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Landwalker

By Landwalker
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Landwalker

Landwalker

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Why don't you launch the rovers from the runway? I usually build rovers in the SPH anyway.

Claw's Stock Bug Fix Modules has a cure for the "sticky grating" of the Level 2 launchpad. This also helps with launching rockets if you don't yet have/can't afford/don't like launch clamps.

I do have Claw's Stock Bug Fix... I don't think it's a "sticky grating" issue, it's a "RoveMax S2 wheels are too small and have no suspension, so they can't actually navigate the grating normally" issue. The wheels aren't stuck to the gratingâ€â€you can move around, just very herky-jerky because of the small height differences. I literally had Bob "carry" the rover off the launchpad (i.e. by running at it until he popped under it, then pushing relentlessly).

Historically I do have Kerbin-based rovers use the runway instead of the launchpad... but I'd already designed the Science Kart in the VAB and didn't want to have to redesign it in the SPH. The VAB also has twice the production speed, so it helps push out the mission faster. Which worked fine on the Level 1 launchpad, but caused all kinds of problems on the Level 2 launchpad. Fortunately, I've finally found a way to position the rover in the VAB itself so that it spawns in a corner of the launchpad that's flat and easy to navigate off of.

The worst problem with the long, angled wheels, however, is the way they make the plane bounce into the air every time physics loads. I've had this cause planes to flip over on their backs the 1st time I put them on the runway for a test flight. If you survive that, then be sure to complete the whole mission without ever changing focus away from the plane. Do not leave it, such as by getting to the Pyramids and quitting the game, then flying home next session. When you load up the plane again, it'll jump even worse on regular terrain than it did on the runway.
Yeah, I've noticed this every time I load the P-1A on the runway. Fortunately, the plane isn't substantial enough to be destroyed by the bouncing, it just ends up kind of off-center and makes for some occasionally "interesting" takeoff angles.

The J-3 Epee doesn't use any fixed landing gear, though, so hopefully it'll be a little more resilient to things like that.

What mod is it that changes the look of the stock parts so much?

I believe that's Ven's Stock Part Revamp, a recommended mod when using SETI-ctt. It also adds some new parts to fill a bunch of "gaps", like the LV-T15 "Dachshund" liquid fuel engine, which both Lancer III and Clervoy I used, as a precursor to the LV-T30 Reliant. I mostly like it (the mod, that is), but there's occasionally weird behavior when combined with other mods (for example, when I installed SpaceY, suddenly the VSPR RT-20 "Sickle" Solid Fuel Booster no longer makes any noise). I'm also not sure how I feel about the darkened Mk1 Command Pod when I'm using it with more "stock-colored" gray fuel tanks.

The original design for Lancer IV called for using the HGR 5PUD-N1k "Spud" Command Pod instead, but I ran into part-count problems trying to work around aesthetic issues arising from that design. The "Spud" is inspired by the orbital module for the Soyuz spacecraft, which means it's spherical rather than "gumdrop-shaped" like the descent module is, similar to the (obvious inspiration material) Stayputnik probe core. While you can put a cone parachute on the top of the "Spud" module, it looks ridiculous, so I went with the Mk1 Command Pod instead.

Hopefully once I scrape together enough cash to upgrade the VAB and don't have to put up with this absurd 30-part limitation I'll be able to design some crafts using the 5PUD-N1k module that can use radial or in-line chutes to land without looking completely silly.

Nice, really like the look of your crafts--congratulations on the orbit!

When screenshots come out too dark, you can always put them through your machine's basic native photo editor and turn up the brightness a bit. That's saved a few of my otherwise unpostable ones.

Ah, good thinking. I'm not much of a graphics guy (see above re: flag creation), so that hadn't crossed my mind. When I get home tonight I'll try running them through something (other than MS Paint) to up the brightness and see if it helps, then re-upload them.

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Landwalker

Landwalker

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Thanks to the recommendation of Kuzzter, I have fixed the darkness of four of the screenshots from the Lancer IV mission and re-uploaded them, so they should now at least be somewhat visible.

As far as tech options go: If you count "Start" as Tier Zero, I'm currently in Tier Three, and have 5/8 nodes in that tier researched at §45 a pop. The remaining four are Enhanced Survivability (mostly LES and life support parts), Flight Control (reaction wheels and some primitive RCS), and Aviation (a few wings parts, the Mk1 Cargo Bay, and another tiny jet engine). So if I want, I can pick up two of those right now. My other option is going for a single §90 node from Tier Four. As far as actual candidates go, we've got small propulsion options, heavier propulsion options, Space Exploration (a couple of science experiments, but only one that I can use immediately, and better rover wheels), the earliest docking port, and Electrics (a better omni antenna and some larger solar panel options).

My thoughts are grabbing Enhanced Survivability and Flight Control, mostly because those two are required for the next tier of command pods (including the Mk1 Lander Can, and some two-capacity pods). The new omni antenna isn't that much better than what I already have, just more compact. That said, Electrics does have some larger solar panel options, which might come in handy both for starting to set up a near-Kerbin communications array and also for launching a SCANsat altimetry scanner (both of which are current contract options and the first of which needs to happen at some point anyway). On the other hand, Space Exploration's extra experiment might help me get more techs sooner (or might not).

So, there's where things stand, tech-wise. I'm leaning towards grabbing the two Tier Three techs to start withâ€â€and hopefully scraping together enough cash to finally upgrade the stinking VAB so I can start launching first-generation ComSats.

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Landwalker

Landwalker

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J-3 Epee  Stepping on the Toes of Giants

5ApCJKH.png

UT Y1-D123-H4-M15

√189,217 – §105.8– Ʀ41%

After the outstanding success of Jeb's flight on Lancer IV, the KSSLTA program director requested that R&D Archwizard Wernher von Kerman begin investigating the arcane secrets of improving both the survivability and the controlability of the program's flights going forward. And after a short Kersday drive around the KSSLTA campus by Engineering Intern Bill Kerman, Valentina was finally allowed onto the runway for the inaugural flight of the J-3 Epee Light Surveyor and, even more momentously, the first modern investigation into the ancient pyramids in the Kerbara desert far to the west.

  • Mission Results
    • Science Recovered: §9.00
    • Salvage Recovered: √8,203 (98.01%)

    [*]Contracts Completed

    • Complete  Perform experiments around KSC
      • √13,279  §0  Ʀ2

[*]Science Collected

  • Seismic Scan from VAB  §0.72
  • Seismic Scan from Administration  §0.72
  • Materials Study from KSC  §4.32
  • Mystery Gooâ„¢ Observation from KSC  §3.24

[*]Crew Decorations Awarded

  • Bill Kerman
    • Research I  For researching 10 RSOUs.

The Great Pyramids were determined to lie just over 700km from KSCâ€â€after a quick pre-flight check, J-3 test pilot Valentina Kerman gunned the engines and begin... lumbering down the runway. Despite its name, the J-3 Epee Light Surveyor Plane had a very "heavy" takeoff on account of its low TWR and seemingly poor lift, as the plane required considerable distance before picking up enough speed to actually get airborne. Despite these unexpected issues, however, takeoff was safely achieved, and Val was on her way to the exotic west.

After orienting towards the pyramids, Val began her climb to gain altitude for the flight. Here another design problem was recognized, as Val reported that the plane was not operating as it had during testing. The plane was behaving too "front-heavy" and had difficulty maintaining an ascent angle (and nose-direction in general). Furthermore, the plane was traveling only around 130m/s, compared to the over 200m/s that had been observed in earlier tests. The suspected culprit was the addition of several scientific instruments just behind the cockpit that moved the plane's center of mass forward relative to the center of lift, combined with relatively weak pitch authority in the plane's tail. The result was a J-3 that could barely climb and required all of its pitch authority simply to stay level. Nevertheless, Mission Control requested that Val continue the mission as well she could, and to close the valves on all but the forward-most fuel tank in order to drain the "front fuel" first and attempt to rebalance the plane over the course of the flight.

At MET 00:23:00, as Val headed out over the western Kerdian Ocean with well over an hour of flight time ahead, the engineers back at Mission Control began speculating that maybe they should have put a fourth engine on the plane, as well.1 A long, dull flight later, at MET 01:08:00, Val was finally just 150km out from the predicted anomaly site. She reported that the region was very hilly and did not appear conducive to a powered landing, but would reevaluate when she was closer to the target. At 50km out, the J-3 Epee began a slow descent. By the time the target was 30km away, confirmation was made that the landing zone appeared not just very uneven, but prone to steep inclines, making a powered landing unlikely. Val performed an initial flyover to judge the landing site, and requested permission to attempt a powered landing in the "sort of flat-looking" zone just to the north of the pyramids.

Initially, it appeared that she would be successfulâ€â€the J-3 touched down and began brakingâ€â€but the unevenness of the terrain quickly caught up to the plane. A slight roll caused the right main wing to clip the ground, sending the craft into a self-destructive somersault across the dunes. Explosions and debris flew everywhere. When the dust and sand finally settled, only the Mk1 Inline Cockpit itself remained intact, surrounded by the remains of several science experiments. But Val was alive! The Great Pyramids were at hand! The Ancient Sand Kraken reared its horrible head, and tore a hole through the very fabric of time and space!2 Wait, what?

Mission Control promptly denied Val's request, much to her consternation, and instructed her to make a parachute-assisted vertical landing as close to the pyramids as possible. To the surprise of everyone, they discovered after landing that the terrain around the pyramids was not much of a desert at all, despite being covered in sand, unbearably hot, and a drab tan color, but was instead mountainous. Mission Controller Gene Kerman quickly pointed out, however, that the KSSLTA had minimal research conducted on mountainous terrain, and so this was a good an opportunity as any to do so. After taking all the necessary readings from all the necessary instruments, Val was finally able to begin the long trek up to the Plateau of Kerkerkhamunâ€â€as a show of defiance towards Mission Control at disallowing her landing request, Val had obstinately parachuted down nearly 1.2km from the objective site. Unfortunately, the joke was on Val, since she was the one who had to run the whole way uphill.

The sight that awaited her was almost as staggering as the first view she had had in space. The ancient Mun-worshippers may not have had the rocketeering chops of the modern Kerpublic, but they were no slouches when it came to working with the stony resources they had at hand, erecting monuments that rivaled even the program director's ego in size and ostentation. Here was evidence that kerbals had already been gazing starwards for milleniniaâ€â€the mission of the KSSLTA was only the latest step in that fascination with reaching, and then monetizing, the endless space above Kerbin.

After completing her survey, Val hoofed it back to the plane, swearing the whole way but grateful that there weren't any stairs for her to trip down this time. 27 minutes after landing, Val was back in the cockpit. Due to the J-3's difficulty with quick ascents, and the steep, mountainous cliffs surrounding the basin that the pyramids and landing zone were nestled in, Mission Control determined that a takeoff would be too dangerous. Val instead taxied up to the pyramid plateau ("Why the &^!@ didn't I drive up here in the first place?!") and waited until the following morning for KSSLTA's Magical Automated Recovery Crew to arrive.

  • Mission Timeline
    • Launch Time: UT Y1-D125-H2-M25
    • Mission Duration: 05:35:17

    [*]Mission Objectives

    • Contract  Land and EVA at the site of the Pyramids.
    • Record and recover scientific data during flyover of desert.
    • Record and recover scientific data from surface of desert.
    • Return to KSC alive and intact.

    [*]Mission Results

    • Science Recovered: §20.10
    • Salvage Recovered: √15,872 (64.30%)
    • Success  Land and EVA at the site of the Pyramids.
    • Success  Record and recovery scientific data during flyover of desert.
    • Substituted  Record and recovery scientific data from surface of desert mountains.

    [*]Contracts Completed

    • Complete  Investigate the Pyramids.
      • √21,000 §0  Ʀ5

[*]Science Collected

  • Crew Report while flying over Kerbin's Deserts  §2.52
  • Atmospheric Pressure Scan while flying over Kerbin's Deserts  §1.26
  • Temperature Scan while flying over Kerbin's Deserts  §1.26
  • Crew Report from Kerbin's Mountains  §1.08
  • Magnetometer Scan from Kerbin's Mountains  §0.90
  • Mystery Gooâ„¢ Observation from Kerbin's Mountains  §3.24
  • Seismic Scan from Kerbin's Mountains  §0.72
  • Materials Study from Kerbin's Mountains  §4.32
  • EVA Report from Kerbin's Mountains  §1.44
  • EVA Report while flying over Kerbin's Mountains  §3.36

[*]Crew Decorations Awarded

  • Valentina Kerman
    • Multiple Missions  For completing five missions
    • Research III Ribbon  For researching 100 RSOUs.
    • EVA Endurance  For continuously spending 20 minutes in EVA.

  • Mission Results
    • Science Recovered: §11.70
    • Salvage Recovered: √10,555 (98.01%)

    [*]Contracts Completed

    • Complete  Perform experiments around KSC
      • √11,565  §0  Ʀ2

[*]Science Collected

  • Magnetometer Scan from R&D  §0.90
  • Materials Study from VAB  §4.32
  • Mystery Gooâ„¢ Observation from SPH  §3.24
  • Mystery Gooâ„¢ Observation from VAB  §3.24

[*]Crew Decorations Awarded

  • Bill Kerman
    • None.

  • MRS Radial Controller Panel
  • MRS Reaction Wheel, 0.625m
  • Advanced Inline Stabilizer
  • Probodobodyne OKTO2
  • Place-Anywhere 7 Linear RCS Port
  • Inline RCS Block

  • Launch Escape System
  • HGR Deluxe Escape Tower
  • Fuel Cell Array
  • Life Support MiniPak (Supplies)
  • Life Support Tank (1.25m)
  • Life Support Tank (2.5m)
  • Life Support Tank (3.75m)
  • Universal Storage Supply Bag
  • Universal Storage Radial Supply Tank
  • Universal Storage Radial Water Tank
  • Universal Storage Radial Oxygen Tank
  • Universal Storage Hydrogen Tank
  • Universal Storage Oxygen Tank
  • Universal Storage Water Tank
  • Universal Storage Alkaline Fuel Cell

  • Mission Results
    • Science Recovered: §0.00
    • Salvage Recovered: √877 (93%)

    [*]Contracts Completed

    • Complete  Test TR-2C Stack Separator in flight over Kerbin
      • √14,175  §2  Ʀ6

[*]Science Collected

  • None

Crew Decorations Awarded
  • None

Between the checks clearing from the completion of Val's mission and several other minor contracts on the one hand, and from advance payments for a number of significant contracts that the program director had begun snatching up on the other, Finance Director Mortimer Kerman finally (if reluctantly) approved renovations to the VAB facility and staff room. The finest massage training was scheduled, the softest couches would adorn the break areas, the tastiest snacks would hang from the vending machines, the vending machines would finally be programmed not to jam at the last moment and dangle the snacks tauntingly out of reach. At long last, the VAB Engineers agreed to work with more than their previous limit of thirty components.

Now. Now the KSSLTA could begin dazzling the Kerpublic, and the world, with increasingly impressive shows of scientific achievements and four-color brochures of upcoming vacation opportunities.

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I hadn't initially intended for this to be entirely about the trip to the pyramids... but it took so long, and the completion of the research and VAB upgrades made a natural cuttoff point, so I decided to chop it off here. That's the last of my current Anomaly Surveyor contracts for the moment, though. Some jobs coming up:

  • Unmanned Powered Kerbin Landing Test
  • Manned Powered Kerbin Landing Test
  • Extended (72-hour) Manned Orbit
  • Design and launch of first-generation ComSat network.

  1. I quickly discovered that using 4× physics warp was out of the question, as it caused the plane to behave very erratically and "jump around" in flight. Using 3× physics warp was mostly fine, though.
  2. I overshot the landing zone substantially, because the only sort-of-viable area required the J-3 to make a steep descent, followed by a quick pull-up at the bottom in order to land, both of which it was singularly ill-suited for. Despite landing well east of my intended touch-down spot, the plane was doing fine until it rolled slightly on the terrain and the low-hanging wing caught the sands. One spectacular NASCAR-level cartwheeling disaster later, though, it looked like everything would be okayâ€â€the plane had slowed down enough that the cockpit survived, there were a couple of science experiments lying nearby that Val could manually activate, and Val was alive and could walk the rest of the way.
    And then, before I could save it, the game crashed just as hard as the J-3 had.
    I made several attempts after that point to recreate my landing (or land in a manner that kept Valentina alive at all), all of which failed because of the plane's abominable pitch handling. I eventually threw my hands up and decided that I wouldn't be able to re-achieve what I had pre-crash, so I just resigned myself to a parachute landing instead.

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Landwalker

Landwalker

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Indeed. Unfortunately, I didn't even have time for a screenshot before the crash, which is a shame because it was a spectacular yard-sale of a crash. I didn't mind losing the craft (the plane was not well-made and I didn't benefit that much from recovering it anyway), but since all of my subsequent attempts killed Valâ€â€and since that seemed unfair considering that she'd survived the first oneâ€â€I eventually gave up and just parachuted in.

I reckon that's what happens when you have 90-something mods vying for attention.

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CatastrophicFailure

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I believe that's Ven's Stock Part Revamp, a recommended mod when using SETI-ctt. It also adds some new parts to fill a bunch of "gaps", like the LV-T15 "Dachshund" liquid fuel engine, which both Lancer III and Clervoy I used, as a precursor to the LV-T30 Reliant. I mostly like it (the mod, that is), but there's occasionally weird behavior when combined with other mods (for example, when I installed SpaceY, suddenly the VSPR RT-20 "Sickle" Solid Fuel Booster no longer makes any noise). I'm also not sure how I feel about the darkened Mk1 Command Pod when I'm using it with more "stock-colored" gray fuel tanks.

The original design for Lancer IV called for using the HGR 5PUD-N1k "Spud" Command Pod instead, but I ran into part-count problems trying to work around aesthetic issues arising from that design. The "Spud" is inspired by the orbital module for the Soyuz spacecraft, which means it's spherical rather than "gumdrop-shaped" like the descent module is, similar to the (obvious inspiration material) Stayputnik probe core. While you can put a cone parachute on the top of the "Spud" module, it looks ridiculous, so I went with the Mk1 Command Pod instead.

Hopefully once I scrape together enough cash to upgrade the VAB and don't have to put up with this absurd 30-part limitation I'll be able to design some crafts using the 5PUD-N1k module that can use radial or in-line chutes to land without looking completely silly.

The Spud is one of my personal favorites. My solution was generally to wrap it in fairings like the Russians, but I guess that's not favorable to part counts either. The Lancer definitely needs that conical pod. It's got that "familiar but different" look I dig with Kerbal rockets.

But you need escape systems. :P

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Landwalker

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Escape systems are for people who have discovered convenient ways to mount escape systems. :wink:

Yeah, I originally tried to design the Lancer IV with the Spud design by wrapping fairings around it, but it didn't play nice with my part count. Fortunately, once my long-overdue VAB upgrades are complete, I'll have far more parts to play with and can just coat the whole rocket in fairings. :D

Also, a self-correction which I'm sure everyone already recognized but was too polite to point out: I believe the "Spud" module is actually designed based on the Vostok capsule used by Yuri Gagarin, not the Soyuz spacecraft. The Soyuz-inspired stuff is coming later, but the "Spud" and "Onion" look similar enough to the ignorant eye (i.e. mine) that I balled that up.

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Spent most of last night post-Pyramids trip doing KSC experiment contracts, designing the Lancer V, and designing ComSat Ker-1-EqA (that's Communications Satellite, Kerbin, First-Generation, Satellite A in an Equatorial orbit). I'm not particularly happy with the ComSat design itself or with my mental conceptions of a communications network in general, so I wanted to bounce some ideas around and see if folks have any thoughts on them.

Right now, I have zero communications satellites. I have access to omnidirectional antennas with a range of 2,500km (Communotron 16), and to basic dish antennas that for all intents and purposes can reach the edge of Kerbin's SoI with a 25º cone (Reflectron KR-7). I do not have access to any antenna options that can reach more distant bodies (like Eve or Duna).

In order to cover Kerbin, a Reflectron KR-7 would have to be at an altitude of at least 2,800km, which basically means it would probably be placed into keosynchronous orbit, but ideally that's not what I would do to start out with. In order for three satellites in Kerbin orbit to talk to each other using only Communotron 16s, they'll need to be at an altitude of something like 800km (I haven't done the hard math, but it's in that neighborhood).

My current mental comm-map looks something like this (using words because I have no pictures):

  1. A triangle with vertices at about 800km above Kerbin's equator, cones pointed at Mun and Minmus, a dish pointed at the active ship, and a "spare dish".
  2. After my initial munar missions (flyby, basic orbit), a similar arrangement at the Mun, using Communotron 16s to talk to each other, and cones to Kerbin and Minmus (no dish for the active ship, since they shouldn't need to be talking to anything further away than 2.5Mm anyway that isn't in the Kerbin or Minmus cone).1
  3. Ditto for Minmus.

Since I don't have any antennae that can reach more than a few thousand kilometers beyond Kerbin's SoI, no point in worrying about that in this "first-generation" network. By the time I roll around to missions to Eve or Duna, I'm considering trying to put two satellites at the far edge of Kerbin's SoI (just inside, or just outside in Kerbin-leading and Kerbin-trailing positions) that have a cone to Kerbin, long-range cones to Eve and Duna, and a long-range dish to the active craft.

Any obvious flaws or inefficiencies in that folks can pick up? The main one that jumps out at me is that polar-region ground-based missions won't be able to talk to the equatorial satellites. If I launch any polar landing missions (on Kerbin or otherwise), I'll need to also arrange something to cover themâ€â€but that probably wouldn't be too much more involved than slapping an extra omnidirectional antenna on a SCANsat satellite and letting it pull double duty.

  1. Technically, since the Mun is tidally locked, I can do my first landings there with no munar communications networkâ€â€just slap a KR-7 dish on the lander and it can talk to the Kerbin network directly. Once it's time for far-side landings, then it's time for a Mun network.

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Also, on the subject of the way I'm doing some of the write-ups:

Do folks find the detailed breakdowns of things to be useful / interesting / informative? I'm particularly talking about these:

  • Construction Timeline
    • Construction Started: UT Y1-D111-H1-M25
    • Construction Completed: UT Y1-D122-H4-M34
    • Launch Time: UT Y1-D123-H2-M40

    [*]Mission Objectives

    • Launch a kerbal into an orbit around Kerbin, and return him safely.
    • Contract - Conduct an orbital survey of Kerbin.
      • Return or transmit Mystery Gooâ„¢ data from high orbit above Kerbin.
      • Return or transmit Orbital Telescope Observations data from high orbit above Kerbin.
      • Return or transmit Magnetometer Scan data from high orbit above Kerbin.

      [*]Return crew and EVA report from high orbit above Kerbin.

      [*]Return Materials Bay observations from high orbit above Kerbin.

      [*]Recover the craft and crew intact.

    [*]Construction

    • Command Stage
      • Mk1 Command Pod
      • RealChute Cone Chute
      • Universal Storage QuadCore
      • Universal Storage Magnetometer Boom Bay
      • Universal Storage Orbital Telescope Bay
      • Universal Storage Mystery Gooâ„¢ Bay
      • Universal Storage SC-9001 Science Jr. Bay
      • Heat Shield (1.25m)

      [*]Second Stage

      • TR-18A Stack Decoupler
      • FL-T400 Fuel Tank
      • LV-909 "Terrier" Liquid Fuel Engine3

      [*]First Stage

      • TR-18A Stack Decoupler
      • 1.25-1.875m Fuel Tank
      • H-3200 "Long Walk" Fuel Tank
      • HGR FG-90 Liquid Fuel Engine4
      • (2x) TT-38K Radial Decoupler
      • (2x) SpaceY 05S SRB
      • (2x) RealChute Cone Chute
      • (2x) RealChute Radial Chute

      [*]Launch Support

      • (2x) TT18-A Launch Stability Enhancer
      • FASA Launch Tower

    [*]Engineer's Report

    • Total on the Launchpad
      • Part Count: 30
      • Height: 20.4m
      • Mass: 30,357kg (3,000kg solid fuel; 10,587kg oxidier; 8,662kg liquid fuel)
      • Delta-V (Surface): 3,497/s

      [*]Command Stage

      • Part Count: 8
      • Mass: 1,444kg

      [*]Second Stage

      • Part Count: 3
      • Mass: 2,850kg (1,100kg oxidizer, 900kg liquid fuel)
      • TWR (Vacuum): 1.42
      • Delta-V (Vacuum): 2,121m/s

      [*]First Stage

      • Part Count: 17
      • Mass: 26,063kg (3,000kg solid fuel; 9,487kg oxidier; 7,762kg liquid fuel)
      • TWR (Surface): 1.52
      • Delta-V (Surface): 2,974m/s

      [*]Construction Time: 11d, 3h, 10m (224,123 BP at 0.90 BP/s)

      [*]Construction Cost: √36,450

    [*]Crew

    • Test Pilot Jebediah Kerman

  • Mission Timeline
    • Launch Time: UT Y1-D123-H2-M40
    • Mission Duration: 01:33:00

    [*]Mission Results

    • Science Recovered: §75.70
    • Salvage Recovered: √20,396 (55.96%)
    • Success  Launch a kerbal into an orbit around Kerbin, and return him safely.
    • Success  Conduct an orbital survey of Kerbin.
    • Success  Return crew and EVA report from high orbit above Kerbin.
    • Success  Return Materials Bay observations from high orbit above Kerbin.
    • Success  Recover the craft and crew intact.

    [*]Contracts Completed

    • Complete  Manned Orbit and safe return!
      • √54,000  §14  Ʀ100

    [*]Complete  Conduct an orbital survey of Kerbin.

    • √30,316  §2  Ʀ6
Partial  Field Research: Materials study experiments on Kerbin.
  • Materials Study from Kerbin while high in space
    • √5,828  §0  Ʀ0

[*]Science Collected

  • Orbital Telescope Observations from space just above Kerbin's Highlands  §3.60
  • Orbital Telescope Observations from space just above Kerbin's Grasslands  §3.60
  • Orbital Telescope Observations from space just above Kerbin's Mountains  §3.60
  • Orbital Telescope Observations from space just above Kerbin's Deserts  §3.60
  • Orbital Telescope Observations while in space high over Kerbin  §5.40
  • Crew Report while in space high over Kerbin §5.40
  • Crew Report from space just above Kerbin's Highlands  §3.60
  • Crew Report from space just above Kerbin's Mountains  §3.60
  • Crew Report from space just above Kerbin's Deserts  §3.60
  • Materials Study while in space high over Kerbin  §21.60
  • Mystery Gooâ„¢ Observation while in space high over Kerbin  §16.20
  • Magnetometer Scan while in space high over Kerbin  §4.50
  • Recovery of a vessel returned from Kerbin orbit  §1.00

[*]Crew Decorations Awarded

  • Jebediah Kerman
    • Research III  For researching 100 science points.
    • Mach III  For flying horizontally at mach 3 below 30km in Kerbin atmosphere.
    • Kerbin EVA  For going on EVA in zero atmosphere around Kerbin.
    • First Kerbin Orbit  For being the first kerbal orbiting around Kerbin.
    • First Kerbin Orbital EVA  For being first kerbal on EVA in a stable orbit around Kerbin.
    • Dangerous EVA  For executing EVA while not in a stable orbit.

In particular, the timestamps, the engineer's report, and the construction detail in the "craft-building" sections, but anything is fair game. These take a lot of time to write up, which obviously impacts both play speed and update regularity, so I'd like to make sure people actually get anything out of them and that I'm not just wasting post-space and Walker-time putting them together.

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CatastrophicFailure

CatastrophicFailure

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Posted

The only thing that matches the detail of your write ups is their prolificness. :cool:

I say as long as you're up for the work include as much detail as you can & let the reader pick & choose what they want. Me, I usually just scan thru the pix then come back & read the important stuff later.

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Landwalker

Landwalker

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Lancer V / ComSat Ker-1-E1  The Sound of Silence

5iLNHZr.png

UT Y1-D131-H0-M37

√107,565 – §58.6– Ʀ44%

Despite the considerable successes achieved and improvements made by the KSSLTA, much work remained ahead if the agency were to realize its lofty goals of get paid by kerbals to throw them into space for fun. The inevitable culmination of the project was undoubtedly the landing of a kerbonaut (and eventually, a tour guide and high-wealth tourists) on the surface of the Mun, the program director felt it necessary to test powered landing procedures on Kerbin, owing to the suspicion that the Mun did not in fact have an atmosphere (although this was yet to be confirmed).

Not only was preparation for a still-distant munar landing in the works, but after a heated rock-paper-scissors tournament, Valentina Kerman had won a reprieve from her atmospheric missions and the honor of piloting the upcoming Lancer V extended orbital assignment to study the effects of prolonged time in space on the Kerbal physiology and psychology. The agency medical staff suggested that neither Valentina nor Jebediah were very useful candidates for learning about the psychological impact of anything, but as they were also the only qualified pilots, the options were fairly short in supply.

Last but certainly not least, the program director demanded the establishment of a satellite communications network to allow continuous contact with both uncrewed and crewed missions in the Kerbin subsystem.

After the debacle with the VAB engineers throwing the original powered landing test craft off the launchpad and the inadequate performance of the LV-909 Terrier engine, the now-molified engineers redesigned a lander using three 0.625m MRS "Sparkler" engines in place of the LV-909, as well as three upside-down Sepratron retroboosters to aid the "lander" in reaching the desired height for testing. Despite questionable performance by the design under simulation, the decision was made to proceed with production.

  • Construction Timeline
    • Construction Started: UT Y1-D131-H0-M37
    • Construction Completed: UT Y1-D135-H3-M53
    • Launch Time: UT Y1-D136-H0-M27

    [*]Mission Objectives

    • Execute a powered landing on Kerbin after reaching an altitude of 500m.

  • Construction
    • Command Stage
      • Probodobodyne OKTO2
      • Small Inline Reaction Wheel
      • FL-A5 Adapter
      • FL-T100 Fuel Tank
      • (3x) Sepratron I (50% thrust limiter)
      • SM-3 Stack Triple Adapter (1.25m to 0.625m)
      • (3x) MRS 0.625m "Sparkler" Liquid Fuel Engine
      • (3x) LT-05 Micro Landing Strut

    [*]Engineer's Report

    • Total on the Launchpad
      • Part Count: 14
      • Height: 2.3m
      • Mass: 1,780kg (180kg solid fuel, 275kg oxidizer, 225kg liquid fuel)
      • Delta-V (Surface): 436/s

      [*]Construction Time: 4d, 3h, 16m (93,256 BP at 0.95 BP/s)

      [*]Construction Cost: √4,195

    [*]Crew

    • None

While this design had no trouble reaching the required height of 500m, it proved to have significant trouble adequately braking during the descent. In an effort to conserve fuel, braking began too late and the craft was not slowed sufficiently for a "safe" landingâ€â€althuogh the lander survived impact, the landing struts buckled slightly and smashed the MRS Sparkler engines into the ground, destroying all three.

  • Mission Timeline
    • Launch Time: UT Y1-D136-H0-M27
    • Mission Duration: 00:01:17

    [*]Mission Results

    • Science Recovered: §0.00
    • Salvage Recovered: √2,914 (69.46%)
    • Partial Success  Execute a powered landing on Kerbin after reaching an altitude of 500m.

    [*]Contracts Completed

    • None1

  • Science Collected
    • None

    [*]Crew Decorations Awarded

    • None

Despite the struggles by the LV-909 during preliminary testing and the loss of the MRS Sparklers during the actual test, the position was generally held that, by the time the program was actually landing anything on the Mun, that either the lower gravity would make the LV-909 sufficient, or the program would have access to better options and not have to worry about it in the first place. Despite this confidence, the agency still needed to demonstrate a truly successful powered landing on Kerbin to molify the Department of Tourism, and seeing as Jebediah also was long overdue for a vacation the mission organizers decided to attempt a piloted powered landing near Kerbin's beaches. For scientific research, of course.

Unlike the test for the probe lander, the landing gear on the manned test craft had its suspension locked, hoping to protect the engines. Jeb, of course, was not told about this, since having no suspension would make the landing rather uncomfortable. Several simulations were run to ensure the craft would be able to achieve 500m altitude and return safely, but after the last simulation resulted in the lander craft being nearly entirely destroyed (save the command pod) after running out of fuel, the engineers simply slapped more fuel on it and announced it was ready for a live run.

  • Construction Timeline
    • Construction Started: UT Y1-D136-H3-M2
    • Construction Completed: UT Y1-D140-H0-M1
    • Launch Time: UT Y1-D140-H0-M32

    [*]Mission Objectives

    • Execute a powered landing on Kerbin after reaching an altitude of 500m.
    • Splash down at the shores and conduct "scientific research"
    • Recover craft intact and crew alive

    [*]Construction

    • Command Stage
      • Mk1 Command Pod
      • Universal Storage QuadCore
      • Universal Storage 9001-SC Science Jr. Bay
      • Universal Storage Mystery Gooâ„¢ Containment Bay
      • Universal Storage Magnetometer Boom Bay
      • Universal Storage Science Bay
      • 2HOT Thermometer
      • Double-C Seismic Accelerometer
      • PresMat Barometer
      • FL-T200 Fuel Tank
      • (8x) Sepratron I (50% thrust limiter)
      • SM-4 Stack Triple Adapter (1.25m to 0.625m)
      • (4x) MRS 0.625m "Sparkler" Liquid Fuel Engine
      • (4x) LT-05 Micro Landing Strut

      [*]Launch Supports

      • (2x) FASA Atlas Launch Clamp

    [*]Engineer's Report

    • Total on the Launchpad
      • Part Count: 29
      • Height: 5.1m
      • Mass: 3,945kg (480kg solid fuel, 550kg oxidizer, 450kg liquid fuel)
      • Delta-V (Surface): 429m/s

      [*]Construction Time: 3d, 2h, 59m (71,763 BP at 0.95 BP/s)

      [*]Construction Cost: √16,373

    [*]Crew

    • Flight Lieutenant Jebediah Kerman

  • Mission Results
    • Science Recovered: §9.36
    • Salvage Recovered: √8,399 (98.01%)

    [*]Contracts Completed

    • Complete  Perform experiments around KSC
      • √13,066  §0  Ʀ2

[*]Science Collected

  • Probe Report from VAB  §0.18
  • Temperature Scan from Administration  §0.54
  • Materials Study from Mission Control  §4.32
  • Materials Study from Spaceplane Hangar  §4.32

[*]Crew Decorations Awarded

  • Bill Kerman
    • Multiple Missions  For participating in five missions.

It became apparent almost immediately after the start of the test that the craft had no hope whatsoever of reaching the beaches, and that aspect of the mission was quickly abandoned. Nevertheless, Jeb reached the 500m height at MET 00:17 and began his descent. Once again, the Sparkler engines proved severely underpowered, and this was even more pronounced than it had been for the probe landing test, resulting in an impact at almost 30m/s (that's over 65mph), breaking the suspension locks on the landing gear and destroying the engines instantly. Despite this, the rest of the craft miraculously survived, although its failure to reach the shoreline resulted in no worthwhile scientific data being collected.

  • Mission Timeline
    • Launch Time: UT Y1-D140-H0-M32
    • Mission Duration: 00:02:24

    [*]Mission Results

    • Science Recovered: §0.00
    • Salvage Recovered: √14,107 (86.16%)
    • Success  Execute a powered landing on Kerbin after reaching an altitude of 500m.
    • Failure  Splash down at the shores and conduct "scientific research"
    • Partial  Recover craft intact and crew alive.
      • Loss of four MRS "Sparkler" 0.625m Liquid Fuel Engines

    [*]Contracts Completed

    • Complete  Manned Powered Landing
      • √13,500  §3  Ʀ15

[*]Science Collected

  • None.

Crew Decorations Awarded
  • Jebediah Kerman
    • None.

With the agency's capability of a powered landing sort-of-demonstrated (not really, but nailing it down perfectly requires work, and there are snacks that won't eat themselves), focus turned to completing the upgrades to the VAB, which were wrapped up at UT Y1-D142-H2-M57. Work was quickly begun on a design for the Lancer V, which would ferry Valentina into a 12-day orbital mission. It was hoped that the craft would also be able to serve as a communications relay point during the launch and placement of the agency's first comsatas a result, the Lancer V design was almost identical to that of the Lancer IV, but replaced some of the orbital scientific instruments with a basic omnidirectional antenna for post-launch communications with Mission Control and the comsat that would hopefully follow. Due to the prolonged nature of the mission, it was also outfitted with a small solar panel array and an abundance of supplies. Experimental in-line parachutes were included as part of a testing contract with RealChute Inc.

  • Mission Results
    • Science Recovered: §12.42
    • Salvage Recovered: √7,811 (98.01%)

    [*]Contracts Completed

    • Complete  Perform experiments around KSC
      • √11,761  §0  Ʀ2

[*]Science Collected

  • Telemetry Report from KSC  §0.18
  • Telemetry Report from R&D Corner Lab  §0.18
  • Probe Report from Runway  §0.18
  • Probe Report from R&D Corner Lab  §0.18
  • EVA Report from KSC  §1.44
  • EVA Report from Mission Control  §1.44
  • EVA Report from R&D Corner Lab  §1.44
  • Magnetometer Scan from Mission Control  §0.90
  • Magnetometer Scan from R&D Corner Lab  §0.90
  • Temperature Scan from R&D Corner Lab  §0.54
  • Seismic Scan from R&D Corner Lab  §0.72
  • Materials Study from R&D  §4.32

[*]Crew Decorations Awarded

  • Bob Kerman
    • Research II  For researching 50 RSOUs.

  • Construction Timeline
    • Construction Started: UT Y1-D142-H2-M57
    • Construction Completed: UT Y1-D149-H0-M0
    • Launch Time: UT Y1-D161-H1-M0

    [*]Mission Objectives

    • Launch a kerbal into stable orbit around Kerbin and keep them there for 72 hours.
    • Act as relay with Mission Control to set up first communication satellite.
    • Deorbit and land in a previously unresearched biome for scientific research.
    • Recover the craft and crew intact.

    [*]Construction

    • Command Stage
      • Mk1 Command Pod
      • RealChute Stack Chute (0.625m size, nylon, single, main)
      • TR-2V Stack Decoupler
      • Small Escape Tower
      • Universal Storage QuadCore
      • Universal Storage Magnetometer Boom Bay
      • Universal Storage Mystery Gooâ„¢ Bay
      • Universal Storage SC-9001 Science Jr. Bay
      • Universal Storage Supplies Bay
      • Service Bay (1.25m)
      • Cubic Octagonal Strut Mk II
      • Communotron 16
      • OX-2L 1×3 Photovoltaic Panels
      • Heat Shield (1.25m)

      [*]Second Stage

      • TR-18A Stack Decoupler
      • RealChute Stack Chute (Nylon, single, main)
      • FL-T400 Fuel Tank
      • LV-909 "Terrier" Liquid Fuel Engine

      [*]First Stage

      • TR-18A Stack Decoupler
      • 1.25-1.875m Fuel Tank
      • H-3200 "Long Walk" Fuel Tank
      • HGR FG-90 Liquid Fuel Engine4
      • (2x) TT-38K Radial Decoupler
      • (2x) SpaceY 05S SRB
      • (2x) RealChute Cone Chute
      • (2x) RealChute Radial Chute

      [*]Launch Support

      • (2x) TT18-A Launch Stability Enhancer
      • FASA Launch Tower

    [*]Engineer's Report

    • Total on the Launchpad
      • Part Count: 40
      • Height: 20.9m
      • Mass: 31,403kg (3,225kg solid fuel; 10,587kg oxidier; 8,662kg liquid fuel)
      • Delta-V (Surface): 3,262m/s

      [*]Command Stage

      • Part Count: 14
      • Mass: 1,964kg

      [*]Second Stage

      • Part Count: 4
      • Mass: 3,035kg (1,100kg oxidizer, 900kg liquid fuel)
      • TWR (Vacuum): 1.22
      • Delta-V (Vacuum): 1,729m/s

      [*]First Stage

      • Part Count: 17
      • Mass: 26,063kg (3,000kg solid fuel; 9,487kg oxidier; 7,762kg liquid fuel)
      • TWR (Surface): 1.47
      • Delta-V (Surface): 2,836m/s

      [*]Construction Time: 6d, 4h, 3m (136,976 BP at 0.95 BP/s)

      [*]Construction Cost: √35,207

    [*]Crew

    • Test Pilot Valentina Kerman

  • Mission Results
    • Science Recovered: §5.40
    • Salvage Recovered: √8,399 (98.01%)

    [*]Contracts Completed

    • Complete  Perform experiments around KSC
      • √13,011  §0  Ʀ2

[*]Science Collected

  • Telemetry Report from Tracking Station  §0.18
  • Probe Report from Spaceplane Hangar  §0.18
  • Seismic Scan from Runway  §0.72
  • Materials Study from Administration  §4.32

[*]Crew Decorations Awarded

  • Bob Kerman
    • None.

  • Mission Results2
    • Science Recovered: §13.55
    • Salvage Recovered: √9,172 (97.9%)

    [*]Contracts Completed

    • Complete  Perform experiments around KSC
      • √13,941  §0  Ʀ2

    [*]Partial  Probe Report experiments on Kerbin

    • Probe Report landed at Kerbin's Shores
      • √5,459  §0  Ʀ0

[*]Science Collected

  • Telemetry Report from Runway  §0.18
  • Probe Report from Mission Control  §0.18
  • Seismic Scan from KSC  §0.72
  • Magnetometer Scan from KSC  §0.90
  • EVA Report from Kerbin's Shores  §1.44
  • Materials Study from Kerbin's Shores  §4.32
  • Mystery Gooâ„¢ Observation from Kerbin's Shores  §3.24
  • Probe Report from Kerbin's Shores  §0.18
  • Telemetry Report from Kerbin's Shores  §0.18
  • Seismic Scan from Kerbin's Shores  §0.72
  • Temperature Scan from Kerbin's Shores  §0.54
  • Magnetometer Scan from Kerbin's Shores  §0.90

[*]Crew Decorations Awarded

  • Bill Kerman
    • None.

Although the Lancer V was completed at UT Y1-D149-H0-M0 and ready to launch within the next day, its launch was delayed while the VAB engineers worked on designing a rocket to carry the program's first communications satellite into orbit. The intent was that this delay would ensure that the first satellite would be ready to launch before it was time for Valentina to deorbit from her mission, thus allowing the Lancer V to act as a relay for communications between Mission Control and the uncrewed satellite. A number of concerns were raised by Engineering that the program lacked the precision propulsion technology necessary to set up multiple satellites with identical orbital periods. After nearly four minutes of half-hearted debate, the managing team concluded that it would be better to put up communication satellites now that were "pretty close" and then worry about replacing them in the future when the program was better equipped to do so.

The satellite launch would introduce the first dedicated, consistent launch vehicle designed by the program. Dubbed the Trident 1, the design followed the time-honored Kerbal tradition of overcoming a problem by simply increasing the volume of the proposed solution until the proposed solution turned into an actual solutionâ€â€while the center of the Trident 1 launch vehicle resembled that of the Lancer IV, with an H-3200 Long Walk fuel tank and HGR FG-90 engine, the solid rocket boosters had been replaced by large liquid fuel tanks, each with FG-90 engines of their own. Simulations suggested that this arrangement might be, to use the technical term, "overkill," but everyone agreed that that was much more desirable than underkill.

  • Construction Timeline
    • Construction Started: UT Y1-D150-H0-M39
    • Construction Completed: UT Y1-D162-H4-M12
    • Launch Time: UT Y1-D164-H0-M36

    [*]Mission Objectives

    • Set ComSat into an 800km equatorial orbit.
    • Demonstrate capability of providing continuous communications relay.

    [*]Construction

    • ComSat Ker-1-E1
      • Probodobodyne OKTO2
      • MRS Reaction Wheel, 0.625m Stackable
      • Modular Girder Segment
      • FL-R10 RCS Fuel Tank
      • Inline RCS Block
      • FL-A5 Adapter (0.625m to 1.25m)
      • FL-T200 Fuel Tank
      • LV-909 Terrier Liquid Fuel Engine
      • (2x) RealChute Radial Chutes (Silk, Single, Main)
      • (4x) Illuminator Mk3
      • (4x) OX-2L 1×3 Photovoltaic Panels
      • Communotron 16
      • (4x) Reflection KR-7
      • Kerbal Engineering System
      • TR-18A Stack Decoupler

      [*]Second Stage

      • (4x) Sepratron I
      • (2x) RealChute Stack Chute (Nylon, single, main)
      • FL-T400 Fuel Tank
      • LV-909 "Terrier" Liquid Fuel Engine (15% Thrust Limiter)
      • TR-18A Stack Decoupler

      [*]Trident 1 Launch Stage

      • AE-FF1 Airstream Protective Shell, 1.875m
      • H-3200 "Long Walk" Fuel Tank
      • (3x) HGR FG-90 Liquid Fuel Engine
      • (2x) TT-38K Radial Decoupler
      • (2x) HGR Radial Booster Tank
      • (4x) RealChute Radial Chute
      • (4x) Wing Strake

      [*]Launch Support

      • (2x) TT18-A Launch Stability Enhancer

    [*]Engineer's Report

    • Total on the Launchpad
      • Part Count: 53
      • Height: 20.5m
      • Mass: 73,552kg (28,050kg oxidier; 22,950kg liquid fuel)
      • Delta-V (Surface): 3,430m/s

      [*]ComSat Ker-1-E1

      • Part Count: 24
      • Mass: 3,143kg (550kg oxidizer, 450kg liquid fuel)
      • TWR (Vacuum): 0.29
      • Delta-V (Vacuum): 1,296m/s

      [*]Second Stage

      • Part Count: 9
      • Mass: 3,273kg (1,100kg oxidizer, 900kg liquid fuel)
      • TWR (Vacuum): 0.95
      • Delta-V (Vacuum): 1,264m/s

      [*]First Stage

      • Part Count: 20
      • Mass: 67,135kg (26.4t oxidier; 21.6t liquid fuel)
      • TWR (Surface): 1.33
      • Delta-V (Surface): 2,799m/s

      [*]Construction Time: 12d, 3h, 33m (271,992 BP at 1.00 BP/s)

      [*]Construction Cost: √35,457

    [*]Crew

    • None.

  • RealChute Cone Double Chute
  • RealChute Stack Chute

Although construction on the Lancer V was quickly completed, launch was delayed for almost two weeks while awaiting the construction of ComSat Ker-1-E1 in order to ensure that the two could launch fairly close together and enable the satellite launch to take advantage of Valentina's mission for communications. Lancer V was finally given the go-ahead approximately nine hours before the completion of the comsat launch vehicle.

As seemed to be a pattern in Valentina's recent flights, the initial ascent was uneventul, but the craft as a whole seemed unusually interested in veering off-course after the early moments. There was some speculation that the forces exerted following the ejection of the LES tower may have had something to do with it. There was also speculation that Val had spilled snacks in the guidance system. Regardless, the pilot took over manual steering and avoided any further incidents.

The launch stage burned out at MET 00:00:02:22, and Val set up a 327m/s apokee burn to circularize the orbit just above 100km. The flight plan called for an eventual expansion of the orbit out to around 800km, and to remain there for the duration of the mission. While waiting for the maneuver node, scientific instruments inside the service bay were determined to be experiencing a strange temperature anomaly, with wild fluctuations and the threat of explosions. At the advice of Mission Control, Val opened the bay doors, stabilizing the internal temperature and avoiding any disasters.

The LKO circularization was executed at MET 00:00:06:24, and by MET 00:01:01:56 the Lancer V was circularized into a 819.6x818.8km equatorial orbit, and preparations began to be finalized for the launch of ComSat Ker-1-E1. An unusually long rollout resulted in the launch of the satellite at UT Y1-D164-H0-M36, just as Lancer V was passing over the KSC grounds, as this would allow Val to serve as a waypoint for satellite transmissions throughout its launch and initial circularization.

The satellite lifter's first stage burned out at MET 02:55 with an immediate decoupling and ejection of fairings. Once the craft had left the atmosphere, the Communotron 16 was extended to establish a link with Lancer V. The satellite's initial orbit was circularized at 90km, and programming was sent to extend the apoapsis to 800km (allowing the craft to execute the maneuver on its own in the event of a severed comlink). Despite several errors and oversights made during the attempts to properly program the satellite's flight computer (including a failure to actually turn on the engine in the final stage before one of the maneuvers), by MET 00:02:35:32, the satellite was finally set up in a circular 802km orbit.

About this time, Mission Control came to a depressing realization and, simultaneously, many of the engineers began slinking out of the control room to find somewhere to hideâ€â€for all the attention dedicated to its design and construction, ComSat Ker-1-E1 had not been outfitted with any electrical storage capacity other than that inherent in the OKTO2 core. This made it impossible for the satellite to operate anything more demanding than its omnidirectional Communotron 16 antenna during its passes "behind" Kerbin without exhausting its electrical charge. Furthermore, the four solar panel arrays on the satellite were inadequate to power all five antennae at once, even in full sunlight. Notes were hastily made and heads were hastily banged together to encourage this oversight from never happening again. Several leading engineers were severely reprimanded with several weeks of unpaid leave, an unheard of punishment in the Kerpublic.3

Four hours after launch, the mission was judged to be temporarily concluded and ComSat Ker-1-E1 was considered to be in place, with resignation that it would not be able to execute all of its assigned responsibilities. However, it was hoped that its single antenna could at least act as a relay between future, better-designed satellites, until such time as it could be replaced.

  • Mission Timeline
    • Launch Time: UT Y1-D161-H1-M0
    • Mission Time: + 03:03:44:00

    [*]Mission Results

    • Science Recovered: §2.70
    • Salvage Recovered: √5,985.7
    • Ongoing  Launch a kerbal into stable orbit around Kerbin and keep them there for 72 hours.
    • Success  Act as relay with Mission Control to set up first communication satellite.
    • Pending  Deorbit and land in a previously unresearched biome for scientific research.
    • Pending  Recover the craft and crew intact.

    [*]Contracts Completed

    • None.
Science Collected
  • Temperature Scan while high in space over Kerbin  §2.70

[*]Crew Decorations Awarded

  • Valentina Kerman
    • None.

  • Mission Timeline
    • Launch Time: UT Y1-D164-H0-M36
    • Mission Duration: Ongoing

    [*]Mission Results

    • Science Recovered: §1.80
    • Salvage Recovered: √12,726 (35.89%)
    • Success  Set ComSat into an 800km equatorial orbit.
    • Partial  Demonstrate capability of providing continuous communications relay.

    [*]Contracts Completed

    • Partial  Create a communication network for Kerbin (1/4 satellites).
      • √0  §0  Ʀ0

    [*]Partial  Field Research: Probe report experiments on Kerbin.

    • Probe Report while high in space above Kerbin
      • √5,860  §0  Ʀ0

[*]Science Collected

  • Probe Report while in space high over Kerbin  §0.90
  • Telemetry Report while in space high over Kerbin  §0.90

[*]Crew Decorations Awarded

  • None.

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Whew! Lots of stuff in this one. I spent a particular ton of time on the ComSat design (and then screwed it up anyway). Would have had this posted yesterday, as it was all written up, but Imgur was being a whiny brat and rejecting all my image uploads.

Future ComSats will be equipped with at least six (probably eight) solar arrays and at least 3,000EC worth of battery backup.

Interestingly, the Lancer V counts as one of the satellites for the RemoteTech "Get a network up" contract, so I actually have it 2/4 completed. The next project is getting two more ComSats up, and then seeing if the fact that ComSat Ker-1-E1 can only use its Communotron 16 will in any way adversely impact my communication network. If not, then I'll call it good for now, but if it poses any issues I'll have to replace the damn thing.

Also,

But you need escape systems. :P

There's your dang escape system. :P That's actually the first time I've ever put one on a rocket, so I'm still working out the kinks of "how to actually best set it up for both aesthetics and function," but hey, a poorly-installed and ugly LES is better than no LES, I guess?

  1. Technically, no contract was completed, because I accidentally completed the "Powered Landing" contract during my landing for Lancer III, as addressed in that post. This powered landing test was mostly a "I got the reward for it already, now I have to actually earn it" / roleplaying purposes.
  2. If it seems like I'm doing a ton of these, it's because I am. They're contracts for something I would do anyway (i.e. build a cart and then go strip-mine KSC for all the science), and they're a good source of extra early-game money, which I can always use.
  3. One of the big reasons for me to write this, and in particular write out the Engineer and Construction reports for each craft, is to make me pay close attention to what I'm building. You would think that, considering how much time I spent agonizing over and tinkering with the design of ComSat Ker-1-E1, I would have remembered to include, I don't know, batteries.

Edited by Landwalker
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Geschosskopf

Geschosskopf

Posted
Posted

Your humorous style continues to entertain.

On the subject of commsat electrical needs...... If you're going with solar panels, you need somewhat more EC/sec than just the minimum to run all the antennae at once because when in daylight, you also need to be recharging the batteries that will carry you through the dark. So the process goes like this:

1. Determine the duration of the longest period of darkness you'll encounter. For a satellite in Kerbin orbit, this will be when you come out from behind Kerbin only to find Mun eclipsing the sun. So, based on your orbital velocity, you know how many seconds you'll be in the dark. NOTE: At the altitude of a Keosynchrous orbit. darkness behind Kerbin lasts 1190 seconds, and behind Mun lasts about 500 seconds, the plan on about 1700 seconds of darkness worst-case.

2. Determine the duration of the minimum amount of daylight for the rest of your worst-case darkness orbit. This tells you how fast you have to recharge your batteries.

3. Determine the EC/sec needed to run the satellite. This includes not only the antennae but also the probe core, SAS, and any lights (which are recommended to make it easier to find particular antennae in the dark to change their targets). Combining this demand with the duration of the longest darkness will tell you how much battery you need.

4. The duration of minimum daylight combined with the size of the battery tells you how much extra EC/sec generation you need on top of the basic demand of the satellite's systems to make sure the batteries are charged before it gets dark again. This tells you how much solar panels you need.

Of course, unless things have changed in updates or mods, ships don't really use electric charge when they're on rails so technically you might not actually need all that battery. But if you want to build realistically, any commsat with multiple antennae will quickly end up being a huge pile of batteries with scads of solar panels, which will require a reasonably large rocket to launch it, and thus be rather expensive.

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Your humorous style continues to entertain.

On the subject of commsat electrical needs...... If you're going with solar panels, you need somewhat more EC/sec than just the minimum to run all the antennae at once because when in daylight, you also need to be recharging the batteries that will carry you through the dark. So the process goes like this:

1. Determine the duration of the longest period of darkness you'll encounter. For a satellite in Kerbin orbit, this will be when you come out from behind Kerbin only to find Mun eclipsing the sun. So, based on your orbital velocity, you know how many seconds you'll be in the dark. NOTE: At the altitude of a Keosynchrous orbit. darkness behind Kerbin lasts 1190 seconds, and behind Mun lasts about 500 seconds, the plan on about 1700 seconds of darkness worst-case.

2. Determine the duration of the minimum amount of daylight for the rest of your worst-case darkness orbit. This tells you how fast you have to recharge your batteries.

3. Determine the EC/sec needed to run the satellite. This includes not only the antennae but also the probe core, SAS, and any lights (which are recommended to make it easier to find particular antennae in the dark to change their targets). Combining this demand with the duration of the longest darkness will tell you how much battery you need.

4. The duration of minimum daylight combined with the size of the battery tells you how much extra EC/sec generation you need on top of the basic demand of the satellite's systems to make sure the batteries are charged before it gets dark again. This tells you how much solar panels you need.

Of course, unless things have changed in updates or mods, ships don't really use electric charge when they're on rails so technically you might not actually need all that battery. But if you want to build realistically, any commsat with multiple antennae will quickly end up being a huge pile of batteries with scads of solar panels, which will require a reasonably large rocket to launch it, and thus be rather expensive.

  1. I don't have the technology yet to put the Kerbin Equatorial ComSat group into keosynchronous orbitâ€â€or rather, I could, but I'd need to use a couple of extra dishes instead of being able to use an omnidirectional antenna. That said, for the 800km orbit I'm using for this first-generation satellite team, I did actually do at least this part of the math: 794 seconds in darkness, round up to 800 seconds. Running the OKTO2 + Communotron 16 + all four Reflectron KR-7 dishes sucks up something like 3.5 EC/sâ€â€I don't remember the exact number, but I know I rounded up come up with a minimum EC storage capacity of 3,000 EC. I believe I have a 3,000 EC 1.25m battery bank available, so I'll just slap one of those on the next ComSat. I did not, however, calculate Mun-related blockage, so in a worst-case scenario there may be temporary outages (or I may just slap more battery capacity on just to be safe anyway).
  2. Did not do the math on this one, but I do know this: Running three dishes, a whip antenna, and the probe core does not drain EC in full sunlight. Running the fourth dish does. My "eyeball engineering" is that if I just double the number of solar panels (eight instead of four), and given that the satellites will spend much more time in sunlight than out of sunlight, they should be fine. I probably should do some calculations to make sure, though...
  3. Yeah, need to see what the consumption is with the lights on, too. Man, numbers.
  4. I'm actually using Background Processing specifically so that ships will consume EC "off-screen", so whatever mathing I end up doing, it'll have to be able to hold up in perpetuity. :P I honestly felt like even the first ComSat was obnoxiously large ( I hate having that FL-T200 tank on there), but at this stage of the game I don't think I'm getting around that.

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Herp derp formatting
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So, a little bit of an interruption going on here. (EDIT: In order to skip the interruption and get right back to the mission reports, skip ahead to here.) Got a new computer rig set up this weekend and, you guessed it, KSP is acting up. Using the exact same settings for the game as pre-change, including DX11, but for some reason the RAM usage has increased from the 2.8-2.9GB neighborhood to the 3.6GB+ neighborhood for no identifiable reason. If the sudden appearance of some new graphical quirks that I didn't have before were the only issue, I could handle it, but the constant crashing every few minutes isn't conducive to much of anything (let alone keeping records for a mission report). Won't be able to make any progress until I figure out what the problem is, or at least figure out a way to avoid the problem (probably with a downgrade to visual enhancements, unfortunately). Also contemplating trying to get Linux into the picture, despite having zero experience with it whatsoever, just so I can get that sweet 64-bit action, but that'll require some research on my end to figure out exactly what it'll entail.

From a completely computer-unrelated angle, I'm also hoping that Yemo gets the chance to incorporate the Tantares mod parts into the SETI-CTT part of SETI, because *drool*, but that won't prevent me from forging onwards once the program's stability is reestablished.

The good news is that my actual save file is completely intact, so once I get the game to stay open I should be able to jump right back in and start the next ComSat launch.

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Well that sucks.
I concur. :(
Have you tried maybe clearing the ATM Bach?
I have (for the record, I use "Aggressive" ATM). It gets me on the main menu at about 3.0-3.1GB, and creeps up from there. Actually lasted about 45 minutes this time before it got to 3.7GB... of course, that was all with AVP-Edge of Oblivion, which I don't want to use, rather than the resized-variant Interstellar I had been using. Trying the same thing but with the same setup as I had previously (i.e. the Interstellar setup) bears similar fruit, although at first blush it looks like the RAM creep is ever so slightly slower. Maybe.

I'm a bit burnt out on trying to wrestle with KSP to get it to behave right now, but I'm going to come back to it later this week (expecting to have an uptick in actual work this week) and see what I can cook up.

-----EDIT-----

Alternatively, currently investigating a Windows/Linux dual-boot.

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Have you tried the -nolog tweak?

Did give that a try, but to no avail.1

Tonight's foray into Linux also proved a failure, as my Belkin wireless adapter and Ubuntu don't get along (which makes it impossible to, you know, download Steam or KSP), and since I'm not sufficiently Linux-savvy (or patient) I can't be bothered to monkey around with a bunch of old community workarounds from five years ago.

Getting late here, but tomorrow I'll try falling back to OpenGL. The good news is that forcing OpenGL, in a two-minute test, seems to produce better results (starts out at a lower RAM level, at least)... which makes me wonder if I'm somehow messing up DirectX 11, since I formerly got more RAM savings with that than with OpenGL (not to mention better visuals). But it's going to need an extended-play test to verify any sort of stability.

Granted, I ran it in conjunction with DirectX 11, which I don't think is the correct way to do it. If OpenGL tests tomorrow don't keep up their promise, I'll throw -nolog in there as well and see what happens.

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New computer you said... Ima go out on a limb here... are all your drivers, esp video, up to date?
That was my thought as wellâ€â€especially given that running in DX11 resulted in a number of areas having text that can only be described as a hybrid of a five-year-old's handwriting and a ransom note:

screenshot1.png

But even a driver update had no effect.

I wonder what's causing the problem. Other than some different DirectX settings or something about your new vidcard, you'd think it would all work the same way.

My thoughts as well... I don't know what DX settings may have changed, as I'm not generally the sort to monkey around with things like that and would have been highly unlikely to have changed anything in my previous setup (and certainly haven't made any custom changes in this one yet).

The curious thing is that before, when my computer only had 4GB of RAM, although things ran like they were coated in molasses they at least ran, and I practically never reach 3GB of RAM usage. Now that I have 16GB of RAM (and the same 64-Bit Windows 7 OS that I had before even when I only had 4GB of RAM), the game seems to say "My, we've got all this extra RAM now, don't mind if I do help myself" and then it overeats and crashes (sounds like me this past Saturday, now that I think about it...).

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