Sufficient Anonymity Posted February 24, 2015 Share Posted February 24, 2015 Further flight tests on my SSTO from yesterday exposed some instability when totally drained of fuel. Some more tweaking later and I ended up with this...Note the increased wingspan and slightly different engine cluster (moving the outer pair slightly forward on each side nudges the CoM just a touch ahead of the CoL) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capi3101 Posted February 24, 2015 Share Posted February 24, 2015 Had a contract to put up a new orbital space station around Kerbin, which required a five-Kerbal capacity, a lab, power, and antenna and docking port. Since I had no use for a Kerbin-orbiting space station, I decided I'd build all that stuff into a spaceplane, launch it to orbit and bring it back down - the crew spaces would be filled with those Kerbals that didn't rate even a single star just yet. I haven't had a plane give me as much trouble as that one did in quite some time - must've done a dozen failed launch attempts, either due to poor wing placement (had too much lift towards the nose despite the overall CoL being where it needed to be originally), bad gear placement (I had one that absolutely refused to put itself in a position that would let the plane go straight down the runway - ultimately I realized I had too much weight on it and I needed to shore it up with moar struts), insufficient structural integrity (those cargo bays will do that crap to you sometimes) or insufficient pitch authority (moar elevators took care of that). But ultimately the mission was successful; recovered all but √2000 (cost of fuel) on a contract that paid about √65,000. So a good profit margin there. Still working towards unlocking the Level 3 R&D building; I took on a couple of base contracts that will payout √350,000 between the two of them. I do have a base design that will cover the two but I need to rethink the launcher; for one of them I would actually take a loss were I to use the current booster design. Might be time to build yet another mega-plane...and do it while I still can....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justidutch Posted February 24, 2015 Share Posted February 24, 2015 I added the final pieces to my new ring station. It is finally complete and fully functional, totally stocked with fuels and snacks. The final launch was a structure that includes a suite of science labs, an observatory, and parking spots for numbers ships of various docking port sizes.Lift off:Cruising: Final approach: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starwaster Posted February 24, 2015 Share Posted February 24, 2015 Built a shiny new space shuttle to carry some satellite into orbit.As it rolled over onto its back during ascent... I noticed a disturbing lack of landing gear on her belly.Oooops! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NathanChimp Posted February 24, 2015 Share Posted February 24, 2015 Today, while the universes I see here got on with amazingly advanced stuff, I discovered it is actually possible to land a plane back where it took off from instead of dumping it halfway round the planet.Several Kerbal recovery businesses promptly filed for bankruptcy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jouni Posted February 24, 2015 Share Posted February 24, 2015 I decided to visit Tylo on the ship I built yesterday.The 10 m cargo bay is just the right size for a 2-kerbal Tylo lander. Too bad there was no room for proper landing gear.Yet another tourist shot.Somehow docking always happens in the dark, so there are no good pictures of it.Deadly reentry apparently means that you may lose some RCS thrusters, if you enter an atmosphere too fast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatastrophicFailure Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 (edited) From the Office of Chadvey KermanAssistant Deputy Director of Flight Operations,Kerbal Space CenterOFFICIAL PRESS RELEASEApproximately 36 hours ago, a medical abort was ordered for the Isfjell 4 mission to the Münbase after a crewman sustained severe eye injuries. The crew evacuated according to established procedure and returned to Kerbin via an expedited trajectory, landing safely approximately 12 hours later. Mission Commander Edmund Kerman, Pilot/Driver Billy-Bobrim Kerman, and Mission Specialist Edgas Kerman are currently undergoing medical evaluation and debriefing. All science related to the mission had to be abandoned and is considered lost due to the extreme circumstances. More details will be released as they become available. Rumors that the crewman's injuries were self-sustained, or that the crew suffered a psychological breakdown after investigating an anomaly on behalf of our corporate partner are patently false, and any speculation of repetition of such rumors can only be detrimental to the crew's recovery after this traumatic event.In light of what has transpired, the Office of the Director has immediately cancelled all funding for Münbase operations pending a full investigation. We ask that our corporate partner, Layland-Wutani, refrain from any further legal action regarding their equipment still on the surface until said investigation can be conducted. Several recovered photos are attached to this release.Shadows of the Kraken Edited March 11, 2015 by CatastrophicFailure Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coam Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 Later Yesterday: I sent a probe to Duna and Jool Orbit. My Intention was to have a try at Laythe, but I couldn't figure out a way of rotating my orbit that didn't require huge amounts of delta-v that i didn't have. No pictures of Jool, but did get some at Duna.I also made a Mun rover, seen here with the large solar panels deployed to recharge it.Today: I returned a crew from the Mun using a new lander design inspired somewhat by Apollo. (Basically it drops 3 FL-T200 tanks and the landing legs for ascent, only carrying them if they have some fuel and abandoning them when they're empty.). After splashdown at Kerbin, I designed the life-raft shown below to drop to it.I've never liked how low the capsule sits in the water, so I designed this - a 3 Kerbal life raft which holds them safely above the water. It's fitted with a probe core and small reaction wheel for stability and control, and a solar panel to keep power going to the reaction wheels.Unfortunately I've yet to find a way of mounting it to my Rockets, so it must be air-dropped near to the waiting capsule. Theoretically this still makes sense - a plane that merely has to drop the life-raft can fly a lot faster than one that has to carry floats to land at sea and pick up the crew. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Van Disaster Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 More station testing. Constructed a carrier spaceplane to take return-only shuttles to orbit, launched one:Consequently launched a docking module/escape hatch section to attach the escape shuttle to, and refuelled the station. Unlikely to be docking anything that big at it again anytime soon ( not until the next refuel, anyway ).Next up a bigger fuel dump, an orbital dockyard in a really elliptical orbit, and something to transfer between the two. Unless I fix Minmus first, then it can be my usual dockyard... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whackjob Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 Explained KSP to the new significant other. She explained "My little pony".Seems appropriate! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCgothic Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 Ok, the preparations for the Duna mission continue! Some pics from the launch pad:Tallest rocket I've ever launched! Luckily the mk2 cargo bays are quite rigid. Just enough space to fit in an Ike lander and two remote sats. Also contains the main solar arrays and the expedition's primary RCS tankage and all the life support supplies for the mission. And a mobile lab for good measure. I'll be sending six kerbals, so Jeb is currently sitting on more than 5000 days of life support!Two of these! An orange tank and a half to LKO plus docking attachments. The first stage boosters are rescaled S-1Bs to give enough boost. Then a poodle engine to position in accurate LKO. The first one ran out of power before it could dock, but I did manage to align it north before that happened. The second version included a solar pannel and docked successfully:Unfortunately the were orbiting about 120' behind the service module and exhausted their RCS catching up. The service module piloted by Jeb from the Ike lander completed the docking manoeuvre:And so just one more launch to make:This contains the engines and attaches to the front of the service module. It'll also be ferrying Bill, Bob, Merfield, and two others who I forget the names of to the mothership. Merfield's the pilot on this one.Probably a little under-engined, so it may take several burns on successive orbits to complete the transfer burn! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capi3101 Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 Took the plunge last night and installed FAR. It probably goes without saying that I did not go to space last night on account of the fact I didn't fully understand what the hell I was doing, though I think I probably did better than most - got to Mach 3.1 at 33k on the fourth attempt with my first plane design. That design wasn't much - just a plane that'd get to orbit in the soup but with fewer wing parts.Still trying to figure out why the damn plane stalled (twice) for no apparent reason. I'll either get the hang of it eventually or I won't. Might uninstall it temporarily just to get back to work on my career save, and re-install it when I feel like experimenting some more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beck103 Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 how do you land this beast?chutes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Van Disaster Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 Still trying to figure out why the damn plane stalled (twice) for no apparent reason. I'll either get the hang of it eventually or I won't. Might uninstall it temporarily just to get back to work on my career save, and re-install it when I feel like experimenting some more.FAR has the option to show your actual effective airspeed - which varies with air density - using that at high altitude is quite illuminating because it goes awfully low, and your stall speed doesn't change. FAR panel in flight -> airspd settings -> choose your poison.You could always make another install to mess with it - I have 5 at the moment although they share most of their actual files due to linking across directories. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
delder92663 Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 Built a container with a rover in it to do a test drop from orbit. When I saw I was going to crash into the ocean I went EVA to avoid going down with the ship.Iearned three things here.1) Much like humans, kerbals legs are NOT strong enough to stand when slamming into an atmosphere.2) It is quite a sight to watch a kerbal bounce all over inside a container when he hit the water. Kind of funny in a strange way.3) Kerbals can swim!!!! :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Overland Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 Drove KTP-4 further up the mountain, using a base-car's station generator to assist after a previous double heading accident that wrote off a KTP-3...t'was a slow battle of 3m/s..Bomaderry Outpost station still 30km away...almost 200 units of fuel burned out of 3000..35km or so from KSC just outside previous station at the base of the mountain Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McFarnsworth Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 Wondered if I could get to space without rocket fuel, and how hard I could abuse massless parts.Answers: Yes, you can get pretty much anywhere without rocket fuel. And yes, you can build a solar hat or whatever with massless parts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flixxbeatz Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 Finally got something big to do before doing much bigger stuff: Make a base on the Mun components have been tested, some have been already lifted in orbit.Docked the third batch of crew in my space station. fourth (final) batch has been launched. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralMDBK Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 I decided to go back to Jool on a whim.Javascript is disabled. View full album Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaelhester07 Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 I started making a base on the mun in my current career.I'll get more screenshots tonight. After finding that Extraplanetary Launchpads supports the use of launch clamps I set about building base parts out of them. Build goesdeployment ship-> initial base platform ->small construction truck-> large construction truck (what you see in the foreground) -> modules. All linked with KAS. The launch clamps get around pretty much all of the old problems with building bases. Also .90 seems to be more stable. Modules on my base:Habitat module (seen center)Refinery module to collect karbonite and ore for processingLaunchpad modulePower module (one of my ultra huge solar panels)There's also a storage module but I haven't tested that one yet. Have to watch out for the launch clamps clipping into the builder. The arms on the builder are to stabilize the new module deployment when its finished. A kerbal gets out and hooks up a pipeline to the construction truck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roflcopterkklol Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 Finished my new pod racerhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-QMPSTo0K0Forum location: http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/111759-Now-this-is-pod-racing-mk2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cantab Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 Put two Kerbals in orbit around the Mun in my career. They do not have the fuel to get back.Lesson learned: Basic Jet boosters are not all that useful in FAR. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tetryds Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 (edited) Made VTOL.Said to my friend I was going to land on the island tower.Friend said, "tower easy, land on the antennas"......nailed it.Update:Friend said: "now you are stuck"......not at all. Edited February 26, 2015 by tetryds Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
problemecium Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 (edited) Today I sent up one final supply mission for my Jool-5 mothership:Now I just have to add the rest of the crew and it'll be ready to go once the transfer window arrives. Edited February 26, 2015 by parameciumkid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RatchetinSpace Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 FINALLY MADE IT TO URLUM (KSP outerplanets mod). I had serveral annoying bugs trying to get there as my craft kept on exploding in mid space but I found the solution and was able to get captured. I flew by all four moons and scanned them using scansat. Next I intend to send a twin probe to Neidon (also outerplanets mod) to study that system. There were no landers because I wanted to save weight and to be honest I didn't know what the characteristics of the moons where. I then created a system for Neidon using the kopernicus plugin because I thought it would be boring to go to a gas giant without moons. It was at that point when I realised 4 hours had passed and I needed to go to school the next day.....Ops, better get to bed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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