subpoena of hundreds of intraoffice communiques of the Ministry revealed that significant pressure had been applied to Komrade Jebediah to disregard the intended flight plan in the interest of these milestones, all for the purpose of winning acclaim and popular opinion (and additional funding) for the Ministry, and that this pressure had at times extended to thinly veiled threats against this national hero's family and own person.

In light of such a scandal, the Central Committee took swift and decisive steps. The presiding Minister and dozens of lesser Ministry officials were removed from their posts and officially censored. Those responsible for clear crimes against the Koviet Union and the Koviet People's Party were arrested and arraigned for a public trial, with the Minister himself apprehended attempting to flee the capital with a briefcase full of confidential documents related to both the Party and the Koviet Space Program. The Committee appointed a new Minister to the post and established ongoing oversight of the Ministry's operations by the Central Auditing Commission.

The Koviet Space Program itself was given authorization to continue its operations, much to the relief of the program director and staff. However, one last hurdle remained before the program could truly return to the good graces of the Party, one that would salvage the program's reputation at home and the Koviet Union's reputation abroad. With the former budgetary woes at least temporarily alleviated by the release of the formerly-withheld Ministry funds, the Central Committee wanted to see a Kerbal in orbit within the next 30 days. And this time, they wanted them to come back alive.

Edited July 3, 2015 by Landwalker
Mission name correction

[Landwalker]

Swallow II  The Rebound

While the Central Committee had removed a major obstacle to the success of the Koviet Space Program, expectations were still high, and the goal to send a Koviet Kerbal into orbit within 30 days was hardly a walk in the Koviet Memorial Park, as they say. Before the Úáß could hope to do this, however, they needed to recover from the Swallow I incident, not only in the eyes of the public, but for the program's own self-image, and hopefully so that Bob would stop crying and getting tears all over the lab's latest research material.

Thus, the order of business was simple: Get a Kerbal back into space, and this time, get them home alive.

Heartened by the simulations run during the KCAC's inquest, the engineer's opted for the design they had originally proposed for Swallow I before it had been rejected by the Ministry, employing an additional TR-18A 1.25m Stack Decoupler. Furthermore, O.M.B. Demolition Enterprises had contracted with the Ministry to test a prototype TR-2V 0.625m Stack Decoupler. The terms of the contract were simple (they only wanted a launchpad test), and the engineers felt it would be a trivial matter to combine this test with the launch of Swallow II, happily slapping the prototype part on the bottom of the first stage of the design with the intent of executing the test and the initial launch simultaneously. The grant tied to the contract would pay for the flight itself, so the extra (minimal) work was well worth it.

Swallow II

• Mission Objectives
  
  • Test Prototype TR-2V 0.625m Stack Decoupler at Launchpad
    
  • Return a Kerbal to space
    
  • Gather observation of the Mystery Gooâ„¢ while in space
    
  • Gather observation of Mystery Gooâ„¢ at landing site
    
  • Return crew report from the upper atmosphere
    
  • Return crew report from space
    
  • Record temperature data from upper atmosphere
    
  • Record temperature data from space
    
  • Achieve successful atmospheric reentry
    
  • Recover command pod intact
    
  • Return crew alive

  [*]Construction

  • Mk1 Command Pod
    
  • Mk16 Axial Parachute
    
  • (2x) Mystery Gooâ„¢ Containment Unit
    
  • (2x) 2HOT Thermometer
    
  • (2x) Z-100 Rechargeable Battery Pack
    
  • Communotron 16
    
  • TR-18A 1.25m Stack Decoupler
    
  • RT-10 Solid Fuel Booster (Thrust Limiter 40%)
    
  • (4x) Basic Fin
    
  • TR-18A Stack Decoupler
    
  • RT-10 Solid Fuel Booster (Thrust Limiter 70%)
    
  • (4x) Basic Fin
    
  • TR-2V 0.625m Stack Decoupler

  [*]Engineer's Report

  • Part Count: 22 (21 + Prototype)
    
  • Height: 7.6m
    
  • Weight: 8,386kg gross (S1 3,652kg, S2 4,719kg) - Includes total of 5,625kg solid rocket fuel
    
  • Stage 1 TWR: 1.69 (33.8s estimated burn)
    
  • Stage 2 TWR: 1.71 (59.2s estimated burn)
    
  • Total Delta-V: 2,194m/s (S1 683m/s, S2 1,511 m/s)
    
  • Construction Time: 4d, 0h, 53m
    
  • Construction Cost: √6,982

  [*]Crew

  • Test Pilot  Valentina Kermanova

Construction was begun at Y1-D42-H5-M8 and completed at Y1-D47-H0-M1. Rollout immediate. Launch occurred at Y1-D47-H0-M56.

The plan had been to follow a similar trajectory as had been taken by Swallow I, but to use the second TR-18A decoupler to ensure a separate atmospheric reentry by the Mk1 Command Pod. Unexpected complications with the TR-2V prototype, howeverâ€â€the small size of the part caused the craft to start tipping over on the launchpad, prompting immediate ignitiion in an attempt to get the flight underway before the craft fell over entirelyâ€â€resulted in a flawed trajectory from the start. Because Swallow II was already starting at a vertical angle when the first stage ignited, it wasn't able to entirely recover and consequently took a much shallower flight path than intended. By the time the craft reached an altitude of 8km, the ascent angle was already only 45º.

Second-stage burnout occurred at approximately 23km and a speed of 1,200m/s. While a solid performance, it was clear that the craft would not be going to space today, and objectives were altered to collect high-altitude data to return to the labs while the opportunity was there.

Swallow II reached its apex at just over 41km. At this point, Mission Control issued the command for Komrade Valentina to separate the command pod from the second stage and descend "pod-only," which was executed with no abnormalities. The reentry module reached 18km at 924m/s; 13km at 675m/s; and 8.5km at just under 300m/s. The Mk16 parachute was activated at an altitude of 3,800m while traveling at approximately 200m/s, with full deployment at 1,000m and 141m/s. From that point, it was smooth sailing to the ocean's surface, where Valentina was able to conduct a brief EVA report before the recovery team's arrival.

• Mission Results
  
  • Flight Time: 7 minutes, 13 seconds
    
  • Top Speed: 1,114m/s
    
  • Flight Ceiling: 41.2km
    
  • Ground Distance: 211.2km
    
  • Science Recovered: 21.6
    
  • Salvage Recovered: √4,319 (61.86%)
    
  • Success  Test Prototype TR-2V 0.625m Stack Decoupler at Launchpad
    
  • Failure  Return a Kerbal to space
    
  • Failure  Gather observation of the Mystery Gooâ„¢ in space
    
  • Bonus  Gather observation of the Mystery Gooâ„¢ in the upper atmosphere
    
  • Success  Gather observation of Mystery Gooâ„¢ at landing site
    
  • Success  Return crew report from the upper atmosphere
    
  • Failure  Return crew report from space
    
  • Bonus  Return EVA report from Kerbin's water
    
  • Success  Record temperature data from upper atmosphere
    
  • Failure  Record temperature data from space
    
  • Success  Achieve successful atmospheric reentry
    
  • Success  Recover command pod intact
    
  • Success  Return crew alive
    

Despite the craft's failure to reach space, the mission was considered an overall success. It had proven the utility of pod-only descents from high-altitude flights, as Valentina's craft was able to return intact without causing any soiled undergarments either in the command pod or at Mission Control. Furthermore, valuable data was returned regarding the upper atmosphere that had been lost in the Swallow I crash. The inability of the craft to reach space was quickly attributed to the problems at launch arising from the make-shift test of O.M.B.'s prototype decoupler, and it was widely agreed that, under normal launch conditions, the same configuration would be sufficient for returning to space.

Javascript is disabled. View full album

Edited July 3, 2015 by Landwalker

[Landwalker]

Swallow III  One Small Space for a Kerbal...

Within the hour after the successful return of the Swallow II, Engineering began construction on a replica (only without the O.M.B. Demolition Enterprises prototype TR-2V 0.625 Stack Decoupler that had proven problematic for the launch of the previous flight), confident that such a design would prove capable of both sending a kerbal into space and, for the first time, returning them safely to Kerbin. The Koviet Space Center campus was buzzing from having been so close to their goal.

While work on Swallow III began, the program director began reviewing the facility's resources and, while they were adequate for a larval space program, found that improvements would be necessary in order to ensure not just the growth of the program and an expansion of its capabilities but also to ensure the safety and proper training of what he hoped would ultimately be a growing cast of kerbonauts. To this end, a petition to the Ministry was made, and authorization approved, for upgrades to the facilities for Mission Control (since it was becoming clear that not only would mission planning be essential for future flights, but contract management would be playing an increasingly larger role in the operations of the program); the Tracking Station (for obvious reasonsâ€â€losing the location of a craft would be a national embarrassment on the same order of magnitude as Swallow I, and it was expected that in conjunction with improved planning capabilities at Mission Control, this would greatly enhance the navigational options available to future launches); and the Astronaut Complex (not just to expand the facility's capacity but also to improve the training program for current and future kerbonauts).

All of these improvements carried a cumulative cost of √450,000, leaving the program with only √61,364. The program director, however, felt this was more than adequate to get the program to the "next level" and that the investment in the future would prove well worth the cost.

Furthermore, the inadequacies of the Stayputnik Mk.1 Probe Core were continuing to be a thorn in the program's side, necessitating potentially risky crewed missions when preliminary uncrewed missions would be more appropriate. In the hopes of rectifying this, the scientists down in R&D began work smelting the "Data" returned by Valentina from her high-atmospheric flight into valuable research output, concentrating on enhancements to the program's probe-oriented capabilities.

As a last order of business before Swallow III got underway, the R&D Lab requested a special test of the existing Mk16 Axial Parachute, under particular conditions in flight over Kerbin. It is unclear where R&D is getting its own money to finance such research (rumors circulated about Chief Scientist Komrade Wernher von Kerman's connections in West Kermany), but given the recent scandal surrounding the Ministry and the fact that whatever was going on was actually helping the program rather than hindering it, it was considered best not to think too long about it.

Swallow III

• Mission Objectives
  
  • Test Mk16 Axial Parachute within required parameters in flight over Kerbin
    
  • Return a Kerbal to space
    
  • Observe Mystery Gooâ„¢ while in space
    
  • Return crew report from space
    
  • Record temperature data from space
    
  • Achieve successful atmospheric reentry
    
  • Recover command pod intact
    
  • Return crew alive

  [*]Construction

  • Mk1 Command Pod
    
  • Mk16 Axial Parachute
    
  • (2x) Mystery Gooâ„¢ Containment Unit
    
  • (2x) 2HOT Thermometer
    
  • (2x) Z-100 Rechargeable Battery Pack
    
  • Communotron 16
    
  • TR-18A 1.25m Stack Decoupler
    
  • RT-10 Solid Fuel Booster (Thrust Limiter 40%)
    
  • (4x) Basic Fin
    
  • TR-18A Stack Decoupler
    
  • RT-10 Solid Fuel Booster (Thrust Limiter 70%)
    
  • (4x) Basic Fin

  [*]Engineer's Report

  • Part Count: 21
    
  • Height: 7.4m
    
  • Weight: 8,371kg gross (S1 3,652kg, S2 4,719kg) - Includes total of 5,625kg solid rocket fuel
    
  • Stage 1 TWR: 1.69 (33.8s estimated burn)
    
  • Stage 2 TWR: 1.71 (59.2s estimated burn)
    
  • Total Delta-V: 2,194m/s (S1 683m/s, S2 1,511 m/s)
    
  • Construction Time: 2d, 0h, 49m
    
  • Construction Cost: √6,982

  [*]Crew

  • Test Pilot  Valentina Kermanova

Construction was begun at Y1-D47-H1-M6 and completed at Y1-D49-H1-M19. Rollout immediate. Launch occurred at Y1-D49-H1-M19. Despite being in the early night, the decision was made to proceed with the launch to make use of more of the Central Committee's 30-day window for achieving orbit.

Free of any interference from prototype parts, Swallow III was able to follow the flight plan intended for Swallow II, holding a vertical ascent to 50m/s and then beginning a slow turn towards the east. It soon became clear that the reaction wheels integrated into the Mk1 Command Pod would have a hard time efficiently maneuvering larger craft, as the ship did not reach a 70º vertical angle until an altitude of 3.2km and a velocity of 250m/s. Nevertheless, the flight continued more-or-less as planned, holding a continued ascent of around 45º.

As expected, this ascent profile achieved what had previously been either beyond the reach of the program or, in the case of Swallow I, only achievable by accident and disasterâ€â€Komrade Valentina Kermanova successfully became the first kerbal to intentionally enter space!

Unfortunately, the exultation was short-lived, as the ship's path was projected to reach a ceiling at 71.2km. As this didn't leave much time, Komrade Valentina quickly conducted all of the necessary experiments and composed her own crew report before atmospheric reentryâ€â€Komrade Scientist Bob Kermanov expressed interest in a flight report from outside the capsule, but this was immediately dismissedâ€â€the Koviets at this time did not have adequate training or equipment to ensure such a task could be accomplished safelyâ€â€but it was noted for future training purposes that kerbonauts would require instruction and provision for extra-vehicular activities.

Her information-gathering assignments completed, Komrade Valentina oriented the capsule to the retrograde position, separated from the Stage 2 RT-10 Booster, and prepared for reentry. During her descent, she was able to activate the Mk16 parachute within the appropriate parameters, and although the R&D Lab had requested an activation at, quite frankly, unsafe conditions, the parachute had been previously configured to actually deploy only after reaching a safe altitude and velocity, and so this experimental activation carried no risk to the craft or its crew. The parachute finally deployed at approximately 3.5km and at under 200m/s, well within safe parameters.

• Mission Results
  
  • Flight Time: 8 minutes, 26 seconds
    
  • Top Speed: 1,170m/s
    
  • Flight Ceiling: 71.2km
    
  • Ground Distance: 346.4km
    
  • Science Recovered: 29.8
    
  • Salvage Recovered: √4,083 (61.10%)
    
  • Success  Test Mk16 Axial Parachute within required parameters in flight over Kerbin
    
  • Success  Return a Kerbal to space
    
  • Success  Observe the Mystery Gooâ„¢ in space
    
  • Success  Return crew report from space
    
  • Success  Record temperature data from space
    
  • Success  Achieve successful atmospheric reentry
    
  • Success  Recover command pod intact
    
  • Success  Return crew alive
    

With the raw data returned by Komrade Valentina, the R&D Labs had an even 50.0 "Sciences" to work with, and began research into what they called Light Rocketry III (30 science, 7d 3h completion time). It was expected that this line of study would produce more versatile propulsion options for the Koviets' inevitable journey out into the solar system. However, before they could reach out and annex the Mun, they first needed to claim the orbit around Kerbin, and so plans began for a ship to do just that.

Javascript is disabled. View full album

[Landwalker]

Swallow IV  ...One Giant Space for Kerbal-kind

UT Y1-D49-H2-M23  24 days before Central Committee deadline for putting a Koviet Kerbal into orbit around Kerbin

Komrade Valentina's flight of Swallow III marked the first time the Koviet Union had sent a kerbal into space on purpose, and the first time a kerbal in space had returned alive, a historic event for all of Kerbin and a redeeming moment for the Koviet Space Program after the Swallow I disaster. However, the Central Committee had been explicit in its instructions, and there was little time for celebration if the Y1-D73 deadline for having a kerbal orbit the planet were to be met. The Koviet Space Center staff did, of course, make the most of that little time for celebration, but the next morning work resumed without interruption (despite the protests and pleas for help of the hungover intern flapping in the breeze from the top of the flagpole outside the Astronaut Complex).

The program director knew that such a mission would not only be difficult, but (once successful) would be a defining moment in history, and despite the approaching deadline sought to make sure that the mission would also be a valuable one for the program. As such, further craft development was delayed while long-awaited improvements to the Koviet Space Center campus were made and critical research was completed.

At Y1-D50-H5-M36, the R&D Lab announced findings regarding the next generation of uncrewed craft:

• Probodobodyne RoveMate
  
• Probodobodyne QBE Probe Core

This would later prove to be an invaluable step in the advancement of the program's remotely-guided craft, but in the more immediate term, Komrade Science Intern Bob Kermanov lobbied using the Probodobodyne RoveMate as the centerpiece for designing a small Kerbin-based rover. It was proposed that this would facilitate errand-running (of which Bob had no shortage) around the KSC campus, and would also improve communication and collaboration between departments that had been sorely missing since someone had accidentally tried to connect their iKod to the R&D lab's phone system and blew out the whole system. As no other pressing projects were being worked on in the VAB, Bob's proposal was (surprisingly) accepted.

• Probodobodyne RoveMate
  
• EAS-1 External Command Seat
  
• (4x) RoveMax Model S2 Rover Wheels
  
• 2HOT Thermometer
  
• Mystery Gooâ„¢ Containment Unit
  
• (2x) Z-100 Rechargeable Battery Pack
  
• Pegasus I Mobility Enhancer
  
• Construction Time: 4d, 0h, 55m
  
• Construction Cost: √4,160

Bob's brief joyride around the campus, visiting some of the previously-isolated departments and reporting back to the R&D Labs, managed to collect an additional 30.3 Raw Science Ore. Furthermore, the new collaboration between the R&D folks and the engineers revealed the need for the development of a containment unit for the housing of field experiments and for holding the decidedly non-aerodynamic QBE probe core on future flights, and research was begun on Aerodynamics I.

At Y1-D56-H5-M22, R&D submitted proposals for their most advanced designs yet in the field of rocket-fueled propulsion.

• KW Rocketry WildCat-V
  
• KW Rocketry Vesta VR-1
  
• LV-909 "Terrior" Liquid Fuel Engine
  
• KW Rocketry SA-2 Liquid Fuel Tank
  
• FL-T200 Fuel Tank
  
• TVR-200 Stack Bi-Coupler

After consultation with Engineering, the program director found that the KW WildCat-V engine's combination of thrust, efficiency, gimballing capacity, and intimidating name made it best-suited to the rocket that would finally place a kerbal into orbit.

At UT Y1-D59-H3-M0, 14 days before Central Committee's deadline, rennovations were completed on the Mission Control and Astronaut Complex facilities. Not only would this give the program director more flexibility in future outside contract assignments, but more importantly the program's kerbonauts were now able to undergo EVA trainingâ€â€the last piece of the orbital mission puzzle. Design on the Swallow IV was finally authorized.

• Mission Objectives
  
  • Reach Low Kerbin Orbit
    
  • Orbit Kerbin at least one time
    
  • Conduct EVA report from space above Kerbin's water
    
  • Conduct EVA report from space above Kerbin's shores
    
  • Conduct EVA report from space above Kerbin's grasslands
    
  • Conduct EVA report from space above Kerbin's deserts
    
  • Return command capsule intact
    
  • Return crew alive

  [*]Construction

  • Mk1 Command Pod
    
  • Mk16 Axial Parachute
    
  • TR-18A 1.25m Stack Decoupler
    
  • (4x) KW Rocketry SA-2 Liquid Fuel Tank
    
  • KW Rocketry Wildcat-V Liquid Fuel Engine
    
  • (4x) AV-T1 Winglet

  [*]Engineer's Report

  • Part Count: 12
    
  • Height: 13.4m
    
  • Weight: 13,299kg gross - Includes total of 9,600kg liquid fuel and oxidizer
    
  • TWR at Launch: 1.57 (2m 11s estimated burn at 100% throttle)
    
  • Total Delta-V: 3,576m/s
    
  • Construction Time: 6d, 5h, 57m
    
  • Construction Cost: √8,212

  [*]Crew

  • Test Pilot  Valentina Kermanova

Construction was begun at Y1-D59-H3-M0. Shortly after (UT Y1-D62-H3-M43), R&D completed research and design for the program's first foray into aerodynamic capabilities.

• Aerodynamic Nose Cone (1.25m)
  
• Small Nose Cone (0.625m)
  
• Service Bay (1.25m)

These findings would have no impact on the construction of Swallow IV, but the new service bay in particular would facilitate the design of future uncrewed craft. The program director hoped, in the future, to use uncrewed vessels as the vanguard of the Koviet Space Program rather than continue risking his fairly-good and passably-bright kerbonauts on untested missions.

At UT Y1-D64-H2-M42, upgrade work was completed on the Tracking Station. These were critical improvements for a would-be orbital flight, as the workcrew suggested running a wire between Mission Control and the Tracking Station with coffee cans attached to either end, thereby allowing the two facilities to communicate with each other and better orchestrate mid-flight planning maneuvers.

Construction on Swallow IV was finally completed at UT Y1-D66-H2-M57, with immediate rollout. Rollout was complete at UT Y1-D66-H4-M17, and launch was planned for early that morning at H5-M29.

Komrade Valentina set an initial vertical climb until the ship reached 1,200m, then began her turn towards a roughly 90º bearing. Engine throttle at this time was approximately 85%. Once the course had been set, Valentina took a scheduled power nap while Swallow IV was guided predominantly by natural aerodynamics. Valentina woke up at an altitude of 15km to orient the craft to a 45º climb angle, and at 20km began turning to a 30º angle (a maneuver that was completed at approximately 27km altitude). This shallowing-out of the climb angle continued towards the horizon.

Approximately two minutes into the flight, Mission Control projected an apoapsis of 89km, and thrusters were disengaged at an altitude of 45km. The ground team relayed plans to Komrade Valentina for a menuver at apoapsis, requiring around 900m/s of delta-v to circularize the planned orbit. This burn was completed 4 minutes, 36 seconds after launchâ€â€with an apoapsis of 99.7km and a periapsis of 88.6km, Komrade Valentina was now the first kerbal to be in a stable orbit around Kerbin!

Minor adjustments to the orbit were made, eventually circularizing it in a 99.6×99.9km equatorial orbit. 31 minutes, 13 seconds after launch, the first ever in-space extravehicular activity was performed, as Komrade Valentina briefly left the capsule to conduct observations over the Great Western Desert. Additional EVA reports and several amateur-quality haikus were drafted by the historic pilot as she drifted over a variety of other terrains. After completing two full orbits around the planet, Valentina was instructed to prepare for descent.

In an effort to "direct" the landing of Swallow IV to be fairly near the KSC campus, the maneuver was planned to set a periapsis of approximately 30km, roughly 45º east of the space center. The small (60m/s) deceleration burn was executed 59 minutes into the mission, resulting in an actual periapsis of 28.7km.

1:06:20 into the mission, Swallow IV reentered the atmosphere, oriented retrograde, and separated from the actual rocket stage. At this point, Komrade Science Intern Bob Kermanov somehow managed to grab a headset in Mission Control and instructed Valentina to perform a very dangerous and highly unauthorized EVA in the upper atmosphere of Kerbin. Unaware that she was in fact listening to a joke, Komrade Valentina did as instructed, and to the relief of the entire Mission Control team was able to safely return to the capsule to compose additional haikus regarding her experience.

Reentry heat began at approximately 49km altitude at a speed of 2,350m/s. As the command pod descended, it became obvious that the landing trajectory had not been well-planned, and that Valentina would in fact come up well short of the KSC campus, likely landing near the Kappalachian mountain range to the west. The Mk16 parachute was released at an altitude of 7km and a velocity of 260m/s, with full expansion at an altitude of 2.5km above sea level. The capsule's descent was quickly slowed to 6m/s, and shortly afterwardsâ€â€UT Y1-D67-H0-M50, six days before the expiration of the Central Committee's deadlineâ€â€Komrade Valentina stepped out of the capsule on the first kerbal feet to walk in space.

• Flight Time: 1 hour, 17 minutes, 15 seconds
  
• Top Speed: 2,147m/s
  
• Flight Ceiling: 99.8km
  
• Ground Distance: 2,786km
  
• Science Recovered: 65.9
  
• Salvage Recovered: √969 (11.80%)
  
• Success  Reach Low Kerbin Orbit
  
• Success  Orbit Kerbin at least one time
  
• Success  Conduct EVA report from space above Kerbin's water
  
• Success  Conduct EVA report from space above Kerbin's shores
  
• Success  Conduct EVA report from space above Kerbin's grasslands
  
• Success  Conduct EVA report from space above Kerbin's deserts
  
• Bonus  Conduct EVA report from space above Kerbin's mountains
  
• Bonus  Conduct EVA report from space above Kerbin's highlands
  
• Bonus  Conduct EVA report Kerbin's upper atmosphere
  
• Bonus  Conduct EVA surface report from Kerbin's highlands
  
• Success  Return command capsule intact
  
• Success  Return crew alive

Javascript is disabled. View full album

Edited July 4, 2015 by Landwalker
Clean-up

[Geschosskopf]

Congratulations.

I HATE undershooting KSC and landing anywhere near those mountains. Numerous missions have been lost that way. I'm still having to learn how to pick my landing spot with the new aero.

[Landwalker]

Eccentrica I  Birth of a New Industry

UT Y1-D67-H0-M51

With the Koviet Space Program having proven its ability to get into space, stay there, and get back, outside contract offers began pouring in. Not only were a number of government contractors clamoring for officially-sanctioned testing of their products, but prominent Party members found the notion of "space tourism" an appealing recreactional activity for themselves or for those favored by their attention.

The program had received offers for a couple of prototype tests at the launchpad, and so put together a small project to execute the tests in a non-mission situation. With only about two and a half days' work, the test had been assembled and executed, netting the program an easy √14,094 and 2 Raw Science Ores to be delivered to R&D for refinement.

Bids were also being submitted regarding surface surveys from a number of locations. Despite their distance from the KSC campus, the only reliable way to reach them would have to be through an upgraded version of Bob's KSC Science Kart, as the program had not yet begun investing in aerospace travel. Because of the limited range of the current design, however, the project was delayed until the program found a way to recharge the kart's electrical batteries in the field and to prevent Bob from getting too hungry on his way down to the survey sites, since his earlier joyride around the KSC campus had ended with him eating some of the Mystery Gooâ„¢ from its containment unit.

The most notable contract, however, came from the Ministry itself. Although all expectations had been that the program's next goal would be the Mun, alarming reports had surfaced during and after the launch of Swallow IV regarding a potential spy satellite of the United Kerbal States known by the codename "Minmus." The Minmus had been identified conducting surveillance on the Swallow IV during its mission, and the Kerblin demanded a reconnaissance mission to ascertain whether or not the Minmus posed any threat to the Koviet Union.

Unfortunately, the same electrical charge issues that prevented Bob's trip to the survey sites also made a Minmus mission questionable, and so the plan was filed away for after further research had been conducted.

In the interim, the program needed a cash infusionâ€â€a large number of interns were grumbling about the general absence of snacks around the KSC campus, and hired muscle to suppress such dissidence isn't free. Fortunately for the program, a group of private contracts were offered that allowed just such an opportunity: Komrade Nancy Kermanova, mistress of the CEO of Goliath National Products, had demanded that the program open up space travel not just to qualified kerbonauts, but to any unqualified personnel who could afford it. Although questions were raised about how exactly Komrade Nancy, or for that matter any individual Koviet kerbal, could afford such a costly experience, especially when all komrades were equal, it was soon decided not to think too hard about the socio-political implications and to instead shove her into a capsule and shoot her into the black nothingness of space for a couple of minutes. The program was also able to accept a few additional contracts that it was felt could be completed in the same mission without exceeding the acceptable level of risk to Komrade Nancy's bodily structural integrity.

• Mission Objectives
  
  • Conduct a suborbital spaceflight above Kerbin with tourist Komrade Nancy Kermanova
    
  • Record and return temperature readings per contract with Rokea Incorporated
    
  • Conduct test on Mk1 Lander Can during suborbital flight per contract with Jebediah Kermanov's Junkyard and Spacecraft Parts Company
    
  • Activate Mk2-R Radial Parachutes during descent within parameters set by R&D Lab
    
  • Recover craft intact
    
  • Recover tourist alive

  [*]Construction

  • Command Stage
    
    • Service Bay (1.25m)
      
    • Probodobodyne QBE Probe Core
      
    • (2x) Z-100 Rechargeable Battery Pack
      
    • 2HOT Thermometer
      
    • Mk1 Lander Can (Experimental)
      
    • FL-A10 Adapter (0.625m to 1.25m)
      
    • (2x) Mk2-R Radial Parachute (Experimental)
      
    • Small Inline Reaction Wheel
      
    • Mk16 Axial Parachute

    [*]Third Stage

    • TR-18A 1.25m Stack Decoupler
      
    • RT-10 "Hammer" Solid Fuel Booster (40% Thrust Limiter)
      
    • (4x) Basic Fin

    [*]Second Stage

    • TR-18A 1.25m Stack Decoupler
      
    • RT-10 "Hammer" Solid Fuel Booster (70% Thrust Limiter)
      
    • (4x) Basic Fin

    [*]First Stage

    • TR-18A 1.25m Stack Decoupler
      
    • RT-10 "Hammer" Solid Fuel Booster(100% Thrust Limiter)
      
    • (4x) Basic Fin

  [*]Engineer's Report

  • Part Count: 29 (11 - Command Module; 6 - Stage Three; 6 - Stage Two; 6 - Stage 1)
    
  • Height: 12.2m
    
  • Weight: 12,204kg gross - Includes total of 8,437kg solid rocket fuel
    
  • Stage 1: 1.65 TWR (23.7s burn)  437m/s
    
  • Stage 2: 1.65 TWR (33.8s burn)  665 m/s
    
  • Stage 3: 1.65 TWR (59.2s burn)  1,423 m/s
    
  • Total Delta-V: 2,525m/s
    
  • Construction Time: 4d, 2h, 13m
    
  • Construction Cost: √8,092

  [*]Crew

  • Tourist  Nancy Kermanova

Construction was begun at UT Y1-D69-H5-M37 and completed at UT Y1-D74-H1-M51, with immediate rollout. As the rollout was not complete until after sunset, launch was delayed until the following morning and took place at UT Y1-D74-H5-M52.

The flight followed the fairly established pattern, with a vertical ascent to 50m/s followed by a turn to about 80º vertical. A natural gravity turn was followed until the craft reached an ascent angle of about 50º (roughly 10km, 375m/s), at which point SAS was engaged to maintain the ascent angle. Stage 3 burnout occurred at 39.6km, 01:58 into the flight. Eccentrica I left the atmosphere at MET 02:37 with a projected apoapsis of 111.8km.

While Nancy quickly ran through her disposable camera, Mission Control was busy conducting the required temperature reading and running tests of the Mk1 Lander Can, which it was widely agreed Nancy was better off not knowing about, on account of being inside it during the tests. At MET 04:25, the craft reached its apoapsis. The landing stage separated, oriented retrograde, and prepared for reentry. A few seconds later, someone remembered to tell Nancy to fasten her seatbelt and return the built-in tray table to its upright and locked position.

As the design of the landing module was not "natural" for aerodynamic reentry, SAS was engaged to maintain orientation and ensure a safe descent. Atmospheric reentry occurred at MET 06:50, and at MET 08:07 (altitude 9.6km, velocity 385m/s), the Mk2-R Radial Parachutes were activated per the contract with the R&D Lab, although they were preset not to release until safe conditions. SAS was disengaged once the danger of reentry heating had passed, and at 4.2km altitude the parachutes were related, fully deploying at 1.1km. Descent slowed to 3.7m/s, with landing at MET 13:45. Recovery did not occur until a few hours later, as Nancy's over-excited flailing made direct approach by the recovery team dangerous. Once the first tourist in space had passed out, recovery was completed.

• Flight Time: 13 minutes, 45 seconds
  
• Flight Ceiling: 111.8km
  
• Science Recovered: 1.2
  
• Salvage Recovered: √4,384 (54.18%)
  
• Conduct a suborbital spaceflight above Kerbin with tourist Komrade Nancy Kermanova
  
• Record and return temperature readings per contract with Rokea Incorporated
  
• Conduct test on Mk1 Lander Can during suborbital flight per contract with Jebediah Kermanov's Junkyard and Spacecraft Parts Company
  
• Activate Mk2-R Radial Parachutes during descent within parameters set by R&D Lab
  
• Recover craft intact
  
• Recover tourist alive

Following the recovery of Eccentrica I, R&D reported that they had completed science refining for three critical new technologies.

• Command Modules I
  
  • Mk1 Lander Can
    
  • Mk2-R Radial Parachute
    
  • Heat Shield (1.25m)
    
  • Telus-LV Bay Mobility Enhancer
    
  • LT-05 Micro Landing Strut
    
  • A variety of critical life support options for extended crewed missions

  [*]Structural Engineering II

  • TT18-A Launch Stability Enhancer
    
  • TT-38K Radial Decoupler
    
  • Modular Girder Adapter
    
  • Octagonal Strut
    
  • EAS-4 Strut Connector
    
  • KW Rocketry 1.25m Interstage Decoupler

  [*]Science and Electricity II

  • CAR-1.6K Capacitor Bank
    
  • SCAN RADAR Altimetry Sensor
    
  • OX-STAT Photovoltaic Panels
    
  • Z-200 Rechargeable Battery Bank
    
  • PresMat Barometer
    
  • Radiator Panel (Large)
    
  • Illuminator Mk1
    
  • Illuminator Mk2

These new findings would prove critical for future missions both to Minmus and within the confines of Kerbin.

Javascript is disabled. View full album

[Landwalker]

Congratulations.

I HATE undershooting KSC and landing anywhere near those mountains. Numerous missions have been lost that way. I'm still having to learn how to pick my landing spot with the new aero.

Indeed. Those mountains are nasty business, but fortunately I undershot even those. In the future I'll have to make sure I err on the side of an eastern ocean landing instead of risking kerbal-paste all over the Kappalachians.

[Sharpy]

Of note, comrade, the initial speed records were probably well within your reach even with the modest Flea booster. All you needed to do is removing the thrust limits. Even more so, bundling three or more boosters radially, staged with another booster on top (through a decoupler) would have broken many new records. (and they ARE recoverable too, you just need to stage the parachutes to activate at the same moment as the decoupler engages (though actually open as per safe settings), and prioritize recovery of the discarded stage over the actual probe/capsule, so that hubbub and reactive elements don't steal the unguarded, unmonitored elements while a probe/capsule monitored remotely or watched by the pilot awaits safe on the ground until recovery infrastructure is freed up.)

[Landwalker]

Unfortunate dispatch received from the Kerblin.

I was monkeying around with some new mods and trying some things out, and in the process introduced a rather large amount of game instability to my program and simultaneously more-or-less broke my Koviet Union save. Due to some lack of foresight on my part (read: No backup file), that does put rather a damper on the current career. And damper, I mean full-stop.

I think I've pretty much settled the stability issuesâ€â€not entirely the way I want to settle them (because I want to settle them in a way that lets me use Astronomer's Interstellar visual pack without crashing on 50% of my screen-changes, e.g. between the KSC and the VAB, or Tracking Station and Ship, etc.), but in a way that at least allows the game to mostly run, most of the time (giving up on Astronomer-Interstellar and using visual effects from KSPRC instead). But that doesn't help my Koviet Union save at this point, so my options now are basically either "Restart" (boooo) or "Abandon" (also boooo), both of which will lack the Astronomer visuals (also also boooo).

Haven't made a determination yetâ€â€taking the opportunity to play around and try some things that I hadn't been able to do in the Koviet Union career due to pacing reasonsâ€â€but just wanted to give the handful of readers a heads-up on what happened.

[Geschosskopf]

Sorry to hear about that. I was enjoying this. Oh well, I'm sure you'll come up with something just as entertaining.

[GarrisonChisholm]

What a very unfortunate evolution- nuts. Well, whatever you do, I hope you can return to writing-up your careers with equal vigor and wit. You kept this reader very entertained.

g

[Sharpy]

Actually, you should be able to recover the career to the point of your last save relatively easily. Just start anew and give yourself enough starting science and money to match the situation shortly past the last save. Send one rocket to the orbit to fulfill all the "accomplishments" then waste all the extra earned money on bogus launches. (and ignore the fact you can do most of the experiments anew).

[Landwalker]

Actually, you should be able to recover the career to the point of your last save relatively easily. Just start anew and give yourself enough starting science and money to match the situation shortly past the last save. Send one rocket to the orbit to fulfill all the "accomplishments" then waste all the extra earned money on bogus launches. (and ignore the fact you can do most of the experiments anew).

I'm picky/not-quite-OCD enough that doing this would drive me bonkers, especially the "renewal" of the science experiments. There's no way I could ignore those (not just because I'd go crazy, but because I can never remember what science experiments I've conducted and so am always "double-checking" and running experiments just to see if there's any science left. If there is? Grab it!)

I was able to tinker around last night with some mod combinations (always dangerous) and I may be getting close to something I can live with. Once I nail that down, I'll look into restarting the career of our intrepid Koviet Kosmonauts (or perhaps some other, non-Koviet incarnationâ€â€admittedly not sure what inspiration I'd use for this, though). I've made a few changes from the batch of mods I used for this, so it'll work a little differently.

That said, if anybody has recommendations for specific mods that weren't part of my original list, or other comments/ideas I'm happy to entertain suggestions or hear about other folks' thoughts and experiences (not just regarding mods, but regarding the initial game settings as well, which I'll probably make adjustments to when I "reboot").

• Replaced KSPRC atmospheric textures with Astronomer's Edge of Oblivion (I still like Interstellar, but my machine can handle EoO much less unreliably).
  
• Replaced TAC Life Support with USI Life Support
  
• Added a bunch of other USI mods, but have not added sounding rockets
  
  • USI Kolonization
    
  • Karbonite and K-Plus
    
  • Freight Transport Technologies
    
  • USI Exploration
    
  • USI Survivability
    
  • Maybe Advanced Mining Technologies and Asteroid Recyling? Not at my home computer and can't remember.

  [*]Got rid of OpenTree

  [*]Added SETI (SETI-CTT, SETI Contracts, and SETI Greenhouse)

  [*]Custom Barn Kit

  [*]Kerbal Joint Reinforcement

  [*]Maybe some other stuff I can't remember

• RealChute? Seems complicated.
  
• FAR? Not really sure what the benefit here would be, if any. Might overcomplicate things.
  
• Kerbal Attachment System
  
• Kerbal Inventory System
  
• K2 Command Pod  Don't like the way it looks, but very much like the niche it fills
  
• Kerbal Aircraft Expansion  I'm not a big aircraft guy, but I'm an easy sell on MOAR PARTS
  
• Procedural Fairings  Any need for this?
  
• Station Science  Looks awesome as an alternative to the MPL, complete with actual experiments
  
• Portable Science Container
  
• Station Parts Expansion
  
• Universal Storage
  
• Science Alert (to replace [x]-Science)
  
• DMagic Orbital Science  I'm not sure if this would result in "overpowered" science production, but I love the "do actual experiments" angle, especially in relation to contracts. SETI recommends setting science returns at 60-70% for this, which might not be a bad idea.
  
• NovaPunch  Kind of ambivalent about this one
  
• Background Processing
  
• Ven's Stock Part Revamp

Edit: Ouch, just noticed I got reamed on the thread rating. I'm 100% on board with getting constructive feedback, even if it's about stuff I'm completely butchering. So if I've done something that wrong, please, folks, let me know so I can try to do better. Even if just in a private message. I want to write mission reports that folks enjoy, not spend time writing things that sucks away their happiness. I'd rather have no rating at all than I would actively reduce people's enjoyment level.

Edited July 8, 2015 by Landwalker
Navel-gazing

[Daishi]

I'm picky/not-quite-OCD enough that doing this would drive me bonkers, especially the "renewal" of the science experiments. There's no way I could ignore those (not just because I'd go crazy, but because I can never remember what science experiments I've conducted and so am always "double-checking" and running experiments just to see if there's any science left. If there is? Grab it!)

I was able to tinker around last night with some mod combinations (always dangerous) and I may be getting close to something I can live with. Once I nail that down, I'll look into restarting the career of our intrepid Koviet Kosmonauts (or perhaps some other, non-Koviet incarnationâ€â€admittedly not sure what inspiration I'd use for this, though). I've made a few changes from the batch of mods I used for this, so it'll work a little differently.

That said, if anybody has recommendations for specific mods that weren't part of my original list, or other comments/ideas I'm happy to entertain suggestions or hear about other folks' thoughts and experiences (not just regarding mods, but regarding the initial game settings as well, which I'll probably make adjustments to when I "reboot").

• Replaced KSPRC atmospheric textures with Astronomer's Edge of Oblivion (I still like Interstellar, but my machine can handle EoO much less unreliably).
  
• Replaced TAC Life Support with USI Life Support
  
• Added a bunch of other USI mods, but have not added sounding rockets
  
  • USI Kolonization
    
  • Karbonite and K-Plus
    
  • Freight Transport Technologies
    
  • USI Exploration
    
  • USI Survivability
    
  • Maybe Advanced Mining Technologies and Asteroid Recyling? Not at my home computer and can't remember.

  [*]Got rid of OpenTree

  [*]Added SETI (SETI-CTT, SETI Contracts, and SETI Greenhouse)

  [*]Custom Barn Kit

  [*]Kerbal Joint Reinforcement

  [*]Maybe some other stuff I can't remember

• [*]RealChute? Seems complicated.

[*]FAR? Not really sure what the benefit here would be, if any. Might overcomplicate things.

[*]Kerbal Attachment System

[*]Kerbal Inventory System

[*]K2 Command Pod  Don't like the way it looks, but very much like the niche it fills

[*]Kerbal Aircraft Expansion  I'm not a big aircraft guy, but I'm an easy sell on MOAR PARTS

[*]Procedural Fairings  Any need for this?

[*]Station Science  Looks awesome as an alternative to the MPL, complete with actual experiments

[*]Portable Science Container

[*]Station Parts Expansion

[*]Universal Storage

[*]DMagic Orbital Science  I'm not sure if this would result in "overpowered" science production, but I love the "do actual experiments" angle, especially in relation to contracts. SETI recommends setting science returns at 60-70% for this, which might not be a bad idea.

[*]NovaPunch  Kind of ambivalent about this one

[*]Background Processing

[*]Ven's Stock Part Revamp

Edit: Ouch, just noticed I got reamed on the thread rating. I'm 100% on board with getting constructive feedback, even if it's about stuff I'm completely butchering. So if I've done something that wrong, please, folks, let me know so I can try to do better. Even if just in a private message. I want to write mission reports that folks enjoy, not spend time writing things that sucks away their happiness. I'd rather have no rating at all than I would actively reduce people's enjoyment level.

Some people are malicious for no good reason - as you said, constructive feedback would be appreciated alongside a bad rating. In any case, I hope I've fixed your thread's starcount in the meantime.

But yes, moar backups are important! I've found ScienceAlert very helpful, especially when you're coming in so fast there's g-force shake, and you can't click the thermometer. Universal Storage (woo not biased at all) is going to be majorly updated in a few months to improve performance on low-end PC's, just so you know. If you do pick it in the meantime, you'll need fairings covering stuff on ascent. This temp gauge mod is helpful too. HGR would fit your Koviet Union theme pretty well.

Keep on writing! I love these things

[Landwalker]

Some people are malicious for no good reason - as you said, constructive feedback would be appreciated alongside a bad rating. In any case, I hope I've fixed your thread's starcount in the meantime.

But yes, moar backups are important! I've found ScienceAlert very helpful, especially when you're coming in so fast there's g-force shake, and you can't click the thermometer. Universal Storage (woo not biased at all) is going to be majorly updated in a few months to improve performance on low-end PC's, just so you know. If you do pick it in the meantime, you'll need fairings covering stuff on ascent. This temp gauge mod is helpful too. HGR would fit your Koviet Union theme pretty well.

Keep on writing! I love these things

I'll definitely look into HGR and the temperature gauge. Temperature doesn't really come up much for me since I haven't gotten out of the Kerbin system yet (I've blown up a few ships, but those were expected or deliberateâ€â€uncrewed probes on steep profiles with no intention of landing intact in the first place). Once I'm reaching out there, though, it might be useful to know when bad things are about to happen (assuming I can do anything about them by that point...).

Since you're here, my only question on Universal Storage would be "Is the update going to impact existing save games?" If the answer is "Not breakingly so," then it's all good.

As I tend to always use Action Groups for my science instruments, clicking on a thermometer doesn't often pose an issue, but I'll look into ScienceAlert. [x] Science does a good job of filling me in on what experiments are available, what I've done, what I haven't, etc., but doesn't have a "trigger mechanism" built-in. If ScienceAlert can do all of those and also trigger experiments, I'm on board.

And yeah, I don't mind if somebody comes in and blows me up with a one-star if they leave a comment so I know what the problem is. I'm not so concerned with the stars per se, just want to make sure if there are things I can improve that I'm not persisting in ignorance.

[Daishi]

I'll definitely look into HGR and the temperature gauge. Temperature doesn't really come up much for me since I haven't gotten out of the Kerbin system yet (I've blown up a few ships, but those were expected or deliberateâ€â€uncrewed probes on steep profiles with no intention of landing intact in the first place). Once I'm reaching out there, though, it might be useful to know when bad things are about to happen (assuming I can do anything about them by that point...).

Since you're here, my only question on Universal Storage would be "Is the update going to impact existing save games?" If the answer is "Not breakingly so," then it's all good.

As I tend to always use Action Groups for my science instruments, clicking on a thermometer doesn't often pose an issue, but I'll look into ScienceAlert. [x] Science does a good job of filling me in on what experiments are available, what I've done, what I haven't, etc., but doesn't have a "trigger mechanism" built-in. If ScienceAlert can do all of those and also trigger experiments, I'm on board.

And yeah, I don't mind if somebody comes in and blows me up with a one-star if they leave a comment so I know what the problem is. I'm not so concerned with the stars per se, just want to make sure if there are things I can improve that I'm not persisting in ignorance.

The update is going to be released as a "new" mod (US2) so parts don't overwrite each other and save files don't break (there are big changes planned). That way you can slowly weed out craft with the old US1 parts at your own pace, without having to worry about breaking things The worst thing to happen would be re-researching parts if you install the mod mid-game, but I'm sure people do that all the time with other mods without a problem.

And yep, ScienceAlert essentially bleeps at you when it detects there are new experiments to do (new science equiment on board, new biomes, etc), and pushing its button activates the science equiment and pops out the GUI for it. Pretty neat and painless.

[Landwalker]

Been testing out ScienceAlert, and yeah, it's pretty handy. I think I'm going to slide that in over "[x] Science!" full-time.

Going to pick up the temperature gauge and background processing, and then start up a "test career" with the current batch (I also added Universal Storage, KAX, KIS, KAS, DMagic Orbital Science, Station Science, Station Part Expansion, Portable Science Container, and Ven's Stock Revamp) to see how things are looking. Still on the fence or leaning away from the other "maybes". Particularly interested in thoughts on FAR and Procedural Fairings, or other suggestions folks have.

Also need to figure out a good "starting parameters" set. SETI suggests 60% Science, 60% Funds, and is ambivalent on contract failures (which hopefully I won't be doing anyway). I'm leaning 20% Reentry Heat based on the tests done by Geschosskopf. Considering that I've still managed to blow up some unmanned probes on overly steep trajectories at 30% Reentry Heat, that doesn't strike me as completely outrageous (and maybe I'll still be able to blow stuff up by screwing the flight up hard enough. ).

[GarrisonChisholm]

- I just realized what the "star-thingys" meant; I didn't know how those were accumulated, or how one could add to them. I have added to them now.

Good luck on your next test- looking forward to your future resumption of dramatic story-telling. I am still trying to get my first SSTO to orbit using experimental parts...

[CatastrophicFailure]

Subbed for the lulz.. and a good luck note in getting your space program back up & running. Bout to start a "Red Star" report series of my own now that you've fixed my flag.

[Landwalker]

Subbed for the lulz.. and a good luck note in getting your space program back up & running. Bout to start a "Red Star" report series of my own now that you've fixed my flag.

Looking forward to your own AAR / Mission Logâ€â€I always enjoy reading other folks' career reports.

I think the turmoil in my game's status/composition is nearly settling down. I just have a few more things to iron out as far as game parameters and mods. I'm wondering whether or not it's advisable to try to throw RemoteTech in thereâ€â€I've never used it before, and on the one hand, it seems like it could create a huge pain for uncrewed missions outside of the Kerbin subsystem, but on the other hand it has a dandy contract pack for setting up satellite networks that actually mean something instead of the usual "Send probe to X orbit, meet contract conditions, de-orbit because that probe isn't serving any purpose anyway and you can at least recover the salvage value." Maybe I'm overestimating how much of a pain it will be on long-distance probe trips? Maybe I'm overestimating how much benefit it will add to the "feel" of a space program? I don't know.

The other big decision to make, of course, is whether or not to stick with the ÃÅ¡.á.ß. or whether to "re-nationalize" the program into a different incarnation.

Edited July 11, 2015 by Landwalker

[CatastrophicFailure]

Remote tech always ups the challenge, you really have to "think before you do." It actually encourages more manned flights early on.

and dibs on "Imperious Ussari Union" or derivatives thereof... But I like KCPi

[Landwalker]

Remote tech always ups the challenge, you really have to "think before you do." It actually encourages more manned flights early on.

Encourages, maybe, but I laugh in the face of encouragement! Early probes all the way!

and dibs on "Imperious Ussari Union" or derivatives thereof... But I like KCPi

Clever name, I like it.

The Koviet Union

The Fifth Kerbal Republic

The Kerbalwealth

The United Kerbal States

The United Kerbaldom

Credit for all of the "KSA" flags goes to Jossen K.