What did you do in KSP1 today?

[Zaphod12]

Just building a small station to test artificial gravity systems near Kerbin. (That engined craft is just a crew module that carries kerbals to the station)

 

[SwissSpace93]

Thatmo Probe has arrived at Thatmo and send some Data back to Kerbin.

Thin Atmosphere and only 77.5 Kelvin

Edited June 7, 2019 by SwissSpace93

[Puggonaut]

 

[Ace76inDC]

On 6/5/2019 at 8:55 PM, The Doodling Astronaut said:

Historic mission

 

 

I'm glad someone put a Moon landing on page 1969, awesome

[Jett_Quasar]

Today I got an official nod from KSP...

- Jett

[Fearless Son]

On 6/5/2019 at 10:45 PM, Fearless Son said:

Still early in my Breaking Ground career.  Built an early-career science plane that I'm pretty proud of because it looks kind of cool.  Taking it to the south pole for a contract and to deploy some of the new science stations while I'm at it.

Realized I recovered my landed plane before getting my final reading, so I have to fly back to the south pole.  Also I might not have brought enough power for the monitoring station, so it was an excuse to drop off more solar panels.  Unlocked the next node in the aircraft line of the tree, so I could use a design with Whesleys instead of Junos, which resulted in cutting the cruising time in half.

... unfortunately, there were some unforeseen complications on arrival. The fixed landing gear was heating up by the end of the trip, the atmospheric friction building heat just slightly faster than it could radiate it away.  That, in itself, wasn't a danger since the heat built slowly enough I could be a quarter of the way around the planet before they got dangerous, but landing proved a disaster.  I had to reload to quicksave over and over again, because every landing would be a crash.  The plane handled fine, glided at low speed (under 50 m/s,) was easy to keep the nose pitched slightly up and roll level so the rear tires hit the very level ice shelf first... and every single time the landing gear would explode, followed by most of the rest of the plane.  The earlier Juno-driven version didn't have this problem.  I finally had to accept a wash when the "best" version of the landing I could get was one in which both cockpits survived (even if nothing else did) so we could recover the crew safely.

Going to have to revisit this once unlocking some better landing systems.  Or after I can afford to upgrade my SPH and runway over the first level version.

[Stewcumber]

I haven't played KSP in ages. 've watched some Matt Lowne youtube videos which inspired me to start a Science mode run through rather than career. I also learned that experiments can be reset by scientists and the trick for saving more than one crew report! I thought I'd aim for Minmus with (for me) fairly low tech. I'd just unlocked the skipper and associated fuel tank.

Good start. It seem's I've forgotten how to go to space

A few boosters and an extra Skipper and we're good to go (albeit slowly).

Got there in the end. I did a whole bunch of "high above" science with my new found ability to reset tests, and grab science/data from external modules!

We've arrived! I always over estimate fuel, Stage 2 was dumped with half the tank full (I am an optimist ). It probably would have been a much easier lift off with all the adapters empty.

Nice touchdown! But perhaps you can see the problem I've got for my return trip? I only fitted one parachute and didn't put any separators! The whole lander is coming back to Kerbin, one way or another.

I planned on keeping as much fuel as possible to "Space X it" and burn all the way to the ground on Kerbin. This plan fell apart immediately as my rocket disintegrated on it's first aerobrake lap. Fortunately breaking just below the capsule and with all science / data transferred to the capsule. Guess this will be a fairly straight forward landing then! It was a bit sad seeing the rest of my lander disintegrate. Nice explosions though; they're new I think.

This is the most science I've ever got before in a single mission!

 

[Fearless Son]

5 minutes ago, Stewcumber said:

A few boosters and an extra Skipper and we're good to go (albeit slowly).

Nice mission you ran!  I love those high-science single returns.  Mind if I offer a little design advice to help you get up into space and back to Kerbin with less trouble?

[Guest]

2 hours ago, KerikBalm said:

And the blades exploded, sometime just one rotor expodes, sometime both, sometimes the whole craft.... I'm trying to refine this into something that I can turn into a science sub (and I'll add underwater surface features for good measure)

I was inspired to do some tinkering with subs as well although mostly I was just solving the delivery problem. One of my attempts dove and I got it to a bit past 10 m/s on propeller. Eventually, the pic below wasn't quite there yet. The trick is adjustable pitch on the propeller. I got maximum speed at 61 degree pitch. My second improved sub was very heavy and didn't dive, so not exactly an improvement.

 

[Geonovast]

Had a lot of downtime today.

Those BG rotors are pretty handy for making trailers.

[Stewcumber]

26 minutes ago, Fearless Son said:

Nice mission you ran!  I love those high-science single returns.  Mind if I offer a little design advice to help you get up into space and back to Kerbin with less trouble?

Yes please I am very rusty!

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Ace76inDC said:

I'm glad someone put a Moon landing on page 1969, awesome

That was actually not planned 

[Guest]

More tests soon!

[NorthernDevo]

Mission: Kermini IV

Vessel: Minmus Explorer II

Crew: CDR:Valentina

           SCI: Gemlie

Task: Orbital Science and ground survey

Mission Notes:

With research from two successful landings on the Mun opening up new technologies to draw upon, it was time for the girls to show their square-headed brethren how it's done.

After having successfully thumb-wrestled Jebediah for the first Munar landing, Valentina graciously agreed to fly the orbital survey mission, preparing the way for his Minmus landing. The two weeks away would be, she felt, a suitable vacation from having to listen to Bob going on and on about his sticker collection...again.

Val was quite happy to have Gemlie along with her in the tight confines of the Nereid pod; partly because the young Kerbonaut was a brilliant scientist and friendly companion, but mostly she was also half the size of one of the boys and couldn't win a game of "Eye Spy" to save her life; no matter how many times Val used the letter "S". So - plusses all 'round, really.

Minmus Explorer II lifted off the pad early in the morning, performing flawlessly for nearly three minutes before the first typically Kerbal problem was encountered.

"Well, there goes Phase Three," Gemlie sighed as the rocket shook under heavy acceleration.

"What's up?" Val shouted over the roaring of the motors.

"Well, you know how Weiner put the contract instruments right up close to the ladder for easy reach?"

"Don't be rude - Werner's a sweetie, and yes. Why?"

Gemlie rolled her eyes - an expression Kerbals were uniquely skilled at. "Well, the thermometer and the MSIP just fell off when the SM's panels blew off!"

Val looked shocked. "But we need those for the contract data!"

The Scientist nodded. "Yep - so Gene either gets to plan another launch or explain to the DMag reps why they didn't get their data."

Val nodded. "Oh...swell."

Picture caption: 2 SM side-panels and 2 experiments breaking free of ME2.

The rest of the flight went more or less routine. 

With Phase Three - the temperature and spectrum readings for an outside research company  - now tanked, due to the fact the instruments needed were now several thousand kilometers behind the ship, ME2 now had more than enough fuel to complete her mission, so the experimental Chickadee engines (whose fuel took up far too much of the already cramped pod's space) would never be used. 

The vessel burned into a perfect 100KM orbit over the Mint Frosted Moon, and while Val snacked, Gemlie set about her work collecting valuable high-altitude data.

After two orbits and receiving nothing from Kerbnet, Val brought the craft into a low orbit, repeating the process and completing the Phase One science collection. 

Phase Two - the Direct Observation of ground features - came next, and as Val called out biomes as they passed over, Gemlie climbed out of the capsule to take a shot with the telescope and report her own observations. 

Gemlie collects her data.

The two Kerbonauts briefly discussed the possibility of changing orbits to get data from the remaining biomes. Gemlie was all for it, but Val demurred, saying the "boys" would need to be able to bring back some hard science on the next mission along with the contract data - which KASA wouldn't receive. Gemlie agreed - reluctantly - and after receiving clearance from Ground, Val aligned the ship for a return to Kerbin.

MEII entering recovery orbit.

After aerobraking eight days later to shed some of the insane speed they'd picked up, Val expertly aligned with the Mun to bring the craft into approach orbit over KSC. Minmus Explorer II had plenty of fuel to burn into an easy 100km recovery orbit, and retro-burn over the Dune Peninsula for a -144.5 entry Periapsis. 

A perfect entry, and nearly perfect targeting on Val's part brought the chutes open directly over the Space Center. Val used up the remaining fuel, burning the Chickadees to slow their lateral speed further, dropping the ship into the drink just West of the complex.

Val: "Wheeeeee!!!" Gemlie:"AAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!"

"That's MY armrest!" "Well, move your foot!"

Results: Mission Successful. Mostly. 

Data collected: 1189. 

 

 

Edited June 7, 2019 by NorthernDevo

[Guest]

More on https://maarlandersinnovation.wordpress.com/2019/06/07/minmus-rover-is-tested/

[Richy teh space man]

 

Got my mods back up to date, and back in the save game I had setup and running. Still tons of science left on the Mun to gather, and also some things to find with rovers too apparently.
For now, just going to gather more cash and science, though I do have a Duna window coming up very soon..

[Fearless Son]

2 hours ago, Stewcumber said:

Yes please I am very rusty!

Looking at your Minmus lander, I see it has some tail fins on it.  That's great if you're going for aesthetics, but it does make the mission a little more difficult.  They only add a little mass, comparatively speaking, but they do add a lot of drag relative to the mass of the lander, and further that drag will tend to pull the lander into a prograde facing when in atmosphere.  That's fine if it was going up, but is going to work hard against you if you are trying to burn retrograde during aerobreaking.  I suspect this is why your lander came apart when you were returning, the drag wanted it to go in nose-first, which since that was a lower-drag profile and generates a less powerful detached shockwave than if you had been able to keep the "blunter" end of the craft in the prograde direction.  That detached shockwave can protect the more delicate parts from the worst effects of atmospheric compression (this is why so many return capsules and heat-shields have these broad bowl shapes on the side that goes in first.)  So unless your really attached to the look, lose the fins on the lander.

Now, the ascent is another matter.  You want all the drag at the back of the craft and little drag at the front.  You had the entire lander exposed on the way up, and all those little different pieces which aren't necessarily flush with one another is going to add a lot of drag on the nose.  That can make it harder to control.  You can overcome that with even more fins at the bottom, but that's kind of inelegant.  Instead, I recommend you use an appropriately sized fairing to cover the lander.  If you haven't played since fairings were introduced, they're a vertex-generated part where the user can define their exact shape by building them in sections, they can cover up more draggy elements, and they're staged so the fairing panels can be burst apart when you're out of the draggiest parts of the atmosphere and the upper-stage stuff can be deployed.  Because the user can define the fairing's exact shape, it's possible to make the drag even worse if you make it too blunt, but so long as the fairing is tapered gently it should help cancel any drag caused by the shape of the lander itself, concentrating more drag at the bottom of the launch vehicle and making the ascent easier to control.

Also a few nose-cones on the solid fuel boosters wouldn't hurt. 

[VA7NFH]

@NorthernDevo what mod is that really nice capsule from?

[Guest]

We are ready 

The system is ready for flight.

[NorthernDevo]

19 minutes ago, VA7NFH said:

@NorthernDevo what mod is that really nice capsule from?

Er...good question.

If it wasn't in the Making History expansion, then it's likely Near Future Spacecraft. That particular one is the "Nereid" and it's a terrific little capsule with a ton of adjustables.

The reason I can't tell you exactly at the moment (I'm looking!) is because of my basic approach to adding mods in KSP.

First, I play the game entirely stock, to really appreciate all the quality the devs put into the game. I will, in time, add DLC's and appreciate those as well.

Next, I may add a graphics mod or two; to add to the visual flavour of the game. I may add a utility app like KER and decide if I like it.

...At which point, I generally go WHOOOPEEEEE!!!!!!!! and dive into the mods like Dudley Dursley in a cake shop.

Me adding mods looks quite a bit like this:

It can get ugly.

Edit: It's definitely "Near Future Spacecraft".

Get it. I mean seriously - it's an awesome mod.

Edited June 8, 2019 by NorthernDevo

[VA7NFH]

48 minutes ago, NorthernDevo said:

It can get ugly.

If you have a ton of mods, the Janitors closet mod can really help

[Cavscout74]

I spent some time in a sandbox save whipped up a new jet.  First flight went well, although it did need a few minor tweaks.  Capable of mach 1.6 or so at ~800m altitude, and substantially more higher up.

Then I got the bright idea to try making it a V-tail like the little low-tech science plane I made a few days ago.  Jeb was not amused - not only was it SLOWER somehow, yaw stability left a little to be desired:

Then I jumped back into career with enough time to have my Mun remote rover land & gather a little science:

Jeb was also sent to investigate the final Kerbin magnetic anomaly as further punishment for his unauthorized mission out of Kerbin's SoI after performing the first crewed orbit of Minmus.  This was the first time I took my little science plane up to 7500m and it topped out at nearly 500 m/s despite having fixed gear

Landing on the mountain, however, was less than ideal even with the parachute:

 

 

[Triop]

12 hours ago, woeller said:

I've been trying to figure out how to set up a missile vertically.

Now I want to build a telescoop...

Anyway, today, some car tuning:

And then I started building a moving castle (wip)....

It's a beast.

 

Edited June 8, 2019 by Triop

[KerikBalm]

10 hours ago, Brikoleur said:

I was inspired to do some tinkering with subs as well although mostly I was just solving the delivery problem. One of my attempts dove and I got it to a bit past 10 m/s on propeller. Eventually, the pic below wasn't quite there yet. The trick is adjustable pitch on the propeller. I got maximum speed at 61 degree pitch. My second improved sub was very heavy and didn't dive, so not exactly an improvement.

Well, here's my current sub:

Obviously its going to be quite heavy. Too bad there's no bonus science to be had on the sea floor. I'm going to mod cryovolcanoes to appear down there, but the rest of the instruments are quite useless at the moment.

As for the delivery problem... I'm wondering if I can do like my old stock subs (that only worked when there was an O2 atmosphere)... ie just add wheels and drive on and off the ramp of a floating plane:

Spoiler

Or I was thinking of a bottom loaded plane, sort of like yours, and a robotic arm that will go dock with the front. Then I'd add empty ore tanks to the transport plane, and transfer ore from the sub to the transport: Sub goes up and becomes light, the plane sinks and shouldn't have to lift the sub so much.

Of course, since my old stock subs are fine (and faster, although with limited range due to fuel) for worlds with O2, this new sub really is going to need a Tiltrotor/prop plane to deploy it.

... so I guess I should work on a plane that that can lift 40 tons on Eve

[purpleivan]

I've got to say, it looks like Breaking Ground has certainly made this thread a lot more active... and entertaining.