What did you do in KSP1 today?

[panzer1b]

Finished the sortof standard AKS GSD-8xx/9xx tank family (they are all based on the same general purpose hull with just changes to weapons and armor levels).

On the left is the basic medium tank, the 850T "Panther", right is the TD variant of the same tank, the 926D "Coyote", and center is the heavy tank TD hybrid thing, the 930T "Tiger". 

The 2 actual tanks have stock turrets with a 300m/s AT cannon that does decent anti-armor damage (albeit somewhat slow rate of fire with 1 round every 2 seconds).  And both the TD and the heavy have a fixed double cannon that fires 2 shots every second.  Terrain passability is the best with the Panther, since dat 1 is the lightest and its not as long (hence more likely to bounce up and over rocks when moving above 15m/s rather then getting stuck or wedged on something, but the other 2 arent that far behind with passability since its the same basic hull layout just lengthened to fit the dual heavy autocannons (which are reloadable in space from below the vehicle).  You can see the configuration very well in the Tiger.  the model shown is the standard armor variant with side skirt addon only, the heavy armor variant completely covers that up from any angle but below and has an extended nose with additional spaced armor with 1 more girder layer (i didnt bring dat 1 as it has major issues going over the slightest rocks, mostly would use it in a semi static role).  The Coyote shown features the level 1 armor upgrade which only covers the roof of the turret stub (it doesnt rotate but is useful for armor protection) and also the cannon firing system (sorta like what the level 1 armor does on the Tiger but i couldnt drive it on Duna with parallax enabled so i didnt bother with it). 

There are a few minor things im not 100% happy with (like the teensy bit of wheel that clips through the armor plate on the sides, nothing i can do there as i dont want to make it any taller and need to use this particular wheel), and the part count being a bit more then id like (might try and make some variants without the little teeny square armor panels which eat lots of part count), but all in all i think these came out pretty good, are actually useful in stock battles, and most of all are useable even with parallax terrain coliders enabled.  The Panther has been tested to be able to go around 20m/s on most planets/moons safely, the others are somewhat better around 15m/s but far from bad given the fact that some of the bumps will utterly stop teh tank in its tracks and make it bounce or go full airborne, and these tanks can withstand a 20m/s impact against a wall without any internal damage (at worst you might loose the front facing light or the barrel extensions on the Coyote which are purely for looks anyways and dont affect performance).

Also rebuilt the BCorp Avenger class tank.  Not really sure what my thinking behind this thing was, but i sorta took some inspiration from the FT17 and the M4 sherman and believe it or not that combination actually seems to work well.  I much prefer this thing over the previous prototype which was based on some somewhat more modern MBTs which im frankly not that big a fan of (i like WW1, WW2, early cold war, and full on sci-fi stuff, current modern military tech just doesnt speak to me asthetically and it doesnt seem to work all that great in KSP either as the MBT inspired Avenger sucked horrifically and was even often beaten by a 4 ton armored car).

Driving up to the wreck of a Tiger tank that was defeated in a turret only fight.  The Avenger is in universe supposed to beat the AKS Panther in an equal 1v1 fight, as the Panther (and any other tank with the same weapon system) has 4 shots per attack while the Avenger (and pretty much every other BCorp tank) gets 8.  Ofc if i was to use the TD cannons its instant death to the Avenger as its 16 shots per burst and the guns seem to be more accurate then turrets from my testing.

 

Im still not 100% certain if i want this particular tank to be the definitive model of the BCorp Avenger, but it performs well and i think it looks pretty good (not sure why i thought FT17 in a sci-fi space game, but whatever)...

Edited November 4, 2022 by panzer1b

[tajwo]

I went to Ike. 1481 science gained. After this mission, Mission Control served up a contract to dock two vessels around Ike and return to Kerbin >:(

Spoiler

The Döner II rocket launches from KSC. At the top of the rocket, a nuclear transfer stage with almost 9k m/s Δv. Way overkill. I think this exact same rocket could be used for a mission to one of Jool's moons...

No boosters. Core stage powered by 5 mainsails, upper stage powered by Rhino, transfer stage powered by 3 NERV engines.

Finishing up Duna transfer burn. The Duna transfer window happens to line up with a Münar transfer window. Thank you Mün for the gravitational assistance

Lander is powered by one Pug engine (from restock+). It has a Communotron 16. I intended for the command module to act as a relay but I forgot to put a relay antenna on it so all of that was useless.

Taking off from Ike.

Lander and command module docking

Re-entry.

Back home

 

[N_Danger]

The Caravan Missions were launched, sending off supplies to the station around Duna

Caravan 1

Caravan 2

Caravan 3

Edited November 5, 2022 by N_Danger
Grammar is hard

[Caerfinon]

Testing a new lander system

Science Lander arrives at the Mun at an 11km orbit

Spoiler

Jeb presses the big red button... 

Val and Bob have transferred to the Lander Module and initiated separation  

Success! The monopropellant engines make for a perfect touchdown. Time to gather SCIENCE! 

 

Return to orbit and rendezvous with the command module. Jeb conducts docking operations. 

The crew bids farewell to the Lander.  

And returns home loaded with science.

 

Science Lander available on KerbalX   
(Look Ma! I built a rocket!)

Edited November 5, 2022 by Caerfinon

[Rutabaga22]

57 minutes ago, Caerfinon said:

Testing a new lander system

Science Lander arrives at the Mun at an 11km orbit

  Hide contents

Jeb presses the big red button... 

Val and Bob have transferred to the Lander Module and initiated separation  

Success! The monopropellant engines make for a perfect touchdown. Time to gather SCIENCE! 

 

Return to orbit and rendezvous with the command module. Jeb conducts docking operations. 

The crew bids farewell to the Lander.  

And returns home loaded with science.

 

Science Lander available on KerbalX   
(Look Ma! I built a rocket!)

That's a pretty cool lander. Never knew you could land and return on monoprop only. (Rutabaga soon realized that you used chickadee engines.)

[Krazy1]

I returned a probe from Duna and Ike with 465 experiments. I'm converting all science to reputation. That got me to 97%.

Just accepted contract number 16 (I thought 15 was the limit)

Bring a newly discovered Class E asteroid into an orbit around Moho 

[Beamer]

7 hours ago, Krazy1 said:

I returned a probe from Duna and Ike with 465 experiments. I'm converting all science to reputation. That got me to 97%.

Just accepted contract number 16 (I thought 15 was the limit)

Bring a newly discovered Class E asteroid into an orbit around Moho 

What's the payout on that?

There's 2 params, AverageAvailableContracts = 10 default and FacilityProgressionFactor = 0.2 default, so I think at max upgrade level you get 1.6 * 10 'average' contracts. How exactly that 'average' is reached and what the standard deviation is I have no clue

 

[Krazy1]

4 hours ago, Beamer said:

What's the payout on that?

Not a lot compared to the same contract for Gilly. But I'm hoping the same ship Gigaklaw will work for this too. I have 2 and they cost about $13M each. They have many more asteroids to push to break even! Most contracts don't need any investment now that I have a fleet. I'm converting 75% funds and 100% science to reputation... so I can get more ridiculous contracts.

Spoiler

 

Some pics from Gilly:

Edited November 6, 2022 by Krazy1
typo

[Beamer]

1 hour ago, Krazy1 said:

Not a lot compared to the same contract for Gilly. But I'm hoping the same ship Gigaklaw will work for this too. I have 2 and they cost about $13M each. They have many more asteroids to push to break even! SoMost contracts don't need any investment now that I have a fleet. I'm converting 75% funds and 100% science to reputation... so I can get more ridiculous contracts.

  Hide contents

 

Some pics from Gilly:

Seems about similar to the bigger 'Grand Tour' contracts in payout. You can combine multiple of those if you get a bit lucky (I think?) but they take ages to complete. If you get lucky with the 'roid orbits and have the hardware in place you can probably complete those contracts considerably faster, but you can't combine them. A Mk-3 passenger cabin full of 3 star tourist contracts will net you more but costs a lot more contract spots, and you need to get a bit lucky with the destinations to fill up your cabin... never an easy way, damn you game balance!

 

[Mignear]

Test flight of a new aircraft.

 

[Kerbalsaurus]

John Madden John Madden John Madden Football

Edited November 6, 2022 by Kerbalsaurus
For those of you who are confused, that's a Moon Base Alpha reference.

[Nazalassa]

Currently at 289 km below the surface of Duna (thanks @Stratzenblitz75)

[Kerbalsaurus]

4 minutes ago, Nazalassa said:

Currently at 289 km below the surface of Duna (thanks @Stratzenblitz75)

HOW?!

[SpacePixel]

A momentary lapse of sanity

So, this rather unconventional rover design is my, what, third approach to tackling Tylo, following a foolhardy Jool-5 and ingenuous if misguided 2.5m-size single launch. This new design is built for serious, long-range ground exploration, which would involve visiting the poles, scaling mountains and traversing vast distances. The low center of mass and wide wheelbase make for excellent stability at speeds even well above 30 m/s, and despite it the vehicle fits in a fairing only slightly wider than 3.75m. The landing stage design is borrowed from the Soviet lunar lander - an ISP-optimized stage slows down the rover from orbital velocity almost all the way to a full stop, is then discarded and crashes into the surface, whereas the rover lands under the ascent stage's power. Pictured is the separation of the ascent stage from the rover core upon surface mission completion.

[Nazalassa]

2 hours ago, Kerbalsaurus said:

HOW?!

I got some inspiration from @Stratzenblitz75.

(Warning: the video is about 4 hours long.)

[Rakete]

Brought my new Spacedock in LKO (505km x 505km - because... why not ?!) into position:

Cassiopeia-Spacedock is now fully operational, ready to be visited by SSTOs, Deep Space Exporers and other vessel. Snacks are in stock, Science toys also.

 

Left arm: Docking arm for SSTOs (especially the Phoenix, Arrow, Lightning, Basilisk and Sphinx-Class-Spaceplanes) and my Caprica III-V, Scorpia I, Tauron II, Geminon I crew-transfer-standard-systems

Foreground arm: "the dock"... Workshop for deepspace explorer-vessels to dock an be refitted and deliver their data

Background arm: The Science arm, exquipped with experiments, laboratory and other stuff. Also jr-dockingports are there for my Picon II and Canceron I 2-kerbal-capsule-systems

Central Core: ion-engines for slow but precise orbital corrections, big 6 MW Hermes Fission Reactor and cooling radiators.... for reasons cause it's possible. Don't need that much power, but.... it's a nuclear reactor! There is also a uranium centrifuge to partially refresh depleted uranium. also... for reasons

Edited November 6, 2022 by Rakete

[panzer1b]

Made a few more tanks...

On the left are 3 variants of BCorp's Avenger MBT.  The right most of which is the original or Mk1, then the early and late variant of the Mk2 (they are literally identical with the exception of the turret being moved and the removal of that extra shield on the Mk2 late).  The Mk2s are basically shermans as i wanted something general purpose and the only other tank that came to mind being the T-34 is too similar to AKS tanks (aside from the vastly different turret and the very front of the hull beung sloped down its pretty close actually, roughly 45 degree angle on every side and rectangular in shape).  Still, i will say i do like and intend to keep the Mk1 around as its just a bit more unique looking even if the Mk2s are slightly less parts and more practical all around.  Mk2 also has a much larger turret that in theory should fit a dual railgun (which would make it a turreted version of AKS TDs).  I have a prototype of the Mk3 made but sofar its very early WIP since i cant seem to come up with a good method of mounting 2 guns into the turret without at least 1 of them sticking out and looking rather lame compared to the single fully integral weapon.

The 4th tank is as of this moment unnamed (ill think of something once i finish the design 100%) but its supposed to be Starleague's standard MBT (their ships are more organic/curvy looking and i wanted to keep that style going with the tanks).  performance is very similar to the Avenger, slightly better armor protection but slower and heavier (and less flippy, the one flaw the Avenger has as its somewhat tall and without RCS to balance it out).

After dumping like 6 bursts into it i finally got a complete kill on the Mk1 (every tank ive made sofar has the same flaw where there is a single ibeam as the core part and if the round happens to smack that there is no amount of armor that will stop the tank from being killed, all i can do is move it somewhere where it is less likely to get hit).  Also shot up the Mk2 early version which refused to go down despite burst after burst into it.

And also testing the Mk2 Late, which went down in a single burst.  Its mostly luck though and not bad tank design as the Mk2 early i shot earlier ate like 50 shots and didnt even take any significant damage (the 2 are internally copies).

And a final shot of the wreckage.  All in all, stock tank battles can be done and they dont even have to be turn based as you can just autofire the weapons with robotic controllers, (although turn based results in less wasted ammo).

[stephensmat]

Today's Achievement! I landed a base on Pol.

Jool and associated Moons have been a nightmare for me. I've lost five Kerbals. Not marooned, lost. Crashed, miscalculated, etc. It's been a Bermuda Triangle for me.

If you've been following my tales of Spaceflight, you'll know that I experimented with a new 'Plus Size' Refuel tank recently, and accidentally discovered a new Disposable Space Booster engine. This worked so well, that I added a Drill and mini-converter to it, and sent four more out into the System, to replace all my Digger/Fuelling tanks. The same design is being used as a booster, and a fuel tank. I now have Plus-Sized Fuelling Stations on Ike, Gilly, Mun and Minmus. It'll save me ever so much time on prepping for Return flights.

So it was time to try this magic wand in the direction I've never had the slightest luck in. In truth, Jool is becoming a phobia for me by now. My Plus-Sized booster got me as far as a Jool Rendezvous before I cut it loose. My Base, free of the weight, suddenly had 4x the delta V that it did an instant before. Huzzah!

But it still wasn't enough. I crashed three more times.

I give Credit to this board, for teaching me about Gravity Assists for speeding up/slowing down. A close pass in front of Jool, into a close pass in front of Pol, got my base moving slow enough to get into orbit. Pol gravity is so low I was able to land on fumes. (On my ninth try, but who's counting?)

(I add some rover wheels to all my small bases, because I inevitably land on the side of a hill. It helps get you somewhere better. I was sliding across the dirt at 4m/s for a while.)

And it turns out I did miscalculate after all. Can't run the Research Lab non-stop. Power drops ever so slowly. I was one generator short. Given how tight the fuel numbers ran, I think it was worth it. I'll have to come back now and then to let the batteries recharge. (Power usage was the death of my second Jool expedition. It never occurred to me that solar power wouldn't work that far out. We live, we learn. BTW, is it possible to use RTG's for surface experiments to add power to your Base/Ship?)

But you gotta love that view.

[Blufor878]

I combined the Apollo command module with the Kistler K-1  (via @EStreetRockets's Asbury Mod). I made a basic version and one that has a reusable first stage.
First version with expendable first stage.

Second version with more reusability in mind.

More here

 

 

[N_Danger]

Some crew returned from the KSS-1.

Every mission is not complete unless there are explosions.

 

A new supply vessel was also docked

[Nazalassa]

3 hours ago, N_Danger said:

Why is Kerbin bright green?

[Minmus Taster]

It's the little things in KSP that put a smile on my face

[Janus92]

I did some automated heavy lifting:

[N_Danger]

4 hours ago, Nazalassa said:

Why is Kerbin bright green?

I can't figure out what happened. It goes away at 200 KM.

 I think a visual mod updated past the ability of my graphic card to render properly. It is an old 960 GTX

 

[Beamer]

My latest airplane design takes off for its inaugural flight. The Koffer Ku-134 (inspired by the designs of the Fokker 100 and Tupolev Tu-134, "koffer" is the Dutch word for "suitcase").

It has a total capacity of 100 kerbals and a max range of around 1800 km cruising at 4km and 200 m/s, enough to make the trip to the Desert Airstrip and back without the need for refueling. The main wing consists of the FAT wings with the Swept wings attached to the tip slightly rotated to form one whole. Some small wing segments are used for the inner back wing edge. The inner 2 elevons serve as flaps, the outer 2 as ailerons.

It flies very well, responsive. I had no problem landing it at slow speeds and I managed to stop well before the taxi exit, or what passes for that on the Desert Airstrip. After they have visited the nearby pyramids I will fly back the assorted VIPs during daylight hours tomorrow (the ones that make it back anyway, the mountains can be harsh ). First I have the arrival of my Dres station expansion to deal with.