What did you do in KSP1 today?

[king of nowhere]

Started a caveman challenge, so I went from piloting a kiloton ship with crazy technology on extended grand tours, to piloting godawful pieces of junk and try to land on mun and do other things that most of us learned to do easily in the first weeks.

Highlights include landing on Mun a probe without reaction wheels - I'd use rocket gimbal to "control" attitude, or at least try to.

And I did recover one who fell down by skidding on the ground until it got enough speed to turn upright.

I do believe I should change the probe's designation to "rocket-powered sled"

I can't believe it worked!

Those things are a nightmare to pilot through descent. I launched 5 of them, and only 2 returned safely. Including the sled. If you hit a slope, they won't stay upright, and the lack of control means it's almost impossible to recover after an aborted landing. It would help if I could get a wider base, but hey, those are the pieces I have available at the moment...

Another highlight included rolling a rocket on the ground to reach a location

I needed to fulfill a contract, I couldn't spare any more fuel for suborbital jumps. But hey, who needs rover wheels when you have a perfectly spherical object already?

 

On the down side, I killed Val in a stupid accident in an easy routine suborbital flight . the capsule turned, and it's got very little drag when it's like that, and even though i tried to use the cargo bay as an airbrake and to turn around with SAS to try and increase drag, I couldn't slow down enough for the parabrake to engage

[Kerb24]

Got my Gilly orbiter back to Kerbin, then when I entered the mission control building, the game crashed.

[Scarecrow71]

Still traversing Minmus via rover.  Got a decent shot here of Kerbin, Mun, and Kerbol.

Several hours later, both in-game and in real life, I finally made it to the site of the Oracle V landing.

In game terms, it has taken me, with having to fast-forward overnight a couple times, nearly 3 days to traverse half-way around Minmus.  THREE DAYS.  My dear lord this is slow.  But, I gotta do it.  My next stop is at the site of the Oracle IV landing in the Greater Flats, which should take at least 3 days to get there; I will be heading due south from my current location towards the South Pole, then back up north to the Greater Flats to the landing site.  After that it's merely a day or so northwest back to the lander for the circuit completion.

[Hyperspace Industries]

I'm thinking of taking a break from ksp, I'll play again next year. 

I did quite a lot today. I'm currently on mobile, so I can't upload screenshots.

A loooooooooooong while ago, I docked, and semi rendezvous'ed Hercules 9 and 10. I'm currently planning to allow myself to use the rendezvous cheat as long as I have an encounter within 5 km. Practicing as I go, trying to get closer each time.

 

But, today, I did the following:

Spoiler

I removed opm and minor planets expansion, but kept Janet's planets.

 

I'm pretty much done with the Hercules program for now.

I launched an ion probe to try out a trajectory to Moho I've thought of, didn't launch at the right time, turns out. May try again later.

After that I just messed around. 

I built a giant medusa powered ship that didn't work. It was called Medusa's (Russian expletive). 

I built a Orion propelled rocket, which needs more struts.

 

I launched an almaz spy station, complete with machine gun!

 

Tonight on Kerbal gear:

Jeremy Kerman crashes a jet car!

We build a jet propelled supersonic open top spitfire! (The vomit fire!)

And Jeremy wears a space suit, on the ground!

Edited December 31, 2021 by Hyperspace Industries
Edit, I'm planning to go to sleep early today, I've been reading Chris Hadfield's The Apollo Murders for the last few days and staying up to read until midnight. It's currently 20:42 here.

[caecilliusinhorto]

Landed Val on Duna, but made the engines way too powerful. Not enough Δv to get back into orbit, Val had to get out and use her jetpack to fly up to the return ship.

[Venusian Explorer]

Alright, now that we're getting a little bit closer to 2022, i think i should celebrate the new year, even if we need a couple of hours for that, but anyways:

Alright, no more waiting, let's make it happen.

Goodbye nasty 2021, hello buggy 2022!

Ah, finally, now, with a little bit of luck, let's see if-

Oh...

Well, i think i have gone a little bit too far...

Oh, and don't worry, i actually did this on a very different save, not on my career save

Happy New Year!

Edited January 1, 2022 by BlackMesaSurvivor

[Axelord FTW]

17 hours ago, Hyperspace Industries said:

I'm thinking of taking a break from ksp, I'll play again next year. 

Godspeed.

 

EDIT: In other news, I've been fiddling some with SystemHeat's coolant tank. Specifically, I duplicated it, doubled its size, quadrupled it's mass, and appropriately changed its volume from 15m cube, to 120m cube . Sure, the tank isn't actually a cube but screw doing anything more precise than that. Honestly, it's obvious the coolant tank doesn't actually hold that much volume and some of that volume comes from the hypothetical plumbing but whatever unit of measurement is actually more realistic considering the model, the difference between the volume of the original and this new, bigger tank is still a constant ratio.

In any case, playing some more with that large tank and the heat exchanger from the mod, it quickly became evident that, for certain applications, radiator surfaces could be toned WAY BACK. Testing with the Emancipator nuclear rocket tells me it can fire for over a minute before needing to cool down, and a small radiator on a second loop can slowly trickle the heat away over time if that loop is active. I'm pretty certain this can be scaled up to some of the more exotic engines. Mostly as a measure to keep part count low, I'm bet this can come in handy. More testing to come.

EDIT2: Some successes, but a lot of dead-ends with this idea. Other than finding a way to trick SystemHeat into instantaneously dropping the temperature of a loop to match another (which I'm not going to use), the practical uses are limited. For example, I can use the best AM engine with the shortest length (and hardest to cool) by using it in burst. The advantage of the extra coolant is that those burst are longer. But, well, I don't min-max my spacecrafts anyway, and I think there's a place for exotic engines with a crapton of coolant volume and very little radiator surface. I'll see.

Edited January 1, 2022 by Axelord FTW

[Puggonaut]

 

[Davi SDF]

23 minutes ago, Puggonaut said:

 

Now that is a Big-S station!

[TheKSPBeginner]

Got a kill on a satellite with my SR-72 replica.

[Randazzo]

"Landed" on Eve

Successfully made it to orbit and back with a new SSTO (even though I loathe them - I think every space program should design at least one)

Only took a picture returning to the runway, didn't think about it sooner

And took a picture with all my current program planes. Clockwise from left: Hermes, Icarus, Heron(SSTO), Valkyrie

And last but not least, made some progress on the mission reports:

 

[Aerodynamic Kerbal]

After a lot of pain, mental suffering and sweat, I MADE IT TO DUNA AND BACK!!!!!!!!!!111!1!

A control bugged during the landing. Left command became left and... Right became left...

Anyways, Jeb picked up some blueberries (Bob tasted them and realized they were just rocks...)

Ascent didn't go so smooth... With the control bug I had to do some weird maneuvers to get the inclination. I didn't reach orbit before fuel ran out. So I used my RCS thrusters instead. 

Docking was smooth. The blueberries were moved to the command module so scientists on Kerbin could analise them.

I used a direct Kerbin encounter without really waiting for another transfer window. Re-entry was a little too... HOT HOT AAH HOT HOT HOT. 6000m/s. Bill stated that the electronics almost melted. 

So, as I slowed down parachutes deployed successfully. TOUCHDOWN!!!!!!11!1!1!1 

Oh, and just to mention I docked a science module to my station. Might undock it because it has too many parts that create lag...

Edited January 2, 2022 by Aerodynamic Kerbal

[Axelord FTW]

Continued tweaking the coolant tank (upped the weight significantly since it can only be a 'dry' tank and coolant amount doesn't change anytthing), and even made an even BIGGER one. The original is 15m^3, the first custom tank is 120m^3, and the last is now 960m^3. Weight is linear, -5% on the second and -7.5% on the third.
I also completed a HUGE training mission to bring 19 fresh kerbals to Level 3. Went well, except for the fact I forgot the parachutes and had to launch a small RCS tug of sorts with lots of fabric dispensers attached on. Thankfully I had used a shielded docking port as the craft's nose even thought I hadn't expected to be using it. I even recovered the lift stage, even though I normally don't bother.
Finally, I launched (from Glassvein, Skipjack's successor on Minmus) and landed both the storage and extractor for He3 on the Mun.

P.S. That Storage module looks SWOLE!

Edited January 1, 2022 by Axelord FTW

[MythicalHeFF]

Currently taking a short break from KSP (and all games, by extension) as my laptop’s charger has broken and I have to wait until next Wednesday to get a new one. Oh well.

 

[Scarecrow71]

Technically, this is yesterday and today.  A LOT of yesterday, into last night and this morning.  But...

I finished my circumnavigation of Minmus.  And oh my dear lord was that tedious.  I drove nearly straight south from the site of Oracle V, over the south pole*, and then back north through the Greater Flats until I reached the site of the Oracle IV landing.

I then had to drive northwest(ish) to get back the site of the Vision II lander.

You'll notice that there's a LOT of stuff in that small area in the Flats:  Philosopher I (the rover), Oracle V (that particular rocket has made multiple trips to Minmus), Prophecy I (our first and only surface outpost that will probably need to be scrapped due to it not being secured properly to the surface), and Vision II (the lander that got me here this time).  Vision II's cargo bay, as well as Philosopher I, cannot come home with us as the rover does not have a docking port on it to reattach to the bay; that will be getting corrected in future designs of the rover and the cargo bay.  But, Bob got back into the lander and, thanks to all that dV I over-engineered the lander with, I was able to get him back home with some fuel to spare.

I ended up collecting just over 1400 science points from this trip, thanks in large part to hitting multiple biomes.  However, there are some lessons learned here:

1. Physics Warp can save time, but if you use it you'll need to save early and often.  I cannot tell you how many times Philosopher I just decided to flip over and go flying across the terrain for no reason, causing me to have to revert to the latest quicksave.  I got into the habit of quick-saving every 5 degrees traveled.
2. Contrary to real life, you CAN drive through the rocks on Minmus.  The sandstones are real, and so are the Olivine formations.  But the larger rocks on the surface?  Pretend they aren't even there.
3. Rovers need to be equipped with the Experiment Storage container.  I missed out on EVA reports and surface samples from multiple biomes because Bob can only hold 1 of each.
4. Philosopher I is too forward-heavy.  This was my first attempt at a rover, and so I'm pretty happy with that.  But the command seat needs to be in the center of the structural panel, not on the forward edge.  And to that end, the science gadgets also need to be away from the front of the rover.
5. Rovers on Minmus need more traction, both for driving and for braking.  Not sure how to get that, though; bigger/different/more wheels, perhaps?

For those of you who didn't read the previous posts about this trip, I was averaging - AVERAGING - a surface ore concentration of 14.8% in the Lowlands.  This means that I was correct in placing Prophecy I in the Flats...but I placed her too far away from the edges.  With an ore concentration that high, Minmus is going to become the first ore mining operation in this career.  Gotta learn how to do that properly; anything in this game that's possible to learn will keep me playing!

Any/all comments are appreciated!

Edited January 2, 2022 by Scarecrow71

[Randazzo]

55 minutes ago, Scarecrow71 said:

Technically, this is yesterday and today.  A LOT of yesterday, into last night and this morning.  But...

I finished my circumnavigation of Minmus.  And oh my dear lord was that tedious.  I drove nearly straight south from the site of Oracle V, over the south pole*, and then back north through the Greater Flats until I reached the site of the Oracle IV landing.

I then had to drive northwest(ish) to get back the site of the Vision II lander.

You'll notice that there's a LOT of stuff in that small area in the Flats:  Prophecy I (the rover), Oracle V (that particular rocket has made multiple trips to Minmus), Philosopher I (our first and only surface outpost that will probably need to be scrapped due to it not being secured properly to the surface), and Vision II (the lander that got me here this time).  Vision II's cargo bay, as well as Philosopher I, cannot come home with us as the rover does not have a docking port on it to reattach to the bay; that will be getting corrected in future designs of the rover and the cargo bay.  But, Bob got back into the lander and, thanks to all that dV I over-engineered the lander with, I was able to get him back home with some fuel to spare.

I ended up collecting just over 1400 science points from this trip, thanks in large part to hitting multiple biomes.  However, there are some lessons learned here:

1. Physics Warp can save time, but if you use it you'll need to save early and often.  I cannot tell you how many times Philosopher I just decided to flip over and go flying across the terrain for no reason, causing me to have to revert to the latest quicksave.  I got into the habit of quick-saving every 5 degrees traveled.
2. Contrary to real life, you CAN drive through the rocks on Minmus.  The sandstones are real, and so are the Olivine formations.  But the larger rocks on the surface?  Pretend they aren't even there.
3. Rovers need to be equipped with the Experiment Storage container.  I missed out on EVA reports and surface samples from multiple biomes because Bob can only hold 1 of each.
4. Philosopher I is too forward-heavy.  This was my first attempt at a rover, and so I'm pretty happy with that.  But the command seat needs to be in the center of the structural panel, not on the forward edge.  And to that end, the science gadgets also need to be away from the front of the rover.
5. Rovers on Minmus need more traction, both for driving and for braking.  Not sure how to get that, though; bigger/different/more wheels, perhaps?

For those of you who didn't read the previous posts about this trip, I was averaging - AVERAGING - a surface ore concentration of 14.8% in the Lowlands.  This means that I was correct in placing Prophecy I in the Flats...but I placed her too far away from the edges.  With an ore concentration that high, Minmus is going to become the first ore mining operation in this career.  Gotta learn how to do that properly; anything in this game that's possible to learn will keep me playing!

Any/all comments are appreciated!

For bulletpoint #5 you can try right clicking on the wheels and increasing the traction control.

[Scarecrow71]

13 minutes ago, Randazzo said:

For bulletpoint #5 you can try right clicking on the wheels and increasing the traction control.

I did.  And I adjusted braking.  And it still took way too long to brake.

[18Watt]

2 hours ago, Scarecrow71 said:

Vision II's cargo bay, as well as Philosopher I, cannot come home with us as the rover does not have a docking port on it to reattach to the bay

I can't think of any reason to bring a rover back home.  It won't be needed at KSC, and hey, you might want to drive around Minmus again someday!  Might as well leave it at Minmus.

2 hours ago, Scarecrow71 said:

Physics Warp can save time, but if you use it you'll need to save early and often.  I cannot tell you how many times Philosopher I just decided to flip over and go flying across the terrain for no reason,

One trick I use is to put a reaction wheel and probe core on the rover (or capsule with reaction wheels).  That way I can use the reaction wheels to right an upturned rover, and SAS to help keep it from flipping over in the first place.  There are different SAS modes you can select, some work better with rovers than others.

Nice job!

[N_Danger]

Another repair job, around Iota this time.

We have a nice view for fixing stuff.

And many happy returns were had.

[Hyperspace Industries]

Didn't build or fly anything, but I went on a MODDING SPREE!!!!!!!! 

SSPXr, near future solar and spacecraft, simple construction, and... that's about it really.

[Kerb24]

So, since my aunt is at my house for the holidays, I decided to try to teach her KSP, by having her fly a rocket to the Mun, with me just telling her what to do. It went okay.

Edited January 2, 2022 by Kerb24

[Axelord FTW]

6 hours ago, Scarecrow71 said:

I did.  And I adjusted braking.  And it still took way too long to brake.

Minmus is at the edge of the low-mass worlds list where rovers are useful at all. Barely worth the trouble, at best. As soon as you get the technology, a small ISRU surface hopper becomes much more viable, though by that point you've gotten most of the science anyway.

[MythicalHeFF]

9 hours ago, Scarecrow71 said:

 

 

1. Rovers on Minmus need more traction, both for driving and for braking.  Not sure how to get that, though; bigger/different/more wheels, perhaps?

As someone who has also completed the Elcano Challenge, I can tell you that turning up the ‘Friction Control’ setting on the rover wheels helps a lot with traction on low-gravity worlds. I first figured this out while driving around on the Mun for fun, and it has saved me untold amounts of frustration since. Increasing the Spring Strength to 1.25 also seems to help.

Honestly, I wish the friction control setting just adjusted automatically depending on the G level of the body you’re driving on, as it is not very intuitive.

You can also change the levels of motor power to always be at 100% so you can drive faster on low-G worlds. 

Edited January 3, 2022 by Jack Joseph Kerman

[Axelord FTW]

Eyyy, the Calypso (Jool Explorer) has arrived, and has orbited (and scanned now) all the worlds except Laythe so far. The crew of 13 is now all level 5, and I'm sitting at over 30,000 science points!

Vall was chosen as the location for the Joolian system Factory. I will do another redesign of the factory again, to exclude exotic fuel production this time. Other than that, I released two four-parts microrelays I first built off the hull of Calypso (via KIS/KAS) which were then detached and gently bumped away. 

 

Edited January 3, 2022 by Axelord FTW

[Hyperspace Industries]

I tested that simple construction worked, and then launched an orbital construction dock, which is, of course, called tycho.

Spoiler

It's big.

I did have to cheat it to orbit, a little too little delta v.

I also uninstalled a few unnecessary mods, NF propulsion, NF capsules, SSPXr iva, distant object, and so on.