What did you do in KSP1 today?

Vermil · April 2, 2016

You might remember we left Val, Mad and Kim on Mun's surface with the new two-wheel rover. Well, the terrain was, quite frankly, gruesome, and maybe we went in too deep this time. After many hours of stressful driving the gals had just completed something like a sixth of their trip. The long Mun night would soon approach. Mission Control didn't like the quality of voices from the astronauts. They were stressed out, worried and absolutely exhausted. So he took the decision to abort their mission. Turn around and drive back to the ship. Let's wait until we have new wheels. The 1.1 wheels.

Luckily, due to a considerable amount of more downhill than uphill on the return, it was much easier and faster. The girls were back at the rocket in about two hours and before the night set in. Also noteworthy is how well the rover works downhill. It is necessary to keep speeds within bounds, but overall it's more stable and reliable. The biggest advantage otherwise is the low energy consumption.

Back in the rocket, the new Firebrand's generous cockpit, the spirits soon rise again.

After the takeoff, we can look down onto the landscape they tried to conquer with the new rover. It looks about as bad as it was here. Otherwise, one usually gets fooled because it typically looks less severe from space than it is.

The return trip was uneventful. Mostly. However, they almost landed in the mountains. Not quite though, they missed slightly and landed safely in the foothills.

Jett_Quasar · April 2, 2016

Posted my first V 1.1 video

JR

theorigin · April 2, 2016

Started with building a space station in orbit of the Mun (contract):

Launched a second stage to rondevouz:

Rescued some kerbals from space

Made some kerballike fireworks:

Placed some probes:

It was a busy and successfull day in KSP

Draco T stand-up guy · April 2, 2016

First ever dock to a satellite

KSP-%20And%20Docked_zpskkpfmfpj.png

blorgon · April 2, 2016

My first all-IVA mission (still flying; taking a break while I drift back towards Kerbin) in the ALCOR landing capsule. It's very challenging, but I figure there's no better way to learn how to fly this thing than to go straight for the Mun, with Valentina's life on the line to boot.

Was all-IVA up until this point. Just wanted to take a peek, and was totally blown away that I happened to switch to the chase camera at such a perfect moment. Probably the coolest accidental shot I've stumbled across so far.

Just your basic Munar landing, with a little seismometer experiment installed on the surface. Just down the slope was a surprisingly large, flat area, so this will serve as a landing site for a planned colonization mission.

adsii1970 · April 2, 2016

I was a little bored and decided to create a shuttle loosely inspired on the shuttle in the movie, 2001: A Space Odyssey. She actually flew pretty well, but I wasn't quite able to achieve orbit (about 22,000k). That's when I did some research and discovered this:

Yes, you see correctly; the Pan Am Orion Clipper actually was designed to use a booster assembly that would be jettisoned at the point where the oxygen was too thin for the ramjets to draw in enough air to function. No runway was to be used because the booster platform also had liquid fuel rockets that would launch assist until a fast enough velocity was reached to allow the ramjets to perform efficiently. The booster assembly, which was to be manned, would then return to the space port for refueling, mounting of another Orion Clipper, then repeat the cycle. The Orion Clipper would continue, under its own power, to a stable LEO. Fascinating, and tomorrow, I will try and build the booster platform.

LaytheDragon · April 2, 2016

In the later half of today, I launched the crew module to the Dyson Cube Station and docked it right onto the back. Looks quite like a lighter, and comes with a nice fire red glow on its side.

The module is built with the same style, in a way that appeals to the eye and looks like it could be built into the main section of the station (though it most-likely would raise a question at least).

Where's the RCS to dock it in the first place, you ask? Inside the module.

What about the crew cabins that make it a crew module? Directly within that rectangular prism you see there.

How many kerbonauts can it fit? 96 in the module, plus Jebediah's cupola in the main station body.

How does a kerbal get within? You'll see.

After docking, I decided to transfer the jetpack crews into the new living space.

Those A.I.R.B.R.A.K.E.S. weren't there for no reason. It's a crew hatch! The lighter has opened.

Though the view isn't great, this picture captures most of what it looks like inside. There are also two Mk3 monoprop tanks and two Mk3 Small LF + Ox Fuselages inside, in addition to the six Mk3 Passenger Cabins (not all are visible in screenshot).

If only the windows stuck out on the outside...

Spoiler

Wish partially granted! Currently, the new internal overlay feature overlays the windows on a part and all parts in front of that part! This is as close to having the windows bulge out and be transparent as one gets without the windows bulging out of the module with transparency at the same time.

Next thing to do to the station: Dock solar arrays! The two ports on the bottom/back of the Dyson Cube were placed just for that.

^{Spoiler is to not distract from beautiful KSP 1.1 with text.}

Edited April 2, 2016 by LaytheDragon

Kyrt Malthorn · April 2, 2016

13 hours ago, Frank_G said:

I finally completed my personal challenge to create a working and lookalike Ares I replica. Gets 4 Kerbals and a full setup of science experiments into 100 km circular orbit with 900 m/s of delta V in the tank left. The capsule also features a clamp-o-tron docking port, a light and comes equipped with 4 drogue and 4 main chutes. Some minor action-group tweaking and fixing some staging issues and i will upload the craftfile. Probably tomorrow. Happy now. Time to go out (yeah, this reality thing) and party :). Have a nice evening fellow Kerbonauts.

Okay, that Mk1x4 capsul contraption is freaking awesome. I'm going to go steal that right now.

regex · April 2, 2016

I did probably one of the most epic braking burns of my career. Of course, I then smacked into Callisto because I pushed the burn too hard, but I did quicksave beforehand. MET on the mission is pushing 8 years so I'm not going to relaunch, especially since I have a very good chance of actually landing on Callisto this time... Here's a sample, mission tomorrow:

hendrack · April 2, 2016

I sent communication satellites to Duna and a probe to Ike. Science probe back at Minmus 2 years later with 10 d/v left and waiting for pickup for the Minmus science lab in orbit.

MaxwellsDemon · April 2, 2016

Retrieved Horus 6 from a successful Minmus mission, made some design tweaks to Horus 7 (preparing for a trip to the Munar Midlands), and tested a new "micro-rover" (works great, but not enough juice for effective scientific work; back to the drawing screen). The first of a new class of planetary reconnaissance probes failed its first launch attempt and was "destroyed by the range safety officer," (or so says the official news release) but the second attempt (dubbed Hathor 3A) performed nominally and is now on its way to Eve.

Kyrt Malthorn · April 2, 2016

3rd try to hit the Mun, this career. Well.... They're alive. Best I've managed so far.

A version of this lander is on the way to Ike.

No quickload.

I may be in trouble.

regex · April 2, 2016

My third attempt at a Callisto landing was marred by phantom forces; apparently all my scientific instruments were intruding on the landing gear's personal space. I had enough delta-V to make a landing but the RCS had to fight the entire time and the spinning got worse the lighter the lander was. I eventually set it down using infinite fuel just because I was sick of attempting it and because the lander performed better the heavier it was. No pics because I cheated. I'm moving on to a Mercury orbiter, that left a sour taste in my mouth.

Three attempts...

LeuZ · April 2, 2016

I sent a probe to the moon for a flyby contract. Then I realised that I have enough Delta-V to go into orbit around Moon

X6Tc6mZ

After that I built a probe for a Venus flyby

Edited April 2, 2016 by LeuZ

McFarnsworth · April 2, 2016

Today I built this funny looking thing. It flies a bit squirrely, but it gets to orbit just fine. The top can detach so there's a reason it looks like it does.

April 2, 2016

I've always been bad at rendezvous for some reason, and now I know I was just going about it the wrong way. I've rendezvoused and docked before, but it's always been a chore. Now it isn't! I started to take a different approach, and I can actually do it now! I opened up the Munar Orbit scenario in 1.1, did a landing in an area nowhere near the CSM (it's an apollo style) and went back up. As soon as I matched the planes, it just started to click for me. Finally! This is the one thing I've never been able to master!

max_creative · April 2, 2016

Well yesterday I orbital rendezvoused for the first time, then got really mad when I realized I forgot the docking port. So I'm going to try again today.

Edited April 2, 2016 by max_creative

Frank_G · April 2, 2016

14 hours ago, Kyrt Malthorn said:

Okay, that Mk1x4 capsul contraption is freaking awesome. I'm going to go steal that right now.

Thanks a lot, youre welcome. Its actually a pretty old design, i used for a constellation style Duna ascent vehicle back in version 0.23... Whenever i am in need of a light crew capsule for more than 3 Kerbals, i use a variation of that design (works also well with the Mk. I lander can). And it fits inside a 2.5 m profile, giving it a huge advantage over the regular Mk. II capsule.

Edited April 2, 2016 by Frank_G

Geschosskopf · April 2, 2016

Today the 2nd Sarnus Expedition finally came to an end after about 14 years (8.5 getting there, 1 on-site, 4.5 getting back). Today, the 6 survivors of the 9-kerb crew roared into Kerbin's SOI, docked with a station, and were ferried to the surface in a spaceplane personally piloted by Jeb and Val n honor of this glorious achievement. Much partying then ensued.

N_Danger · April 2, 2016

This morning I sent a Scan Sat to Moho

Then sent one to Dres

Frank_G · April 2, 2016

5 minutes ago, Geschosskopf said:

Today the 2nd Sarnus Expedition finally came to an end after about 14 years (8.5 getting there, 1 on-site, 4.5 getting back). Today, the 6 survivors of the 9-kerb crew roared into Kerbin's SOI, docked with a station, and were ferried to the surface in a spaceplane personally piloted by Jeb and Val n honor of this glorious achievement. Much partying then ensued.

Congratulations, on accomplishing such a long mission. Moving to your mission report thread now.

max_creative · April 2, 2016

45 minutes ago, N_Danger said:

This morning I sent a Scan Sat to Moho

Then sent one to Dres

Awesome! Dres and Moho are my favorite planets! Here have some rep!

blorgon · April 2, 2016

This is an update on this post. Ended up having to redo my all-IVA Apollo reenactment because of some performance issues with KW rocketry parts I was using that I had downloaded specifically for the mission. Uninstalled them, rebuilt the rocket using SpaceY boosters (wasn't going for replica craft, just the basic mission procedures), did the whole thing again. This was my first all-IVA mission, and my first time using the ALCOR module. Also my first time flying without maneuver nodes.

Anyway, I had to go to the external camera a few times to get my bearings during some really tense moments while trying to re-dock with the Service Module after launching from the Munar surface. I also had to retry this part twice because I only just recently docked for the first time, and am still learning how to do it consistently (plus learning how to read the docking instrumentation in the ALCOR pod).

Kyrt Malthorn · April 3, 2016

Success!

Nelrick and Jenise Kerman are very happy about the arrival of their rescue/replacement lander.

It won't be doing so much biome hopping because it spent extra dV to land near the stranded kerbals. But it's still a success! Proving the K1 line of landers is not a complete failure after all! Of course they're bringing back some sweet science too.