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"Go ahead and drop the boosters."

Whackjob

By Whackjob
in KSP1 Mission Reports

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Whackjob

Whackjob

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I am filled with pride. And coffee.

TBTxnsp.png

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, the first two modules docked of The Gossamer.

Now to design, build, and launch the kethane refining module. This I intend to go on next, as I will require its weight to somewhat offset the weight of the transplanetary drive.

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Whackjob

Whackjob

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What ever happened to your magnum opus?

I found something bigger to do.

A final picture before I coma for the night:

ZuR6EFw.png

The Kethane module appears to be complete. Will try to boost it into orbit and dock it tomorrow.

#EDIT: After a second examination, it appears the drills would be at the same level or lower than the landing gear. First fix for tomorrow.

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Carl

Carl

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Quick Question Whackjob. You've very clearly got all those docking ports aligned such that they'll all dock as one, how with all those girders do you get such perfect alignment, i doubt simple eye job's are accurate enough...

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Whackjob

Whackjob

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Quick Question Whackjob. You've very clearly got all those docking ports aligned such that they'll all dock as one, how with all those girders do you get such perfect alignment, i doubt simple eye job's are accurate enough...

They never always dock as one. I think. One docks, the rest seem to try to dock but just hold by the magnetism. I just got them pretty close and lined everything up by RCS before putting them together.

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Whackjob

Whackjob

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How?!?! I don't understand how your computer can take that kind of punishment. There are no words.

With patience. The youtube clip of the EVA tour around the two modules was going at 3 - 5 fps. But of course, that's with running fraps as well.

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Whackjob

Whackjob

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*cracks knuckles* De-office complete. Time to finish that Kethane module and get 'er up there.

#EDIT: Picture:

Y3Et22M.png

Updated Kethane module. Repositioned drills as to not hang below landing gear module legs and still contact dirt. Did action groups seven through nine to scan, mine, and refine. Building launch system.

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Spatzimaus

Spatzimaus

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They never always dock as one. I think. One docks, the rest seem to try to dock but just hold by the magnetism.

Pretty much. This sort of thing is one of the reasons I liked using the Common Berthing Mechanisms mod (later rolled into FusTek), back in 0.18-0.19; its ports had stronger magnets (at the price of about twice the mass per part) than the stock ports, and there were 3.75m ports to go with KW Rocketry's tanks. A single CBM 3.75m port has about as much binding strength as your entire set of 7 ClampOTron Sr.'s. This made it much easier to make solid connections in orbit without having to align an entire array of smaller ports. (It was even worse back then, since there WAS no stock 2.5m port at the time; imagine trying to dock something that uses dozens of 1.25m ports to hold things in place.) But if you're staying with stock parts, that sort of array is really your only option.

But these days, I just like lifting everything in a single boost, no docking necessary. My largest SSTO booster's about 8000 tons, meaning it can lift about a thousand tons maximum, so it's a lot easier to build everything in one piece in the VAB. Whackjob's designs are obviously bigger, though.

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Whackjob

Whackjob

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Going for orbit with the kethane module. Success uncertain. Unsure how to get it over to the ship under construction. Might swing it with RCS alone. Might just launch another leg assembly, dock it to kethane, and use the engines on the leg to haul it to the ship. We'll see.

#EDIT: Orbit insertion a failure. Module weighs way more than I was expecting. Need to add more Delta-V.

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Whackjob

Whackjob

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The Mun will serve as the initial trial run. When the seven-unit design is complete, we do a munar landing, refuel, return to LKO. That's the shakedown run. With this, I will spot any design flaws and redo what modules are necessary and replace them in The Gossamer. Then? Then I shall take a solar tour. I do need to visit the many moons of Jool.

Quick update: To my infinite annoyance, I was a mere 90 delta-V short of achieving orbit. So I'm gonna slap boosters on it. Standard boosters.

a6eBje1.png

I failed you, humble kethane module. All for the want of a booster or two.

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Whackjob

Whackjob

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Final update tonight. Failed to even put her into orbit. I'm a hair away, but it'll have to wait for tomorrow.

You know, I have to laugh at myself. I continuously misgauge how long certain projects will take me. Four days I've worked on this. I thought I'd be done already. Instead, two of seven modules are ready to go. Well. I have the time. And the patience. And the lack of sensibilities to build smaller and more efficient.

It'll work out.

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codepants

codepants

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Final update tonight. Failed to even put her into orbit. I'm a hair away, but it'll have to wait for tomorrow.

You know, I have to laugh at myself. I continuously misgauge how long certain projects will take me. Four days I've worked on this. I thought I'd be done already. Instead, two of seven modules are ready to go. Well. I have the time. And the patience. And the lack of sensibilities to build smaller and more efficient.

It'll work out.

Keep trying! We believe in you!

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