What did you do in KSP1 today?

[DunaManiac]

I've been thinking about the next step beyond Cornerstone's completion. The next step would be to set up a station and a mining base on Minmus to serve as a launching pad for future missions.

However, in the near term is MASS: the Moon Advanced Survey Strategy. It involves a series of probes and manned missions to explore the Mun and Minmus to gain suitable information about them to launch bases. This includes the shadowy Project DEPTH, of which considerable resources will be expended towards.

But first, the Program launches its first Mun probe - an orbital surveyor and impactor called the Mun Impactor and Orbiter (MIO)

It involves by far the smallest rocket I've launched in this save (it feels like returning from a long Hiatus that every rocket I build is overkill).

Took an agressive gravity turn, so we start feeling some heat.

One of my great joys in KSP is designing probes. I'm not sure why. However, I love to subvert the simple antenna dish + okto + solar panels + battery + engine that most people use. It contains some rudimentary survey equipment, and an impactor.

A burn is undertaken to speed the impactor on it's way once we've reached the Mun.

The impactor unfurls its short range antenna, as well as a prominent boom. The purpose of this boom is to slightly extend the life-time of the probe, so that it can measure the force that the surface imparts on the impactor. By taking into account the velocity and angle of the impactor, we can then make a rough estimation of the surface texture (hard, soft, granular, dusty, etc.) and an estimate at composition. Cheaper than a lander, I suppose

Several minutes later, the Mun Impactor and Orbiter conducts orbital insertion, where it will continue to survey the Mun for the next 6 months.

In addition, I designed a couple of probes:

Spoiler

MASS 1 - An upgraded version of MIO.

Mass 2 - A Mun lander, combined with a small rover that will use the central lander as a recharging station. Notice the cargo ramp.

And finally, the Minmus Operations Coordinator. This satellite will form the nucleus of all further operations around Minmus. It'll function as the primary relay from Minmus to Kerbin all other satellites in the region, as well as future manned ones. It's outfitted with the most advanced scanners that the Program possesses. Unlike the other satellites, it's designed specifically to be serviced by future manned missions to keep it going for as long as it's repairable.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 14 by DunaManiac

[Blufor878]

I started a new forum thread.

I wanted to create craft files for mods that have awesome parts, but don't have existing craft files for you to play around with the assembled product. So far I have two variants of Vulcan and a Titan LDC build.
https://kerbalx.com/ManateeAerospace/Titan-LDC
https://kerbalx.com/ManateeAerospace/Vulcan-401
https://kerbalx.com/ManateeAerospace/Vulcan-564
Also previews

[jimmymcgoochie]

Made a hacky patch for RO/RP-1, missed a bracket somewhere, got 441 ModuleManager errors. Whoops.

[SpacePixel]

At long last, perfectly balanced. As all things should be.

If you've missed the previous installment of the Solmourant saga, I'm happy for you, but to quickly recap I've spent a weekend trying to balance aesthetics, NERVs and Darts, failed miserably and went back to work. I am now proud to say that I feel that I've remedied the aesthetic issues of the previous version of this space cow derivative by way of finding a neat little spot for the NERVs right by the CoM where they don't seem to generate way too much drama.

The new Solmourant is all about more cargo, less hassle. Its CoM moves for no one, part count is below 80, the docking port is conveniently situated for a change, and VTOL thrusters enable gentle powered landing on any site.  It's rather pedestrianly rated for Duna and nowhere beyond (yes, you can take it to Laythe; no, I do not recommend it), can barely lift off with 8 t of payload (is that what you call "more cargo"?), and is notoriously sluggish under Mach 1, but in exchange you get 3.5 units of Mk3 cargo space you can put down anywhere between Eve orbit and the asteroid belt. Effective cargo space and unloading mechanism more than top cargo mass for interplanetary payloads, in my experience. Not once have I been constrained by mass, but always by the lack of a ramp or a cargo bay short in either length or height, if not both. Hopefully, Solmourant will suffice for my payloads for years to come.

(Also apparently the name means like dying sun? I wouldn't know, I've only taken French on Duolingo). 

[DunaManiac]

Launched the Minmus In-depth Orbital Investigator, (MIOI) combined with a small lander. It's armed with some mid-sized scanning equipment and a large antenna. It'll operate for the next 250 days in LMiO.

Once we're in high orbit, I deployed the lander to land in a polar highlands region with a large amount of ore.

Upon landing, we discovery the area has an ore concentration of 11.33% - perfect for a base. But I wouldn't choose this place just yet.

Meanwhile, Cornerstone is starting to become more recognizable. I added the truss portion.

Soon after I finished my Minmus mission, I launched Merlin IV, with the aim of visiting the station temporarily, as the Logisitics module containing the majority of our supplies hasn't yet arrived.

Several hours later, we arrive at the station and dock just as night falls. The Merlin crew will have to wait for a couple hours for the station to pressurize and heat up so they can board it.

In the morning, the crew finally enter the station and start to spread out throughout the station turning on vital systems. Notice Mission Commander Valentina's rage at discovering her pathetic excuse for a control center.

Meanwhile, Mundee begins his spacewalk to check recyclers and scanning equipment.

One thing he does notice however, is the fact that the magnetometer is at an odd angle. Clearly the automated docking system must have erred and docked it at the wrong angle. As such, Mundee gets to work.

He installs the magnetometer on the bottom of the Science and Utility Module, allowing the magnetometer to deploy smoothly.

 

[suicidejunkie]

Was a bit of a fluke while plotting a trajectory, but after multiple mun encounters, and just before being ejected from the Kerbin system, the current path is pretty much bang on the requested contract orbit's periapsis and inclination.  Just needs a 0.04 m/s butterfly fart of a midcourse correction, and then a braking burn 7 days later into mun orbit.

Feels like a real life mission plan!

Edited March 16 by suicidejunkie
increased precision in the burn number

[miklkit]

22 hours ago, SpacePixel said:

At long last, perfectly balanced. As all things should be.

If you've missed the previous installment of the Solmourant saga, I'm happy for you, but to quickly recap I've spent a weekend trying to balance aesthetics, NERVs and Darts, failed miserably and went back to work. I am now proud to say that I feel that I've remedied the aesthetic issues of the previous version of this space cow derivative by way of finding a neat little spot for the NERVs right by the CoM where they don't seem to generate way too much drama.

The new Solmourant is all about more cargo, less hassle. Its CoM moves for no one, part count is below 80, the docking port is conveniently situated for a change, and VTOL thrusters enable gentle powered landing on any site.  It's rather pedestrianly rated for Duna and nowhere beyond (yes, you can take it to Laythe; no, I do not recommend it), can barely lift off with 8 t of payload (is that what you call "more cargo"?), and is notoriously sluggish under Mach 1, but in exchange you get 3.5 units of Mk3 cargo space you can put down anywhere between Eve orbit and the asteroid belt. Effective cargo space and unloading mechanism more than top cargo mass for interplanetary payloads, in my experience. Not once have I been constrained by mass, but always by the lack of a ramp or a cargo bay short in either length or height, if not both. Hopefully, Solmourant will suffice for my payloads for years to come.

(Also apparently the name means like dying sun? I wouldn't know, I've only taken French on Duolingo). 

There are some interesting ideas there and I gotta try some of them out.  This is what I'm up to today.  Why did that happen?

[SpacePixel]

Explain your smolness

Pictured is the Logre reconnaissance tiltjet coming in for a landing at landing ship SSX Egerie. While the VTOL is pretty self-explanatory, the carrier is actually a design study on a Laythe operating base. It's built around a single Mk3 fuselage, and features a landing ramp for deploying rovers, an elevator and a flight deck for aircraft, as well as submarine launching dock. My original idea -- to which I may yet revert -- was to even make the flight deck unfold so that I could pack the entire aircraft carrier into a 5 m fairing -- yeah, talk about a tight fit. This craft could serve as Laythe exploration hub, featuring a complement of transport & exploration aircraft (2 helis and 1 tiltjet), a mining rover, and a science-laden sub (yes, it all fits!). Moreover, the carrier can even host lighter VTOL spaceplanes -- the limiting factor is not even flight deck size, but the weight of the spaceplane that, if misplaced, may, well, heel the ship most severely, resulting in aircraft sliding off the flight deck or even a capsizing 

[Blufor878]

More rockets for my mod craft file project, this time Black Arrow and Black Prince from @Beale's CRE!


https://kerbalx.com/ManateeAerospace/Black-Arrow



https://kerbalx.com/ManateeAerospace/Black-Prince
More on the project here

 

[SparkyFox]

 

I decided to update my kethane mosquito with the new kethane stuff that I've been working on


Made new Kethane tanks that fit in with KSP's models and textures




and attempting to texture the new drill model


there's more on the album
https://imgur.com/a/dEGDSRt

[xendelaar]

I finished my second video of my Grand tour throughout the Real Solar System. In this episode I'm visiting Mars and jupiter.

Man, I love this game!  haha

 

[DunaManiac]

First launch of the day: launching the logistics module to Cornerstone.

Suffered a minor mishap during launch: However, I only lost a single fin. The rocket is designed to operate with a faulty fin, so the flight engineers were able to quickly pivot and successfully continue the mission.

And added! However, there's no-one to use those supplies, as there's no-one currently on the station. Merlin IV was only a 5 day mission to ascertain the habitability of Cornerstone.

Second launch is the final module of Cornerstone: The Gravity Wheel Experiment: to see whether a small-scale inflatable gravity wheel is feasible, and to conduct experiments about how microgravity will affect the body compared to small amounts of gravity.

While launching: the same failure occured! I lost yet another fin.

Ended up with a very quick intercept: Within 15 minutes we were at the station, preparing to dock.

Merlin VI soon takes off. Now, you may notice that this one is launching from the runway: You would be correct. Technically, Merlin V has not even launched yet. They were unexpectedly delayed due to problems with the rocket and with the Kerbin Gravmax and Magnetometry Surveyor. As a result, SPH division had to take charge of assembly of Merlin VI ahead of schedule, using the backup version of the MCTV.

After I docked, I realised a huge mistake I had made when launching Cornerstone: I docked the truss module in the wrong orientation. There should be a tube extending outward from the truss, but instead, it was docked to the rest of Cornerstone. I mean, the mistake was sealed the moment I launched the fourth module, so I had to improvise. Thankfully, I was able to dock horizontally. Meanwhile, Edson conducts a visual inspection of the gravity wheel from outside, while Alamin begins the pressurization of the gravity wheel from within the station.

With their job done, the crew prepare to leave. Valentina will remain at the station for two more days, before  she leaves alone, leaving Alamin, Munbree, and Edson Kerman to man the station for the next 2 years. However, Cornerstone is complete!

With Valentina by herself, she begins to plot her return to the KSC. I left at an inopportune time, and I had to make a costly plane change maneuver so I could reach the KSC. This is because of Cornerstone's inclination, and it's made all my Merlin reentries hard to plan. It's hit-and-miss as to whether the KSC will be in the right place at the right time. Most of the time however, I do need to make a plane change maneuver.

After a rather steep reentry, Valentina succesfully lands Merlin, marking 5 successful launches.

Edited March 18 by DunaManiac

[Kerbalsaurus]

On 3/13/2023 at 10:20 PM, DunaManiac said:

  Hide contents

 

 

 

 

I like the lander! It looks a lot like the ranger probe.

[Blufor878]

A lot actually.
Continuing with this:

But I felt I needed to make a lander and rover for this. Found the perfect source mod:



The lander is on KerbalX. I'm trying to get the rover on there too but sadly the site is having its twice daily mood swings.

Also slowly working on my (many) versions of Ares I. 1 Point to spot the difference (besides the colors). 2 points for why that difference exists.

[panzer1b]

Just blowing up some starwars replicas that i rebuilt in chibi scale.

The engine pods are 0.6m, so this is literally microscopic in comparison to most of my creations.

My somewhat terrible TIE replicas, about as cramped as i can get a ship to be, between the fuel tanks, engines, weapons, and kerbal being in that central pod, its really stuffed (and does just like in SW, more or less explode violently when anything hits the middle spherical pod directly.  While it was never a part i thought much of before, the fan shrouds we got in the DLC are insanely useful if you want to make a decent looking sphere without too many seams.

Ofc the real reason why i made them in this scale is so dat they'd fit into some of my larger capital ship hangar bays, since trying to build this to a scale dat looks good using the stock cockpits is near impossible, so i had to make my own cockpits and well i think it turned out really neat especially when the fighters are all sittin nicely inside their battlecarrier.

Well they sure explode nicely.  Especially like how the N1 was split in half (and then got ganged up on by the partially damaged TIE and the other fully functional one, shortly after the damaged 1 gets slaughtered by the 2nd N1.  KCS mod FTW, real time combat.  The firework based cannons are buggy and have a tendency to be very inaccurate, but its fun to see 2 fighters slugging it out and aiming/flying around on their own without me having to manually do it all...

[Krazy1]

I posted an old clip of what it looks like in a comet's tail when it's close to the sun:

 

[OrdinaryKerman]

First satellite in current career save

Launch from pad, newly upgraded to Level 2 to prepare for future missions
 

Quote

 

Turning south-southwest

Stage sep, second stage ignition

SECO 1, solar arrays and antennas deploy

Low polar orbit circularization because I wanted to gather some science before going to contracted orbit

flying over the southern ice shelf (anybody have a better name?)

After a few orbits, second stage engine start-3 to raise Ap until propellant exhaustion

Payload separation

Raising Ap to around 9000 km

 

One of the nice things about Universal Storage is that the angled payload shrouds (1.25-1.5 Soyuz, 0.625-1.25 nosecap, 1.25-1.875, 1.5-1.875, 1.875-2.5 Gemini) have integrated solar panels that unlock before standalone OX-STAT panels, allowing for earlier fielding of solar-powered satellites

Edited March 19 by OrdinaryKerman

[Nazalassa]

Tested some prototypes of amphibious rovers...

Spoiler

Jeb seems happy.

---

"Look at me! I'm driving on the sea floor!"

[N_Danger]

Time to send a lander to Minmus with a newly upgraded booster.

Upgraded to a Skiff on the second stage.

Now to inform the blue marble we are in orbit and ready for crew.

 

[kspbutitscursed]

used @Janus92 starship interface did a munar flyby landed crew cabin only on the ground  

modded rp1 save to have katnisses cape canaveral 

Edited March 19 by kspbiuitscursed

[Trann]

First, I'm constantly impressed by what you folks are designing and building.  So much amazing work!

Me?  I've added even more mods that I've never had before and built my first rig for rover deployment (and recovery)!  I got lucky: I designed this to have a short drop when the ship is sitting on her engine bells and the magnetic ports were strong enough to grab it back!  Worked like a peach on Mun and Minmus!  So many exclamation points!  I may never build a mecha but I bet I'll be able to get another few years out of this game, easily.

 

[Rakete]

Oh nooooo !!!

The technologicly backstanding kerbal nation "chocolate-haters-coalition" (CHC) has found out, that the KSC has new snacks in stock. So they now try to strike the KSC and the sweets depot.... They don't really know how to fly fast, but the bring loads of sugar-solving bombs to the KSC with this stolen vehicle. Oh noooo! Here is a quick screenshot of the green baron. Armed to the teeth! Unfortunately the CHC made a treaty with the Kerbal-Dentist-Union... Oh noooo !!!

 

(Vehicle is stock, except the bombs from BDA+ and some weapons pack)

 

 

 

Edited March 20 by Rakete

[Kerballlistic07]

Didn't do this in KSP, but it is related to KSP. I found a picture of a spaghettified kerbal, and decided to just draw it to give it a more animated look. The result: 

Obviously, it's not the best, but it was fun to make. Also, I am overly proud of this, so I made it my profile picture. 

Spoiler

Original for reference:

 

[Delay]

1 hour ago, Kerballlistic07 said:

I found a picture of a spaghettified kerbal, and decided to just draw it to give it a more animated look

Here's a thread for you to revive, I think it would deserve it!

 

[Kerballlistic07]

Just now, Delay said:

Here's a thread for you to revive, I think it would deserve it!

Thanks for telling me about it! Will definitely (try to) revive it!