[CLOSED] Kerbin and Beyond: A New Beginning

Northstar1989 · August 4, 2014

Progress continues.

First of all, the LV-T45 Drive Section got an unplanned Munar Intercept that stabilized its orbit so it will no longer enter the atmosphere of Kerbin. I guess I'll need to perform a more rapid aerobrake if I want this to work before the Mun comes around the next time...

Second, I successfully recovered Ronlorf Kerman (and one of the Crew Capsules) from Kerbin orbit:

Too bad the docking port, which survived all the way through re-entry (due to the VERY shallow re-entry trajectory, as well as some tumble I introduced into the re-entry to spread out the heat) ended up crumpling up when the command pod landed on the side of a mountain instead of near sea-level...

I did manage to get some great contracts out of the recovery mission, though:

Hello sweet LV-N's! Now my Kerbals will REALLY glow green! :cool:

I apologize for the much lower resolution now, by the way. It appear that Active Texture Management is over-reducing the textures on 64x Aggressive mode in its current version. Now all my rockets look EXTREMELY bland- but I've never seen such a reduction in lag!

Regards,

Northstar

Edited August 4, 2014 by Northstar1989

Northstar1989 · August 5, 2014

I've only got sporadic pictures of my next bit of progress, but that's OK, because I have a perfectly good YouTube video uploaded of my Twitch broadcast showcasing my latest play session:

Sorry about the resolution by the way- the recording was made at a much higher resolution (720p if memory serves). I'm going to have to look into why YouTube automatically downgraded it to 360p...

Before the start of the video, however, I adjusted the periapsis of the LV-T45 Drive Section so that it could aerobrake into a lower Kerbin orbit:

After that, the video picks up as I launched my Duna Probe atop a new, SLS-style SRB-based rocket:

Subsequently, I docked the Space Taxi with the fuel canister I left in LKO earlier (when I launched the Space Taxi) and sent it on its merry way to the Mun:

This wasn't super clear from the video, but my plan is to use the fuel carried by the space taxi to dock the Reusable Lander back up with the Munar Mobile Lab, and in the process transfer as much fuel over as possible for a future Mun landing (this time I'll have to head further from the equator, so it'll take a full fuel-load on the lander) while still leaving the Space Taxi with enough fuel to carry a Kerbal (probably Jendin Kerman, since Bob got the privilege of being the first Kerbal to set foot on the Mun) and the scientific data from the Mun landings back to Kerbin

Anyways, after that, the LV-T45 Drive Section made its aerobrake pass on Kerbin, my Duna Probe made a burn to intercept it near apoapsis, and rendezvous+docking was carried out, followed by orbit-stabilization:

I made up much of my plan as I went along, having been unable to nail it down beforehand, but I did get as far as deciding that the LV-T45 Drive Section would be a better choice for a transfer tug than the existing radial engines on the Duna Probe, as a LV-T45 has a much better ISP (370s) than a Rockomax 24-77 (300) or a LV-1R (290). The additional thrust should also be extremely useful for an accurate burn.

Therefore, the three sections will proceed to Munar orbit as one unit (once a transfer window arises), where the LV-1R equipped fuel canister will detach and likely act as a fuel depot (the Mobile Munar Lab will eventually be departing for Minmus, and then Duna) in the short run, and a fuel-ferry between a larger depot and craft in need of refueling in the longer run (the very small engines should help keep fuel fraction high- making it optimal for very-low Delta-V hops between Munar orbits; while the low part-count will generate far less lag than bringing a very large interplanetary vessel within physics-loading range of a large Munar space station)

Finally, the Space Taxi rendezvoused and docked with the Reusable Mun Lander, and will soon be moving with it the Mobile Munar Lab to pick up Jendin Kerman and the scientific data (once again, this is better-documented in my YouTube video). I hope you enjoy the screenshots:

The actual rendezvous with the Munar Mobile Lab will have to wait until I can get a working installation of Kerbal Alarm Clock for 0.24.2 though. I haven't the patience to wait 30 minutes of real-life time for the combination to reach the optimal Maneuver Node 5 hours down the line at 10x time-warp (the maximum speed for that altitude), and there's a great risk of fast-forwarding through the node if I perform the time-acceleration at the Tracking Station instead...

Regards,

Northstar

Edited August 5, 2014 by Northstar1989

Northstar1989 · August 10, 2014

I've got 3 more YouTube videos for those of you who want the full story of my continued progress:

For the rest of you, I'm still taking screenshots, of course...

The first screenshots I captured were from my completing a contract to test a Turbojet at high altitude:

Subsequent to that I rendezvoused the Lander + Space Taxi combo with the Mobile Munar Lab, and transferred over as much scientific data as I could:

Proceeded to rendezvous with a Crew Capsule in LKO:

And thereafter recovered Jendin Kerman and the Munar data by splashing down in the oceans of Kerbin. I was so low on fuel though that the Kerbal actually had to get out and PUSH (it took roughly one EVA pack of fuel to get an atmospheric periapsis, and another to lower it further and speed up the recovery- so technically I could have done it with EVA fuel being deducted from capsule Monopropellant supplies...)

Got some great data out of the Mun in the end- enough to justify sending off heavier rockets to more distant destinations in the future! (well, I unlocked heavier rocketry techs to be precise)

Hello 3.75 meter rocket parts, quad-couplers, and 2.5 meter SRB's and docking ports! Next step, Nuclear Rocketry and KW Rocketry 5 meter parts! (with Experimental Rocketry)

Regards,

Northstar

Edited August 10, 2014 by Northstar1989

Northstar1989 · August 16, 2014

OK, sorry for the delay since the last post guys. I've been busy with real life, and getting really deep into a Dwarf Fortress kick of late... (by the way, if you're curious, you can follow the Succession Game I started in Dwarf Fortress here: http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=142169.msg5576354#msg5576354)

Anyways, I launched a Heavy Fuel Tanker, both to refuel my Space Taxi and Duna Rocket, and to test out a Mainsail engine splashed-down on Kerbin (upon recovery of the fuel tanker's upper stage- normally I would have used a lighter, cheaper, and more efficient engine for the upper stage)

Of course, in typical fashion, I forgot to switch to the lower stage (basically 4 of the SLS-style SRB's slapped together under a quad-coupler) and recover it as it re-entered Kerbin's atmosphere... Oh well.

I then proceeded to rendezvous with and refuel my Space Taxi:

And after that, my Duna probe- which was a little tricky, since I had to actually detach the LV-T45 Drive Section, fill THAT with fuel, and then dock it back up with the Duna Probe and central fuel tank. I didn't actually have enough fuel to fill the entire thing and still have enough fuel left that I felt I could safely recover the fuel tanker, however...

I hope you guys enjoy the updates! And don't worry, I'll have more stuff going on soon enough...

Regards,

Northstar

Northstar1989 · August 22, 2014

More pictures for you guys.

But first, I feel the need to briefly relate to you all that I actually had *another* YouTube/Twitch upload that I meant to show you guys, but lost due to Twitch muting portions of the audio (due to "audio recognition copyright protection", but there was nothing audible but the stock KSP music) and then AUTO-DELETING the video (they only save videos a certain number of days) before responding to my request to fix the video (I hadn't uploaded it to YouTube yet as I wanted them to fix the audio muting first). My local copy of the video was also corrupted, so I couldn't upload that either.

Just thought I'd let you guys know, since I know my pictures have been a little sparse lately since I started relying more heavily on YouTube/Twitch to keep you guys in the loop...

Anyways, I started off with an aerobrake pass of my previous fuel tanker (which shall be used to further test the cost-effectiveness of parachute-assisted soft landings near the KSC in 0.24.2, as well as the Mainsail engine "while splashed down" for a contract)

I then set about launching a newer "Heavy Fuel Tanker Mk2" from the KSC. The main difference is that the upper stage relies on a cheaper and more efficient Skipper, rather than a Mainsail, rocket engine...

The launch stage of SRB's also made a nice retro-rocket assisted touchdown (using Seperatrons for part of the braking was much cheaper than relying entirely on radial parachutes)

I then proceeded to rendezvous the fuel tanker with my Space Taxi, and transfer over Jebediah Kerman before abandoning the Crew Capsule in an elliptical orbit (which should make it less costly to de-orbit in the future...)

My Space Taxi and Fuel Tanker then each proceeded to separately make a Munar transfer. Technically I could have saved fuel by sending them together and using the LV-909 engine, but the TWR for that would have been abysmal and required 5 or 6 periapsis kicks for an accurate transfer... (it also would have placed a lot of parts in loading range with the Munar Mobile Lab at once- this way only the fuel tanker or the Space Taxi has to shar physics range with the Munar Mobile Lab at any given time)

Despite being the second vessel to make a Munar transfer, the fuel tanker should ideally be the first vessel to rendezvous with the Munar Mobile Lab- but we'll see how that goes... (the Space Taxi will hang around after rendezvous until one of my Kerbals returns to Kerbin, so this will prevent me from having both craft in physics range for as long or at all)

My insistence on placing only one docking port on the Munar Mobile Lab to save on mission cost is really making itself felt, though (ideally, the Space Taxi and fuel tanker would be able to dock with the Munar Mobile Lab without having to displace the Reusable Lander, and without having to wait around nearby before/after while other craft are docked...)

Regards,

Northstar

Edited August 25, 2014 by Northstar1989

Northstar1989 · August 27, 2014

For those of you who didn't see my announcement on the OP (say you've actually been following this thread and had this page bookmarked, or clicked on the "Last" apge button w/o reading the OP), I've decided to close this thread.

There were several factors that went into this decision, but the most prominent were lack of challenge for me, and low readership of this thread.

In order to increase the challenge, and keep *ME* more interested, I've decided to start a new Career save (and corresponding thread) with Real Solar System's 6.4x Kerbin alternate config (so stock and mod parts are realistically balanced without up-sizing to real life scale), RealFuels, and TAC Life Support from the very beginning; as well as all the other mods you've become familiar with my using... (FAR, DRE, MechJeb2, Chatterer, KW Rocketry, and Active Texture Management).

I apologize to those of you whom this decision may have upset. I intend to make this new Career save a lasting one, though- I highly doubt I will be adding in any other mods that usually involve starting a completely new save like moving to RSS 6.4x does... (KSP 0.25 is likely to come out long before KSP-Interstellar updates for 0.24.2)

Check the OP for the link to the new thread as soon as it's up.

Regards,

Northstar

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