What did you do in KSP1 today?

[lodger]

Having fun with rovers today:

poor Rony and Jati Kerman will have to wait a little longer until their munar base will be delivered ...

Edited July 23, 2016 by lodger

[N_Danger]

Jeb gets the go head to land on Gilly.

And does some goofing off while he is there." Look mission control I can jump over my lander!"

And then after an uneventful  trip back to the Kerbin Space station, the crew lands in the taxi capsule. 

And finally a line up of the original Kerbalnauts for Jeb's retirement party. This was the last flag, oddly enough, I needed for my goal of planting a flag on every planet or moon (that you can land on) and get the kerbal who put it there back home to KSC alive. (PS Jeb's new Party Bus is the bomb)

 

 

 

 

[MatttheCzar]

Used a hidden feature of the Firespitter heli rotors to make an autogyro in KSP!

 

[Slam_Jones]

6 minutes ago, MatttheCzar said:

Used a hidden feature of the Firespitter heli rotors to make an autogyro in KSP!

- pic snip'd for brevity -

 

Not sure I get exactly what I'm looking at... but I take it you mean that if you turn the Thrust Limiter down to 0 on a vertically-mounted propeller, it will still generate lift when moving forward?  Am I close?

[MatttheCzar]

2 minutes ago, Slam_Jones said:

Not sure I get exactly what I'm looking at... but I take it you mean that if you turn the Thrust Limiter down to 0 on a vertically-mounted propeller, it will still generate lift when moving forward?  Am I close?

Yep.  This is based on real world areodynamics.  

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autorotation

 

EDIT: Turns out you dont even need to turn it on!  The rotor spins anyway!

Edited July 23, 2016 by MatttheCzar

[Slam_Jones]

Just now, MatttheCzar said:

Yep.  This is based on real world areodynamics.  

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autorotation

Awesome!  Gonna have to incorporate this into some of my choppers

[Bigbootie]

Adjusted friction on wheels so that I would stop sliding and am slowly leapfrogging my orbiter and fuel plane to higher elevation to attempt orbit.

 

[MatttheCzar]

Lots of experimenting with gyrocopters!

 

 

 

 

[munseeker]

My first successful attempt to create a workable spacecraft inspired by the Space1999 Eagle. It will mostly be used as a crew shuttle for some of the moons of the outer planets. The fuel capacity is somewhat limited, so on this first test flight to the Mun the Eagle will stay on the surface as a permanent base.

 

[numerobis]

Today I sat on the porch with the sky falling down, and completed an EVA contract that involved landing on the steepest parts of the scarp that separates KSC from the highlands.

I crashed rather a lot of planes that way; I think the contract cost me about as much as I earned -- just shy of $10k per crashed plane, just over $5k per spot visited, plus a completion bonus.

To make up for it, Jeb took two tourists along on a mission to perform my first rendez-vous and rescue a Kerbal. They're all orbiting Mun now, waiting for the return transfer window. I forgot a thermometer unfortunately so I can't do observations of Mun. Even then, the mission will net about $300k on a $12k spacecraft (a third of which could be recovered).

[iainonline]

Sent two satellites into orbit around kerbin and got the crew home safely. They are sending back science info (temp and pressure) they have solar panels and should run forever.

[Haruspex]

The Fifth Interplanetary Expedition is almost ready to leave for the moons of Jool!

Edited July 24, 2016 by Haruspex

[Vermil]

First out in Vermil Space Agency's new wave of manned missions are Tandan, Sigrid and Bilfal.
Their mission is fairly straightforward and should mostly be routine. They'll look for another anomaly on the Mun. (Some might remember Cerly's gang's successful discovery of the Arch).
They'll probably don't find anything anyway, but the main interest here is in the new Rover_E. Due to these funny changes of the Universe, it has become more realistic and somewhat less fabulous than it was during much of its development. But it's still regarded as a very promising design and there is a lot of interest in how it will perform in the field. Safer, and thus more relaxed to drive as well as faster, it's also hoped that it will be better on steep inclines, even if it can't climb mountain walls any more.

 

The chosen rocket is the Firebrand_G. This rocket is a sort of hack on the venerable Firebrand_F.  The original command pod has been replaced by an improvised command pod from the Mk3 Cockpit. Alas, no one has spent the time to polish or finish the Firebrand_G. There's equipment and instruments missing and it doesn't maneuver with quite the distinction of the old Firebrand_E and F. Shouldn't matter for this mission though. The focus here is the new Rover. First positive data is that it doesn't blow off or break during the launch.

 

Sigrid is super-super-happy with the new command pod though. And she should be. Not only is it much, much roomier and more comfortable than the F-model's, it's also stronger and safer. All this while also paradoxically being lighter than the old.

 

It might be tempting to draw the conclusion that the Rover_E's curious shape reflects requirements for mounting on the rocket ships. This is not the case though. The reason it was possible to fit it this perfectly on the Firebrand_F's original rover mount was entirely just luck and coincidence. It was very welcome though. (And yes, the rover is a bike with two support wheels):

 

The transition to Mun was efficient, direct and fast. Tandan can do this in his sleep.

 

The Firebrand_G inserted into a low circular orbit around the Mun directly, without completing a single orbit around either Kerbin or Mun. Only remains to land, which is a piece of cake. Right?

 

Edited July 24, 2016 by Vermil

[Vermil]

46 minutes ago, Haruspex said:

The Fifth Interplanetary Expedition is almost ready to leave for the moons of Jool!

 

 

What a beautiful Monster!

 

But,.. - Where do you store the propellant needed to transport that to Jool?  You're going to use some tug?

 

[Vermil]

As you might have guessed from my ominous rhetorical question, - so this is where this mission started to go wrong.

Problem was Tandan had hanged around with his buddy Danvey, as the latter had studied and trained "suicide burn" -landings in preparation for his Vall expedition.
So Tandan was inspired but hadn't done his homework. This is what a very long streak of successes and much confidence in your experience will inevitable lead you to. It's called "hybris".

 

Evidently he had somewhat forgotten how the Firebrand works. And he certainly didn't set up the calculus equations to get any sort of feel for where he was. You see,.. the normal landing operation of the Firebrand, which starts at 12,000 to 10,000 m in low circular orbit, is a sort of suicide burn! The engine is so puny, it's what it takes to get ready to set down.

 

So while seat-of-the-pants flying Tandan may have thought that he was playing it safe and having margins - by initiating the suicide burn as he passed 9,000 m - that was actually not the case at all!

Tandan (whimpering): "- I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry!.."

Bilfal: "- Oh dear User save us all!"

Sigrid: "- Great User that art in Heaven, F9 us our sins,.."

 

Tandan (whimpering): "- I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry!.."

Sigrid (realizing they've whittled it down to 146 Mph and still have room to slow down yet some more): "Ten bucks on that we're gonna survive."

Bilfal (figuring it's a win/win deal): "- Done! You're on."

 

Well, it took some time for all the explosions to die out, and the command pod bounced, rolled and slid for what seemed ages, but it finally came to a stop. The crew enjoyed the contrasting tranquility for some time, then:

Sigrid: "- You owe me ten bucks!"

Bilfal: "- Gladly!"

Tandan (muttering silently to himself) "...and praise to the User..."

 

...See, that's why the command pod of the Firebrand was changed!

Edited July 25, 2016 by Vermil

[Boganaut]

Nice rig Haruspex!

Today I launched another X7 containing a payload for delivery to Eve. Both Duna and Eve-bound X7s are in dire need of refuelling (the latter having had to use monopropellant  to lift periapsis from 22km to space!). I rechecked fuel and ore available at the Mun and Minmus. I decided with the transfer windows for both planets rapidly approaching, that it would be best to just hoist some fuel and ore straight up from KSC. It wasn't cheap, but it fit with the space station expansion plans, so it seemed the best option. The launch went smoothly and an intercept course has been laid in.

Expect docking will take place tomorrow bringing together the two X7 shuttles, existing space station together with the refinery and ore tanks I just launched.

Also, this morning I also discovered dislodged payloads will happily float through cargo bay doors. Previous payload testing on the X7 bound for Duna (inventively named X7 Duna, by the way) had resulted in half the cargo being detached, but firmly wedged in. It seems while I was doing other stuff, it dislodged, and drifted 4.7km away from the ship. Fortunately, the package is a small probe with plenty of monopropellant, and a sturdy klaw, so it was able to re-attach itself to the rear of the cargo bay without too much trouble. Delivery of both packages to Duna will restore comms, control and power to two space stations... mistakes were made and things previously kind of exploded a bit during aerobraking.

Oh one more thing: Claucie Kerman and her idiot companion on Duna landed their rocket with a highly unconventional orientation. It is intact, but its shape and unstable "pointing down the slope" look make me feel like singing "Jamaica, we have a bobsled team!" Needless to say, Claucie and Co. are standing uphill from the giant bobsled/bomb thing. Rescue will involve designing a superior rocket which may not make the next transfer window, so some hab units from and old space station were thrown down to a location a bit under 5km from their present position. There were chutes involved, but the final stage of the landing procedure could only be described as litho-braking! Most things didn't explode and they now have a hab module each... which will probably be necessary until they stop arguing about whose fault it was that they landed on a steep slope.

[Haruspex]

50 minutes ago, Vermil said:

What a beautiful Monster!

But,.. - Where do you store the propellant needed to transport that to Jool?  You're going to use some tug?

Indeed! The forward section of the ship serves as the tug, miner, refinery and low-gravity non-atmospheric lander to refuel at all the smaller airless moons. Most of the fuel onboard is stored in the form of unrefined ore (the ore bays are full), but there are also about 6400 LF in the tanks as well for the ejection burn.

Here's the shot showing what is where...

...and a close-up of the explorer module.

[RocketPilot573]

Cleared for takeoff

 

 

-Rocket

Edited July 24, 2016 by RocketPilot573

[moogoob]

I've been playing around with Eve some more, still trying to find a good, reliable way to get a probe lander to a particular spot. My recent re-installation of EVE and its clouds made this a tad more difficult than it really had to be. Still, my new lander probe proved more than up to the task. Just 2.5 tons with the transfer stage, this thing is not meant to (or able to, for that matter) circularize at Eve, just plow into the atmosphere to slow down, so that too affects my choice of landing sites. I was able to put it down in the lowlands, which I have to admit has a very nice cloud effect:

 

[Vermil]

Well, once Mission Control and Dr Horst had stopped tearing their hair, alternatively euphorically celebrating that their guys were still alive, they had to start doing something to rescue the stranded astronauts. This mess definitely threw a spanner into the gears, regarding their planned space programs. But while Tandan, Sigrid and Bilfal are safe and reasonably comfortable where they are in their intact Mk3 cockpit - they even have one solar panel working - it would feel much better to have things back to normal.

So a mission had to be scheduled, and fast. People had to work long into the night. There were never any discussions about who would go. Jebediah, Bill and Bob showed up fully suited as soon as they heard. And only one choice in rocket: The rarely used Lensman. So the crews had immediately worked to get a Lensman_G set up on the pad. Only modification was equipping it with the same Rover_E that the Firebrand had carried.

 

The Lensman can be described as a very 'muscular' Mun-rocket. Definitely overkill. But that also makes it extremely multipurpose and capable. It seats no less than eight, 8 Kerbals, so yes, the requirement to do rescue operations was an original design consideration. It has lots of Monopropellant, huge battery and a nuclear reactor to be able to operate in shadow for extended periods.

 

Jebediah is not someone to mess up. He inserts into a low, circular orbit as directly as Tandan did.

 

And he also inserted on the track above the stranded astronauts. As they comes around on the dark side, all that remains is to land. But what about the darkness? Landing in the night? Hardly seeing anything? Wouldn't it be better to stay in orbit until daylight?

 

Well it probably would be better - and hopefully that notion of wisdom survives to another day - but right now Jebediah is in the same overconfident mood that was Tandan's downfall. And he is right on the path to the Firebrand_G. He has a good chance to land real close. In Jebediah's defence, it has to be said that he had no idea of how much "subtle" fluctuations in the Universe had deteriorated the performance of his lights. Luckily, he had learned something from Tandan's mishap, so he descended very gently, expending much fuel. It was extremely difficult and not possible to see anything until the very last meters. But fortune smiled at us this time and the landing couldn't have been more perfect.

 

From their wreckage, Tandan, Sigrid and Bilfal has been able to watch the show, and with great satisfaction they note that Jebediah has landed only 12.9 km away from them. Rescue seems eminently probable now. They're able to communicate on radio. We won't get into the details of the conversations, it would impose on their privacy, but they all agreed to rest for now and sleep and continue the rescue in daylight and when fresh.

Edited July 24, 2016 by Vermil

[Vermil]

2 hours ago, RocketPilot573 said:

Cleared for takeoff

 

 

-Rocket

 

Does that air field exist somewhere in the game or is it a mod?

 

[CatastrophicFailure]

1 hour ago, Vermil said:

 

Does that air field exist somewhere in the game or is it a mod?

 

It's the Island Airfield near KSC. Take off, fly east-southeast, it's on the first island you come to.

 

[Vermil]

45 minutes ago, CatastrophicFailure said:

It's the Island Airfield near KSC. Take off, fly east-southeast, it's on the first island you come to.

 

 

Lol, Kerbin: the least explored planet. (in my game  )

 

[Slam_Jones]

No major builds (yet) today, but I have been tweaking a small Rescue Skiff (it's not really a skiff but I prefer the name), playing with the aerodynamics and trying to see how much speed I could get out of it without it leaping from the water and then crashing spectacularly.  So far, my record has been 55m/s on flat water, and held it for a minute or two (until the fuel ran out...).  It's not easy to get it up to speed, either: if you jam it from off to Full in one motion, it will lift the bow clear out of the water and flop over onto its back.  In fact, if you accelerate too fast at any point, it will do exactly that, so getting it up to full speed is a bit of a balancing act.  Raise the throttle a bit, let it catch up and settle, raise it a bit more, etc etc.

I've since upgraded to FAR, so I'll have to see how this affects the stability.  But with Stock aero, I put the ailerons and elevators on (well, more like splitter and spoiler), and adjusted the angle at which they were deployed to balance the boat properly at high speeds.  Since the bow tended to want to lift off, I put downforce there and upforce at the stern.  As it approaches top speed, however, adjustments are needed to ensure it doesn't death-roll (read: nose-dive violently) or lift off.  I also made sure to have a Pilot on board for SAS stability boost.  Not sure how much more speed I can squeeze out of such a small vessel, but I think I might be able to get it above 55m/s if I really tweak it.

I also built a trailer for my rovers, and, to test it, I loaded a rover onto the rover trailer.  Trailer hinge still needs a bit more tuning to allow it to swivel properly, but it's close enough for the meantime.  The trailers, in the future, will likely carry a variety of payloads, including other roves, rescue gear (winches and wrenches), and possibly even a drill and ore container for ISRU operations.

And, last but not least, my favorite duo of bearded scientists, Jenson and Jervey, hang out in the lounge after crashing a rescue skiff.

 

Edit: Oh, and the first SOS rescue was attempted by the crew.  They, err, may have lost a Kerbal or two and didn't exactly complete the contract... >.>

Edited July 24, 2016 by Slam_Jones

[DaElite101]

After landing on the Mun yesterday, I got into a bad Mun escape, my nuclear engines ran out of fuel, and Bob had to get out and push the craft into an aerobrake. Also, the aerobrake used nearly all the ablator in my heat shield. But we made it. Sorry, forgot to take pictures...