A Hodgepodge of Whatever I Think of: The Madness of Manatee Aerospace.

[Blufor878]

So despite the hurricane, I've been able to work on some stuff the past week. I've already posted images and even video for these rockets elsewhere on the site.
First, we have the Kerstler Star, inspired by Kistler's K1 design, which in turn was the latest subject of the amazing Hazegrayart on youtube. The Kerstler Star comes in a expendable and also partially reusable block II variant.

Regular

https://kerbalx.com/ManateeAerospace/Kerstler-Star

Block II

https://kerbalx.com/ManateeAerospace/Kerstler-Star-Block-II

Next we have my take on the famed Saturn Shuttle

Sadly I'm not enough of a chad to recreate the flyback booster. But the aesthetic and function are still there.
https://kerbalx.com/ManateeAerospace/Saturn-Shuttle

Finally I've posted Kerbalx files for original and boosted versions of the Hrothgar Superlifter, which is the predecessor to the Hrothgar Ultra on my KerbalX page.

The link below will take you to the standalone rocket, there should be a link next to the upload date and my username on the header that gives you options to download the other versions.

https://kerbalx.com/ManateeAerospace/Hrothgar-Superlifter

Edited September 30, 2022 by Blufor878

[Blufor878]

Just messing around with TUFX and camera tools.

[Watermel00n]

On 9/30/2022 at 11:08 PM, Blufor878 said:

Next we have my take on the famed Saturn Shuttle

I made a N1 Buran

 

[Blufor878]

18 minutes ago, Watermel00n said:

I made a N1 Buran

 

BEAUTIFUL!!! Terrifying, but beautiful!

Also that is a ton of fins.

[Blufor878]

Hi everybody! First off, thank you so much for visiting my little piece of the KSP forums. Second, I wanted to take this opportunity to introduce a new forum topic I started:

[Blufor878]

On 9/12/2022 at 7:33 PM, Blufor878 said:

Created a new hybrid Dragon 2/Apollo spacecraft called Tadpole 2, and made a modified INT-17 rocket for it to sit on as well. The main inspiration came from @AdrianDogmeat.

I also made a Tadpole 1 predecessor using @Nertea's Tethys pod.

 

The Tadpole and Tadpole II now have their own craft files! Also new shots with TUFX!

[Blufor878]

I've also added a space station to KerbalX, the first one of mine to be on the site.

https://kerbalx.com/ManateeAerospace/Lanhua-Station

[Blufor878]

The ai-generated rocket wanted boosters. And I couldn't say no.
The Salamander II's original post.

Obligatory KerbalX:
https://kerbalx.com/ManateeAerospace/Salamander-IIF

[Blufor878]

Many months ago, before I found CKAN and Github, I reinstalled KSP. This was one of the first manned orbital vehicles I created. Say hello to Archimedes.



Archimedes is Republic Aerospace's mainline science-oriented crew vehicles, primarily designed for orbital science experiments, and because Jeb kept making a fuss about not having enough room to do barrel rolls (in the spacecraft I mean).

And it's definitely not a ripoff of the MOL (yes it is).

This actually became a family of crewed vehicles, including one designed to do asteroid captures (that may or may not have involved the cheat commands...don't judge me).

Edited October 6, 2022 by Blufor878

[Blufor878]

Random crap from one of my save files, an Eastern Bloc-inspired agency called Antares Concern (I'll let you decide why I named it that, but don't put your guess here). Their first station, Grusa I, and a cargo variant of the N1, the N1-C (original, I know).

Thank you @Beale, @raidernick, and @Nertea for giving me so many odd ideas.

[Blufor878]

Egg...

[Blufor878]

Lanhua gets a visitor. A big visitor.

So in my head, for the Manatee Spaceflight Universe (MSU), the shuttle was successful to the point that some private ventures ordered (licensed) copies of the shuttle for their own use. 101 Rocketry in particular has 3:
Formosa (pictured here) - The old name for Taiwan.
Jinmen - An island of China's coast that actually belongs to Taiwan and has a lot of military and historical significance (oddly it's spelled Kinmen in english)
Sun Yat Sen - The first president of China after the emperors were deposed.

As of this writing they have to rely on the regular shuttle stack, but 101's RND is cooking something.

Also if you're wondering why I used the orange Moonraker paint on the orbiter, it reminds me of the high speed trains in Taiwan (if any Japanese players see this post, thank you for the cool trains!). Sadly I'm not skilled enough to make orbiter name labels...

Side note: Jinmen has some of the best beef noodle soup I've had. It's a beautiful place, despite the 50+ year old bullet holes.

Edited October 9, 2022 by Blufor878
Test

[SunlitZelkova]

6 hours ago, Blufor878 said:

if any Japanese players see this post, thank you for the cool trains!

Your welcome! 

6 hours ago, Blufor878 said:

oddly it's spelled Kinmen in english

It’s because of the romanization system. Wade-Giles was used by the ROC and thus Taiwan. Pinyin is used on the mainland and was created there.

I don’t speak Chinese, but just from listening, Wade-Giles feels butchered to make it easier for someone with a thick Latin-based language accent to pronounce, while Pinyin is closer to how it actually sounds.

[Blufor878]

101 Rocketry has successfully flown their new in-house orbiter design, the Swallow LTS (Light Transport System or Shuttle).

Satto Kerman takes in the sunrise and inspects the orbiter. This is also the company's first test of brand new EVA suits.


Reentry after three days in orbit.


Touchdown. Overall the flight is a success. Next comes visits to Lanhua station. 101 Rocketry is also considering an unmanned cargo variant. More on that later (maybe). Thank you to SuicidalInsanity for the MK2 parts mod.

 

Edited October 11, 2022 by Blufor878

[Blufor878]

So recently I posted images of Lanhua, my most recent space station. Today I uploaded (and made some slight upgrades) to one of my oldest stations. It's simply called the Converted FL-TX Core, because it's meant to be a space station core made from, well, an FL-TX tank. If it looks like a budget skylab, that's because that's kinda the point.




KerbalX Page:
https://kerbalx.com/ManateeAerospace/Converted-FL-TX-Core

I wanted to upload this because I've uploaded many rockets and a couple spacecraft, but not much else. There are quite a few other variants I made of this, including one with miniature ISS style solar wings. May upload it later. I kind of went on a kick of making stations from rocket fuel tanks after I learnt that Skylab was basically that.

Edited October 12, 2022 by Blufor878

[Blufor878]

And in minutes I uploaded the B variant of the FL-TX Core.




https://kerbalx.com/ManateeAerospace/Converted-FL-TX-Core-Variant-B
 

[Blufor878]

And finally with its ISS style solar wings, the C variant.

https://kerbalx.com/ManateeAerospace/Converted-FL-TX-Core-Variant-C

Edited October 13, 2022 by Blufor878

[Blufor878]

Uploaded a few spacecraft to go with the stations. I first present the Caiman II from Republic Aerospace. Able to carry three crew plus a fair amount of cargo.

You may also be wondering about the station it's docked to. That may come later, perhaps. Also that centrifuge ring may or may not actually be part of a larger spacecraft I made to mess around with nuclear engines.
https://kerbalx.com/ManateeAerospace/Caiman-II

Up next we have the Stjarna and Stjarna A spacecraft from Basilisk Industries. Both can carry three crew, and the A variant has additional room for cargo as well. They also have inflatable airlocks.


The Stjarna family was the product of me trying to make a Vostok/Voskhod-esque design that could be used as a proper crew vehicle with docking ports and stuff. There is also a B variant, but I'm still working on that one.
https://kerbalx.com/ManateeAerospace/Stjarna
https://kerbalx.com/ManateeAerospace/Stjarna-A

I should also note that while not technically required, I strongly recommend Simplerepaint and Restock+.

Thanks to @Nertea, @Beale, @CobaltWolf, @Angel-125, @Well, @Judicator81, @Coldrifting, and scores of other people for making such awesome mods that I can abuse-I mean do...stuff with.

Edited October 13, 2022 by Blufor878

[USKnight]

On 10/9/2022 at 8:51 AM, Blufor878 said:

Sadly I'm not skilled enough to make orbiter name labels...

I'm sure you've heard of the Conformal Decals mod. One of the decals is a Text bar (which can be set to Vertical as well). This decal can be used to easily name your shuttle fleet. I use it all the time to number my rockets.

[Blufor878]

On 9/27/2022 at 8:25 AM, EndAllFilms said:

Will there be an Apollo Direct Ascent? Because i wanna use it for my sea dragon

Folks, I have good news. WE HAVE THE TECHNOLOGY!


More here:

 

[Blufor878]

So...I made an orbital cargo truck using BDB Apollo and MOLE parts...


 

@Angel-125's MOLE deserves more love.
Oh, and happy 1.11 update to @CobaltWolf and the rest of the BDB team. Thank you guys so much for your hard work!

[Blufor878]

Today I decided to make a rocket based on an old painting my older brother made back when he was little.

[Blufor878]

A preview of the rockets made by the company from my third and final (for now) Mars Horizon Playthrough, Kaitek Industries.
If anyone can guess the significance of that name, you deserve the finest POB's (that's pats on the back).
But anyway, previews!

Just so y'all know it might be a few weeks before I can post more pictures. My only real weekend for the next 2-3 weeks has abruptly ceased to exist because of work stuff (not blaming anyone, this stuff happens; still a bummer).

Edited November 1, 2022 by Blufor878

[Blufor878]

So, I may have put the Apollo command module on top of a modified Kistler K1...

More:

I've also been messing around with @Beale's Commonwealth Rockets and @Well's Knes.

[Blufor878]

The Apollo Kistler hybrid, now with more reusability!