What did you do in KSP1 today?

[Hotel26]

1 hour ago, Grogs said:

the center of gravity seems to move around too much as the fuel level changes

Welcome to the Wonderful Wild World of Vee Tee, Oh Hell!!

Edited September 7, 2020 by Hotel26

[Dat Kerbal Dude]

Today,well,not today,i launched a SM-65 atlas-agena,with a Pioneer 0 probe,in RSS.

Pictures:

Spoiler

also i launched a Soyuz Rocket in a sub-orbital trajectory.

Pictures:

Spoiler

 

[Guest]

Gifs

But of course high quality photos are always better usually

[Robi666]

16 hours ago, Vezbot said:

Wow that's far from Kerbol, I haven't played KSP in a while but are comets part of the KSP add-ons? Seems like it would make for a good mission to practice in sandbox. haven't done any deep space missions yet, but I did a fairly ambitious mission trying to dock with a class E asteroid in an inclined, eccentric and extremely close to the sun orbit once. I still have flashbacks from trying to rendevous and failing cause the relative velocity was 20 km/sec.

I'm not sure, I usually check for upgrades twice a year. I think it came with 1.10 and ESA comet missions are available to everybody, not sure about career etc. You can check the versions I'm using in screenshots, next to the navball. BTW, is autocorrect a bit too silly in this forum? Made a mess out of my post.

[Lewie]

I started a career mode save!

It turns out, career mode is pretty fun! I’ve mostly been doing world’s first and tourist contracts so far. I currently am working on bringing 6 tourists home, they got stuck in mun orbit. But besides that...it’s going pretty well! I did turn up the funds reward a bit...:Cus really, I just want contract for some more structured gameplay. After playing so much science mode, I was running out of inspiration. Career mode has provided a solution to that.

[Tonka Crash]

Landed a workshop to start construction on a refinery on Minmus. Parts and a work crew are still en route from Mun.

[JorgeCS]

3 hours ago, Lewie said:

I started a career mode save!

It turns out, career mode is pretty fun! I’ve mostly been doing world’s first and tourist contracts so far. I currently am working on bringing 6 tourists home, they got stuck in mun orbit. But besides that...it’s going pretty well! I did turn up the funds reward a bit...:Cus really, I just want contract for some more structured gameplay. After playing so much science mode, I was running out of inspiration. Career mode has provided a solution to that.

Usually for me career mode, at least when starting (the first year or 1.5 years), is a bit repetitive due to the lack of nice contracts. So when I want to do something 'inspirational' I check the ongoing challenges in the forum  Sometimes I do the challenge just for fun and sometimes I also post... but I feel the career a bit empty unless adding some 'more' as the anomaly surveyor pack, for instance. My gameplay is somewhat forth and back career/sandbox-doing-whatever hehehe

1 hour ago, Tonka Crash said:

Landed a workshop to start construction on a refinery on Minmus. Parts and a work crew are still en route from Mun.

For me the best part of that is 'en route from the Mun'. This makes me think much on KSP2 and the possibilities about bases, colonies... ah, I want it so bad!  

[qromodynmc]

Today's events were bit crazy. I wanted to do some simple contracts at first, i saw a contract to expand my existing mun base so i thought why not? i was bit naive to think that landing near the existing base would fullfil contract. Except it wouldnt. So here is the list of events.

I had to put existing base on orbit because there was no way i could dock to it on land

Unfortunately both parts of old base and new addition didnt had rcs thrusters, i often dont use it unless i know im gonna dock something.

I managed to dock both bases by simply getting closer and closer very slowly then targeting docking part spesifically. it was hard.

now that i docked, one would think hard part is over. it wasnt. I had to land it back on mun! you'll see pics of bases so you can imagine all the pain i had.

base was assymetrial so i thought maybe i could manage to land if i only use central engines, idea did work but they were barely powerful so i kinda made suicide burn (and several f5 presses)

Sacrifices were made.

at the end everyone was safe! base too, except few solar panels.

Contract completed!.

[JorgeCS]

1 hour ago, qromodynmc said:

at the end everyone was safe! base too, except few solar panels.

Contract completed!.

I would like to point out that this is definitely not the way landing legs are supposed to work. Shame on you! But well... it is a very kerbal way to use them, isn't it?   Now talking more seriously, good job!!

Edit: That's the reason why I always retract my panels before landing  

Edited September 7, 2020 by JorgeCS

[Kerbals_of_Steel]

10 hours ago, Grogs said:

 

The Thud engines are another story. I can't seem to get the engines placed so it doesn't flip over on ascent. For one thing, the center of gravity seems to move around too much as the fuel level changes. Definitely still a work in progress.

 

I made a rover delivery lander in a similar style, a few things I learned:

1: Thrust tweakable is your friend. Place the engines as far apart as possible, then use the tweaker to bring the thrust center and CoG into alignment.

2: Place multiple Veernor thrusters on the bottom at each end and activate them once you get to the vertical part of the flight. They use lots of fuel, but also let the SAS help stabilize the craft much faster, and by thrusting up, you aren't fighting both gravity and the conventional RCS system.

3: The trick that made it all work: Don't use a MK3 fuel tank. Mount 1.5m tanks on each side, low and long as possible. Think about pontoons on a boat. Then set them to draw evenly from each tank and each side. This vastly reduces CoG transfer as the fuel is burned.

[Neil Kermstrong]

2 hours ago, qromodynmc said:

Today's events were bit crazy. I wanted to do some simple contracts at first, i saw a contract to expand my existing mun base so i thought why not? i was bit naive to think that landing near the existing base would fullfil contract. Except it wouldnt. So here is the list of events.

I had to put existing base on orbit because there was no way i could dock to it on land

Unfortunately both parts of old base and new addition didnt had rcs thrusters, i often dont use it unless i know im gonna dock something.

I managed to dock both bases by simply getting closer and closer very slowly then targeting docking part spesifically. it was hard.

now that i docked, one would think hard part is over. it wasnt. I had to land it back on mun! you'll see pics of bases so you can imagine all the pain i had.

base was assymetrial so i thought maybe i could manage to land if i only use central engines, idea did work but they were barely powerful so i kinda made suicide burn (and several f5 presses)

Sacrifices were made.

at the end everyone was safe! base too, except few solar panels.

Contract completed!.

That's the weirdest but at the same time most unique base I have ever seen in KSP, something I'd do but it would go totally wrong lol.

good job

[Angelo Kerman]

Today I installed the port and starboard Truss 1 segments on Starlab:

The station arm is really coming in handy! I also installed the Buckboards onto the truss:

My next assembly flights will be bringing up the solar truss segments...

[Guest]

6 hours ago, Lewie said:

I started a career mode save!

It turns out, career mode is pretty fun! I’ve mostly been doing world’s first and tourist contracts so far. I currently am working on bringing 6 tourists home, they got stuck in mun orbit. But besides that...it’s going pretty well! I did turn up the funds reward a bit...:Cus really, I just want contract for some more structured gameplay. After playing so much science mode, I was running out of inspiration. Career mode has provided a solution to that.

I never had the patience for career mode... Do you have pics?

[Dat Kerbal Dude]

12 minutes ago, Angel-125 said:

Today I installed the port and starboard Truss 1 segments on Starlab:

The station arm is really coming in handy! I also installed the Buckboards onto the truss:

My next assembly flights will be bringing up the solar truss segments...

now that's some cool content!

*clicks like button*

damn,i reached the likes limit,consider my post as a like.

[Neil Kermstrong]

11 minutes ago, The Doodling Astronaut said:

I never had the patience for career mode... Do you have pics?

It's pretty fun actually, but can be boring and repetitive if you starting again from the beginning, because of the building upgrades (mainly the R&D, VAB and Launchpad, R&D is just extremely expensive)

One thing I do is start with 500000 money and a bit of science (about 1000-2000) when creating the save, or use cheats to upgrade all buildings once

[DunaRocketeer]

After a long absence from KSP, I've decided to get right back into it. I'm in the latter stages of a career playthrough, and have decided to go for SSTO vehicles from here on out. Here are my Mk3 lifters; one for kerbonauts, and one for cargo.

[JorgeCS]

10 hours ago, Angel-125 said:

Today I installed the port and starboard Truss 1 segments on Starlab:

The station arm is really coming in handy! I also installed the Buckboards onto the truss:

My next assembly flights will be bringing up the solar truss segments...

I need to ask... are you using your own TUFX profiles, or profiles published by someone else? The pics you publish have always that 'distinctive flavor'...

[Hotel26]

Had been quite looking forward to a bright, sunny day out on the water in my busy schedule.  KAC gave me a break and...

...here we are, mapping the floor of Lake Tahoe, barrelling across the Lake at 110 m/s.  [click & arrows for slide show]

         

At the end of every pass, we slow to a crawl, turn slowly and proceed 1km northward, and then ... do it again.

So far, greatest depth recorded beneath the keel has been 948m.  Very cool.  When we're done, Cousteau will come in and do a more detailed survey.

Lastly, no doubt, I will probably get the idea to create some kind of "flying quotes" diving bell "flying unquotes" that will trap the occupant deep under water such that it can unseat itself momentarily to Plant-A-Flag for the obligatory photo-shoot.

Anyway, here's the next few passes we made...

         

Edited September 8, 2020 by Hotel26

[Guest]

The Vall Mobile Hotel got approved for Upsilon. Meaning I contributed for Vall, next would be Tylo. I was thinking of a ground base, but that would be too hard for my computer. Instead, I think I might be making a Tylo Private Station. You can rent it apparently once it's ready.

The Tylo Private station would still be big though, made out of multiple modules. Thinking of some kind of tourist looking station like Axiom Space Station

[Angelo Kerman]

7 hours ago, JorgeCS said:

I need to ask... are you using your own TUFX profiles, or profiles published by someone else? The pics you publish have always that 'distinctive flavor'...

 

[Grogs]

17 hours ago, Kerbals_of_Steel said:

I made a rover delivery lander in a similar style, a few things I learned:

1: Thrust tweakable is your friend. Place the engines as far apart as possible, then use the tweaker to bring the thrust center and CoG into alignment.

2: Place multiple Veernor thrusters on the bottom at each end and activate them once you get to the vertical part of the flight. They use lots of fuel, but also let the SAS help stabilize the craft much faster, and by thrusting up, you aren't fighting both gravity and the conventional RCS system.

3: The trick that made it all work: Don't use a MK3 fuel tank. Mount 1.5m tanks on each side, low and long as possible. Think about pontoons on a boat. Then set them to draw evenly from each tank and each side. This vastly reduces CoG transfer as the fuel is burned.

I worked on the Mk2 lander before I read this, so I ended up going a different way. This is really useful if I decide to go back and revisit the design.

This is the latest design. I moved most of the fuel to the center so the CG won't change much, ditched the engine at the rear, and replaced the Thuds with 2 Wolfhounds on BG rotors for a true VTOL craft. With Wolfhounds, it's obviously not going anywhere on Kerbin, but it should be able to operate anywhere except Kerbin, Eve, Laythe, and Tylo. Instead of RCS, I went with a boatload of reaction wheels instead. The rear cargo bay has two more reaction wheels, ISRU gear, and a full set of scientific instruments.

 

First flight test was on Minmus using the F12 menu. Horizontal takeoff was steady.

 

Next up was a full simulation on Duna using F12. Re-entry was stable tail first. Needed a little engine thrust to slow down to parachute-opening speed and then burned near the ground for a soft landing.

 

After landing on the tail, I flipped it over onto the wheels. Here it is fully deployed.

 

Liftoff from Duna. I ascend horizontally and turn to get the nose on the right heading.

 

Then point the nose up 45 degrees and pull the wheels in. Ascent was slow, but there was still plenty of dV remaining after making orbit. It's not the most stable flight though - some weird yaw/roll instabilities. If it starts pulling to the left and I push back to the right, it will begin rolling. I could fly it manually, but using the autopilot turned out to be much more reliable.

 

I decided it was good enough for KSP and launched the first prototype underneath a giant fairing. I dubbed it the Icarus since there's a decent chance it will fall from the sky at some point.

 

The Icarus is now on its way to KEO Station, and from there to the Mun for some trial landings. One thing I've found that's a bit obnoxious is that it doesn't hold on the maneuver node during burns. It doesn't behave like an imbalanced ship (which will eventually go into a spin about the long axis with enough thrust). Instead the nose just drops 5 degrees below the maneuver node and stays there. There's plenty of control authority for me to hold it on the maneuver node manually, so it's not a typical imbalance.

[Angelo Kerman]

I completed Starlab's solar truss array and did a crew rotation with SLS-18:

SLS = Shuttle Launch System in my save...

[Grogs]

The Icarus (upper right in the photo) arrived at KEO station. It will stay there until the fuel tanker arrives and then head to the Mun for landing trials.

 

Over at Minmus, the crew shuttle arrived carrying a couple of engineers from the Mun.

 

Docking the crew shuttle with the extra engineers completed the last objective (4 engineers onboard) of my 'Expand Minimus Station II' contract for a nice payday.

 

Then it was down to the surface for some mining. First the ore tanker.

 

Then a Giant MOFO XL tanker arrived and started fueling up. This one is going to take a while.

[Okhin]

Today I got to Eve, and landed a crewed outpost there.

Undocking the mission from the space bar. This is the last time the crew there will be in Kerbin SOI for a long time, since there's no return craft (yet). It is planned for the next transfer window.

Burning to intercept with Eve. I've burned the leftover of the transfer stage I got when I docked the outpost to the tug.

Since I have to dock to something, I'm aiming for the small lab I left there when I sent a probe on the surface. It is on a 102° inclinatio though. Meaning a lot of dV to burn. In fact a bit to much, I ended up 100m.s short to rendezvous (I had a way to high Apoapsis for an encounter I think, I had like 800 m.s of speed relative to the small lab, could kill only 700m.s), and instead of redoing all the mission (and the last weeks of game), I just cheated for Infinite fuel. I really need to get better at transferring between SOI. In think, I should have aimed for a way lower Periapsis on encounter.

While at it, I also fixed the 100° inclination thing.

This is the station now, before dropping the outpost on Eve surface. A pilot will stay there, waiting for a return craft next window (and there will be some stuff to send in orbit of Gilly too).

And nothing much for the Eve descent really, the outpost landing have been tested and tried a lot in simulation. And now it is down on Eve surface, solar panel and antennas pocking through the heatshield, making the outpost look like a big mushroom.

I need to gather seismic data. But maybe I can crash a class E asteroid. Or a comet ? Did anyone tried that to see if they survive Eve reentry ?

Anyway, the crew will stay there for a long time. At least one transfer window (plus the wait for a return one), but I think the mushroom is comfy enough for Kerbals. And they have data to crunch into science.

[Misguided Kerbal]

Today... I officially ended KASA. See the last 2 posts: