[Min KSP: 1.12.2] Deep Space Exploration Vessels - Build NASA Inspired Ships In KSP

[Angelo Kerman]

Latest Releases

Download: GitHub, SpaceDock

Source (DSEV), Source (WildBlueTools)

BARIS Wiki

Now with CKAN support!

Kelbin looked out the window of the orbital transfer shuttle at his new command: The Discovery II! Its long truss assembly had several radiators attached to it to keep the ship's revolutionary fusion engine cool. Its liquid hydrogen tanks held enough propellant to let Discovery II leave for Jool at any time. It'll be a long journey, but the cryopods let the crew sleep the whole way. Before he knew it, Discovery II will reach Jool, and the crew will be investigating those strange readings...

 

The Deep Space Exploration Vessels (DSEV) mod is inspired by numerous NASA studies on deep space exploration. With DSEV, you can create your on deep space exploration vessels, or kerbal versions of:

• Discovery II:
  Spoiler

   

• Kopernicus:

Spoiler

• NAUTILUS_X:
  Spoiler

   

Features

• LEGO-like part design lets you recreate the NASA spacecraft in Kerbal form or create your own designs.
• Stand-alone approach minimizes required mods.
• Textures are shared by several parts to conserve memory. So even if you hide parts in favor of another mod's counterpart, the textures they use are shared by parts that don't overlap.
• All crew spaces have custom IVAs. Command pods have Optional support for ASET

Recommended Mods

(ASET IVA support requires RasterPropMonitor & ASET Props Community Edition)

Dependencies

• The Spin Hub and Counter Torque Ring require Infernal Robotics.

DSEV is a Kerbal Space Program mod by Wild Blue Industries. If you want to boldly go, we'll get you there.

Screenshots

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Tutorial: Creating flags in KSP, which is the same process you'll use to create custom name tags: (http://wiki.kerbalspaceprogram.com/wiki/Tutorial:Create_custom_flags!)

Video tutorial on how to use the centrifuge

Spoiler

 

DasValdez practices docking with his Discovery II fuel tank

Spoiler

 

Acknowledgements

Module Manager by saribian

Modular Fuel Tanks MM configs by Kolago.

Spindle and Spin Ring concept based upon parts by ZodiusInfuser/Sirkut.

License

Spoiler

Art Assets, including .mu, .mbm, and .dds files are copyright 2014-2018 by Michael Billard, All Rights Reserved.

Wild Blue Industries is trademarked by Michael Billard. All Rights Reserved.
Note that Wild Blue Industries is a ficticious entity
created for entertainment purposes. It is in no way meant to represent a real entity.
Any similarity to a real entity is purely coincidental.

Source code copyright 2014-2017 by Michael Billard (Angel-125)

    This source code is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
    it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
    the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
    (at your option) any later version.

    This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
    but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
    MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
    GNU General Public License for more details.

    You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
    along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.

Interstellar Fuel Switch patch - Use this patch if you're having problems with losing your resources and you have IFS installed.

[LitaAlto]

I'm really looking forward to seeing more from this--a Copernicus or Nautilus-X would be so fun to fly!

As is, I was pretty impressed with the Discovery II parts when I tried them out a couple months ago:

[rabidninjawombat]

wohoo! nice to see this in the release forums Congrats

Love this mod and highly looking forward to the Copernicus and Nautilus too!

[Angelo Kerman]

I'm really looking forward to seeing more from this--a Copernicus or Nautilus-X would be so fun to fly!

As is, I was pretty impressed with the Discovery II parts when I tried them out a couple months ago:

http://i.imgur.com/D7aUElO.png

wohoo! nice to see this in the release forums Congrats

Love this mod and highly looking forward to the Copernicus and Nautilus too!

Thanks guys! I have some more work to do on Pathfinder before it goes on autopilot for a bit and some maintenance on the CactEye, then I can focus once again on DSEV. I have some ideas on the Copernicus, including a new engine.

[Rath]

ITS OUT WOOT!!!!! I have been stalking your mod for forever now.

[Notwal]

Having problems installing it.

[NateDaBeast]

I can't get the rotating hub to rotate for some reason ?

EDIT :

Pretty sure I figured it out

Edited October 6, 2015 by NateDaBeast

[Notwal]

I installed it ok, but I can't unlock the Experimental Fusion parts on the tech tree because of "Nanolathing". I can't find this group on my tech grid, and everything else is unlocked.

[Angelo Kerman]

Having problems installing it.

Be sure to download from the github repro. Many users report issues installing from CKAN.

I can't get the rotating hub to rotate for some reason ?

EDIT :

Pretty sure I figured it out

Right. The hub requires Infernal Robotics to function properly.

[milbournosphere]

Any tips on counter-rotation balancing for the hub part? I'm using counterweights to account for the weight of the spinning parts but am still getting a slight rotation of the ship as a whole. I have three arms rotating on the hub, each weighing 3.1t. I attached three 3.1t weights to the counter-rotating hub, but the ship is still slowly rotating. Perhaps I'm doing something wrong?

[ZobrAA]

Hi Angel-125! I love this mod, and I want to say thank you for you work!

But I found that I mostly use only fraction of this - the ArcJet RCS and rotating hub, because for propulsion and power generation I'm in love with NearFuture. Meanwhile memory limitations and part catalogue cluttering killing me...

So here is my question: is there a chance for release with more structured part files, like part defined folders or so? And, if not, can you at least tell what exactly files in modfolder do actually needed for ArcJet RCS and rotating hub?

Thank you in advance!

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Edited October 6, 2015 by ZobrAA

[Angelo Kerman]

I installed it ok, but I can't unlock the Experimental Fusion parts on the tech tree because of "Nanolathing". I can't find this group on my tech grid, and everything else is unlocked.

Hm... Nanolathing should be one of the stock construction nodes. In fact, in .90 at least, it was at the top end. I'll take a look and see what's going on, it should be there.

Any tips on counter-rotation balancing for the hub part? I'm using counterweights to account for the weight of the spinning parts but am still getting a slight rotation of the ship as a whole. I have three arms rotating on the hub, each weighing 3.1t. I attached three 3.1t weights to the counter-rotating hub, but the ship is still slowly rotating. Perhaps I'm doing something wrong?

There is a part called a Masscon, named after the mass concentrations found on the Moon. If you have Kerbal Engineer Extended, you can right-click on each part of your hub to determine its mass, and sum up all the parts on the hub. Then using the counter-spin hub, attach a couple of masscons to the counter-spin hub where it says "No Attach." Finally, right-click on a masscon to enter the amount of mass it contains. If you set it to half the mass on the hub, you should be about to counter the spin on the hub. The masscon is smart enough to update its symmetrical part. You might need to play with the spin rates on the hub versus the counter-spin hub in order to account for angular momentum. The Spindle's SAS unit should be able to counter the rest. I do have a part planned that won't require Infernal Robotics, but it'll be awhile before I can build it properly.

Hi Angel-125! I love this mod, and I want to say thank you for you work!

But I found that I mostly use only fraction of this - the ArcJet RCS and rotating hub, because for propulsion and power generation I'm in love with NearFuture. Meanwhile memory limitations and part catalogue cluttering killing me...

So here is my question: is there a chance for release with more structured part files, like part defined folders or so? And, if not, can you at least tell what exactly files in modfolder do actually needed for ArcJet RCS and rotating hub?

Thank you in advance!

http://imgur.com/a/mmyr3

Great question. Near Future Technologies is a great mod, I'm inspired by Nertea's quality. My mods often use shared textures to conserve memory, so I tend to jumble the part configurations and textures into the same directory. I do want to make things better grouped, so I can look into how to separate things out. I know I can set a texture entry in the MODEL node, though I had some challenges with that approach in the past. It might be as simple as making sure that the textures get loaded first... What I'll try to do is break things up into stuff like HexTrusses, LargeFuelTanks, and so on.

It may take me a bit to separate things out. Meanwhile, there is something you can do to help reduce clutter. In the DSEV folder, you'll find the MM_HideHexTrusses.txt file. I created it specifically for people who prefer Nert's octo-trusses. Anyway, try renaming MM_HideHexTrusses.txt to MM_HideHexTrusses.cfg, and see if that helps.

And thanks for showcasing your vessels, they look great.

Edited October 6, 2015 by Angel-125

[ZobrAA]

Great question. Near Future Technologies is a great mod, I'm inspired by Nertea's quality. My mods often use shared textures to conserve memory, so I tend to jumble the part configurations and textures into the same directory. I do want to make things better grouped, so I can look into how to separate things out. I know I can set a texture entry in the MODEL node, though I had some challenges with that approach in the past. It might be as simple as making sure that the textures get loaded first... What I'll try to do is break things up into stuff like HexTrusses, LargeFuelTanks, and so on.

It may take me a bit to separate things out. Meanwhile, there is something you can do to help reduce clutter. In the DSEV folder, you'll find the MM_HideHexTrusses.txt file. I created it specifically for people who prefer Nert's octo-trusses. Anyway, try renaming MM_HideHexTrusses.txt to MM_HideHexTrusses.cfg, and see if that helps.

Well, just hiding part in editor didn't save the main problem with RAM. But thx you, I definitely looking forward for future releases.

AJ5ArcJet.mu
AJ5ArcJetEngine.cfg
ArcJetRCS.cfg
ArcJetRCS.mu
ArcJetRCS5Way.cfg
ArcJetRCS5Way.mu
CounterTorqueRing.cfg
CounterTorqueRing.mu
? Diffuse.tga
? Emissive.tga
? Fusion_DIF.tga
Hydrogen.dds
Hydrogen2.dds
Hydrogen3.dds
Normal.tga
Spindle.cfg
Spindle.mu
SpinRing.cfg
SpinRing.mu
SupportTextures.dds
SupportTextures_NRM.dds
SupportTexturesSpec.dds
[B]GameData\WildBlueIndustries\DSEV\FX[/B]
? Electron.dds
? Fusion.dds
? FX_LH2Flame.mu
? FX_LiquidFlame.mu
? FX_PlasmaFlame.mu
FXArcJet.mu
Hydrogen.dds
Hydrogen2.dds
? LiquidFuel.dds
? Particle.dds
? Plasma2.dds
SND_LiquidFlame.wav
? SND_PlasmaFlame.wav

[B]GameData\WildBlueIndustries\DSEV\Assets[/B]

[Gaultesian]

I love seeing everyone's in-game interplanetary space ship designs from DSEV. Angel's example on the first page is awesome, and seeing players design ships ......in the future, we may need to set up a page of 'spaceship selfies' that originate or are inspired by the DSEV mod (with credit to a host of other mods that may be used).

[RidingTheFlow]

This mod is good, but we need better/bigger/more trusses.

Current truss only fits <2m cargo and this is just too narrow (e.g. you cant transport decent-sized station modules).

[Angelo Kerman]

This mod is good, but we need better/bigger/more trusses.

Current truss only fits <2m cargo and this is just too narrow (e.g. you cant transport decent-sized station modules).

Thanks for the feedback. The trusses are designed to fit in the standard 3.75m cargo bays with a pair of heat radiators, so they aren't really designed to hold cargo themselves. But that's where the mid-sized fuel tanks come in. The FLM-1800, 900, and 450 are sized for the hex trusses. The upcoming Copernicus will have larger trusses to transport 2.5m standard sizes.

[RidingTheFlow]

Standard cargo bays are extremely inefficient for interplanetary ships - since they are very heavy, I guess because all that thermal shielding/doors which are not really needed.

Currently I am just building payload frames out of long wings & strut lattice (because standard trusses are heavier and wings are longer + hold fuel) - but this does not help part count...

What the reason of placing tank inside truss? This just added unnecessary mass + extra parts.

I find that for long term cargo transport you really need both parts count & dry mass as low as possible - because you will need a lot for actual payloads later (+ add extra for outposts you have to be docking with).

Edited October 6, 2015 by RidingTheFlow

[Threadsinger]

Awesome. Glad to see it released. Big fan of fusion engines too, and i've been waiting awhile for a simple to use fusion drive/generator since early KSPI. (Current KSPI-E is a work of love by its creators, but i've been wanting something a bit simpler in practice).

If KSP were to ever have an expansion pack, id wish for a near to far future newgame+ with this kind of mod included!

[UltraVires]

Nice work! About to start playing around with it. I'm always interested in Deep Space parts, I think we don't have enough. How about a couple of cool Command pods too?

[Angelo Kerman]

Standard cargo bays are extremely inefficient for interplanetary ships - since they are very heavy, I guess because all that thermal shielding/doors which are not really needed.

Currently I am just building payload frames out of long wings & strut lattice (because standard trusses are heavier and wings are longer + hold fuel) - but this does not help part count...

What the reason of placing tank inside truss? This just added unnecessary mass + extra parts.

I find that for long term cargo transport you really need both parts count & dry mass as low as possible - because you will need a lot for actual payloads later (+ add extra for outposts you have to be docking with).

If you look at the NASA Discovery II, it has equipment inside of the truss. One is a tank for fusion pellets, another is a nuclear reactor. DSEV follows along the same lines and includes a few 1.875m tanks, the WB-2 Fusion Reactor, and Compact ISRU. No sense in letting the inside of the truss go to waste.

Awesome. Glad to see it released. Big fan of fusion engines too, and i've been waiting awhile for a simple to use fusion drive/generator since early KSPI. (Current KSPI-E is a work of love by its creators, but i've been wanting something a bit simpler in practice).

If KSP were to ever have an expansion pack, id wish for a near to far future newgame+ with this kind of mod included!

Thanks! Glad you like the mod.

Nice work! About to start playing around with it. I'm always interested in Deep Space parts, I think we don't have enough. How about a couple of cool Command pods too?

Great suggestions. I do have plans for a 3.75m command pod, sort of a kerbal version of the Orion. I've also considered a 3.75m laboratory module that looks like it was built from a fuel tank. The idea is to use it for Skylab II.

[RidingTheFlow]

If you look at the NASA Discovery II, it has equipment inside of the truss. One is a tank for fusion pellets, another is a nuclear reactor. DSEV follows along the same lines and includes a few 1.875m tanks, the WB-2 Fusion Reactor, and Compact ISRU. No sense in letting the inside of the truss go to waste.

Its not really a question why to let inside of truss to go to waste - its a question why even have truss in particular place with sole purpose to place tank inside...

I understand that its the case for RL project, but its because their tank is not strong enough structurally on its own - necessitating need to place it inside supporting frame (but their tank itself is very light&thin).

KSP tanks are self-supporting, so in KSP if I have a tank, I don't need an extra truss around it - I'd just attach other elements of a structure directly to a tank (e.g. build a "spine" out of tanks). And mass fraction of KSP tanks is pretty bad because of this sturdiness.

My point is - its great that it allows great-looking ships, but would be great if it also made sense from functional standpoint (in KSP mechanics)

Not sure how best way to achieve it - maybe by making these insider tanks very light, but with extremely weak joints.

[Angelo Kerman]

Its not really a question why to let inside of truss to go to waste - its a question why even have truss in particular place with sole purpose to place tank inside...

I understand that its the case for RL project, but its because their tank is not strong enough structurally on its own - necessitating need to place it inside supporting frame (but their tank itself is very light&thin).

KSP tanks are self-supporting, so in KSP if I have a tank, I don't need an extra truss around it - I'd just attach other elements of a structure directly to a tank (e.g. build a "spine" out of tanks). And mass fraction of KSP tanks is pretty bad because of this sturdiness.

My point is - its great that it allows great-looking ships, but would be great if it also made sense from functional standpoint (in KSP mechanics)

Not sure how best way to achieve it - maybe by making these insider tanks very light, but with extremely weak joints.

Its sole purpose is not to put tanks inside. The hex trusses are there to provide a place for you to attach the heat radiators and to replicate the look of the Discovery II spacecraft. If they don't suit your purposes, you'll be able to remove them.

[Angelo Kerman]

I did some investigations today, and now I remember why separating the parts out into their own directories is a challenge. If I use the "texture =" field to specify where to find the model's texture, some of the models will break and KSP won't load. The good news is that most of the parts use SupportTextures.dds and SupportTextures_NRM.dds. So if you want to, say, delete all the HexTruss parts, simply delete the appropriate .mu and .cfg file, and leave the SupportTextures and SupportTextures_NRM alone.

[NateDaBeast]

Be sure to download from the github repro. Many users report issues installing from CKAN.

Right. The hub requires Infernal Robotics to function properly.

I know that it need Infernal Robotics I just had trouble at first.

But whenever I have my rotation hub spinning it also spins the entirety of the ship which is kind of annoying ? Anyways to fix that ? I set the rotation hub like in the video you linked in the original post titled "DSEV Centrufuge"

[Angelo Kerman]

I know that it need Infernal Robotics I just had trouble at first.

But whenever I have my rotation hub spinning it also spins the entirety of the ship which is kind of annoying ? Anyways to fix that ? I set the rotation hub like in the video you linked in the original post titled "DSEV Centrufuge"

Have you tried increasing the speed on the counter-rotating hub, and added counterweights equal to the mass of the mass on the hubs?