What did you do in KSP1 today?

[JB182]

preparing to launch KerbLink (StarLink in real life) so everyone in kerbin can get kinternet connections.

and launching  Kerb-1,2 and 3 for mapping kerbin

[JB182]

and testing KLS (Kerbal/Kerbin Launch System[that i havent made]) for launching of all that satellite's

[OrdinaryKerman]

1 hour ago, septemberWaves said:

 

 

What's that thing on top of the Amalthea that the chutes are attached to?

[septemberWaves]

5 minutes ago, OrdinaryKerman said:

What's that thing on top of the Amalthea that the chutes are attached to?

That is the 1.25m to 0.9375m adapter part that connects the Mercury lab to the Agena spacecraft bus, from BDB.

Working on an ascent vehicle for Red Spectre now.

Unfortunately, some issues with RealChute refusing to properly apply symmetry meant that several simulations of the vehicle failed the landing procedure. I am taking a break for tonight because dealing with this issue is not exactly the most enjoyable way to spend my time, but I have a good degree of confidence that the vehicle will perform as intended once the problem is fixed. At the very least, it should take few additional test flights to fine-tune it.

[B-STRK]

Okay, so first landing on Duna, first footfalls on Duna, first base on Duna, and first exploration on Duna, first discoveries on Duna...

(PS: What follows is supposed to be a gif, if it isn't playing, can anyone help me with the process of embedding a gif or MP4 file with its player? This was done using the Insert Image button below.)

(EDIT: okay, the WYSIWYG isn't G me what I wanted, and I'm not S what is supposed to be a gif... Halp? This post will be edited once this is figured out...)

Spoiler

EDIT EDIT: Gah darnit. Okay, I am still asking for how to GIF forums, pls, but might as well show where the above vessel was flying:

Spoiler

 

Edited April 9, 2021 by B-STRK

[Caerfinon]

Finished working on some mods... now back to the career game. Lots of tourists to move around! Gotta get flying.

[ValCab33]

A friend of mine saw a recent tweet by Elon stating that the ideal, although difficult, scenario would be to catch the Starship while it's falling horizontally, without performing a landing burn.

So he asked me, what if, instead of performing that pesky flip and vertical landing, you just keep gliding, deploy some landing gear and land on a runway like a Shuttle?

So I did that in KSP today.

But, as I told him, it "works" here with the not-very-realistic KSP aero, and I was coming in quite fast, but with less speed it just falls like a brick (which was kinda already the case of good ol' Shuttles). IRL it would probably not work.

[KeaKaka]

41 minutes ago, ValCab33 said:

A friend of mine saw a recent tweet by Elon stating that the ideal, although difficult, scenario would be to catch the Starship while it's falling horizontally, without performing a landing burn.

So he asked me, what if, instead of performing that pesky flip and vertical landing, you just keep gliding, deploy some landing gear and land on a runway like a Shuttle?

So I did that in KSP today.

But, as I told him, it "works" here with the not-very-realistic KSP aero, and I was coming in quite fast, but with less speed it just falls like a brick (which was kinda already the case of good ol' Shuttles). IRL it would probably not work.

Compared to the shuttle, starship has much less aerodynamic capability, and whereas the shuttle was designed to glide, starship is designed to "fall in style".

[swjr-swis]

1 hour ago, ValCab33 said:

IRL it would probably not work.

Oh hell, Roger, it's easy. All you gotta do is tap the brakes a lil' bit, put 'er into a stall, then drop the nose.

Tell Elon that Hawk and Frank can tell him all about it over a jar of baby food.

Spoiler

 

 

[OnlyLightMatters]

15 hours ago, septemberWaves said:

That is the 1.25m to 0.9375m adapter part that connects the Mercury lab to the Agena spacecraft bus, from BDB.

Working on an ascent vehicle for Red Spectre now.

Unfortunately, some issues with RealChute refusing to properly apply symmetry meant that several simulations of the vehicle failed the landing procedure. I am taking a break for tonight because dealing with this issue is not exactly the most enjoyable way to spend my time, but I have a good degree of confidence that the vehicle will perform as intended once the problem is fixed. At the very least, it should take few additional test flights to fine-tune it.

Hey. How do you post process with the vintage color cast? KS3P with a different LUT? TUFX?

[septemberWaves]

50 minutes ago, OnlyLightMatters said:

Hey. How do you post process with the vintage color cast? KS3P with a different LUT? TUFX?

It's TUFX with one of Zorg's profiles.

[OrdinaryKerman]

2 hours ago, OnlyLightMatters said:

Hey. How do you post process with the vintage color cast? KS3P with a different LUT? TUFX?

TUFX with Zorg-Colour-vintage1-OT profile

[Caerfinon]

Mixed a little work and pleasure... Writing new flight plans and flying them. 

Jeb on final approach to the JNSQ Kerbin Space Center in the JX-1 test plane

[NHunter]

At long last, the permanent Drozhe outpost is complete and crewed! (don't mind lighting artifacts). To jumpstart it, however, I had to disassemble both the temporary outpost and the cargo lander (after transferring useful materials from it) for equipment. Now, once it has built up a stockpile of resources, I can start local construction of probes for Kerbol system exploration.

[Daedalus3000]

Are those MKS atlas parts???

 

[capi3101]

1 hour ago, Daedalus3000 said:

Are those MKS atlas parts???

 

Nope. Pathfinder.

[Daedalus3000]

Either way they look heavy!

[Caerfinon]

Test flying another really fun big plane to fly! Chockablock full of science and communication equipment and the ability to secure cargo in the hold.  A great addition to any hanger.

KC-7A Kerbinmasterby Rocketology on KerbalX

[Caerfinon]

Flying is fun, but occasionally you have to actually go to space in this game.

[Hotel26]

It came to my attention that RAPIERs could still breathe (at certain speeds) at altitudes upto 28-29 km.  But not that I could sustain in level flight however.

So my experiments moved to suborbital speed hops.  Then my focus turned to 'skip gliders':

My current version uses two RAPIERs and a small amount of LOX to boost speed at AP one time only.  (That center RAPIER pictured is now a drogue.  No sense loitering in the pattern when time is of the essence!)

Current testing is pole-to-pole with fuel tankers parked at each pole for refueling.

Edited April 10, 2021 by Hotel26

[Dientus]

3 hours ago, Hotel26 said:

It came to my attention that RAPIERs could still breathe (at certain speeds) at altitudes upto 28-29 km.  But not that I could sustain in level flight however.

So my experiments moved to suborbital speed hops.  Then my focus turned to 'skip gliders':

My current version uses two RAPIERs and a small amount of LOX to boost speed at AP one time only.  (That center RAPIER pictured is now a drogue.  No sense loitering in the pattern when time is of the essence!)

Current testing is pole-to-pole with fuel tankers parked at each pole for refueling.

If you don't mind and it's not too much trouble, please let me know what you find out as far as distance traveled vs fuel used vs vehicle empty tonnes goes. 

 

Why didn't I think of manned MARV style boost gliders before! Thats a great idea for flying around Eve collecting biome data cheaply! I am starting my own experiments as well! 

[swjr-swis]

3 hours ago, Hotel26 said:

My current version only needs two RAPIERs and a small amount of LOX to boost speed at AP one time only.  (That center RAPIER pictured is now a drogue.  No sense loitering in the pattern when time is of the essence!)

Current testing is pole-to-pole with fuel tankers parked at each pole for refueling.

20 minutes ago, Dientus said:

If you don't mind and it's not too much trouble, please let me know what you find out as far as distance traveled vs fuel used vs vehicle empty tonnes goes.

I'm curious too.

So I decided to test the apparently abandoned option (always had a weakness for the underdog ) so we have some comparisson.

Just before take off. 540 units of LF in the tanks. Wet weight 9.9t.

Flying over the KSC, 49 minutes after take off, after a non-stop full circumnavigation. A little hotter, and 435 units LF lighter.

[Hotel26]

45 minutes ago, Dientus said:

boost gliders

Thanks for the correct terminology, bud!

[Caerfinon]

A little hi tech modern day prospecting. "There's Gold in them there hills! Gold I tell ya! Gold!"

[Dientus]

Ok, I actually went and finally (after many many years) got an IMGUR account so I can show you @Hotel26 and @swjr-swis my experiments thus far...

 

https://imgur.com/gallery/8Nmqiee

 

This is the XP-87 Harpy... 13.723 tonnes full, 7.603 tonnes no fuel (inc. monoprop)

The design started differently but the reason for the canards are this....

 

 

A lot of weight (relative) was added due to the addition of the MK2 service bay, and every science experiment I had available at this time in this career. The flight profile actual is really decent, doesn't use a lot of area to take off at all, even with the poor performance at ground level from the RAPIER. I WAS overall pleased until testing...

 

 

halfway through the flight (only a quarter distance of Kerbin at the equator) the Rapier began overheating! I don't want to add radiators or precoolers but it looks like I just may have to... because it seems like the ceiling altitude of this craft is below the line of space and atmosphere. I even switched modes to try to get that last "oomph" but fuel had depleted way faster than I would have liked and would have left the Harpy with no fuel. I'm sure I could have glided it in, it handles pretty good, but still would like to leave the atmosphere, and re-enter with fuel to spare for emergencies so.... not there yet.