What did you do in KSP1 today?

[RizzoTheRat]

I've been playing with kOS again.  Deliberately making things hard for myself, I'd expect the alignment to be a lot faster if the ship had gimballed engines or RCS, this all being done only by reaction wheels and fixed thrust direction.

My poor laptop is struggling a bit with KSP, kOS and video recording all running at the same time, so apologies for the slow clock time.

Edited March 15, 2018 by RizzoTheRat

[Ace in Space]

3 hours ago, LordFerret said:

I'm at a loss for an explanation for this.

Clearly, Cammin and Tealla are practicing witchcraft. In space, everyone weighs the same as a duck.

 

In other news, I launched my new solo Mun hopper design. Bob isn't as good at this "piloting" thing as Jeb.

On the bright side, only one solar panel was lost. Bob still ended up having to get out and push a few times while in space because the bottom, the one side without solar panel coverage, kept ending up facing the sun.

This small hopper is much more efficient than the last few designs, but the lack of a battery limits it to functioning on the sunny side of the Mun. On the other hand, putting the science equipment on the bottom was an excellent idea. Sure, I could turn on the way up and discard it on older lander designs, but this one I can drop before I even turn on the engines.

Meanwhile, I re-purposed the Jade Station science lander to pick up a kerbal for a rescue contract - a much needed scientist! Brought her back to the station to wait for the rescue craft to come and pick her up. Docked the craft and called it a day; return trip can wait until tomorrow.

[DerekL1963]

Launched an "Agena" docking target and the flew a "Gemini" docking mission.  Mostly this was about learning the capabilities of the new 1.85m parts.

[tater]

Made a 2 stage MEM:

[Hotel26]

7 hours ago, LordFerret said:

I'm trusting you're not referring to me as I'm no newcomer! lol

Assuredly not, fine sir!

But I certainly must credit your recent pix for making me rethink this all!  I designed the original Omega series way back and it needed a revisit.  And yes, I've been out past Jool with panels and they fade fast (inverse square?).  It's so great to see someone else willing to openly admit using (massive) ion drive publicly -- maybe I should phrase this differently!!?    I'm still doing the numbers on how much xenon I should carry...  The orange tanks with the Gigantor array are empty but it's still a big weight penalty; the original Omega had solar sail masts and I am going to resurrect some variant of those.  My view now is that the sails can supplement the deal and possibly conserve LFOX.  Maybe your experience has already suggested it's clear cut in favor of LFOX only?  Well, this is all why I like the "Parade Yo Stuff Today!" thread.    The wonderful thing about KSP is the massive number of people simultaneously re-inventing the same Very Fun wheels multiple ways and coming up with so many different shapes to boot -- and to measure out just the right amount of cross-pollination via the forum so as to not spoil the fun; but not to work totally in the dark. 

BE ADVISED: ION DRIVE NOW ENGAGED -- SHIP'S COMPUTER BREWING YOU A CUP OF TEA.....................................................................................................................................................................................................

Edited March 15, 2018 by Hotel26

[Canopus]

Built my First "new Space" style semi reusable launcher, and decided that it's not really worth the hassle each launch.

https://imgur.com/a/A0om7

Also do Imgur albums not work on the Forums anymore?

Edited March 15, 2018 by Canopus

[Hotel26]

10 minutes ago, Canopus said:

Also do Imgur albums not work on the Forums anymore?

Unaware of anyone successfully doing this (recently) and have seen many failures...

 

Edited March 15, 2018 by Hotel26

[RizzoTheRat]

Ooops, posting fail, how do I delete?

Edited March 15, 2018 by RizzoTheRat

[Delay]

7 hours ago, XB-70A said:

Today I launched my tiniest launcher ever for a second test flight.

Basically a Falcon 1?

[silverfox101]

I had one of those moments, everything was perfect, perfect launch, perfect gravity turn, beautiful orbit insertion, great fuel efficiency. Those moments are few and far between. I had to tell someone

Edited March 15, 2018 by silverfox101

[ph0gar]

8 hours ago, Francois424 said:

Been out of the loop for a while, sorry for the very late response.
It's "[1.1.3] Ion-Hybrid Pack Revived!"

In fact I had downloaded My version wayyyyyyyyyyyy back in 0.23 I think.  if not before and I fixed it myself.
But you could start with that one and see how they do.

Good luck !

 

Thank you!

[MaxwellsDemon]

Mostly assembly-- once 1.4.1 and MH were installed, then altering the settings to my preferences, starting a sandbox to check it out, then gradually introducing mods.   There are still some important mods I'm waiting on before I begin a real campaign (for instance, Kerbal Alarm Clock), but I can begin designing stuff.

I did put together a Gemini/Titan analogue.  It was too slow off the pad with the engine I selected, but made orbit okay.  Work to do... but it's pleasant work.   

[Puggonaut]

Quite liking 1.4.1 . well ok with the exception to the horrible Plume an re-entry effects , still i'm paitent and i'm sure someone will mod them soon enough , thank god .

But just a few days after the release and look how quickly the Modding Community has steeped up to the plate and got in , amazing , so thanks one and all .

[Cydonian Monk]

Yesterday I spent some time working on a 100% Stock+Ex Soyuz (because of course I did). It's not perfect, and it uses the Pomegranate ballistic capsule as the descent module (and a Mk1 lander can for the orbital module instead of something round), but I think it's got all the bits I care about. Blok-E is powered by the same RK-7 Kodiak as Blok-A and Bloks-B/V/G/D, just thrust-limited to 50%. The booster RK-7s are limited to 40% while the sustainer/center RK-7 is set to 80%. (And even then it has a bit too much oomph, but it needs it to compensate for the apparent complete lack of Stability-Assist SAS in v1.4.x.)

I'm still fidgeting with the fairing and Launch Escape System, so that's likely to change.

Edited March 15, 2018 by Cydonian Monk

[TeslaPenguin1]

By the way, I was looking at mods, and I found one that I kind of want. I just have a question, is Snacks 1.4?

[Atkara]

What did I do in KSP today... boring things. Course corrections, visits to science labs, etc. The interesting stuff should arrive in a couple of days or so.

[Delay]

I accidentally killed my first three kerbals after an almost successful mission...

But first: the mission itself was perfectly fine. I launched a mission to my LKO space station using my FALCON launch vehicle. As expected, I was able to land close to KSC. As unexpected, I succeeded first try:

I then brought my orbiter close to the small station that I never bothered expanding...

Then I looked at the amount of fuel I had in that one 2.5m tank. Since FALCON is an SSTO I used almost no fuel in the second stage. Doing the dV calculations I found out that I had over 2600m/s in the tank. I decided to expand the mission beyond its original goal: Let's go to Minmus!

The Mun was in a lucky position, so I used a gravity assist to get me there. I originally wanted to also dock to my station around Minmus, but after adjusting my orbit with a (still planned at this point) plane change I quickly threw that idea out the window. Look at this!

A triple gravity assist with a (almost) free return to Kerbin? Yes please!

Goodbye Kerbin! See you in 16 days!

Almost at the end of this (tragic?) mission. One last fly-by of the Mun:

And then, reentry started. Until this point, everything was just as you could expect. Well, except for the reentry effects, but I managed to take a good picture.

During reentry, the vessel (still with attached tanks) got unstable and started pointing forwards. I decoupled the stage, and then I realized my mistake that could have been so easily avoided if had bothered to pay attention...

The decoupler was the last stage.

I forgot the parachute.

[dreadanaught]

On 3/7/2018 at 5:49 PM, Kronus_Aerospace said:

This colossus of a rocket is (mostly) finished! Coming in at just over 51 kilotons in mass and containing roughly the same energy as 4 Hiroshima bombs this is the largest rocket I have yet produced. I honestly didn't know if I could do it when I started, but I have successfully built a rocket capable of carrying 10 kilotons into LKO, and it only took 2076 parts!

 

This worries me a little...

[eddiew]

Bolstered the crew of Anemone Research Station.

We're pretty sure those folks can handle decoding a gigantic alien space doughnut while not having any radio contact with ground because the Anemone is forever behind Iota...

I mean, how hard can it be?

[Kaskel2000]

I unlocked a few rocko parts. Enough to change my entire rocket so I could launch larger payloads into space. In testing I could orbit Kerbal with a large amount of fuel left. So I attached a lander on top of it with minimal fuel. Ended up stranding two Kerbals in space in a circular orbit as I accidentally pressed space too many times on my lander module and disconnected the engine!  It doesn’t have any docking ports so no idea how I’m going to rescue them!

So I launched my heavy launcher with lander attached into space again. Took it all the way to Mun orbit before disconnecting. The launcher returned to Kerbal while the lander circled. It was only then that I remembered I hadn’t put legs on my lander   .  So the lander returned to Kerbal. 

Then I discovered the landing legs I had weren’t long enough and I didn’t have enough science to unlock the next set. 

Next step is to adjust the science capabilities of my lander and send it to the second moon to gather science so I can unlock more stuff. 

[luizopiloto]

Tested a new Eve return vehicle...

[fourfa]

Enjoying testing new parts

[MinerEdgar]

 Archer-Bunny Mun Mission

Album Link: https://imgur.com/a/GMda3

[Cavscout74]

In my 1.3.1 career, I executed 4 kerbals on landing from what had been a successful training flight.  Stupid mountains & night time.  The really painful part was the fact that the scientist (one of 3 I've rescued in this career, compared to 5-6 each pilots & engineers) wasn't even needed on the flight.  I stuck him on board due to recently unlocking the seismic sensor & thought I'd get some bonus science. 

I then messed with 1.4 & the DLC parts some more, & came away more disappointed with the 1.875m parts.

[KevinW42]

I got a contract to do a flyby of Minmus, Duna, and Eve before returning to Kerbin in a single mission. The only gravity assist calculator I could find was Windows only, so I just guessed how much delta-v I'd need and gave myself 2,500 m/s from LKO and tried to wing it from there. That nearly turned out to be a huge mistake.

First I went to Duna with a basic Hohmann transfer, which didn't give me any useful assists so I just barely grazed it's SOI and had to set up the Eve encounter with my own thrust. Learning from my previous mistake, I set my Solar Pe between Eve and Moho's orbits so my Eve flyby would give me a useful assist that had me crossing Kerbin's orbit right at the ascending node. It was at this point that I realized that I had forgotten to do the Minmus flyby at the beginning. Oops.

Anyway, after a couple orbits I was able to set up a Kerbin encounter with minimal corrections, but by this point I only had about 200 m/s left, not nearly enough for orbital insertion and subsequent maneuvering. So after a few quicksave loads, I was able to get the aerocapture just right (both of my batteries exploded, but oh well, who needs those) and managed to set up a Minmus flyby with what little dV I had left. I finally landed on Kerbin with ony 80 m/s to spare. I'm sure Val welcomed the opportunity to stretch her legs after being stuck in that Mk 1 pod for over 4 years, but at least it's better than having to be rescued in solar orbit.