Do you guys want the Observatory?

[samstarman5]

I doubt the observatory will be for planet hunting alone, but also to gather science of the stars beyond. Travelling beyond the solar system is still an uncertainty, but nothing says we can't at least look beyond and find binary+ systems, nebulae, and galaxies to add to our science as well as to funding when that becomes an issue. There will also be telescope modules to attach to space stations or orbit separately to have your own Hubble, or place on the far side of the Mun. I'm hoping for radio telescopes, as well. Kerbin needs more radio dishes.

[SpaceSphereOfDeath]

My GAWD, it's filled with plernets!

Yes, I would like the observatory. Maybe space based telescopes for other stars.

[Xorth Tanovar]

To add to the realism, the Observatory should be located on one of the mountain peaks to the west of KSC, to both gain altitude and get away from the light pollution generated around the Center itself.

Make it a challenge, remove the planets (and their orbits) from the Map view until you spot them via Mark I eyeball, or take multiple pix with the scope and use the old-fashioned Blink Comparator method to discover the planets. Pluto would never have been found otherwise, given the technology at the time it was found....

[Sirrobert]

I real life, we knew about all the planets and moderate-sized moons before the dawn of the space age, so it would seem silly for those to be hidden in the Kerbol system. But it would be reasonable to use an observatory to discover tiny moons or asteroids that we could then go to.

In real life we had ladders before we had rockets.

Stop trying to bring some alternete universe into this, we'r talking about Kerbol system here

[AmpsterMan]

I would like the observatory to be similar to the one in Outer Wilds. It should have all the data on the Solar System that we have discovered using our science apparati.

It would be sweet too if one could walk in it from an IVA perspective, but I wouldn't hold my breath on that one.

[Motokid600]

Squads going to have to redo their skybox if this is to be implemented. Right now its really ugly if you zoom in. REALLY ugly. Other then being pixelated the sky is just not nearly black enough.

[Scrogdog]

On the other hand, soil samples off the lawn and a paved driveway seem to be vital for kerbals' space tech research so in that light I wouldn't find it at all unreasonable to think that they might not have noticed every celestial body in their star system.

I thought that was fairly strange too, but now I justify it by saying that we are not learning anything new about KSC dirt or the launch pad. Rather, we are using our new equipment to see how it reacts with the known, so that we can better interpret what they tell us about the unknown.

As a Star Trek fan, I can techno-babble anything.

Edited October 31, 2013 by Scrogdog

[EliteShadowLeo]

Yes , it would be awesome to have an observatory!

With the texture pack mod, looking up at the night sky would be wonderful! (Not that it isn't already) I do hope that the observatory IS'NT inside the KSC (Kerbal Space Center) and it is located on one of the mountains to the West of it. It would be very nice if it looked like some of the observatories in South America, precisely in the Andes. Only if it is just speculation, GP2 (Gas Planet 2) Will have multiple natural satellites (According to the KSP wiki, about +20 and it will have rings! (*Cough Cough* SATURN!) and it would be a great idea to add the observatory with the new planet as it would allow us to individually discover the new moons.

Peace out

-EliteShadowLeo

[EliteShadowLeo]

Oh and I agree with Motokid, the current skybox is kinda.. dull.

[Richy teh space man]

Yes absolutely I want it.

Though I do wonder how it will work.

Just thinking the same here..

Would it be a case of just keep pointing the telescope around until you get lucky and actually find a planet, or would there be subtle clues given out?

[Cydonian Monk]

Squads going to have to redo their skybox if this is to be implemented. Right now its really ugly if you zoom in. REALLY ugly. Other then being pixelated the sky is just not nearly black enough.

Agreed. Even Rareden's HD skybox, as nice as it is, looks pixel-y if you zoom in too much.

I wonder if the skybox isn't ultimately just a stand-in for a randomly/procedurally generated backdrop. That would allow you to zoom in on stars in much the same way we do planets.

[Excl]

Not only an observatory, I'd love to have some sort of "telescope" tech. Not only could we build an observatory on Kerbin, but we could eventually put up a "Kubble" telescope into space.

[oggylt]

well it might be only one-timer feature, but i want to see it and be able to observe the planets and ships(you could select taret and that target would be rendered actually :OO) (i am hyperactive today D: )

[Kromey]

I real life, we knew about all the planets and moderate-sized moons before the dawn of the space age, so it would seem silly for those to be hidden in the Kerbol system.

For millenia, for as long as anybody can remember or the history books can tell, Kerbals have been renowned for their extraordinary Kurm hunting. The Kurm, being somewhat like a little green burrowing fox, is difficult to hunt and track because it spends much of its time under the soil; thus, Kerbals are perpetually staring at the dirt, digging and hunting for their elusive prey.

Until one day a young Kerbal, while digging after a particularly energetic Kurm he was hunting, suddenly found the creature -- now cornered against a large boulder -- turning upon him! It bit him on the finger, and the young Kerbal yelped in surprise (Kurms are not aggressive creatures, so this was a very shocking turn of events!) and lurched backward, tripping over an exposed rock behind him. Totally off-guard and already off-balance, he tumbled backward and smacked his head on another rock.

Rubbing his aching head, this young Kerbal blinked his eyes repeatedly, trying to get the stars in his vision to clear. Until he realized that the stars were not, in fact, in his vision -- they were actually above his head! Amazed and bewildered, he stood up, and stared at the sky.

For the first time in history, a Kerbal looked up. And lo! were the stars discovered.

But that was not all! As he stared at the stars, trying to count them, sweeping his gaze across the sky, his eyes were caught by another one, much bigger yet somehow quite different from the other stars.

And thus was Mun discovered.

The young Kerbal immediately went and grabbed his two best friends, and brought them to the site of his discovery to show them. They were not impressed by the bright blue sky with the painfully-bright yellow circle, but their friend was so excited he yammered on and on and on about it all day.

And then they saw what he had been talking about, and they, too, were mesmerized.

The three friends set about on that very spot to invent the science of rocketry, so that they could go up and investigate these stars themselves. They soon realized rockets alone were not sufficient, and began construction on the KSC (at the time it stood for Krums Suck Cronk, but they later revised it to something that seemed more rocket-y).

It wasn't long thereafter that the three friends oversaw the construction and launch of Kerbin's first ever failed rockets. (Eventually they oversaw the first successful one, too, but that was far less impressive.)

The history books are already being updated to include these three visionary Kerbals: Jebediah Kerman, the first Kerbal to look up, and Bill and Bob Kerman, the second and third Kerbals to look up (they still to this day argue over which of them was the third, as neither wants to admit that they believed Jeb at all -- and who can blame them?).

So, you see, given the storied history of Kerbin, it makes complete sense that they'd be flying rockets without having first noticed that some of the "stars" in the sky move differently, let alone determining that those are whole other worlds!!!

Back to the topic: I was excited about SCIENCE! Now I'm even more excited about getting the Observatory and finding what's there to be found!!

Edited October 31, 2013 by Kromey

[UberFuber]

I would prefer orbital telescopes

I would prefer that too, an orbital observatory that you need to launch.

[Leatherneck]

Not only an observatory, I'd love to have some sort of "telescope" tech. Not only could we build an observatory on Kerbin, but we could eventually put up a "Kubble" telescope into space.

Abso-freakin-lutely. I would love to get a "Kubble" Telescope, especially since we have seen and learned quite a bit from projects like this.

[CaptainBlue]

If KSP does get other star systems, and random generate ones. It would be great that you can discover/generate it via the Observatory interface. By "scanning" for them.

Also, getting more science points(and perhaps some missions requirements for more funding) and discover more Kerbol planets by launching solar orbiting telescope sats...

[Skyler4856]

The best system would be the requirement for a Kepler like telescope for extrasolar planets

[kiwiak]

Observatory/space telescope functionality shoudl be very limited.

Just to let know player, that there is planet up there, and estimated size.

What about atmosphere, will i be able to aerobreake? Are any moons there? How much delta v will i need to put ship into orbit? Well, find out by yourself.

Think about it, how exciting would be to send probe, or even better, manned exploration ship to find what new planet looks like.

Edited October 31, 2013 by kiwiak

[littlecheese999]

Observatory/space telescope functionality shoudl be very limited.

Just to let know player, that there is planet up there, and estimated size.

What about atmosphere, will i be able to aerobreake? Are any moons there? How much delta v will i need to put ship into orbit? Well, find out by yourself.

Think about it, how exciting would be to send probe, or even better, manned exploration ship to find what new planet looks like.

hmmmm.....thats a fair point

[deepsheep]

I just want an observatory to calculate launch timing. I don't like having to rely on the protractor mod to calculate launch windows. If the observatory allowed me to track the planets in the sky it would satisfy the astronomy geek in me.

[Mirimus]

I think Torham is right on this one. I would love to see new Planetary bodies too, but have a feeling its just a tool for overcoming the career obstacles soon to be in place.

Pulstar makes an interesting point there .... it would be cool if your observatory could not detect some of the moons and you had to send probes like voyager to find them.

Which ever way they play it though, i think we can all be agreed its going to make for some fun times!

[Szkeptik]

I think if it's just about finding the planets that everybody who plays the game already knows are there, it's boring and not worth it. After the budget gets implemented you won't be able to build your first craft to be a Jool return mothership anyway, so the Observatory would just be a semi-useless gameplay delayer mechanic. MAybe if other star systems get implemented with procedural planets in them then I could see an observatory as a usefull and fun thing to have.