What did you do in KSP1 today?

[Gameslinx]

 

Sorted out this thing

[KerikBalm]

Most of this was outside of KSP, but after updating scatterer to 1.3, I decided to update my mod planets as well.

So scatterer oceans are back to rald:

I may want to make the water more choppy, but for now its nice

And then I removed that mod and went back to my "Dying Duna" mod which thicken's Duna's atmosphere, adds O2, and ocean, and signs of life:

And some earlier shots when the ocean was a bit bluer:

Spoiler

 

*Edit* All pics from a 3x resize mode (Sigma's - he also helped me solve problems in these mods). I recommend playing such a resize mod particularly if you want to give Duna some O2... otherwise you'll find airbreathers very OP on duna

Edited July 16, 2017 by KerikBalm

[Julien Kerman]

Launched the rest of the voyager probes, Voyager 2, 5 and 6.

Voyager 2 failed again and got an useless Jupiter encounter due to the imprecisely kicker SRB stage:

Voyager 5 performed perfectly, I decided to go from Jupiter directly to Uranus instead of flying by Saturn first:

For Voyager 6 I planned to use Jupiter in order to get to Pluto, like the New Horizons probe did. But Pluto is not yet in the right position, so I took a Jupiter --> Saturn maneuver:

[TheEpicSquared]

Didn't do much in KSP itself, instead spent time modeling for a mod I'm planning: 

That's an attempt for an inline Mk-55 Thud engine. Could definitely use some improvement. I think the throat is way too small, so that could use some improvement. Also, I'm using the online version of Sketchup, because it doesn't lag, unlike the desktop version, and I can access my designs from different laptops.

I'll export it to Blender for texturing. My mod will also include inline versions of popular radial parts, like RTGs and the Puff. Haven't thought of a name yet, but it probably will be something like InlineAdditions or something. 

[gilflo]

My trip to Laythe in one go with starEagle, an OPT SSTO Seaplane of 1031T

. After the Reckon Sat launch and scan of Lathe, we entered the atmosphere and ditch safely near an oOe mining site, with our explorer aircraft stowed on the deck. Explorer aircraft will be soon launched from theStarEagle deck while on sea and then both aircrafts will land on the mining site.

Screens and vids

 

[KerbMav]

I've been busy.

Our station must grow even more, still parts/equipment missing to go full on Orbital Science!
Had to use an autonomous science package drone to assist with docking the new module - shaky, but works.

Being able to name docking ports makes the Docking Port Alignment Indicator mod even more useful and easy to use!

Edgel removed some RCS thrusters that are no longer needed and glued them onto the transport that brought up the new module and will burn up in a few hours.

Started to downsize my standard Heavy Lifter to safe some funds - also ...

... used one rocket for two contracted probes: A Space Telescope and an Asteroid Sentinel.

Practicing gravity assists, a little Mun ballet to push the transport into a fitting orbit for the telescope.

For the Sentinel I found a nice push out of the system - by pure luck! Originally I wanted to wait until the orbit "moved" into position by Kerbin rotating for half a year, but this right here will put me close to Eve's orbit. (Somehow someone thinks it is the best orbit to look for asteroids threatening Kerbin - hopefully the big pink marble will not swallow it ... )

And I set up to burns for my oscillating polar relays - I use them to always have one relay unobstructed by any of Kerbin's moons, but the signal delay can get high when they are the only ones in range, so I will lower their AP from 110 to 40 Gm ...

Edited July 16, 2017 by KerbMav

[Zeiss Ikon]

Kerbonaut Returns to Kerbin After Delivering Tank to Asteroid Fuel Station

Sigemy Kerman, last reported en route from Kerbin to Fuel Station Valentina Alpha, has returned safely to Kerbin.

After three days in space, Sigemy reached the Fuel Station and expertly docked his vessel (consisting, by that time, of a nearly empty tank with Vernor RCS and the return stage) with the primary port on the existing Fuel Station.  Staying just long enough to greet Station crew Maltrey and Magcella (pilot and engineer, respectively) and oversee the extention of the new tank's twenty-four solar panels, Sigemy then decoupled his return stage and, after a short wait to reach periapsis, burned to return to Kerbin.  An uneventful reentry and splashdown completed the mission for Sigemy.

Still stationed at the Fuel Station, Magcella ensured maximum efficiency in operation of the fuel converter and drill, while Maltrey waited.  A mere five days later, Nye Island relayed the communication from orbit: "Asteroid used up, tanks 85% full.  Send return ship."

A milestone had been marked -- discounting some inefficiency (due to the conversion station being partly powered by fuel cells using the same fuel and oxidizer the converter produced from the asteroid ore), more than eight hundred tonnes of asteroid ore had been converted into fuel/oxidizer, leaving less than two hundred tonnes of useless rock behind.

The Space Agency has announced that they will not attempt to move this experimental station to another asteroid for further conversion work.  Now that the proof of concept has been demonstrated, more efficient fuel conversion stations with better crew accommodations can be constructed (the Agency spokesKerbal did not comment on the rumored handling problems of the fueling station during its flight from low Kerbin orbit to the captured asteroid).  In addition, the spokesKerbal continued, there is reason to believe ore can be found on the Mun and on Minmus, in larger quantities and with fewer problems compared to capturing asteroids and parking them in Kerbin Orbit.  Future asteroid missions will be limited to scientific exploration and, when necessary, diversion of hazardous bodies away from Kerbin.

(Apparently, Imgur doesn't want people actually using images posted there any more than Photobucket does, because they broke embedding again -- I'm going to just paste in the album link.)

http://imgur.com/a/x102I

Edited July 18, 2017 by Zeiss Ikon
Imgur linking broken again.

[Geonovast]

Moved my refueling depot to The Mun for reasons I'm not too sure about yet.

 

 

Also visited Minmus finally.

 

[selfish_meme]

On 7/15/2017 at 8:25 PM, 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!

That said, the pathfinder Mars missions were transferred with an SRB, because SRB's last in space and are simple. https://mars.nasa.gov/mer/mission/launch_stage3.html I did that with my Pathfinder mission but it's hard to calculate and I ended up with monoprop engines to do the course correction and fill any deficit

[Corscaria]

After a while away from KSP I came back to find KSP crashing on startup due to one or more of my mods being incompatible with the latest update. So I started over losing my nearly completed massive coreless stanford torus station... Oh well.... I built a "Long Range" Science vessel with lander, that turned out to not be so long range.... I parked the ship on Minmus for later retrieval...

Then, I built a mobile fuel factory/refueling station for Minmus. It's mostly stock parts. The mod parts are an OPT capsule, and MAERDA docking port/dual mode engines. It's capable of VTOL into minmus orbit on the RCS alone to refuel those ships that can't safely land on minmus for refueling. I forgot to add some mono tanks, so it'll just have to manufacture the mono as needed.

Still working on picking out my new mods. Wish I could get the panopticon pod for the latest KSP...

[TheDARKOMETER]

Made an F-15 and flew it in KSP's version of the Mach Loop. I got FAR installed, got the hang of FAR and I have to say, the aerodynamics are really better.

Spot the difference xD 

 

[EpicSpaceTroll139]

Tested the new version of my Shuttle launch script. I left out the bit that adjusts engine thrusts depending on payload induced COM shifts, so the flight lasted an amazing 1 minute, 40 seconds from launch to touchdown.

 

 

[XB-70A]

Relay ComSat at the program today. Destination : Moho, where I didn't went since 1.0.5 but for the first time without staying on a parking orbit for months (...).

I decided to use Alliance-3 (a terrible Soyuz-3 project wannabe) launcher for that flight as it's launching cost of 34 000 would make the whole flight pretty cheap.

 

Yes, once again the typical Korolev cross was here! Being at a speed of approx 450 m/s after 50 sec Moho Express kept on climbing, now softly propelled by the single Reliant and four Thud of its second stage.

 

Nothing problematic here. The acceleration appeared to be much more soft than what was expected but still sufficient to place the Ap at 280 km...

 

... before the third stage took over the work for less than a second.

 

Then 14 min later started the immediate acceleration to leave Kerbin's orbit and the transfer to Moho.

 

Third stage empty after having make 3/4 of the work. Approximately 800 m/s were still needed to completed the whole transfer window.

 

Two days later we were peacefully leaving Kerbin SoI for the real beginning of the adventure. Alas a small burn still was needed on the 21st day to place the Pe for Moho at 205 km. Just 65 days remaining made it the fastest flight to the planet for me I think. With approx 4 km/s of dV still available I hope everything will go right.

[Julien Kerman]

I started building a MK1 Shuttle in my test save. Actually I never built a shuttle, neither in stock KSP, nor in Realism Overhaul:

Shuttle Main Engine: 1x J-2 (890 KN)

Orbital Maneuver System: 2x FASA Gemini Lander Engine (13 KN each)

Boosters: 2x UA1204 SRM (about 3000 KN each)

After a few testflights I figured out how to balance the fuel and the shuttle was able to ascent.

The problem with a single main engine is that it can't balance itself (Two engines can do this).

Thats why the shuttle started to roll after some time. I had to lock the shuttle on the prograde marker and disable gimbal.

 The shuttle entered into orbit, but I am not yet happy with that.

Maybe I will test a MK2 shuttle with two main engines, in order to see if they perform better.

 

Edited July 17, 2017 by Julien Kerman

[Guest]

1 minute ago, Julien Kerman said:

The problem with a single main engine is that it can't balance itself (Two engines can do this).

Great post, love it.

Last time I did a shuttle in RSS I used Mk2 parts and a pair of Russian kerolox engines which worked really well getting to orbit. In your case you might consider giving up the isp of the J-2 for a pair of kerolox engines. The entire thing will end up heavier but the isp range is tighter and the thrust is generally higher on kerolox so it should be fine. Alternatively, I recommend some beefy RCS thrusters on the main tank fed from a small service tank; it all gets jettisoned later.

Good luck getting it down. That's the hard part with shuttles.

[PT]

I managed to gather all mods for 1.3.0 after my 1.2.x imploded. Ugh. That was tedious.

Its slowly filling up with segments, station contracts have part in this process. One drop pod is for StationScience stuff, one on top is loaded with small science parts (to feed laboratory) and TAC life support stuff. Both are capable of powered landing on Kerbin with some parachute assist in slowing down.

In the meantime lone drone takes look at far away Kerbin while finishing surface scans of Mun before planned aero braking in Sonnah.

uhh, what happened with imgur embedding?

Edited July 17, 2017 by PT

[Julien Kerman]

34 minutes ago, regex said:

Great post, love it.

Last time I did a shuttle in RSS I used Mk2 parts and a pair of Russian kerolox engines which worked really well getting to orbit. In your case you might consider giving up the isp of the J-2 for a pair of kerolox engines. The entire thing will end up heavier but the isp range is tighter and the thrust is generally higher on kerolox so it should be fine. Alternatively, I recommend some beefy RCS thrusters on the main tank fed from a small service tank; it all gets jettisoned later.

Good luck getting it down. That's the hard part with shuttles.

I am pretty satisfied with the J-2 engine. The thrust and the ISP are no problem, the UA1204's are powerful enough to lift the shuttle off the pad, I actually could ignite the J-2 shortly before booster sep. TWR after sep is 1.02, so good enough. You are probably right with the RCS thrusters. They are not powerful enough to fight against the roll of the J-2 engine. Maybe I will try KeroLox engines on a MK2 shuttle

 

[Guest]

1 minute ago, Julien Kerman said:

I am pretty satisfied with the J-2 engine. The thrust and the ISP are no problem, the UA1204's are powerful enough to lift the shuttle off the pad, I actually could ignite the J-2 shortly before booster sep. TWR after sep is 1.02, so good enough. You are probably right with the RCS thrusters. They are not powerful enough to fight against the roll of the J-2 engine. Maybe I will try KeroLox engines on a MK2 shuttle

Of course, yeah, go with what you enjoy. I look forward to more successful launches, good luck and thanks for sharing!

[Stewcumber]

Today I started experimenting with making prop engines. So far I've managed to design something that can rotate slowly but rattles around like a food blender... and as soon as I try add 'blades' it will lift out the engine bay / the rest of my craft. I might go back to Azimech's thread (which I know is a completely different method of propulsion design)...

[capi3101]

Figured I'd farmed and built Rome for long enough, so today I installed 1.3 and grabbed mods. One of them's making the game crash, so I'm still grounded...but I'm sure it won't be long before I'm back with you guys again. Going to have to decide if I want to bring stuff over from 1.1.3 or not...most of it didn't have antennas......

[Jouni]

After completing my Tylo circumnavigation, I had a really bright idea. I had detected a new anomaly at 14N 6E, so I decided to go there. The rover was at the cave almost halfway around the world, and the entire trip would be through the night side of Tylo.

So I started driving towards west. Except that I didn't. The motheship went below the horizon just when I was starting, and the rover could not move without a link to Kerbin. Jeb spent the hour climbing on top of the cave, but it was too dark, and the screenshots showed only Jeb and the flag.

I started by driving west to get out of the black area around the cave, and then turned northwest to follow the great circle to the destination. On the average, I managed to drive around 150 km during the hour the mothership was visible, and then I had to wait for an hour for it to reappear. The great circle reached as far north as 67N before turning south. The northernmost part of the trip was close enough to the terminator line that I managed to get a direct link to Kerbin for a few hours. After that I had to alternate between driving and waiting again.

Driving in the darkness is efficient, as there is nothing to see. I spent much less time exploring and much more time driving forward than during the circumnavigation. For most of the time, the route managed to avoid major mountains and craters. Some regions were bumpy, limiting the safe speed to 30-40 m/s, while other regions had smoother terrain, where I could safely drive 50-60 m/s. The last three hours saw some impressive mountains and valleys, though it was still too dark to take screenshots. I summited one 10 km mountain just because it was there.

Jool rose above the horizon after the route turned south. As the great circle from the cave to 14N 6E passes near 0N 0E, navigation was easy after that. Jool basically showed the way.

 

After reaching the target area, I spent half an hour searching for the anomaly. RoveMate, which supposedly has 100% detection rate, was completely useless. I managed to spot the monolith visually before the scanner detected anything. After parking next to the monolith, RoveMate finally detected something – but the reported location was almost 20 km off.

 

My great Tylo expedition is almost over. I only have to launch back to orbit and return the crew to Kerbin.

The original plan was to land near the cave and explore a bit, but things got out of hand. I drove almost 1.5 times around Tylo, visited both poles, and climbed several mountains rising above 10 km. The rover wasn't even designed for long-distance driving, but it served well enough. It had many flaws that would have been easy to fix:

• The center of mass is too high even after transfering fuel from the ascent stage to the descent stage.
• Kerbals often fall to ground when they try to climb back to the rover, because there are not enough fixed ladder pieces on the forward tank.
• The battery capacity is too low for mountaineering.
• The wheels are not placed completely symmetrically, and the rover has a slight tendency to turn right after hitting a bump.
• A command seat would have enabled driving during the night.
• Some lights would have been useful for screenshots.

 

[invision]

spent the last day and half making ion xenon probe that doesnt suck, this thing generates enough thrust it feels like a normal rocket.

3 tons and as long as it stays in the sun it never runs out of power

[Raptor42]

What i did today in KSP... hmmm...

I have a mission report from my duna satelite.

Status - orbiting Kerbin

Time to Duna transfer burn - T-42 days

Fuel - More than enough to get to Duna

Mainsail engine - working normally

MechJeb - Hope it will transfer correctly

Crew status - No One ... its frkin satelite

Solar panels - Did i deployed them!?!?

[ptr421]

Landed on the Moon in my RP-0 save. I overbuilt the thing quite a bit to account for my non-existent landing skills, ran out of fuel just as I was about to touch down anyway. It has 40 kg when fueled (~1800 m/s) and lasts about 5 hours on the surface. I may or may not have abused the hell out of procedural probe cores and bipropellant thrusters.

Spoiler

LV is a bit too big for this, but it's what I've been using for 7 years now.

Mare Crisium slightly to the west of us. I most definitely did not attempt to land there. 

Edited July 18, 2017 by ptr421

[Raptor42]

Today I was thinking about my huge rockets which can deliver only 1 small probe consisting of battery, relay, and some rcs to synchronous orbit. Can someone help me avoid building huge rockets?