bigemugamer's Science Based Space Ships

[bigemugamer]

Greetings Kerbonauts!

Welcome back to my documentation of my experience with Kerbal Space Program. In this post I will be revealing the progression of space capable ships I have designed and flown into space and beyond. Like any space program each ship builds upon the successes of the previous iteration while weeding out the potential failures. I have heard from some prominent You Tubers how some of us gravitate to the Flash Gordon style of space ships and I am not entirely innocent of this observation. The latest design in this post is the culmination of these designs and became the workhorse of my space program and as I mentioned in my introduction and welcoming post this is the first of 2 ships I'm quite proud of =)

But before we get into it I just want to thank you the reader for taking an interest in my posts. If you have any comments, questions or criticism please by all means let me know and I'll do my best to address them.

Also for anyone wanting to know what version of the game I'm running and with what plug ins, mods or updates here is a pic of the star screens lower right hand corner.

Now, the ships.

- SS Atlas PROTOTYPE -

Building upon the success of the 'Research Pod - 03 Planetary' craft the SS Atlas Prototype became the initial design created to begin the exploration of the Kerbin System and the Celestial bodies it contains. With enough room for a pilot, scientist and an engineer this craft never left Kerbin orbit but was able to bring back valuable scientific reports.

Craft Stats: Parts: 55 - Mass: 7.960t - Size H x W x L: 7.4m x 2.6m x 5.0m

Notes: With a row of solar panels on her belly she recharges fast but only when her belly is exposed to the sun, Also, while never used the command section can be separated from the drive section to make a safe re-entry and landing on her own.

- SS Boreas - A -

Evolving from the SS Atlas the SS Boreas was first Space Ship to land on the mun. With a modified command section the Boreas - A variant had fewer batteries yet a more efficient recharging capability then her predecessor as well as a larger fuel capacity necessary to return from the Mun.

Craft Stats: Parts: 51 - Mass: 10.435t - Size H x W x L: 10.7m x 2.6m x 5.0m

Notes: With only 1300m/s of delta-v the Boreas - A used an additional tank and booster to not only reach the Mun but to slow her descent to roughly 100m/s a few thousand feet above the Mun's surface before separating the stage and finishing her descent under her own power.

- SS Boreas - B -

The second and final version of the Boreas class vessels. this craft landed and scienced many of the locations reachable along the Mun's Equator before various rovers and lander/rovers completed mapping the Mun. this would be the last vessel with onboard science and research equipment before the Great Experiment was created.

Craft Stats: Parts: 51 - Mass: 13.238t - Size H x W x L: 10.3m x 3.1m x 5.6m

Notes: With over 1700m/s of delta-v the Bores -B could, after manoeuvring into a mun encounter from Kerbin orbit, have enough fuel to land and return from the Mun.

- SS Cronos PROTOTYPE -

Needing a larger craft and with the newly unlocked resources from the tech tree the next step was the Cronos Prototype.

Craft Stats: Parts: 34 - Mass: 29.513t - Size H x W x L: 8.4m x 5.8m x 5.8m

Notes: A roomier 3 person craft that starts the benefit of providing room for exterior cargo, probes or rovers to be connected directly below the main fuselage.

- SS Deimos - A -

The Deimos - A Space Ship begins to take on a design that becomes noticeable in all following craft.

Craft Stats: Parts: 67 - Mass: 31.233t - Size H x W x L: 10.9m x 6.9m x 6.9m

Notes: The Deimos class of Space Ships were used primarily used for Space Ship design and development.

- SS Deimos - B -

The final variant of the Deimos class Space Ship, this craft was the second last chassis before the design of the Kerbal Space Programs Work Horse.

Craft Stats: Parts: 88 - Mass: 36.773t - Size H x W x L: 14.2m x 6.9m x 6.9m

Notes: With augmented and enhanced abilities including extra room for crew this craft was the culmination of everything learned up to this point and added to the upcoming final design.

- SS Eros PROTOTYPE -

A truly magnificent design the Eros Prototype brought to fruition a design that would prove instrumental to transporting equipment and Kerbals to space the Mun and later Minmus.

Craft Stats: Parts: 103 - Mass: 42.523t - Size H x W x L: 16.0m x 8.0m x 9.2m

Notes: Damn was I proud of myself when i built this =P lol I just thought it looked so awesome especially with those solar panels extended and it's X-Wing-esque design

- SS Fortuna - A -

A refined version the Fortuna - A Class added much needed stability during re-entry as well as multiple connection points for cargo, vehicles or even docking with stations by this point already in orbit.

Craft Stats: Parts: 114 - Mass: 43.293t - Size H x W x L: 16.0m x 8.0m x 9.2m

Notes: The Eros class introduction of an emergency escape pod mounted on the nose was carried over to the Fortuna class.

Just a shot of one of the cooler missions I took on involving deploying one satellite in orbit around Kerbin, a second satellite around the Mun, deploying 2 additional satellites around Minmus, one in an equatorial orbit, one in an elongated orbit at a 45 degree orbit as well as completing the fly-by Minmus mission, this was my first time going beyond the Mun and near Minmus.

The second picture shows most fairings around the 4 probes invisible with the fairing 'below-right' being slightly visible to show faring separation construction.

-  SS Fortuna - C-3db - Mining -

The final variant of the Fortuna - C-3 class, this ship has been extensively used to explore, rescue Kerbals far away, deliver equipment such as cargo, rovers and small craft. With an ore tank and 4 jr. drills this was the first Space Ship to be able to refuel without an outside source such as a tanker or station and allowed for the return of ore to Kerbal.

Craft Stats: Parts: 154 - Mass: 46.215t - Size: H x W x L: 13.6m x 6.5m x 5.3m

Notes: With the introduction of 4 drill-o-matic jr., a convert-o-tron 125, a large holding tank, a large advanced reaction wheel, 3 Gigantor solar arrays, a LARGE volume of batteries, 6 deplorable cooling arrays and a guidance unit, the nose mounted escape pod and one of the two hitchhiker storage containers were removed to reduce weight since the engines were not upgraded.

An attempt at modifying the Fortuna class into a horizontally runway launched and land-able craft meant to land and liftoff like the Harrier or F-35. With added canards to the bow and lifting surfaces on the four aft nacelle pylons this craft possessed limited manoeuvrability yet decent lifting properties.

Convert-o-tron was moved to the other side of the fuselage and drills also re-positioned to other side to equalize the centre of mass. Down-facing Gigantor solar array replaced with forward landing gear and rover now mounted to belly just behind a lifting engine.

It should be noted this craft had a second 2.5m storage bay crammed full of scientific equipment which would later be installed on the Great Experiment.

A shot montage of the SS Fortuna - C-3db being launched with the heavy lift 'Booster - 01c' into orbit followed by a re-entry and deployment of the three Gigantor solar panels, four drill-o-matics jr. and 6 small thermal control systems. (rover was not originally launched but shoehorned in later)

Booster - 01c eight boosters are permanently attached and the entire booster is designed to de-orbit itself for complete recovery of funds and material.

Yes, the pic directly above and directly below shoehorned in to display the positioning of the rover.

After all this i decided to add pics of a few other tidbits such as this... I don't think I've ever seen the 'Archives' folder while in the research building but yeah by 1 year and day 195 I had just BARELY acquired enough research points to unlock the rest of the tech tree after a mission hoping around the Mun's last biomes not yet explored and according to Werner's observations there are still opportunities here.

Thank You and Congratulations for reaching the end of this post (stands and applauds you) I know it was a bit of a read but I hope you enjoyed it at least half as much as I enjoyed setting it up.

Still to come will be posts of airplanes, auxiliary craft such as rovers and transfer vehicles as well as the previously mentioned Great Experiment, not entirely in that order, but next I will do a post of the various bases and space stations all created to meet the conditions dictated by various mission requirements accepted from various agencies as well as their few upgrades.

Keep an eye out for "bigemugamers Stations and Bases".

Well, Ma wife has fallen asleep on the couch during a 'The Casual Criminalist' episode, time for me to hit the hay. Good night everyone and happy Kerbaling. =D

 

[Vanamonde]

Nice, orderly progression.  

[Watermel00n]

Will there be a bigger one than the Fortuna?

[bigemugamer]

Hello! yes WatermelOOn, there will be.

I'm working on the next thread, Bases and Stations, some of those will be bigger than the Fortuna, both in size and part count (Some stations were added to as directed by accepted missions), but the Great Experiment, a multi Kerbal transportation landing base/space craft will not only be physically larger than the Fortuna but have a considerable more part count than anything I have created before it. THAT'S the ship I'm REALLY proud of =P That thread will come directly after the Stations and Bases thread.

Thank you all for taking an interest in my posts. <3