What did you do in KSP1 today?

[tetryds]

Made a new KSP copy without FAR:

[Cydonian Monk]

Today I made a thing.

Or rather over the weekend I made a thing. And fought with KSP stuttering and my own editing software constantly reminding me of a failed export from 2 years ago. Today I uploaded the thing from the weekend to the video thing place, which took 3 hours. As for the thing? It's just a short (10m) vid set to Hungarian Rhapsody No 2, for no reason other than it's a song from the YouTube Audio Library that shouldn't get me swatted down by ContentID. Bit of spaceplane, bit of station, bit of reusable spacecraft action.

[Hotaru]

Sent the Constant--my first Kerballed interplanetary mission--on its way to Eve and Gilly.

Since the VAB was idle and there was a Jool window coming up, the administration decided to send a cheap, chemically fueled, one-shot reconnaissance mission--the Danutless--there as well.

Dauntless fueled and manned in Kerbin orbit.

A few days later, outbound for Jool with a crew of three.

[hellblazer]

Early morning desert landing.

[KerBlammo]

Launched my first attempt at an orbital ore refinery into a parking orbit:

A second launch carried the lander/drilling vehicle. Here is the current stack waiting for a transfer stage/orbital tug to take it to Minimus.

[FastMINI42]

Launched another Can o' Kerbals into a Solar orbit for the XP gain. Passed the MUN for the gravity assist and picked up some science along the way. My gravity scanner made mention of another biome I have not visited yet, so I'll be planning that mission next. Once I find some Kerbals. Seems like everyone is off doing something at the moment.

The Space Bus, flight 427, next stop Kerbol...

Edited August 25, 2015 by FastMINI42

[problemecium]

I started my first mining operation on Minmus!

It's still missing the ISRU converter and, well, anything to refuel, but meh. I got a contract saying to build a base, so I did.

[GeneralMDBK]

So past couple days I've been messing around and finally achieved some new things: first SSTO of 1.0+ that can actually be used for more stuff than just achieving orbit with the help of refueling, and my first ever asteroid capture which I also turned into my Station for refueling the SSTO.

[SOHEIL]

I would download the RVE mod here. As well download the RSS mod for a earth size planet and download one of the textures. Seriously after you play with this you won't go back to the old KSP world. If you have any more questions feel free to PM.

Hellblazer

I think planetshine & RWE will be enough for a good looking view !

thanks ...

- - - Updated - - -

Early morning desert landing.

http://i.imgur.com/bbuA4zK.png

Oh **** .... can i have this view with RVE ?

[GDJ]

Went Easter Egg hunting. Found 2 of them on Kerbin.

[Mister Kerman]

I made my very first SSTO; The X-4 Bullpup.

I disabled the fuel feed from the front FL-T400's for ballast, so I have 742 liquid fuel units left. (Not shown.) If I fly this thing a little better and tweak the design, I might be able to do satellite contracts with it.

I also made this thing. I called it the X-5 Rabbit's Foot because of how the air brakes look like rabbit's ears while it ascends. I couldn't get this thing into orbit but I like the way it looks.

EDIT: Also can anybody critique my designs? These are my first attempts at SSTOs and I'll take any hints more experienced SSTO designers can toss my way. I appreciate it!

Here's a profile of the X-5 Rabbit's foot with CoM, CoL, and CoT. (With all of the liquid fuel/oxidizer removed from containers in front of the center of mass.)

And here's another look at the wing arrangement.

This is the X-4 Bullpup under the same conditions.

Edited August 25, 2015 by Mister Kerman

[Cirocco]

EDIT: Also can anybody critique my designs? These are my first attempts at SSTOs and I'll take any hints more experienced SSTO designers can toss my way. I appreciate it!

overall they look pretty solid, especially for first tries. I'd get rid of the nose-mounted intake in favor of a more aerodynamic nosecone though. nosecone intakes produce a LOT of drag.

secondly: you're packing an awful lot of fuel, especially oxidizer. Try cutting down on the fuel a little. It might seem counter-intuitive, but less fuel = less weight, both because you're saving weight on fuel, but also on tanks. If you're simply looking to get a small amount of kerbals (1-4) to orbit, going smaller is usually better.

lastly, while your rabbit's foot looks pretty cool, I would advise against designs that use double wings. You really don't need that much lift surface, and remember that the overwhelming part of speed your SSTO's need to get into orbit is horizontal, not vertical. Keep your designs as sleek as possible.

EDIT: looking at the bullpup in the latest picture: your CoL is a bit far away from the CoM to my liking. Personally I would move the wings forward a little or add canards to compensate, but that's just me. If you can handle her as she is now, don't worry too much about it, but I personally think it's easier if you keep the CoM and CoL markers touching throughout the flight

Edited August 25, 2015 by Cirocco

[Mister Kerman]

The handling is all right on the Bullpup. I didn't realize intakes were so draggy so the nosecone tip I'll definitely incorporate into my design. I'll also try it with less fuel, but I'm not great at doing lots with less. Now is a good time to start I suppose if I'm trying out SSTOs.

Also one more thing. I needed to de orbit using my mono propellant, but I couldn't get docking mode to translate forward and backward thrust. I only have 2 RCS thruster blocks on my craft. Does that have something to do with it? (I tried in rotation mode and translate mode. Neither worked.) I ended up having to disable my top port, rotate above retrograde, then use RCS to rotate back down below retrograde, creating retrograde thrust. I eventually got back down, but I ended up on the exact opposite side of the planet from KSP, which hurt my recovery bonus.)

Thanks for the quick response. Good help can sometimes be hard to find!

EDIT: This is my first day playing KSP in like 4 months or something. I hit a stale period in my campaign that forced me to work on SSTOs. I was intimidated and stopped playing lol. Today was a good day!

Edited August 25, 2015 by Mister Kerman

[Belphegor]

continued setting up mining operations on minmus, last time i did scans and deployed some rovers to get accurate readings and find a flat spot, now i've landed an habitation module with an engineer and spare KAS parts. next up is the mining rig and fuel storage in orbit although i'm not yet sure how i'm going to tackle this

i've also been planning a big trip to duna. the plan as it is now is to get a 2-way transfer stage and a science lab in orbit around the planet and use a lander equiped with mining gear to harvest science and refuel on the surface. then the lander will return to the mothership in orbit, drop the science, repack parachutes and go back down to land in the next biome. maybe i'll give the lander some wheels and land it on the edge of 2 biomes so i can visit 2 biomes at once but i'll see if it's possible when i actually get to building the thing.

the transfer stage, an LV-N cluster with 8km/s Dv (without payload) is already in LKO. i just hope it's going to make it to duna and back with the added weight i'm about to strap to it

Edited August 25, 2015 by Belphegor

[eddiew]

EDIT: Also can anybody critique my designs? These are my first attempts at SSTOs and I'll take any hints more experienced SSTO designers can toss my way. I appreciate it!

Overall your designs look pretty sensible, and I'd guess that you've done plenty of reading up on the subject before you started ^^

For the Bullpup, my question has to be; how will it do satellite contracts? Manned vessels don't count... but you might find something like MRS handy, since it adds a mk1 cargo bay that's about the size of the docking port you're using. Also, monoprop; dead weight on a ship this size

For the Rabbit, I love the design, but I don't think you need those extra monoprop tanks, they're heavy, and they're causing extra drag. The 75 MP in the docking port and 15 in the capsule is more than enough for multiple dockings, assuming you get to a rough approximation of the right position using main engines (i.e. about 50m directly in front of the port you want to attach to). You look like you've balanced the RCS around a near-dry weight, which is good, and I bet you can dock with less than 10 monoprop if you line up carefully first and tap H. (Tip for this; get your station to point its docking port at yours, then point yours at its. Then you have a perfect 'up' vector in order to dock and there's no MP wasted on translation manoeuvres. You can even build planes with only one direction of RCS and still be able to dock them in this manner.

has perfect RCS balance and can approach from 40-50m with the H key, and not deviate. If you have a pilot/probe/mechjeb on the station, you can get it to rotate to track your docking port as you approach, which even allows for a little bit of lateral movement, since the magnets on the ports will catch you if you're a few degrees off.)

I also suspect you don't need the lower pair of vertical stabilisers on the Rabbit, which would again cut out some drag. 1.0.4 has proven to be less about raw thrust, and more about sleek, smooth, low-drag shapes. On that note, I suspect that the right-angled leading edges on your wings are bad for drag, but I don't have a suggestion that won't change the design completely...

Random suggestion; take a small nosecone and put it on the back of your rapiers. The thrust comes from the four nozzles around it, and will be unaffected, but you'll lower the drag and get better atmo efficiency

Also, check out the SSTO Showcase thread for a range of good designs and helpful peeps

Edited August 25, 2015 by eddiew

[Mister Kerman]

Yeah I definitely researched SSTOs heavily before attempting to make these, but it's all different once you start making one of your own. It feels like you've learned nothing without the prior experience. My strategy was simply to make a regular plane and just add a TON of fuel, which worked for my first SSTO Bullpup.

I'm working towards a small sattelite cargo SSTO, which was what the Rabbit's Foot was supposed to be. It's a hog on fuel though, since it's so heavy. I'll probably scrap the design and work on something new. If sleek is good, then I'm glad. I want something with a long nose in front of an in-line MK2 cockpit. I won't sacrifice that aesthetic. Sooo cool looking.

EDIT: Also thanks for the link. I'm going to check that out right now!

[hellblazer]

I think planetshine & RWE will be enough for a good looking view !

thanks ...

- - - Updated - - -

Oh **** .... can i have this view with RVE ?

RVE is the one that makes everything look good. Just remember to use the Alt+E to bring up the options (on the launch pad or in the air). Just hit apply and it fixes the horizon.

[Cuky]

Haven't done much today. Just downloaded few of the mods that I had been putting aside due to my RAM limit (I had 2GB, now upgraded to 8GB). Those are mostly parts mods, like SDHI Service Module, FASA Launch Clamps, Habitat pack, Stockalike Station Parts Expansion and Infernal Robotics.

Now I am off to work

[SOHEIL]

Downloaded 2GB mods ... & my game crashed !

trying OpenGL !

[Starwhip]

Normally, heatshields attach in this super ugly fashion:

But if you "force" the stage up a bit by raising it:

Read about this and had to try it for myself.

[eddiew]

But if you "force" the stage up a bit by raising it:

Last time I did that it gave the entire ship a fit of the jiggles until the last stage separated It might work better with the offset tool rather than forcing it to connect to what feels like a redundant node, but I'm not sure on that one.

[MaxwellsDemon]

Designed and attempted to orbit "Duna One," the first Kerballed mission to Duna. The entire complex is approximately 90 tons wet, so the plan was to launch it (partly unfuelled) in three parts and assemble it at the refuelling station. However, an unforeseen design defect caused the plan to go awry when the first two launched elements were unable to dock. Jebediah Kerman, threatened with being stranded in orbit in a vessel with no reentry capabilities and very limited maneuverability, made an epic EVA and boarded the refuelling station safely. A second attempt will be made soon... in the meantime, Jeb is enjoying his unplanned on-orbit vacation.

[Terwin]

Also, stability. Don't talk to me about stability. When it accelerated, the engines hit the ground. When it braked, the nose dug in. Mission commander Brigadier Riv had to limit the whole expedition to 10m/s cruising speed to avoid catastrophe :<

Sounds like you forgo to turn off the torque of your pod+reaction wheel(s)

For my activities, I managed to get my Grand Tour into the EVE SOI, fly by low EVE orbit and land on all 3 biomes of Gilly(only 1 of those landings actually had more than 2 landing gear touch the surface, but that was only a problem when I pulled Jeb out to plant his flag... had to switch back a couple times to keep the ship from toppling)

Ran into a bug where as soon as I started harvesting ore my tanks filled up, but I am not greatly concerned by that, as I would have just taken as much time as was needed anyway.

(I previously encountered that bug when dealing with asteroids)

Having visited all the Gilly biomes, I launched towards Eve(I intended to orbit Gilly, but was making a minmus-like ascent and over-shot Gilly orbit.

After experimenting with many nodes, I got a Moho intercept that also touched the Eve atmosphere on the way out.

Thinking about Eve, I made an Eve rover and Launched it from Kerbin. It is probably a lot more transit efficient than it needs to be and will no doubt have issues when I try to enter the atmosphere, but hopefully it will land safely with 6 radial drogue chutes and 6 radial chutes as the 3 heaviest pieces are the Asteroid Day probe core, a 1.25 service bay, and a single Radioisotope generator(4 rover wheels, 3 landing gear, an antenna and a set of reusable science gear finish out the package, I am hoping to get science from most of the land biomes if I can). It is due to hit the Eve SOI around the same time the Grand Tour hits Moho.

Images: Gilly landing and Eve probe:

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After launching the probe, I did my low eve fly-by of the Grand tour, even getting an EVA report in the EVE upper atmosphere(stayed within a couple dozen meters of 90km, so I did not even bring in my Gigantors), and set my sights on Moho(that place has a *LOT* of biomes).

I was a little disappointed that my scansat did not get to EVE for scanning purposes until after the Grand Tour left the SOI, but it should be there before it returns from Moho, so there should still be a chance to refuel it and send it on to Moho.

Hmm, looking at the upcoming lull in activities, it may be time to send a Scansat to Dres, and perhaps Eeloo.

[Cirocco]

Also one more thing. I needed to de orbit using my mono propellant, but I couldn't get docking mode to translate forward and backward thrust. I only have 2 RCS thruster blocks on my craft. Does that have something to do with it? (I tried in rotation mode and translate mode. Neither worked.) I ended up having to disable my top port, rotate above retrograde, then use RCS to rotate back down below retrograde, creating retrograde thrust. I eventually got back down, but I ended up on the exact opposite side of the planet from KSP, which hurt my recovery bonus.)

Did you see any white exhaust coming from the RCS ports when you tried to get forward/backwards thrust? If you did, and the craft wasn't noticeably moving forward, that means the RCS ports are positioned in a way that only a small percentage of their thrust is forward, and the craft is blasting at full strength but is compensating with its reaction wheels to try and keep the craft on track. Basically in this position, your reaction wheels and RCS are fighting eachotehr and your net thrust is extremely small.

If you don't see any exhaust from the RCS ports while trying to move forwards, your keys aren't correctly configured. Make sure your keys for docking mode are the same ones as the ones in "normal" staging mode in the key bindings menu. This happens to me quite a lot actually version updates or game restarts have a tendency to reset your keybindings.

[Bishop149]

Also one more thing. I needed to de orbit using my mono propellant, but I couldn't get docking mode to translate forward and backward thrust. I only have 2 RCS thruster blocks on my craft. Does that have something to do with it? (I tried in rotation mode and translate mode. Neither worked.) I ended up having to disable my top port, rotate above retrograde, then use RCS to rotate back down below retrograde, creating retrograde thrust. I eventually got back down, but I ended up on the exact opposite side of the planet from KSP, which hurt my recovery bonus.)

I'd say your mistake is using docking mode. . . . . don't, it's pointless. Granted the last time I tried it was probably about 10 versions of KSP ago but the fact remains that I never use it and just control RCS in normal flight mode.

Press R to turn on RCS, controls are then:

H - Translate Forward

N - Translate Backward

J/L - Translate Left / Right

I/K - Translate Up / Down

AFAIK these are the default controls, I certainly haven't changed them.

If you wanna just deorbit, aim you ship retrograde (orbit), press R and then hold down H.

The ship will automatically fire the correct RCS nozzles to head in the direction intended, if you only have 2x 4-way blocks chances are at least some of those 8 nozzles are pointed the right way to achieve the desired effect, if not try rotating the ship around a bit. As a rule of thumb for future designs I always try and have RCS blocks in four-fold radial symmetry somewhere close to the CoM.