What did you do in KSP1 today?

[Blufor878]

Saturn and SDLV stuff



 

[Krazy1]

On 3/24/2023 at 7:27 PM, Kerballlistic07 said:

using a ton of flags. 

On 3/24/2023 at 8:08 PM, tg626 said:

flag drag will surprise you

I thought there was something in KSP Community Fixes but now I don't see it. FYI: 

I'm been flying a lot now in JNSQ now that I have the Whiplashes unlocked. Using GAP for JNSQ and KSRGAP. 

First report is for a late afternoon flight to bring 2 execs to S72A on the southern ice shelf to negotiate new landing rights. Amazing clouds, aurora borealis, a full Minmus rising in the East, and Jeb almost killing everyone.

Spoiler

Runway lights could be brighter... anybody know a mod, like adding the flashing line of white lights or colored approach lights?

As the execs had their negotiations, Bob's gathered science from the rear pod while Jeb made fun of him for wearing his helmet on Kerbin. Bob pointed out it was freezing cold and dark, much like space. Jeb proceeded to crunch snacks loudly on the open mic inside the cockpit which was still toasty warm  from the supersonic flight. Jeb's shenanigans distracted Bob and he forgot to jump to get a "flying low" EVA report. 

On the return flight, Jeb set the autopilot at 1200 m/s and 20 km ASL. He ignored the 1000 K cockpit warning as he gazed at the small blue dot called Lindor. He'd go there someday he thought.

Overshot KSC a bit

Jeb's approach was high...

... and he forgot to cut the throttle completely...

Touched down 1/2 down the runway... 

And veered right way off into the trees at over 40 m/s... 

Somehow Jeb stopped on the runway and convinced the execs it was a "textbook" landing. Neither Jeb or the execs ever read a textbook... they just laughed and slapped each other on the back. Bob told Jeb he owed him a lot of snacks.

 

 

[xendelaar]

I finished a grand tour of the real solar system and made a small series of the mission. Today I finished the third episode (of hopefully four) of the series, where I visit the seven moons of Saturn!

[Some insights]

The first part of the mission started out very fun! Visiting Titan was especially a great experience. After that.. I have to admit things got a little more repetitive... but the stunning view made all the difference. The repetitive nature of the mission was quickly forgotten as I gazed out at the breathtaking scenery. In the end, the beautiful view made it all worthwhile.

I hope you enjoy the video.

[Aeolica]

[DunaManiac]

Merlin VIII went up today. It had two missions: the first was to emulate a Munar-return that my future Mun mission will undertake, Nova-Z 1. It will use a return vehicle of a similar design to this one, so it was important to get this one right. It's using the same launcher as the previous Merlin launch.

=

The idea is that I'm going to do a Munar injection burn - but not actually reach its SOI. I'm going to get as close to it as possible, but not all the way. That honor I'm reserving for Nova-Z.

Next, we come to the second mission: deploying the Autonomous Test Munar Lander (ATML). Just after the injection burn is over it separates and burns the rest of the way to the mun.

Merlin VIII smashes the altitude record set by only the previous mission, Merlin VII, and gets within a hair of Mun's SOI.

Several hours later, the crew will settle in for the first of two aerobraking maneuvers, emulating the Nova-Z reentry.

After a day in space, the three crew (Valentina as pilot, Nelbro, and Hilibile Kerman).

Meanwhile, the ATML has already inserted itself into orbit and prepares for landing.

Landing goes smoothly, and I finally discover the identity of this anomaly I was targeting: an arch! (No, I didn't spoil myself to its location, but I wasn't surprised either).

Another successful mission!

Edited March 30, 2023 by DunaManiac

[JcoolTheShipbuilder]

I updated the rings around almost all of my planets to be much more detailed!
This may seem like a LOT of ringed planets, but... I have a ton of planets in my mod and they are spread out across four different star systems
I like how when zoomed out, the rings seem fairly simple-ish..
Near Correlae.

But then getting closer to the rings, there is just more and more detail the huge orange-ish band is that little orange strip in the previous pic


Hados' old rings

Vs Hados' new rings! More detailed n stuff, made sure to keep the same two big ring gaps for its two innermost moons. I did use the original ring texture in the new one, I just.. created a custom texture on top of it

Tumidam's rings!

Some new planets! Gemma is a large gas giant in the Pythros system, the furthest planet (the furthest object in the system is a brown dwarf, a substellar object)

(Yes this image is from before I put an actual texture on Gemma

 

And another new planet! this time in a new star system! well.. the star system is quite dead...
This gas giant is "Adventus", latin for 'adventure'... Well.. it is a wandering gas giant that is about twice the radius of Jool, 8.5x the mass of Jool, and is actually from another galaxy.
Adventus started its life 12 billion years ago in a star system in a nearby galaxy, but was ejected during its formation. It has six moons that formed with it, but six more it has obtained by flying by systems. It flew by at least four star systems before getting sent on an escape trajectory out of its home galaxy, and spend the next few billion years drifting through intergalactic space before entering the kerbal galaxy encountering a couple of systems, and settling in orbit in the Mortuus system, This planet's orbit is NOT stable, and will be ejected within a dozen orbits, but its orbital period is about 200 years so you got some time.
This is Adventus at its apoapsis and periapsis

Rings!

Also Adventus' eccentricity is 0.95, and takes it VERY close to the binary in the center of the system (It is a orange/red giant orbiting a toroidal black hole)

 

So thats what I did in KSP today...
WAIT
I also built a dectuple decker plane

It flies quite well... TOO well...
It is now part of the "O-crap!" Airlines fleet! Can carry 108 passengers!

The passengers can act as a cushion for the pilot in emergency crashes landings!
The newest Boing-74444444447 has achieved the 'most amazing looking crash landing' award!

Alternativley, the pilot could use the nifty ejection system!

But why leave the rest of the plane practically in one piece?
"O-crap!" Airlines: Get more bang for your buck! LITERALLY!!!

Edited March 31, 2023 by JcoolTheShipbuilder

[Blufor878]

"THE PAYLOAD IS NEARING A CHECKPOINT!"


If you're fan of a certain multiplayer shooter that has a lot of hats, you might recognize what this is based on...

[DunaManiac]

Launched this save's first manned moon landing today. Years (in-game, obviously), and millions of funds have been spent preparing for this moment. We even repurposed the Merlin program to act as a preparation for this flight.

 

Overall it's an ordinary Apollo-style rocket, but two major differences. The first is obvious: there's a plane perched on it. It's of a similar model to the one I usually use in this save for orbital launches, the MCTV, except modified to reduce its wingspan and have inline docking capability.  It was decided early on in the mission-planning that it will serve as the return vehcile instead of a capsule, as engineers had never tested one and would rather use a tried-and-tested vehicle for that purpose. The other will become more clear later on. This is the largest rocket by far that the Program has ever built, exceeding the size of the Harrier II rocket designed for Merlin VII and VIII.

Wobbling is severe as the rocket continues into the upper atmosphere, the throttle of the first stage is moderated to prevent the rocket from falling apart.

Second stage separation confirmed.

Once in orbit, the crew waits for about half an hour before they burn out to the Mun. I deliberately chose a poorer angle so I could gain a free-return trajectory. This doubles the transfer time, however.

After the translunar injection burn is completed, preparations to reorganize the craft are made. The shielded docking port on the MCTV-MRV is deployed, and the MCTV/Service Module assembly separates from the lander.

Once the MCTV/SM assembly is a safe distance away from the lander, it rotates. The SM/Harpy Lander's adapter is separated.

Once redocking is complete, the second stage is separated, putting the vessel into final configuration. As you can see, same as Apollo but aircraft.

Once at the Mun, the orbital insertion burn is completed, and the craft descends into a 20km Mun orbit. After pressurizing the lander and making the appropriate preparations, Jebediah and Isalin Kerman transfer into the lander, leaving Bob behind in the MCTV-MRV.

The landing site is the Nearside East Crater, specifically a crater inside it I like to call Sharpton Crater. In this save, it's the most explored area of the mun. Already, two landers (and a rover) have landed in that vicinity, so we should not see any unexpected surface conditions. In this shot, you may notice that the interior of the lander is actually empty: it has a smaller lander within it! This is the science platform, which will be separated just before landing.

The lander begins its suicide burn. It's a bit darker than I would have liked, but this could be a bonus: the long shadows mean that boulders and crags can be better identified. I missed the landing zone by several kilometers, putting me at risk of landing next a cliff in shadow, preventing the solar panels from being charged and potentially dooming the ground experiments. Thankfully, Jebediah was able to maneuver the lander out to a safer area.

Finally, just above the surface (this took a few tries!) the Harpy separates the Science Platform from underneath it, allowing it to fall a short distance to the ground, and the Harpy itself landing just after it a few meters away. The Harpy has landed!

Jebediah, the hero of the space program and beloved by the public, the first kerbal to orbit, geostationary orbit, and veteran of countless launches, now becomes the first kerbal to ever set foot on another world. He stands there, briefly overcome by the majesty of seeing his own planet hanging above him, and the sheer desolation of the Mun.

Isalin is granted the honor of planting the flag of the Kerbin Federation. They briefly sing the national anthem before an audience of millions.

After that, it's time for business. Jebediah begins to set up the experiments of the Science Platform.

Both Isalin and Jebediah set up the experiments: the seismometer is set up a few meters away from the rest of the ground experiments to prevent the launch from disturbing it.

During their 20 minute EVA, they take some propaganda photos and operate the experiments, attempting to squeeze as much data as possible out of the site. They also test their Munar Mobility Propulsion Packs created for the mission.

Finally, they lift off from the surface, after several hours on the surface, just before the Munar sunset.

After several hours, the vessels finally find each other again in low orbit. I decided to do an IVA docking for this one. I haven't done one in a while, and I resolved to do it in IVA, and without any other information except the nav-ball.

And we are docked!

With nothing left to do, the lander is jetissoned, and the crew aim to return home.

Two aerobraking maneuvers are undertaken, and the resulting descent takes nearly 3 hours.

On the third, more slowdown than anticipated occured, causing the crew to transition from attempting to reach a parking orbit to attempting a landing immediately.

The approach is rather hot due to the increased velocity.

After a shaky descent, the crew finally touches down: a successful moon landing! All of Kerbin cheers, and a crowd mobs the aircraft as it triumphantly taxies towards the spaceplane hangar, the first kerbonauts to land on the Mun! Jebediah, Bob, and Isalin will forever be remembered for their service to kerbalkind.

 

Edited April 1, 2023 by DunaManiac

[Janus92]

Some days low and slow is the way to go:

Maybe today was not one of those days..

[N_Danger]

I loaded up ScanSat and then launched some satellites.

First to polar orbit around Kerbin

 

Spoiler

Solid booster separation

After being boosted to a 450 km AP, Satellite separation and solar panel deploy

Coasting over an aurora 

Circularizing.

 

And then to the Mun.

Spoiler

Solids drop off.

 

Second stage start up.

Fairing separation

 

On the way to the Mun

13 km over the Mun

And on station.

 

 

[jimmymcgoochie]

With a bit of tweaking I managed to squeeze the propulsion and habitation modules for my new lunar space station onto the same rocket, while the lab will follow separately on a much smaller rocket. Combined with the core module already waiting its turn for launch the new station will host anywhere from 2 to 8 crew at a time and has docking ports for two visiting crew ships, two landers and four further ports for fuel tankers or other vessels. In theory. In theory, this will become a hub for lunar exploration and research and a valuable testbed for a future crewed Mars mission. In theory…

[N_Danger]

A scanning satellite to Minmus lifts off.

Solids jettison

 

Fairing separation.

Arrival at Minmus

And on station 

 

[Krazy1]

On 4/1/2023 at 12:36 PM, N_Danger said:

I loaded up ScanSat and then launched some satellites.

First to polar orbit around Kerbin

Me too. I can't believe I haven't used ScanSat before. It's amazing. 

Also flying a lot. Just flew 11 pax and 3 execs to N76A on the northern ice shelf, picked up some meteorite cargo, then flew to C. Yeager near the equator to deliver cargo and waited for execs to negotiate landing rights. The flight back to KSC is 3300 km but it's not terribly long cruising at 1350 m/s. Assorted pics for last few flights.

[Nazalassa]

Wheee

Spoiler

Blind theme, finally :)

[Nazalassa]

More shenanigans...

[roboslacker]

Sent a Submarine to Laythe

Spoiler

Mucked about with parts

Spoiler

 

Edited April 4, 2023 by roboslacker

[miklkit]

Something not seen by me before.

[xendelaar]

I tried to speedrun to the Moon in Kerbal Sized Real Solar System (KSRSS). For this mission I built a 4200t craft with 21 km/s of delta to get to the moon FAST. The craft was pointed towards the moon and I flew the craft in a straight line towards its target.

After 3 hours and 13 minutes I lithobraked the craft on the surface at 3000 m/s and finally landed 3 minutes later by jetpack.:)

It was a nice challenge.

 

[Dunas Only Moon]

Launched an small station into LKO and then proceded to not use it ever again (i suck at docking)

[Nazalassa]

Wheee

[AtomicTech]

1 hour ago, Nazalassa said:

Wheee

What mod is this?

[Nazalassa]

6 minutes ago, AtomicTech said:

What mod is this?

 

[tajwo]

I put a station around the Mün. Docked the first module with it. The module has two solar panels and one RTG, and two batteries with 400 electric charge each. The core module has 8 Kerbals in it

(The transport stage which sent the core module into Münar orbit, shortly before de-orbiting. I might make this into its own spacecraft later)

[Rakete]

Brought Crew to the newly built Cochrane Center in LKO using a SpikeX-Vessel.

The Nova-Facility (Far Future Tech) is patched to be able to produce graviolium for later use in "Blueshift"-FTL-Vessels.

 

[Rakete]

15 hours ago, Rakete said:

Brought Crew to the newly built Cochrane Center in LKO using a SpikeX-Vessel.

The Nova-Facility (Far Future Tech) is patched to be able to produce graviolium for later use in "Blueshift"-FTL-Vessels.

 

For FFT and Blueshift users: 

The patch i wrote to make the Nova Facility (Far Future Tech by Nertea) produce Graviolium (Blueshift and Flying Saucers Mod by Angelo Kerman) is to be found in the Blueshift Thread in the mods section. Feel free to take it and adjust the values to your liking, or leave it.

Edited April 8, 2023 by Rakete