What did you do in KSP1 today?

[vitekc45c]

In the last couple of days i designed two refueling stations ASR Mk 1 (Automated Surface Refinery) and ARP Mk 1 (automated refueling pod), launched the former into orbit and failed at building a crane to land it on the Mun.

 

 

[Carl]

Finished my Mun Tourist Orbiter. Weight growth for several reasons has caused it to spiral quite a bit. Final payload to orbit is 91 tons. our probably all going to tell me i'm insane to try and lift that to orbit with just Skippers and SRB's. But thats what i had to do. Copy of my image heavy spacecraft exchange post below in Spoiler tags.

 

Spoiler

NOTE: Although i used mechjeb for my flying and it's present in all the screenshots it is not present on the version of the craft file i uploaded. So it's pure stock compatible.

 

So i've allready posted my little boy tourist to Kerbin Orbit and back previously. Using that Experience and unlocked parts i built this. With 3kps of d/v upon reaching orbit it's quite capable of doing Mun or Minimum Orbital Tours, (well i hope, i haven't tested it but the d/v is more than enough and there's no stability or power issues so it should work just fine). I was limited by my unlocked parts to Skippers, no Mainsails or Twin Boars unfortunately. And the d/v requirement of the actual on orbit stage at 3kps combined with enough TWR in it to make practical maneuvers created some challanges. After trying a poodle i just felt the TWR was too low for the whole thing so i went to a Skipper, but the lowered ISP, and a few tons of weight gain (and the extra drag), from the chutes required and the solar's and adjusting batteries and what not raised the final payload to orbit which required more tankage for teh on orbit stage and the final total payload to orbit climbed to a massive 91 tons. Lifting that like my old design with liquid side along boosters lifted off the pad by SRB side alongs just wasn't practical in the slightest, i tried combo builds but in the end i had to go to a dual liquid booster setup with side along SRB for the extra TWR with the SRB's burning out and jettisoning a few seconds before the liquid boosters. Then once the anemic decouplers and chutes have got all that clear the main liquids kick in, tilt over and burn her to orbit.

 

But she isn't cheap 275k credits goes up and just under 50k credits comes back down, giving her a per tourist cost of just over 10.2 k a kerbal. It's not great but i'm working with some harsh tech limits. And whilst i haven't picked any up yet, (i'm designing in anticipation, the same on orbit engine stage coupled to a different payload stack will be used for the manned flyby's by the science team), i expect the mun contracts to pay proportionally better than the mere orbit ones. Later i'm going to modify it and use it for ferrying tourists plus fuel to a space station where a tourist mun/minimus lander will meet up and refuel off it. But thats going to need better monoprop tanks, and docking ports and a bigger stack separator than i currently have.

Flying her should be simple even without mechjeb, just remember, don;t pitch till you jettison the first stage liquids and allow a 3 second delay before igniting the 2nd stage liquids after you hit the decoupler for the 1st stage ons, or things will go boom. Getting her down just means initiating the deorbit burn, then locking her prograde till the chutes becomes available, deploy chutes, release SAS, let her drop and the chutes will do the rest. Don;t worry if the ass swings out on reentry at around 23km, thats supposed to happen, as long as she's locked prograde she won;t swing enough to blow anything up but she will swing enough to bleed enough speed for the chutes. In case your wondering, my experiance with tall point stacks is that they will always re-enter point end first, thus the heat shield on top and the prograde reentry, gonna have to figure out a hatch solution longer term.

One Minor Note, added a comm antenna after flight but before the VAB screenshot, so the recovery value ommits that, only 900 credits though.

Craft File.

Pictures:

Also as a bit of an Inversion from the usual advice a thing i kept finding with this build was "Need Moar Parachutes"

[LordFerret]

On 12/30/2016 at 9:14 PM, Sharpy said:

... After discovering that runway segments generate some lift, ...

How the hell ..... ?!?!?!!

 

On 12/31/2016 at 11:59 AM, dangerhamster said:

... the airship program.

Competing with Amazon are we?
(http://www.cnbc.com/2016/12/29/amazon-flying-warehouse-deploy-delivery-drones-patent.html)

 

19 hours ago, Carl said:

How the hell did you get those positioned so perfectly....

I myself put the relay transport ship in the desired circular orbit, then detach all the relays (three of them) at once... I use that as the Pe position. Then on successive orbits, two of the relays get their orbits changed at the next Pe pass... one gets its Ap increased, the other decreased. After a few orbits the other two relays come into the desired positioning, pretty much, and when they do, on their next approach to the Pe, they get their orbits re-circularized. So far this has worked very well for me, only minor adjustments have been required after many months worth of orbits. I'd been using LV-909 engines on the early relays, since then switching to the IX-6315 Ions; I limit the thrust on them to like 2%, which allows me to make very fine orbit adjustments. I do this all manually; No MechJeb here.

Good luck to you!

[Sharpy]

3 minutes ago, LordFerret said:

How the hell ..... ?!?!?!!

It seems any flat surface generates some lift. Today I was making a rover that would forcefully stick to the ground. CoM below ground level. Front angled downwards. Jet engine angled downwards.

I failed so hard... On scale of 1 to 10, my fail is at 11.

 

 

[Big Kerbie]

So, being frustrated by my simulations (see reverted flights) to put an unmanned Rover on the Mun, I decided to try a different mission. Weeks back, I had selected a contract for a long term orbital survey of Duna. Today, I launched that mission. 

I have never in my many, many hours of playing this game sent a probe to any other body other than Mun and Minmus. I am very excited for this mission! I am not at the optimum angle for the journey, but it will get there after a mid course correction burn. Communications might be an issue, but the antenna I stuck on the probe should reach back to Kerbin. Until it gets obscured by Duna itself. As we approach the optimum launch window, I can see a remote Rover probe being launched as well.

[Carl]

So that lovely little 91ton lifter i just posted. Yeah. I'm allready redesigning 2.0. unlocked monoprop tanks of serious size. That's raised the upper section mass to 29 tons. Thats meant going from 3 and a half full tanks to twin jumbo's for another half a tank of fuel just to remain above 2.7kps d/v. Thats 105 ton payload. And i'm worried it''s not enough monoprop, despite my launch system struggling even more. Need to see if there's a recommended mono-prop to tonnage ratio anywhere.

Edited January 1, 2017 by Carl

[Aragosnat]

First Screen Shot of the year:

It is carrying this for a Duna mission(self one):

Also did something silly that I should have tried before midnight(no need to see craft also got enough speed to go clockwise-ish):

 

[Fireheart318]

I finally finished this after a ~4 week hiatus

 

[Jett_Quasar]

Here's the latest installment in my video series... enjoy!

Jett

[Columbia]

15 hours ago, SaturnianBlue said:

I built a huge 2016 sign and blew it up.

 

In other news I messed with @Columbia's Titanic with torpedoes and rockets and in general it tends to explode rather violently or lists over.

I can confirm this. 

Also, great way to finish off a somewhat okay-ish year!

 

[Fireheart318]

On 12/31/2016 at 5:54 PM, SaturnianBlue said:

I built a huge 2016 sign and blew it up.

 

In other news I messed with @Columbia's Titanic with torpedoes and rockets and in general it tends to explode rather violently or lists over.

Oh yeah, I saw that on Kerbal X while uploading a very cheaty craft (Examplefighter 2)

[Triop]

Today, some BDA...

[Brownhair2]

Built a new MOTHER:

Its TWR is better and it has cool doors!

But more importantly, it has a higher delta-v than a normal MOTHER, which is good since I'm planning on using it in the inner solar system! Hopefully it'll turn out better than last ti--

wait

i didn't use a normal MOTHER last time

i used a special one with 18,000 m/s

this one only has 13,000 m/s

aww

[Jett_Quasar]

Someone on my YouTube channel suggested I build a U-wing from the new Rogue One movie....

Jett

Edited January 6, 2017 by Jett_Quasar

[CaptainTrebor]

Sent up a Minmus ore mining base but forgot to give it drills . I am now sending up a drill module to connect to the main base.

Edited January 2, 2017 by CaptainTrebor
Spelling errors

[JadeOfMaar]

The rover dudes automotive division at Deep Sky were ready before the DAKAR challenge was a thing. Based on the Karbonite powered Tumbler intended for deployment in foreign atmosphere, two sports cars have been produced: the Mk1 "F1" (left) and the Mk2 "Dark Knight" (right).

Somewhat an engineering and aerodynamic nightmare the Mk2 was built today, with a little love, some wing panels and hidden elevons. The higher-ups are beside themselves regarding which to use: The Mk1 with all-round superior stats and easy handling during jumps or the difficult but much more photogenic Mk2.

 

Spoiler

 

 

Edited January 2, 2017 by JadeOfMaar

[dangerhamster]

The Gryfon crew, directed to an anomaly detected by the scansat spent a fruitless time quartering the area and finding nothing. The Rovemates Kerbnet readout remained obstinately clear and repeated checks of the signal scanner gave nothing but static and the obligatory station playing Prince and Rick Astley on heavy rotation.

Fed up and metaphorically saddlesore they set off on the 70km last leg to Munbase dismissing the event as a software glitch. Minutes later they were surprised by a message from base congratulating them on finding an anomaly.... nonplussed they warily scanned the vista finding nothing but unerratic boulders. Finally the signal detector gave them a reading to the south and they meandered in the approximate direction indicated, the Rovemate's scanner remaining blank. Eventually a more regular shape hove into view and they were able to cross an apparently random Munolith off the to do list.

Flag planted and comms turned off to avoid distractions they set of homewards reaching speeds of R3 in their enthusiasm. Having travelled countless Km, gathered a bucketload of science, visited 12 different biomes and located 3 anomalies they felt they deserved a rest. Arriving at base they found nothing had changed in their absence.

Remonstrations with the base crew stopped when it was pointed out the only box of screwdrivers on the Mun was strapped to the side of their rover. Oops.

With blame apportioned the engineers set to and soon had the hab unit plumbed in along with the obsolete Grifter rover giving a nice "basey" feel to the site.

Plans are in hand to strip the unneeded science equipment off the Ickle  rover for use as a crew transport but are on hold as no-one can decide wether to junk the parts or try to return them to Kerbin.

Meanwhile back at KSC Val is confident enough with to take a bunch of ballast trainees along for the ride.

Forgetting to tell them she was testing the water landing capabilities was a slight oversight. Apart from Werner's inability to get the ducted engines to produce reverse thrust the trials went well, for a given value of "slightly dodgy". With it's ability to shed forward airspeed at will the Wallis is slightly ahead at the moment however as the Buzzard promises to be cheaper to operate over long distances work continues to find a neat solution other than "let the airspeed bleed off then descend".

 

 

Edited January 2, 2017 by dangerhamster

[Sybok]

This is how I set up my network:
Is everything done right, it will work forever without losing the positions to each other. No extra mods are required (but KerbalAlarmClock is helpful).

I use a carrying system with a set of 4 relays. The relays are all equal and that's important: Same weight and same fuel = same DeltaV.
The Sepratrons are facing away from the remaining ship, otherwise the carrier would end up with a different orbit. The Stack Decoupler force is set to 0% for the same reason.

Achieve circular orbit. No need to be too accurate here.

Warp to Apoapsis, turn Prograde and activate the first relay.

2-3 orbits later it's time for the next relay and so on (always exact on the Apoapsis).

The result is a system of 4 relays with identical orbits.

Ok, it is not a beauty, but even after 12 years of time warp the system remains functioning and this was my main goal

[heihei4c]

While my Sirius Mk. III prototype still travelling to Minmus, I tried to design a SSTO prototype to LKO, using the "Panther" jet engine and T-45 rocket engine. (I haven't unlocked the tech 4 jet yet )

After few failed attempts, I successfully put it to LKO, with only 66m/s delta-v left! 

Here is the Meteor Mk. I prototype in orbit, with Valentine Kerman as the test pilot.

After the deorbit burn, I have exhausted all my fuel, so I have to glide to the nearby landscape.

With Valentine's BADASS skill, the plane landed in ONE piece.

Valentine decided to plant a flag on the landing site for a little celebration.

And......Have a HAPPY NEW YEAR 2017 everyone!!!

 

[TheEpicSquared]

22 minutes ago, heihei4c said:

While my Sirius Mk. III prototype still travelling to Minmus, I tried to design a SSTO prototype to LKO, using the "Panther" jet engine and T-45 rocket engine. (I haven't unlocked the tech 4 jet yet )

After few failed attempts, I successfully put it to LKO, with only 66m/s delta-v left! 

Here is the Meteor Mk. I prototype in orbit, with Valentine Kerman as the test pilot.

After the deorbit burn, I have exhausted all my fuel, so I have to glide to the nearby landscape.

With Valentine's BADASS skill, the plane landed in ONE piece.

Valentine decided to plant a flag on the landing site for a little celebration.

And......Have a HAPPY NEW YEAR 2017 everyone!!!

 

Nice SSTO! 

Also,

Spoiler

*bolding intensifies*  

 

[LordFerret]

Today I decided to abandon my shuttle program. Not happy with it.

 

I was able to get successful launches carrying the payload you see (full tank), but reentry (empty, sans tank) was too much a problem (uncontrollable tumbling) for me to bother with further... I've wasted enough hours on it already. It's a shame really, because flown like a plane from the runway, turn around and glide back in worked perfectly.

No doubt left in my mind at this point; This is a game of rockets, not of airplanes.

[LameLefty]

I'm still getting used to playing on my new computer after a few months without a machine. So today I just did a few exercises in basic flight - I had previously orbited an Aeris 4A spaceplane. Today I launched a modified Kerbal-X to dock with it, just to see if I remembered how to dock (just kidding - been playing this game for well over 3-1/2 years). The practice was good, and it was fun to see how pretty the game can be with the right beautification mods.

[The Raging Sandwich]

54 minutes ago, LordFerret said:

Today I decided to abandon my shuttle program. Not happy with it.
I was able to get successful launches carrying the payload you see (full tank), but reentry (empty, sans tank) was too much a problem (uncontrollable tumbling) for me to bother with further... I've wasted enough hours on it already. It's a shame really, because flown like a plane from the runway, turn around and glide back in worked perfectly.

No doubt left in my mind at this point; This is a game of rockets, not of airplanes.

You can download one off of KerbalX (I recommend @sir_frost's one)!

[LordFerret]

3 hours ago, The Raging Sandwich said:

You can download one off of KerbalX (I recommend @sir_frost's one)!

I would, but only for evaluation and comparison against what I'd built. If I do rebuild my shuttle again, for sure I will take your suggestion and check out the work of others. Thanks.

[Voodoo8648]

Well, I decided to start live streaming my gameplay to switch. I'm perusing an ultra realistic career path. Running a heavily modded version of KSP with 75 Mods installed including Kerbal Star System. So tonight, you're invited to come smoke and have some drinks with me while we reach out to the stars.

Show starts at 8pm EST

https://www.twitch.tv/voodoo8648

 

Edited January 2, 2017 by Voodoo8648