-Duna Direct- [Advanced build featuring spacecraft with interiors and new trailer thing!]

[Majorjim!]

Hi all,

It gives me great pleasure to be able to share my latest creation with you, Duna Direct.

This mission pack is based closely on Robert Zubrin's proposed Mars Direct mission plan.

I decided to make this pack as a nice distraction from my Constellation rebuild. It turned out to be one hell of a tricky build. Simply due to my inability to be happy with anything I make!

I rebuilt and rebuilt, then rebuilt it again, better, cleaner and more reliable. It is now exemplary. I have tested it over and over again. In the first few versions I had a door to the hab that swung open by gravity and became a ramp for the rover inside to drive out and the crew to get inside the lower level of the hab. It was great, it worked every time and looked good too. I was not impressed enough by it

as it did not close again which left me unsatisfied. So I began to think of a way to be able to open and close the door. I used the original doors swing mechanism, the now well-ish known method of using ant engines as a hinge. Even though I had created a different, smaller method of turning the engine into a hinge it was not even close to being good enough to open and close smoothly and reliably. It would get jammed and stuck as it swung.

I then tried to have a door like a western saloon but the hinge did not like that at all. So I decided to create a door that was pushed upward and would close under its own weight. this would allow the hinge to work as it likes to and allow for a smaller mechanism as gravity would close the door.

This was frustrating in the extreme. At first the door would open fine (I placed two of the smallest landing legs inside the hab to push the door open see video) but it would get stuck open. Part of me wanted to give up at that point and just settle for a door that did not close. So I did what I do when I am stuck and walked away from the build. After a week I felt refreshed enough to tackle it again.

It took over a week from that point to get it working. And work it does, every single time over and over again. It now stays central and does not jam under normal use. I took advantage of the smallest part with a collision mesh, the thermometers. I used these to create the moving part of the hinge and as 'stoppers' to prevent the door from swinging all the way up on Duna and to stop the door from closing inwards. You can see the mechanism working in one of the videos below. The secret to it was to minimize the size of the angles of the thermometer parts in the hinge. Four in a square was far to 'sticky'.

I added four more to each side and that did the trick. it slides cleanly over the thermometers even in Dunas low gravity. It works best on Kerbin, but only as it closes faster. There are four AI pods for weight and two batteries that charge during the day and then power the door light at night.

Anyway, enough about that damn door..

You could technically call this a 'mini' craft pack as the scales are lower than they would have been IRL and the crew has been reduced to three to simplify the return journey pod.

Although the actual proposed Mars Direct mission would have ISRU sadly the current parts are way too big for these craft. I will take another look at ISRU after the smaller parts are released. It would have made making the launch vehicle far simpler. As it stands now the Duna return vehicle has all of its fuel on-board from launch.

So, on to some of the other unique parts of this mission pack. I have been using the no offset limits mod for a few months now and I have a million ideas of how to use it to improve my designs. I have, in this case, done just that.

I used it to attach the door to a docking port at the rear of the Hab rover bay that allows for a very slimline and hassle free mechanism. I have also used it to place the decoupler for the rover trailer below the hab itself so it falls to the ground and does not stay inside the hab.

Another aspect of Zubrin's proposed mission was to reuse old shuttle engines effectively making a launcher with offset thrust. In my earlier versions I had a version of the launcher that had this offset engine cluster. I managed to make a smaller version of the launcher, possibly the first launcher like this but the DRV was way too heavy and the launch vehicle did not have enough thrust after the boosters had gone and clipping the same engine inside itself just looked crappy so I ditched the idea.

This Gif will give you an idea of what it looked like:

So I went with a more conventional launcher, still modeled on the ARES V series of launchers that would be used in the real mission though.

The mission consists of three launches, the first is the unmanned Duna return vehicle and then the second 'back up' return vehicle which will land within rover distance of the first. After these two are safely on the surface of Duna then you can launch the crewed hab.

Both the DRV and the HAB are designed to execute a powered landings after detaching from the chutes. The video shows this in detail.

Another part of the real mission that is missing in this on due to stock part limitations, is the tether that was designed to create an artificial gravity for the crew. I added docking ports so you can detach and dock the Hab to the transfer stage. This way you can use the left over fuel to assist with finding the landing site for the Hab.

I wanted to make a cool video to show off this pack and I found a great video online called 'Mars direct in a nutshell'. It is an edit of a longer film called 'The Mars underground'. I removed the parts that my pack did not have but for the rest I recreated it using my Duna Direct craft. I used the audio from the video and just matched up the in-game visuals. I am only using Windows movie maker so I was quite limited in the kind of editing I could do. It's still a great watch though and shows exactly what can be done with my craft.

Duna Direct in a nutshell

I will summarize a few important points if you want to fly the mission.

-Do NOT time warp with the DRV or HAB when moving in atmosphere! It is fragile and will break apart.

-Upon reaching orbit with the DRV remember to activate the pod torque.

-Remove the rover bay door on the DRV before returning from Duna. It is designed to be pushed away before launch.

-You MUST take advantage of the Oberth effect to reach Duna. This means burning directly to Duna from Kerbin orbit.

-make sure the door to the HAB is closed when you quick save.

-HAB Action groups - 1 opens/closes rover bay door. Action group 3 cuts chutes for powered landing.

-Do NOT use the clamshell fairing mod in clamshell mode with the rockets. It will explode. So confetti only I'm afraid. It is stock.

Ok on to a few other design touches.

The rover inside the HAB has a fully working science trailer. It is removable and re-dockable. The mechanism, is an offshoot of my door mechanism and opens the door (lol) to many possibilities. I have made a video of some example craft I made using the trailer mechanism. See here:

And here is a video showing how the hab door and trailer work:

I have also included a sub-assembly for the trailer mechanism:

How this sub=assembly works is you attach the cubic strut to the rear of your tow vehicle. The separator is attached to the node of the cubic strut and the trailer part (the ant engine) is surface attached to the same separator. All you have to do to make the trailer is surface attach a part to the ant engine and build it from there.

When you separate the stack separator the ant engine will fall into the little cradle made from thermometers. you are then free to drive around with your new trailer!

Ok, I think that about covers it. The Kerbals have space to move around inside both the DRV and the HAB. There is a small one seat rover in the DRV and the ramp is deployed by undocking the little docking port next to the rover.

Here are some pictures of the mission and crafts. Some are the same shots I used at the end of the Duna Direct in a nutshell video.

 

Here are the craft files. What I have for you is the DRV and the HAB. The second DRV, and the example craft using my trailer tech. And lastly the sub-assembly for the trailer mechanism itself.

DRV - First launch

DRV - Back up

HAB - Third launch

Trailer sub-assembly

Trailer example craft

Phew, that took two hours to write up.. This represents weeks of work and I hope you enjoy flying them or simply pulling them apart!

If anyone has any questions about the pack or would like to fly the mission and need a few tips, just send me a PM. I am always happy to help. Also let me know if my description was too vague.

Thank you all so much for looking.

MJ Out.

Edit: I forgot to give a shout out to sgt_flyer who discovered the ants could be used as hinges in the first place. Just sharing the love.

Thanks all!

Edited June 16, 2016 by Majorjim

[Bubbadevlin]

Well dang dude, this is AMAZING..... Great job, and I love the stock door!! (never even knew thermometeres had hitboxes ) Very clever

[FishInferno]

This is freaking amazing

[Raptor9]

The innovative use of parts is impressive, never seen anything on this level.

[Mad Rocket Scientist]

This is amazing. I was literally biting my fingernails during the "nutshell" video. Of course, that's a bad habit of mine, but still. The crewed lander is awesome, I love everything you did with radiator panels.

[Cupcake...]

I can see what's been keeping you up now!

Cupcake...

[soulreaver1981]

ooohh my that looks so cool man.

i love the way the door moves.

i think i'm gonna take a look at that

[Rath]

Wow. Can I use the trailer hitch in my own crafts that may be posted if I give you credit?

[selfish_meme]

Majorjim that is some damn cool looking gear, it is amazingly compact. 10/10

[soulreaver1981]

I forgot tot Menton This.

Mods, I think This thread deservs to be a stickie.

[Foxster]

I already said in my rep comments that this is great work. Just a couple of very minor bits of feedback...

I couldn't get the hatch to work. Not sure what I was doing wrong but the landing struts just didn't seem to manage to push the door open. I tried it a few times, on Duna and Kerbin with different starting craft and it stuck each time. Others haven't had the problem so I suspect some pilot error here.

The part-count is high. I have a pretty good rig and even it was running real slow around these craft. So 10/10 for creativity and design skills but a little less for practicality.

Like others - love that tow hitch!

[Majorjim!]

I already said in my rep comments that this is great work. Just a couple of very minor bits of feedback...

I couldn't get the hatch to work. Not sure what I was doing wrong but the landing struts just didn't seem to manage to push the door open. I tried it a few times, on Duna and Kerbin with different starting craft and it stuck each time. Others haven't had the problem so I suspect some pilot error here.

The part-count is high. I have a pretty good rig and even it was running real slow around these craft. So 10/10 for creativity and design skills but a little less for practicality.

Like others - love that tow hitch!

Hmm, I cannot imagine what it could be that stopped the door. It works perfectly for me, every time. You need to press action group 1 for the Hab door. and when you lower the landing gear of the HAB, I think it's action group 2. You dont want to press G ever when using the hab. You might wanna check that.

Yup, around 500 parts at launch for each. I find this perfectly acceptable on my system, and I make these craft for myself.

Thank you for the kind words dude, It was a true labor of love.

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Wow. Can I use the trailer hitch in my own crafts that may be posted if I give you credit?

Absolutely! I am always happy for people to use my craft! And yes, just a nod to me is all I ask. Thanks matey!

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The innovative use of parts is impressive, never seen anything on this level.

Thanks man, that is exactly what I am going for! It takes a lot of time but I want my craft to be the best I can possibly make.

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Well dang dude, this is AMAZING..... Great job, and I love the stock door!! (never even knew thermometeres had hitboxes ) Very clever

Thanks mate. Yeah that was a nice discovery, the door would not be possible without them!

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This is amazing. I was literally biting my fingernails during the "nutshell" video. Of course, that's a bad habit of mine, but still. The crewed lander is awesome, I love everything you did with radiator panels.

Cheers dude, I am very glad you like it!

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I can see what's been keeping you up now!

Cupcake...

LOL, yeah... I am gunna give big builds a rest for a while. Ahhh, who am I kidding?! I will probably start work on something else..

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ooohh my that looks so cool man.

i love the way the door moves.

i think i'm gonna take a look at that

Please do! It's a unique design so you wont see anything like it. Let me know how you get on!

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Majorjim that is some damn cool looking gear, it is amazingly compact. 10/10

Hey man, thank you! Yeah its pushing the limit a little, I had to design out the heating bug three times during the build...

[selfish_meme]

Hey man, thank you! Yeah its pushing the limit a little, I had to design out the heating bug three times during the build...

Yeah I looked at all those radiator panels and thought how many times did that explode, the mosquito I was making suffered the same problem and I gave up on it.

[Rolanvorxariat]

This is VERY well done, MajorJim. Have some rep.

Edit: Dang, I've been gone for months and it still says I gave you too much rep lately.

[Majorjim!]

This is VERY well done, MajorJim. Have some rep.

Edit: Dang, I've been gone for months and it still says I gave you too much rep lately.

Not a problem mate, I seem to have amassed a fair bit. Spread it around to another worthy member. And thank you for the kind words!

[Rath]

I wonder if I added a IR piston thing to the ant engine I could make a decoppleadble trailer. to get the alignment I think i would need to have a pair of junior docking ports that align the ant and then detach.

[Castille7]

Incredible design work and Video creations, I need help with getting my jaw off the floor! can't rep at the moment

Edited November 9, 2015 by castille7

[Dafni]

Wow, color me impressed. Fantastic work, as always!

[Majorjim!]

I wonder if I added a IR piston thing to the ant engine I could make a decoppleadble trailer. to get the alignment I think i would need to have a pair of junior docking ports that align the ant and then detach.

It already is removable and redockable! That was the whole idea behind it. Check out the video demonstration of the Hab door, it also shows the procedure for redocking the trailer on Duna.

On Kerbin you will either need more reaction force in the trailer or some legs to lift it.

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Wow, color me impressed. Fantastic work, as always!

Thanks man. It was quite a challenging build. And to think, I planned to make this as an easy distraction... How wrong I was.

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Incredible design work and Video creations, I need help with getting my jaw off the floor! can't rep at the moment

He he, thanks man. It took some time so I am very glad you guys like it.

MJ

[sgt_flyer]

good job on findind a way to miniaturise the hinge even more very impressive .craft overall MJ

[Majorjim!]

good job on findind a way to miniaturise the hinge even more very impressive .craft overall MJ

Thank you Sgt_flyer! It's not only smaller it works 360 degrees. Its a bit part intensive but it unlocks so many new design possibilities!

Cheers for the comment mate. :-)

[Rune]

Well, I [I]finally[/I] found the time to properly test this thing. And I must say it is very impressive! Sadly, though, I am afraid it is not the build for me... just taking the first flight to orbit took me about 40 minutes, and that is sadly just not enjoyable IMO. I guess this is a thing for players with better rigs, or we will just have to wait for the supposed magic of 1.1 to properly enjoy these ultra-detailed builds of MJ... :(

Having said that, and noticing how negative this sounds, I gotta add that the build is [I]truly[/I] impressive. The little tricks like the numbers on the side are superbly done, and although I think the level of detail varies a lot during the build and there is an horrendous amount of Z-fighting going on, it is still a master class in what you can build in this game. The hinge thing, of course, is a good as it is said to be, and I was greatly impressed. At the very least, I can say that it got me looking into a low part count alternative...


Rune. Inspiration counts as praise, right?

[Majorjim!]

[quote name='Rune']Well, I [I]finally[/I] found the time to properly test this thing. And I must say it is very impressive! Sadly, though, I am afraid it is not the build for me... just taking the first flight to orbit took me about 40 minutes, and that is sadly just not enjoyable IMO. I guess this is a thing for players with better rigs, or we will just have to wait for the supposed magic of 1.1 to properly enjoy these ultra-detailed builds of MJ... :(

Having said that, and noticing how negative this sounds, I gotta add that the build is [I]truly[/I] impressive. The little tricks like the numbers on the side are superbly done, and although I think the level of detail varies a lot during the build and there is an horrendous amount of Z-fighting going on, it is still a master class in what you can build in this game. The hinge thing, of course, is a good as it is said to be, and I was greatly impressed. At the very least, I can say that it got me looking into a low part count alternative...


Rune. Inspiration counts as praise, right?[/QUOTE]

Thanks for trying it man!

Yeah the part count is high but using the offset mod has allowed me to add a lot of nice detail without the usual extra parts associated with those kinda of builds. the launch for me is nearly realtime and I make these crafts for myself. It is my therapy.
I was a little lazy with parts of it, and I deliberately left out some details to stop the part count getting any higher. I think I can be forgiven for that. :-)

I was surprised to hear you saw z-fighting as there is absolutely none at all for me.

Where exactly did you see the z-fighting? As you can see in the video the Duna surface vehicles have none. Maybe the SRB bundles? The launch pad light Can make it look like there is z-fighting but it is not noticeable in normal use.

Thank you for the kind words Rune, it means a lot to me that you took the time to have a look. As I spend a large amount of time making sure my craft are as good as I can make them.

I would be very interested to hear about your idea for a lower part count door. If that is what you meant. As using the parts I have, you cannot remove a sinle part without it failing.

Let me know where you saw that z-fighting mate, do you play with lower settings? Because if not, and you genuinely saw 'horrific' z-fighting, the only other thing that can cause that is the symmetry bug. I know how to work around that and the craft on my HDD are bug free so I am very interested to know what you saw.

Thanks again dude.

MJ Edited November 16, 2015 by Majorjim

[Rune]

[quote name='Majorjim']Thanks for trying it man!

Yeah the part count is high but using the offset mod has allowed me to add a lot of nice detail without the usual extra parts associated with those kinda of builds. the launch for me is nearly realtime and I make these crafts for myself. It is my therapy.
I was a little lazy with parts of it, and I deliberately left out some details to stop the part count getting any higher. I think I can be forgiven for that. :-)

I was surprised to hear you saw z-fighting as there is absolutely none at all for me.

Where exactly did you see the z-fighting? As you can see in the video the Duna surface vehicles have none. Maybe the SRB bundles? The launch pad light Can make it look like there is z-fighting but it is not noticeable in normal use.

Thank you for the kind words Rune, it means a lot to me that you took the time to have a look. As I spend a large amount of time making sure my craft are as good as I can make them.

I would be very interested to hear about your idea for a lower part count door. If that is what you meant. As using the parts I have, you cannot remove a sinle part without it failing.

Let me know where you saw that z-fighting mate, do you play with lower settings? Because if not, and you genuinely saw 'horrific' z-fighting, the only other thing that can cause that is the symmetry bug. I know how to work around that and the craft on my HDD are bug free so I am very interested to know what you saw.

Thanks again dude.

MJ[/QUOTE]

Oh, the Z-fighting was mostly on the launcher, both in the SRBs and in the main tanks. Really I didn't see any of it in the payloads. Maybe 'horrific' is too much, but I endeavour so long to take it out of my builds, I might be a bit biased. As to what I came up with... well, it has no door at all. But so far the build is 82 parts total, including the launch clamps and everything (obviously that means a lot less detail and accuracy):

[img]http://i.imgur.com/ffVXV7D.png[/img]

And a closeup of the ERV with the "shrouds" off, so you can see how I go about the critical pieces:

[img]http://i.imgur.com/U2eshJ7.png[/img]

The idea is to make use of the new small refinery to lift it empty like the real thing (I know, you didn't have it when you built this!), and drop the ISRU rover [I]under[/I] the lander, negating the need for any doors since the bottom of the lander is dropped with the heatshield. You just stage the lander, which falls to the ground, then drive it to Klaw a leg and start ISRU'ing. Rough first draft, I don't even know if you can actually Klaw an extended leg, or if the fuel cell will be able to draw LFO from the lander to power the operation...

P.D: I want your gaming rig, whatever it is. ;)


Rune. If I finish it, it would be a completely different kind of build. Edited November 16, 2015 by Rune

[Majorjim!]

[quote name='Rune']Oh, the Z-fighting was mostly on the launcher, both in the SRBs and in the main tanks. Really I didn't see any of it in the payloads. Maybe 'horrific' is too much, but I endeavour so long to take it out of my builds, I might be a bit biased. As to what I came up with... well, it has no door at all. But so far the build is 82 parts total, including the launch clamps and everything (obviously that means a lot less detail and accuracy):

[url]http://i.imgur.com/ffVXV7D.png[/url]

And a closeup of the ERV with the "shrouds" off, so you can see how I go about the critical pieces:

[url]http://i.imgur.com/U2eshJ7.png[/url]

The idea is to make use of the new small refinery to lift it empty like the real thing (I know, you didn't have it when you built this!), and drop the ISRU rover [I]under[/I] the lander, negating the need for any doors since the bottom of the lander is dropped with the heatshield. You just stage the lander, which falls to the ground, then drive it to Klaw a leg and start ISRU'ing. Rough first draft, I don't even know if you can actually Klaw an extended leg, or if the fuel cell will be able to draw LFO from the lander to power the operation...

P.D: I want your gaming rig, whatever it is. ;)


Rune. If I finish it, it would be a completely different kind of build.[/QUOTE]

Ah yes, there was under the strong lighting of the launch pad some apparent z-fighting on the boosters and the main tank/s. As it was not really visible on ascent and then staged anyway I was happy with it. I too try to remove it from my builds, it is an ugly phenomena. My MAV is heavy so needed the extra SRBs.

Yes sadly no ISRU but I will get around to adding it to my MAV, now that we have the nice small parts. This will allow me to reduce the number of SRBs required for launch. I think I will set it up so that the drill extends out of the second door on the MAV. That way it keeps its clean lines and that door has a use other than to just stand in.

I have a few other things that need to be added to bring it more into line with the proposed mission, I would really like much smaller 'gathering' parts for the ISRU and something akin to KAS would be great.

Let me know how you get on with your low part ones man.