[1.12.5] Bluedog Design Bureau - Stockalike Saturn, Apollo, and more! (v1.14.0 "металл" 30/Sep/2024)

[Davi SDF]

5 hours ago, DaveyJ576 said:

1001... A BDB Odyssey! 

Anyway, if NASA had actually built and flown the Big Gemini, it seems to me they would have picked a more dignified name for it other than "Big Gemini". What should it have been called?

Perhaps another Zodiac figure? Like Capricorn or Scorpion.

Or just Gemini 2!

Edit: Also 1002nd page! Wooo!

Edited April 13, 2022 by Davi SDF
Celebration!

[TaintedLion]

7 minutes ago, Davi SDF said:

Or just Gemini 2!

Naming it Gemini wouldn't have made much sense. I imagine the original was called Gemini because it was the first US spacecraft to hold two astronauts, and Gemini are the twins in the Zodiac.

 

[CobaltWolf]

Off the cuff? Sigma. Relates to Mercury, and it's like the sum of the knowledge gained from experience on Mercury and Gemini...

[Jcking]

8 hours ago, DaveyJ576 said:

1001... A BDB Odyssey! 

Anyway, if NASA had actually built and flown the Big Gemini, it seems to me they would have picked a more dignified name for it other than "Big Gemini". What should it have been called?

It probably would have been just Big Gemini, since Gemini-B is a flown modification (even if unmanned), and that's simply called Gemini-B.

Edited April 13, 2022 by Jcking

[GoldForest]

I feel like Big G probably would have taken the name Artemis, if the North American Aviation/Rockwell Apollo had been made side by side with it. If not, Big G would have become Apollo, I would think, given that Apollo was the name chosen for the next spacecraft, which ended up being the North American Aviation/Rockwell design. 

[CobaltWolf]

12 minutes ago, GoldForest said:

I feel like Big G probably would have taken the name Artemis, if the North American Aviation/Rockwell Apollo had been made side by side with it. If not, Big G would have become Apollo, I would think, given that Apollo was the name chosen for the next spacecraft, which ended up being the North American Aviation/Rockwell design. 

Yes, but Big G post dates Apollo. It was designed as a replacement, not a competitor. Well, I guess it was a competitor but you get my point.

[GoldForest]

2 minutes ago, CobaltWolf said:

Yes, but Big G post dates Apollo. It was designed as a replacement, not a competitor. Well, I guess it was a competitor but you get my point.

Oh? I didn't know that. I thought it was a design along with Apollo. Hmmm.  Then probably Tenerus, son of Apollo, is my choice. 

Or maybe Hera, goddess of the sky and stars. 

[pTrevTrevs]

2 hours ago, CobaltWolf said:

Off the cuff? Sigma. Relates to Mercury, and it's like the sum of the knowledge gained from experience on Mercury and Gemini...

The alternate timeline where instead of being obsessed with going to the moon (beta vibes) NASA hops on that Sigma grindset (based and breadpilled).

[Pudgemountain]

11 hours ago, DaveyJ576 said:

1001... A BDB Odyssey! 

Anyway, if NASA had actually built and flown the Big Gemini, it seems to me they would have picked a more dignified name for it other than "Big Gemini". What should it have been called?

@CobaltWolf, @Zorg BTW this is my 2nd test flight, and I can confirm that the 2.5m decoupler works, but it seems to have zero push force in it. The umbilical flaps come open and it seems as if I can see a sliver of light between the heatshield and the decoupler, but it doesn't go anywhere. If I tap the RCS the movement of the spacecraft will then throw off the retro section so I know it has detached.

How about Pollux one of Zeus' children.

[GoldForest]

4 minutes ago, Pudgemountain said:

How about Pollux one of Zeus' children.

Pollux = Gemini tho, so kind of redundant. 

[Galileo chiu]

6 minutes ago, GoldForest said:

Pollux = Gemini tho, so kind of redundant. 

Ja.

[GoldForest]

Full album: Imgur: The magic of the Internet

Bonus image: Don't you just love launching your craft and having no way to communicate with mission control? Even the Apollo side mounted antenna got forgotten. 

And a triple teaser!

Edited April 13, 2022 by GoldForest

[GoldForest]

@CobaltWolf @Zorg @Invaderchaos

This RCS block for Apollo uses the wrong model, I think. It says it's a 3-way block and clearly has 4 nozzles.

[billbobjebkirk]

17 hours ago, DaveyJ576 said:

1001... A BDB Odyssey! 

Anyway, if NASA had actually built and flown the Big Gemini, it seems to me they would have picked a more dignified name for it other than "Big Gemini". What should it have been called?

@CobaltWolf, @Zorg BTW this is my 2nd test flight, and I can confirm that the 2.5m decoupler works, but it seems to have zero push force in it. The umbilical flaps come open and it seems as if I can see a sliver of light between the heatshield and the decoupler, but it doesn't go anywhere. If I tap the RCS the movement of the spacecraft will then throw off the retro section so I know it has detached.

For my Big Gemini save I thought it would be funny if NASA decided to call it the "Orion" capsule...

[Galland1998]

Does anyone know if there are any undated configs for Kerbalism compatibility with the latest version of BDB?  It looks like the Kerbalism has some compatibility but not fully.

 

 

[Pudgemountain]

After so many (Ingame) years of cost saving and sending tourist around we finally had enough money to build a Interstellar probe.

The LV is the S-IC and S-II stage of the Saturn rocket with 4 large SRBs, not sure what's up with the SRB textures.

That's it, since the probe itself only uses BDB science equipment I don't think posting pictures of just the probe here would be appropriate.

[Invaderchaos]

The long requested white S4B IU is now on github along with some texture fixes/updates to the IU and S4B engine mounts. Also new engine mount variant (late Saturn IB):

[OrbitalManeuvers]

1 hour ago, Invaderchaos said:

along with some texture fixes/updates to the IU

this commit fixes a long-standing texture issue I've had with the S-IVB IU at the non-default sizes.  NEAT

[Pappystein]

On 4/11/2022 at 4:09 AM, JoeSheridan said:

Just a little???  Well done

In my builds since I too use rockets, I use a conic adapter between the Docking port and whatever tug I am using (normally Transtage)

 

[darthgently]

9 minutes ago, Pappystein said:

In my builds since I too use rockets, I use a conic adapter between the Docking port and whatever tug I am using (normally Transtage)

 

Conic adapters work well.  I've just offset the dock port outward a bit when trying to keep part count down also.

[Pappystein]

On 4/11/2022 at 5:18 PM, pTrevTrevs said:

This is correct, and I’d also like to note that the 200-series S-IVBs themselves were a fair bit lighter than the 500-series one, mainly because of weight reductions in structural areas like the forward and aft skirts. This is according to Stages to Saturn, which I’m reading through at the moment.

Maybe if that could be reflected in some way it would alleviate the problems so many are having with Saturn IB’s performance.

Word of warning:   Stages to Saturn, is a great overview document that skims over many of the Saturn things due to the "classifying" of many of the NASA documents for fear of Nuclear propagation (cause if you can build a Saturn rocket you can throw a nuke around the world I guess.)   Also, I guess, to keep the book size down.   Much of the history / why? things were done leading up to the final Saturn IB and Saturn V rockets was left out of it.  

[pTrevTrevs]

Apollo 19, Part 2: End of an Era:

I may have forgotten that I actually had the rest of these screenshots to post. Oh well, better late than never. At last, then, witness the exciting conclusion of Apollo 19's visit to Hyginus crater...

 

Quote

Having explored the surrounding mare on the first spacewalk, the crew of Apollo 19 will focus their second excursion on the crater itself. As a caldera, Hyginus is much shallower than an impact crater of the same size might be, allowing the LRV to reach the bottom safely to collect samples from the deepest recesses of the formation.

Mission controllers in Houston receive live television footage of the rover's descent via the remotely-operated camera mounted on the LRV's forward section.

Once arrived on the crater floor the crew sets up their gnomon and gets to work. The dark volcanic regolith of Hyginus's floor takes on a much lighter appearance under the rising lunar sun.

Overall, the astronauts spend roughly an hour at the bottom of Hyginus, making this the longest single stop of the entire Apollo program.

After this, they make their way back up to the crater's rim, stopping periodically for additional geology.

These photos are mostly being included to show off my custom TUFX config, which I pretty much have tuned exactly the way I want it.

Finally back at the LM, the astronauts spend some time conversing with their CAPCOM about the day's events, taking the chance to relax a bit before the arduous task of re-entering the spacecraft.

In lunar orbit, CSM Bonhomme Richard is recording extensive video coverage of the lunar surface with a color TV camera mounted to the round window in the center hatch.

 

Quote

And now we come to it, the last moonwalk of the Apollo program. TV ratings for this four-hour excursion are the second-highest of the program, beaten only by that first black-and-white EVA on Apollo 11. For a brief moment, the people of America almost realize what they're about to give up, that the great dream of Apollo is ending, but then the news shifts subjects to rising gas prices, political turmoil and corruption in the government, the crumbling regime in South Vietnam, and many other harsh realities of late 1973.

This final moonwalk will explore north of the landing site, focusing on the rille which bisects Hyginus crater. If possible, the crew will drive east along the bottom of the valley, hoping to find traces of the volcanic activity that formed this region long ago.

Probably because of KSRSS, the rille is... shallower than I expected. Oh well, at least this one is more pronounced than Hadley Rille was.

After the first stop along the rille, the astronauts briefly cross to the north side to investigate an unusual splotch of purplish soil seen from orbit. Samples collected from this region bear a striking resemblance to the orange soil discovered at Taurus-Littrow by Apollo 14, the two being very chemically similar. This lends more credence to the volcanic formation theory of the Littrow site, and raises questions as to where else this kind of regolith can be found on the moon. Regrettably, that question will have to be answered by the next generation of lunar voyagers.

At a second stop further east along the rille, the astronauts come across a man-sized boulder, likely ejecta from one of the central highland craters to the south. Its presence here at the bottom of a volcanic rille indicates that it must have come from a relatively young crater, obviously having arrived here after the valley's formation. The LMP collects a piece of the boulder for examination.

Four hours. That's how long the two astronauts have been outside their spacecraft, making this the longest single EVA of the entire Apollo program. Tired, but still disappointed to be finished with their work, the crew arrives back at LM Spirit with a haul of unique and diverse samples to return to Earth.

First, however, they make one final stop at the ALSEP site. In addition to running a final checkup on the experiments, they also collect the Solar Wind Composition experiment for return to Earth.

Additionally, the ultraviolet telescope is deactivated and its film is extracted for return.

The mortar on the Active Seismic Experiment is also armed at this time, set to fire its charges in about a week, long after the astronauts have departed.

When the crew returns to the landing site, they find a phone call waiting for them from the President. This marks the second time a landing crew has spoken to the White House, the first being on Apollo 11 itself. The President praises the achievements of the program, from its technical accomplishments of the engineers who designed and built the machines to the new heights of human exploration reached by the astronauts who flew them. He speaks on the end of Apollo and the changing face of NASA, exhorting America to look optimistically ahead to Skylab, the Space Shuttle, and beyond, claiming that Apollo 19 is not the end but merely the beginning of mankind's presence in space...

At the end of the phone call, the two astronauts unveil the plaque attached to the front leg of Spirit. In addition to the signatures of the three crewmembers and the President, the plaque features the name of the two spacecraft, "CSM-115 Bonhomme Richard, LM-14 Spirit", a map of the Moon showing all nine Apollo landing sites, and an inscription which reads, "Here man completed his first explorations of the Moon, December 1973 AD. May the spirit of peace in which we came be reflected in the lives of all mankind."

With the ceremony over, the CDR drives the rover to its final resting places and configures it to film the liftoff.

As the LMP climbs the ladder and crawls through the hatch, the CDR spends the last few moments on the Moon reflecting on the mission.

The mission commander speaks a few poignant words about the end of mankind's greatest adventure to date, and then with slow, deliberate movements raises one foot onto Spirit's footpad, and then the other. The last footprint is laid.

 

Quote

Shortly after the hatch was sealed for the last time, LRV-5 records the final liftoff from the Moon, as Spirit leaps into the sky scattering dust across the landscape with the exhaust of its APS.

At the same time, a video camera inside the cabin records the liftoff from the crew's perspective.

One orbit later, the two spacecraft reunite, and the occupants of each photograph and film each other before beginning the docking procedure. Additionally, during the rendezvous the CMP uses Bonhomme Richard's Doppler antenna to perform the tracking experiment once again with the LM as a target.

Spirit remains docked for a few hours as the crew unload the equipment aboard which is to be returned to Earth. Following this, it is jettisoned along with the now-unneeded docking probe, destined to crash into the lunar surface as a seismic experiment.

Meanwhile Bonhomme Richard spends three more days in lunar orbit, conducting a final round of SIM observation, before firing its SPS to return to Earth.

The day after TEI, the CMP performs his deep-space EVA to retrieve film and materials from the Service Module. He spends roughly half an hour outside the spacecraft.

At long last, the crew of Apollo 19 return to Earth at a blistering speed, braving the fire of reentry to arrive at at splashdown in the Indian Ocean, a little west of Australia.

Within minutes of splashdown, the crew are recovered by a helicopter from the USS Ticonderoga. The aircraft carrier then delivers them to Australia, where they receive a hero's welcome from the citizens of Perth. From there they board a NASA aircraft for return to the United States. The command module Bonhomme Richard will be examined by NASA technicians and eventually donated to a science museum in Perth, alongside artifacts from its namesake the original Bonhomme Richard, famously captained by John Paul Jones during the American War for Independence.

 

I'm gonna keep it real with you all; I'm glad I don't have to send any more Kerbals to the Moon for awhile. I've enjoyed conducting my own Apollo program but it gets repetitive after awhile. Anyway, stay tuned for Skylab and AAP stuff.

[GoldForest]

@CobaltWolf @Zorg @Invaderchaos

Model is fixed, but it now hovers off the parts you attach it to.

[GoldForest]

Spoiler

 

 

Full Album: Imgur: The magic of the Internet

Spoiler

Full Album: Imgur: The magic of the Internet

This station is complete.  Had trouble getting the ESA ERM Module into orbit. I'm either flying the Saturn 1C wrong, or the ERM is too heavy. IDK which. I ended up giving the S-IVB unlimited fuel to make up for the orbital insertion though. 

Spoiler

Full Album: Imgur: The magic of the Internet

Bonus image: Kerbin sees all!

Anybody else have the problem of the Saturn Nose Cone exploding during booster sep? 

Edited April 14, 2022 by GoldForest

[TaintedLion]

4 hours ago, GoldForest said:

Had trouble getting the ESA ERM Module into orbit. I'm either flying the Saturn 1C wrong, or the ERM is too heavy.

The ERM is supposed to be flown by itself attached to an AARDV Tug, not with a manned Apollo.