What did you do in KSP1 today?

[milbournosphere]

I went to Moho for the first time. Not realizing that Moho has no atmosphere at all, I turned my SCANSat orbiter into a very expensive 5000m/s impactor. I'll be back to try again, eventually.

[Madrias]

Built an aircraft capable of getting to orbit, though it's not easy. Also makes me wonder this: if all I'm doing is ejecting a stage that contains struts, girders, and landing gear so I don't bash the LV-N's on the runway, is it still an SSTO, or has it taken on basic Spaceplane status?

[annallia]

Changed which mods I am using and then pruned them of parts I don't use. Started a new career mode and learned that if I revert flight after a crash I no longer get the full science from a crew report (I am assuming the revert doesn't undo the transmission as I still had gained science).

Second flight I got treated to some heroics from Jeb. Our pod made it to space though didn't have enough fuel to reach orbit. So at its hight of 85km I sent Jeb out to get an EVA report. Unfortunately I forgot to kill the rotation of the pod first which sent Jeb flying away from the pod. Jeb being Jeb started his dance with the pod while they both fell to kerbin trying to hit the hatch (and getting knocked away a few times). He finally climbed inside... at 62km

[federicoaa]

Tried to aim for Moho, did not take into consideration that I needed around 5km/s dV to get orbit, so it was just a fly by (at least I got tons of science). I should aim for an easier target next time ^^

[Spatzimaus]

is it still an SSTO, or has it taken on basic Spaceplane status?

No. It's really simple; if you eject ANYTHING, it's not longer "single-stage". This isn't rocket science, people... well, it is, but you know what I mean. If you're dumping bits, for any reason, you're no longer "SSTO"; you're just a regular spaceplane, which is fine for many purposes. This isn't just a semantics issue; one of the points of a single-stage design is that since the entire craft is along for the trip, you can in theory refuel it and use it again. If you can't take off without those bits you dumped, then by definition your vessel is not reusable.

But if the part you're dumping seems minor, then you can probably spend a little time and effort to fix the issue and make a true SSTO. If you're often bashing your LV-Ns against the runway, then your aft landing gear are likely too far forward and/or too short; too far aft and you'll find it tough to take off, but too far forward and even a slight climb angle will start hitting the bits hanging off the back end. With canards and/or a raised nose, you can take off even with the gear placed far aft, but it's something you'll need to fine-tune to account for your design's flight characteristics.

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As to what I did today? Sent a Kethane refinery to Gilly, which then moved to a 200km orbit over Eve. Brought back Jeb and his spaceplane from Minmus and botched the landing. (I was trying out the B9 landing gear, and they're just way too spongy. The thing bounced four or five times on landing before clipping a wing on a hill. Thankfully, all the important bits survived.) Built a small 20-ton Kethane refining rover for general duty on Mun; it's just a simple rover, really, but I wanted something that could pull double duty as an emergency fueler. And finally, I tweaked my 5000-ton heavy lifter design a bit for better control. All in all, a slow day.

[kahlzun]

I went to land on Jool...

..and then Jool started to, uh, go away a bit...

That is me slowly falling towards Jools surface, with Laythe fully visible through the side.

Very strange.

EDIT: It appears Jool has changed at some point: previously you 'landed' at -98m, and bounced around a lot.

Now, you get to about -240m and explode.

Edited December 4, 2013 by kahlzun

[Commissioner Tadpole]

I tried to perform my first Joolshot.

Key word: tried.

[capi3101]

Got my six-man Constellation crew off the surface of Duna and drove one of the Hellrider rovers I brought along for the ride a bit. The 'rider's not my favorite rover but it still was more fun to drive it than that damn Hellfury rover I had to schlep along for the sake of the challenge (the 'rider can right itself again if it flips; the 'fury can't).

Next up - figure out how to get back to Kerbin from a 85-degree inclined orbit of Duna on a little over 2,000 m/s of delta-V. To boot, there's no Protractor on the craft, so I get to do it the old-fashioned way. No problem.

[larsmaehlum]

I tried to perform my first Joolshot.

Key word: tried.

Staging mishap?

[Commissioner Tadpole]

Staging mishap?

Nope, just those launch clamps.

[peadar1987]

Been Roving around the Mun's East Crater collecting SCIENCE!! Turns out there's a section of Polar Lowlands and Poles near the western edge of the crater, so with the crater itself, the highlands, the highland craters and those two, I've getting a lot of interesting data from my little tumbly rover!

[Liowen]

Nope, just those launch clamps.

I had a launch clamp go through a tank while the launch pad was loading, kind of funny to watch everything blow up before I could even do anything.

[programagor]

I just accessed Inaccessible. Still feeling a bit dizzy...

[Madrias]

No. It's really simple; if you eject ANYTHING, it's not longer "single-stage".

Thank you for that. A redesign will follow to lower the height of the primary landing gear so that they stay on all the way to space, rather than ejecting the gear-cart. At least now I know as long as I keep the weight about the same as the main aircraft, it will make orbit. It'll look crazy, but it'll be one of a few SSTO designs I've built, and the first using LV-N's. Now to find the lightest structure parts...

[Camarada Anonimo]

I landed in Minmus (my second time) , and i put the soviet flag

Now we just need to go home

[peadar1987]

Thank you for that. A redesign will follow to lower the height of the primary landing gear so that they stay on all the way to space, rather than ejecting the gear-cart. At least now I know as long as I keep the weight about the same as the main aircraft, it will make orbit. It'll look crazy, but it'll be one of a few SSTO designs I've built, and the first using LV-N's. Now to find the lightest structure parts...

As far as I'm concerned, SSTO is just a title. Build the design you want and worry about titles later. In reality, I'd class yours as an SSTO anyway, as the gear cart is more of a launching aid than a stage, presumably in a "real life" space programme, it would be stopped before the end of the runway, wheeled to the SPH, and put under the next spaceplane.

[Madrias]

I tried to stop it. Deployed parachutes just at the instant of separation. As you stated, my assumption for role-playing purposes is that they collected the gear cart and returned it to the space plane hangar for the next launch. On the other hand, the redesign will still happen cause I'm tired of smashing the LV-N's on the runway when landing. It's bloody annoying.

[Aragosnat]

Jeb, Bill and Bob arrived at Eve finally. Well at least in orbit as I need to make sure they land safely. Will do that later. Also found out one can have a very low Pe for Kerbin. Had nice flaming effects all the way down to 16 km. Now IF I was using Deadly Re-Entry Mod. That Kerbal would have been toast.

[numerobis]

No. It's really simple; if you eject ANYTHING, it's not longer "single-stage".

By your definition, you can't even use launch clamps on an SSTO, and various real-life planes are multi-stage: for example, the U-2 drops wheels on liftoff, exactly as Madrias' plane does. I'd argue that leaving support bits on the ground when you lift off doesn't count as staging as it's normally understood.

[Spatzimaus]

It'll look crazy, but it'll be one of a few SSTO designs I've built, and the first using LV-N's.

Unfortunately, that's a typical problem with LV-N's. They're a bit too long to fit onto many designs, which means that landing gear placed directly below them is too far forward and you hit the runway. If you try to keep them there, you end up having to do things that look ridiculous just to function. The trick is to put the gear on a parallel part that extends further back. For instance, here's a picture of an old SSTO of mine, with the LV-N tucked in between two outboard jet engines.

Since the landing gear are on the jets' tanks (you can't see them in that shot, of course), and the LV-N is on a tank that's tucked forward of the side tanks, they give plenty of clearance on takeoff without the need for downward structural extensions. I can't show more recent versions of this design, since I've long since replaced the LV-N with hybrid ion engines from a mod, but you get the idea. This has the advantage of not making the thing ugly, too.

As far as I'm concerned, SSTO is just a title.

I already explained why it's not just a semantics issue, and there are plenty of threads discussing this issue on these boards. We shouldn't derail this thread with an SSTO discussion, when it's all been hashed out before. Besides, single-stage designs (plane or rocket) are far less effective than a staged asparagus rocket, so you're doing it for the challenge anyway...

[Bilfr3d]

This should really be a sticky..........

Anyway, got jeb stuck on minmu. My lander tipped over in low gravity and I ran out of RCS.

[Negativbeispiel]

Alright. You guys remember the post from yesterday about my first (failed) mun landing?

Just tried to save jeb.

And guess what happened..

Bill is now stuck on the mun too..

In case you're wondering.. The thing in the front is a landing gear. My craft tipped over as i extended the ladders..

ANYWAY. Now i can rescue even more Kerbals from the mun..

[MalfunctionM1Ke]

I have been tracking down Easter Eggs the whole day. That was actually more fun than i thought it would be

[Astraph]

Landed my first lander on Minimus in preparation for first interplanetary flight - but miscalculated the fuel amount and it was unable to return to orbit Guess I'll have to add a small Kethane refinery for next attempt ^^'

[KerbMav]

Today I officially cheated for the first time - meaning I used the debug menu not only for testing something, but I actually kept the results in my current game. No matter how often I tried or what I did, my Kethane refinery simply lacked 100 or so units of fuel to land rather then just reach the general area on Mun. There, I said it.

After 40 days of prospecting a small crater at the Mun's south pole in preparation for Kethane mining operations, The Trio returned to Kerbin. I had enough fuel, I just had to use it right - getting back from the pole of a Mun works almost the same as returning from the equator - you just have to actually think why the latter works and adept the procedure for the former.

My long range ion probe will not make it to Moho - at least not in this century - 0.097 TWR ... no, not for me.

One day until Duna launch window - although KAC and Protractor disagree on the exact date somehow?