Show off your awesome KSP pictures!

[rockbloodystar]

Loving career mode, and have a new flag to stick everywhere i look at the mysterious goo.

[zekes]

dude that flag is siiiiick!

[Anton P. Nym]

where are you going? laythe, I assume?

Let me guess, you're sending an entire Laythe Base in one go? And all on the same ship? And with ONLY FOUR ENGINES???? I think an Ion probe could get there faster...

Laythe is the destination, yes. Not a base, though; four landers (well, two landers and two spaceplanes that could land if I get to trust their landing gear again) each slated for two flights. Not the mission I'd had in mind originally, but I had real trouble making a two-seater aircraft that could land on rough terrain and not knock its engines off... so clunky VTOLs had to sub in.

I think I'll be doing the same thing very soon... (Now I'll just get back to building the ship)

But seriously, you know that only one engine is more efficient than 4 right?

Good luck on your mission! I know that one engine would be more efficient, but with all that mass I'd hoped running 4 would save time and help with efficiency a tiny bit to offset the extra dead weight. I'll know soon if this is even remotely correct.

-- Steve

[NASAFanboy]

My first interstellar expedition reached 15% light speed, spent three years exploring interstellar space. During that three years, some unexpected events occured at Kerbin.

Jeb: Oh no, not again. Time to bring in galaxy sized rolls of duct tape.

Oh yes, and the sun gave birth to Kerbol Jr. Cute, isn't it?

awwwwww.........

[RocketPilot573]

My first interstellar expedition reached 15% light speed, spent three years exploring interstellar space. During that three years, some unexpected events occured at Kerbin.

Jeb: Oh no, not again. Time to bring in galaxy sized rolls of duct tape.

Oh yes, and the sun gave birth to Kerbol Jr. Cute, isn't it?

awwwwww.........

LOL!

What... What happened!?

Try doing an interplanetary mission why the planets are still messed up!

[NASAFanboy]

LOL!

What... What happened!?

Try doing an interplanetary mission why the planets are still messed up!

I did that.

This happened.

The last moments of Kerbin, as recorded by Bill Kerman

Houston, you've got a probelm.

Jool was dragged into Kerbol Jr, and has ceased to exist. Dres is on a escape velocity, and so is Duna.

Moho has been eaten by Kerbol, and Eve now orbits the Mun (Huh). Oh, yes, and Kerbin, is on a collision trjectory with Kerbol. Eeloo is (mostly) unaffected, even though it somehow collided with Duna on the way out.

Edited November 23, 2013 by NASAFanboy

[Galacticruler]

Planet factory/hyperedit?

[RocketPilot573]

Keri-*static*-we hav-*static*-a probl*static*UISS Au-*static*is going dow-*static*Repea-*static**static*-S Autumn is-*static*goi-*static*down!*static**static**static*BOOM*static* Aerobrake-*static* ha-*static*failed!*static**static**static*

[Anton P. Nym]

Been a busy day today; not just the TJI burns for Project Joolheist but also the aerocapture of the Arro "Ghost" glider probe to Eve. It's making it's gentle way down to a landing on a large isthmus as I type this; migah does Eve have a soup-like atmosphere.

Got a tad warm on the way, of course...

-- Steve

edited to add:

Touchdown! Good seismic data from Ghost 2 inbound.

Edited November 24, 2013 by Anton P. Nym

[Rockfire]

First Successful Vtol, perfectly balanced and can switch between flight and hovermode without to much of a problem. In career mode so no landing gear yet.

[RocketPilot573]

My first manned mission to Duna in career mode ended rather badly... (see my earlier post)

Fortunately, my top scientists have come up with a new flight computer technology called "Mechjeb." This advanced computer will be able to accurately determine the appropriate altitude for aerobraking. Most future ships will have this installed, and it will hopefully prevent any of these kind of incidents from ever happening again.

Edited November 24, 2013 by RocketPilot573

[HeadHunter67]

Why is it green?

[Deadweasel]

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[TD]So the other day, these guys...

...were stranded on the island runway after HSOC-101 Spectre...

...ran out of fuel mid-flight.

Ironically, out of the entire fleet of long-distance vessels, there were none capable of rescuing three pilots stranded practically next door, although one had been tried (which is how the third guy got stranded along with the test pilots).

The decision was made to finalize yet another airframe design in the works, this one intended to operate strictly within the atmosphere, which also just happened to be a potentially viable crew shuttle.

One week later, the AACT program saw its first design -101 "Javelin"- take to the sky.

The un-manned aircraft performed beautifully, diverting to the island to retrieve the wayward pilots.

Following their rescue, the pilots were invited to attend the plane's official unveiling that night.

Bob spent most of the evening in Javelin's spacious passenger cabin, making airplane noises

Sonke later advised the program designers that Javelin's agility was incredible, but nevertheless, was detrimental to the lunch of anybody aboard during a flight. The plane was far too quick in its maneuvers for passengers.

When this feedback was brought before Jebedian, one of the AACT program designers, his first reaction was to summarily ignore the most common suggestion to tune back the autopilot's control inputs. Instead, he forged ahead with a re-design of the plane, to the exasperated groans of the mechanical engineers on the build floor.

What resulted from his work surprised quite a few, in any case. AACT-102 "Javelin II" began its own test flight series, even as its predecessor was proceeding to high altitude trials.

Javelin II was almost as nimble as the first design, though with a smaller airfoil profile, its maneuvering rate was dampened somewhat, to all potential passengers' great relief.

The last remaining concern arose solely from Jeb himself: the plane was still a bit too heavy for his liking, and its forward design -pulled directly from AACT-101- was still excluding the plane from the High Speed Courier program, which Jeb had been hoping to merge this project with at some point.

Another week passed, with Jeb becoming a frequent sight on the build floor, issuing instructions and generally making a pest of himself in an effort to see his latest re-design take shape.

Word spread of his apparent obsession, and many whispers could be heard though the halls of the KSC that he was very likely headed down the path to insanity eventually. When Jeb caught wind of the rumors, he once again decided to let his final refinements speak for themselves.

On the day of the unveiling, he directed it to be displayed alongside the previous two designs, so critics could judge the results for themselves firsthand.

Stunned silence fell over the tarmac as the crowd ogled. Jeb had been right to insist on a third design. "Javelin III" (naturally) looked every bit the fast and agile plane that everyone had been envisioning of the AACT program from the start.

Jeb and his team had done it. The final revision was capable of far greater speeds than its predecessors, and even managed to out-maneuver everything else in the fleet.

As if that weren't achievement enough, gasps could be heard from the crowd as they looked in the passenger cabin and discovered an additional pair of seats slotted comfortably within. Javelin III could now carry six passengers to any destination around the world.

High altitude trials are slated to begin tomorrow.[/TD]

[/TR]

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Edited November 24, 2013 by Deadweasel

[TeddyDD]

Wow Can we get craft files?

[Logan.Darklighter]

Came here to post something I'd made (next post) but DAMN those are some sweet looking birds!

[Logan.Darklighter]

John Cleese: "And now for something completely different!"

So part of the Wayland Eagle pack is a classic style landing/launch pad from Moonbase Alpha. When the pack came out about half a year ago I played around with the idea of making the launchpad into a rover so that it could be lifted to the Mun, then driven around and parked on level ground for an Eagle to land on.

But then Kerbtown came out.

So I imagine that the the Eagle launchpad part doesn't actually NEED to be launched to the moon and driven around, considering that the Kerbtown plug-in will make building a "Munbase Alpha" on the mun possible and we won't need to lug stuff up there to build something that gigantic (and game-breaking).

But I decided to do it ANYWAY. Just for the hell of it!

First - I re-sized it so it's proportionally accurate to the Eagle (and easier to land on). (Needs to be re-sized to 1.0 in case you're curious)

Then I did something similar to what I did before with the rover experiments - I added the lights (B9 lights this time - they look awesome.) With internal fuel tanks, a robust undercarriage with rover wheels, landing struts to deploy once I found a level spot to park it a generator and batteries for electricity etc. And since the Eagle VTOL engines work now without needing any special hookups or to be attached directly to an Eagle truss - I put a lot of engines underneath for lifting it to Kerbin Orbit and then to the Mun. And strutted the thing with B9 struts to hold it all together and clipped into the main launchpad part.

Overall I really overbuilt the damn thing WAY too much.

I'm not going to bother with a craft file for now - partly because of the Kerbtown issue making the thing unnecessary in the first place. Partly because it's a monster at nearly 200 parts that reduces framerate to annoying levels. And partly because... well that's getting ahead of myself. More later.

For now though. I got the thing out onto the runway, confirmed that it drove around alright, then decided to lift off. I figured that this really wasn't going to work and that I'd get a spectacular explosion out of it, but hey - that could be fun too.

So - the undercarriage worked. But that's no great surprise. (I did mention I SERIOUSLY overbuilt this?)

Landing legs check. Yup. Solid.

Lift-off!

It's at this point that I discovered a rather serious flaw in my design. Apparently I'd installed the probe upside down and my attempts at changing pitch and angle were making things worse. I ultimately wound up losing control and flipping over like a plate.

BUT... I'd gained enough altitude and enough time to both figure out what was wrong and attempt a save...

Seriously?!

HOW IS THIS EVEN WORKING??????

Needless to say - I got it into a stable orbit (being careful to take into account the "backwards" piloting I'd have to do). Then got it into a Hohman transfer orbit to the Mun, then de-orbited and got down to a low altitude to look around for a landing site.

That looked reasonably flat enough to land on. When I got close though it was angled more than I thought. No worries. That's what being able to DRIVE the thing is for!

Eventually I found a good spot of level ground and de-ployed the landing legs and lights. Then switched over to Eagle 1 (already up on the Mun) piloted by none other than Jebediah himself to go land on the thing.

Ta-daaa!

Now as I said before, this is utterly impractical as it stands. The framerate and part count issues and the redundant nature of this thing I've already mentioned.

HOWEVER.

I have an IDEA. A cunning plan.

That whole undercarriage assembly is pretty extensive. It's big enough really to qualify as a base unto itself with some re-design.

So... I'm thinking of taking that whole section and re-designing it. Making it viable as a small Munbase. Kethane cracking station perhaps. Comm towers. Living blocks - the works. Launchable via integral engines and perhaps a supplementary launch stack.

Then fit the launch pad on TOP of the thing with a small fuel tank and some VTOL engines and probe body. Just enough to lift it off the top of the base once de-coupled and then set it down next to the base and then link it via docking port.

In fact, I'm seriously thinking of combining that idea - with this test concept below - the S.H.A.D.O. Munbase.

When I work those bugs out of that concept - THEN I'll post a craft file for it.

[DuckZero]

John Cleese: "And now for something completely different!"

So part of the Wayland Eagle pack is a classic style landing/launch pad from Moonbase Alpha. When the pack came out about half a year ago I played around with the idea of making the launchpad into a rover so that it could be lifted to the Mun, then driven around and parked on level ground for an Eagle to land on.

But then Kerbtown came out.

So I imagine that the the Eagle launchpad part doesn't actually NEED to be launched to the moon and driven around, considering that the Kerbtown plug-in will make building a "Munbase Alpha" on the mun possible and we won't need to lug stuff up there to build something that gigantic (and game-breaking).

But I decided to do it ANYWAY. Just for the hell of it!

.......

I am impressed with the launchpad-on-moon idea (even more with the execution), and you've made incredibly good use of the LLL parts at the end there. Do you think it could be launched and assembled in a modular fashion to add some reaslism?

Edited November 24, 2013 by DuckZero

[Logan.Darklighter]

I am impressed with the launchpad-on-moon idea (even more with the execution), and you've made incredibly good use of the LLL parts at the end there. Do you think it could be launched and assembled in a modular fashion to add some reaslism?

That is definitely one of the options I am considering. I figure that the center section of the SHADO Base with about half the length of the arms and a connector port on the end of those arms - could be lifted with no trouble. Then it's a matter of lifting the other pieces and fitting them in place.

The trick really is that last part - getting the parts to match up. Particularly if it's those arms. I think I need to design a crane with KAS and Infernal Robotics and get THAT to the Mun before I assemble a base in that fashion.

[Monkeh]

About to head off the Mun and become my first kerbal to return home.

[zpox357]

Barger Kerman, Lander pilot from R.S. Tundra, planting the flag on Duna whilst the other 5 find their feet on this low gravity body.

The full mission:

<iframe class="imgur-album" width="70%" height="550" frameborder="0" src="http://imgur.com/a/YXN95/embed"></iframe>

[zekes]

​Drekevak XIV-III.

[Don Quixote]

Two spacecraft rendezvous before racing each other to Duna. The two commanders, Jebediah and Billy-Bobald, meet on neutral ground between the two ships for a fistfight... errm handshake.

[Nibroc]

Today, with my first Mun landing, I took this picture.

I really like it.

[Deadweasel]

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[TD]

Wow Can we get craft files?

Soon! I'm still doing a little tweaking to them, mostly dealing with rollout distance after touchdown. The island strip is my testing ground for short landing capability, and so far the results are very good. It's now down to balancing the airbrakes so the plane can bleed off velocity rapidly mid-air without tumbling tail-over-teakettle.

MODS you will need for these:

• B9 Aerospace (natch)
  
• AviationLights
  
• FuelTastic
  
• Procedural wings (for AACT-101 only)
  

Came here to post something I'd made (next post) but DAMN those are some sweet looking birds!

Thanks very much!

Today saw the addition of a big sister to the AACT fleet, though it's a bit of an anomaly. While the rest of the planes adhere to the guidelines of the Automated Atmospheric Crew Transport, AACT-104 "Starlance" qualifies as a full SSTO.

Like any powerful lady, she is forgiving, but only if handled with care. Attempt to punch the throttle right away, she will punch back! Keep it reigned in at half throttle though, and she'll show you a good time.

Starlance poses pretty, making the AACT team wish she had a pilot so they could justify an inspired mission patch.

Once she breaks 10km up, the throttle can be nudged higher, but only in small increments, as the imbalanced thrust will quickly overwhelm the control systems and induce a dangerous tumble. Still, even at 3/4 power, Starlance will make initial orbit altitude easily, with some power to spare. At the cruise stage, it's wise to disengage the fuel converters that have kept her well fed until this point, or she'll nom the remaining power quickly and wastefully, leaving her with far too little dV in the tanks to get her into a stable orbit.

Once in a stable orbit, Starlance swivels to its parking orientation (due north/normal on this orbit), deploys the comm and telemetry arrays, and enters standby mode to await the return of the Duna Explorer mission's Journeyman drive sled/crew section.

When Journeyman arrives, Starlance will serve as ground shuttle for the incoming crew, and bring their replacements back up for their turn on the Duna Explorer roster rotation.

Shuttle passengers can look forward to a luxurious commute, featuring an open snack bar and access to DirekTV on the in-flight entertainment system, courtesy of a ground relay from the KSC, via Starlance's comm array.

Due to the thrust imbalance inherent in its design and its effect on the plane's handling in vacuum, it's unlikely KSC will ever approve an attempt to deploy Starlance to Eve or Laythe, the only other celestial bodies capable of accommodating its method of flight.[/TD]

[/TR]

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[zekes]

Lander of my very basic Apollo-esque mun ship.