What did you do in KSP1 today?

[ShadowZone]

I finally was able to show KSP in it's full glory by recreating the KSP2 trailer using just stock parts from KSP1:

 

 

And I put all those crazy vehicles in here:

https://kerbalx.com/hangars/90035

[capi3101]

Well, it's official: 1.8.1 is a go for me. Yeah, the game takes ten minutes to load but not taking minutes on end to reload scenes makes up the difference. Glad to rejoin all y'all in the modern age for a while.

Now watch Squad announce 1.9 over the weekend...

 

So after confirming everything (read: the plethora of mods I use) was working in 1.8.1 satisfactorily on Wednesday, the same career save I've been on since v.1.4 resumed yesterday with a mass driver shot from the Sleipnir A outpost on Dres to the Nullus Recogitet Shipyards in orbit, the shipyards having completed the print of space station Dresport late in the day on Tuesday. Supplies of fuel, Rocket Parts and Enriched Uranium were sent up, after which Dresport was released from the shipyard.

A space station birthing a space station. Yes, this is what you're seeing here. Not sure we should be seeing this but I suppose it's better than trying to take a screenie of the conception...that'd get you put in prison, I'd wager......

After launch, the new space station burned down into a 35.6 by 35.1 kilometer, 1.18° inclined orbit over the untrustworthy dwarf planet.

The successful launch of Dresport brought the establishment of all planned infrastructure at Dres to a conclusion, leaving me to turn my attention to the next target along the itinerary, Moho. After yet another failed attempt to put a probe over a target point on Dres's surface, LSV House Corrino broke Dres orbit and warped over Kerbol to begin the process of speeding up to get into Moho orbit (the exploration contract was for a flyby, but I figured I'd get the orbit contract shortly afterwards so it made since to be ready to go all the way in). Corrino stopped at 1.25 GM over Kerbol and aligned herself to increase speed, taking the opportunity to deploy panels and recharge her Exotic Matter tanks while there. The ramp-up process took several hours, during which Eunice Howell arrived safely (finally) at space station Gillyport.

Well, I guess all I can say is that sometimes it does pay to cheat...

Once docked, Eunice Howell took on some badly needed fuel supplies while tourist Obsen Kerman transferred over to the station's Spamcan 7 monoprop lander. The lander departed the station and proceeded for an immediate landing on the surface, touching down safely about 3.5 kilometers to the west of the Ocean Ranger outpost.

I wasn't aiming really aiming for OR, but I probably could've gone there had I felt like it...

The lander stayed long enough to fulfill Obsen's contract, then returned safely and immediately to Gillyport, where Obsen transferred back to Eunice Howell. The day ended with the arrival of the Auk XVI that had been en route to Minmus since before the Christmas break at the minty moon. I set up a burn to put it into Minmus orbit before calling it a day.

So today's been a pretty big day as y'all might've surmised. It began with putting the Auk into an initial 84.1 by 14.2 kilometer, 0.94° inclined orbit over Minmus, then adjusting that orbit to put the craft en route to rendezvous with space station Minmusport. Flight time to rendezvous was 52 minutes, during which time my focus returned to House Corrino.

Now at Denny's, flambéd spacecraft...

The ship had slowed sufficiently for a direct warp to orbit, so she proceeded on the planned flyby, successfully completing the exploration contract. As planned, the next exploration contract required me to enter Moho orbit, gather science and return from Moho orbit, so Corrino proceeded to a 1,928.5 by 461.5 kilometer, 163.72° inclined orbit arriving at 420 m/s. 

Sixteen down with just one to go...

Upon reaching orbit, Corrino launched the Pink Noise 7 communications satellite carrier she'd been hauling and immediately a second one was ordered up; time to completion was sixteen minutes. The first carrier, designated Mohocomm Delta, proceeded into a trajectory into polar orbit; later in the day, Delta reached its target position and altitude and released Mohocomm Echo and Mohocomm Foxtrot, which are now en route to their final target positions. Meanwhile, Corrino completed, fueled and launched Mohocomm Alpha and immediately began the print of ScanSat Moho, which was completed seven minutes later. Mohocomm Alpha has had some issues; while the craft is at the proper target altitude for deployment, it's still not quite aligned with the equator. I want to get that straightened out before I release its sub-satellites. ScanSat Moho, meanwhile, was completed and has burned to a 250 kilometer polar orbit, and I can begin biome scans of the planet whenever I'm ready at this point.

Bit excited to be at Moho. Can y'all tell?

I should also mention that the Auk arrived and docked successfully at Minmusport, and that Eunice Howell has departed Gillyport to attempt a rescue mission over Gilly - she's currently en route to intercept with the target and should reach that point in about fifty minutes or so. We're about eight degrees off the target plane, so it may be a while before the rendezvous occurs.

So right now my to-do list has Moho front and center - I want to finish deploying the communications satellites and begin biome scans. I also need to dispatch the colonists from Minmusport to the Deepwater Horizon outpost on the surface (their final destination) and get the rescue mission over with as quickly as possible over Gilly so that LSV House Atreides, the mothership for my current interplanetary tourism mission, can get back to Kerbin. Atreides has a scheduled warp to Gilly herself in the very near future, which is going to be a very tricky maneuver to perform (why I haven't done it yet). My next colonization mission is also on the near horizon - a group of twenty colonists headed to the C. P. Baker outpost on Laythe. I'm a little concerned there for the base itself - some of the changes to the Pathfinder mod have included a shortening of the maximum length of Mineshaft crew tubes to about ten meters. All of the Castillo structures there are currently attached via Mineshafts owing to various Kraken attacks there, so I'm hoping nothing breaks as a result on the next visit...

Might not have anything for y'all on Monday depending on how my weekend goes, but I'll definitely let y'all know what all happens next time something does happen.

[Zeiss Ikon]

(1.6.1 RSS/RO/RP-1)

No screen shots at the moment, but I succeeded in building an airplane that can (in KRASH simulation) launch from the runway and reach the speed of sound.  It takes two of the Derwent V jet engines (still the only jet I have in this career) to get the 10+ T craft up to flying speed, and it still needs the entire runway, but once off the ground and cleaned up, it can climb at a reasonable rate at about 150 m/s.  Once up to test altitude, the jets are ejected (to be recovered with a parachute on each nacelle) to remove their drag and the XLR-11 alcohol/LOX engine is started.  This engine can push the craft to and through 350 m/s in level flight at 10 km altitude, perhaps faster if I have the patience to climb higher before starting the six minute burn (XLR-11, technologically new, also throttles to 50% thrust and can be ignited a total of four times in a single flight, so reserving a little fuel might give the option for a go-around on a rejected landing).

Once the rocket fuel is burned off (and the kerosene for the jets dumped), the airplane is basically an empty fuel tank with wings, landing gear, and a cockpit; it ought to have a ridiculously low stall speed, so if I can manage my terminal energy well, ought to land back on the runway without major issues.

In all previous RO careers I've played, I've done the "Crewed Speed Record: 350 m/s" and "Speed of Sound" contracts with a rocket, generally effectively an A-4 with a cockpit (and varying amounts of pilot protection) and sometimes with stubby wings.  If I have the patience to wait through construction time for Research 2, it'll be the first time I've flown a runway-launched airplane for that achievement.

If the RO and Kerbal Construction Time devs happen to be around, I'd like to suggest that the very first craft, airplane or rocket, launched in a new career be exempted from construction time -- reflecting the fact that its completion might have signaled the beginning of the actual space program we're playing.  Build an X-1 equivalent or a WAC Corporal, and it ought to be ready to fly at the beginning of 1951 (given these were both 1940s achievements -- 1947 and 1948, respectively, as I recall).

[Cavscout74]

Finally got another career update posted - mostly just a bunch of probes departing Kerbin for Eeloo, Jool & Duna, with a few other launches thrown in for variety.

The biggest achievement was my first ever Moho landing using only chemical rockets - no Ion or nuclear engines at all

The Laythe Glide-Rover is promising but barely tested - just a single test flight around KSC followed by a hasty launch

And I also did some testing on a new rover.  I used a few I-beams for protection, but I never actually rolled it to see if they work as desired - came close a few times, but it's wide enough it never went too far in my single test drive.

 

[fulgur]

Today I built a sort of airship? helicopter? carrier? I'm not entirely sure what this is. It's a helicopter in the sense that it has a set of rotors providing lift, which allow it to VTOL up and down. It's a carrier in that it has a section of wing plating for a tiny helicopter or rover to sit on & latch onto the Klaw and it's an airship in that it has a similar purpose, to remain floating for ever and ever and ever. Also it's designed for water landings. It's got a couple of Restock+ long 0.625m fuel tanks (should be stock™) and a NF nuclear reactor in the cargo bay.

Was really excited when I had all the controls set up properly and it flew. Then, of course...

EXPLOSIONS! All the pontoons died and the bridge section broke away from the main body. The main body actually flew away and ran out of power over the VAB.

EDIT: ONE HOUR LATER IRL

I got it flying! I had previously set up H / N to increase forward blade pitch and decrease rear blade pitch. It's quite hard to launch without catapulting it straight into the runway, but with practice I could keep it flying straight. Then I used the load of reaction wheels and RCS to point in the right direction, and engaged the forwards motors. (Because they're not on the CoM, which would have lead to them clipping into practically everything, I needed to make adjustments as I increased blade pitch). Then I turned on CAPSLOCK, which is 'fine control', and I kept it flying roughly evenly all the way over the Island Airfield, where I cut the engines and made a perfect water landing. Then I sailed into the cliffs at the southern edge of the island, exploded and ragequit without a picture.

Flying over Airfield Island, home of the Island Airfield.

At the south side, having made a successful flight to the airfield, I attempted a descent.

It took me Rebel Rebel, Young Americans and Fame to land it, from about 3km at speeds between 2 and 5 metres per second. Eventually, I made a perfect and ultra-cautious landing at under 1m/s.

YES! Landed!
 

Also, decided what this is. It's like an airship, but it's heavier than air, so it's a Lead Zeppelin. [groan].

Edited January 11, 2020 by fulgur

[Okhin]

I'm build a sun observer, and I'm having fun with @Nertea's NFT Exploration. I can probably get some more feeders, but I reach 5M now (if Antenna helpers reports are ok). I might need a bit more energy input though

[AmpsterMan]

I've been playing KSP after like a four year hiatus. Built my classic science bomber and deployed a rover with the scanning arm.

 

All that trouble for a measly 5 science!

[Torn4dO]

Today I've made some progres on my latest space station, it's starting to look good!!

[Delay]

Fun fact: For the Mammoth, I started at around Kerbin midnight and ended (finally!) just before sunset. I don't know how long making the map took, but the KSP time only elapsed when I sat around in the KSC screen, waiting for MM to reload. While texturing I was in the SPH to check every now and then.
I spent around 3-5 hours just waiting for MM to finish reloading!

The three S3 fuel tanks and the Rhino? About 8 hours total, from start to finish that is! And that's the end of the engines and fuel tanks tabs!

Edited January 11, 2020 by Delay

[fourfa]

Got a standard rescue kerbal-and-craft contract, in low orbit of Minmus.  Flew my claw module there, and bounced off the craft (a Mk1 plane cockpit) half a dozen times without getting the claw to engage.  Realized in a panic I'd knocked it suborbital - VERY suborbital with only ~100s until crash.  I only had time for one more go-around, I line up, RCS translate toward the ship, and for whatever reason this time it hooked up.  Quick radial-out burn with Better Burn Time reading "50 seconds to impact" but the wall of a big mountain next to the flats looming VERY big.  Skimmed 100m over the mountain ridge and got into stable orbit.  Burned so much fuel it'll have to wait there for a rescue-the-rescue craft.

This game can still get my heart pumping with unexpected situations, 3300+ hours on!

[Lisias]

4 hours ago, AmpsterMan said:

I'

 

All that trouble for a measly 5 science!

With all the due respect, sir, your rover made me remember one of my favorite pets, a Pekingese dog. And he used to liquid on trees exactly as your rover!  

[Guest]

wow the thumbnail didn't transfer in welll at all!

[Lisias]

So, after killing 24 kerbals reloading the savegame uncountable times for my Lightning entry on the Around Kerbin in 80 Minutes Challenge, I was forced to come into terms with the fact that High Performance Kerbal Transportation is a risky business, and my Company Insurance would be raised to the Stratosphere if I go Boeing and deliver the aircraft to the customers.

So I used that sparing 700Kg to add some Emergency Crew Ejection System (including also the passengers, or course!).

Being honest, it was way more satisfying to recover the ejected cabins than hitting F-9 all the time.

So, here is the Mission Report for the Test (shown animations were shrink to prevent shocking mobile and similar devices - click on the image to get a better resolution one!).

I didn't managed to make the experience exactly pleasant, but the Insurance Company at least agreed to do not raise our premium.

[Tim_AZ]

I finally reached a point where I can call this thing done.  This is version 10 and I spent an insane amount of time trying to get the performance in game as close the the real aircraft as possible. 

 https://kerbalx.com/Tim_AZ/O-2A-Skymaster

 

[Castille7]

Today I made an attempt to put Omega 7 WSC (With Space Craft) in Orbit. In this Version 1.8.1 the craft on the docks are holding together better. After launching I had to reduce the throttle to half to keep on course. After Boosters were staged the throttle then was set back to full. In the end this was another failed attempt.

The First Launch I had too much speed and went off course

 

Second Attempt

Spoiler

Staging off Center Engines Failed

 

Third Attempt

Spoiler

Staged Boosters

 

Staged Center Engines Successfully even with some explosions going on

 

Checking for Damage here and all is fine

 

Changing Trajectory for less angle and more speed

 

Changing Trajectory for less angle and more speed a Second time

 

 

Changing Trajectory for less angle and more speed a Third time

 

All Liquid Fuel and Ox has been depleted at this point

 

Worst case scenario, use all Monopropellant Control Systems to continue completion of Orbit........FAILED!

 

 

Final Attempt

Spoiler

 

Staging Launcher and Booster at once because they were causing damage with single staging

 

Tried to complete the Orbit after a fourth attempt and failed

 

[fulgur]

The Gale-class ...air...ship...craft...thing is now available for you to crash on KerbalX! If you can fly it send me a video.

https://kerbalx.com/fulgur/Gale-class-I

[amarillo114]

Tonight was really thrilling... I left off the KSC departing to Eve for the first time with lots of wizardry science tools aboard.

I took time (a lot) for taking pictures, space is beauty!

Leaving Kerbin!

 

Decoupling!

Another decoupling stage!

Finally I can see you!

 

Those moments were breathtaking!

 

Now heading back to Eve orbit!

I  KSP.

 

PS : (Sorry if there were too much pictures; I've held my horses to avoid put even few more!) 

Edited January 12, 2020 by amarillo114
Typo

[purpleivan]

Jeb and Bob headed for a land of lakes, rivers and mountains in search of the truth, in the Kayak Club

Edited January 12, 2020 by purpleivan

[Hotel26]

Project Nailgun has paid off...

I've been following the 80 Minute Challenge with interest.  In particular, I have been inspired by @Laie's entries.  I'm still working through the whole challenge, rapaciously reverse-engineering the work of Aerospace Engineers Far More Brilliant Than Me. 

This is Jetstar and it's a cross between my 7-minute endurance spy-plane, Skunk [video with captions], and one of Laie's entries (my code-name Nailgun 1):

 

Here's Laie's Nailgun 1:

   [click the screen shot to see his entry]

                                                                                     

Like Skunk, Jetstar flies 2,187 m/s at 31km.  But while Skunk was unmanned and had a cruise endurance of only 6-7 minutes, Jetstar carries 8 pax and has the endurance to circumnavigate Kerbin.

Like Skunk, it's a trick to get Jetstar "slotted into the groove" [see the video above with captions enabled]...  and it can only be done with Atmospheric Autopilot...  but it's a pure buzz to see it settle into Cruise Equilibrium!

 

Edited January 12, 2020 by Hotel26

[cubinator]

I started work yesterday on a big space station with a ring. I want to send it to Jool!

[RizzoTheRat]

Happy with how close my kOS landing script gets me to a rescue contract, but what the hell's going on in that are, the marker 10km away is the one I rescued last week!

[Okhin]

I launched my Sentinel / Space telescop hybrid. Yes, the one with all the feeders.

That much feeders. And antennae. And the electrical power to use them. While still not having Advanced electrics.

The mission report have more details. But I did it in one launch. And with an horrible part count (with all the capacitor banks, feeders, and solar panel, I'm way over 500 of them. My SPF is now of 2s per frame :D). Maybe I'll send it to kerbalX at some point,

[NHunter]

Today I Rock'ed.

-- arrival of the leading communication relay to BH Rock.

[BadOaks]

My stock-only career continues. Second mission to the Duna SOI is going to focus on Ike this time. The base rover and transfer vehicle Determination both arrived in orbit, and after picking up some contract rescues the crew of the Determination went planetside and transferred to the rover. 

The rover is slightly updated, including swivels instead of terriers for more thrust, internal tanks for more dV, and a docking port so it can potentially re-fuel compatible landers. The service module features an inflatable heat shield for atmo braking but obviously that's not needed for Ike.

 

 

Edited January 13, 2020 by BadOaks

[AmpsterMan]

Still early in my career so getting some more science around KSC