What did you do in KSP1 today?

[Caerfinon]

Airline Fleet Upgrades

Heidi and Bill fly the new "Longitude" passenger jet. Longer range, more space.  

High above the cities below

Landing at Meeda Naval Air Station

The Longitude is the big brother to the earlier Latitude model. Now available at KerbalX: Longitude

[Guest]

Testing a new 20 ton LKO SSTO reusable rocket:

Here's one of the (many) test hops:

And here's the re-entry after delivering a 20t test payload to a 125 KM LKO orbit:

During the last phase of the re-entry (second from last screenshot) I quicksaved and practiced with the final approach and landing several times to come up with a reliable landing procedure:

 

Once again Breaking Ground robotic parts (landing legs) proved to be more reliable than I expected

Edited June 4, 2021 by Master39

[Dientus]

25 minutes ago, Master39 said:

Once again Breaking Ground robotic parts (landing legs) proved to be more reliable than I expected

I need to learn this, they always break or flop over on me

[Pipcard]

1980-03-24 - First launch of the Saki crewed spacecraft (minimum system) - [video]

[EpicSpaceTroll139]

Almost got my landing script to butter the bread.  Almost.

Would be nice to get this part working properly... then I could move on to the real interesting stuff, eg: reentry.

[Immashift]

Started a new save, just came back into KSP again.

First orbit:

Always starts like that doesn't it?

First Mun station:

Aproaching first Minmus base with the new science rover, which ended up getting lithobraked after one science run because wheels on Minmus lol.

Minmus base as it stands after my day off. Full production capability, can make every resource I currently have access to, including all life support.

It's kinda the path I follow - visit Mun / Minmus, maximize science, send a SCANSat probe to each, find the best spot to land that is also flat, which on Minmus is almost always lesser flats, send a base, expand that base, build everything after that off-world. The next goal is a base on either Duna, Laythe, somewhere in the Sarnus or Neidon systems, or Eve, whichever is closer transfer window-wise. I still need to EVA and disassemble all the probe cores and torque wheels and meerkat engines I use to get individual modules in place. Some docking ports are standard Clampos, because I only got access to K&K docking ports 3/4 of the way through assembly.

Them radiators get pretty hot. But at least this time I kept them away from the launchpad, and I don't have to spam them everywhere because the Near Future heat radiator pack thingy includes some decent cooling parts.

 

Edited June 5, 2021 by Immashift
Spelling

[Cavscout74]

Got three launches in today - a Duna lander, another fuel tanker and a small station tug then fast-forwarded a month to get my Dres probe on its way. 

Red Lander 1

Tanker B - just like the last one, but I squeezed a little more dV into the booster, so I might get away without needing any aerobraking at Duna.  Also, this one carries LFO instead of just liquid fuel

Station Tender - fully probe controlled, with high power monoprop engine, front claw & inline docking port

My Dres probe departed orbit finally, but I realized there was a serious miscalculation - the departure maneuver was nearly 3900 m/s, with a significant normal component.  The transfer stage only holds a little over 3700 m/s, and the low power KANDL nuke engine on the probe only has 950 more.  And once it was done, it didn't even come close to Dres - I need ANOTHER 500 m/s course correction in 100 days.  I think this probe just went from an orbiter to an impactor as I'll have <200 m/s remaining once I reach Dres.  Not the ending I'd intended for my first nuclear-propelled craft in this save

 

[lemon cup]

Finishing off some Space Shuttle hardware for some upcoming missions, all kitbashed using parts from a schmorgasbord of other mods. 

Here's a "train" of Spacelab pallets


And  some may recognize this ubiquitous chilly upper stage...

[Francois424]

On 6/3/2021 at 2:27 AM, SparkyFox said:

ITS COMPLETE!! Ive fixed all kinks out with the wheels and they're working perfectly






They're really stable, and dont bounce or slide, the back wheels are fixed and the front is steerable and they both retract and deploy at the same speed

Always wanted to build one in KSP... Never did because ultimately I send little green men over to destinations.

Amazing work !

[ColdJ]

Worlds most dangerous Ferris Wheel/Catherine Wheel. With a sandbox full of tools and your imagination. Why wouldn't you.

Spoiler

Spoiler

 

[ColdJ]

And tonight I am going to party like it's Space 1999.

Finally got the manipulated NMB Viper cockpit internals chairs to match up to the distorted cockpit I fitted in to the Eagle Cockpit to give it a decent internal.

[IncompetentSpacer]

After completing stock career (that is to say, I have done everything), I installed the kerbalism mod with Simplex tech tree with no-revert career but I had too much of KSP and took longer break from it. Today I fired up KSP again and decided to try a Mun landing. Apparently part failure is feature of the mod (on purpose I decided to not read up on all features of the mod). 

The engine decided to die on my just as I was about to lift up...  Since the sole occupant of the lander is Bob Kerman (scientist dude), he cant repair the darn thing. Fortunately, I stocked up with extra food and oxygen, so I got time to mount rescue mission. This will kill my budget...

[swjr-swis]

5 hours ago, ColdJ said:

"Oh you're in luck today! You get one of the special seats, with built-in seat-warmers!"

[SpacePixel]

Fly Cosmoflot!

A simple spaceplane based on the early experimental MiG-21 with a swept wing I built as a rehab from Cassandra. Designed to ferry three cosmonauts to and from Kir 2, this light spacecraft is an absolute joy to fly — it's based on a fighter jet, after all! Five minutes to orbit, easy docking from IVA (it's actually useful for once!) and rapid return with comfortable safety margins. I assure you, there's absolutely no way it could be converted into an orbital bomber with guided hypersonic missiles.

[N_Danger]

It was a busy day in KSP today. Sent a satellite to Minmus.

Spoiler

I did some upgrades to the standard Mag Sat. 

Booster Separation. 

Second stage separation.

Faring Separation.

 

 

On station at Minmus.

Next was a routine rescue.

My name is.....Tim.

Then I sent my rover to Duna.

Spoiler

Booster separation.

Faring separation.

Second stage separation and equipment deploy just after we leave the atmosphere.

 

Sunset as the rover departs Kerbin.

 

Arrival at Duna and prep for EDL.

Spoiler

Entry

Nine KM AGL

I didn't put a drogue chute on and I was down to 1 KM AGL before chute depoy

 

And a serious error was noted in the design as the twitch engines did not have the thrust turned down and I pogoed because I couldn't control the the thrust levels fine enough. And then..

I cras..... Wait what?

Nailed it. All apart of the plan.

Asteroid scan

And Blue berry scan

 

 

 

[SparkyFox]

14 hours ago, Francois424 said:

Always wanted to build one in KSP... Never did because ultimately I send little green men over to destinations.

Amazing work !

thank you

I've completed  the drone part models, all they need is funny descriptions and maybe a folder tidy up, but the important stuff is done. 
It works with ScanSat and stock science stuff and BDArmory(nothing weapony though, just functions)

the camera scans surface stuff for ores. I was gonna go with Tarsier Space Technology, but the close animation broke things and it would need a script of its own and i'm not good at C# and BDAc is better for locking on a single area

Edited June 5, 2021 by SparkyFox

[ColdJ]

5 hours ago, SparkyFox said:

I've completed  the drone part models

Another true artist with a great eye for detail. You should be rightly proud of your work. It looks amazing.

[Martian Emigrant]

Hey all, hey @ColdJ

Bill came up with a new invention after looking at some RC  rocket parts.

He called it the Docking-Port-Mini-Mini.

It had to be tested.

So they parked and waited for Valentina.
 

Spoiler

 

Jeb being master he took them to the administrator's pool to see if the Amphicat  Aquacat could float in it.

Bill: Nothing can float in the Holo-Pool-Water

Driving the bottom

Surging out

Driving around

Then Jeb hit the Electric Juno

 

There was a nice crash at just about 50 m/s but no pictures were taken

 

Fun was had by all. They can't wait to do it again.

 

ME

 

 

Edited June 6, 2021 by Martian Emigrant

[OrdinaryKerman]

Not much, but it is something...

Oh, and this:

Edited June 6, 2021 by OrdinaryKerman

[Hotel26]

I have flown a prototype of an Eve SSTRV called Eagle.

The first three images below [click + arrows] show Eagle: a) crossing 90 km upward into space, b) apoapsis at 121km and a sub-orbital speed of 1,665 m/s and c) passing back down through 90 km after 2m 51s in space.

An SSTRV is a Single-Stage To Rendez-Vous and you probably haven't heard the term very often^[1].  It's a Krakpot notion.

     

                                                                                     

The next phase of the project is to design a companion RV Interceptor.  It will wait in a 120 km² Eve orbit, traveling at 3,156 m/s.

Eagle launches from a mountain-top on Eve^[2] as Interceptor approaches and sets up a close rendez-vous before entering "coast", fuel exhausted.  The Interceptor immediately begins maneuvering to reduce speed from 3,156 to 1,665, dock with Eagle^[3] and then reboost speed sufficiently to raise periapsis above 90km.  That's a total speed change of at least 3 km/s with the stopwatch ticking off something under 3 minutes to get the job done^[4].

Don't worry: we have our best guy working on this.  He's from Krakpotistan.

                                                                                     

A fun part of this project (so far) has been to ensure Eagle can fairly well pinpoint its landing to a mountain-top.  Eve's thick atmosphere certainly aids and abets this.

After setting up the w&b for effective gliding, our first attempt landed about a kilometer distant:

 

[1] We will not be the first team to succeed with SSTRV.  I've seen a YouTube of some other desperado outfit achieving same.

[2] We're using Mauve Mountain as a launch site.  At 6,439 m, it's not the tallest mountain on Eve but, located at 0 31 15S / 167 30 49E, just south of the equator, it's certainly convenient.

[3] like a "suicide burn" to land, "suicide docking" requires performing the job with extreme prejudice.  This will NOT be "putt, putt".

[4] the critical part of the interception is up until completion of the dock.  Docking within the atmosphere, even at the highest altitude, is extremely squirrely.  Once dock has been secured, however, even if the pair then fall back into the upper atmosphere, quick acceleration should arrest the fall before any fatal dose of drag has been administered.  So the total window is probably better.  Also, the preliminary maneuvering can begin as soon as Eagle goes into "coast", which is well before it reaches the Karman Line...

Edited June 6, 2021 by Hotel26

[Dientus]

2 hours ago, Hotel26 said:

I have flown a prototype of an Eve SSTRV called Eagle.

Nice! Basically what original plans I had for another ship ended up becoming by accident! LoL please update on upon conclusion and mission completion.

 

[N_Danger]

I had a launch window for Jool and told the engineers to come up with a plan for a grand tour for the Jool system.

This is what happens when you leave them unsupervised.

Spoiler

T/W is 2 off the pad so not too bad.

The first asparagus stage drops off. I rarely use the technique.

 

Solids separate next.

Next pair separate.

Fairing deploy was more exciting than usual.

Last set of asparagus stages off.

Jool transfer stage firing.

And on our way to Jool. here I notice I didn't check that the deployment of the solar panels would not hit the fuel tanks when rotating.

 

With care I think I can get to Jool with my solar panels by controlling my orientation and remembering to fold the panels when maneuvering. 

Arrival at Jool.

And a time warp incident at Tylo caused me to squander enough D/V that I had to cut down my plan to a fly buy of Tylo...

Shortly after that I staged without checking my orientation or stowing the solar panels, so I lost one one but I still made it to a Val fly by

And then on to Laythe

Where we go into orbit for long term study.

 

[jimmymcgoochie]

I created a reusable Moon lander which is theoretically capable of making many trips from low Lunar orbit to the surface and back; precision not guaranteed due to a fairly low acceleration rate, but I already have a rover on the surface which can ferry crew from their lander(s) to the surface base and back. My current Moon lander, which the new one is based on, uses the Apollo-style two stage system with the descent stage staying behind on the surface (often as not because I used up every last drop of fuel for the landing), but this means I need a new lander each time which is very cost inefficient. A reusable lander and a fuel tanker probe to shuttle the propellants out to the orbiting space station around the Moon will make things much more sustainable (and cheaper!) for keeping this base occupied and doing science while the rover embarks on some medium-range expeditions to new biomes hunting for science.

And yes, I did say Moon lander, not Mun- this is the real Moon we're talking about.

 

[king of nowhere]

Been working on my next megaship project.

I wanted it to be able to land on small celestial bodies and extract resources, which should take a couple decades with kerbalism slow mechanics. in that time, the vehicle will be exposed to solar storms, so i protected the crew by building the tanks outside and the crew inside. Here's what came out

it weights over 5000 tons; being able to land on mun, it's by far the heaviest thing i ever landed. well, almost landed; a fuel tank detached. but the game is so slow with this thing, i decided to slap on some struts and consider the test passed.by the way, the rearward-pointing cupola is merely to enjoy watching the rocket exhausts. From my Dream Big mission, it's mass well spent.

side view; it has 12 nuclear reactors to power up resource extraction. it won't need all of them, but i included extras for safety.

also, to get a decent rate of resource extraction, i needed, like, 400 tons of convert-o-trons. not wanting to add 100 parts, i tampered with the convert-o-tron files to get a 3.75 meter one, perfectly up to scale - including mass, of course, i wanted to reduce part count, not cheating.

then i had to include a spaceplane, to visit atmospheric planets. but where to store it? I can dock a small lander in the shade of those convert-o-trons, but there's no way a 50-ton plane can be on top of this ship and stay shielded. Today I had a breakthrough, trimmed a bit the wings, rearranged the setup of greenhouses, habitation modules and science labs i have inside, then I managed to also fit the plane inside

now i will also try to stick a rover underneath the plane. I need ore, water, nitrogen, uranium, it's hard to find all those together. assume i can't find a biome with all resources, i land somewhere with just ore and nitrogen and i send the rover to dig water and uranium, of which i need much less. figuring out how to fit the rover underneath the whole thing, while also leaving it able to move in and out, was part of today's breakthrough. I'm trying to test the rover docking. too bad the game keep crashing. this is lagging much worse than the Dream Big, even though it has less parts.

 

As ludicrously overgrown and overengineered, this project started off even worse! my first project was optimistically trying to tackle solar storms by the addition of 800 tons of active shields, which would provide enough radiation protection to navigate not only solar storms, but also Jool's outer radiation belt.

Then i'd need much more fuel to move the ship. and convert-o-trons need 3 years to produce their own weight in fuel, so i'd have needed also many more convert-o-trons. requiring more engines, more fuel, and so on. I reached 10000 tons before realizing i would never be able to make it work.

it looked really cool, though

[Single stage to ocean]

Could a kerbalism grand tour SSTO be possible(doesn't visit all planets, uses shuttles)