Slam_Jones Posted November 11, 2017 Share Posted November 11, 2017 (edited) Today, (yesterday, rather) I did a number of things. Built some new prototypes, collected some science, and landed a few vessels. First up, crew training. These four recruits were sent into Low Earth Orbit and then returned safely to the surface, gaining one level in the process. After that, I looked into creating a better relay satellite. The Relay Sat III includes several science experiments (not present in the picture) as well as a resource scanner. The current set-up, as seen here, provides about 9.5km/s of dv from LEO using Argon-powered final stage and an LH2+Ox powered transfer stage. I then checked on one of my rovers, which was en route to Mars. Shown here with skycrane (top) and transfer stage and inflatable heat shield (bottom). The rover has its own solar panels, so the ones attached to the transfer stage won't be needed after this point. It turns out that the parachutes I packed for Mars were not up to the task... they never deployed, forcing me to make a very hasty suicide burn. Luckily, it was pulled off smoothly, and the rover made it to the surface with no (additional) issues. USR-II 'Ares' then began to explore its new home, via a kOS script I set up for my Moon Rover. Surprisingly, I needed to tune down the speed on Mars. The reason for this being that while the Moon was more or less flat, Mars has some rather frequent, steep slopes. I've also bumped up the brake power to help it maintain a safe speed while exploring. The upside is, Mars is much more scenic than the Moon! Then, last but certainly not least, I put the Mars Central Station in orbit of Mars. Jeb, BIll, Bob, and Val get to enjoy the views for about a year and a half, at which point they will board the return vessel and head back to Earth for debriefing. After they have vacated, I plan to send up a new crew with additional science experiments to man the station. Edit: I just remembered that there is more than enough fuel for the return vessel, and as such, the crew might make an impromptu stop at Phobos or Deimos before returning home. Edit: A few extra pictures I couldn't quite work into the narrative, for those with the interest: Mars Central Station, in the process of leaving Earth. Two of the LV-N engines on the MTT (Mars Transfer Tug) actually exploded in transit while I failed to monitor their temperatures. Future iterations will feature enough radiators to prevent this from occurring again. A more dramatic picture of the USR-II 'Ares,' performing its duties on Mars. Edited November 11, 2017 by Slam_Jones My terrible, terrible grammar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeliosPh0enix Posted November 11, 2017 Share Posted November 11, 2017 I launched my first Duna lander into LKO to await its transfer window in about 1.5 years. Then I decided that I should fill that time with something useful, so I designed and launched a habitation module to dock to Kyson Station, orbiting about 150K km above Kerbin. I then discovered that having an RCS tug on one end of the module produces a lot of torque while translating, and while a large reaction wheel in the module itself compensates for this, it still wobbles and is incredibly difficult to line up. Does anyone have tips for making tugs and maneuvering large space station modules? Nevertheless, I eventually got it docked and had enough fuel left in the tug to actually land it at Kerbin with the engine. After this, I decided to check on my Far Out Probe that I just kind of threw towards Dres. As I switched to it, I couldn't see any thing, so I zoomed in a bit. All of a sudden an Oscar-B fuel tank is filling half of my screen and the crafts velocity is a few million times the speed of light. My game promptly crashes. I then go to my tracking station after reopening the game and discover about 30 new pieces of debris, which was around the part count of the probe, each of which is showing to be glitching around outside the solar system, presumably a couple light years away already. Whenever I switch to the parts, the game crashes, and when I try to terminate them from the tracking station, it freezes and I have to exit out. So I now have 30 pieces of debris in my tracking station that are never going away. Yay! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fearless Son Posted November 11, 2017 Share Posted November 11, 2017 I put a new interplanetary vehicle into Kerbin orbit. I call it the Fission Star: It runs on sixteen nuclear engines (four per engine pod) and is capable of non-atmospheric landings on its own. The wings both provide excellent liquid fuel storage as well as set the engine pods and landing gear well apart from the center of mass. This also gives it plenty of space behind it to attach other mission-specific modules, such as dedicated landers, base or station components, or supplemental fuel tanks. There are also attachment hardpoints under each wing for further fuel tanks, or in certain cases for additional boosters if it needs to make an atmospheric landing and launch. Speaking of atmosphere, the engine pods have a few A.I.R.B.R.A.K.E.S. each to enhance aerobreaking, where their wide spacing also offers additional leverage for atmospheric control. Building an appropriate launch vehicle for this thing was a challenge though, since a traditional under-the-payload booster would result in far too much drag in front of the center of mass to be controllable due to the wide wings. I had to go with four Mammoths, one on each side and raised high up on the craft so that the majority of the wings' surface area hung below them. The Mammoths each had additional orange drop tanks hanging down off the side of them to give their hungry nozzles enough juice to make it into orbit with enough left over for circularization. Probably going to refuel this in orbit (it intentionally launched with only a partial fuel load) and take it to the Mun for a trial landing (and another refuel) before I send it out-system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slam_Jones Posted November 11, 2017 Share Posted November 11, 2017 (edited) 22 minutes ago, HeliosPh0enix said: -snip- I then discovered that having an RCS tug on one end of the module produces a lot of torque while translating, and while a large reaction wheel in the module itself compensates for this, it still wobbles and is incredibly difficult to line up. Does anyone have tips for making tugs and maneuvering large space station modules? Nevertheless, I eventually got it docked and had enough fuel left in the tug to actually land it at Kerbin with the engine. -snip- Edit: Laie's advice (the post below mine) may apply better to your situation. 18 minutes ago, Fearless Son said: I put a new interplanetary vehicle into Kerbin orbit. I call it the Fission Star: - snip - Woah now THAT'S a unique-looking vessel! Kudos! Edited November 11, 2017 by Slam_Jones Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laie Posted November 11, 2017 Share Posted November 11, 2017 1 minute ago, HeliosPh0enix said: Does anyone have tips for making tugs and maneuvering large space station modules? For your particular problem: use the RCS only for attitude, and apply it gently enough so the reaction wheels can cope. Take your time. HOWTO: On your RCS: advanced tweakables -> show actuation toggles. Turn off pitch/yaw/roll. Then only use fine maneuvering (capslock on) and thrust carefully with SAS enabled. You'll quickly figure out how much thrust your wheels can take without torque-ing very much. I put overly strong reaction wheels on the tugs themselves for this very purpose. Sometimes it's necessary to disable them when there's no heavy load attached. If you can line up the tug with the CoM, you have one direction where you can thrust at leisure. This helps a lot. You can treat it as engines-only docking until you get close, and only have to tread carefully on the last few meters. 16 minutes ago, HeliosPh0enix said: o I now have 30 pieces of debris in my tracking station that are never going away. Yay! If you have no earlier save to revert to, which is far and away the easiest solution, you may try to clean these "vessels" from the savegame manually. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeliosPh0enix Posted November 11, 2017 Share Posted November 11, 2017 Slam_Jones and Laie, thank you for your advice. I'll have to try some of that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NotJebediah Posted November 11, 2017 Share Posted November 11, 2017 10 minutes ago, HeliosPh0enix said: Slam_Jones and Laie, thank you for your advice. I'll have to try some of that. You can also do the hardcore way: Use small probes to collect and deorbit the debris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enceos Posted November 11, 2017 Share Posted November 11, 2017 The first supply of freshly refined Minmus fuel has arrived at my Daydream Terminal today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeliosPh0enix Posted November 11, 2017 Share Posted November 11, 2017 27 minutes ago, NotJebediah said: You can also do the hardcore way: Use small probes to collect and deorbit the debris Any suggestions for getting a small probe up to a few million times c? XD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fearless Son Posted November 11, 2017 Share Posted November 11, 2017 (edited) 49 minutes ago, NotJebediah said: You can also do the hardcore way: Use small probes to collect and deorbit the debris 21 minutes ago, HeliosPh0enix said: Any suggestions for getting a small probe up to a few million times c? XD Consider having a small, disposable "mothership" to stick the debris into before deorbiting it all at once: Edited November 11, 2017 by Fearless Son Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kosmonaut Posted November 11, 2017 Share Posted November 11, 2017 4 minutes ago, Fearless Son said: What a great show I've always wanted a mod for the Fishbone, Toybox, and Toybox 2, as well as those neat SSTO passenger planes, but alas, not enough people have been exposed to the glory that is Planetes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anti_con2 Posted November 11, 2017 Share Posted November 11, 2017 (edited) added the comms tower to sky dragon 2: https://imgur.com/KKSnhxd Edited November 11, 2017 by anti_con2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urus28 Posted November 11, 2017 Share Posted November 11, 2017 I played with a Mig 29 style plane, very agile and very fast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maceemiller Posted November 12, 2017 Share Posted November 12, 2017 Today I finally completed my Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn https://imgur.com/a/cipTc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goddess Bhavani Posted November 12, 2017 Share Posted November 12, 2017 (edited) SpaceSheepThree first test flight. Everything checked out, except for a strut that came loose on the ring wing (nothing a revert to SPH can't fix)https://imgur.com/gallery/aNDfL Edited November 12, 2017 by carmenara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 12, 2017 Share Posted November 12, 2017 2 hours ago, Fearless Son said: Consider having a small, disposable "mothership" to stick the debris into before deorbiting it all at once: Make a mothership covered in claws and assemble an epic junk ship! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Today, I wanted to make an early station, this one being sufficiently early that I don't even have solar panels yet. However, with NFElectrical one unlocks the smallest capacitor beforehand, so the station relies on regular discharges to stay operational. I actually have much more power and food onboard than requried, so may later tow this thing to a Munar orbit before it's decommissioned. Something curious happened just before making an adjustment burn — I briefly lost contact with ground all stations. I thought they probably would've been carefully placed as to remove this possibility, but no! Watch out on your polar orbits if they're below 100km. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAL59 Posted November 12, 2017 Share Posted November 12, 2017 I sent Kerbals to Duna for the first time. I prepositioned an ascent vehicle on Duna. Then, I launched a very large rocket containing a nuclear transfer stage, a reentry capsule, and a docked Duna Descent Vehicle. After an exorbitant amount of quicksaves, I finally landed on Duna, 15 km away from the AV. I then repacked my chutes and hopped to 1 km away from the AV. Both kerbals jetpacked over. With very low margins, I managed to get into orbit!!!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harrisjosh2711 Posted November 12, 2017 Share Posted November 12, 2017 Launched the first test flight of my new Falcon 9 family of rockets. legs and fins are KRE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julien Kerman Posted November 12, 2017 Share Posted November 12, 2017 Today I launched the Magellan Probe to Venus: Launch on Titan 4A, because I dont have a Reusable Shuttle System yet. Transfer to Venus. Second stage finishes the burn. Probe separation. Then I realized that I had forgotten the solid motor, which should be attached to the bottom of the probe. A capture burn wont be possible Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zeiss Ikon Posted November 12, 2017 Share Posted November 12, 2017 Yesterday, the Program fulfilled its promise to Val, following her abort decision (due to low fuel) on her last flight, that she would still be the first Kerbal on the Mun. Short version, with a newly designed spaceship (Explorer IV), she made the landing (with a ridiculous amount of excess descent stage fuel -- probably could have lifted from the Mun and made a transfer to and landing on Minmus with the available dV), tipped over the lander, planted her flag and did her science anyway, then staged the ascent stage and used the service bay doors to flip it upright long enough to launch from the Mun. Made four aerobraking orbits, and finally managed to get the Science Jr. through reentry intact, only to have it collapse on impact under a main parachute and two drogues (apparently, Science Jr., plus a Service Bay with two goo canisters and two batteries, plus the command pod, is too much weight to give a descent velocity compatible with the fragility of the Science Jr.). Full version, with pictures, coming soon. Also, launched the Taxicab V (the conjoined twins Munar orbit tourist bus) on a four-tourist mission to the Mun, co-piloted by Jeb and Adeny's (now fully trained) clone (Jeb is Command Pilot, Adeny is in the cockpit of the "secondary" reentry spaceplane). Vessel still in parking LKO, but confidence is high -- everything about it handles identically to the reliable Taxicab IIIm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeb, The Lonely Kerbonaut Posted November 12, 2017 Share Posted November 12, 2017 (edited) Yesterday, i launched my cientific Mun base. The mssion was a sucess, and the base landed in the edge of a crater. And today i launched a rover with scientific experiments to complement the science processed in the lab of base. The launch of the rover. The rover, landed on Mun and close to his target: The Munar Base Tranquility. Approaching... And there is the rover, docked with the base. Edited November 12, 2017 by Jeb, The Lonely Kerbonaut Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daveroski Posted November 12, 2017 Share Posted November 12, 2017 I sent the Rescue/Runabout GriffamusMk5 to Mimnus to rescue some downed Kerbonaughts. And added a new module to the Mimnus Station. New pic when it gets to Mimnus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAL59 Posted November 12, 2017 Share Posted November 12, 2017 4 hours ago, Zeiss Ikon said: Yesterday, the Program fulfilled its promise to Val, following her abort decision (due to low fuel) on her last flight, that she would still be the first Kerbal on the Mun. They actually did that on the real Apollo missions, to make sure they didn't hesitate to abort. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NotJebediah Posted November 12, 2017 Share Posted November 12, 2017 19 hours ago, HeliosPh0enix said: Any suggestions for getting a small probe up to a few million times c? XD That's exactly why it's the hardcore way. But, if you do it without cheats, I'll send you a badge IRL: The Hyperspace Garbage Man Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadowmage Posted November 12, 2017 Share Posted November 12, 2017 More work on visual enhancements... The shaders responsible for it all are now available to anyone who wants to use them through: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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