What did you do in KSP1 today?

[anti_con2]

sent a probe outside the kerbol system (with a jool fly-by) called koyager 1: 

 

Edited October 4, 2017 by anti_con2

[Cadet_BNSF]

 

I MADE ROHANO A S C E N D!

BE ONE WITH LIFE!

BE ONE WITH SPACE!

BE ONE WITH THE STARS!

That looks like a D_z² atomic orbital. Not ORBIT though.

[EpicSpaceTroll139]

 

That looks like a D_z² atomic orbital. Not ORBIT though.

That's exactly what I thought too when I saw the picture!  Didn't know the exact designation mind you, I'm a bit rusty, but thought "hey that looks like one of those fancy upper level electron orbitals!"

 

[scottadges]

Juan Sebastian Kerman took some time to send his friends and family a picture-perfect postcard from Minmus.

WISH YOU WERE HERE (Brought to you by StrutCo.)

You can read more from my Elkano Minmus Challenge at my mission report.

Edited October 5, 2017 by scottadges

[Geonovast]

Today I finally decided to take off and land a plane without leaving cockpit view.  It went swimmingly.

 

Edited October 5, 2017 by Geonovast

[Cadet_BNSF]

 

That's exactly what I thought too when I saw the picture!  Didn't know the exact designation mind you, I'm a bit rusty, but thought "hey that looks like one of those fancy upper level electron orbitals!"

 

I didn't either, but I went and looked it up. Also found that you can apply a superscript directly to a subscript in the forum textbox, which Microsoft word can't do and is incredibly irritating.

[JadeOfMaar]

I spent my day just tweaking a handful of all-new Mk2 sci-fi parts to my liking, dealing with attach nodes and other little things in their part configs.

Most of my effort went into getting the particles just right for both modes on the dual-mode aerospike. Performance-wise it's a little tame versus the beasts that are OPT spaceplane engines.

I built these two spaceplanes to have fun while doing everything. This tri-engine cargo plane (the spitfire cockpit is among the new parts, and the cargo area scaled to 1.875m) was a load of fun and an engineering challenge. It's yaw control is poor and it has rear-wheel steering (medium wheels in back, a large wheel in front as the nacelles are low-slung and the craft needs to remain comfortably level while landed) but it makes a nice trophy craft while it lasts.

Edited October 5, 2017 by JadeOfMaar

[invision]

back when i was pretty terrible at this game this is the rocket i would use to get to the mun, and id somehow come back to land on an almost empty tank.

i havent used this craft in months and thought id see just how far it can really travel now that ive become much better at the game.

we made it to the last planet in the outer planets mod including matching inclination and we still had enough fuel to do things LOL

 

[invision]

*you have lost antenna contact*

WUT? oh hell naw GTFO

what about now? can you hear me now kerbal?

[capi3101]

Had another relatively light day yesterday. Big thing I did was deliver a load of ore from the surface of Kerbin to the Kerbinport space station using an Auk VI ore hauling spaceplane:

I don't get the Auk VI out the barn very often, so I figured I'd post a screenie of it since I had the opportunity. Was concerned about whether or not she'd dock up to the station with that Auk II there for a little bit...

A contract to deliver 450 units of ore from Mun to Kerbin's orbit was fulfilled when the plane made orbit - which was not in the spirit of the contract but the game still gave me credit for it. I designed that plane to land ore not deliver it, though, so I'll still take the money and run...

I also launched a Boop-Boop 7 probe and set up a burn for Minmus; have yet to perform that burn. As far as my career save is concerned, that's all that happened yesterday. Today, I need to perform the burn for that probe, undock the Auk VI and return to base, and maybe conduct an aerial survey over Kerbin. Other than that, I'm mainly just waiting for stuff to get to where it's going - Next Objective is still en route to Minmus, the Black and Decker 7 replacement probe still hasn't reached Deepwater Horizon (got two contracts that are hanging on its delivery mission, which I've already had to redo once) and I've got a Bill Clinton 7b probe en route to Kerbin. Nothing particularly exciting.

In my litterbox, I continued experiments with the Alcubierre Drive mod. Having achieved success with an early morning orbital jaunt to Dres, I tried to transfer to Moho next. Discovered the fail-safe altitude over Kerbol the hard way, and was headed directly towards Kerbol at the time. A revert later, I made an attempt to go to Eeloo. After futzing about for quite a bit using the same method I employed to go to Dres, I did arrive but did not achieve orbit - relative velocity minimized around 1130 m/s. Still trying to figure that one out; I think it might've had something to do with the direction of the velocity vector relative to Eeloo. I'm still very much enjoying this mod.

[The Aziz]

Solar eclipse? Nah, boring.
Here, look at Vall eclipse, caused by Tylo

[Whisky Tango Foxtrot]

I was able to rescue my Gilly equipment delivery.

Luckily I was only short of my fuel needs by a few hundred units of LF, so when I detached my tug from the payload, refuelled it at Gilly Station and then returned to the payload I had enough fuel in the tug's tanks alone to get the whole thing to the station. I then sent my old mining lander (which needed a pilot to operate) onto a collision course with Gilly, landed my new, probe core-driven one and started working on mining a tankfull of ore.

Another Jool transfer window arrived and while I didn't have any heavy tugs available to finally send a crew to the planet I didn't want it to go to waste, so I used a small tug to send a modified SSTO (to be used for ferrying personnel to and from Laythe's surface) and an extension to my Pol surface base (containing a replacement antenna and a rover) on its way to the Gassy Green Giant.

The crew can go with the next transfer window, by which time I should have a few of my tugs back.

[septemberWaves]

I started playing again after some time away (mostly due to overwhelmingly large amounts of college work). I went to orbit in a system I haven't visited in quite a long time: New Horizons.

I've scaled up the system by 3.2x (which I've lately found I like using more than 4x) with atmospheres at 1.3x normal height, giving Kerbin a radius of 1920km and an atmosphere height of 91km. I'm not actually sure how much delta-v it takes yet (I forgot to install MechJeb when i was doing this test to make sure all the mods work together properly) but I think it's around 5000m/s. As well as the increased scale, I'm using Kerbalism (which conveniently has compatability for the New Horizons system) and I'm manually decreasing the effectiveness of all reaction wheels to 5% to force me to use other steering methods (hence the RCS ports on this capsule).

Though I couldn't get any good pictures of it (launch was in the dark and I wasn't initially planning on taking screenshots) I did test out a stage-and-a-half design with this launch vehicle (although technically it was a 2-and-a-half-stage design because there was an extra upper stage) which turned out quite well.

[Tyko]

29 minutes ago, eloquentJane said:

I've scaled up the system by 3.2x (which I've lately found I like using more than 4x) with atmospheres at 1.3x normal height, giving Kerbin a radius of 1920km and an atmosphere height of 91km. I'm not actually sure how much delta-v it takes yet (I forgot to install MechJeb when i was doing this test to make sure all the mods work together properly) but I think it's around 5000m/s.

@eloquentJane, the rule of thumb is the DV multiplier is the square root of the scalar. So sqrt of 3.2 = 1.79. Atmosphere will throw this off, but it's a good starting point.

[CatastrophicFailure]

10 hours ago, invision said:

*you have lost antenna contact*

WUT? oh hell naw GTFO

what about now? can you hear me now kerbal?

Sticking probe cores and antennas on your spent transfer stages, eh? 

[invision]

1 minute ago, CatastrophicFailure said:

Sticking probe cores and antennas on your spent transfer stages, eh? 

just tired of crappy cellphone service.

 

i set off about 150 sats at once, thought my pc broke as it just stopped for solid min before it kicked all the probes off.

[septemberWaves]

1 hour ago, Tyko said:

@eloquentJane, the rule of thumb is the DV multiplier is the square root of the scalar. So sqrt of 3.2 = 1.79. Atmosphere will throw this off, but it's a good starting point.

I already knew this, but thanks. I've been trying a few launches and I realize I miscalculated by over 1000m/s.

[Tyko]

1 hour ago, eloquentJane said:

I already knew this, but thanks. I've been trying a few launches and I realize I miscalculated by over 1000m/s.

Sure, I suspected you already did, but it's so valuable I thought it was worth it to make sure and also that others who read this would find it useful 

 

[Pixel of Life]

I just crossed the 1000 hour mark! I can't believe I've spent nearly a month and a half of my life playing this game.

[Geonovast]

9 minutes ago, CaptainKorhonen said:

I just crossed the 1000 hour mark! I can't believe I've spent nearly a month and a half of my life playing this game.

It's probably a good thing the GoG version doesn't track this.  Galaxy might, but I'm not using it.  I really don't want to know what that number is...

[DeltaDizzy]

1 minute ago, Geonovast said:

It's probably a good thing the GoG version doesn't track this.  Galaxy might, but I'm not using it.  I really don't want to know what that number is...

I dont launch it through steam(how I bought it) so I have no idea what mine hourage is.

[septemberWaves]

34 minutes ago, Tyko said:

Sure, I suspected you already did, but it's so valuable I thought it was worth it to make sure and also that others who read this would find it useful 

 

Very true.

And you mentioned atmospheres making calculations less accurate (generally the delta-v for a scaled-up system will be less than what you calculate for an atmospheric body); another thing which throws off the measurements is strange rocket designs. I think the delta-v for Kerbin with my current scale factor (for a parking orbit at 95km, 4km above the atmosphere) is about 6000m/s, but my current (successful) rockets are giving me 500m/s spare even with 6000m/s to start with because they ditch two of the three engines halfway through the first-stage burn.

[joacobanfield]

What do you do when a contract requires flybys of six different celestial bodies?

You buid a 18000 d/V monster of course!

Just look at this little abomination. It doesn´t even have a parachute!

Of course, boosters that large can only be safely separated by MOAR BOOSTERS!

FWOOOOOOOSHHHHHH

And then, of course, you spend fifteen minutes fiddling with moons and gravity assists to construct this beautiful thing...

And then you complete the contract with over one quarter of your Delta V remaining!

 

[Fearless Son]

On 10/4/2017 at 9:49 AM, EpicSpaceTroll139 said:

Made Flash Gordon Kerman

Good news: He was fast

 

Bad news: He died upon tripping over a bug.

So of course this is right where my mind goes:

 

[septemberWaves]

I've now done a few more launches in New Horizons. This is now a new career playthrough and is likely to continue for a while.

Spoiler

I have a lot of mods for this playthrough. Honestly though I suspect most of these patches are a combination of Kerbalism and Sigma Dimensions both affecting New Horizons.

Echo Program:

Spoiler

I started things out with the Echo program, a series of sounding rockets designed just for gathering some science data.

Echo 1. The guidance system (essentially just the spin-stabilizing fins at the bottom) didn't quite work out, but the mission objective of collecting science data from the lower atmosphere was still fulfilled, as well as several speed records being unsurprisingly broken.

Echo 2. Designed to gather science data from Kerbin's upper atmosphere. It crashed shortly after launch because it didn't have enough thrust to remain stable.

Echo 3. Essentially the same as Echo 2, but upgraded to have more thrust. Its mission was successful.

 

Echo 4. This one was designed to leave Kerbin's atmosphere altogether and gather some data from space.

Echo 4 had a liquid-fueled upper stage, very similar to the one proposed for the first orbital spacecraft. This mission was also an opportunity to test how well the re-entry capsule can survive; it worked perfectly.

 

K-ORB 1/E1:

Spoiler

K-ORB 1 (Kerbin Orbiter 1) took several attempts. There were a few different proposed rockets for transporting it to orbit, most of which failed for various reasons.

The first attempt at getting a space probe into Kerbin orbit was this. The K-ORB probe sits atop a Kinesis upper stage (common to all the designs in the current orbital program), which in turn is on top of an E1 rocket. The E1 was initially designed as a large sounding rocket, and several copies were remaining after the cancellation of the Echo program so it was worth trying it out as an orbital launcher.

Ignition.

Liftoff. The E1 was designed before engine nozzles could be made too large, so it uses four smaller ones in a shroud. [It's actually a Rapier engine in closed-cycle mode.]

The launch looks good at first, but it quickly becomes apparent that the E1 doesn't have enough thrust.

E1 engine cutoff, E1 separation.

Kinesis stage ignition. The Kinesis stage has over 2g of thrust with this payload, but isn't quite powerful enough this low in the atmosphere.

Kinesis engine cutoff. Initiating abort sequence.

Fairing separation, payload separation. The abort sequence for this vehicle involves attempting to save the payload by undergoing a powered landing. It can only take place before the vehicle gets too fast, because the instrument module of the probe can't survive extreme atmospheric heating.

Parachute deployment.

The payload did survive the splashdown; its engine is just powerful enough at sea level to slow it to a stop with the help of the parachute. However, it quickly sank beyond hope of recovery.

 

K-ORB 1/S1:

Spoiler

The second attempt to orbit Kerbin used an S1 rocket in place of the E1. This rocket had a newer and more powerful (and cheaper) engine.

Ignition. The first stage engine cannot gimbal, so four vernier nozzles are added.

Liftoff.

S1 engine cutoff, S1 separation. This once again occurs slightly too early in the launch.

Kinesis engine ignition.

Kinesis engine cutoff.

Payload deployment.

K-ORB engine ignition.

Though the launch went better than the previous attempt, the probe ran out of fuel and burned up on re-entry.

 

K-ORB 1/S2:

Spoiler

The third attempt at orbiting Kerbin used the S2 rocket, a direct upgrade of the S1. The S2 has two stages, the second of which was expected to bridge the delta-v gap that left the previous launch without enough fuel.

Liftoff.

The S2 second stage uses a mid-range engine designed for the upper atmosphere. It's also likely to be useful on larger landers for non-atmospheric bodies.

Once again, the rocket's final stage is a Kinesis stage. This stage is oddly reliable, and will probably see a lot of use for smaller payloads.

This time it looked as though the launch would be a success.

Unfortunately, the vehicle once again lacked enough fuel to reach orbit. However, it was able to return some good data from space.

 

K-ORB 1/Aptur-D:

Spoiler

The Aptur rocket was initially designed to push payloads to orbit of Sonnah (the gas giant which Kerbin orbits). However, underestimations of required delta-v mean that it's more well-suited to sending things to Kerbin orbit. This variant, Aptur-D, uses a two-and-a-half stage structure, meaning that its first stage jettisons two of its three engines midway through the burn but doesn't jettison any fuel tanks (hence the half-stage). This was done to obtain enough thrust at launch while maximizing efficiency later in flight. It uses the same engines as the S1 and S2, and again has gimballed vernier thrusters for control.

Ignition.

Liftoff.

After recalculating numerous times, it seems that the Aptur-D rocket has plenty of thrust and fuel for this mission.

Commencing gravity turn.

It turns out that what Aptur-D lacks is control. The two vernier nozzles, though powerful, are not enough to keep such a large rocket on-course. There will have to be some redesigns.

The engines were jettisoned at this point in case having a higher proportion of gimballed thrust would allow the rocket's trajectory to be corrected, but it wasn't effective quickly enough and the rocket was torn apart by aerodynamic forces. [In actuality it wasn't, but realistically it should've been and there was no saving this launch by this point anyway so I just let it crash.]

 

K-ORB 1/Aptur-E:

Spoiler

The first successful Kerbin orbiter mission involved an Aptur-E rocket. The engines have been upgraded so that they are able to gimbal, at the cost of slightly more mass and lower thrust. Otherwise, the vehicle is identical to the Aptur-D variant.

Liftoff of K-ORB 1.

Half-stage separation.

The half-stage separates when there's only about a quarter of the fuel remaining in the first stage of the rocket, but this point is only half-way through the burn time of the stage due to the now-reduced thrust.

First stage cutoff and separation.

Second stage ignition.

Second stage cutoff as 95km apoapsis is reached. Fairing separation.

Circularizing.

K-ORB 1 has finally reached Kerbin orbit successfully.

Payload deployment. The probe's own fuel source was not needed for the ascent with this rocket, so it can be used to raise the orbit and collect data from Kerbin's magnetic field.

 

Quicksilver-Ernus:

Spoiler

Once the requirements for reaching Kerbin orbit were known, tests began to prepare for crewed space flight. The Quicksilver prototype capsule was tested on the Ernus rocket, a derivation of the E1 sounding rocket. Quite a few tests were done, including pad tests of the launch abort system (pictured) and short flight tests to ensure that all staging events were correct (also pictured), with both types of test done initially without crew and then with crew to ensure that the spacecraft would behave properly.

Pad test of launch abort system.

Successful soft landing test.

Flight test.

Launch Escape System jettison test.

Capsule separation.

Successful splashdown test.

 

Quicksilver-Aptur 1:

Spoiler

Valentina Kerman sits in the Quicksilver capsule atop a new Aptur-F rocket. In order to transport the heavy Quicksilver capsule to low Kerbin orbit, the Aptur rocket needed further upgrades. It now has a second stage, using the same engine as the second stage of the S2 rocket. Additionally, the Kinesis vacuum stage has been integrated into the spacecraft to serve as the Quicksilver spacecraft's propulsion module.

Liftoff of Quicksilver-Aptur 1.

For the duration of the first-stage burn, the launch profile is very much like that of the Aptur-E.

First stage cutoff and separation, second stage ignition.

Second stage cutoff and separation, LES separation, QKE (Quicksilver-Kinesis Engines) ignition.

Circularizing.

Quicksilver-Aptur 1 has successfully reached Kerbin orbit. The spacecraft does suffer attitude control issues when relying on the RCS, but this should be fixed in future versions.

Valentina conducts the first spacewalk. She is unable to stay out for long, however, as the vehicle began to rotate due to the aforementioned attitude control issues.

After a short retrograde burn, the Kinesis module is jettisoned and the capsule orients itself for re-entry.

Re-entry and landing are successful.

 

Since all my images are in spoilers, here's a few of the better ones for anyone quickly scrolling through the thread:

Edited October 5, 2017 by eloquentJane