Jump to content

What did you do in KSP1 today?


Xeldrak

Recommended Posts

customer%20action%20shot.jpgBehold! The magnificently stupid Puddle Jumper Mk1 EX!

Weighing in at just under 1.3 tonnes wet it uses an ion engine to hover at .99 TWR on the Mun, hopping over craters and catching sweet air off ramps.

With RCS thrusters and spaceplane wheels capable of over 63m/s on Kerbin, a single z100 battery pack somehow good for 8 second hops in darkness, it's too big for a cargo hold and has to have its second probe core that actually faces prograde be selected and given control before it can even be used.

Unadvisedly, I clamped it upside-down on top of the Kerbal-X to send it to the Mun for field testing, resulting in...questionable maneuvers to get it down to the surface. The tests were fairly successful, though:

accidental%20liftoff.jpgSignificantly damaged, it can still take off from the lunar surface, and probably has the delta-v to return to Kerbin.

severe%20damage.jpg

Even severely damaged, it proves surprisingly capable.:P

My piloting, however, might leave a bit to be desired. It sure is fun to crash, though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A busy day (off) in 6.4x. Another Colossus blasts off...

eQgtzuF.png

to deliver the Hub2 module...

tFRq1jI.png

to the waiting station:

33Vw0Fc.png

Along with the physical hub, this new module includes a massive procedural battery under the gold foil to power the dual cyclotrons while on the night side of Kerbin, a new module tug WITH a probe core, and the first of several hull cameras for some long-duration photography experiments. The view from the new cam as the module makes its approach:

je5NNoA.png

Docking was nominal:

B9KdqKk.png

Another view from the new hull cam:

cxCbdHn.png

After the colossal snafu earlier, the new tug is detached and flown around the station to verify it actually, well, works. It's extremely unstable on its own but workable. Will need to add extra reaction wheels for better control.

rXta4rn.png

With the new module secured, Edgas & Jerdos Kerman, the remaining S5 crew members, undock their MUL to return home. But they left the auxiliary life support pack they arrived with when the station was in much worse shape. S6 will have to remember to dispose of it at the end of their tour.

QwwfB2p.png

After making the deorbit burn and reaching the upper atmosphere, first the umbilical is jettisoned...

zmZQlOm.png

Then the service module...

cwbYYhy.png

This is a proper, controlled, lifting reentry thanks to FAR. The capsule has an off center COM, so it naturally assumes this attitude. It's also slightly unstable, needing active roll leveling, but it works well. The initial point of aim was right at KSC. Thanks to its ability to "fly," the capsule actually travels a couple hundred kilometers beyond KSC (a bit long, but where I actually wanted it to end up). The crew also only gets around 4 G's rather than the 7+ if it were ballistic (non-lifting) entry. This is how Apollo, Soyuz, and the new Orion capsule do it, altho they have much more control and can direct that lifting force sideways or even down to control their trajectory, up to a point.

h7oPZPv.png

Passing over K2. It's much less peaky in 6.4x but still huge.

NTAj1ul.png

Passing over KSC and dropping to lower mach speeds. If the reentry had been ballistic, the pod would have hit the surface about here.

AVdqxHw.png

A perfect landing, airbags deployed, and Edgas & Jerdos are home.

c6vAJMr.png

A week later a Colossus Heavy blasts off with the second cyclotron module.

wNu937T.png

The tug works much better this time.

ylNsbex.png

And at long last Highlab II is restored to wonderful, wonderful SYMMETRY!

SpVj62o.png

A parting pretty shot from the hullcam:

X0t58SU.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Developed myself two small CTVs for LKO. Both of them were kinda inspired by CST-100 and worked flawlessly!

9VMpSh5.png

YboQFTs.png

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Also, my third Mun landing attempt failed due to compression forces. As it turns out, pushing against a 40t service module linked only by a 0.625m docking port isn't that great of an idea. Go figure. :P

gLFF9xf.png

If you haven't noticed, I went with the Constellation mission profile. Two launches, Kerbin orbit rendezvous, "eyes-out" Mun injection.

I ended up aborting the whole thing and doing some intense maneuvering to bring the two guys back home without burning them up. After 10 Gs of acceleration and their heatshield literally burning up and exploding mid-reentry, they finally made it to the ground. :D

yO8cFzu.png

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Due to the frustration of not being able to land on the freaking Mun after being a player for 2 damn years, I decided to go overkill. To this moment, most of my trouble with going beyond LKO can be reduced to two major problems:

1) Life Support

2) Carrying all the fuel

With this in mind, I put on my Go-Go-Gadget hat and thought about it for a while, after which I came up with the perfect solution: A gateway Mun station!

By having a station with fuel and life support orbiting the Mun, I could avoid carrying all of that to the Mun on manned flights, and thus cut the need for huge rockets! This would also reduce the cost of the entire Mun exploration program, so it'll be easier to send regular expeditions to both Munar orbit and its surface.

The station core weighs about 18t, so it launched alone atop my 20t carrier rocket.

veNIDpC.png

After that, a 40t transfer stage was launched and docket to the station, ready to go to the Mun!

f4W1pza.png

Now it is sitting on a 100km orbit around the Mun, waiting for the fuel tanks to arrive.

HstabRV.png

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You see Ivan, when you forget the sleep, you can of playing more.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I started construction on my spacestation.... Thankfully I am playing sandbox. First time using FAR and my first rocket well... Went up just fine, until I got to the gravity turn. I guess I started too early or something but rocket pinwheeled.

Did some retooling, added more SRBs so I could get up higher before doing my turn and still have enough fuel.

Wrong way around! start your gravity turn more or less right on the pad, and use less thrust - TWR around 1.2-1.4 or so. Stock is more like a handbrake turn than a gravity turn, have to unlearn that :)

If you're still pinwheeling add some fins at the base of your rocket. I use KIDS so my launch TWR is rather lower than KER is saying, but this is a 40t-ish to LKO ( and for no real reason SSTO/recoverable ) FAR-type launcher.

16009936615_45df8073be_b.jpg

Edited by Van Disaster
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I only launched a tiny power module to my LKO station. The solar panels were never enough to compensate for the drain of the synchotron, but I accidentley started two experiments at once, so the drain would stay to long.

A tiny fission reactor fixed that problem. And was so easy to dock. Been a while since I docked anything below 20 or 30 t. That thing was so nimble even with the lag.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I must say i'm a little happy today, first time setup docking training situation and completed it with little knowledge and alot confusions. Is always that first time achieving the most difficult thing, done it and ends with a satisfaction 'phew~'. Also though to keep an album log for my first ever attempt.

I might have missed important RCS thrusters for some directions on the plane, but switching rapidly from docking and normal mode just to keep craft aligned is HARD! I still can't maneuvers and even more scary, it won't dock when the modules matches up, i have to turn my ship around and it merely want to dock with magnetic effect.

Refuel a Refueling station. Wasted some fuel to get there:

Javascript is disabled. View full album
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I started construction on my spacestation.... Thankfully I am playing sandbox. First time using FAR and my first rocket well... Went up just fine, until I got to the gravity turn. I guess I started too early or something but rocket pinwheeled.

It's not "too early vs. too late". Gravity turns in FAR are extremely early, they just have to be handled right. You can find my typical advice for FAR ascents here.

In terms of what I have been doing: a lot of silly things for Renegotiator, like figuring out how much dV is required to get to a heliostationary orbit in stock. I may have been at one point just a little bit 52 km/s off...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Four KAS struts weren't enough to keep the drop tanks on my Tylo ship under control, nowhere near. The two heavier tanks (with the return ships attached) broke their struts under 1/3 throttle.

This thing is just tiring me out now. I don't like quitting but doing anything with it is just time-consuming and painful.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Spent some time refining my MPCV in Real Solar System (RSS) mod. I'm playing it through as a near-future ESA that has decided to develop manned capability. The MPCV is launched atop a fictional 'ARIANE 7' launcher, that eschews the SRB stage 0 for a 3 stage, all liquid configuration.

wp8q6js.png

With about 1300m/s dV on-orbit, it has enough to perform minor plane-changes (+-2 degrees) and rendezvous with an orbiting station. When I finally put one up there, that is!

Edited by Capt-Coulson
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's not "too early vs. too late". Gravity turns in FAR are extremely early, they just have to be handled right. You can find my typical advice for FAR ascents here.

In terms of what I have been doing: a lot of silly things for Renegotiator, like figuring out how much dV is required to get to a heliostationary orbit in stock. I may have been at one point just a little bit 52 km/s off...

Yeah I figured that out lifting the second piece. At first I thought maybe I was too top heavy but even with the fuel tanks drained in the VAB the COM is somewhat low on the rocket... it just isn't a heavy payload. So I started experimenting with some com sats since I could use a few more (also using remote tech for first time) and found that what was going on is I was pitching over too much too quick. Worked fine in higher altitudes but needed to be less aggressive in the lower altitudes.

Edit- As to what I did today... Successfully docked part 2 of my station. Launched a few com sats to play around with FAR and figure out what to do. And partially designed the next part of my station... Generally my power generation section is a wobbly launch, have to fix that for FAR....

Also designed a fuel truck to fuel my rockets on the pad (dry launch) only to discover somewhere along the way I accidentally uninstalled KAS and never noticed...

Edited by annallia
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I continue to assembly Discovery 1 at LKO; the mothership designed to bring 12 kerbals to orbit Eve. For Science.

The ship is almost complete; We got two Cyclotrons and three fuel tanks + engines to go, plus fill them in space. Although today I noticed a flaw on the design: It's kinda hard to align the side tanks with the main one, while docking. I should've sticked with those double docking ports at the initial design.

Kh33yPv.jpg

But I'll follow my heart and do it the Kerbal way: I'll leave it like this.

Besides, Sheldo Kerman seems proud enough to have nailed those two struts together. I wouldn't want to make his great effort useless.

ApiDBGk.jpg

Edited by Kowgan
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Noticed a Duna transfer window in less than a day! panicked together a satellite cluster and... once again a ridiculous launcher.

Had to do a stretch of an already huge spaceplane lifter:

16010589941_2129574fd9_b.jpg

The game was running at about 4.5s per game second, so the trip to orbit took something like an hour and a half...

15826780117_e0b91a0509_b.jpg

The Duna transfer vehicle was a bit of a tight fit, has a few aerodynamic devices to control aerobraking.

16011850101_e74e18c0c4_b.jpg

Bob checks the payload.

15826548620_b7e2d95163_b.jpg

And it's set up in a 400x80 orbit ready for the best part of the window. Time to get some fps back...

15394185463_0ea3af6be2_b.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...