[0.90] LazTek SpaceX Launch, Exploration, Colonial Transporter & Historic mods (1/25/14)

[Mecripp]

And this just spamming the log

EDIT- And the new release don't spam in VAB but does on launchpad and there is this gap can just grab them all and reconnect.

Edited December 7, 2014 by Mecripp2

[LazarusLuan]

Will there be legs on this mod for BFR so it can stand up on its own after landing? And do the Grid Fins actually control pitch/ yaw/ roll like the real ones or are they just for show ?

Unfortunately, trying to develop the legs ended up being the hardest part of the package and held up its release for almost a month while I tested every way I could think of to have retractable landing legs work with the mass involved within KSP parts physics. I came to the conclusion that it simply can't be done with legs that actually use the landingleg module. Anything other than a solid, non-moving attachment broke apart with anything higher than around a 2m/s vertical speed upon contacting the ground. Performing a soft landing in the ocean just off the shore from the KSC returns the same amount of cash as landing it on the pad, so I'm going to have to go the ocean landing route for now. As for the gridfins, they are fully functional and make great retractable wings for jets and spaceplanes as well as SpaceX rockets. I have two smaller sizes that are included with the updated Launch Pack that I will upload for testing shortly. Here's an example of a spaceplane design that uses my new gridfins:

[LazarusLuan]

LazarusLuan is the rest of the pack getting updated to fix the texture error in the logs ?

It appears to be a mesh issue, not an issue with textures but I'll look into what is causing that.

[CrazyIvan]

Is the BFR/MCT/Falcon XX supposed to be this wobbly, I was just testing it and it desingagrates if full thrust is applied anywhere in flight (for the first stage) even at very low thrust levels there is a lot of wobble.

[LazarusLuan]

Is the BFR/MCT/Falcon XX supposed to be this wobbly, I was just testing it and it desingagrates if full thrust is applied anywhere in flight (for the first stage) even at very low thrust levels there is a lot of wobble.

The physics with the current Unity engine are really sketchy on large objects with a lot of mass, so the ship tends to wobble and break up without struts to connect most of the sections. Are you using the included .craft file or building it yourself?

[FutureMartian97]

Unfortunately, trying to develop the legs ended up being the hardest part of the package and held up its release for almost a month while I tested every way I could think of to have retractable landing legs work with the mass involved within KSP parts physics. I came to the conclusion that it simply can't be done with legs that actually use the landingleg module. Anything other than a solid, non-moving attachment broke apart with anything higher than around a 2m/s vertical speed upon contacting the ground. Performing a soft landing in the ocean just off the shore from the KSC returns the same amount of cash as landing it on the pad, so I'm going to have to go the ocean landing route for now. As for the gridfins, they are fully functional and make great retractable wings for jets and spaceplanes as well as SpaceX rockets. I have two smaller sizes that are included with the updated Launch Pack that I will upload for testing shortly. Here's an example of a spaceplane design that uses my new gridfins:

http://electrictomatoes.com/ksp/screenshot5a.png

Interesting, thanks for the reply! So I guess scaling the landing legs up using TweakScale wont work either. Would it also be possible to make a barge to land on that actually floats? Maybe the one that SpaceX had built ? I made one that you can land on, but you just end up sliding off eventually and the barge just stays a little bit underwater.

SpaceX Barge: https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/536262624653365248/photo/1

Barge I built:

Edited December 7, 2014 by FutureMartian97

[CrazyIvan]

The physics with the current Unity engine are really sketchy on large objects with a lot of mass, so the ship tends to wobble and break up without struts to connect most of the sections. Are you using the included .craft file or building it yourself?

This is the Included craft file. It is also missing any landing legs and grid fins (the included craft file is) unless they were intentionally left out.

[Guest]

Well,basically I am experiencing a Problem,I loaded up the SpaceX colonial transporter,I put the gamedata in gamedata,And the ship in the ships folder,Im running MacOSX yosemite. Ive been running ATM,so to reduce my ram usage and not make my computer blow up,Ive taken out ATM at this time,still saying,**Locked or Invalid Parts** so it wont load the spacecraft,Has anyone experienced this before? Is there a solution?

[LazarusLuan]

Sorry - the wrong craft file seems to have made its way into the first release of this... I've fixed the issue and reuploaded the beta package up to:

LazTek SpaceX Colonial Transporter Beta Test

If you just need the craft file, it's here:

LT SpaceX Colonial Transporter Craft

Edited December 8, 2014 by LazarusLuan

[styckx]

Holy acceleration batman. Don't know if I installed wrong (copy/pasted overwrote when prompted).. Even limiting MechJeb to Terminal Velocity it's burning up at 18m out of the atmosphere because it's so fast.. Might try a clean install and see if maybe my install is fubared

[LazarusLuan]

Holy acceleration batman. Don't know if I installed wrong (copy/pasted overwrote when prompted).. Even limiting MechJeb to Terminal Velocity it's burning up at 18m out of the atmosphere because it's so fast.. Might try a clean install and see if maybe my install is fubared

You're not crazy - that's what the ship does with the engines configured at Kerbal scale to perform the way Elon Musk and his chief propulsion engineer say the Raptor engines are supposed to. Here are those specifications:

[TABLE=class: infobox, width: 22]

[TR]

[TH]Country of origin[/TH]

[TD]United States[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH]Manufacturer[/TH]

[TD]SpaceX[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH]Application[/TH]

[TD]multistage and deep-spacepropulsion[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH]Status[/TH]

[TD]Development[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH=bgcolor: #FFDEAD, colspan: 2, align: center]Liquid-fuel engine[/TH]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH]Propellant[/TH]

[TD]LOX / liquid methane[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH]Cycle[/TH]

[TD]Full-flow staged combustion[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH=bgcolor: #FFDEAD, colspan: 2, align: center]Performance[/TH]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH]Thrust (vac.)[/TH]

[TD]8,200 kN (840 tonnes-force)^[1][/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH]Thrust (SL)[/TH]

[TD]6,900 kN (705 tonnes-force)^[1][/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH]I_sp (vac.)[/TH]

[TD]380 s^[1][/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH]I_sp (SL)[/TH]

[TD]321 s[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH=bgcolor: #FFDEAD, colspan: 2, align: center]Used in[/TH]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=colspan: 2, align: center]Mars Colonial Transporter, MCT launch vehicle[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

I may be either too low with the total weight of the capsule/lab or I can change the engine spec within the config file before the full release of this mod, of course. With the current engine tuning, here are the instructions, including a detailed flight plan to Duna that are included in the test release of the Colonial Transporter:

SpaceX Colonial Transporter HD is a stand-alone parts package for Kerbal Space Program and requires at least 8-16 GB RAM and a high-end graphics card to load and run in the manner intended. A lower-resolution version is also available. ONLY ONE VERSION OF THIS PACKAGE IS DESIGNED TO BE INSTALLED AT A TIME. INSTALLING THE OTHER VERSION WILL OVERWRITE THE CURRENT ONE.

Remove any prior installations of this package before installing to prevent incompatibilities with older parts. To install, extract the GameData and Ships folders into your KSP program folder. When asked to merge, choose yes.

For assistance or to give your feedback, visit http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/showthread.php/29388-LazTek-SpaceX-Launch-Pack-2-3-w-Dragon-2-21-%287-31-13%29

************

Included with this package:

PARTS -

Colonial Transporter Capsule - A 50-person, 7 meter capsule designed for the colonization of any planetary body. Accomodates an 8-person crew plus 42 passengers with a PICA-X heatshield built in for atmospheric returns and enough monopropellant on board for a fully-powered soft landing when equipped with UltraDraco engines.

Colonial Labratory - 7-meter self-contained laboratory, greenhouse and fuel extraction/refinery facility with top decoupler, batteries, monopropellant and a light ablative heat shield.

Colonial Transporter Chute - Large parachute designed to be attached to Colonial Transport spacecraft for emergency and atmospheric planetary soft landings.

Colonial Transporter Docking Interstage - 7-meter decoupler and dock

Colonial Transporter Landing Leg - Landing leg for Colonial Transporter, designed to be attached radially in two sets of 4.

Colonial Transporter Nose Cone - Ejectable nosecone for SpaceX Colonial Transporter capsule.

Colonial Transporter Lab Heat Shield - 7-meter PICA-X protective heat shield with bottom decoupler for heavy atmospheric entry of Colonial Transporter Lab.

Colonial Transporter Solar Array - Large and efficent retractable solar panel array designed to attach to Colonial Transporter to provide power for long-range space travel.

Retractable Ladder - Sturdy retractable ladder for lander vehicles.

Retractable Ramp - Sturdy retractable ramp for habitats and landers.

Straight Landing Leg - Impact-absorbing landing leg.

SpaceX UltraDraco Twin Engine Nacelle with RCS - Next-generation combination of twin UltraDraco engines and RCS control in a nacelle radial mount to attach to Colonial Transporter capsule in a set of 4. Using monopropellant for fuel, these are designed to be used as emergency escape thrusters and powered landings as well as providing reaction control.

SpaceX UltraDraco Twin Engine Nacelle - Next-generation twin UltraDraco engines and nacelle radial mount to attach to Colonial Transport capsule in an opposing set of 2. Using monopropellant for fuel, these are designed to be used as emergency escape thrusters or for powered landings.

SpaceX Dragon Docking Port - Docking port for SpaceX spacecraft, also connects to medium-sized docking ports.

Large Gridfin - An alternative to standard control fins, a gridfin is designed to remain flat against an outer bulkhead and extend when needed to help steer the vehicle.

Falcon XX Flight Control System - 7m SpaceX Falcon XX remote control system with ASAS/reaction wheel and batteries.

Falcon XX Interstage - 7m decoupler fairing for first stage of SpaceX Falcon XX launch system.

SpaceX Falcon XX Main Tank - 7-meter liquid fuel tank with monopropellant for the first stage of SpaceX Falcon XX launch system.

SpaceX Falcon XX Upper Stage Tank - 7-meter upper stage liquid fuel tank with monopropellant for SpaceX Falcon XX launch vehicles.

SpaceX Raptor 1A Engine - The massive next-gen SpaceX Raptor 1A primary engine uses liquid methane and oxygen for fuel and is designed for the first stages of the SpaceX Falcon X and Falcon XX launch systems.

SpaceX Raptor 1A Vacuum Engine - The huge next-gen SpaceX Raptor 1A vacuum engine uses liquid methane and oxygen for fuel and is designed to propel the upper stages of the SpaceX Falcon X and Falcon XX launch systems, including long-range exploratory vehicles.

SpaceX Raptor 1A XX Engine Housing - 7-meter octaweb housing for nine Raptor 1A engines for SpaceX Falcon XX launch vehicles.

SHIPS -

LT SpaceX Colonial Transporter - Designed and tested to explore and return from any solid body in the Kerbol system, this vehicle can transport up to 42 passengers and 8 crew members with an inflatable laboratory/greenhouse for permanent colonization. The SSTO (Single Stage To Orbit) Falcon XX first stage uses 9 Raptor 1A engines to reach orbit and return for a soft ocean landing for recovery. The upper stage uses a single Raptor 1A long-range vacuum engine that can be refueled with methane and oxygen mined from other planets and moons.

COLONIAL TRANSPORTER CRAFT KEY COMMANDS:

G: All landing legs

U: Exterior lights on Colonial Transporter Capsule

1: Toggle center-only first stage engine configuration for stage return

3: Cabin interior lights

4: All lab lights

5: Ladders and ramp toggle

6: Gridfins extend/retract

7: Inflate lab greenhouse (WARNING! ACTIVATION WHILE ATTACHED TO CRAFT WILL RESULT IN CATASTROPHIC STAGE SEPARATION)

8: Lab landing gear extend/retract

9: Lab solar arrays toggle

0: Main solar arrays toggleDEL: Launch abort activates

NOTES - When using autopilot mods with this craft, reduce maximum thrust to 66% with a 40m/s max acceleration to reduce ship vibration and pogoing during launch. Remember to extend gridfins for better control on launch and first stage return.

||FLIGHT INSTRUCTIONS FOR DUNA COLONIAL TRANSPORTER MISSION||

TAKEOFF CHECKLIST:

1. Engage SAS

2. Extend gridfins

3. Throttle up to 75%

4. Activate first stage (main engines)

5. Begin slow gravity turn bearing 090 around 8000m, finish around 30000m

6. Cut main engines

7. Activate second stage (eject nosecone)

8. Activate RCS

9. Use map view to plan circularization burn at apoapsis (approx. 100m)

10. Establish orbit

11. Activate third and fourth stages (upper stage separation and Raptor 1A vacuum engine activation)

12. Apply short, light thrust to separate stages

13. Extend main solar arrays

FIRST STAGE RETURN

1. Use map view to plan deorbit burn around 1/4 of the way around Kerbin west of the launch pad, with a trajectory that puts the landing in the ocean east of the KSC near the coast

2. Press the 1 key to switch to center engine only configuration

3. Execute deorbit burn

4. Reduce reentry speed by firing engine beginning around 32000m, disengage engine after dropping speed below 600 m/s

5. After allowing atmosphere to slow first stage to around 200 m/s, use engine thrust to center prograde trajectory on nav ball so vehicle is dropping straight down

6. Apply throttle as needed to slow vertical speed to around 5m/s by the time it reaches the ocean

7. Cut engine and first stage should float vertically with no loss of components. Recover vehicle

COLONIAL TRANSPORTER TO DUNA

1. Use map view to plan escape burn at the eastern terminator (the right side of kerbin where the light and dark meet)

2. Execute escape burn and coast to Kerbol orbit

3. Use map view to plan Hohmann transfer to Duna

4. Execute transfer burn at appropriate time

5. Fine tune Duna orbital to 20000m insertion around halfway through transfer

6. After reaching Duna SOI, reduce periapsis to 13500m for aerocapture

7. Point ship retrograde and retract solar panels before entering atmosphere at around 40000m

8. After aerocapture, use a couple of burns to stablish equitorial orbit at around 60K

9. Extend main solar arrays

ATMOSPHERIC LANDING CHECKLIST:

1. Activate fifth and sixth stages to separate Colonial Transporter and Lab and activate UltraDraco engines

2. Use map view to plan deorbit burn about 1/4 around the planet west from the (hopefully) flat landing site you choose

3. Coast to deorbit position and execute burn

4. Keep vehicle in retrograde orientation as altitude decreases

5. Allow atmosphere to decelerate craft to around 5000m

6. Press "8" key to extend Lab landing gear

7. At around 3000m, apply 20% thrust and activate seventh stage to separate Lab with parachutes deployed

8. Cut throttle after Lab is clear

9. Use throttle to slow orbital speed to under 100m/s, stabilize vertical attitude to make craft fall directly straight down

10. Deploy landing gear

11. Apply throttle as needed to slow descent to 5m/s just before touching down

12. Extend ladders and let kerbalnauts watch Lab land nearby

Edited December 9, 2014 by LazarusLuan

[LazarusLuan]

Could you or will you eventually make the SpaceX barge so we can land on it? I think it would be a great thing to have, as well as a great challenge . I made a barge in KSP and landed the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket from your mod on it, so I think a real barge that could float and look like the actual one would be awesome!

SpaceX Barge: https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/536262624653365248

Link to the video:

Also I have another question. Ever since 0.25 came out and I downloaded this mod it lags, and this never happened in 0.24.2, I even downloaded the low res version to see if that was the problem but it still lags. Is this just because it's not yet supported in 0.25?

I really like the barge idea but I want to see how in-game physics works with the newer Unity 3D engine which .90 uses before attempting this because of the basic tendency KSP has to make actively-controlled objects deflect off of other solid objects that are "floating" in the Kerbal "oceans". I also want to take advantage of the newer Unity engine to create a type of inflatable balloon that can be used by the Dragonrider/Dragon V2 to float back up through Eve's atmosphere and engage engines at a high altitude for a return flight, since Eve is the only planetary body I can't return from with the SpaceX mods yet.

Edited December 9, 2014 by LazarusLuan

[styckx]

About to run out the door to work but wanted to followup on this thread.. Thanks for the info LazarusLuan.. Glad to know that's how it's supposed to be. That's some crazy power.

[CrazyIvan]

You're not crazy - that's what the ship does with the engines configured at Kerbal scale to perform the way Elon Musk and his chief propulsion engineer say the Raptor engines are supposed to. Here are those specifications:

[TABLE=class: infobox, width: 22]

[TR]

[TH]Country of origin[/TH]

[TD]United States[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH]Manufacturer[/TH]

[TD]SpaceX[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH]Application[/TH]

[TD]multistage and deep-spacepropulsion[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH]Status[/TH]

[TD]Development[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH=bgcolor: #FFDEAD, colspan: 2, align: center]Liquid-fuel engine[/TH]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH]Propellant[/TH]

[TD]LOX / liquid methane[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH]Cycle[/TH]

[TD]Full-flow staged combustion[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH=bgcolor: #FFDEAD, colspan: 2, align: center]Performance[/TH]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH]Thrust (vac.)[/TH]

[TD]8,200 kN (840 tonnes-force)^[1][/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH]Thrust (SL)[/TH]

[TD]6,900 kN (705 tonnes-force)^[1][/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH]I_sp (vac.)[/TH]

[TD]380 s^[1][/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH]I_sp (SL)[/TH]

[TD]321 s[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TH=bgcolor: #FFDEAD, colspan: 2, align: center]Used in[/TH]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=colspan: 2, align: center]Mars Colonial Transporter, MCT launch vehicle[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

I may be either too low with the total weight of the capsule/lab or I can change the engine spec within the config file before the full release of this mod, of course. With the current engine tuning, here are the instructions, including a detailed flight plan to Duna that are included in the test release of the Colonial Transporter:

SpaceX Colonial Transporter HD is a stand-alone parts package for Kerbal Space Program and requires at least 8-16 GB RAM and a high-end graphics card to load and run in the manner intended. A lower-resolution version is also available. ONLY ONE VERSION OF THIS PACKAGE IS DESIGNED TO BE INSTALLED AT A TIME. INSTALLING THE OTHER VERSION WILL OVERWRITE THE CURRENT ONE.

Remove any prior installations of this package before installing to prevent incompatibilities with older parts. To install, extract the GameData and Ships folders into your KSP program folder. When asked to merge, choose yes.

For assistance or to give your feedback, visit http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/showthread.php/29388-LazTek-SpaceX-Launch-Pack-2-3-w-Dragon-2-21-%287-31-13%29

************

Included with this package:

PARTS -

Colonial Transporter Capsule - A 50-person, 7 meter capsule designed for the colonization of any planetary body. Accomodates an 8-person crew plus 42 passengers with a PICA-X heatshield built in for atmospheric returns and enough monopropellant on board for a fully-powered soft landing when equipped with UltraDraco engines.

Colonial Labratory - 7-meter self-contained laboratory, greenhouse and fuel extraction/refinery facility with top decoupler, batteries, monopropellant and a light ablative heat shield.

Colonial Transporter Chute - Large parachute designed to be attached to Colonial Transport spacecraft for emergency and atmospheric planetary soft landings.

Colonial Transporter Docking Interstage - 7-meter decoupler and dock

Colonial Transporter Landing Leg - Landing leg for Colonial Transporter, designed to be attached radially in two sets of 4.

Colonial Transporter Nose Cone - Ejectable nosecone for SpaceX Colonial Transporter capsule.

Colonial Transporter Lab Heat Shield - 7-meter PICA-X protective heat shield with bottom decoupler for heavy atmospheric entry of Colonial Transporter Lab.

Colonial Transporter Solar Array - Large and efficent retractable solar panel array designed to attach to Colonial Transporter to provide power for long-range space travel.

Retractable Ladder - Sturdy retractable ladder for lander vehicles.

Retractable Ramp - Sturdy retractable ramp for habitats and landers.

Straight Landing Leg - Impact-absorbing landing leg.

SpaceX UltraDraco Twin Engine Nacelle with RCS - Next-generation combination of twin UltraDraco engines and RCS control in a nacelle radial mount to attach to Colonial Transporter capsule in a set of 4. Using monopropellant for fuel, these are designed to be used as emergency escape thrusters and powered landings as well as providing reaction control.

SpaceX UltraDraco Twin Engine Nacelle - Next-generation twin UltraDraco engines and nacelle radial mount to attach to Colonial Transport capsule in an opposing set of 2. Using monopropellant for fuel, these are designed to be used as emergency escape thrusters or for powered landings.

SpaceX Dragon Docking Port - Docking port for SpaceX spacecraft, also connects to medium-sized docking ports.

Large Gridfin - An alternative to standard control fins, a gridfin is designed to remain flat against an outer bulkhead and extend when needed to help steer the vehicle.

Falcon XX Flight Control System - 7m SpaceX Falcon XX remote control system with ASAS/reaction wheel and batteries.

Falcon XX Interstage - 7m decoupler fairing for first stage of SpaceX Falcon XX launch system.

SpaceX Falcon XX Main Tank - 7-meter liquid fuel tank with monopropellant for the first stage of SpaceX Falcon XX launch system.

SpaceX Falcon XX Upper Stage Tank - 7-meter upper stage liquid fuel tank with monopropellant for SpaceX Falcon XX launch vehicles.

SpaceX Raptor 1A Engine - The massive next-gen SpaceX Raptor 1A primary engine uses liquid methane and oxygen for fuel and is designed for the first stages of the SpaceX Falcon X and Falcon XX launch systems.

SpaceX Raptor 1A Vacuum Engine - The huge next-gen SpaceX Raptor 1A vacuum engine uses liquid methane and oxygen for fuel and is designed to propel the upper stages of the SpaceX Falcon X and Falcon XX launch systems, including long-range exploratory vehicles.

SpaceX Raptor 1A XX Engine Housing - 7-meter octaweb housing for nine Raptor 1A engines for SpaceX Falcon XX launch vehicles.

SHIPS -

LT SpaceX Colonial Transporter - Designed and tested to explore and return from any solid body in the Kerbol system, this vehicle can transport up to 42 passengers and 8 crew members with an inflatable laboratory/greenhouse for permanent colonization. The SSTO (Single Stage To Orbit) Falcon XX first stage uses 9 Raptor 1A engines to reach orbit and return for a soft ocean landing for recovery. The upper stage uses a single Raptor 1A long-range vacuum engine that can be refueled with methane and oxygen mined from other planets and moons.

COLONIAL TRANSPORTER CRAFT KEY COMMANDS:

G: All landing legs

U: Exterior lights on Colonial Transporter Capsule

1: Toggle center-only first stage engine configuration for stage return

3: Cabin interior lights

4: All lab lights

5: Ladders and ramp toggle

6: Gridfins extend/retract

7: Inflate lab greenhouse (WARNING! ACTIVATION WHILE ATTACHED TO CRAFT WILL RESULT IN CATASTROPHIC STAGE SEPARATION)

8: Lab landing gear extend/retract

9: Lab solar arrays toggle

0: Main solar arrays toggleDEL: Launch abort activates

NOTES - When using autopilot mods with this craft, reduce maximum thrust to 66% with a 40m/s max acceleration to reduce ship vibration and pogoing during launch. Remember to extend gridfins for better control on launch and first stage return.

||FLIGHT INSTRUCTIONS FOR DUNA COLONIAL TRANSPORTER MISSION||

TAKEOFF CHECKLIST:

1. Engage SAS

2. Extend gridfins

3. Throttle up to 75%

4. Activate first stage (main engines)

5. Begin slow gravity turn bearing 090 around 8000m, finish around 30000m

6. Cut main engines

7. Activate second stage (eject nosecone)

8. Activate RCS

9. Use map view to plan circularization burn at apoapsis (approx. 100m)

10. Establish orbit

11. Activate third and fourth stages (upper stage separation and Raptor 1A vacuum engine activation)

12. Apply short, light thrust to separate stages

13. Extend main solar arrays

FIRST STAGE RETURN

1. Use map view to plan deorbit burn around 1/4 of the way around Kerbin west of the launch pad, with a trajectory that puts the landing in the ocean east of the KSC near the coast

2. Press the 1 key to switch to center engine only configuration

3. Execute deorbit burn

4. Reduce reentry speed by firing engine beginning around 32000m, disengage engine after dropping speed below 600 m/s

5. After allowing atmosphere to slow first stage to around 200 m/s, use engine thrust to center prograde trajectory on nav ball so vehicle is dropping straight down

6. Apply throttle as needed to slow vertical speed to around 5m/s by the time it reaches the ocean

7. Cut engine and first stage should float vertically with no loss of components. Recover vehicle

COLONIAL TRANSPORTER TO DUNA

1. Use map view to plan escape burn at the eastern terminator (the right side of kerbin where the light and dark meet)

2. Execute escape burn and coast to Kerbol orbit

3. Use map view to plan Hohmann transfer to Duna

4. Execute transfer burn at appropriate time

5. Fine tune Duna orbital to 20000m insertion around halfway through transfer

6. After reaching Duna SOI, reduce periapsis to 13500m for aerocapture

7. Point ship retrograde and retract solar panels before entering atmosphere at around 40000m

8. After aerocapture, use a couple of burns to stablish equitorial orbit at around 60K

9. Extend main solar arrays

ATMOSPHERIC LANDING CHECKLIST:

1. Activate fifth and sixth stages to separate Colonial Transporter and Lab and activate UltraDraco engines

2. Use map view to plan deorbit burn about 1/4 around the planet west from the (hopefully) flat landing site you choose

3. Coast to deorbit position and execute burn

4. Keep vehicle in retrograde orientation as altitude decreases

5. Allow atmosphere to decelerate craft to around 5000m

6. Press "8" key to extend Lab landing gear

7. At around 3000m, apply 20% thrust and activate seventh stage to separate Lab with parachutes deployed

8. Cut throttle after Lab is clear

9. Use throttle to slow orbital speed to under 100m/s, stabilize vertical attitude to make craft fall directly straight down

10. Deploy landing gear

11. Apply throttle as needed to slow descent to 5m/s just before touching down

12. Extend ladders and let kerbalnauts watch Lab land nearby

Just an FYI for the specs, the vacuum Raptor has a maximum ISP of 380. Or at least that's the jist.

[LazarusLuan]

Just an FYI for the specs, the vacuum Raptor has a maximum ISP of 380. Or at least that's the jist.

Yes - I think I kicked the max ISP up to 400 from 380 on the atmospheric Raptor 1A to assist making the Falcon XX an SSTO and should have just increased the fuel capacity of the main tank. I'll make those changes in the config files for those two parts but am keeping the max ISP for the Raptor 1A vacuum at 420 since SpaceX has shown a typical increase of around 12% specific impulse with the vacuum versions of their engines.

[CrazyIvan]

Yes - I think I kicked the max ISP up to 400 from 380 on the atmospheric Raptor 1A to assist making the Falcon XX an SSTO and should have just increased the fuel capacity of the main tank. I'll make those changes in the config files for those two parts but am keeping the max ISP for the Raptor 1A vacuum at 420 since SpaceX has shown a typical increase of around 12% specific impulse with the vacuum versions of their engines.

Right, that makes sense! Amazing work as always!

[GBLAKEM1999]

just confirming. the next update for this amazing mod will come out with .90?

[LazarusLuan]

just confirming. the next update for this amazing mod will come out with .90?

I'm going to be putting up in sections what is technically the .25 update over the next couple of days here for testing, but the next official posted update here and on Curse will be exported through the Unity 4.5 engine and is intended for KSP .90 .

[LazarusLuan]

The .25 test update for the SpaceX Launchpack HD is ready for testing:

https://www./?z7ly77uc3s7hh0a

Edited December 10, 2014 by LazarusLuan

[styckx]

After reading some of the launch tips I am getting some nice stable (not burning up) launches now. Great work.

Edit: Oooh. New test update in between posts! Nice!

Fueling up!

Edited December 10, 2014 by styckx

[GBLAKEM1999]

awesome thanks

[LazarusLuan]

I made several updates since the test version I posted last night. Here are the latest versions of the SpaceX Launch Pack HD and the SpaceX Exploration Expansion HD:

LazTek SpaceX Launch Pack HD .25 test

LazTek SpaceX Exploration Expansion HD .25 test

[FutureMartian97]

Found a Bug. Every time I land the MCT Lab on any surface so far (Kerbin and Duna) one leg always goes into the ground and turns the whole thing sideways, even at low speeds (1 - 1.5 m/s).

EDIT: It seems like it happens if I land on any type of angle, but if i'm coming straight down onto level ground it seems fine. And the 0.25 HD Launch Pack works very well so far (Love the Grid Fins ), and the Text file that comes with it says a minimum of 8-16 GB of RAM is needed to run the pack, but I have 4 and it runs perfectly. Just thought I would let you know.

Edited December 10, 2014 by FutureMartian97

[Guest]

I made several updates since the test version I posted last night. Here are the latest versions of the SpaceX Launch Pack HD and the SpaceX Exploration Expansion HD:

LazTek SpaceX Launch Pack HD .25 test

LazTek SpaceX Exploration Expansion HD .25 test

Might want to put it in the Main Post. so people dont have to search for it in the posts before this thread gets alot of more posts.

EDIT: Why did you remove the open/close hatch function ,is it a bug and or a glitch? Im talking about the dragon v2...

Edited December 12, 2014 by Guest

[FutureMartian97]

Might want to put it in the Main Post. so people dont have to search for it in the posts before this thread gets alot of more posts.

EDIT: Why did you remove the open/close hatch function ,is it a bug and or a glitch?

If your talking about Dragon V1 then its a bug. It works fine for me.