What did you do in KSP1 today?

[cantab]

You're not the first person to have issues with contracts in Jool orbit. Contributing to the confusion, it seems like different parts of the game use different things to determine what sort of trajectory you're on. The science system for example requires a periapsis below the surface as well as a position in the atmosphere to be considered flying rather than in space.

[Tex_NL]

I've been experimenting with NEAR for the last few days. My spaceplanes fly pretty good but from time to time they start porpoising at high speed. As soon as I pull up the canard wings stall, lose lift and the nose dives down again.

And today I had an epiphany. It suddenly hit me. Instead of increasing to control maximum on the canards I should reduce it, limiting the maximum angle and preventing the stall. My 37 Kerbal passenger liner now easily gets to orbit with over 3500 m/S ÃŽâ€V left.

Landing on the other hand is still a problem. That darn thing actually WANTS to fly and it has a hard time loosing altitude. From a 150km circular orbit dropping down to well under 30 km it can still glide for at least half way around Kerbin.

Edited September 5, 2014 by Tex_NL

[TimberWolffe]

That darn thing actually WANTS to fly and it has a hard time loosing altitude. From a 150km circular orbit dropping down to well under 30 km it can still glide for at least half way around Kerbin.

I had a similar issue with my science jet (I strapped a bunch of equipment to a rocket and tipped it sideways).

Basically what you have to do is cut the throttle completely way before where you think you should and glide it out, only using short bursts of thrust to correct your trajectory

[Concentric]

But it isn't. Both my apoapsis and periapsis are at 150km, Jool atmosphere only goes up to 138. Which means I have a perfectly fine orbit there, just as the contract says, but it still won't accept it.

So long as your periapsis is above the cut off point, you can actually achieve orbit within the atmosphere of a planet. For example, as long as both your AP and PE are above 20km on Kerbin, the game will consider you in "orbit" of Kerbin (the camera will even change to orbital mode). The problem is that I don't know the cut off altitude of Jool. However, if Kerbin is any model to go by, I estimate that anything with a PE below approximately 39-40km altitude would be considered on an impact trajectory. (I.E., ~28.5% of overall atmospheric altitude)

Well, then, it appears I was even more mistaken than I thought. I had thought that Jool's atmosphere extended to 200 km, for some reason, and also that the game wouldn't regard it as an orbit until apoapse was out of the atmosphere and periapse was above some cut-off altitude when dealing with an atmospheric body...

You're not the first person to have issues with contracts in Jool orbit. Contributing to the confusion, it seems like different parts of the game use different things to determine what sort of trajectory you're on. The science system for example requires a periapsis below the surface as well as a position in the atmosphere to be considered flying rather than in space.

Ah, so could it be that Jool orbital contracts are using a situation determinator that doesn't function well for that area?

[Redd]

Made my first tug earlier this week, after failing to push my docked lander(wobble wobble). Was an attempt at a return mission for once, as my interplanetary trips have only been one-way trips so far.

Sadly, next to the lander having a few design errors, the tug only barely managed to get into an orbit around Duna before running out of fuel. Solution? Make it bigger! Introducing my second tug:

This thing got me to Duna with so much fuel to spare (inefficiency says hi) I decided to hop by Ike before visiting Duna.

Lemwise Kerman isn't fazed by the solar panels breaking apart during the landing but still decides to go back to the tug and not wait for nightfall. Just in case.

Meeting up with the tug again.

Alas, bit too late to try and return to Kerbin (or rather, my fuel station around the Mun where the tug will stay). Will try that tomorrow with a bit of a limited amount of fuel (maybe I shouldnt have visited Ike). Hoping I'll make it! It'll be the first time my space program has a successful return mission from something other than the Mun or Minmus. :-) Brought captain Jeb along, but he remained in the tug (just in case I botched the landing. ).

On a side note: I always see people wanting a TWR above 1.0. This is my first flight with Kerbal redux, is having a TWR as high as the one on my lander a bad thing? I do know it'll need lots more delta v to take off from other places like eve. o.o I suppose I'll have to build another stage underneath the lander.

PS: I know both the tug and lander aren't exactly beautiful! lol - if at the end of the day I have a successful launch it's a good day. Making it look good at the same time feels like an impossible feat.

Edited September 6, 2014 by Redd

[cantab]

On a side note: I always see people wanting a TWR above 1.0. This is my first flight with Kerbal redux, is having a TWR as high as the one on my lander a bad thing?

Not really. For a Duna ascent going full throttle with high TWR will waste fuel, but it's nowhere near as severe as on Kerbin, and if you're making a powered or partly powered touchdown the thrust may help. For airless bodies a higher TWR makes landing and takeoff both more efficient, and landing easier too, but of course it means more weight of engine which may undo the efficiency benefits.

I do know it'll need lots more delta v to take off from other places like eve. o.o I suppose I'll have to build another stage underneath the lander.

Eve and Tylo are so extreme most people build specific landers for them. For the smaller bodies you can often use the same lander design a lot though. 3000 m/s or so should cover everywhere else, 2000 is enough for all but Laythe, Vall, and Moho.

[FacialJack]

today i move Kerbol Explorer engines block 2 in his new position, and strutt block 1&2

KE engine block 2 docked in new position, new inonnic engines block on the way

Go strutting

Jeb's EVA strutting

Sry for low resolution texture, it a test for lag reduction, but ill switch back for better as its not really efficient

Edited September 6, 2014 by FacialJack

[sumrex]

Yeah I noticed that as well the other day. Looks like I am going to have to load NEAR or FAR as well to give the new B9 version parts a try. :\ Anyway, still making progress though, the shape is still refining and the robotic wing tips have been added in. I still have the bottom panels off though to add the occasional strut or addition in the meantime. At least I was smart enough this time to build the plane as a subassembly so I can tack whatever front I want on to it quickly. Anyway, a few addons a bit of KerbPaint and I'll have a XB-70 Valkyrie before you know it. Anyway, I would be curious how it would fly with FAR. The XB-70 shape was made for high Mach numbers and I wonder if the FAR software would make the same interpretations at high mach. Basically the V-shape of the bottom of the fuselage and the wing tips that rotated down were set up so the air deflected by the fuselage would be directed to the wingtips which then diverted it down to create lift. The fold down wings also trapped the shock wave the plane created as well so the plane could increase its lift and ride its own shockwave.

Edited September 6, 2014 by sumrex

[GreeningGalaxy]

today i move Kerbol Explorer engines block 2 in his new position, and strutt block 1&2

KE engine block 2 docked in new position, new inonnic engines block on the way

http://cloud-2.steampowered.com/ugc/26215831920342396/DB9508AB33593A006DBD6C90B64988418690B7BD/

Go strutting

http://cloud-4.steampowered.com/ugc/26215831920420883/E76154F58BE4A9138D4EB6EFDCC91B4FB7B95F4A/

Jeb's EVA strutting

http://cloud-4.steampowered.com/ugc/26215831920370038/BD2F6204FD7AF1B8D176E68FC026B67FC9DCFB70/

http://cloud-4.steampowered.com/ugc/26215831920373275/8CCAC98AD8080BCEDA188FE8410DB64E90C4E283/

http://cloud-4.steampowered.com/ugc/26215831920376630/1A2D96297C6D1EC92929553644EBD8BE60A1B847/

Sry for low resolution texture, it a test for lag reduction, but ill switch back for better as its not really efficient

Whoaa. That's a big ship. I've built some big things before, but that really puts them to shame, and probably would make my computer catch on fire and/or hate me forever.

What's the total delta-V?

[GreeningGalaxy]

Today I got Near Future Technologies to see if it suited me better than KSPI. So far, so good- The reactor system is a bit different (and I'll miss fusion a lot) but it works and I like it. Not quite as complex as KSPI, which is another thing I'm going to miss, but I think the fact that the parts it adds are more realistic and could be more feasibly constructed with today's technology makes up for that.

The model/texture artwork in this mod is absolutely incredible. Everything looks rugged and high-tech yet at the same time just a little old-fashioned- maybe the tiniest hint of a steampunk aesthetic? Couldn't say for sure, but those nuclear reactors really wouldn't look too out of place on a dirigible.

After mucking around with engines for a while, I decided to send a VASIMR-powered transit vehicle (with enough delta-V to reach Jool or Eeloo, I'd imagine) to Minmus. And of course, as I tend to do, I decided to land it even though it didn't have any landing legs. Only this time, Jeb decided to jump out and beat the ship to the ground, so came down next to him with Bill doing the piloting.

And so they landed and started the reactor shutdown sequence. But before the glow even faded from the radiators, Bill noticed something he hadn't before: The ship had no heat shields or parachutes!

Luckily, Bob was already on the way with the next mission, a revamped version of the vehicle with landing struts, heat shields, and parachutes, plus a bit more reaction wheel torque than the previous model.

That gave Jeb an idea- since they now had a way home and their old ship was useless, there had arisen an opportunity for some big explosions! Ignoring Bill and Bob's protests and incoherent whining about something called "radioactive waste", Jeb jumped into the defective ship's cabin, throttled up to maximum, set the trim off-center, and started the reactor boot-up sequence. As the ship started to shudder and tilt ominously, he narrowly escaped and jumped clear.

The ship took off across the surface of the Minmus sea, nearly knocking Bill upside the head on its way past. Its unbalanced thrust caused it to perform a graceful loop in the sky...

...before becoming a new, radioactive crater on the icy surface.

I like this mod!

[JebNeedsHelp]

Last night I made my first real attempt (still in stock, so far) at docking two spacecraft together. It was a dismal failure. However, after making pretty much every mistake possible, all at the same time, I tried again tonight, with a much better ship design. Success!! Jeb and Bill went EVA and swapped ships for the ride home. Bill left Cheetos floating all over the command pod for Jeb, but Jeb didn't mind - he'd stuck peanut butter on all the control switches for Bill.

I know now that I took a hellacious amount of fuel for the trip, but last night's ships, woefully designed by me, were going to run out of fuel if I hadn't given up in frustration first.

[orcmaul]

Today I created a massive imgur album in the process of performing ground operations at KSC. I'm loading a payload of BoxSats in my spaceplane for insertion into a polar orbit.

Javascript is disabled. View full album

[TrooperCooper]

The Prometheus accelerated out of Kerbins low orbit...

...and arrived at Minmus one day later.

Jeb went on EVA to board the lander-craft...

...and leave the mothership.

Descending towards the surface...

...to plant the 2nd Minmus-flag during this career.

A few hours later, Jeb met up with the mothership again.

Docking the lander requires some precision...

But for Jeb, thats not really a challenge...

Afterwards, he had to tie the lander with struts into a fixed position...

And then get back aboard the huge Prometheus ship...

...which was refueled later on by the Karvester...

Next up will be the delivery of the science pods for station science at Minmus...

[tater]

I made the mistake of making my first NERVA rocket for Duna… I only put one engine on it… transfer burn is loooooong.

[Redd]

Not really. For a Duna ascent going full throttle with high TWR will waste fuel, but it's nowhere near as severe as on Kerbin, and if you're making a powered or partly powered touchdown the thrust may help. For airless bodies a higher TWR makes landing and takeoff both more efficient, and landing easier too, but of course it means more weight of engine which may undo the efficiency benefits.

Eve and Tylo are so extreme most people build specific landers for them. For the smaller bodies you can often use the same lander design a lot though. 3000 m/s or so should cover everywhere else, 2000 is enough for all but Laythe, Vall, and Moho.

Thanks for the info! You've given me some hope that my current design might make it to some other places (if I can get it to return to kerbin safely first hehe). I'll leave Eve and Tylo alone for now and shoot for an easier goal.

[FacialJack]

Whoaa. That's a big ship. I've built some big things before, but that really puts them to shame, and probably would make my computer catch on fire and/or hate me forever.

What's the total delta-V?

Hi, ty

Before the new ionnic engines block, i had 10km/s dV wiz nuclears engines + 5.10 km/s wiz ion engines

Maybe more, as im not sure VOID make a good count for my sided ejectable tanks (when i put some on rocket, dV get higher when i eject them....)

Edit: but it still miss some module, that will reduce the dV, and a kethane module too, that will infinite the dV

Edited September 6, 2014 by FacialJack

[SRV Ron]

Test flight of the redesigned Turbo Orbiter. Canards made a huge difference in performance in the high speed dash to orbital velocity.

The two stage rocket;

On the pad;

Orbital turn

The high speed dash;

Burnout;

Stage to orbit;

There is enough fuel for a Mun flyby and return. In addition, additional fuel can be removed from the turbo booster for better performance.

Flying this design is very critical especially the flight profile for the high speed run. Ideal is reaching 2,400 m/s just prior to flameout near 40,000 meters while still climbing to an apogee of over 100,000 meters. Then, very little fuel is needed to complete the orbit.

[nine_iron]

Put a contracted satellite in orbit of Kerbin, going the wrong direction.... 20 minutes of finessing the orbit and wondering why I had not completed all of the requirements

[NecroBones]

I'm gearing up for the initial release of my parts-pack (probably today or tomorrow), probably as a wide "beta" version.

Made some new parts, of course.

Size-0 (0.625m) SAS module, that's also surface attachable.

3.75m to 3x 2.5m adapter:

3.75m to 7x 1.25m adapter (though KSP's symmetry doesn't work well when there's a center node, so it's best to attach parts 1-by-1. The 6x symmetry "works" but it only places 5).

Mini-sized radial decoupler

[Liowen]

I'm gearing up for the initial release of my parts-pack (probably today or tomorrow), probably as a wide "beta" version.

Made some new parts, of course.

Size-0 (0.625m) SAS module, that's also surface attachable.

http://www.necrobones.net/screenshots/KSP/KSP%202014-09-05%2019-30-38-49.jpg

3.75m to 3x 2.5m adapter:

http://www.necrobones.net/screenshots/KSP/KSP%202014-09-05%2019-34-00-59.jpg

3.75m to 7x 1.25m adapter (though KSP's symmetry doesn't work well when there's a center node, so it's best to attach parts 1-by-1. The 6x symmetry "works" but it only places 5).

http://www.necrobones.net/screenshots/KSP/KSP%202014-09-06%2009-32-48-23.jpg

Mini-sized radial decoupler

http://www.necrobones.net/screenshots/KSP/KSP%202014-09-05%2023-28-51-81.jpg

I like the 7 engine cluster, but how would it look with 3 LV-T45 in the center? It would still give the vectoring of the 30's, but give it more straight line punch.

[Red Iron Crown]

I like the 7 engine cluster, but how would it look with 3 LV-T45 in the center? It would still give the vectoring of the 30's, but give it more straight line punch.

I've made similar clusters under 3.75m tanks using radial attachment points in the past. You can mix and match any number of two engine types in a balanced manner, 1-6, 2-5, 3-4.

Great looking parts, Necro, looking forward to your release.

[Jon Tash]

Jeb took the microphone on the radio today and spoke some crazy speech, wonder where he got the idea.

"These are the voyages of the spaceship KRSS - Explorer. Its continuing mission, to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new places and build new stuff, to boldly go where no Kerbal has gone before."

Minutes later Bill figured out why they were experiencing power problems on the lander section. Looks like someone on VAB forgot to put batteries and or energy generation parts on the lander. Their mission now is to land back on KSC and install the missing parts. So much for adventure...

[Liowen]

Test flight of the redesigned Turbo Orbiter. Canards made a huge difference in performance in the high speed dash to orbital velocity.

>snip<

There is enough fuel for a Mun flyby and return. In addition, additional fuel can be removed from the turbo booster for better performance.

Flying this design is very critical especially the flight profile for the high speed run. Ideal is reaching 2,400 m/s just prior to flameout near 40,000 meters while still climbing to an apogee of over 100,000 meters. Then, very little fuel is needed to complete the orbit.

I tweaked this idea some to make a crew delivery/rescue craft, I needed something that could fill both roles and was moderately cheap. The major tweak is adding on the crew can add different cockpit, the intake is really only on there to serve as a heatshield, since I am running DE, for the chutes. I had this with apogee of 80km before flaming out, could have gone higher had I not throttled back so far I think. The SSTO I had wanted to use is too far into the techtree to be used right away, but with this I get to the space station drop off a crew member and go pick up the rescue mission before heading home... at least that is the plan I have.

[Levelord]

I was testing out my old VTOLSSTO series to see how much fuel I could save in an efficient ascent.

Then I decided that it's inefficient for simply carrying only one Kerbal. So I made a new line experimental of VTOLSSTOs which is lighter. This one is called the JX-42 Vector.

[Overfloater]

Did a little test drive

http://youtu.be/GgncOKmOeTw