The Stupidity Orbiter

[kodemunkey]

Here she is folks, after countles Kerbal deaths and more tests than i can count, my first sucessful* orbiter, The Stupidity Orbiter

I have now progressed from killing my crews on the launchpad to killing them on impact with the night side of the planet. But seriously, i can now aim for the moon, miss completely and land my crew by parachute safely**

I presume i need thrusters to aim for the moon?

*Please note that Kodemunkey Aerospace considers a Kerbal crew dieing on the other side of the planet a successful flight should all else go wrong.

**Your definition of "safe" may differ from Kodemunkey Aerospace, its shareholders and defense contractors.

[Czman007]

You know you only need 1 adv. sas module for your entire craft. The other 2 are dead weight. Also, consider adding winglets for better control.

[kodemunkey]

Ah, i didn't realise i only needed one of those. I can never work out the pest place for winglets, any tips?

[Czman007]

I usually place winglets on the first or second stage, as the are of no use outside the lower atmosphere.

[GOOMH]

The lower the better for the winglets. If you place them to far up they sometimes cause your craft to pitch down and causes it to spin. If you must use them higher up make sure you put more on the bottom so you have more lift lower thus negating the lift from the top.

[segaprophet]

You gotta start somewhere . . I guess?

[Vanamonde]

I used to put fins on all my rockets, but then I found that they're pretty much redundant if you're using gimballed engines. I only place them now if the rocket is rolling badly, or sometimes just because fins look cool. However, Kodemunkey, you won't be able to manuever much in vacuum without an RCS tank and some thrusters. The weight you save by removing the two extra ASAS means the RCS won't make your rocket heavier. Perhaps not important now, but fun to play with on you get into orbit. Also, if you are working toward the goal of keeping the little guys alive, which I realize may not be #1 on Kodemunkey Aerospace's agenda, consider placing a decoupler between the capsule and that fuel tank. That way, when you're ready to come down the parachute will only have to support the weight of the capsule, and you'll land more gently.

(And upgrade to the full game when you get a chance. It's pretty cheap, and among the best purchases you'll ever make.)

[Trekkin]

ASAS can help reorient a rocket that small without needing RCS, which can remove at least one fuel worry.

You might want to swap the liquid engines on the lower stages for the higher-thrust ones; gimbaled engines are great when you need to maneuver, but within the atmosphere you mostly just need to go up and then gently nose over.

[Vanamonde]

ASAS can help reorient a rocket that small without needing RCS

Certainly. In fact, for a ship that small the capsule's inherent attitude control might be enough. But to change trajectory as well as attitude, you'd have to call on the main engine because it's the only source of thrust. An RCS tank and some thrusters adds negilble mass while giving you all kinds of additional utility, such as translating on other axes beside that of the engine. Like I said, perhaps not important now, but fun to play with and good practice for later.

[kodemunkey]

I dont think gimballed engines are in the demo, unless you're talking about the two liquid fueled engines? ...Wait, that's a small ship? O_o

Edited August 19, 2012 by kodemunkey

[Vanamonde]

Wait, that's a small ship? O_o

The part that reaches orbit will be relatively small. (Looks like just the capsule, parachute, that one tank, and the engine, right?)

I dont think gimballed engines are in the demo

Sorry, I wasn't clear. I think they are, but it says "thrust vectoring = yes" or something like that in the part description for the gimballed engines. The "gimbal" is the mechanism that allows the engine to vector thrust.

[Felsmak]

The stupidity orbiter - It does not orbit planets, it orbits the massive stupidity of their inhabitants.

[Ziff]

If you mouse over both engines, one will say something like Thrust Vectoring: Yes. That one is the gimbaled engine which means the engine nozzle can move somewhat to help steer your craft. Its the liquid fuel engine with less thrust, which it looks like is the one you mounted on your craft. That also happens to be the least Stupid orbiter I have seen from a new player.

Getting to the Mun isn't too hard. Get yourself into orbit at a heading of 90 degrees when you launch. Once you're in orbit, wait until you see the Mun rise over the edge of Kerbin, and then align the navigational gimbal so that the V in the center is over the yellow circle(prograde), and fire those badboy engines until the map shows you have an encouter with the Mun. Then advance time until you are in the Mun's sphere of influence (your orbit will change color, showing you will escape the SoI if you don't do anything) , and then do a retroburn until you are in orbit around the Mun.

[kodemunkey]

Thanks Ziff, maybe later i'll post the previous versions of my orbiter, those truly are stupid. Half of them fell apart on the launchpad. It also helps that i'm an avid space nut and that i have way too much of an imagination, so this game and minecraft are perfect for me. :cool:

[that1guy]

Trekkin is talking about the middle sized engine in the demo, that is the gimballed engine, and yeah, my first mun rocket had an orbiter pod, (para, pod, decoupler, rcs tank, ASAS, regular fuel tank and gimballing engine), a trans munar stage, and 2 stages dedicated to leaving the atmosphere, plus 3 SRBs, so, yes, what you have made is considered small, but gj

[GOOMH]

If you mouse over both engines, one will say something like Thrust Vectoring: Yes. That one is the gimbaled engine which means the engine nozzle can move somewhat to help steer your craft. Its the liquid fuel engine with less thrust, which it looks like is the one you mounted on your craft. That also happens to be the least Stupid orbiter I have seen from a new player.

Getting to the Mun isn't too hard. Get yourself into orbit at a heading of 90 degrees when you launch. Once you're in orbit, wait until you see the Mun rise over the edge of Kerbin, and then align the navigational gimbal so that the V in the center is over the yellow circle(prograde), and fire those badboy engines until the map shows you have an encouter with the Mun. Then advance time until you are in the Mun's sphere of influence (your orbit will change color, showing you will escape the SoI if you don't do anything) , and then do a retroburn until you are in orbit around the Mun.

I pretty sure the demo doesn't have the Patched Conics system in place, unless they added that. Though it's still the same just instead of waiting for the encounter symbol push your Ap out to around 11.4 million or so (correct me if I'm wrong) and then just warp and hope you have the Soi switch.

[kodemunkey]

I've been flung out of the system twice so far O_O

[that1guy]

yeah, 11.4 is correct for munar injection

[MrPwner]

Did you retroburn to insert into munar orbit? Otherwise, yes, you'll be flung away.

EDIT: Yay just noticed the Kerbal emoticons are back^^