Duna Constellation mission pack. First V.10 rebuild craft pics (Altair lander)

[Majorjim!]

100 YAY!!!

come on v1.0! jim needs those fairings!

LOL hey man. Thank you! And thanks to everyone who has commented so far. And for fourteen and a half thousand views!

[DMSP]

Could we get some Sneak peaks?

[Majorjim!]

Could we get some Sneak peaks?

You know, I was working on the landers the other day and took a few shots that could be considered sneak peeks.

It's Easter holidays so my overlords are working me like a dog.

I will see if I have time/strength to post them tomorrow. Having said that I passed my boat handing exam today so that's something!

MJ

Edited April 1, 2015 by Majorjim

[DMSP]

I started a replica mission.

Cargo lander is done.

Working on the rest.

-DMSP

[Majorjim!]

I started a replica mission.

Cargo lander is done.

Working on the rest.

-DMSP

I'm super happy to hear you've taken on the challenge man. How is your cargo lander?

[Darth Lazarus]

okay ... downloaded teh craftfiles to chek them out

maybe i will do a mission ... maybe ... x3

[Majorjim!]

okay ... downloaded teh craftfiles to chek them out

maybe i will do a mission ... maybe ... x3

Awesome man! It would be best to wait for the updated crafts though. someone reported that .90 caused some issues. Minor stuff but I wouldn't want you to launch everything, fly to Duna and encounter a problem.

Also the new launchers will have a much lower part count.

[Darth Lazarus]

yeah i noticed the partcount ... around 500 for the smaller ones and upt to 1000 for teh big ones ...

the look of the rockets and payloads are very accurate and awesome. flying too (besides the big lag for me). and i saw many things, which can be improved: reduced partcounts for fairings, deorbit motors for upper stages. balancing thrust and fuel for the lifterrockets, using a decoupler for the payloads so the fuel would be not drained by the upperstage, maybe a working interstagering like on my SLS

keep the good work Majorjim

hrm ... maybe i should do a "modern" Mars Mission with SLS Block I & II, Orion and the Copernicus.

[Majorjim!]

yeah i noticed the partcount ... around 500 for the smaller ones and upt to 1000 for teh big ones ...

the look of the rockets and payloads are very accurate and awesome. flying too (besides the big lag for me). and i saw many things, which can be improved: reduced partcounts for fairings, deorbit motors for upper stages. balancing thrust and fuel for the lifterrockets, using a decoupler for the payloads so the fuel would be not drained by the upperstage, maybe a working interstagering like on my SLS

keep the good work Majorjim

hrm ... maybe i should do a "modern" Mars Mission with SLS Block I & II, Orion and the Copernicus.

Thanks man, I'm happy you took the time to look at it. Yeah part counts where high mostly due to the large fairings. This will obviously improve with KSP v1.0.

Yeah I kinda wish I had added separation motors, but for me, as far as I can remember, the upper stages had enough fuel for deorbit.

And yeah I remember deciding not to add inter-stages simply as I was blow out by the immensity of the whole build.. The rebuilt rockets will have all these things and more.

I don't ever recall having fuel drain from the payload stages though.. I think what I did was disable crossfeed on the docking ports before launch.

I don't think I wrote this in the flight notes as there are so many craft in there I didn't want the post to be a wall of text. I did however write that if anybody wants to fly the mission to contact me for detailed instructions. Whether I would have remembered that detail in any case, I don't know..

Let me know If you want to chat about making your own mission. Having said that, and I don't even know if you intended this or not but I would rather nobody use any of the craft for separate builds until after I have completed the rebuild.

Thanks again mate!

MJ

[DMSP]

I'm super happy to hear you've taken on the challenge man. How is your cargo lander?

Well, I learned from the best.

The cargo lander has 6 kerbal capacity, lots of fuel, and outdoors science compartment with seats, a relay transmitter and generator (separate rover that lands with it), one rover tug, and a parking bay.

I can't work on it now because I don't have my Cpu, but it's almost done.

It is also perfectly balanced.

- - - Updated - - -

Oh, and nice job passing the boat handing exam!

-DMSP

I have an idea for the CTV.

Everything in mine is stock too.

[Majorjim!]

Well, I learned from the best.

The cargo lander has 6 kerbal capacity, lots of fuel, and outdoors science compartment with seats, a relay transmitter and generator (separate rover that lands with it), one rover tug, and a parking bay.

I can't work on it now because I don't have my Cpu, but it's almost done.

It is also perfectly balanced.

- - - Updated - - -

Oh, and nice job passing the boat handing exam!

-DMSP

I have an idea for the CTV.

Everything in mine is stock too.

Cheers mate! I look forward to seeing the landers and the CTV. Yes it is very important to balance the lander for powered descents. I have finished balancing my two landers today. I had to make a few alterations from the real proposed ones in terms of engine numbers and position. It just wasn't possible to balance them through fuel drain. Not because they are poorly designed though, its just a consequence of making it the shape of the real proposed landers. They are asymmetrical..

Anywhoo my fingers remain twiddling until v1.0... Oh and I have a pic of each lander taken from below in flight. They are subject to change though so I may hold off showing them.

Edited April 5, 2015 by Majorjim

[Wolf Baginski]

I hit the docking-port crossfeed problem myself over the weekend. I was using an upper-stage with a docking adaptor to orbit a lander, rendevous with my Kerbin Station, and power the out and back trips to Mun orbit.

If the part.cfg has a fuelCrossFeed parameter the lander fuel tank was drained. Yes, it can be manually set to crossfeed off. while on the pad, or any time in the flight. It's possible that you could use Mod Manager to set the default state to off, and that would leave you the manual-on option. I'd have to check, but the parameter isn't in all docking adaptors.

There were a couple of things that would justify having a checklist, rather than changing a parameter. A checklist on a switchable feature is realistic, though using Mod Manager would be acceptable. It hides the countdown details.

[Majorjim!]

I hit the docking-port crossfeed problem myself over the weekend. I was using an upper-stage with a docking adaptor to orbit a lander, rendevous with my Kerbin Station, and power the out and back trips to Mun orbit.

If the part.cfg has a fuelCrossFeed parameter the lander fuel tank was drained. Yes, it can be manually set to crossfeed off. while on the pad, or any time in the flight. It's possible that you could use Mod Manager to set the default state to off, and that would leave you the manual-on option. I'd have to check, but the parameter isn't in all docking adaptors.

There were a couple of things that would justify having a checklist, rather than changing a parameter. A checklist on a switchable feature is realistic, though using Mod Manager would be acceptable. It hides the countdown details.

Thanks for the advice Wolf but I wont be modding any files or using pre-made mods. I am happy to stick with full stock and just have, as you say, pre flight checklists.

[H3lios]

I was able to make it to Duna and back, (with mechjeb's help of course) however it required manual separation of certain stages on all but the propulsion modules since using the staging system caused the ship to explode.

[Majorjim!]

I was able to make it to Duna and back, (with mechjeb's help of course) however it required manual separation of certain stages on all but the propulsion modules since using the staging system caused the ship to explode.

Can you be more specific? What did you get to Duna? As I have never once had any of the craft explode. Not in over 20 test flights..

This is very strange. I know the craft was changed by the .90 update but I know others who have flown a full mission with no explosions. In fact thinking about it there are no separating parts that could possibly cause any explosion..

I know this because I tested the living hell out of all the craft. As I always do before release.

Edited April 9, 2015 by Majorjim

[H3lios]

Can you be more specific? What did you get to Duna? As I have never once had any of the craft explode. Not in over 20 test flights..

This is very strange. I know the craft was changed by the .90 update but I know others who have flown a full mission with no explosions. In fact thinking about it there are no separating parts that could possibly cause any explosion..

I know this because I tested the living hell out of all the craft. As I always do before release.

I got the whole mission to Duna. As for the exploding, its the 3rd vehicle that I think is my fault for staging too early. The only changes I've made is attaching a mechjeb controller to the nose cones and a solar pannel to the orbital booster since I'm not good enough to rendezvous with the propulsion mods before running out of power but they dont affect the flight at all.

[Majorjim!]

I got the whole mission to Duna. As for the exploding, its the 3rd vehicle that I think is my fault for staging too early. The only changes I've made is attaching a mechjeb controller to the nose cones and a solar pannel to the orbital booster since I'm not good enough to rendezvous with the propulsion mods before running out of power but they dont affect the flight at all.

Kudos for getting all the ships there! That takes some commitment man. Yes staging too early is the only reason for an explosion that makes sense as under normal use this is all but impossible.

By 'orbital booster' do you mean the red tank propulsion stages for the crew transfer vehicle and the two landers? Because they already have four little solar panels so they will never run out of power. How did they behave under mechjeb?

[H3lios]

Kudos for getting all the ships there! That takes some commitment man. Yes staging too early is the only reason for an explosion that makes sense as under normal use this is all but impossible.

By 'orbital booster' do you mean the red tank propulsion stages for the crew transfer vehicle and the two landers? Because they already have four little solar panels so they will never run out of power. How did they behave under mechjeb?

No, I mean the part that lifts the red tanks into orbit, one one that looks like it only has one engine but it really has two and you have to undock it to separate it. I'll try to find a picture, in any case, Mechjeb works great, it flys them from launch to orbit and rendezvouses with other parts perfectly. Transferring out to Duna is tricky though and I usually have to advance time by about a year before everything is in position. But thats all due to my terrible flying/planning.

*edit*

That part thats floating off is the part Im talking about. On ships 3 and 4 I have to add a solar panel since the landers themselves are in the caseing and not lasting long enugh to link up with the red tank and it's solar panel, unless I missed something.

Edited April 10, 2015 by H3lios

[Majorjim!]

No, I mean the part that lifts the red tanks into orbit, one one that looks like it only has one engine but it really has two and you have to undock it to separate it. I'll try to find a picture, in any case, Mechjeb works great, it flys them from launch to orbit and rendezvouses with other parts perfectly. Transferring out to Duna is tricky though and I usually have to advance time by about a year before everything is in position. But thats all due to my terrible flying/planning.

*edit*

http://i.imgur.com/Xc7l2vE.jpg

That part thats floating off is the part Im talking about. On ships 3 and 4 I have to add a solar panel since the landers themselves are in the caseing and not lasting long enugh to link up with the red tank and it's solar panel, unless I missed something.

Hmm. I haven't flown the ships for a while so its hard to say. All I know is I tested them a lot and never have any power issues at all. I dont remember if the landers in the aeroshells have RTGs or not. If not I would have just docked the propulsion stage to it and deployed the solar panel on it. Also if the landers don't have RTGs then they have enough power to detach from the propulsion stage at Duna, land and then use the solar panels.

There really shouldn't be any power issues at all man. I cannot overstate how much testing I did on these.

Edited April 11, 2015 by Majorjim

[H3lios]

Hmm. I haven't flown the ships for a while so its hard to say. All I know is I tested them a lot and never have any power issues at all. I dont remember if the landers in the aeroshells have RTGs or not. If not I would have just docked the propulsion stage to it and deployed the solar panel on it. Also if the landers don't have RTGs then they have enough power to detach from the propulsion stage at Duna, land and then use the solar panels.

There really shouldn't be any power issues at all man. I cannot overstate how much testing I did on these.

I don't doubt that, with the amount of work that went into these things. Its just a testament to my terrible terrible flying skills that I run out of power before I can dock with the propulsion stage to use its solar panel.

[Majorjim!]

I don't doubt that, with the amount of work that went into these things. Its just a testament to my terrible terrible flying skills that I run out of power before I can dock with the propulsion stage to use its solar panel.

Don't worry mate. Practice makes perfect so keep at it. As I said, it's been a while since I flew the craft. I have just about finished the landers. I have continued to work on them to improve a few things and I'm currently trying to add something a bit special (a KSP stock first I believe) but its proving very tricky..

I will be tearing apart the launchers come v1.0 so I will check for power sources and whatnot. Your gunna love the new craft man.

[DMSP]

Your gunna love the new craft man.

I don't doubt that one bit.

I'll love it so much. Be quick though, Squad, because my Duna window is in 243 Kerbal days and I am sending a whole lotta stuff there. I don't want this mission to miss it.

However, Jool window is up first, and I am almost done with building my Vall mission (In the VAB).

I'll send my bases and stuff over to Laythe, Vall, Bop and Pol (Not this time Tylo, sorry...) and then Duna comes 101 days later.

DMSP out here *Rushes to get more stuff into orbit*

[Majorjim!]

I don't doubt that one bit.

I'll love it so much. Be quick though, Squad, because my Duna window is in 243 Kerbal days and I am sending a whole lotta stuff there. I don't want this mission to miss it.

However, Jool window is up first, and I am almost done with building my Vall mission (In the VAB).

I'll send my bases and stuff over to Laythe, Vall, Bop and Pol (Not this time Tylo, sorry...) and then Duna comes 101 days later.

DMSP out here *Rushes to get more stuff into orbit*

Wow you have a lot of work to do!! Keep me posted on your progress mate, and yeah hurry up Squad!

I cant say how soon after 1.0 I will release the pack. There is still a lot of work to do and I will need some time to do fairing tests and such.

No doubt we will all figure them out quite quickly.

[WooDzor]

Wow you have a lot of work to do!! Keep me posted on your progress mate, and yeah hurry up Squad!

I cant say how soon after 1.0 I will release the pack. There is still a lot of work to do and I will need some time to do fairing tests and such.

No doubt we will all figure them out quite quickly.

Hi MJ, looks like you might need to take out the yellow swimming pool floater like tanks. Pity, it was a nice little detail :-(

[Majorjim!]

Hi MJ, looks like you might need to take out the yellow swimming pool floater like tanks. Pity, it was a nice little detail :-(

Hey man. Yeah maybe.. But I hope not. I was looking over my new landers to see how easy/hard it will be to remove them if they do decide to.

The tank added a real nice touch of colour to a build and a bit more spacey-ness as a lot of stuff in space is covered in gold. It's a fantastic heat reflector and the most ductile element.