What did you do in KSP1 today?

[klesh]

Today I finally made it to Moho with my Mohole Exploration Rover. Landed this rover as close as I could to the Mohole, drove it closer then deployed the Mohole Deep probe. It was an amazing RCS flight down the hole, with the camera spinning the whole time, but I made it to the bottom of the hole safely. The probe will relay the data to the rover which will send it back to Kerbin.

[Jouni]

I went to the Mun.

The old design from the early days of 0.23.5 still works. This time the lander used only six engines instead of seven, while having enough fuel to land twice, rendezvousing with the command module in between.

[TrooperCooper]

The KSA continued to develop and deploy new tools of space travel, science and resource exploitation. See the details in my career diary by clicking here (warning: picture-heavy).

[Bioman222]

I completed the first steps to making a Mun refinery by finding a good spot for it.

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More to come with part 2

[LordFerret]

I finally ended my v0.90.0 game, my last 3 flights. I brought the space station commanders home. Then, off to the bit-bucket it went, but I saved all the screenies.

Now... I wait... patiently... for docking cameras to return. Please.

[-ELF-]

Finished two Mun contracts in one run, tier 3 tech level.

Needed to make 4 temperature scans and 3 observations, all of them flying on different altitudes.

Two points were almost polar.

temperature scans - 2 lower than 10 000 and 2 higher than 11 500. Reports - lower than 7 500.

Managed to get last three point in one orbit, slowly ascending during the course of orbit from 5000 (nearly scratched one mountain, flew around 100-150 meters above, Jeb was excited) to 15 000.

That was like no more than 1 minute between the events:

"Well, we are 2 minutes away from first point, we will cross it @ ~6000 meters, good, let's set the empty maneuver to warn us when we will be close to next point.

Oh, we are already in the zone, let's go do report...

1 minute before we need to make a temperature scan, need to prepare thermometer...

A-a-a-and... Done! Woo-hoo! Oh my! 30 seconds to go for another! Oh, we already entered the zone! Do not panic!!! This thermometer is used already, look for another, look for another!!

Log temperature! Contract complete!! You are leaving BF-2s..."

Well, that was intense, brought me about 150 science, and nearly 400 000 funds.

TL;DR

Double Mun mission run.

Awesome!

[KerbMav]

New computer up and running, spacing with up to over 70fps (up to 100fps with disabled UI) - just waiting for 64bit KSP/pondering a Linux Boot Stick.

Launched the core module for my new space station, built launch vehicles for the rest of the modules - going up today.

Made a mid-course correction for a very simple Duna probe that will most likely not even get into orbit - was just a left-over from a Mun satellite contract and simply had to much fuel to not do anything else with it - might try for an Ike flyby and aerobraking into an orbit before crashing or leave it in a solar orbit.

[Jesrad]

I flew some more spaceplanes successfully, and then understood why I had never really bothered with them all this time:

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A spaceplane that works, is basically a working SSTO rocket to which you have added lots of pretty but clunky parts (wings, turbojets, etc.) overall making it less efficient, heavier, more expensive and harder to fly.

You know I'm right.

[annallia]

A spaceplane that works, is basically a working SSTO rocket to which you have added lots of pretty but clunky parts (wings, turbojets, etc.) overall making it less efficient, heavier, more expensive and harder to fly.

You know I'm right.

Depends on how you use it. Last time I did a tourist contract I took people to orbit, then to a few spots around kerbin. All that it cost me was the funds to launch a single hitchhiker can and mk 3 capsul filled with the passengers (pilot was already on the plane) and the cost of my super cheap refuling rover (probe core, KAS part for refueling, a tank the size that I need, 4 wheels, and a battery).

Parked the space plane off the runway, spawned the fuel truck, spawned the capsul, filled up the plane and loaded it with passengers and off I went.

Yeah the initial cost was huge, but being efficient in atmo, space capable, and easy to land made reusing it extremely profitable in the end.

The important part is to return them indivudually, or from the hitchiker can instead of recovering the plane. Being able to transfer science also helps in this way.

[T.A.P.O.R.]

After 1547 steam hours, I finally got to visit Dres.

Super limited probe, with a bit of spare fuel for a later crewed visit (maybe).

[CatastrophicFailure]

Day started off nice & productive. Launched the second engine to my nascent Duna ship...

Hiyori looking much better on her second flight with the NF landing pod bug fixed...

Engine squared away, time to go home...

Came up a little short of the space center, but dem legz!

Then it was time to bring Nymph back after four days on orbit returning stranded Kerbals...

Came up short again, but right side up.

Then it was time to send Siry Kerman off to test construction techniques for assembling a sample return rocket in-situ on Duna.

KIS. Is. Awesome!

Inspecting her work...

Proud Engineer!

The test launch was a bit squirrely since it's really too underpowered to fly on Kerbin, but otherwise worked perfectly.

Then some fool hit a pole and knocked our power out. So with a working tablet and no working computer, I put up the first installment of a "history blog" based on my .25 6.4x Kerbin save.

It's now nearly 4 am, power finally came back on, only to discover that for the past 11 or so hours my generator has been spewing diesel fuel all over the place and I'm lucky it didn't start a fire.

[annallia]

Started a new career.

Did a few money runs (stupid jobs like test SRB on kerbin, run test on probe core ect...) to get my funds up before tackling the orbit kerbin one, I had intended to not only orbit Kerbin but to visit Mun as well for massive science, even with just a thermometer and crew reports.

Returning from Mun I ran out of fuel but saw my Pe was only 22k or so. I knew this was bad because the angle I was coming in at would mean I spent a lot of time decelerating which meant a lot of time suffering through the rentry heating. About half way through my reentry I heard a series of loud explosions which made me a bit jumpy thinking I was going to lose Jeb so very early in my career. Once I was safely floating down to booster bay (total luck that I came down there) I checked the mission log...

The explosions were the solar panels overheating... Who knew that such little things could be so loud and explode so big?

[DunaRocketeer]

I didn't intend it, but I made a rocket that's sorta similar to a Falcon 9/Dragon. I made a basic mainsail 1st stage, and fitted it with fins, airbrakes and a heatshield at the front so it nose dives stably back to Kerbin before parachuting into the ocean for reuse. A second stage is integrated into the spacecraft along with a 'trunk' full of KIS containers and life support consumables. It'll be useful for crew rotation and station construction until I unlock the cooler stuff later in the tech tree.

[soulsource]

I sent my GPU for warranty repair, as one of the fans started to make strange scratching noises. Now I'm stuck with a borrowed R7 250X, and as I have grown a profound hatred toward the proprietary AMD drivers, I'm currently running this anyhow not so powerful GPU with the open source Linux drivers.

To little surprise Environment Visual Enhancements is a bit too heavy for it, but after uninstalling this and the related mods, I've got KSP running more or less smooth again at otherwise maximum graphics settings.

Ingame, I did two sat contracts for polar orbits of Kerbin, with about 160° inclination change in between. Good that my standard contract sat has more than 4k dV... I also rescued a Kerbal from LKO, and did the inclination change course correction for all ships currently on their way to Eve. Apart from the SCANsat for Gilly, they are all on their final trajectory, the next burn will then bring them to their desired orbits. Then the fun things will start...

[Cirocco]

Ironically, I may have had some of the biggest leaps in my KSP engineering/ building in the past few days while not having fired up the game at all. I basically have been thinking about and doing a bit of research on my spaceplane and lightweight rocket flight problems, and have had at least two "eureka!" moments (followed very quickly by " oh god how did I ever think that was a good idea?!" moments).

Basically:

- put at least one (relatively) heavy tank in an upper stage on a rocket. This keeps the CoM high and high CoM means happy rocket that doesn't want to flip instantly when you touch the controls. Do NOT try to ride a single stage in one single stack to space

- on super-heavy spaceplanes: do NOT insist on putting all your engines in the back and do NOT insist on always having a delta wing. CoM near the back means flip-heavy planes, even if the dry and wet CoM line up perfectly with eachother and the CoL.

I've been playing the game for over a year and realising these sort of things still makes me feel like such a newbie every time >.<

[capi3101]

I had the brilliant idea of making an SSTO spaceplane passenger ferry to take tourists up to my New Horizons space station in orbit of Kerbin, where they could board dedicated transport craft headed towards their final destinations. So, I designed the Condor 7, with a crew of 2, 4 passengers, and a small paywad bay. First problem I had - the New Horizons base had been launched with only a Clamp-o-tron Jr. installed, totally insufficient for docking and unloading tourists. But I use KIS, so my first payward is a KIS refrigerator loaded with a proper Clamp-O-Tron; Jeb and Bill are the Condor crew, and Bill is given the task of swapping out the dinky little Jr with a full-sized port.

After working out how much gas it would take just to get the Condor to orbit, she flew. Made it to orbit with a 5% fuel reserve and only 90 units of monoprop...4.5 degrees off the plane of the station. I used monoprop to get that down to 2 degrees, but then I was low on monoprop. So, time for a refueling mission - which went okay; I refueled a short tank on the Condor. Forgot all about topping off its monoprop tanks.

Long story short, after a protracted but ultimately successful EVA to place the proper-sized port on the station (once again had to RTFM - I really need to start working with KIS more), the Condor ran out of monoprop 10 meters shy of docking. I now get to run another refueling op to the bird while the station floats off. Lucky me...

[elpollodiablo]

I put an egg into space

Took me four tries to find out that it's probably a good idea to stage the fairings outside the atmo, as they always blew off the main purpose of this whole ring: the docking ports. 75k to add six of them to my refuelling hub on minmus

[smjjames]

Yesterday found how truly OP the new science lab functionality is. Got over 46k science from Minmus alone (well, with the instruments from DMagic Orbital Science+stock ones), and I haven't even hit up the Mun for science yet.

[Terwin]

I thought I would try one of those 'retrieve component landed on the Mun' missions. I've been to the Mun enough times, so I should really challenge myself.

I started with my most accurate ever landing, only 270 m away:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6JrTR4-h1jVaHdLXzVFT3c5M3c/view?usp=sharing

(I was going to land on a 30 degree slope plus I had mining gear on-board in case my rover wheels did not work and I had to use the main engine for ground propulsion, so I did some up and down before landing)

Then we transition to horizontal for a close approach:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6JrTR4-h1jVQUUyREx3aW9oRE0/view?usp=sharing

Ready for grabbing:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6JrTR4-h1jVbzRNWlhGazdFcFU/view?usp=sharing

It's a WHAT?!?!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6JrTR4-h1jVNWN4VWVFRGdrSm8/view?usp=sharing

Fine, let's lower the claw to the ground and push it into place:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6JrTR4-h1jVbm82SVkzQ3Q5VVk/view?usp=sharing

Nope, too short to be grabbed:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6JrTR4-h1jVdDUybFFlV0k4TFE/view?usp=sharing

Need some way to get this thing off the ground.. at least an edge... perhaps a cliff or sharp angle?

Hmm, nothing down hill, but there is an d up-hill that should have some angles on it...

(lots of pushing)

hmm, getting nowhere... Some of those landing legs are pretty close to the ground when deployed, I wonder if I can push it that way...

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6JrTR4-h1jVUjVDY3pDQTNCYlk/view?usp=sharing

Even Better, I can drag it!:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6JrTR4-h1jVRml1VFFTaXM1RmM/view?usp=sharing

This is much faster than manual pushing(almost 2m/s Woo!):

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6JrTR4-h1jVb2Z3Mm1uUEQwb2M/view?usp=sharing

First two terrain angle changes were insufficient, how about this one?

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6JrTR4-h1jVN0R2TTlJVEV2cEE/view?usp=sharing

Woot, I got it grabbed!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6JrTR4-h1jVbHZteE94X2pXYzQ/view?usp=sharing

Now I just need to deploy the mining gear and replace that fuel I used to avoid landing on the edge of a crater, then I can head home!

vehicle design notes:

The Vernor engines on the nose provide ~150% of the thrust needed to lift the vehicle on the Mun and are used for righting it back to an up-right posture for launch.

the rear wheels consist of 2 small gear bays and 2 RoveMax M1s (if the M1's pop, the small gear lowers beyond them and I can use the main engine for thrust. The M1's popped on Kerbin so this was a backup plan) plus a couple medium gear in the front. No front steering so I had to steer from the rear and attempting to turn at more than 5m/s leads to toppling and rapid pyrotechnic deconstruction.

Engine is the largest engine from the 'Atomic Age - Nuclear Rockets' mod to keep the part count down.

Also using an active heat management piece and radiators from the 'Heat Management' mod to keep my heat down to a low simmer most of the time.

next time: I'll check the height of the piece before I accept a mission to fetch it from a planetary body!

[wossname]

Started a new 1.0.2 career mode (normal settings) and got as far as a 2.8Mm keostationary orbital satellite (with Line of Sight on a ground station)* contract without patched conics being unlocked!

My robotic probe core feels like such a badS right now, as it burns up in Kerbin's unforgiving atmosphere.

*astonishingly, this mission can be completed with a craft costing less than 9000 Funds.

[serolrom]

Made it to Duna. For the first time. With a rover with only a couple of things broken.

And I can tell you it feels great. No, not great... but Great. Great as "Do I Rock or what???". Or Great as "From now on, the community can refer to me as 'The One Who Made It To Duna'".

Know what? I'm changing my signature now.

[Concentric]

More shuttling, lots of docking, and the triumphant returns of Minmus tourists and my Mun Flag-planter.

First, Tamrie deorbited in MicroShuttle D. Slightly overshot KSC, so I turned around, fired the remaining fuel and came back to the runway in the other direction.

A bracingly direct landing, flaring the flaps for airbraking, and doing some swooping to bleed off speed. What a great first impression Tamrie got from that flight...

I designed a larger, two-man shuttle, and a lifter for it. The lifter initially made it to orbit with over 100 LF remaining, so I added a FL-T400, Terrier and decoupler to the end, so it can fulfill a couple of satellite contracts (a ~3000km over Kerbin one, and a Mun equatorial one). The boosters are attached to drop-tanks, which are used as spacers, and attached to the inline cockpit, which is a reasonable reshuffle of their locations, I think. Also, now that I've scraped together the science for a proper retractable landing gear for planes, there's no longer a need for a spacer between the shuttle and the core.

Lifter ran out while circularising, so I decoupled the shuttles with their engines firing. They flew together and touched, flying side-by-side until the periapse was high enough that I cut the engines. Quickly switched to the other and cut its engines too, because they were starting to glow for some reason. That actually started during the circularisation burn, now that I think about it. Also, proof that solar panels work through the closed doors of a service bay. Then, I switched back to the probe, decoupled it, and raised its apoapse to the appropriate height, letting the lifter fall back to Kerbin.

PairShuttleA docked with Stopover first, as it was lower, so its maneuvers were closer. In the mean time, I got the probe to its designated high Kerbin orbit, then set up its encounter with Mun, to enter in the correct direction.

SixFerry aerobraked after returning from Minmus. The aerobrake was just before a maneuver from PairShuttleB, and then I just used SixFerry's engines to set up its docking with Stopover. The final close intercepts with Stopover for both SixFerry and PairShuttleB were very close together - in fact, just as SixFerry was finishing docking, I saw PairShuttleB fly past in the background of my screen, at about 150m distance.

I switched with the bracket key and docked. A little fuel transfer finally emptied a set of tanks that were sent up to refuel Stopover and just stayed attached to the descent pod ever since. I got rid of them, then moved the tourists about. Four tourists are now in the shuttles awaiting their descent, and four more are in SixFerry, waiting for a scientist to arrive and take them to Minmus. They'll mostly get momentary suborbital runs, but the scientist is going to take some readings and plant a flag.

Also, I realised that Dannand had already drained MunRod's transfer stage to the point that I had previously said would be the trigger for his return home. Whoops. So, he got in his capsule, escaped, lowered periapse into Kerbin's atmosphere and decoupled from the tank. The safe landing brought home over 400 science points, which I promptly spent. Now I have extendable solar panels, the Skipper, circular intakes, and extendable ladders. Also, the mobile lab, so I can try the new functionality of that out.

[Evanitis]

When two mistakes even out perfectly...

I wanted to do five Minimus missions in one go: picking up a Kerbal, doing two EVA spots, one seizmic reading task, and planting a flag - hehh, free money. So I made lander with a lot of extra fuel for a lot of suborbital hopping. I also included a lander probe on the top, so it could do the seizmic part without the kerballed landing there.

Thought all of those will need much-much fuel for the transfer, so the next stage was an overloaded nerv-system. First launch attempt wasn't too successful - as you might see on the recording - but the universal solution of adding 'moar boosters' did help. I had to notice on orbit that about a complete stage of the rocket was unnecessary. I didn't want to redo the design again (or wait for a transfer window to use it as an inerplanetary craft), so I accepted the extra 60-70K credits as a loss, and went on.

Picked up our newest recruit and was about to detach the probe... just to notice that it's core has no torque at all, and I forgot to bring a reaction wheel. Of course, the lander itself lacked the instrument needed for measuring, so I had to leave the whole thing there.

But I was like... I have an extra stage, I will use that to get my seismic readings. Didn't think it will work, but it did afterall. The trick was to -carefully- touch down the cone of the nuke, do the measuring -really quickly- while it touches the ground but before the whole lander tips over. Only had to do this three times - with an extra orbit between them, just to be safe and leave time for the parts to cool. Yes, I had -that- much extra dV. Ballpark engineering prevails!

Everything went as planned after that, took like two million credits home. The moral of the story: 60-70K worth of 'moar boosters' can easily substitute for a cheap but essential part one forgot to pack.

(extra info included in captions)

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Edited June 9, 2015 by Evanitis

[ScriptKitt3h]

Built a stock, Kerbal-scale Ranger:

and installed EVE, Planetshine, Astronomer's Visual Pack, and a couple other awesome visual mods.

[Randazzo]

Finished infrastructure for fuel on Minmus. Here's Bob at sunrise.