What did you do in KSP1 today?

[OrbiterAirFields]

I started work on my mun lander, I have never landed on the mun, and got back, I have landed (crashing counts) but I never left.

[Triop]

1 hour ago, Orbiter Space Program said:

I started work on my mun lander, I have never landed on the mun, and got back, I have landed (crashing counts) but I never left.

Goodluck and welcome to the forum

[OrbiterAirFields]

Thanks!

[FinalFan]

On 4/22/2018 at 2:47 PM, Daveroski said:

80K

It makes launching to rendezvous really cheap. Makes it easy to de-orbit junkers. It also means you are going faster which makes leaving orbit to go to the Mun a little less expensive too.

Sorry, but I have to take the other guy's side here.  "Leaving orbit" is pretty clearly not the same thing as "leaving the planet" which you now claim to have meant.  If you tell us you misspoke, then great.  But MR L A is correct about saying that what you actually in fact said was wrong, even in the context of the conversation, because you specifically said "leaving orbit to go to the Mun". 

Ground --> 80k Station --> Mun (cheaper from ground to orbit, cheaper from ground to Mun) (you said: cheaper from orbit to Mun)
Ground --> 150k Station --> Mun (cheaper from orbit to Mun)

[FinalFan]

As for what I did in KSP today, well,

Today I learned that "Check Yo' Stagin'" applies to Clamp-O-Trons.  I started writing the explanation but mission creep happened and now it's over in Mission Reports. 

[Delay]

6 hours ago, Orbiter Space Program said:

I have landed (crashing counts) but I never left.

I think most of us started like this. Good luck!

[RizzoTheRat]

This may not look like much but it's taken me a long time to reach this point. 

Two missions to rescue Kerbals in low Kerbin orbit, and here we see the rescue ship having picked up the first one and accelerated to rendezvous with the second stranded kerbal behind it.

 

Jeb is onboard merely as an observer, this is my biggest kOS only mission to date.  Jeb hasn't touched a button, everything's been automated since the ship left the VAB. 

The script waited until a suitable launch window, launched to a rendezvous with the first craft and closed to around 25 meters for the rescue, waited 10 minutes for me to conduct the rescue, and then set up for a rendezvous with the second craft, matched velocities with the second one at about 55m and then...

 

AAAARGH $*%&!

The only way I can rescue him is with a Klaw, and I'll need RCS to get close enough for that, neither of which I have researched yet.  As I'm using USI life support, as soon as I got within physics range he started using resources, so will be dead quite quickly as he has no electricity/oxygen/food/etc.

I'm assuming he's in a command module from the MKS mod, and that in an unmodified game he'd be in one with a hatch, in which case I consider it to be the game cheating/glitching, so I'm not too bothered about reverting to launch and trying again later.

If I revert to a save before I accepted the contract, is there a chance he'll end up in a different capsule?

[papuchalk]

I agree with Daveroski.

Going to Mun from 80 km of Kerbin is more economical than going to Mun from 150 km. If you dont believe, try it in game, or use delta V calculator here

https://13375.de/KSPDeltaVMap/

 

The fact is, on close orbit 80km you have very high speed, so you need just "small" burn to gain a little more speed. While on 150km orbit you have much lower speed. That means, you have to make longer burn to gain speed again.

I think you are probably thinking it wrongly, because you dont consider 150 km to be a CIRCULAR orbit, but you are thinking about elliptical, with one side of orbit being still on 80 km , and the other side to be 150 km. That is different, because obviously you have that high speed when your ship is on 80km at Kerbin. However if you are speaking about really CIRCULAR orbit, you need extra delta v to get elliptical orbit 80/150  to be 150/150. And that is not eonomical at all.

 

Edited April 24, 2018 by papuchalk

[Hotel26]

@Daveroski, @MR L A, @FinalFan, enjoyable conversation, I suppose, guys!

For further discussion of the fine points of your topic, I would like to most kindly suggest you check out this recent topic for more information (and perhaps move on over there):

In the meantime, "What did you do In KSP today?" is a topic in which people share their exploits, laugh about their (Kerbals') mistakes and generally slap each other on the back and have fun.

Edited April 24, 2018 by Hotel26

[RizzoTheRat]

20 hours ago, SwissSpace93 said:

I have a question about docking with Space Stations, is there a formula that calculate the angle between the Station and the rocket?

Many Videos in Youtube the rocket fly directly to the station from the KSC, how to get the needed Phase Angle for this?

 

19 hours ago, Hotel26 said:

This is an excellent question.

1.  I think a lot of Kerbonauts simply launch from KSC when the target reaches the tip of the Kerbaran desert to the west of KSC and across the water.

2. At one time, I measured how long my launch took to get to a 100km apoapsis and at what longitude downrange that was.  Let's say 5m40s.   If the station was in a 100x100km orbit, then it would be traveling at a precise speed.  I then calculated how far uprange (longitude) the station would be such that its orbital speed took it, in 5m 40s, to the downrange launch apoapsis longitude.  Thus, when the target reaches the uprange longitude, I launched the rocket then.  The results could be rather spectacular, such as a 3-5 km separation at the apoapsis burn, usually an error due

It's surprising how much difference small design changes will make to your intercept.  I have a kOS script for launch where I can set a phase angle to a target in order to launch for intercept, so I'm pretty confident each launch is repeatable.

My early game tourist craft has 3 Mk1 capsules on the upper stage, but I built a modified one with a Stayputnik on top to allow it fly without a pilot.  For a given initial phase angle (experimentally derived after a few test flights) the slightly heavier and draggier Stayputnik version arrives about 3km behind the target at 85km altitude.  When I accidentally launched the wrong ship the slightly lighter and more streamlined one arrived over 10km ahead of the target.

[Hotel26]

9 minutes ago, RizzoTheRat said:

small design changes

Absolutely right!  I neglected to say that if you can fly the same launch profile twice in a row, you are a better pilot than me AND MechJeb!!    That's certainly one of the devilish details.

But at that time, I only used 2 lifters.  Same launch, same vehicle(s) over and over again...  Now I tend to just launch slightly late.  Station at 125km and I launch to somewhere between 80-100km.  Get in the fast lane, get the circularization sorted out first, then look for an intercept, which will typically be within the next 15-30 minutes.

"Good enough for government work", as they say.

(Incidentally, "3km behind the target" and "10km ahead of the target" are still very satisfactory and creditable numbers, sir!)

 

Edited April 24, 2018 by Hotel26

[RizzoTheRat]

...which in my opinion is why 100km+ is good altitude for a station.  An 80km launch and then transfer to the station as you catch up works really well.  Going for an intercept straight from the launch and ending up 20km ahead is bloody annoying

 

I believe MechJeb calibrates the intercept phase angle based on the previous launch, so if you launch for an intercept and end up miles away, reverting to launch and having another go will get you a lot closer.  Hence I don't feel too bad doing an experimental launch to work out the phase angle for a particular launch vehicle

Edited April 24, 2018 by RizzoTheRat

[ARS]

Modifying my SSTO to be able to perform like what it's used to be back during version 1.3

Literally just adding a couple of engines, add some fuel tanks and adjust wing positions

And then I go overboard...

Also, I'm making a submarine

Those R-7 fuel tanks is really handy in making boats

Underwater...

Captain, I think we've reached the site, there should be an island within our sight

Copy that, surfacing the vessel. I'll take a look outside

Land ahoy!

[OrbiterAirFields]

9 hours ago, Delay said:

I think most of us started like this. Good luck!

I have played the game for one year now, and I still suck XD

[adsii1970]

1 hour ago, ARS said:

Copy that, surfacing the vessel. I'll take a look outside

Land ahoy!

What command pod is that? Is it a mod?

Edited April 24, 2018 by adsii1970

[ARS]

7 minutes ago, adsii1970 said:

What command pod is that? Is it a mod?

Stockalike station parts extension redux mod

[adsii1970]

1 minute ago, ARS said:

Stockalike station parts extension redux mod

Thanks!

[JadeOfMaar]

@ARS Dang, man! What universe is that sub from? I'm getting an Aoki Hagane no Arpeggio vibe from it. : D

[ARS]

39 minutes ago, JadeOfMaar said:

@ARS Dang, man! What universe is that sub from? I'm getting an Aoki Hagane no Arpeggio vibe from it. : D

I make it myself, it's not from any particular universe, but it's true that I tried to make an I-401-esque sub, but because my computer can't handle large part count, I had to improvise to at least managed to make it's general shape while still aesthetically pleasing

[Snark]

Quite a few posts have had to be pruned from the thread, because of technical argument that led to animus that led to personal attacks and bickering.

Folks, play nice.  It is never okay to make personal attacks, no matter how firmly you believe the other person deserves it.  Do not call people names or accuse them of being stupid.  There's no call to be snide.  If you find yourself getting so steamed that you can't post without lashing out, perhaps take a break from the keyboard or go post in another thread or something.

Also, please try not to be a jerk.  If someone makes a statement that is substantively correct but uses wording that may not be technically precise... let it lie, please.  Or if you absolutely can't help yourself, post to clarify.  Politely.  While acknowledging the intent of their post.  Don't go in for pedantic nitpicking, particularly when delivered in a condescending or critical tone.  It accomplishes nothing, it persuades nobody, and all that happens is that flamewars sprout.

Bear in mind that this is a limited-communication medium.  Text is all that we've got, here.  It's easy to misunderstand someone, given that, 1. you don't know these people IRL, and 2. there are many different people in the conversation so it's not possible for everyone to tailor their responses to everybody, and 3. people do sometimes simply communicate imprecisely, and 4. not everyone's native language is English anyway.

So please, do try to stick with the spirit of the forums and engage in lively debate, and don't make things worse by trying to count coup on "you're wrong!" putdowns.  It doesn't make you any bigger.  it just makes everyone (including you) smaller.  So give people the benefit of the doubt and don't jump down their throats.

Also-- and I would have thought this is obvious, but apparently some people need a reminder-- do not allow yourself to be drawn into flamewars.  Just don't.  Flamewars do nothing but derail threads and then everyone loses, including innocent bystanders.  If someone says something you don't like, don't lash back.  If you need to respond, do so like an adult.  If someone is baiting you, don't rise to the bait.  And if someone is behaving so egregiously that you believe that they are breaking the forum rules (e.g. personal attacks), do not respond.  Instead, just report the post, and the moderators will take care of anything that needs taking care of.  It's what we're for.

Finally:  remember that arguing about technical matters is okay, but arguing about arguing is not.  Accusing people of using a strawman or otherwise posting in bad faith is not okay.  Attacking the way a person argues is not okay.  If you can't make your point by simply focusing on the matter at hand (e.g. orbital mechanics, or whatever), then perhaps better to sit it out.

For those of you who are innocent bystanders here and are just trying to enjoy the "what did you do today" thread, our apologies for the interruption.

For those of you who got a bit overwrought and forgot to be civil... please play nice.  I think the discussion that you were fighting about has run its course.  Unless you can post civilly without continuing the flames, engaging in personal putdowns, etc., then please let it lie.

Thank you for your understanding.

[Angelo Kerman]

I finished out my Minmus Base:

Self-sufficient and ready for science! Once I unlock ISRU I can set up an extraplanetary launchpad and start shipping the Gemstones and PreciousMetals I found back to Kerbin...

[Freshmeat]

8 minutes ago, Angel-125 said:

I finished out my Minmus Base:

I guess this is where the author can really mean that phrase. WBI is awesome.

[Cavscout74]

Other than learning to hate cats more this morning (see my latest post here:

I also managed to put Kerbals on Moho.  Made a nice sunset landing & quick flag planting.  This is actually my first planetary landing in this career - these brave kerbals made it home from Moho over 250 days before the next Duna window.

[Geonovast]

2 minutes ago, Cavscout74 said:

Other than learning to hate cats more this morning

 

I started a Science save... again.  Maybe this one will stick?  We'll see.

I did make a few changes.  I turned on kerbal experience, and turned off the extra ground stations, which gave me an actual mission... grind until the first relay antenna is available, then set up a network.

Sent Jeb up with a group of 4 "Pebble" relay satellites.  I always used to follow the "random satellites and good enough coverage" style, but since finding this handy thing, I'm doing it properly now!

 

In resonant orbit, sat injection burn

Two of them are off by 0.001 second from what I wanted, but I'll take it.

Job done, Jeb goes home.

 

Whole operation took, like, 5 hours.  I dunno what takes NASA so long to do stuff.

[JadeOfMaar]

58 minutes ago, Cavscout74 said:

What mod provides those cabins? Or what combination of clipped parts?