Landing zone to KSC

[Junafani]

So after watching SpaceX land their Falcon 9 back to KSC, I think it would be awesome to get same kind of landing zone to our KSC.

We have launchpad and runway, but they both are pretty small targets. Launchpad can just about contain the biggest non-Kerbal rocket and runway is long, but it is not that wide. I think SpaceX landing zone is about 100 meters wide and then smooth grass around it for very wide area.

I guess you could just land somewhere around the KSC and take the 5% recovery hit, but having some concrete pad with your flag on it would be super cool

[pandaman]

Not sure how long the flag would survive  

But it's a very nice idea.

[Space_Coyote]

This would be easy and in fact I would put the landing zone  Would be south of the launch pad.. we could theoretically put it between the Launch pad and the Tracking station.. and in fact there would be one large pad and then four smaller pads..

 

So yeah we need those now..

 

Space_Coyote

[Wjolcz]

It could also be a nice place to launch VTOLs from. Like a helipad. Except bigger, so it's easier to land on.

[DerpyFirework]

While a landing pad would be great, it'd be very difficult to land anything on it without using mods like FMRS to allow control of the boosters (maybe something for post-1.1?).

[Nothalogh]

Yes, a big fat VTOL pad would be awesome 

[Hodo]

There is a big fat pad, it is called the runway.  If that is to small you are either building WAY to big, or you can't aim.  

 

Not saying that a concrete slab wouldn't be nice somewhere near the KSC, but you have that MASSIVE green field that the old SQUAD Monolith used to sit in.

[Hcube]

7 hours ago, Hodo said:

There is a big fat pad, it is called the runway.  If that is to small you are either building WAY to big, or you can't aim.  

 

Not saying that a concrete slab wouldn't be nice somewhere near the KSC, but you have that MASSIVE green field that the old SQUAD Monolith used to sit in.

Just a concrete-like gray textured square in this green field would change everything. It's exactly the same thing, but it's a particular spot, wich makes it completely different and much better.

Also you could have your flag painted on it, that would look great

[pandaman]

On 26/12/2015 at 6:05 AM, Hodo said:

There is a big fat pad, it is called the runway.  If that is to small you are either building WAY to big, or you can't aim.  

 

Not saying that a concrete slab wouldn't be nice somewhere near the KSC, but you have that MASSIVE green field that the old SQUAD Monolith used to sit in.

The problem with the runway is that it's relatively narrow and raised, particularly at the ends, so a very slightly off to one side landing can be a disaster.

A dedicated vertical landing zone off to the side of the runway, it could be linked to the runway in the same way all the buildings are connected, would be a nice extra addition/optional KSC upgrade.

[Stoney3K]

6 hours ago, pandaman said:

The problem with the runway is that it's relatively narrow and raised, particularly at the ends, so a very slightly off to one side landing can be a disaster.

A dedicated vertical landing zone off to the side of the runway, it could be linked to the runway in the same way all the buildings are connected, would be a nice extra addition/optional KSC upgrade.

Not to mention the fact that you need to aim visually, something you can't do from 5km away when you're still in re-entry.

You can't target the KSC so there is no accurate way of pointing your rocket towards it on the navball to come in for a precision landing.

[nikokespprfan]

54 minutes ago, Stoney3K said:

You can't target the KSC so there is no accurate way of pointing your rocket towards it on the navball to come in for a precision landing.

That means the ability to target said landing pad is a very nice quality-of-life improvement.

Edited December 27, 2015 by nikokespprfan

[Delta_8930]

A landing pad like the level 1 launch pad (I think it has small 'contingency" pads around it) would be very nice. 

[MKI]

Yea making a landing pad would be easy dev wise. But practically I don't see myself or many people ever landing a rocket accurately enough without mods and thus it would be far less useful than say another landing strip.

The space nearby the KSC is pretty flat, which is fine. Personally If you want to make an economical decision to land your rockets like SpaceX then you should be fine taking the minor financial hit of landing near the KSC, or go all the way and land on the landing strip. 

 

 

 

[pandaman]

7 hours ago, MKI said:

Yea making a landing pad would be easy dev wise. But practically I don't see myself or many people ever landing a rocket accurately enough without mods and thus it would be far less useful than say another landing strip.

The space nearby the KSC is pretty flat, which is fine. Personally If you want to make an economical decision to land your rockets like SpaceX then you should be fine taking the minor financial hit of landing near the KSC, or go all the way and land on the landing strip. 

 

 

 

Like you, my chances of hitting the landing pad would be quite slim. But that's not really the point.  It's another option, and an aiming point.  Adding targettable 'beacons' to the ends of the runway and the pad centre would be a good addition too.

I'd like to see another (north south) runway too, so maybe the landing pad could be centered where the two runways cross.  Or extend the current runway into the sea and stick the landing pad on the end of it, then we get a longer runway too as a bonus.

Edited December 28, 2015 by pandaman

[Hcube]

8 hours ago, MKI said:

Yea making a landing pad would be easy dev wise. But practically I don't see myself or many people ever landing a rocket accurately enough without mods and thus it would be far less useful than say another landing strip.

The space nearby the KSC is pretty flat, which is fine. Personally If you want to make an economical decision to land your rockets like SpaceX then you should be fine taking the minor financial hit of landing near the KSC, or go all the way and land on the landing strip. 

 

 

 

With enough fuel and if you come steep enough it's actually really doable, and very fun

I think i'd prefer a landing zone separated of the runway though. Like south of the launchpad

[Delta_8930]

17 hours ago, Hcube said:

With enough fuel and if you come steep enough it's actually really doable, and very fun

I think i'd prefer a landing zone separated of the runway though. Like south of the launchpad

I agree with you. A landing pad like the one from the level 1 pad (maybe bigger, depending on needs) should be enough for something like a 3.75m rocket to land on it (maybe even 5m rockets like the ones from SpaceY, which includes SpaceX-style landing legs)

[Hcube]

10 hours ago, Delta_8930 said:

I agree with you. A landing pad like the one from the level 1 pad (maybe bigger, depending on needs) should be enough for something like a 3.75m rocket to land on it (maybe even 5m rockets like the ones from SpaceY, which includes SpaceX-style landing legs)

Yeah i like that !

and here's another idea :

You could upgrade it and some upgrades would make it flatter, made of concrete instead of dirt, then another upgrade would add your flag painted on it and make it targetable

[Kerbal01]

This idea sounds good, and reasonable if the level one launch pad is reused (with minor changes).

[Alshain]

A landing pad like this shouldn't be at KSC at all.  It should be out on the Korean-Like peninsula.  The only way to get it back to KSC is to do a complete orbit, which a launcher shouldn't do.

[Hcube]

1 hour ago, Alshain said:

A landing pad like this shouldn't be at KSC at all.  It should be out on the Korean-Like peninsula.  The only way to get it back to KSC is to do a complete orbit, which a launcher shouldn't do.

Not true, you can get suborbital first stages to KSC. 

And this idea opens possibilites for not only spaceX style rocket landing but also VTOLS and pretty much anything landing at KSC that doesn't need a runway

 

I mean, there is a landing pad at the actual KSC, it's not like it's super far-fetched or anything

[Alshain]

24 minutes ago, Hcube said:

Not true, you can get suborbital first stages to KSC. 

And this idea opens possibilites for not only spaceX style rocket landing but also VTOLS and pretty much anything landing at KSC that doesn't need a runway

 

I mean, there is a landing pad at the actual KSC, it's not like it's super far-fetched or anything

Well, maybe if you are launching really badly.  But I'm assuming an optimal ascent path.  There is no way it would get back to KSC unless you were launching vertically or just had a really short first stage or just carried an absolute huge amount of return fuel.  None of those options are cost effective.

 

As for the real KSC, that's Earth not Kerbin.  It might be more effective with Realism Overhaul, but Squad isn't developing the game for RO.

Edited December 30, 2015 by Alshain

[pandaman]

Just because it's difficult doesn't make it impossible. 

Besides, it increases options and, as we often see in KSP, players can be surprisingly resourceful when it comes achieving the seemingly impossible. 

[Delta_8930]

I just want to announce that as a special New Year's gift, the SpaceX Landing Zone 1 is now avaliable in the launchers pack mod!

The LZ-1 is really just a portable landing pad. It can be parked at a specific location and be stable enough for large and heavy rockets to land on it through a large reaction wheel. Now Falcon 9s can land on this and the ASDS with ease. 

[Andem]

I think a big gravelly lot would do the trick, maybe throw in some old parts from the island runway, some derelict stock ships, and so on, like it doubles as their junkyard-- erm, Part Storage Area.

[Knaapie]

Soo.. if im getting this right, ppl are discussing addind a larger landing pad because they saw it on youtube ?

What if Spacex decided to build a ssto. initially boosted up to speed by maglev on a inclined takeoff strip ?? . Should that be incorporated in ksp as well? It is admittedly very cool to recreate actual space missions. But I don't see how this would enrich the core game (might be because of my limited imagination, since someone amazing already modded it, see post above   )

As for the beacons, they are already there. Make a small probe, put an antenna and a light on there, park it at the end of the runway and call it: " ILS beacon ".

 

 

On 12/30/2015 at 8:01 PM, Alshain said:

A landing pad like this shouldn't be at KSC at all.  It should be out on the Korean-Like peninsula.  The only way to get it back to KSC is to do a complete orbit, which a launcher shouldn't do.

Rofl,, yeah just ship the booster back, would be cheaper, what were they thinking at Space-x  ^^  (I'll +1 you on that one)

Edited January 8, 2016 by Knaapie
spelling