What did you do in KSP1 today?

[Hyperspace Industries]

Hercules 8 sent Val to Vall, barely:

Spoiler

The engine was miniaturized, the plume, not so much. 

Pretty.

Tylo assist.

While circularizing around Vall, I discovered a fatal flaw in my design, I didn't know the engine produced heat, thus I had no radiators and thus, well, look at this picture:

This was during one of many landing attempts, many.

Red hot.

If you asked me before this mission what I'd call a landing site on Vall, I'd never have thought of saying "Flaming planitia," but, here I am.

Also, the hab bubbles, as well as all eight rtgs exploded, so, now we didn't have electricity or rcs beyond engine gimbal either.

Going out for a walk in the nice cool vacuum.

They waited for the situation to cool down a little.

It made it back to orbit on a "wing" and about a thousand prayers on my part.

As with the other hercules missions, I cheated back to kerbin orbit.

Fortunately the capsule was aerodynamically stable, and therefore, didn't flip upside down and burn the parachutes off.

Boy, was it fun recovering that ship!

So, what did we learn? RADIATORS!

[Venusian Explorer]

I made a good progress with my career save, oh, and btw i also had some lag problems which i've successfully fixed it by removing some mods that didn't affected the gameplay.

oh, and just like always, the 3 missions are below these 3 spoilers, just like always:

Spoiler

Deceiver I

Folowing the Success of Pegasus III, the engineers of Black Mesa Corporations made a interesting design. They nicknamed it Deceiver I after a engineer mistakenly named it Pegasus IV.

The mission was very simple, the spacecraft is supposed to Orbit around the Mun, or to at least flyby it.

The Launch was a success, there where no problems, except our science crisis.

mmmmmmmmmm.... cloooouuuuuuudss

oh, wait, that's not a... ehhh... nevermind...

uhhh... well, the flames are still here and idk why, but wathev.

Alright, we're in vacuum space, and so, fairings are no longer needed.

Oh, and yes, some of our engineers called it "space gun", even if it can't shot lasers, it can shot at us with science points.

mmmm... i think we're a little bit closer, just a-

ok, no, that's too much, hold on, let me do a maneuver...

that should do it!

oh, and this spoiler below here has some images taken by one of the spacecraft's camera:

Spoiler

Alright, back to the mission;

oh, and btw i also had to complete a contract, which is exactly why we launched Deceiver I.

just... a few maneuvers and.... Done!

btw at this point i also changed slightly the orbit so it can match up the requested one.

Alright, mission completed and now, let's head to the KSC!

wha-

is... is this how the KSC loosk like?

ah, no, apparently not.

With the science points i researched new tech nodes!

and like always, new parts!

And now for the next mission:

Spoiler

Deceiver II

The successful mission of Deceiver I inspired us to carefully repeat the same steps it has taken, however, where going to do it on Minmus!

The Spacecraft is exactly the same Deceiver I Probe, but with a few tweaks and changes.

Ahhh, finally, vacuum space...

Boom, orbit.

Uhhh, eclipse.

Btw, i just realized that i made a Ranger Rip-off.

Ohhhh, that's the Mun! Now let's see if we can do some science stuff when we pass towards it!

We're leaving Mun's SOI.

mmmmm... just a little bit of Maneuvers and...

That should be enough!

Now that we're at the closest point of Minmus, i'll do a small maneuver...

And... done!

We don't need that stinky 3rd booster!

The Mission indeed gave us valuable science points!

Much more science points...

And for the other mission:

Spoiler

Artemis I (Part I)

The Successful missions of Deceiver I and II somehow improved our relationship with Alpha Squadron company, gifting us once more again a ICBM to test, however, unlike the other one, this one is called...

Phobos II

Apparently, this one is reaaally stable than the earlier version of it. And happier of it, we mixed the rocket testing, with our mission of launch the first Kerbal to Orbit!

btw yes, it looks like a Titan II, but wathev.

The Pilot of Artemis I is Ribmund Kerman, Former and Veteran Air Fighter of Alpha Squadron, he recently was interesed in our mission, without even reading the contract, and like veterans, he had perfect skills than any other kerbonaut in Black Mesa Corporations, even if we don't have any Kerbonaut in Reserve!

The Launch Went Perfect.

Perfect! We successfully sent the First Kerbal Alive on Orbit!

And while we were going to Plan a mission expansion, Ribmund proceeded to do the first spacewalk on LKO, even when the Mission Control did't Authorized it.

And then, he entered again to the Capsule after 2 minutes of wandering on open space.

Well, at this moment, i reaaally need a long break, like... ughhhh... to much KSP.

But don't worry, i have other missions reserved because i forgot to publish them! (and because i need a break after texting, inserting images, etc.)

Edited December 22, 2021 by BlackMesaSurvivor
i was supposed to put another mission, but i was too lazy and tired. so i only posted 3 instead of 4

[Axelord FTW]

Hired some more engineers, again, and did a quick training mission moonlighting as a contract for a mun flag planting and a mun surface outpost (that brought 12 Kerbals to L3, though 6 were already L2s). That paid for the launch handily, but I'm still in the red in terms of revenue and have been for about two in-game years now. Only the contracts for Dres, Gilly and Eve (plus the engine test over Eve) will tip me over handily. I've activated a the Leadership Initiative strategy (50% to -25%) so contracts are a bit less juicy but upcoming milestone gains will make up for it.

It seems that, once again, crew hiring is the real chokepoint of mid-game. I wonder if there is a 'loveshack' mod that allows me to make little green men in situ.

[Scarecrow71]

The fine folks at the Las Kerbas Space Center are seeing the rewards for their hard work and diligence with the ORACLE program.  They sent multiple, different crewed landers to both the Mun and Minmus, attempting to find the perfect spot for a potential colony base.  One of these sites, at which ORACLE V landed, is on a nice flat stretch of green rock on Minmus.  After seeing the data returned from this location (12° 47' 12 " N x 44° 59' 37" W), executive leadership has determined that, at the very least, a test base should be deposited upon Minmus.  Even if all it does is muck up space, by jove they have to do it.  So they sent ORACLE VI to Minmus, complete with a base capable of housing 5 Kerbals.

Spoiler

ORACLE VI on the Launchpad:

ORACLE VI in LKO:

ORACLE VI on Minmus, with station PROPHECY I:

Map shot showing landing site of PROHPECY I, as well as the site ORACLE V landed at:

PROPHECY I all by its lonesome on Minmus:

ORACLE VI returning to Kerbin:

I will admit several things with this mission:

1. This is my first-ever attempt at putting a base on a celestial body.
2. PROPHECY I is empty for the time being.  It can house 5 Kerbals, and it has antenna and solar panels (neither of which are extended).  But at the moment, it has nothing in it.
3. ORACLE VI kind of looks like a TIE fighter, no?

[Axelord FTW]

More like a hunchback Y-wing.

Now that you're getting easy with base making, next come ISRU, and possibly in situ parts/ship production. Extraplanetary Launchpads (+Keridian) gets my seal of approval, but that's by no mean the only path.

[Scarecrow71]

1 hour ago, Axelord FTW said:

More like a hunchback Y-wing.

Now that you're getting easy with base making, next come ISRU, and possibly in situ parts/ship production. Extraplanetary Launchpads (+Keridian) gets my seal of approval, but that's by no mean the only path.

I definitely want to learn ISRU, which is why I am starting to make a base.  Does this patch of green rock have ore?  No idea.  But it is good practice.  And you will notice that there is a docking port on the base, so I can expand as necessary.

[Axelord FTW]

Minmus is, effectively, the ideal world to make large bases on. Low gravity, but not so low (like Gilly's) that it becomes a huge problem in keeping things steady. Unless you add in modded resources (like He3 which is not found on Minmus, but the Mun), it usually have perfectly serviceable ore concentrations and will have everything you need. The Mun also has the problem of having really long day/night cycle, and a somewhat long solar eclipse by Kerbin.

Personally, I don't like docking ports to expand bases, and rely more on KIS/KAS, plus launchclamps.

I roll a pretty heavily modded KSP instance so most of what I could say wouldn't apply to others.

[Hyperspace Industries]

12 hours ago, Axelord FTW said:

I wonder if there is a 'loveshack' mod that allows me to make little green men in situ.

  

 

[zer0Kerbal]

40 minutes ago, Hyperspace Industries said:

  

 

and it's soundFX aren't by the B52's

13 hours ago, Axelord FTW said:

'loveshack' mod that allows me to make little green men in situ.

7 hours ago, Axelord FTW said:

docking ports to expand bases, and rely more on KIS/KAS, plus launchclamps.

could also use Kaboom-SuperKlue! and/or SimpleConstruction!

 

[Axelord FTW]

Thanks!

Anyway, here's wonderwall. I mean, here's what I got done today. The first (of five? Six?) ongoing missions arrived at Eve, did a capture burn, and did the usual before landing on Gilly. It's a starter EL factory, with some science capabilities. It landed on the highest point visible on the sunward side of Gilly without issue, while also discovering the moon's monolith purely by chance. The main Eve relay has yet to arrive (and get in range) so I've been storing the science for now.

As usual, as soon as I arrived on Gilly I wanted to be more secure in every ways imaginable. For one, I tried something I had never done before: the stamp-o-tron. My initial impression, especially after reloading the scene should be kept away from the ears of children and the faint of heart. I don't like to censor myself so I'm not gonna even try to get the actual words across all coy-like. I've since nudged the EL Starter Factory into a small terrain depression and tweaked around the landing legs to prevent jumping on physics loading in, so it's passable. Otherwise, everything is going well. I brought a weather station, instead of a Go0b monitor, so the first thing the factory churned out was one of those. As of now, the factory is building the first, of many, incremental additions which will, eventually, culminate in something rivaling Skipjack.

The Dres EL Starter Factory has also finally left Kerbin's SOI and should reach its destination in over two years. 

Spoiler

Gilly Factory churning out a new surface experiment part inside a box (shipping is free!)

Planted a flag on the monolith.

Trying out the Stamp-o-Tron. Not pictured, how the part jumped up 5m upon loading the scene, putting everything in the air and the drills uselessly flopping in the wind like grandpa at the nudist beach. 

Building the first factory upgrade. A simple drill, ore space, and RP storage that will double the factory's output. Only took 10-ish hours in-game to build, and it came with enough relay power to sent back about 4.5k worth of science home. The furnace can no longer outpace the harvest rate of ore and metalore either.

Here's the actual Factory Starter burning for Dres. The one pictured in a previous post was actually the Gilly one.

 

Edited December 23, 2021 by Axelord FTW

[Hyperspace Industries]

Updated to 1.12.3, installed opm and both minor planet mods. Works fine, but, is it just me, or are these shadows wrong.

A tufx bug?

[Pipcard]

(Hatsunese Space Program - Phase 4 - 03)

1988-07-07 - Launch of the MMD (Martian Moons Discoverer) spacecraft, which would land on Phobos and Deimos in 1989

1988-07-24 - The first uncrewed Saki-C (Cargo) spacecraft delivers life support suppiies to Space Station Yume

[Venusian Explorer]

Ok, so... remember that i was way too busy on personal stuff,and that i couldn't post more missions because i was soo tired of posting? well, good news!

I'm no longer Busy, which means that tomorrow i'll build 2 Kerbmas Tree on my Career Save,one on the KSC, and the other will be in orbit!

And yesterday i tried GEP(Grannus Expansion Pack), looks pretty cool! Now, if only i was capable of launching spacecrafts at the new solar system...

But anyways, today i'll show you the rest of my Reserved non-public missions that i was too lazy to post it yesterday, which are indeed below these spoilers (Just like always, you know):

Spoiler

Magellan I

The Successful Missions of both Deceivers and the Artemis I Mission Inspired the creation of the Magellan Program, whose mission is landing on the Mun to Verify the existance of hazardous elements on both Mun and Minmus's surfaces, this spacecraft is, however, Launch a top of the Phobos II rocket, instead of it's predecessor.

Despite the Poorly Reputation of the Black Mesa Engineers Conglomerate, they designed it for us to launch it.

Oh, and Wonderful News!, since our Science Program also Benefited the invention of Enhanced Cameras, we don't need this stinky Camera!

*trows low quality camera to the floor*

*inserts a better camera*

Alright, that's way too better, well, they told me that the color might be too blue-ish, but hey! It's finally on color!

And just like always, the launch was indeed successful, there were no failures on the system.

Alright... We just need a little push to achieve Orbit...

Fairings are no Longer needed in Space, and so, and like always, decoupled.

Now let's actually go to the Mun

ughhh, stinky visual mods, well, at least it can only be seen on map view.

Uhhh, we're getting closer to Mun's surface, i hope the Black Mesa Engineers have packed enough fuel on the probe to land...

Damnit, the 3rd booster has been depleted...

Uh oh... i don't think i have enough DV for landing...

Noooooooooooooooooo... I don't have enough DV for the landing...

Farewell, Magellan, your mistake will always be remembered...

Wha-

but... how?

Ouch...

well... i guess Magellan I did a successful Lithobreaking... but... how? it was going fast, like 65 m/s...

well, at least the secondary Antenna is still intact... i can transmit data, but it will consume energy, and the solar panel is broken during the lithobraking...

*transmit science data*

done...

oh, and below here it's a collection of photos taken by Magellan I after landing:

Well, that was indeed a weird maneuver... anyways, let's go to the KSC.

Finally, new tech nodes have been researched, which means,once more again, more parts!

Damnit, i just need a few Magellans to unlock this yummy gummy Scanning tech node

And yet for the other Mission:

Spoiler

Deceiver III/Observer I (Part I)

After the Landing Paranoia of Magellan's close death, Black Mesa Corporations made a promise to Carefully Land Spacecrafts on any Planet, and that they will, for now, build rockets with too much DV, however, we don't even have enough money or knowledge of Bigger Rockets, and we don't want to put Phobos II to the Trash can, so we will still use the Phobos II Rocket unless we have a Bigger Payload to Lift-Off. This one, however, is small, so we used the perfect rocket for the mission.

This Spacecraft was also Known as Observer I, but due to it's limitations it has unofficially been change to Deceiver III

The Probe is Small, the "Surprise" Booster, however, is not. Said Warden Kerman, Former Engineer of Alpha Squadrons and New head engineer of Black Mesa Corporations.

And since the TWR of Phobos II is lower, we had to apply more boosters, even if they make it less Superior and Fair. - Ronald Kerman (That Engineer guy whose friend is called Marty)

Anyways, the launch went very well, although some of our engineers feared that the boosters could damage the first stage of Phobos II.

Oh thanks God/Nertea that the Booster separation has been a success

Now, i would like to introduce you:

The Starscream Booster!

Unlike the previous booster used by Deceiver I and II, this one is much more Modern than it's early Predecessor.

It has a Terrier Engine, 3 Fuel tanks(or 2), RCS, Reaction Wheels, Batteries, making it an ideal Booster for Space Exploration!

Now let's go to the Mun to gather some Science.

Good, now all we need to do, is to fix the trajectory.

Well, i guess that should be enough...

*some minutes later*

ok, i think we have enough science, now let's go to Minmus

hold on, did i checked my escape trajectory?

oh, well, let's fix it (lol, Deceiver III will return in 67 years, that's enough for me to actually go to Grannus)

*random unplanned maneuvers later*

there, that should do it, now all i need to do is to time warp.

*click*

haha, now i have nothing to worry abou-

oh no...

well... i guess we should rescue Ribmund, right?

And for the another Mission:

Spoiler

Artemis I (Part II) - RM-01 "Gladiator"

Although some of us were worried about the Ribmund Incident, this event was, for some reason, unknown for the public, meaning that none of our people are even worried, or never heard of Artemis I.

We can't leave him alone, we had to do something... and then, some of our Engineers gave us a blueprint of a interesting Design, it was nothing more and nothing less than a design of our canceled Artemis-Rendezvous Missions, we never launched some of them since we only focused on science... we had to use the old and rubbish design, luckily, the Rendezvous Module(also known as Rescue Mission) had a copy of itself somewhere around the VAB deposit of canceled plans, and so, we decided to bring it back to the Launchpad.

We didn't have much time, either we leave Ribmund die, or we should rescue him...

Good, we're leaving the Atmosphere.

mmmmm... we need a bigger orbit for our plan to work...

That should do it! and now that we have the perfect maneuver, we can save his life...

We're getting closer...

ahhhh... there it is...

Now let's rescue him by do-

No....

NONONOONOO, THERE MUST BE A WAY TO UNLOCK THE DOCKING PORT... Wait...

I still have his... oh... i think this will work...

*phone sounds*

Ribmund: uhhh, who's cal-

RIBMUND, IF-*buzzy noises*-EN TO ME, UNLOCK THE DOCK- *Transmission lost*

Ribmund: Unlocking the Docking Port, why? Hold on, let me set up the vid-

*Transmission Re-established* STOP WASTING YOUR OXYGEN AND OPEN THE DOCKING PORT!

Ribmund: ughhh, fine, i'll do it

*unlocks the Docking Port*

Ribmund: hey wait a minute, is that my delive-

*Falls asleep*

uhhh... nevermind, i'll just continue the docking maneuver...

Done!

Uhhhhh.. that was a really close call, now let's focus on Deceiver III...

And for the continuation of the 8th Mission(2nd in this post):

Spoiler

Deceiver III/Observer I (Part II)

Very well, the problem has been solved, and now i'll focus on this.

mmmmm...

It seems that i need a small push from the RCS! now that's ladies and gentlemen how Mafia RCS works!

Just.. a little bit...

There we go.

Oof, rip Monopropellant.

mmmmmmmmm.... We're getting closer to minmus, let's see if it's true that it's made of mint...

Must... get.... closer.......

mmmmmmm... Radioactive Mint...

oh nononono... that's not a good orbit/trajectory.

*random maneuvers later*

there, fixed.

Well, we don't need this booster anymore,and so, decoupled.

Holy mother of...

Well, i think i made a horrible mistake by putting it into a extremely low Minmus orbit...

Anyways, the mission was a partial success, it can deliver us science, but, unfortunately, it can't detect biomes...

Regardless though, i've researched new tech nodes for new and interesting parts!

I also post a extra of a mod i've been testing today, just if you missed the extras:

Spoiler

Today i tried to Literally go to Grannus with this abomination:

Well, @BlackMesaSurvivor, how can you lift that N1 2.0?

Idk, but i can do cheats! and so, i putted it into orbit cause it's TWR is too low on atmospheric land.

Behold the mighty 900.000DV Rocket!

Now let's see how this wonderful product fire up his Powerful engine.

*engine starts*

*engine self-stops after 5 seconds*

wait what? what happened?

Ummm, well, that's not a good looking temperature, but i'm sure it will work after cooldown!

*time warps to cooldown the engine reactor*

well, seems like i-

oh...

well... that wasn't supposed to happen, but wathev.

 

[Admiral Fluffy]

Kerbmas Tree

Spoiler

Inspired by this:

 

 

 

[Just Jim]

29 minutes ago, Admiral Fluffy said:

Kerbmas Tree

  Reveal hidden contents

Inspired by this:

 

 

 

I love it!!!   
Have a very happy holiday!!!   

[Venusian Explorer]

Today , just to give a little bit of tribute to good ol' Kanta Kerman, i launched a Kerbmas Tree to space, and another near the LaunchPad (quite similar to @Admiral Fluffy's design[which, in this case, i never sent a spy to steal his blueprint], Which is pure coincidence, but wathev, it's Kerbmas time, every forum user should [if they have time]make a Kerbmas tree, Right?):

One has been launched near to the KSC's LaunchPad Facility(btw i had to temporally disable TUFX because it was too blue-ish):

And the other being sent to Space(since it's on space, TUFX will look fine):

However I have to say that Fluffly's Kerbmas Tree is much more better on economic and stability terms than the mine, my Kerbmas tree was about to go full nuts when it got closer to the Floor.

Not only that,but my Kerbmas tree is quite expensive, like wow, 9.000 Kollars for a single Kerbmas tree?! both of them costed me almost 18.000 Kollars!

Damn it, with that money i could have launched Magellan II into Mun's Surface... but at least i have like a Million of Kollars...

While for the aspect, well, mine has solar panels, designed to be a memorial, batteries, round-ish ^Quiteglowing bulbs, Stability Stand, an Engine to make things quite Kerbmas-ish, a Probe core so it can be controlled, reaction wheels... in my opinion, i think it was inecessary adding all the stuff i've mentioned to my Tree.Right? oh, and the star is somehow big, but well, i didn't wanted to pay more thousands of Kollars for just a couple of trees

Now i seriously need a break after engineering the tree.

However i won't be active tomorrow since, you know, it will be Kerbmas time(on night), and i'll spend some of my time with my family, pets, my videogames, etc. So Bye!

[Axelord FTW]

All of the Eve-centered missions have arrived at the planet, and the Verne engine test was completed without issue (earning me almost 2mil). I'll use it as a mallet to ring Gilly's bell and get some seismic science next, but that's done. The surface base has also arrived and been parked in a moderately inclined orbit for now, while the explorer (with the 3x landers and relays) has begun scanning the surface. Scans will give me a better chance of avoiding seas. The EVE pack I got turned the atmosphere completely pink and opaque, so I can't eyeball it anymore. I don't mind not being able to see the ground, but it's too pink, so I think I'll be switching to another config now.

The Gilly Factory Starter has now built its own replacement! The starter and intermediary construction stages will be scrapped next, leaving the surface outpost with only two distinct modules. The main hub, and a medium-sized drill and production storage stack. The most important feature of the hub at this point are the fission reactors and the uranium extractor. Taking what was already on the Factory Starter, the fission reactors were able to get started without needing to wait for the converter to produce its own EnUr first. One thing I've learned is that EVEN on low-G worlds like Gilly, always use at least two launchclamps to secure modules.

EDIT: What came next!

Spoiler

The Duna Factory Starter has arrived and landed on the dot! Though I then decided to relocate a few hundred meters to the south of the original landing zone.

 

I'm really liking this new visual pack I'm running, except for the skybox. Big nope there, way too bright. Will swap assets, I guess, and revert to the custom one I had.

 

Edited December 24, 2021 by Axelord FTW

[Cupcake...]

Just some routine flight testing.

Happy holidays!

 

Cupcake...

[Guest The Doodling Astronaut]

Been learning RSS and soon RO

But I just wanna say

Merry Christmas. From the Moon

[Axelord FTW]

Gilly surface factory is finished and cleaned up. I moved one of the huge solar panel array up the fuel stack. Couldn't retract it beforehand, and it took three kerbals to be present for me to be able to move (KAS). It churned out its first craft, a simple impactor to get that juicy seismometer data. I still had the Verne engine tester in orbit, but together they got me to 100%.
Duna surface factory is slowly creeping up production and has since finished stages 1, 2 and 3. Only the final mining stack, fuel stack, and launchpad are left, so it's about halfway done. Forgot to take a picture with Stage 2 and 3 done, but I got one of stage 2 being built. I already know now that the Dres factory (still in transit) will have to be managed more closely in terms of power consumption, as the Duna one barely stayed in the green even with a lot of extra solar panels. I got more than enough EnUr, for the initial stages, but the reactors nearly maxed out on Duna as stage 3 came online.
Finally, I'd almost forgotten about the Eve surface outpost contract I had. I had to reload twice, because of various out-of-my-control-quasi-what-tier happenings (like the inflatable heatshield slapping me in the face for daring to jettison it), but it eventually landed nicely and started mining to fulfil the oxidizer parameter. Only took about three Eve-weeks.

Incidentally, I still haven't thought of good names for the three factories (Gilly, Duna and Dres). Decided to keep the 'placeholder' name for the Minmus factory (Skipjack), at this point. If anyone has any ideas, I'd love to know.

Spoiler

 

[Hyperspace Industries]

2 hours ago, Axelord FTW said:

Incidentally, I still haven't thought of good names for the three factories (Gilly, Duna and Dres).

Gilly: a shortfall of gravity.

Dres: factory 404

Duna: Sahara shipyards.

[Axelord FTW]

Not 'detached' enough. Taking those a step further would be Brakeless, Unfound, and Sandsail. I'll go with those, thanks!

Edited December 25, 2021 by Axelord FTW

[Kerbalwerks]

[N_Danger]

I went to Ceti with a new 3 place lander,

Here we are finishing up the transfer burn.

We land and deploy science experiments  and gather surface samples. Time was taken out for a photo.

(The lander being on it's side is expected and nominal)

More important science being collected. Your tax dollars at work.

But after adventures in rocket sledding UP hills. We make it back to Gael.

Happy Holidays!

[swjr-swis]

Today I continued work on a plane prototype I started, the SWiS Fury multi-role aircraft. Coming along nicely, still some final touches left.

Sent Jeb and Bob off to do some testing and finetuning. Jeb decided on a River Run; Bob got a bit more than he bargained for.

 

 

Screenshots of a slightly earlier prototype, showing the general design.

 

Testing a different loadout.