What did you do in KSP1 today?

[Mister Kerman]

I put a satellite in orbit, rescued a stranded kerbal pilot, and upgraded my R&D building to level 2.

Back to the grindstone until I'm ready to make a proper trip to the Mun!

[RexKramer]

Barely completed two contracts, after a long string of design errors.

Had a contract to set up a 5-Kerbal outpost on Duna, plus a satellite contract for a polar orbit of Duna. Sent the outpost and satellite from a single launch.

Entering Duna's SOI, I realized the satellite had the small OKTO2 core, which doesn't have torque, and I forgot to put a reaction wheel on it. So, as it would be unsteerable, I had to use the transfer stage, with the 5-Kerbal outpost, to maneuver the satellite into the required orbit. Released satellite, which luckily was in the proper orbit, contract completed. Phew!

While maneuvering into a low orbit over Duna, the ship lost electric power. I had put only flat solar panels on, radially mounted, and the ship had rotated pointing away from the sun. Bill went EVA, to push the ship around so a solar panel would get light. I normally mount one or two panels in odd positions to avoid that situation, but forgot this time...

Separated outpost from transfer stage, and realized there was no probe core on the transfer stage. Oh well, I'll deal with that problem later.

Outpost descending into Duna, deploy 3 parachutes. Only one deployed. Scrambled to get the other two deployed. On landing, the outpost was apparently too tall, and tipped over. That was a problem, as I had planned on separating a lander can, and returning Bill to the orbiting transfer stage, and back to Kerbin. Of course, the thing tipped over with the exit hatch facing down, so I couldn't even EVA to assess the situation.

After much thought, I decided to separate the ascent stage, fire the engines a bit, and see if I could right the stage without blowing it up. Success! Good thing I only brought Bill along, otherwise the other 4 Kerbals would have been stranded, going for the ride of their life in a 4-Kerbal container, which was now rolling down a hill.

I got the ascent stage back into orbit, and rendezvoused with the transfer stage. Docking was tricky, again I forgot to put a probe core on the transfer stage, so it was floating aimlessly in space, tough to dock with. Plus, for some reason I had placed the ascent stage docking collar on the bottom of the ascent stage, so I had to back into the lifeless transfer stage.

So, I got Bill back to Kerbin, where the last (I hope) oversight came to light. Bill (the only guy I sent) is a Scientist, and can't repack chutes. So, he's sitting in LKO, waiting for an Engineer to come up to repack his chutes so he can get back home.

[MGCJerry]

Failed a shuttle launch, but my new favorite kerbal saved the shuttle and landed it in the grasslands.

I present Jonbree Kerman. Even Jeb wishes he was that good.

[Parallax]

Edited December 31, 2014 by Parallax

[SgtZabka]

In classic career mode, I built a multi-stage rocket and orbited Kerbin. The rocket was number 6 (VI) of the Airborne missions, and is the final rocket in the Airborne series. Since I started getting serious about KSP, I have decided to have different series of rockets for different tasks. The Airborne series were designed for high altitude/low orbit flight. When Airborne VI went in to high orbit around Kerbin, it was decided that the Airborne series should come to a close. Anyway, that is what I accomplished today! (after a week of flying seriously)

[Srpadget]

Today I continued my off-again, on-again effort to design a fuel-tanker spaceplane capable of delivering an orange-tank-load of LFO to my orbital fuel depot. I am currently in that phase of the design where total vehicle mass keeps spiraling upward uncontrollably: not enough jet fuel to reach orbit, so add tanks; now it has barely enough thrust to get off the runway, so it needs more turbos; needs more fuel to feed those turbos; increased mass means I now need more wing surface for adequate lift; now its CoL has moved too far behind the CoM, and the CoM moves too much with propellant flow, so rebalance everything and fly it again; all that added mass means it handles like a slug, so I need more control surfaces and reaction wheels; crap, what about docking I forgot monoprop; add more mass for that; etc.

Mind you, that's exactly what happens at this point in a REAL aerospace program, so I suppose that means I'm on the verge of final success? Or at least that I get props for a realistic design cycle? (Hey, I'll take whatever I can get at this point.)

I think it's time to do something simple and soothing after all that...um, 'progress' (yeah, 'progress', let's call it that). My main career save has some nice juicy Minmus survey contracts, and Minmus is always nice and relaxing...

[capi3101]

Today I continued my off-again, on-again effort to design a fuel-tanker spaceplane capable of delivering an orange-tank-load of LFO to my orbital fuel depot. I am currently in that phase of the design where total vehicle mass keeps spiraling upward uncontrollably: not enough jet fuel to reach orbit, so add tanks; now it has barely enough thrust to get off the runway, so it needs more turbos; needs more fuel to feed those turbos; increased mass means I now need more wing surface for adequate lift; now its CoL has moved too far behind the CoM, and the CoM moves too much with propellant flow, so rebalance everything and fly it again; all that added mass means it handles like a slug, so I need more control surfaces and reaction wheels; crap, what about docking I forgot monoprop; add more mass for that; etc.

Mind you, that's exactly what happens at this point in a REAL aerospace program, so I suppose that means I'm on the verge of final success? Or at least that I get props for a realistic design cycle? (Hey, I'll take whatever I can get at this point.)

I think it's time to do something simple and soothing after all that...um, 'progress' (yeah, 'progress', let's call it that). My main career save has some nice juicy Minmus survey contracts, and Minmus is always nice and relaxing...

Ah - fun times. I myself have made a few attempts on that score my own self...none lately though. Definitely none since I learned how to crunch the numbers. Perhaps it's time to try again...

Payload = 1 Jumbo 64 Orange Tank, Mass = 36 Tonnes

Assumed Final Plane Take-Off Mass = 36*4 = 144 Tonnes

Number of Turbojets Required = 144 /15 = 9.6 (rounds to 10) -OR- Number of RAPIERS Required = 144 / 14 = 10.28 (rounds to 11)

Minimum Number of Ram Intakes Required = 30 (with 10 engines); 33 (with 11 engines)

Recommended Degree of SAS = 144 * 1.5 = 216 kN, 216 / 30 = 7.2 Large ASAS Modules (round to 8)

Number of Wing Connector A -OR- Wing Connector B -OR- Delta Wings Required = 144/2 = 72 (36 pairs)

(These I would recommend building in sets of 6 - 2 Wing Connector A with a Delta Wing on the end, add an Elevon 4 as an elevator to the interior Wing Connector and add an Elevon 3 as an aileron to the end of the Delta Wing - you'll need six pairs of the whole assembly. Do that and it'll cover your roll axis easily enough. Use canards up at the front of your plane to augment the pitch axis. Considering the number of intakes you need, you could also add a Cubic Octagonal Strut and Ram Intake to each Wing Connector and Delta Wing in the assembly - that, if I'm doing the math right, will actually give you a surplus of Intake Air)

Liquid Fuel Units Required for Orbital Ascent assuming RAPIERs at 144 Tonnes Take off Weight = 144 * 39 = 5616

Oxidizer Units Required for Orbital Ascent assuming RAPIERs at 144 Tonnes Take off Weight and 1750 m/s switchover speed = 144 * 24 = 3456

(In other words, put two Orange Tanks on either side of your Payload orange tank and take out half the oxidizer - get it as close to 1728 units per tank as you can manage)

I would recommend you install RCS Build Aid. Among its many useful features is one that will show you how much your CoM will shift in flight based on the current design - with it on, you can design your plane to where the CoM won't shift at all.

Best of luck.

[cantab]

Exploded my way to space

What parts did you use? I've mucked around with decoupler rockets before but never got very high.

As for me, rejigging my Tylo ship ready for orbit lowering. I'll be releasing the last pair of drop tanks and be left with only the lander's fuel and what the return ship needs.

[Lieutenant Hargrove]

I have launched 2 very barebones satellites into Kerbin orbit. I need to increase Delta V of my launch stage becouse 300km orbit is as high as I can reasonably go to and my contractors want me to go higher. Other than that I have grabbed some quick cash from part tests on suborbital trajectories.

[Greep]

What parts did you use? I've mucked around with decoupler rockets before but never got very high.

As for me, rejigging my Tylo ship ready for orbit lowering. I'll be releasing the last pair of drop tanks and be left with only the lander's fuel and what the return ship needs.

.03 ton probe, smallest battery, max size decouplers (they're weightess?!?!), nothing else. Even adding a reaction wheel would double the amount of decouplers needed.

Edited December 31, 2014 by Greep

[klesh]

I developed a deployable science outpost using KAS that can be placed anywhere, has a QBE so it wont disappear, sustainable power, communications antennae, and can act as a guidance target if placed in certain spots (exact poles etc). Its really cool.

Initially I mounted the components on a truck/untility vehicle, and deployed the prototype model in the field next to the R&D center. I then developed 2 more deployment methods, involving aircraft. One is a system where the components are held in an upside down cargo bay; the plane taxi's right over the precise location and can drop the probecore and an Engineer can remove the remaining parts from the cargo bay for construction. The other option is deliverable by air, a paradrop of sorts. All the fixins are held inside a fairing tube which is dropped off the back of a plane. It lands gently via parachute, then an engineer can open the package and remove all the parts to assemble the outpost.

I ended the session by flying to the North Pole and dropping an outpost (landed cargo bay method) precisely on the X of the pole. Spot on.

I also made a Texture Replacer set of stock-alike EVA suits, color coded for you Pilots, Engineers, and Scientists.

[Loerelau]

Made a rover for Minmus that you can not move because of the low gravity. Designed a new one and launched it. Also sent a refueler to Mun orbit to help the science program there... Thanks to the person that made the alarm clock!

[Srpadget]

Ah - fun times. I myself have made a few attempts on that score my own self...none lately though. Definitely none since I learned how to crunch the numbers. Perhaps it's time to try again...

Payload = 1 Jumbo 64 Orange Tank, Mass = 36 Tonnes

Assumed Final Plane Take-Off Mass = 36*4 = 144 Tonnes

Number of Turbojets Required = 144 /15 = 9.6 (rounds to 10) -OR- Number of RAPIERS Required = 144 / 14 = 10.28 (rounds to 11)

Minimum Number of Ram Intakes Required = 30 (with 10 engines); 33 (with 11 engines)

Recommended Degree of SAS = 144 * 1.5 = 216 kN, 216 / 30 = 7.2 Large ASAS Modules (round to 8)

Number of Wing Connector A -OR- Wing Connector B -OR- Delta Wings Required = 144/2 = 72 (36 pairs)

(These I would recommend building in sets of 6 - 2 Wing Connector A with a Delta Wing on the end, add an Elevon 4 as an elevator to the interior Wing Connector and add an Elevon 3 as an aileron to the end of the Delta Wing - you'll need six pairs of the whole assembly. Do that and it'll cover your roll axis easily enough. Use canards up at the front of your plane to augment the pitch axis. Considering the number of intakes you need, you could also add a Cubic Octagonal Strut and Ram Intake to each Wing Connector and Delta Wing in the assembly - that, if I'm doing the math right, will actually give you a surplus of Intake Air)

Liquid Fuel Units Required for Orbital Ascent assuming RAPIERs at 144 Tonnes Take off Weight = 144 * 39 = 5616

Oxidizer Units Required for Orbital Ascent assuming RAPIERs at 144 Tonnes Take off Weight and 1750 m/s switchover speed = 144 * 24 = 3456

(In other words, put two Orange Tanks on either side of your Payload orange tank and take out half the oxidizer - get it as close to 1728 units per tank as you can manage)

I would recommend you install RCS Build Aid. Among its many useful features is one that will show you how much your CoM will shift in flight based on the current design - with it on, you can design your plane to where the CoM won't shift at all.

Best of luck.

Holy Kraken, Batt Man! Seriously? So I'm actually not doing anything obscenely-excessive yet?

Geez, maybe I'll just stay with the Abomination Against Aerodynamics that I've been using to date for this job: a wingless, vertical-takeoff parachute-recovery jet-powered "rocket". 8 radial-mounted turbos with 150 units jet fuel and 2 shock inlets each, mounted to a central X200-8 tank with a single NERVA for final orbit insertion/rendezvous/de-orbit burn. Ugly as sin, and it'd be a fiery disaster with Deadly Reentry, but it gets the job done in stock with "full recovery" (meaning everything comes back, but my 'precision ballistic re-entry skills' suck and I'm lucky to land close enough to KSC for ~95% recovery of this beast)...

...and it's only 84 parts/66 tons/120k Funds fully-loaded on the pad, and invariably lands with fuel still in the tanks. (Yeah, nearly 50% of the launch mass is the delivered payload. More than 50%, if I use the variant intended to leave the Jumbo tank in orbit and consider the tank itself to be "delivery payload".)

[SmashBrown]

I landed an experimental light lander on the mun... lithobraked... then killed my kerbal when i got the hatch ad it was facing into the mun.... other than that it was a succesful test... poor geodfrey

[Skylab]

I built my very first spaceplane. Unfortunately, pretty much all it can do is get to space. I can't get into a stable orbit or land it where I want.

Also, this isn't related to KSP, but I had a really funny dream last night where I bought a used space shuttle orbiter at a garage sale, and was using it to drive around town instead of a car. I was going to drive it to work but realized that it was a bit too flashy, so instead I walked there, because I had sold my car to buy the shuttle.

Edited January 1, 2015 by Skylab

[juanml82]

Finally finished my scientific/rover/airplane/lander and parked it in orbit to wait for the transfer window to Jool... in sandbox mode so the scientific gear is useless

Infernal robotics lowers the rover wheels, which could otherwise break during the take off run. I've used Realchutes to add drag chutes in case I need to brake faster when landing, and it has the small karbonite miners and converters to refuel once it lands

[Amtrak71]

I completed my goal for the year which was to visit all the planets!!

[Grand Lander]

I whacked a kerbal.

[Liowen]

I got back into my career mod save just to see if I could do more stuff and I had a survey mission that had three parts; survey one spot from the air and two eva's from the ground. I got the air one fine but the ones where I had to land I had a bit more trouble, so I decided I needed something different to do them. Since flying a plane is not my strong suit, and the game crashed every time I launched from the runway I built a "jet car".

While not the prettiest of thing is is effective, once you limit the thrust on the jet engine to about 10%. Once you stop you raise up the landing gear and exit the craft to get your eva, also it can recharge the batteries while driving so I can transmit the eva and crew reports (bonus). Yeah it is not the most stable thing but it did its job very well, and to me that is the best thing.

[Steambirds]

I attempted to make a SSTO today. It went well until it turned into SSTUFS (Single-Stage to Unrecoverable Flat-Spin)

[AbortButton]

Finally got the last mod I needed updated and went back to my old save only to find that my Moho orbiter/lander cannot perform burns because it has no SAS.

[cantab]

No SAS, or no reaction wheels? No SAS won't stop you, it'll just make it tricky. With no reaction wheels, have you got a thrust vectoring engine? If so you can throttle up slightly and use it to turn around.

[Hyomoto]

I use AJE, FAR and DRE. I built a plane that can flight at mach 3 at 20km, high enough to complete those pesky high altitude surveillance contracts! Then I flew it, completed the contract and landed on the runway at the KSC.

[bwarren109]

I rebuilt my SLS, Delta-IV, and Orion Replicas after finally getting all of my mods reinstalled for 0.90. CKAN made it much easier.

[tygoo7]

My Kerbals on my career mode took a little flight on a jet to Kerbin City to have a new years party! They have a bunch of cool little items to party. They packed them in KAS containers and headed out to land at Kerbin City. I realized that they have to party in the Terminal at the airport since I don't have wheels unlocked yet and they can't all swim or walk that far, because I'm lazy to do it. So they found a cool underground room to party in. I also made my own ball to drop and some fireworks. Of course I lost about 200,000 Funds but it was worth it. The Kerbals will return back to the space center in their jet tomorrow.

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