Why is the cupola so *heavy*?

[Rage097]

While I'm all for fixing the coupola's weight let's scale down the "in your face" navball too.

Yeah, It kind of ruins the view you'd think it'd have.

[rodion_herrera]

The relevant scene:

"Spider" is one of the top three episodes of the series, which is a must-see for anyone interested in spaceflight.

All those rubber balls on the rooftop at Grumman...the one's Tom Kelly threw each time they had an issue....I see them like dead Kerbals up there, LOL.

[Uncle Mort]

Personally I was expecting something more like this:

[Tiron]

Personally I was expecting something more like this:

Given that we've only got partial IVAs, it could still happen?

[Mercy]

Because of all the glass in the windows?

Which you can't look out of because of the xboxhueg IVA panel?

[csiler2]

snip

You know, seeing Grissom in the thumbnail reminds me that he was a driving force behind the design of Gemini as an aircraft in space instead of a pod that happens to contain men. He wanted to make sure that aviation-trained astronauts felt comfortable in the Gemini capsule after the fiasco of his Mercury 7 flight.

[Temstar]

You know, seeing Grissom in the thumbnail reminds me that he was a driving force behind the design of Gemini as an aircraft in space instead of a pod that happens to contain men. He wanted to make sure that aviation-trained astronauts felt comfortable in the Gemini capsule after the fiasco of his Mercury 7 flight.

Grissom was so deeply involved in developing the Gemini spacecraft that the other astronauts referred to it as the "Gusmobile". This turned out to be a bit of an ergonomic problem since they designed the spacecraft's seat according to Grissom and he was just about the smallest of all the astronauts and 14 out of 16 of the NASA astronauts at the time (Mercury Seven + New Nine) couldn't actually fit inside. So they ended up having to redesign the seat.

But it did turn out to be an excellent spacecraft with some features that not even the Apollo spacecraft had. For example it has a powered 4th gimbal for its guidance suit so it doesn't have the problem of gimbal lock. All throughout the Apollo program people worrying about been beaten by the Soviets where suggesting all sorts of mission using Gimini, including a Gimini lunar fly-by and even Gimini moon landings (LOR or Direct Ascent).

[Sabastian]

All those rubber balls on the rooftop at Grumman...the one's Tom Kelly threw each time they had an issue....I see them like dead Kerbals up there, LOL.

Haha oh man that's definitely one of my top three favorite episodes. It's up there with The Al Bean Show

[rodion_herrera]

It's up there with The Al Bean Show

"SCE to AUX!?! I know where that is!!!" - Alan Bean

That scene was like Pete and Dick was Jeb and Bill, and Al was Bob hahahahaha

[Fel]

The Cupola is really just a squashed "PPD-12 Panopticon Observation Module" (Original model by ClairaLyrae).

The PPD-12 has a mass of 4.5 and seats 3 kerbals... the Cupola has a mass of 4.5 and seats 1 kerbal.

[Clouds]

To be honest, I was surprised the Cupola is even a command module. I was expecting something like the Hitchhiker part, except with a fancy view and seating maybe 2 or 3. (Can non-command-modules even have IVA?)

[Camelotking524]

It was taken from a Tie Fighter ...

the special laser proof military grade glass and hardened frame it uses weights more than the other materials Kerbals use

I can see it.

[samstarman5]

(Can non-command-modules even have IVA?)

There has already been work done towards a Hitchhiker IVA. It was previewed not long before .20 came out...maybe two weeks before. Until there is more to do in IVA, I am not surprised that wasn't released with this. I was surprised at the two new command modules with their own IVA's.

I am thinking we need to pull a Kerbal 7 and push for a new cupola-spacecraft with less weight and more window view. Heck, miniaturizing the console alone should chop off a few pounds.

Addendum:

I can see it.

Does it come with ion engines?

Edited June 5, 2013 by samstarman5

[Camelotking524]

Addendum:

Does it come with ion engines?

Nope, conventional :(l. Wouldn't be hard to design one with Ion's.

[kahlzun]

Speaking of IVA, when are they going to fix the Mk2 Cockpit?

[RoboRay]

"SCE to AUX!?! I know where that is!!!" - Alan Bean

Yeah, with his voice two octaves higher than normal.

That scene was like Pete and Dick was Jeb and Bill, and Al was Bob hahahahaha

Pete Conrad was definitely Jeb. The "class-clown" of the early astronauts, and absolutely fearless. I've met a couple of the men who went to the moon, but I'm sad to say I never met Pete.

[rodion_herrera]

Pete Conrad was definitely Jeb. The "class-clown" of the early astronauts, and absolutely fearless. I've met a couple of the men who went to the moon, but I'm sad to say I never met Pete.

At age of 69, he was still riding motorcycles on the highway. Sadly, this is also what caused his demise But yeah, he lived like a Jeb, and died like a Jeb.

*salute*

[Temstar]

I've always figured Alan Shepard as Jeb. What with people describing him as an "educated daredevil" and playing golf on the moon.

[csiler2]

Grissom was so deeply involved in developing the Gemini spacecraft that the other astronauts referred to it as the "Gusmobile". This turned out to be a bit of an ergonomic problem since they designed the spacecraft's seat according to Grissom and he was just about the smallest of all the astronauts and 14 out of 16 of the NASA astronauts at the time (Mercury Seven + New Nine) couldn't actually fit inside. So they ended up having to redesign the seat.

But it did turn out to be an excellent spacecraft with some features that not even the Apollo spacecraft had. For example it has a powered 4th gimbal for its guidance suit so it doesn't have the problem of gimbal lock. All throughout the Apollo program people worrying about been beaten by the Soviets where suggesting all sorts of mission using Gimini, including a Gimini lunar fly-by and even Gimini moon landings (LOR or Direct Ascent).

As I recall, it also had a command interface most similar to that of a fighter jet. It's a shame that some of the Gemini- and Apollo-derivative programs never happened. Gemini moon landings and an Apollo Venus flyby? Awesome.

Too bad research from MSL has shown that astronauts would have exceeded their radiation doses on an interplanetary mission.

[Uberick]

I'm gonna guess that the dev's have designed it more as a luxury item than a practical item. Ideally, you would have a small capsule with just some dials in it. The absolute minimum required to serve the intended function. The cupola is fancy, shiny, and cool, so it has to be less practical to use.

I only put them on stations and craft that don't have delta v requirements, like stations and long term satellites and probes.

[CalculusWarrior]

I believe the Cupola also has a massive capsule torque (30, as compared to the others' 20), this could be a trade-off for the increased weight. Just be careful when attaching it to your station, if you don't secure it properly (like I didn't) then it will wobble all over the place if you turn ASAS on.

[TMS]

Its linear torque is also pretty bad too.

[kahlzun]

Well, i've decided to do something about this: Namely make a modified version of Clara's old KSPX panopticon, and murderise it.

{

title = PPD-1 Opticon Module

manufacturer = Jebediah Kerman's Junkyard and Spaceship Parts Co.

description = A variant on the "PPD-12 Cupola"- this command pod replaces the heavy glass with a few sheets of clingwrap, making it much lighter! However, it is significantly weaker, and may not survive a hard landing...

mass = 1.5

crashTolerance = 8

}

i also made it into a 'hitchiker' style module, because of reasons.

Easy enough to change back if you need to.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/33jd0xozitvxiow/cl_observationModule.zip