[FINISHED] Northstar's Collaborative Kerbal Career Campaign

Northstar1989 · November 18, 2014

Hey all,

Sorry for the delay since the last post! I've been a little distracted with other things lately.

Anyways, I began setting up my first permanent infrastructure a few days ago with the launch of some KSP-Interstellar ISRU Refineries. I've posted screenshots below, but I also live-streamed this on Twitch (the total mission length was over 5 hours including vessel-design time and responding to chat, so there is NO WAY I'm uploading it on YouTube). Make sure to check in on my channel there some time!

Like all of my launches lately, this was a Space-X style launch. The launch stage returned to actually safely land on the launchpad biome (landing on the actual launchpad is a little too much precision for a casual gamer like me- remember, I'm not doing this for a living like the engineers at Space-X!)

The remainder of the rocket, upper stage and all (technically, refueling on LKO would have been more efficient- as it would have meant I wasn't pushing empty fuel tank mass to the Mun, but I launched into an elliptical orbit to begin with...) then performed a Munar insertion, which went quite smoothly, as did the subsequent capture burn...

After arriving at the Mun, the designated skycrane section detached and flew the reactor down to the surface. This proved to be quite difficult due to the mass-imbalance from having the solar panel on one side and the docking port on the other.

After flying down the first reactor, the skycrane returned to orbit for the second one:

In hindsight, I probably should have designed the reactors to be completely balanced in terms of mass (with a small fuel tank on one side to balance the docking port on the other, and solar panels in 2x symmetry), but I guess I wasn't thinking super-clearly when I carried out this mission...

Anyways, the second reactor was landed as well without (major) incident after several F5/F9 attempts in which I figured out the correct adjustments to the skycrane's thruster power-levels (asymmetrical thrust was necessary for stability) to account for the mass-imbalance... Then I attempted the (EXTREMELY TRICKY) business of making a "hop" to bring it closer to the first reactor, which resulted in countless explosions and disasters (due to the extremely low fuel levels left in the skycrane at this point) before I finally managed to succeed in bringing the two (somewhat) closer together...

Since the reactors are still too far apart to connect via KAS pipes/winches, and are a pain to fly around using skycranes, the next step will be to land a rover to drag the two reactors closer to each other. I'm thinking one with a "Klaw" so that I can line the two reactors up and connect them (as well as a fuel tank connector-section I intend to send over to go between them, and store the Liquid Oxygen they produce from Munar regolith...) without having to use the docking ports, and perform unmanned refueling operations once the refineries are active (using the rover as a "fuel bowzer" for liquid oxygen- integrated oxygen tanks will also make the rover more stable when moving around the refineries) without having to mess with precisely-placed docking ports or Infernal Robotics arms...

After that, I'm going to need to attach a heavier-duty power-source (such as a nuclear reactor or Microwave Beamed Power Receiver) and accompanying additional radiator-area (probably on the topside docking-ports originally used to attach the refineries to the skycrane) before the ISRU Refineries will become fully-operational, as they are quite power-hungry, and the integrated solar panels will be able to do little more than power the active-cooling units (RealFuels Thermal Fins) I plan to include on the final fuel tanks, due to their comparatively low power output and the day/night cycle on the Munar surface...

I probably would have been better-off leaving out the integrated solar panels, and designing in Microwave Beamed Power Receivers right from the outset- but my hope was that the solar panels would provide enough power to run the refineries at a slow rate with a lower startup-cost (Microwave Transceivers are expensive, like in real life). This proved ill-advised, as the Liquid Oxygen produced by the ISRU refineries boils off faster than it is produced when stored in uninsulated, un-cooled fuel tanks, and the refineries only have the meager power of those two solar panels to run off...

However, NONE of this can be attempted before I unlock the "Klaw" and rover wheels- so the next step will be another conventional (hypergolic-fueled, for low boil-off and compact lander size) Mun landing to obtain additional !SCIENCE! I've already designed a new (slightly heavier) lander for this purpose, and some of you watching me on Twitch (either live or in the archived recordings) may have even seen the design already- which I actually launch-tested and got most of the way to orbit before discovering I forgot to set Action Groups, or some silly but non-critical detail like that... (which resulted in a revert)

As it currently stands, the Kerosene/LOX transfer stage used to carry the ISRU refineries to the Mun is also still sitting in Low Munar Orbit with just a tiny bit of Kerosene left onboard. Although it is too large and has too high of a TWR (and thus large engine-mass) to be practical or cost-effective for most Kerbin-system missions (such as Munar landings and returns), excepting possibly the movement of very large fuel depots from LKO to the Mun/Minmus; it should make for an *excellent* Duna transfer-stage when I am ready to send my first heavy payloads there (whether manned missions or ISRU refineries). I'll have to refuel it with Kerosene from Kerbin and Liquid Oxygen from the Mun first though...

Regards,

Northstar

Edited November 18, 2014 by Northstar1989

Northstar1989 · November 25, 2014

Hey guys.

Sorry for the delay in updates again. I've been busy with a few things, and out of town for much of the past two days...

Anyways, I launched my next Mun mission:

As usual, a magnetically-assisted SpaceX-style launch (if only we would start performing these in real life...) The launch stage made a smooth recovery:

After which, the upper stage continued its burn to orbit. FMRS no longer tends to cause my rockets to spin about randomly when re-loaded (although I think installing Kerbal Joint Reinforcement also helped), so I was able to safely load up the upper stage on a sub-orbital trajectory w/o having to lose time to random spinning.

The mission vehicle then continued on to its Munar injection, using the lander engines for propulsion (as opposed to giving the Command/Service Module more powerful engines of its own) to save mass:

After arriving at the Mun, the mission vehicle then performed a 2-part capture (first capturing into an elliptical orbit, and then circularizing at the next periapsis) to save fuel, also adjusting inclination before circularization, and rendezvoused with the orbital science-station...

The lander and command/service module then broke apart, and docked to different parts of the station. Meanwhile, the station jettisoned its engine (used to bring the Integrated Science Module to the Mun) to free a docking port for the Service Module... The engine will remain in Munar orbit as debris- I eventually intend to use it and similar debris as reaction mass for an orbital Mass Driver.

The Kerbals then transferred out of the Command/Service Module and into the science laboratory, and fuel was transferred over into the lander and Command/Service Module in preparation for landing...

The landing went smoothly, but see if you can't spot what's wrong here:

That's right! I accidentally hauled a giant empty fuel tank all the way from orbit down to the Munar surface, when it was meant to remain part of the orbital station as an additional fuel-storage module...

Nonetheless, the landing went smoothly, and I'll hopefully have more progress to report Soon.

Regards,

Northstar

Edited December 6, 2014 by Northstar1989

Northstar1989 · December 6, 2014

The Mun Lander made a smooth take-off and rendezvous with the Munar Orbital Science Station (currently called the "Munar Waystation", but I'm going to re-name it, as MOSS sounds cooler) despite the extra fuel tank I brought down to the surface. A little wasted fuel, but no biggie, right? I'm already saving a lot on costs with clever little tricks like my Space-X style reusable launch vehicles, and my magnetically-assisted launches (speaking of which, I need to get around to re-releasing the rebalanced, more realistic mass-drivers as a standalone mod like I promised...)

I am concerned about my space program's budget, though. I really need to get into good habits with that- ESPECIALLY since in 0.90 Squad has apparently decided to go into Super-hard/EVIL mode, and severely limit your spaceflight options until you come up with MAJOR MOOLAH to upgrade the Space Center's various facilities... For that reason, this may be one of the few updates I hold off on switching to for quite a while- not to mention I have no idea how easy it would be to upgrade this pre-0.90 save to it with all my mods installed...

Anyways, a crew rotation and a clean out of the experiments later, the lander was back on its way to the Munar surface. It's so over-engineered I didn't even need to refuel it! (actually, I'm thinking about whether I shouldn't have decreased the Procedural Parts fuel tank's volume-utilization to save mass- I needed a tank this wide to keep a low CoM, and this tall for aerodynamic reasons...) And I didn't have the spare fuel available to do so even if I wanted to anyways!

And, then, live from the Munar surface, we have !SCIENCE!

For those of you not getting the Dwarf Fortress reference, by the way, you really ought to go and play that game. It's 100% free, and untold amounts of awesomeness.

Anyways, more updates will be coming soon. Until then, this is Northstar, signing off.

P.S. I'm aware of the general "Science" internet meme, but this really is specific to Dwarf Fortress. Just look up what it means when an object's (or Dwarf's) name is between two exclamation points in Dwarf Fortress if you're curious...

Northstar1989 · December 10, 2014

I know I've been a little slow on posting updates lately, but I've been trying to troubleshoot my way through some MAJOR bugs with RealFuels (currently, using the latest dev version of RealFuels and the Stockalike config, the fuel tanks are stuck on LF/O, the engines on their default *realistic* fuel mix, and tech-levels are completely unavailable- making anything but an electric-propeller aircraft completely unusable right now...)

Anyways, I've still got some backed-up progress I haven't reported here yet, so here it is...

First of all, I made a suborbital hop after my last Mun landing, and collected a bit more Science before ascending to orbit:

Then, I ascended back to orbit and rendezvoused with the Munar Waystation/ Munar Orbital Science Station- and the attached Command/Service Module (CSM) designed to take my Kerbals home...

After cleaning out the experiments, prepping the Command/Service Module (CSM) a little, and transferring over the Science- my Kerbals were ready to return home:

The return-burn went entirely smoothly:

The CSM then made SEVERAL aerobrake passes, before safely returning to Kerbin's surface near the KSC:

Following that, I was able to make some science/tech purchases over at R&D:

Finally, last but not least, several (real-life and Kerbin) days later, the Minmus Fuel Tanker performed a plane-change maneuver to match planes with Minmus. Now it's just a matter of waiting until Minmus is in the correct orientation before it can complete its transfer there (Minmus is current roughly 180 degrees away from where I need it to be in its orbit)

As always, I hope you guys enjoyed the update! Feel free to suggest new mission ideas over in the mission-proposal discussion thread (linked on the first page), or to comment on progress, etc. over here!

Regards,

Northstar

Northstar1989 · December 13, 2014

Hey guys,

So I figured out the bugs I was experiencing with Realfuels (turns out, I didn't install the .DLL when I updated :blush: ), and got back to playing. And without further adieu, I present my next vehicle...

That's right! You're looking at a Spaceplane!

I know I haven't exactly been the biggest fan of spaceplanes lately, since they take so much time to fine-tune the designs of and carry so little cargo; but I got a contract to test a Hydrolox-only Aerospike engine, and I couldn't resist the opportunity to design a spaceplane around it- the purpose for which the engine was clearly best-suited...

Anyways, the ascent didn't exactly go smoothly (the spaceplane kept spinning out of control at around 26 km if it acquired even a small sideslip), but eventually I did manage (with lots of F5/F9) to get it to orbit...

Then I deployed the payload: a small canister of hypergolic fuels destined for my Munar Orbital Science Station:

I intend to launch an ion-powered tug soon to tow that to the Munar Orbital Science Station. My only remaining orbital tug is currently en-route to Minmus (where I will use it to retrieve the orbiting used science module and bring it to the Mun for cleaning. I'll probably also transfer over the fuel- after all, it is a fuel tanker. After that, I'm toying with using it as an interplanetary drive section or some other purpose- I haven't decided yet...)

You'll note that there is only a docking port on one end of the cansiter- that's because the tug will be equipped with a "Klaw" so it can also move around asteroids and debris... (the tug will grab onto the flat end of the canister)

Then came the most difficult part of the entire mission: re-entry...

The first attempt didn't go a planned (the spaceplane was coming down too far from the KSC and I was having issues with keeping it stable), so I aborted the re-entry attempt and tried again later...

The second time was the charm, and the spaceplane safely made it back to the KSC runway (although still with quite a few F5/F9 attempts...)

Success was owed, in no small part, to FAR and pragmatic use of S-turns. You can see me performing a few in the album- where the spaceplane turns at an angle into the wind to increase drag and path-length towards the KSC...

Anyways, spaceplanes are HARD. That's why I mostly stick to rockets...

Regards,

Northstar

Edited December 16, 2014 by Northstar1989

Northstar1989 · December 16, 2014

Spaceplanes are challenging, but their economic advantages are hard to resist. Thus, I built ANOTHER spaceplane, using the previous one as a model. This one burns Kero/LOX, and thus is capable of carrying heavier payloads to orbit (due to higher fuel-density) and remaining in orbit for longer periods of time (due to reduced boil-off).

This ascent went more smoothly than the last, due to some minor design refinements...

After arriving at orbit, however, I realized that I forgot to attach a MechJeb core to the ion tug I was lifting as payload! I was still able to test the engine while the tug was undeployed, but I haven't decided yet whether to release the tug or return it to the surface so I can retrofit it with a MechJeb core...

For most spacecraft, the lack of an autopilot wouldn't be a huge issue. But for an ion tug- even one equipped with an ion engine set to "High Thrust" mode (RealFuels Stockalike provides three alternative configs for the ion engine with more realistic TWR/ISP combinations), the lack of an autoopilot could be crippling. I don't want to perform 5 minute burns manually- especially when even the slightest mass-imbalance due to where I grab with the "Klaw" will cause constant torquing...

I'll come to a decision soon enough on what to do.

Regards,

Northstar

P.S. I'm still looking for more input on my mission-planning thread for this career game. Other than a suggestion to build a surface-base on Eve, which is still somewhat beyond my current level of infrastructure and progress (I want to be able to return from the surface before I build a base there), I haven't heard much on the thread for a while...

Edited December 16, 2014 by Northstar1989

Northstar1989 · December 19, 2014

I did it again!

I've decided to succumb to the insidious urges to go and induce a "Supernova on 0.90" to start over in the Beta.

I love having readers, and you guys are awesome, but partially, I found that having an organized Career progression thread has left me feeling a little too tied-down to doing things that actually *make sense*, rather than just messing around in KSP. This *IS* a game, after all, not a job (although, with my only current job being that I recently signed up with a temp agency while I look for longer-term work, you wouldn't know...)

I would have a nerd-gasm if space exploration *could* be my actual job, of course (NASA, you reading this? *chuckle*), but unfortunately I've not the necessary degrees in Aerospace Engineering, or the incredible athleticism necessary to get into Flight School with the military these days (which is the other main route to becoming an astronaut- working as a Test Pilot... Right now, competition is *fierce* for aviation slots in the Air Force/Navy/Marines, so only the best athletes with 4.0 college GPA's get in...) My sky-high IQ and innate tactical genius (which a ROTC instructor once even confirmed, back when I was a Cadet before I ran into a ridiculous medical-clearance issue that took too long to clear up), apparently, counts for nothing next to somebody with top grades who can run a 16:30 three-mile...

Anyways, tangent aside, I'll still be posting around the KSP forums like mad. Just don't expect me to necessarily start up an organized Career Mode game right away again. You can still follow me on Twitch though- I intend to live-stream as time allows once I get back from visiting family for the holidays... I'll also be completing that darn Flying Duna challenge *hopefully* in the near future (I'll need a bunch of mods up-to-date for 0.90 first), and attempting various other Challenges as I feel inclined. I might even start a few more of my own, now that I won't be so tied-down reporting my mission-progress. In short, I've got plans.

Look out for me on the forums!

Regards,

Northstar

Edited December 19, 2014 by Northstar1989

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[FINISHED] Northstar's Collaborative Kerbal Career Campaign

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