What did you do in KSP1 today?

[Tw1]

What is this? Kerbals in an office?

What am I doing? Finally preparing the next installment of something?

 

Astro-Grab was reasonably successful. Failed munar capture, but got a Kerbin Parking Orbit after about 5 bazzilon aerobraking passes. Those things have plenty of inertia.

Then, it was time for some asteroidomicical fun!

It big.

 

"We were so lucky to win tickets!"

"Tell me again, what sort of cruise is this?"

"It's a cruise missile!"

" . . . "

"........"

"AAAAaaaaaah!!"

 

 

This thing is still stuck, and will probably remain so.

Also, spent ages trying to get all my mods updated for 1.3, finally.

 

 

15 hours ago, Jouni said:

Apparently somebody had misassembled the planet.

When this happens, it's always bothersome for pilots, but  astrogeoscientists love it!

Edited July 14, 2017 by Tw1

[Kerbital]

On 7/11/2017 at 0:26 PM, FungusForge said:

Was doing terrain tests on the landship and realized the biggest issue with a 90 meter self-propelled board.

Despite being able to get up to speed, it can't handle most terrain because it loses most of its traction when only four of its 20 tracks are touching the ground, as well as any hopes of steering more than a couple of degrees every 20 minutes when the 32 wheels aren't touching the ground. Looks like making a jetpack for a football field will have to wait. I have some ideas, but I have no idea if they'll work as I'd like.

IMHO, you need fewer (not more), much larger and more actuated wheel groups or track assemblies, and not just on the sides but underneath too for extra traction. Or something like the sand crawler from Star Wars. It might be difficult to build in KSP. And there always be some difficult terrain that it will not be able to negotiate.

What would be super cool: to make it a giant hovercraft!

Edited July 13, 2017 by Kerbital

[Whisky Tango Foxtrot]

Explorer 1 arrived at Moho.

After sending the Moho Outpost's fuel transport up to refuel Explorer 1 engineer Kerdorf Kerman took the Explorer Lander down to the surface, becoming the first Kerbal to walk on another planet (others have gone to Gilly and Ike before him, but those are moons, not planets.

He'll remain on Moho for a little while to run the mining outpost there, since the fuel truck isn't large enough to completely re-fuel Explorer 1 in one trip and having an engineer onboard will make the process faster.

Problem is, this post is a bit of a lie. Not that I didn't do the stuff posted above but that I didn't do them today. In fact, looking at the timestamp on these screenshots it looks like they were taken on July 2nd. What have I been doing in the meantime? Well, Explorer 1's mission through the inner planets is on a pretty strict timetable. As you may recall, when it initially arrived at Eve it was used to conduct science landings on Gilly, since the existing facilities there include neither experiments nor a lab to analyze the results. That was fine, though; the Explorer lander was designed to operate on Moho so having it land on Gilly was no problem at all. The thing is, there still isn't a permanent science lab anywhere in the Eve system, and there's still one more target that needs to be landed on there: Eve itself.

Of course, Explorer 1 is going to be making one more stop at that planet (since it doesn't carry enough fuel to go from Moho to Kerbin directly) which will be a golden opportunity to analyze the data from a manned mission to Eve's surface and back. However, for that mission to arrive before Explorer leaves it absolutely positively needs to launch with the next Kerbin-Eve transfer window, which means that I can't put off designing my Eve ship any longer. And, as you probably already know, building a ship that can pass through Eve's atmosphere, land on the planet, disembark a Kerbal, allow said Kerbal to re-board and then reach a stable orbit around the planet is a giant pain in the posterior. Especially since I don't use mods so I can't just Hyperedit my rocket to the surface to test it without going through the tedious re-entry and landing process every time. However after umpteen simulations where I burnt up in the atmosphere, crashed into the surface, tipped over on the surface and experienced all manner of other problems I finally managed to build a ship that could land, refuel and take off again.

That's the final stage of my ship in orbit around Eve. The simulation wasn't entirely successful; my ladder wasn't quite long enough to reach the surface, which meant that my Kerbal wasn't able to plant a flag. I also experienced a lot of instability on launch and had to F9 quite a few times in order to get through the atmosphere. I also wasn't able to transfer my science data to the cockpit, since the EVA is done from a second crew module that will be left behind on the surface. Still, none of these problems are insurmountable and the rocket itself worked, having enough power to get through Eve's thick atmosphere and enough fuel to achieve a stable orbit (from which the vessel can be retrieved by other ships based on Gilly.) I figure I'll just need a couple more revisions before I have something that's fully equipped for the job, then it'll just be a matter of figuring out how to get that ship off of Kerbin.

[qzgy]

5 minutes ago, Whisky Tango Foxtrot said:

I finally managed to build a ship that could land, refuel and take off again.

I'd like to see the rest of it! Also, considering it was in a fairing, why have used a normal mk1 command pod? Weighs less (i think) -> more dV. Also maybe easier to set up a ladder for it.

5 minutes ago, Whisky Tango Foxtrot said:

it'll just be a matter of figuring out how to get that ship off of Kerbin.

Boosters. Lots and lots of boosters.

Edited July 14, 2017 by qzgy

[Whisky Tango Foxtrot]

40 minutes ago, qzgy said:

I'd like to see the rest of it! Also, considering it was in a fairing, why have used a normal mk1 command pod? Weighs less (i think) -> more dV. Also maybe easier to set up a ladder for it.

I'll post the rest when I do the mission "for real." This was just an F5F9 simulation (i.e. I saved my game, cheated/timewarped my way through the mission to see if it worked, then loaded my old save.) Think of it as a sneak preview of the real mission report.

I used the Mk1 command pod so that I could put the shielded Clamp-O-Tron at the end, giving it a docking port on both ends while still keeping it reasonably aerodynamic. The fairing was for descent, not launch; I have some equipment on top of the cockpit that I need for the re-entry/landing/mining process that gets jettisoned before launch and I needed an interstage node to be able to attach it (since you can't attach things to a shielded docking port in the VAB.) I am planning on switching to a command pod, though, since I'm going to need to add an experiment storage unit to the ship and the pod's tiny top node provides a convenient place for it.

[blorgon]

don't mind me

Edited July 16, 2017 by blorgon

[CatastrophicFailure]

Decided to add a 1.3 folder to the pack and flarp about a bit.

First off, I sent Val and... someone... to the North Pole to see if it's possible to view an eclipse from there.

In short, it's not. Have to dust off the ol' artistic licence, I guess.

 

Then, inspired by this post from @Tw1, I threw Val into the ocean.

Turns out a full ore tank sinks pretty fast. Dig that Scatterer ocean tho! 

 

So I decided to give her a proper submarine...

Which, of course, flies better than it sinks.

 

Um... it's supposed to break like that...

Visited this thing again...

 

Got down to about a thousand meters, then realized what time it was. Soooo....

 

THAR SHE BLOWS!!!!!

The look on her face...

This, unfortunately, put an end to her fun. So she made a paddleboat.

Sigh... it's gonna be a long night...

 

And now, back to Gael and 6.4x!

 

[purpleivan]

24 minutes ago, CatastrophicFailure said:

 

 

 

I think  you're supposed to launch it from under the water into the sky, not the other way around

 

Edited July 14, 2017 by purpleivan

[Cydonian Monk]

23 hours ago, Cydonian Monk said:

Today (or rather last night) I fired up an old version of KSP, 0.90, and was pleasantly surprised at how stable, responsive, and playable the game used to be.

.... And I used it to send an old, half-built, mostly already launched mission from a not quite forgotten several-year-old save out to Vall and the Vallhenge. I just couldn't admit as much until I posted that part of Forgotten Space Program. (I flew the entire mission in 0.90, though the first three of these screenshots were taken in my 1.3.0 install for reasons of dramatic effect.)

(That's actually Jeb in the ship and standing atop the spire, not some kerbal named Albro.... He's a good actor in addition to being a BadS.)

[CatastrophicFailure]

8 hours ago, purpleivan said:

I think  you're supposed to launch it from under the water into the sky, not the other way around

Did that, too. She did not go to space today, tho.

 

8 hours ago, purpleivan said:

 

 

 

 

Also . 

[Haruspex]

Threw together a basic rocket boat for the fun of it.

 

Edited July 14, 2017 by Haruspex

[CaptainTrebor]

Scanning for Easter Eggs whilst waiting for the Duna launch window to come around.

[FungusForge]

23 hours ago, Kerbital said:

IMHO, you need fewer (not more), much larger and more actuated wheel groups or track assemblies, and not just on the sides but underneath too for extra traction. Or something like the sand crawler from Star Wars. It might be difficult to build in KSP. And there always be some difficult terrain that it will not be able to negotiate.

What would be super cool: to make it a giant hovercraft!

Problem is if I go for fewer it won't even be able to move at all. In the image you quoted it was only supported by 8 of the tracks, which as you can see are bottomed out and being flexed upward. they could only muster 1.2m/s to move it off of the crawler track. The other thing is that all the tracks are already beneath the body and there isn't any more room. That said I recently discovered the spring settings in the IR module (I wish it was accessible in the editor like the speed and acceleration things so I wouldn't need to restart KSP for the changes to take effect), and have been working on a setup that works.

As for making it a hover... well on the second day of working on this I decided to give Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak campaign another run and then ended up listening to some of the soundtrack on a loop. The thought has occurred to me a couple of times. I'll probably make one with the help of Near Future's nuclear reactors.

Edited July 14, 2017 by FungusForge

[Jouni]

I had almost reached Tylo's north pole, but a terrain glitch blocked the way. I decided to try approaching the pole from the lowest valley instead.

The rover can easily descend 37-degree slopes – sideways.

Spoiler

 

It took a while, but eventually I managed to find a way through the ridge maze to the mouth of the valley.

 

The valley became too steep to drive, so I sent Jeb to climb. You can see the rover on the valley floor.

 

After careful measurements, Jeb determined that the terrain glitch is located directly on the pole.

Spoiler

 

Jeb decided to take the scenic route back. You can again see the rover in the picture.

 

A couple of hours later near 89N.

Spoiler

 

[VenDei]

One P-K 03 "Single" (Oh, the irony...) flying through the morning skies of an early-career playthrough with quite nerfed science- and funds-yields.

 

[Whisky Tango Foxtrot]

And my Eve ship is in orbit!

Now I just need to attach a tug to it, take it to Minmus, refuel, take it to Gilly, refuel again, land on Eve, refuel, launch, retrieve the capsule, use a tug to take the capsule to Gilly, refuel, then come home. Easy.

Here it is on the launchpad:

It'll be really nice to be able to check this off my list of accomplishments for this game.

[Confused Scientist]

Spent half an hour with a space station module swinging around on an Infernal Robotics arm and then experienced a laggy reentry due to Scatterer and EVE.

[TheDARKOMETER]

Someone had a bad day today 

[CatastrophicFailure]

27 minutes ago, TheDARKOMETER said:

Someone had a bad day today 

"Too close for guns, switching to brown pants."

[KerbMav]

Not today, but some impressions from 1.3 over the last weeks to get back into posting more screenshots.

Spoiler

Now on to what I really did ... yesterday.

Spoiler

Our - as of now - only NV engine (which Bill kept from a test contract ...) pushes a lander and a tourist group to Mun and Minmus, it is double flag contract time!

Jeb, Bill and Bob - and Kerbin!

We forgot to bring power cables, so no surface experiments today - may as well leave right away.

Arriving at Minmus - What Was That?!

No time for investigations, we are on flag duty!

Bill noticed we were low on fuel - all non-essential pers...PARTS away!

And non-personnel ... cramming all supplies into the tourists pod and setting them up for reentry with armed parachutes - no controls on this return flight ...

Sadly one tourist lost consciousness and to avoid a law suit Mortimer waived the invoice for one passenger - 100k funds lost, kerb!

With only 22m/s dV left and 2.5 units of monoprop each, lander and truck ship dock at KSS Alpha.

The crew takes Valentina with them on the resupplier to return to Kerbin.

Jeb ... mountains, Jeb ... JEB!!

Phew ...

Back to Minmus with a small probe!
(Mish-mashing cloud configs for EVE from different pack - at least I know how to copy them ... )

Spoiler

Looks like Minmus has ... become active? ... awoke?

 

Edited July 15, 2017 by KerbMav

[ARS]

I wanna ask something. We all know that SRBs offer a high TWR, but low fuel efficiency, so most of them only used as the first stage of a rocket (or used as missiles). My question is, with it's high value of TWR, is it always beneficial to strap SRBs to a rocket to increase the initial thrust or is there a circumstances in rocket design where adding SRBs only makes the flight performance worse than without it?

Anyway, My Stella-Rium ship now orbiting mun (with orbit altitude being set to be as low as possible. Which, based from highest point in mun's surface, 7061m, so I set my orbit Apoapsis/ Periapsis altitude around 7100m)

Kinda love the tranquil feeling of space as the ship moves steadily in orbit

Jeb and Val seems to be excited about this

Val's point of view

Anyway, time to do some science while waiting dust accumulator accumulates enough dust to be converted into ore and refine it into fuel to refuel the tanks

The next destination will be minmus after the tanks are full

Anyway, that's all for today

 

[VenDei]

31 minutes ago, ARS said:

My question is, with it's high value of TWR, is it always beneficial to strap SRBs to a rocket to increase the initial thrust or is there a circumstances in rocket design where adding SRBs only makes the flight performance worse than without it?

Too high TWR can make control and by extension an efficient ascent profile quite difficult. And/or explode your rocket when things get too hot in an atmosphere. Add that an SRB can't be throttled or shut down once fired, and you'll get a boost that you will only want to add with some consideration. Basically, an SRB is a sledgehammer when your needs range from tiny, fragile nails to bringing down a wall.

Back to topic, really nice ship!

[Zourin]

34 minutes ago, VenDei said:

Too high TWR can make control and by extension an efficient ascent profile quite difficult. And/or explode your rocket when things get too hot in an atmosphere. Add that an SRB can't be throttled or shut down once fired, and you'll get a boost that you will only want to add with some consideration. Basically, an SRB is a sledgehammer when your needs range from tiny, fragile nails to bringing down a wall.

Back to topic, really nice ship!

SRB's are the 'springboard' for vertical launch before bigger, potentially reusable options become available. they're less expensive than chucking liquid fuel engines and tanks down the toilet, and TWR is the stat to look at in atmosphere. Speed isn't so much the main factor as distance off the pad.

and on topic myself; I murdered Jeb and three passengers on a NK-style passenger sub-orbital ICBM propelled entirely by SRB's . Apparently, drogue chutes have their limits. 

Edited July 15, 2017 by Zourin

[ARS]

41 minutes ago, VenDei said:

Too high TWR can make control and by extension an efficient ascent profile quite difficult. And/or explode your rocket when things get too hot in an atmosphere. Add that an SRB can't be throttled or shut down once fired, and you'll get a boost that you will only want to add with some consideration. Basically, an SRB is a sledgehammer when your needs range from tiny, fragile nails to bringing down a wall.

Back to topic, really nice ship!

So that's why last time I tried to launch a rocket it's very hard to correct it's heading while SRBs is still burning, and when it's finally jettisoned, my rocket suddenly flips and leads to Unplanned Disassembly . Anyway, thanks for the info!

[Zourin]

9 minutes ago, ARS said:

So that's why last time I tried to launch a rocket it's very hard to correct it's heading while SRBs is still burning, and when it's finally jettisoned, my rocket suddenly flips and leads to Unplanned Disassembly . Anyway, thanks for the info!

Yeah, if there's too much of a TWR difference between stages, you get some wild torque issues with air resistance becoming very dominant compared to the new stage's thrust.