What did you do in KSP1 today?

[Fraktal]

Laugh if you want, but I found myself finding out how hellishly difficult it is to eyeball a suborbital flight from a non-equatorial launchpad into a non-equatorial biome of respective longitudes around 60° away from each other with a pre-Terrier rocket, no maneuver nodes, no time-to-apoapse readout and no Trajectories mod telling me where I'll land.

I eventually just gave up after my last attempt flew over the target biome and into the highlands on a high-angle 8 g reentry. I haven't the faintest idea how Elon Musk plans to pulls this off in real life (though that one's probably not going to eyeball it).

Edited January 20, 2021 by Fraktal

[jwenting]

8 hours ago, Brikoleur said:

Holy cow, what was your dV budget?

About 16000 for just that burn.

[jimmymcgoochie]

Rule number one of playing RP-1: forget everything you know about stock KSP.

Me: Not enough delta-V to get to Jupiter? Add MOAR BOOSTERS!

Amazingly, this actually worked- going from two to six boosters gave it the weight capacity to add a much beefier upper stage which has the delta-V needed (6.5km/s!) to get to Jupiter for a flyby.

[vv3k70r]

I found tread about badlands and a window in missions to get there, I never were.

So I build a plane that get some speed (I do not have 3 last tech in aero so do not have better engines)...

But it turned out that with this speed engines starting to burn. Radiator shields created so much drag that I lost1/3 of max speed. So I striped if from control surfaces to get even faster and get to evillands:

Performed some experiments, one of them was (view from cockpit):

View was noticed - it exist.

Tested a juno drone:

And some chores about refueling biggest tanks in orbit.

Around Minmus I have lot of ancient stuff so I send most efective one (laboratory) to bring them fuel.

Later will came some space engineers and fix them new computers to get them usefull again.

[bitzoid]

Today I fired an Orange Tank straight into the Sun.

Everybody on Kerbin seems quite happy with it gone. My scientists tell me the thing was chuck full of all the rubbish and waste, so it's probably good we got rid of it.

[Misguided Kerbal]

I've been very busy lately.
 

I landed on the Mun in JNSQ:

 

 

I retired the Shuttle:

 

 

I prepared a new mission to Duna:

 

 

I created a new lifter and crew vehicle:

 

 

I created a series of Nuclear Tugs and station to fuel it, plus making a tanker to refuel the station:

 

 

I used the above system for the first time:

 

 

And I launched a ton of commsats:

 

 

I'll show myself out now.

[jimmymcgoochie]

Today I realised, for the first time, that contracts in the contract window on the stock toolbar are sorted alphabetically...

[Guest]

Those design explorations with long-hauler SSTOs got me going again. One thing led to another and now I'm on my first ever sandbox game that's not just a place to try out designs. I want to conquer the Jolian system. Rule for this sandbox is:

• SSTeverywhere, with the following exceptions:
  • I am allowed to launch probes or relays from LKO lifters, as long as said lifters are themselves fully recoverable
  • I am allowed to build combination systems, as long as all the parts are reusable/recoverable – thinking of a potential Tylo base here, with a permanent surface refuelling station and orbital shuttle

So far I've got two medium SSTLs (launch mass ca 80 tons) in orbit around Laythe, with a survey satellite scanning it. One of them is carrying a mining rig, the other has passengers and will serve as a hab. 

I think I'll have to launch another one that carries an electric-powered scout to find an optimal base zone, as it turns out ore is rather scarce and inconveniently located this time around – Shores and Dunes are both barren.

[vv3k70r]

13 hours ago, Misguided Kerbal said:

I landed on the Mun in JNSQ:

How did You get footstep track?

 

[Misguided Kerbal]

3 hours ago, vv3k70r said:

How did You get footstep track?

 

 

[Guest]

I scouted Laythe. Unfortunately, no luck. Shores are completely barren, and I didn't find any Shallows that were above water and close enough to a flat spot suitable for a Kosmodrome. I think I may roll back and try again as the idea of spending literally hours scouring the area in my tiny scout isn't all that appealing. Still it was fun anyway. That tiny little twin-rotor is surprisingly easy to fly up to about 65 m/s airspeed, after that it gets a bit too twitchy to be fun. But docile and easy to fly precisely, although I don't think my copter jockey skills are quite good enough to land her back in the bay that brought it -- it's a snug fit and possible in theory...

Single stage from KSC runway. I love these vistas...

[RoninFrog]

I went for a bike ride!

  Note the lack of reaction wheels and roll/pitch/yaw input.

[SkyRender]

Taking another breather from KSP to avoid burnout.  Duna's south pole is quite an expedition!

I just noticed something.  I was one of the first posters to this topic back when it was started in 2013, and everyone who posted to it before me save Xeldrak has vanished from this forum in the intervening years...

[Limonadd]

I forgot something  

[Pipcard]

1957-07-01 - Hatsunia's Negi-2 sounding rocket launches for the International Geophysical Year (modified RSS/RO)

[James M]

https://imgur.com/gallery/RDR1wbA

Finally captured my first Asteroid! And it was a magic one to boot xD That was so stressful lol

[Guest]

Found a spot for the Laythe kosmodrome. Building the ship to get there. This ought to take a hab + drill/refinery there straight from the KSC runway:

Makes 150 km orbit with about 2750 m/s in the tank (conservative estimate). I'm budgeting 1950 m/s for the ejection burn, 100 m/s for the mid-course adjustment, 100 m/s for the approach adjustment,  and 100 m/s for the orbit correction after aerocapture. That leaves about 500 m/s manoeuvring fuel to get down and to the base, which ought to be plenty. Take-off mass is about 145-160 tons, depending on how much fuel and Ox I decide to pack in the end; I'm still fine-tuning that.

[James M]

Just now, Brikoleur said:

Found a spot for the Laythe kosmodrome. Building the ship to get there. This ought to take a hab + drill/refinery there straight from the KSC runway:

Makes 150 km orbit with about 2750 m/s in the tank (conservative estimate). I'm budgeting 1950 m/s for the ejection burn, 100 m/s for the mid-course adjustment, 100 m/s for the approach adjustment,  and 100 m/s for the orbit correction after aerocapture. That leaves about 500 m/s manoeuvring fuel to get down and to the base, which ought to be plenty. Take-off mass is about 145-160 tons, depending on how much fuel and Ox I decide to pack in the end; I'm still fine-tuning that.

That looks dope 

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, James M said:

That looks dope 

Thanks! I rarely build craft that big these days, they're just too much work and I don't enjoy flying them as much as smaller ones.

I originally intended to fly two 80-tonners there, but it's hard to design around the loading ramp -- an 80-tonner can only afford to carry one Nerv, which has to be positioned along the axis obviously. I ended up with some really awkward designs none of which really worked out. The most promising one was to flip the cargo bay around so the loading ramp faces forward, but that was just too ugly, and I don't like ugly craft. The 150-tonner has two Nervs, one in each of the engine clusters, so this twin nacelle layout works fine for it. The hardest part with this one was the tail, she needs a quite a bit of pitch authority to rotate for lift-off, and I spent an inordinate amount of time making that tail look not completely hideous. 

[James M]

1 minute ago, Brikoleur said:

Thanks! I rarely build craft that big these days, they're just too much work and I don't enjoy flying them as much as smaller ones.

I originally intended to fly two 80-tonners there, but it's hard to design around the loading ramp -- an 80-tonner can only afford to carry one Nerv, which has to be positioned along the axis obviously. I ended up with some really awkward designs none of which really worked out. The most promising one was to flip the cargo bay around so the loading ramp faces forward, but that was just too ugly, and I don't like ugly craft. The 150-tonner has two Nervs, one in each of the engine clusters, so this twin nacelle layout works fine for it. The hardest part with this one was the tail, she needs a quite a bit of pitch authority to rotate for lift-off, and I spent an inordinate amount of time making that tail look not completely hideous. 

Tbh I still struggle with Spaceplanes, but I get the general gist of them. I also know what you mean about the front facing cargo bay, and I've definitely seen a lot of people do it that way. It may be ugly but it apparently works great xD

[Guest]

Spaceplanes are hard. I must've built hundreds and I'm still finding ways to make them work better. And if I make a new one from scratch, most of the time something goes horribly wrong on the first test flight... or several.

-- Anyway, first leg is done, we're in 150 km orbit around Kerbin with about 2900 m/s in the tank; payload unloading and functions have been tested on the ground.,

Edit: Arrived in orbit around Laythe, with 581 m/s in the tank. Not bad, as planning goes. The last bit is going to be tricky as my Pe is on the night side of the moon; I think I'll attempt a very light re-entry (it is re-entry now, as I already entered the atmosphere once, for aerocapture), then skip along in the high atmosphere to the base location, which should be in the daytime. I do not want to do a night-time landing on Laythe.

Edited January 23, 2021 by Guest

[Misguided Kerbal]

I'm pretty sure it's illegal to post twice on the same WDYDIKT page, but who cares about laws, am I right?
 

Anyways..

A while ago (like, a few pages back) I sent Jeb, Bob, and Bill to Duna. Well, I brought them back:

 

Plane Change Maneuver:

Leaving Duna!

Copying Nate Simpson (Only Kinda)

Returning Home:

Jeb goes outside for one last inspection:

Goodbye Scorpius. You served us well.

Obligatory Post flight pic:

We came down on the west side of the mountains just west of the KSC. Since I didn't even try to target the KSC, that was a nice bonus.

Ribbons are always nice!

 

Spoiler

 

Deja Vu? 

 

 

I also sent a rover mission to the Mun:

Big rock:

Two Rocks:

Weird Rock:

Small Weird Rock:

Wernher has concluded that there are many rocks on the Mun.

 

 

 

I also sent an identical rover mission to Minmus:

While Minmus definitely looks better, it's a pain to drive on. I also couldn't find any of the breaking ground surface features, so yeah.

 

 

Spoiler

 

More Deja Vu!? 

 

[Guest]

Arrived at Laythe. The Stork lost her down-facing winglets but I only put them there because I thought they looked cute so no big loss. Otherwise everybody arrived intact and the base is now set up.

The only manoeuvring fuel I ended up using was the deorbit burn which was maybe 10 m/s or so. The rest was aerobraking and gliding.

Edited January 23, 2021 by Guest

[NHunter]

I did a mission to Gateway:

This is the craft I was using - a somewhat specialized OPT spaceplane with a pair of SURGE engines for atmospheric propulsion and plasma LFO engines for vacuum. Necessary power is provided by a nuclear reactor. In total, this thing masses just a few kilograms shy of 80 tons on the runway.

That said, because it is more optimized for thick atmosphere of Gateway, it doesn't fly that well on Rhode and requires you to be going at 100 m/s to take off. Still, SURGEs are powerful engines and this monstrosity has TWR of 1.2 allowing it to fly through a victory of thrust over aerodynamics.

Anyway, let's get to the interesting part of the mission.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Arriving at Gateway. Will descend to a lower orbit of 1500km before performing the final deceleration burn and diving into the planet's atmosphere.

Meeting the sunrise (?) in low Gateway orbit.

Performing the final deceleration burn to reduce orbital speed to ~3750m/s. That's about the limit of what this plane can safely withstand: OPT parts might be tough, but even they have limits...

Once speed is reduced to safe values, the spaceplane reorients itself to enter the atmosphere nose-first and deploys aerobrakes.

HOT!!!
Also, losing altitude at the rate of nearly a kilometer per second is scary. Thankfully, once below the cloud layer, aerobrakes quickly kill speed and the rest of descent is performed at a much more moderate speed.

Land sighted!

Due to the large number of spikes surrounding the islands in this region (you can see some of them in the distance to the left of the picture, behind the space plane) I had to change plans and land on a large flat iceberg rather than on proper land. And while this iceberg was quite big, the plane still was barely able to slow down in time to avoid flying off it and into ocean. Then I had to taxi it around the iceberg into a position from which it would be able to safely take off. Once there, the plane was put on parking break and the scientists disembarked to plant a flag, run some scans and deploy surface experiments.

One of the pilots also decided to take a walk outside.

The beginning of the take off.

Climbing up... SURGEs won't spin up to their max thrust until about 60km altitude, so the early ascend is done quite steeply. Level up later on to build as much speed using SURGEs as possible.

Burning towards heavens.

And the circularization burn... Now I need to rendezvous with a "debris" propulsion module of the rocket that had delivered communication satellites to Gateway to steal the fuel it still has. Otherwise... I don't have enough to return home.

[RealKerbal3x]

I launched components for my crewed Duna mission. This is my first crewed interplanetary mission in over 3 years of playing and I'm not proud of that fact. Please don't tell anyone.

First up was the Duna surface habitat and Ike lander, launching on a Peregrine I reusable rocket. 

The SSTO booster delivered the payload to orbit before returning for a landing at KSC under its parachutes.

Next up, on a Peregrine IV launch vehicle, Nuclear Tug SN3 to carry that payload to Duna!

This launch's booster was also successfully propulsively landed at KSC (these boosters have the option of either a powered or parachute-assisted landing, depending on fuel levels after launch), but I forgot to snap a picture. Sorry about that.

The Tug then rendezvoused and docked with the payloads from the previous launch. Duna Cargo I is ready to go!

It was now time for Tug SN4 to launch aboard a Peregrine IV Heavy. The regular Peregrine IV has the capability to launch a tug into orbit, but the Heavy was needed as this tug was carrying an extra fuel tank behind it. The tug would probably have enough dV to carry the crew ship to Duna and back without that extra tank, but it was required to fulfil a rather well-paying solar orbit space station contract. And it's always nice to have extra fuel, even if you're not going to use it

 

This launch vehicle has two winged flyback boosters which can return to recovery on the runway after separation.

After delivering the Tug and its extra tank into orbit, the booster returned to the KSC runway for a powered landing.

I still need to launch the hab module of the crew ship, as well as the crew themselves, but that can be done another day.