[1.12.5] Grannus Expansion Pack [v1.2.8] [10 May 2022]

[darwinpatrick]

Oh this is awesome. I can't wait to poke around! Love the delta-v map and the new flags!

As it so happens, I completed my manned landing and return from Taranis today. So flags and footprints on every solid celestial body in the Grannus system(!!) stands until I update. I'm exhausted. It was about 50,000 m/s of delta v round trip but that was broken up into a few vessels, four or five launches, and probably eight solar dockings. The mission would not have worked without the asteroids in their odd orbits between Nodens and Taranis- I tracked enough of them down with similar enough arguments of periapsis that one big asteroid miner was able to have a periapsis at Taranis and an apoapsis at Nodens with plenty of delta-v to spare. That was the crux of the mission, Solar Station Alpha.

The tanker on the right was required to launch to refuel once, when no asteroids were immediately available. On the main ship, the top module is Bill's Mancave for overseeing drilling. On the bottom is four large ion tanks.

As for the actual lander, here it is. The TWR barely allowed a Taranis landing, and it was not easy, but it beats bringing chemical rockets all the way down there. Although I did have to refuel at a couple pre-placed "gas stations" that were basically just the sentinels I used to find the crucial asteroids in the first place.

I decided not to risk landing at the beach. 

It took some work on both ends, but I was able to pull off a velocity-cancelling maneuver that Matt Damon would be proud of to get the Taranis Lander to Sun Station Alpha.

Problem: zero point zero kilometers is too close. Luckily we were on our way to the return craft by that point and would not be mining any more asteroids.

Especially cause Jeb somehow managed to break the other radiator. In this picture you can see the Taranis Lander docked to the station's ion module(really hard without electric charge, cause the lander's solar panels broke in the crash too) and the returner docked to the Front Door docking port.

If you look closely, like I didn't do in the VAB, you will observe that whoever dumbass built the returner spacecraft forgot parachutes.

Thank Sirona for the personal parachutes. The science data was grabbed by Solar Station Alpha captain Siddred Kerman shortly before letting go. As you can see, everyone survived along with the klaw. A ceremonial flag was planted on the southern ice cap to mark the moment when I never had to even so much as think about Taranis again.

Sorry if it seems like I'm trying to steal the thunder of the hard work put into 1.1. It looks so awesome and I can't wait to lock Jeb in a can and throw him at these new worlds!

[OhioBob]

10 hours ago, darwinpatrick said:

As it so happens, I completed my manned landing and return from Taranis today. 

Congratulations.  Thanks for proving it possible, I wasn't sure it was doable.  I've landed a probe there, but never returned.
 

10 hours ago, darwinpatrick said:

I decided not to risk landing at the beach. 

That was probably a good decision.  It gets a bit toasty over there if you land too close to the lava.
 

Edited December 2, 2019 by OhioBob

[darwinpatrick]

8 hours ago, OhioBob said:

Congratulations.  Thanks for proving it possible, I wasn't sure it was doable.  I've landed a probe there, but never returned.

Thank YOU for the challenge! This was easily the most difficult single goal I've ever tackled in my almost three years of playing Kerbal.

Next up: Taranis SSTO

[OhioBob]

3 minutes ago, darwinpatrick said:

Thank YOU for the challenge! This was easily the most difficult single goal I've ever tackled in my almost three years of playing Kerbal.

That was the intent.  I designed it to be hard.  You have reason to feel good about yourself for conquering it.

[OhioBob]

UPDATE

Version 1.1.1

Changelog

• Added GEP_JNSQ to rescale GEP for installation with JNSQ.
• Recomputed Sirona's atmosphere, reduced height.
• Modified Sirona's scatterer atmosphere.
• Revised Δv map, recomputed descent/ascent values.
• Deleted stock asteroids fields for GEP_Primary.
• A few minor tweaks that no one will notice.
• Updated CelestialBodies.pdf.

See opening post for download link and instructions.

Known issue, GEP_JNSQ:  Taranis' lava texture is being replaced by JNSQ's water texture.  Fixing this require a change to JNSQ, which will be implemented with the next JNSQ update.

[HebaruSan]

On 11/2/2018 at 10:27 PM, Worter Loon said:

CKAN?

On 11/2/2018 at 11:59 PM, OhioBob said:

Not yet.  Maybe the next release.

Want some help? I just found this mod and started working on some metadata for it. Should be straightforward to add if you're OK with it.

[OhioBob]

33 minutes ago, HebaruSan said:

Want some help? I just found this mod and started working on some metadata for it. Should be straightforward to add if you're OK with it.

I'm not opposed to having it on CKAN, but I haven't the slightest idea what's necessary to make it happened.  Is there anything I must change or add to the mod itself?

[HebaruSan]

9 minutes ago, OhioBob said:

I'm not opposed to having it on CKAN, but I haven't the slightest idea what's necessary to make it happened.

Cool, I've started the process here:  https://github.com/KSP-CKAN/NetKAN/pull/7541

Quote

Is there anything I must change or add to the mod itself?

I don't think so; CKAN tries to adapt to how mod authors work when possible rather than the other way around. There are some validation scripts that run when you attempt to index a mod, and so far it looks good. If you'd like to test out the resulting installs or otherwise validate what we put together, we can arrange for that, just let us know.

Edited December 8, 2019 by HebaruSan

[OhioBob]

1 hour ago, HebaruSan said:

If you'd like to test out the resulting installs or otherwise validate what we put together, we can arrange for that, just let us know.

GEP does have several install options with different prerequisites.  Does CKAN allow the user to pick the type of installation?  If so, I'd want to make sure the options include (or exclude) all the right stuff.  I don't know how to check that, however.

[HebaruSan]

3 minutes ago, OhioBob said:

GEP does have several install options with different prerequisites.  Does CKAN allow the user to pick the type of installation?  If so, I'd want to make sure the options include (or exclude) all the right stuff.  I don't know how to check that, however.

Yup, what I have so far are:

• GrannusExpansionPack
• GrannusExpansionPack-CommNet
• GrannusExpansionPack-Primary
• GrannusExpansionPack-JNSQ

These are based on the installation instructions in the OP. The first one is treated as a kind of "core" module which the other three require and supplement.

[OhioBob]

24 minutes ago, HebaruSan said:

These are based on the installation instructions in the OP. The first one is treated as a kind of "core" module which the other three require and supplement.

In addition to the instructions in the OP, there's also this post that explains the different combinations:

To that I've added the JNSQ option:

JNSQ + GEP + GEP_JNSQ --->  The stock solar system is replaced by the JNSQ solar system.  Grannus and the GEP planets are added as a secondary solar system orbiting the JNSQ solar system.

The only reason GEP_JNSQ is needed is to rescale/resize GEP.  Functionally there's nothing stopping GEP from being added to JNSQ without GEP_JNSQ, but Grannus would be orbiting near the planet Nara.

EDIT:  Also note that any installation including JNSQ + GEP + GEP_Primary would be a fail.

Edited December 9, 2019 by OhioBob

[HebaruSan]

27 minutes ago, OhioBob said:

there's also this post

That post was excellent as well, I consulted it to get a sense of the full possibilities. It led me to mark GEP_Primary as conflicting with GPP and submit https://github.com/Galileo88/Galileos-Planet-Pack/issues/59 to get CKAN's GPPSecondary working better.

[darwinpatrick]

Let's talk Toutatis!

So I'm back with my latest mission report from a solar system that I had just finished exploring... get back in the rocket, Jeb!

One slight issue with having just finished a large Taranis mission is the amount of crap left over that's still in varyingly elliptical orbits between Taranis and Nodens.

Except there's a planet there now... I would definitely have used Toutatis to help with Taranis, so let's just say we have some really crappy astronomers, okay? We just discovered a new planet!

This is what we're using to get there. There's enough delta-v for a few trips to Toutatis but this is what happens when all your boosters are rated for Sirona. Anyway, getting there was a breeze. We brought a little probe to go run an ore scan- but for some reason it was already scanned? Probably a bug on my end but I'll look into the configs anyway when I get the chance.

You can see in the pictures how it works. The lander separates from the tug and heads down before decoupling both the chutes and the science module which stays as a science surface probe and relay. Pretty standard Apollo style.

This system worked surprisingly well but I overestimated the atmosphere by a lot. 0.01 atm? That's an IRL Martian atmosphere on a planet proportionally like 50% bigger than Mars. Let's just say it was a hairy landing. (It was exactly like having no atmosphere, except the cloud of exhaust that the engine makes in an atmosphere obscured everything as I was trying to gently bring it down)

So as a first interplanetary desination? I'm impressed. I was drawn by the ease of access but completely blindsided by the sheer difficulty involved in actually getting to the surface safely. Doing this at a lower tech level would be a fun time for sure. Also, the tidal lock is surprisingly cool. In terms of solar power, the sunlit side would be really nice for mining operations or science bases that require 24/7 electricity.

The upside of the thin atmosphere? Getting back to orbit is no hassle. We made it back to the tug, transferred the crew, science, and snacks and returned home with thousands of m/s to spare.

I like Toutatis. It's a nice blend of Venus's accessibility and Mars's drawbacks, with some other unique twists thrown in. Definitely don't treat this place like Duna when it comes to mission planning!

 

Edited December 14, 2019 by darwinpatrick

[OhioBob]

9 hours ago, darwinpatrick said:

This system worked surprisingly well but I overestimated the atmosphere by a lot. 0.01 atm? That's an IRL Martian atmosphere on a planet proportionally like 50% bigger than Mars. Let's just say it was a hairy landing. (It was exactly like having no atmosphere, except the cloud of exhaust that the engine makes in an atmosphere obscured everything as I was trying to gently bring it down)

That's odd, 0.01 atm?  I actually designed it to have 0.04 earth atmospheres (4.053 kPa), though in GEP_Primary it should read 0.02 atm.  That's because for the planet info display, KSP defines 1 atm as the atmospheric pressure of the home world.  Nodens has a sea level pressure of 2 earth atmospheres, so all other bodies will display their pressures in proportion to that.  So Toutatis has 0.04 earth atm, but only 0.02 nodens atm.  But in either case it shouldn't be 0.01 atm.  Something might be bugged if it's reading that.*  Did you get that from the in-game information panel, or did you take a pressure reading using the barometer?  Because 4 kPa is the pressure at the lowest surface elevation, if you landed at a higher elevation then you would certainly read lower pressure.

* If it is bugged, it's probably just the data display.  When actually flying inside the atmosphere you should be getting the correct pressure.

And you're certainly right, Toutatis isn't Duna.  Not only is the pressure lower than Duna, but the sunny side is much hotter.  Taking temperature into account, the air density on Toutatis' sunlit side is only about 40% what it is on Duna, so you're going to produce only about 40% as much drag.  However, because Toutatis is tidally locked, it's temperature varies dramatically.  There is a 4x difference between the hottest and coldest surface temperatures, so the air density varies by as much as 4x as well.

Also note that 0.04 atm is the minimum pressure to open for main parachutes.  Therefore, if you're using TweakChutes, main parachutes are useless on Toutatis.  Drogue chutes should work there, however.  (If you're not using TweakChutes, main parachutes will full deploy when you reach the deployment altitude, even though the pressure is too low for semi-deployment.)

FYI, my rationale for giving Toutatis a thin atmosphere is because of its close proximity to Grannus.  Toutatis' sunlit side is very hot, meaning that atmospheric gases vibrate rapidly and can easily reach escape velocity.  This means that, all other things being equal, a hot planet has a more difficult time retaining an atmosphere than a cold planet.  Toutatis shouldn't have too much trouble hanging onto heavy gases like carbon dioxide, but most lighter gases would have escaped its atmosphere.  Being close to Grannus also means that the solar winds are quite strong.  The strong solar winds would strip away much of the atmosphere.  In real life Toutatis might have even less atmosphere than I gave it.

 

Edited December 14, 2019 by OhioBob

[darwinpatrick]

Here's the relevant pieces of information. The probe is landed at 7 degrees north by 39 degrees east if that is in any way helpful.

I also was curious to see if this had been explored much and came up with this thread and a few papers that it links to (although the relevant one is down)

https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/4850/how-would-winds-behave-on-a-tidally-locked-planet

At the terminator, winds in the upper atmosphere would flow toward the night side, cool and sink, and then flow at lower elevations back toward the daylight side to get heated and rise again. I know these winds aren't modelable in-game but you wonder what kind of terminator canyons this process would carve over billions of years...

 

Edited December 15, 2019 by darwinpatrick

[OhioBob]

@darwinpatrick, thanks for the information.  The barometer's 3.3669 kPa is correct, but the "Atmosphere Characteristics" should show 0.02 atm (GEP_Primary only, 0.04 otherwise).  I'll have to investigate to see what's wrong.

Interesting about the winds.  That circulation pattern is about what I figured it would be.  Given that winds are driven by temperature differences, it makes sense.  I hadn't considered wind erosion in the topography.  If I ever make another tidally locked planet (particularly one with a thicker atmosphere), I'll have to factor that in.

[darwinpatrick]

@OhioBob Perplexingly, restarting my game fixed the issue.

[OhioBob]

1 hour ago, darwinpatrick said:

@OhioBob Perplexingly, restarting my game fixed the issue.

Strange indeed.  That explains why I couldn't find anything wrong in the configs.  I'm glad it fixed itself.

[JadeOfMaar]

8 hours ago, darwinpatrick said:

but you wonder what kind of terminator canyons this process would carve over billions of years...

I need to see this.

[darwinpatrick]

18 minutes ago, JadeOfMaar said:

I need to see this.

Be the change you wish to see in the world

[darwinpatrick]

Sucellus and Caireen have been conquered... I have sent Kerbals to, and returned them home from, every single landable world in the Grannus system. Before I get into that and what it means, let's chat about the latest dicovery by- and subsequent enterprise of- the Nodens Space Program. Sucellus and Caireen have eluded detection until now...

I thought about making it a huge mission with lots of moving parts to it but in the end I decided to just go with the simple version. This is the mission in Nodens orbit. A standard ejection and capture got us to the surface of Sucellus without too much trouble.

You can see the science tucked away above the decoupler that released the rover. It had a tendency to flip over but I never had any real plans for it anyway. Sucellus is rather boring but I'm glad I made the trip.

Caireen was slightly more fun. The same bug that happened with Toutatis showed up again out here, showing me ore deposits before I ever made it out there. I decided to mine on Caireen before heading home. Ignore the floating flag... 

After a bunch of gray rocks this was a nice change of pace. Don't worry, they made it down just fine and got some extra science from a new biome, the Temperate Lowlands.

So where does this leave the save? Well, I'm not entirely sure. I tossed in extra planets towards the end there so I can't really call this an authenic playthrough (but the Taranis mission and the days I put into it will always hold a special place in my cold, bitter heart) but I also really don't feel like starting a whole new Nodens Space Program just to run it all again with the new planets and see how it feels. Darwinpatrick's Nodens Space Program is wrapping up. (unless I decide to add GEP_Secondary but I just don't see myself being up for that to be honest)

Luckily, I've been planning for this day for a couple weeks now and I have a surprise for y'all coming this Wednesday.

Until then, fly safe!

Edited December 16, 2019 by darwinpatrick

[OhioBob]

UPDATE

Version 1.1.2

Changelog

For GEP_JNSQ:

• Added Red Esther sunflare by @JadeOfMaar, to match JNSQ art style.
• Used JNSQ's water texture for Nodens in place of stock texture.
• Increased maxLevel for better terrain detail and scatter density.
• Deleted maxScatter multiplier.
• Adjusted navballSwitchRadius.
• Changed Grannus' semimajor axis.

This update changes GEP_JNSQ only, other installation options are unchanged.

See opening post for download link and instructions.

[OhioBob]

On 12/15/2019 at 4:25 PM, darwinpatrick said:

The same bug that happened with Toutatis showed up again out here, showing me ore deposits before I ever made it out there.

I don't know why you're getting this bug.  I'm hoping it's because these celestial bodies were added into an already existing game.  Had you started a new game after installing the GEP update, I suspect things would work as normal.  If there is anyway you could test that I would welcome seeing the results.  But please don't feel an obligation, it's not you job to test my mods.

[darwinpatrick]

I'll check later today.

[OhioBob]

Solar Panel fix for GEP_JNSQ...

This is no longer an issue in GEP v1.1.3.

 

Edited December 28, 2019 by OhioBob