What did you do in KSP1 today?

[kspbutitscursed]

well i havent play ksp in a while but last time i did i began a saturn v mission to the moon

[Hotel26]

This is Platypus...

It's wired up now with main ballast flood/vent at two rates: 500 liters/sec and 50 liters/sec.

Next step is to add keys for Toggle Fore/Aft Trim that will pump 'seawater' (MP) between the front and back trim tanks.

This will be a little trickier than first evident, because a pump will fill all three tanks at some rate, while two of the tanks vent at rates such that the main ballast tank does not change contents and one of the trim tanks will empty at the same rate that the other trim tank is filling.  Fiddly but conceptually feasible with a little arithmetic.

Sea trials so far have already been fun.  This is a research project for technology for use in much larger submersibles.

Spoiler

To help imagine this, the following controls will be on Action Set 1:

1. Fast Flood Main
2. Fast Vent Main
3. Fine Flood Main
4. Fine Vent Main
5. Trim For'ard
6. Trim Aft

Not too hard to use.

 

Edited August 30, 2023 by Hotel26

[Duke MelTdoWn]

CoExSyst (Compact Exploration System) prototype makes good progress. The cargo bay of the Super Guppy III is now FULL

Validation landing of the Ferry and Miner modules on the Mun was successful, the Nerva actually creates thrust instead of just heating the Miner stage below.

The additional TWR from the 4 Sparks on the Miner came in handy during critical maneuvers. Currently waiting for refueling to finish - which will take some time.

Lab/Sat Carrier and Transfer Stage modules are ready for a test flight. It was quite fiddly to squeeze all those satellites in. Three reusable Small Relays and a Survey Scanner are provided for independent operations. I added a grabbing unit to the Ferry to facilitate recovery. Two Data Carriers can return science to Kerbin from anywhere.

Spoiler

Edited August 29, 2023 by Duke MelTdoWn

[Duke MelTdoWn]

I continued fiddling with the CoExSyst.

The trick to shoot the exhaust of the 'Chione' Ferry through the 'Copreus' Transfer Stage works.

I also verified that you can change from interplanetary cruise mode ('Chione' docked to 'Copreus') to landing mode ('Chione' docked to 'Chrysaer' Miner).

Sat Recovery also works, but was kind of a pain.

But I was not happy with all the empty space in the Sat Carrier section. So for the next iteration I ditched the Surveyor Sat and added 1500 LF to the 'Calliope' Lab instead. I also redesigned the Relays to be even more compact and easier to dock.

CoExSyst FA: 60 tons; 4551 m/s; TWR 0.31; 3x Relay, 2x Data Carrier, 1x Survey; (813 m/s left in Guppy at 100x100 km)

CoExSyst JA: 68.1 tons; 5577 m/s; TWR 0.27;  4x Relay, 2x Data Carrier

Which config do you think is more useful? 

Spoiler

Edited August 31, 2023 by Duke MelTdoWn

[Toaster355]

Didn't do much in KSP, but I added a post to my thread:

This isn't an advertisement I swear

[RevanX_LSR]

Yes, it’s been released! (v1.0). Not advertising, by the way.

I flew through the rings of a few gas giants and went somewhat close to one.

(at that moment i realised that the image uploading software did not work)

[space_otter]

Hello!!

I have just returned from my 5-week holiday and couldn't wait to get back to KSP. I launched a Minmus sample return in JNSQ for my career. The lander was slightly over-engineered, I could have made it without the final stage. The launch itself was a success, and the mission was flawless.

The launch is on a proton rocket, as my arianes would have been small and the Saturns overkill. The proton's extra stage over the Titan III adds some flexibility.

The second stage separates and ignites. The rocket is 25km high and travelling at 1000 m/s. The launch wasn't optimal because I started the pitchover to late. 

The third stage pushes the rocket into orbit.

After engine shutdown, the fairing separates.

The 3rd stage pushes the craft toward minmus, but the 4th stage is required for the completion of the burn.

As the 4th stage separates after the de-orbit burn, the earth rises as direct comms are established prior to landing.

The spacecraft touches down at the foot of a small hill and immediately starts science activities.

The spacecraft lifts off the surface and heads for orbit.

The final stage ignites and sets up a re-entry.

Travelling at well over 5000 m/s, the spacecraft enters the atmosphere. Tensions rise as heat warnings are displayed all over the rocket before blackout.

The spacecraft emerges from the flames, deploys its aeroshell and jettisons its heatshield parachutes open and slows it down to 2 m/s.

Splashdown!!!!

[Hotel26]

Spoiler

I mentioned a recent opus, Deep, recently:

And had mused about using this underwater mining base as a way to shuttle fuel to the surface for use as a sea lane fuel depot.

Toyed this evening with a prototype, one of my uglier efforts:

Deep is on the left.  Shell  is on the right.  It can't do much except go up & down and then a little fiddly maneuvering on the seabed to dock.

Looking at this, I have to say I am not too proud of this.  I should wear a paper bag over my head. 

Hmm, I think I will just bury this whole post in a spoiler.

 

Edited September 1, 2023 by Hotel26

[AtomicTech]

I noticed that Restock is now canon!

 

[swjr-swis]

51 minutes ago, Hotel26 said:

It can't do much except go up & down and then a little fiddly maneuvering on the seabed to dock.

I don't see the problem; seems like it's working exactly to requirements.

[Hotel26]

9 hours ago, Hotel26 said:

Shell  is on the right.

Well this latest foolery has brought up the mystery to me of why and when Kerbals swimming in the deeps, ascending, will either 1) take off at speed like the old days, or b) crawl up at 0.123 m/s...

So there seems to be a mode when the Kerbal is in the proximity of a craft (that it might be attempting to board) that prevents the sudden, speedy ascent.  I've experimented briefly but have not yet cracked the code of how to reliably get away and commence toward the surface at good speed.

I've opened Kerbals in proximity to sunken craft in case this causes any lengthy dissertation.

[Lisias]

23 hours ago, Hotel26 said:

 Shell  is on the right.

The three of then? (Never understood how they work!)

[Watermel00n]

Did some more testing on LSR... (picture is taken from Perbi)

[Kerballlistic07]

Did my first major mission in forever. Recreated the Proton rocket and named it the Proton K(erbal). To put it through it's paces, I sent a lander to the Mun. I learned that the rocket has way more power than I had previously thought, and was wayyyy overbuilt for the mission.

Images:

I did land, I just forgor to take screenshot. I had some solar panels under the service module thing at the top, but when I deployed the SM, it broke the solar panels, so yippee.

[Kimera Industries]

I did some more work on my small SSTO. I discovered that I cannot reach orbit without staging away the jets, making this more of a TSTO (Two stages to orbit) Not that impressive, but most of it's recoverable, a major step forward for my career save. I also tried ramp intakes vs. shock cones, and shock cones give me much better acceleration. I wanted to try the ramp intakes in the hopes that the lighter weight would allow me to reach orbit without dropping the jet engines, but no. I bet if I installed some mods, or did some clever flying and vessel switching, I could find a way to recover the jet engine pods. The vehicle has been named "STAFF" a bit randomly. If you think of a good acronym to go with that, let me know. Currently, I'm at Spaceplane Transportation for Astronauts including Freedom and transFerence, or Spaceplane Tactical Airborn Fireball Ferry.

[Duke MelTdoWn]

2 hours ago, chimera industries said:

I did some more work on my small SSTO. I discovered that I cannot reach orbit without staging away the jets, making this more of a TSTO (Two stages to orbit) .

How fast are you going on the jet engines before you switch to rocket motor? As I said earlier, it is possible to fly to space on 2 Wheesleys and a Swivel. But you need to make sure your plane does not create any unnecessary drag (e.g. put solar panels, parachutes, antennas, science experiments all inside a service bay).

2 hours ago, chimera industries said:

I wanted to try the ramp intakes in the hopes that the lighter weight would allow me to reach orbit without dropping the jet engines, but no. 

I did some experiments on the drag of the different intake types a while ago and the result was that Ramp Intake sucks because it creates huge amounts of drag. Definitely stick to those Shock Cones! 
Air Intake Drag Data

Edit: to emphasize how import low drag is for good performance, compare these two small SSTOs:
DART I this uses 4x LT-1 Landing Struts. Takes 1:30 to reach 650 m/s

DART I Block 7 this uses 4x LY-10 Small Landing Gear (ignore the heat shield shenanigans for the moment). Reaches 650 m/s after 1 minute. Performance increase is due to drag reduction.

Conclusion: ALT-F12 > Physics > Aero is your friend.

Edited September 3, 2023 by Duke MelTdoWn

[N_Danger]

"Landing is perhaps a loaded and pejorative word to use in this instance. Let's just say we arrived at Nevin's surface."

Actual transcript from mission.

Edited September 3, 2023 by N_Danger
Grammar

[scottadges]

I thought about KSP1 for the first time in a long time, checked my CKAN only to see every mod required an update, then saw another post here on the forums for the SteamCharts links (here). 

Crazy to see how KSP1 still has roughly 10x the average daily players than KSP2. Made me think I should dust off that last save game from 18 months ago...

Edited September 3, 2023 by scottadges

[Krazy1]

Well I just lost a HUGE post trying to add a quote 

[ColdJ]

22 minutes ago, Krazy1 said:

Well I just lost a HUGE post trying to add a quote 

Been there, done that.

It is why I regularly save to clipboard. That way if it goes pear shaped I can paste back and try again.

[Krazy1]

9 hours ago, chimera industries said:

I did some more work on my small SSTO.

7 hours ago, Duke MelTdoWn said:

it is possible to fly to space on 2 Wheesleys and a Swivel. But you need to make sure your plane does not create any unnecessary drag

Or with a Whiplash and 2 Terriers. Ladders also have huge drag. Add another crew seat for an engineer, put the ladder in storage and weld it on when you land. Other mistake I made was pitching up too high. You only need 5 deg. maybe 10 when you turn on the rocket engines. Let your horizontal speed carry you to orbit 1/4 orbit ahead. 

I launched a Minmus probe earlier this week for 2 contracts… fire a Flea at some altitude and achieve a certain orbit. Pics:

Spoiler

Launched too low, won't make orbit... but it looks cool

Eve visible above the clouds

 Today I launched a rocket to rendezvous with a class E asteroid approaching Kerbin. It’s at 152 deg inclination. Launching east is hard enough in JNSQ… going southwest, I lost about 350 m/s surface speed.  It took about 5-6 trials to get it right. The updated RSMP makes the SRB plumes look great but maybe a bit bright on the ground? I turned on Godrays in Scatterer but I'm not sure if I like the sunflare as much. 

 Prototypes:

Spoiler

Final Launch:

Center stack: Clydesdale (8-slot), Skiff, Terrier (on orbit only). Boosters: Thouroughbred (10-slot), Skipper

I got 3.3 deg. relative inclination to the asteroid… not bad.

Spoiler

 

[Duke MelTdoWn]

12 hours ago, Krazy1 said:

Or with a Whiplash and 2 Terriers. Ladders also have huge drag. Add another crew seat for an engineer, put the ladder in storage and weld it on when you land. Other mistake I made was pitching up too high. You only need 5 deg. maybe 10 when you turn on the rocket engines. Let your horizontal speed carry you to orbit 1/4 orbit ahead. 

You can put the ladders inside a cargo bay. As long as only a little bit sticks out (just enough to grab them), they will not cause any drag (is it a bug or is it a feature, who knows).

As for flight path - I also like to start out really flat after liftoff (pointed at horizon, 0 m/s climb rate) and then stop fiddling with the controls. Due to the curvature of Kerbin, the horizon will drop away from your prograde vector naturally. Two reasons come to my mind why it is good to start flat:

1) Thrust curve of jet engines - they like high air density and air speed for max thrust. By keeping it flat, you give them time to spool up to maximum thrust.

2) Angle of attack affects drag - ideally you would want 0° angle of attack to minimize drag. This is another reason to angle the wings upwards by 2° to 5° - they will still generate good lift while the body of the plane is pointed directly into the airstream. AoA is shown in Aero debug menu.

Demonstration with a Skidbladner SSTO - engage Closed Cycle at 23 km and ~1580 m/s when you stop accelerating:

Spoiler

On the prototype front - I will try to fit a miniature rover to the CoExSyst, will take more time until I publish the production version.

Edit: it does not go well, I don't have enough space for a decent wheelbase.

Spoiler

Edited September 3, 2023 by Duke MelTdoWn

[Toaster355]

Added a post to my Freedom thread. Here is an abbreviated version of the mission:

 

Spoiler

 

[Krazy1]

I made it to the class E asteroid in JNSQ... and it's freaking huge!

The ship has a Terrier and 449 sec of fuel: 2289 m/s dV.

After klawing, it has 0 m/s dV and 0.00 m/s acceleration. 

Guess the mass. Pics later.

Pics now:

Spoiler

This actually scared me... it was just a circle maybe 10 pixels arcoss with DOE until it got to physics range and it instantly blinked into existence. It's 2.2 km away! 

1 km away:

155m radius at this point...

Uhhhhhh..... it's very soft I guess.

Klawed it! 

So what's the mass?

1 MILLION TONS 

I'm not pushing that thing anywhere. I got some samples and got out of there before it ate my ship.

I made a video of reentry... it was satisfying but uneventful. Returned the samples for 70 science. I thought I'd get a World's First for the asteroid rendezvous but didn't. 

Edited September 4, 2023 by Krazy1
pics

[Hotel26]

Just some progress news from the Platypus Dive Research Vehicle team.

The initial objectives of attaining independent control of main and trim ballast have been achieved (fully stock).  This means no fiddling.

• keys [1] & [2] provide fast flooding and venting of the main ballast tank.
• keys [3] & [4] provide fine flooding and venting of main ballast
• keys [5] & [6] provide trim ballast transfer fore and aft

This the link to the current state of the Platypus DRV .

(You'll notice some round-off errors causing miniscule cross-chatter into the conventional LF supply.  Lots of panels open inside with wires hanging down.  And all that paraphernalia cluttering the deck: what is that?  Yeah, hey, it's research.  Take a bus if you want 'conventional'...  )

More seriously, this IS a research effort: so feedback is welcome.  Probably here is a good place for any discussion.

Edited September 4, 2023 by Hotel26