What did you do in KSP2 today?

[LoSBoL]

My second SSTO 'ever', never bothered with KSP due to building wings being finicky, but having a blast with the procedural wings in KSP2. Loved the experience in building and flying. A nice flyby of Kerbin was the result;

.

 

[Casellina X]

No pictures this time around, but I tried to build a decent lifter out of LG parts. A problem I continue to battle is unwanted roll when I pitch for the gravity turn. Stabilizers, reaction wheel, yet still a twist. I thought maybe the engine gimballing but killing the roll axis didn't have an affect (maybe even an adverse one). I could have had entirely too much rocket - 4 of the longest LG tank, 6 or 8 of that SM engine that's crazy powerful. Payload fairing was empty but I can't imagine it's a weight issue... Maybe aero? Who would have thought that a nice, sleek rocket would be hard to get right when you don't know what you're doing.

[Socraticat]

7 hours ago, Casellina X said:

Who would have thought that a nice, sleek rocket would be hard to get right when you don't know what you're doing.

Once in a while I still need a game restart to get control back in order. I swear that sometimes axis get switched or turned off, or dimmed, if that makes sense. Like, proportionally unresponsive.

I've also found roll issues that come from symmetry problems, like something mirrored onto something radial- ex. wings on opposite radial tanks.

Anyways... Today I went to Tylo for a challenge and ended up staying for a (spoiler)

Spoiler

 

 

Edited April 25, 2023 by Socraticat
video upload

[Wetzelrad]

Today I finished my mission to Tylo which ended up going slightly further. Kerbal's orbital mechanics really shine around Jool.

Spoiler

I wanted to make something that looked like it would be semi-livable for a multiyear journey. This assymmetrical design turned out nice without being unbalanced. I had to build my own hub connector out of a structural tube and adapters. I also took the opportunity to try out the Clamp O Tron Sr. which I had always ignored in KSP1. I thought they might bring some stability. Turns out they're less wobbly but no less springy than smaller ports.

Not exactly aerodynamic.

Assembly completed in low orbit. After combining all of the surplus fuel, I have a decent amount of methalox to begin the transfer burn with.

Getting to Jool was easy, but finding a cheap insertion to Tylo was not. I spent most of my fuel slowing down and getting into a 51x51 orbit over Tylo.

Tylo bathed in Joolshine, shortly after undocking. The Trip Planner makes a suggestion of 4540 dV to land and reorbit here. According to the VAB this lander design has only 4450 at full. Not a lot of room for error here. 

The first step is getting into a lower orbit of 30x30. Actual ground altimeter is ~6000m. From there it's a constant burn of more than 100 seconds to come to a stop. Getting this right took many practice attempts.

Radial tanks detached.

Happily landed on the surface. With around 2400 dV left in the tank, the rest of this mission should be easygoing.

After redocking with the habitat and partially refuelling, I can see I have enough fuel between both engines to visit several additional bodies!

So here's the sulfur moon. Might as well land on the side of a mountain.

Bop, also lit by Jool.

Vall. I imagine in real life landing a space station on a moon of this size would be somewhat catastrophic.

And finally a rendezvous before the trip home. The best place to rendezvous turned out to be during another flyby of Tylo. Rendezvous indicators were not displaying correctly for this, but I pulled it off by matching the time to periapsis on both vessels.

Okay, not ideal, but I don't like carrying radial parachutes around the solar system. Surviving this splashdown required a perfect suicide burn beginning at exactly 230 meters above sea level.

Edited April 25, 2023 by Wetzelrad

[Scarecrow71]

Today I planned and executed a trip to Dres*, with a return trip back to Kerbin**.  Several things went entirely wrong on this trip causing multiple reverts to the VAB, the launchpad, and save files in transit.  The list includes, but is not limited to:

1. Struts ended up being in places where I didn't even put struts.  That's right, some gremlin got into the VAB and placed stuff on the ship that I didn't want there.
2. Ship blowing up on the launchpad for no reason other than the Kraken is alive and well.
3. Trajectory and orbit lines disappearing.
4. My personal favorite is having to do a suicide burn onto Dres because no matter how close the trajectory I plotted was, the orbit path NEVER CHANGED.  Dres' gravity was never taken into account, so a gravity turn/burn could not be done on Dres.  And with no gravity turn, I simply didn't have enough fuel to circularize first.
5. My second favorite is that Dres didn't show up in flight view until I was ~150 km above the surface.  I got a screen of the ship and the stars with no planet.
6. In addition to #5, I had to reload a save at least half a dozen times before I could see the rings.  I kept getting the black outline of where they are supposed to be, but with no color or texture mapping.  I finally got them, but at one point I thought about scrapping the whole trip because the only reason I went there was for the rings.  And once I saw them....I was wholly underwhelmed.  In fact, the team spent that much time on texturing planets, but nowhere that I've landed on Mun, Minmus, Dres, or Duna to this point has looked anything other than KSP1 with a brighter crayon.
7. The trajectory bug reared its ugly head again, but I think I may have it solved.  Dres spins around Kerbol counter-clockwise, and my orbit after launching from landing on the planet had me going clockwise around Dres.  So when I plotted my burn (1450ish m/s) I burned prograde to the planet's orbit (in the same direction that the planet was moving), but it ended up being retrograde to the direction I was traveling.  This actually got me an intercept with Kerbin immediately after leaving the SOI.  Odd.

Spoiler

* - The trip to out to Dres, as I mentioned above, had some issues with the planet's texture showing up upon arrival, as well as the trajectory not altering in the slightest regardless of proximity to the planet it was.  I know that once you reach a certain speed, the trajectory doesn't alter that much.  But not at all?  Just plain odd.  Oh, and poor Valentina ended up going out there by herself because the Las Kerbas Space Agency failed to put a second Kerbal in the two-Kerbal lander can.  And landing on Dres SUCKED.  You can see from the image that the legs are stuck in the surface, and this was the only thing that prevented the craft from bouncing like a rubber ball on the moon.

** - I hated having to do this, but I ended up having to use Infinite Propellant for the trip home.  I had 3000ish m/s of dV prior to launching back to orbit, and it didn't take much to get back up there.  I burned 1450ish to get the initial intercept with Kerbin, which should have left me plenty to get home with.  Nope.  Needed multiple correction burns because, for some stupid reason, when you start messing with a maneuver node, the game decides to go "Distance to target dropping...dropping...dropping...oh, you're back up to 30,000,000 meters away from it now".  That is so ridiculous.  Like, why can't I create a decent node without having the intercept markers flake out on me all the time?  This in total cost me 900 or so m/s of dV, but I got the Pe inside Kerbin's atmosphere.  Should be able to aero-brake, right?  Nope.  Not enough fuel.  Oh, and turning on infinite propellant didn't work when creating a node; creating the node is dependent on the amount of fuel you have regardless of turning the cheat on.

I know I will have to re-do Dres; I don't like having the cheat turned on.  But I was at the end of my rope and just thought "Forget it".

[Casellina X]

22 hours ago, Socraticat said:

Once in a while I still need a game restart to get control back in order. I swear that sometimes axis get switched or turned off, or dimmed, if that makes sense. Like, proportionally unresponsive.

I've also found roll issues that come from symmetry problems, like something mirrored onto something radial- ex. wings on opposite radial tanks.

The controls seemed fine to me. Rather responsive on my last attempt when I ditched into the ocean and was able to more or less splash down upright. The symmetry was really only the engines. Maybe another shot with 4 instead of 6, that could. Either that or no gimballing and take advantage of RCS - something I only ever do if I plan to dock the craft. It may just be another case of back to basics for me. I'm successful with SM, and can get away with a MD or two (at least in KSP1).

[Socraticat]

I really do enjoy messing around with this little plane. When I first designed it for the lightest to the airfield challenge I didn't have versatility in mind, since versatility usually also means extra weight. But...

After carrying it to so many moons I couldn't help but wonder why I hadn't put any Oxidizer back in and just added some Spiders... why didn't I? Because it seemed against the design for some reason. Instead, I turned it into a sub-assembly first, then decided it needed monopropellant, and then I realized it was probably OK to put Spiders on... because now it seems like the sensible add after some bizarre in-between developments.

So I tear off a subassembly, slap some little burners on the back, and paint it like Mr. Stark's pet project. LAUNCH! ... and we're on the launchpad. I always make that mistake. Oh well, might as well make a test out of it! And what a test it ended up being!

Listen, folks... this is as good of an endorsement as I can make- this flight was a first take- It's a fairly easy and fun craft to fly. I hope you get a chance to check it out! (No pressure. I get that not everyone is into the aviation bit as much)

Playing around like this really helps me break up larger missions- gotta take a break from all the interplanetary drama!

 

Edited April 26, 2023 by Socraticat
I needed to a word

[Lyneira]

I got inspired when reading about the Dawn Aurora Mk-II, a spaceplane  under development by Dawn Aerospace. This rocket plane is designed to fly from a runway multiple times a day. So I made an upscaled recreation!

Spoiler

My version takes off from a normal runway and launches into a steep sub-orbital trajectory just above the edge of space. The payload accelerates into orbit on its own while the plane glides back to the kerbal space center. All done in one session without resorting to saving and loading save states!

Payload mass: 0.93 t
Total mass: 6.02 t

Both the ascent and return are easy to fly and don't take long at all. Because of the steep launch trajectory, the plane falls back into the atmosphere close to Kerbal Space Center, cutting down a lot on the length of the glide phase. The payload needed about 2000 dV to complete its orbital insertion, which is quite a lot but it doesn't need to worry about the atmosphere at all. So even if it isn't the most efficient, I quite like this launch profile.

Edited April 27, 2023 by Lyneira

[Socraticat]

I don't like building Kapybaras or Dragons, but I enjoy flying this beast!

 

[18Watt]

Drove a rover around Minmus.

More screenshots here: 

 

[Klapaucius]

I experimented with making a prototype amusement park ride, creating a system for rotation around an axle.  It is rough, but it works (as long as it does not get going too fast).

 

[Scarecrow71]

Today...I put KSP2 down in favor of KSP1.  KSP2 isn't holding my attention as much as I thought it would, primarily due to the bugs and lack of parts.  I simply can't do in KSP2 what I can in KSP1.  Even without direction (a lack of Science/Career modes), there simply isn't enough there to hold my attention any longer.  Not until we get more patches and parts and fixes and stuff.  So for now, I'm going back to KSP1.  I'll be back when KSP2 improves.

[ShadowZone]

1 hour ago, Scarecrow71 said:

Today...I put KSP2 down in favor of KSP1.  KSP2 isn't holding my attention as much as I thought it would, primarily due to the bugs and lack of parts.  I simply can't do in KSP2 what I can in KSP1.  Even without direction (a lack of Science/Career modes), there simply isn't enough there to hold my attention any longer.  Not until we get more patches and parts and fixes and stuff.  So for now, I'm going back to KSP1.  I'll be back when KSP2 improves.

I have to say, I had a similar feeling this week.

I laid down KSP2 for almost two weeks to get into a fresh mindset. The bugs hit harder and the wonkyness was more annoying (especially noodle rockets, good grief...)

And of course I couldn't take it easy, I attempted an Eve return mission. Will talk about more on that soon on my channel, because in my opinion the game really makes it unnecessarily hard at the moment. I did land though. Or rather, splash down.

Edited April 28, 2023 by ShadowZone

[Scarecrow71]

19 hours ago, ShadowZone said:

And of course I couldn't take it easy, I attempted an Eve return mission. Will talk about more on that soon on my channel, because in my opinion the game really makes it unnecessarily hard at the moment. I did land though. Or rather, splash down.

This is the (Kerbal) way.  If you are gonna do something, do the hardest thing you can think of with as little planning or forethought as possible.

Cannot wait to see the video on this!

Edited April 29, 2023 by Scarecrow71

[Wetzelrad]

Engine test.

[Klapaucius]

Continuing messing around with axles. Here is a very slow and inefficient rover using dumpling tanks for wheels:

 

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

15 hours ago, Klapaucius said:

Continuing messing around with axles. Here is a very slow and inefficient rover using dumpling tanks for wheels:

 

How are you getting things to rotate around an axle? 

Or just rotate at all? 

[Wheehaw Kerman]

On 4/28/2023 at 3:43 PM, Scarecrow71 said:

Today...I put KSP2 down in favor of KSP1.  KSP2 isn't holding my attention as much as I thought it would, primarily due to the bugs and lack of parts.  I simply can't do in KSP2 what I can in KSP1.  Even without direction (a lack of Science/Career modes), there simply isn't enough there to hold my attention any longer.  Not until we get more patches and parts and fixes and stuff.  So for now, I'm going back to KSP1.  I'll be back when KSP2 improves.

Cheers.  I hope you have a better time, and that it makes you happier.

I haven’t been able to play much lately.  Looking forward to having the time to play, though.

Edited April 30, 2023 by Wheehaw Kerman

[Casellina X]

Performed my first docking in KSP2. I wanted an interplanetary craft and thought, well why not something in 2 launches? I also should have thought about what else I actually needed for this mission to nowhere because both crafts are severely lacking - essentially a crew module, fuel tank, and engine. Totally forgot to add batteries and solar panels on the second launch. I also didn't realize that the game didn't fully fill the crew module on the first craft, which is why the second had one as well. But at any rate I put something together. Because I don't do proper planning, I launched at probably the worst time and had to wait forever for the positioning to line up well enough for a rendezvous. Things went off without a hitch until it came time to crew transfer. For whatever reason it didn't want to happen while docked, so EVA was required. EVA in space is always an anxious time for me given that I don't do it enough to remember the controls. After a brief moment of uncontrolled spinning, I found myself thrusting away from the craft. Panic and some luck later got me back to target and on board. At this point I thought about taking an EVA picture so I sent the Kerbal back out. Well, it appears that the Kerbal's monstrous head emerging from the craft happened with such force that it very nearly ripped the craft apart at the docking ports. In the future I may include a spacer to mitigate.

I'm trying to incorporate more strutting and reaction wheels in an attempt to solve my Rolling Rockets™ problem. Seems like struts have a maximum length.

[Scarecrow71]

18 minutes ago, Casellina X said:

I'm trying to incorporate more strutting and reaction wheels in an attempt to solve my Rolling Rockets™ problem. Seems like struts have a maximum length.

I recommend RCS for this.  Lots of RCS.

[GalileOh-No]

2 minutes ago, Scarecrow71 said:

I recommend RCS for this.  Lots of RCS.

You may also find it helpful to place RCS either, or both:

1) On top of the vessel's center of mass (CoM)

2) Equidistant from the CoM

The vessel rotates around its CoM; balancing the forces on either side of it will help with its controllability with RCS enabled. Not necessarily critical if you have reaction wheels to compensate for positioning, just a good general practice.

[Klapaucius]

4 hours ago, JoeSchmuckatelli said:

How are you getting things to rotate around an axle? 

Or just rotate at all? 

The trick is to use decouplers and then offset them. In the image below, you can see the decoupler attached to a cargo bay. That whole thing is attached to the larger structure. Once decoupled, the rotating assembly is free to move, but still collides with the axle (which is just a medium fuel tank).

For the rover, I did it a bit differently, but the same principle applies.  The two Z-375 cargo bays are attached to the smaller trusses.  The trusses have been inset and the cargo bay rings have been pulled very far forward from the trusses.  The axle is attached to the large rocket motor plate by some small fuel tanks with stack separators on either end. When staged, the tanks and separators fall to the ground, and the rover rests on the axles. Of course, there is a lot of friction and the whole thing is loose, so it does not take much for the entire thing to come apart.

I've hyperedited it to Ike using Lazy Orbit and it works a lot better in low gravity.

 

[Klapaucius]

The rover has reached a state of sublime perfection...

I call it Thing 1.  It prefers low gravity environments, so I downloaded the Lazy Orbit mod and test drove it on Ike.

 

Edited April 30, 2023 by Klapaucius

[Well]

Today i've try to explore the KSC, no wihout problem at some point.

But that was fun, so that the important part of the story 

[Kim Hanson]

What did I do today?  Increased my frustration level.  Watched the game do whatever it wants.  Gave up trying to control items that have no intention of being controlled.  Watched critical trajectory information disappear and/or randomly change just when needed.  Did I mention frustration?  I think I will wait for at least two more updates in the hope that by then it becomes somewhat playable.  You win this round Private Division.