Chaka Monkey - Closed Development Thread

[sojourner]

True. And the Falcon Heavy will at least have a demo flight this year. I don't know what the mass of a crewed Dragon would be...I wonder if it would be significantly heavier than the cargo version, and if the Falcon 9 1.1 could lift it into a useable orbit.

Yes, Falcon 9 1.1 has enough payload capacity for crew dragon.

[YANFRET]

I understand that the v1.1 only increases the payload to orbit and makes the entire thing more streamlined and easier to manufacture at a faster rate. I haven't found any data concerning its (possible) man-rating, so I'd greatly appreciate any info you can spare.

Well the entire system was designed to be man rated from day one, the 1.1 makes only incrimental changes to the 1.0 design for more power as you said.

One change in the 1.1 that I think is neat is the engine arrangement. On 1.0 it's a square grid but on 1.1 it is like a circle, which makes the structural load more evenly spaced, which I assume also helps reduce weight somewhere, so it's not just more fuel. But really the man ratable stuff was built in from 1.0, and the 1.1 just gives a little extra capacity for extra stuff that goes with dragon rider such as abort capability and extra cheese wheels.

[sojourner]

The new octagon engine arrangement also allows each engine to be identical (excepting the center engine) whereas F9 1.0 had to have corner engines and side engines with different mountings, gimbals, and plumbing layouts.

[YANFRET]

The new octagon engine arrangement also allows each engine to be identical (excepting the center engine) whereas F9 1.0 had to have corner engines and side engines with different mountings, gimbals, and plumbing layouts.

I didnt know that! Hey that makes a lot of sense. Cool facts.

[sojourner]

I didnt know that! Hey that makes a lot of sense. Cool facts.

Yep, that change reduced the variations of engines they had to build and also simplified assembly of the rocket since they no longer have to worry about which engine goes where (barring the center engine again). I am betting the guy that thought of it probably got a good raise for saving the company so much time and money.

[MainSailor]

Yep, that change reduced the variations of engines they had to build and also simplified assembly of the rocket since they no longer have to worry about which engine goes where (barring the center engine again). I am betting the guy that thought of it probably got a good raise for saving the company so much time and money.

I think the octaweb layout was planned from the start, and the arrangement of the engines on the 1.0 Falcon were probably just planned as part of a 'functional development' step, whereas SpaceX could fly the Falcon before the 1.1 version was ready (or rather, the engines, as I don't think a 1.0 version ever flew with the Merlin 1-D) to great success with the CRS missions.

I do think manned capability was planned for from the start, but as with reusability, the capability was probably planned for but perhaps not baked-in from day one. I actually don't know if man-rating includes additional hardware (you'd suspect abort systems would be linked to the payload rather than the booster core itself) rather than a reliability factor.

Also don't forget that some of the increase in payload from the 1.1 stems from the stretched fuel tanks on the first stage as much as the increase of thrust from the Merlin 1-D over the 1-C (about 100 more kN at sea level, if I'm remembering correctly).

[Krevsin]

Yes, the Merlin 1D has the biggest TWR of any rocket engine to-date, if I recall correctly. It's also supposed to be the most efficient gas cycle engine burning kerosene ever built.

[YANFRET]

Fun with charts! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_orbital_rocket_engines

Edited January 30, 2014 by YANFRET

[sojourner]

I think the octaweb layout was planned from the start, and the arrangement of the engines on the 1.0 Falcon were probably just planned as part of a 'functional development' step, whereas SpaceX could fly the Falcon before the 1.1 version was ready (or rather, the engines, as I don't think a 1.0 version ever flew with the Merlin 1-D) to great success with the CRS missions.

No, the square arrangement of 1.0 is a heritage carry over of when SpaceX was going to build Falcon 5 (only 5 engines on the first stage). Remember, Falcon 5 and Falcon 9 were going to be the same rocket with only the number of first stage engines being different. When they decided that Falcon 5 wouldn't have the performance to make it worth building they were at a point where the thrust structure had already been designed. Only later when Falcon 5 was completely off the table and upgrading to 1.1 was being considered did they decide to change the thrust structure for the benefits previously listed.

Manned rating a rocket mostly deals with redundant systems and abort modes. Falcon 9 is built with those in place. Man rating the payload (crew dragon) is a separate process. There's even been talk of Boeing sending CST-100 up on Falcon 9.

Edited January 30, 2014 by sojourner

[YANFRET]

There's even been talk of Boeing sending CST-100 up on Falcon 9.

Which looks neat in the renderings as well.

Although with your keen eye I think the cheeky artist here is showing a 1.0 rocket just because it was a more readily available graphic.

Edited January 30, 2014 by YANFRET

[Mecripp]

Hope this is still a go because it looks so great please please keep working on it.

[DasBananenbrot]

Hope this is still a go because it looks so great please please keep working on it.

Don't forget what he said ....

Hey guys all is well but I'm taking a break from this because we got some great news for our family so I will come back to ya but something I've been working on for 5 years was just approved and that's gonna take priority obviously

I will not leave you hanging this project will get finished... please stand by.

LIFE IS AWESOME!!!

You guys are great. I promise I'l be back. Gotta paint my house for a minute lol

[YANFRET]

Still painting lol

Gotta get new tile down in the kitchen after that.

[DasBananenbrot]

Still painting lol

Gotta get new tile down in the kitchen after that.

Didn't meant the part with painting but well seems it took you quite some time

[lyndonguitar]

Where these parts from?

I like these landers

EDIT: Okay they are from other mods but he re-textured them which is why they seem new to me..

These are so great I can't wait to use them.

I hope it has support for TAC Life Support

Edited February 7, 2014 by lyndonguitar

[MainSailor]

I actually decided to remix the Chaka/Nothke textures a bit more with the Fustek parts to make a station that is a nod to Mir:

[YANFRET]

I actually decided to remix the Chaka/Nothke textures a bit more with the Fustek parts to make a station that is a nod to Mir:

http://i.imgur.com/9sNY5RK.png

Hey that's cool!

[MainSailor]

Hey that's cool!

Coming from you sir, that means a lot!

[YANFRET]

You know what this universe needs which I keep forgetting to ask someone to make?

RADIATORS.

You can't have a space station without radiators. On my Monkey Transfer Vehicle you can see white solar panel like things which I proffer as radiators, but I think we can do better. They should also make cooling part of the spacecraft requirements like fuel, control and electricity.

[boberts314]

You know what this universe needs which I keep forgetting to ask someone to make?

RADIATORS.

You can't have a space station without radiators. On my Monkey Transfer Vehicle you can see white solar panel like things which I proffer as radiators, but I think we can do better. They should also make cooling part of the spacecraft requirements like fuel, control and electricity.

KSP Interstellar simulates heat build up by tying it into electric charge generation. It's fairly robust, although it runs into trouble due to WasteHeat not building up unless the vessel is active.

[Mecripp]

You know what this universe needs which I keep forgetting to ask someone to make?

RADIATORS.

You can't have a space station without radiators. On my Monkey Transfer Vehicle you can see white solar panel like things which I proffer as radiators, but I think we can do better. They should also make cooling part of the spacecraft requirements like fuel, control and electricity.

Like NearFuture mod does ? the cooling panels for the radiator you can put on engine to keep them cool 2.

[nothke]

You know what this universe needs which I keep forgetting to ask someone to make?

RADIATORS.

You can't have a space station without radiators. On my Monkey Transfer Vehicle you can see white solar panel like things which I proffer as radiators, but I think we can do better. They should also make cooling part of the spacecraft requirements like fuel, control and electricity.

A number of modders have actually tried doing the heat management system. The problem is that, although it sounds simple, it actually requires a lot of little systems to work together, such as stock heat (that you can detect with the thermometer), convection, conduction, radiation (especially from the sun), atmosphere friction and pressure, electrical circuits, and so on. I am always lobbying for the big team up to create the mod finally, so any support is welcome =)

Interstellar has heat as an actual resource (wasteHeat), and uses it only on generators and such. It's more a gameplay-interesting system than a more realistic and modular system.

[YANFRET]

A number of modders have actually tried doing the heat management system. The problem is that, although it sounds simple, it actually requires a lot of little systems to work together, such as stock heat (that you can detect with the thermometer), convection, conduction, radiation (especially from the sun), atmosphere friction and pressure, electrical circuits, and so on. I am always lobbying for the big team up to create the mod finally, so any support is welcome =)

Interstellar has heat as an actual resource (wasteHeat), and uses it only on generators and such. It's more a gameplay-interesting system than a more realistic and modular system.

For real. Maybe I can settle for a nice looking radiator panel system.

Oh look; NASA's image of the day is on topic!

Edited February 10, 2014 by YANFRET

[Captain_Party]

Where do I get those alternate FusTek textures?

[MainSailor]

Where do I get those alternate FusTek textures?

First page - the Nothke pack:

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/64993-Chaka-Monkey-Exploration-Systems-*-many-large-images-*?p=890433&viewfull=1#post890433

Yanfret also posted some of his custom ones a few pages back, let me look.

Edit: This post: http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/64993-Chaka-Monkey-Exploration-Systems-*-many-large-images-*?p=925937&viewfull=1#post925937 has Yanfret's new ones, with .cfgs