parts [1.12.x] Sounding Rockets! Start small. Dream big!

[RoverDude]

Sure, they are pretty permissive biome and situation wise.

[Rime Pendragon]

Stupid question, but how do you use the balloons ? Mine just sits on the launch pad.

[eddiew]

Gosh, you're fast! And thank goodness! I went a bit hardcore with a 30% science income, and a modded tech tree that needs about 40,000 points to unlock, so now I'm struggling a bit in my quest for technology xD But that's good, because it makes me do weird things like sending unexpected experiments to places I'd never have thought about before. If I could figure out how, I'd be launching sounding rockets from Eve's surface!

[thorfinn]

Well, the size -1 aerospike seems to be THE engine for a Eve sample return mission

[RoverDude]

Excellent, then it's serving one of it's many intended purposes!

[rabidninjawombat]

Gosh, you're fast! And thank goodness! I went a bit hardcore with a 30% science income, and a modded tech tree that needs about 40,000 points to unlock, so now I'm struggling a bit in my quest for technology xD But that's good, because it makes me do weird things like sending unexpected experiments to places I'd never have thought about before. If I could figure out how, I'd be launching sounding rockets from Eve's surface!

ExtraPlaneteryLaunchpads (and MKS ) can help you with that

@rhaak - Right click the balloon, for pressure controls on it, (to make it go up and down)

[Badsector]

Is Possible make them KAS compatible ?

Can be fun go to eve-duna-lathye surface and build them for do experiments and after recover them with rover

[eddiew]

Excellent, then it's serving one of it's many intended purposes!

You made a what to do what now?

/mouthfroth

I MUST LEARN THE SECRETS OF THIS MOD!! (If only I had time between the day job and other commitments... oh well, roll on weekend :/)

[NihilRex]

Well, the size -1 aerospike seems to be THE engine for a Eve sample return mission

Try it on a Duna or Smaller Personal Flitter

[UnanimousCoward]

RoverDude, your mods just get funner and funner!

A couple of issues, though...

The texture for the gondola doesn't look right. I think it's coming from the wrong part of the shared texture:

This is from a test install of just stock, Module Manager, Toolbar and Sounding Rockets.

Stupid question, but how do you use the balloons ? Mine just sits on the launch pad.

They work fine in my test install, but in my heavily modded career game, I have this issue: the right-click buttons for the balloon controls don't appear:

How tough is the rocket truss, by the way? I was also having an issue where the rocket truss would sometimes explode on landing even though it was only travelling at 4.5 m/s, but I can't seem to reproduce it reliably. I did have one landing at 4 m/s where something blew up on landing - I think it was the parachute.

Output logs for both issues can be found here, if they're any help. Like I said, I've got a lot of mods, and there seem to be other issues as well (looks like at least HotRockets, Infernal Robotics and EVE/Better Atmospheres are having some problems, if I'm reading them right...)

Finally, here's an MM config to add the RemoteTech passive antenna to the avionics package:

// RemoteTech_SoundingRockets
// This is free and unencumbered software released into the public domain.
// All the code from RemoteTech is in GPLv2


@PART[SR_ProbeCore]:HAS[!MODULE[ModuleSPU],!MODULE[ModuleRTAntennaPassive]]:NEEDS[RemoteTech,UmbraSpaceIndustries]:AFTER[UmbraSpaceIndustries]:FINAL
{
    %MODULE[ModuleSPU] 
    {
    }
    %MODULE[ModuleRTAntennaPassive]    
    {
        %TechRequired = start
        %OmniRange = 100000
        %TRANSMITTER 
        {
            %PacketInterval = 0.3
            %PacketSize = 2
            %PacketResourceCost = 15.0
        }
    }
}
@PART[RTPassiveAntennaTech]:NEEDS[RemoteTech,UmbraSpaceIndustries]:AFTER[RemoteTech]:FINAL
{
    @TechRequired = start
}

Edited January 7, 2015 by UnanimousCoward
Added MM config.

[hakan]

Using 0.2.0_PRE, the science payloads seem to be infinitely reusable. I attached one of each type to my orbiting capsule, and while flying over Kerbin, could run the experiment, go EVA, "take" the results, "store" them in the capsule, and re-run the experiment over the next biome..

Also, should the Atmo-experiment be possible in space and on the Mun?

Edited January 7, 2015 by hakan
clarifying version used.

[undercoveryankee]

Using 0.2.0_PRE, the science payloads seem to be infinitely reusable. I attached one of each type to my orbiting capsule, and while flying over Kerbin, could run the experiment, go EVA, "take" the results, "store" them in the capsule, and re-run the experiment over the next biome..

Also, should the Atmo-experiment be possible in space and on the Mun?

All of the stock experiments except the Mystery Goo and Science Jr. are infinitely reusable after collecting the data. I'd be more surprised if these instruments weren't reusable.

I don't mind running some of the atmosphere instruments in vacuum either. Somebody had to measure the density in those places to figure out how far up the atmosphere was detectable and what kind of trace materials might exist near an "airless" body.

[RoverDude]

Even the moon has an atmosphere Granted it's only a couple of centimeters.

The four science bits are intentionally permissive.

[hakan]

Even the moon has an atmosphere Granted it's only a couple of centimeters.

True... Bill, Bob, Jeb, away you fly to measure atmospheric pressure on that Class A object in the Kuiper belt

The four science bits are intentionally permissive.

O.k., just wanted to make sure that it hasn't been an oversight.

[enneract]

Is there a trick for getting the auto-decoupler to work?

Edit: Any stack containing the green motor doesn't seem to detatch correctly. You can't right-click it to get fuel level after burnout, but it is still attached to the stage above it. KJR bug?

Edited January 8, 2015 by enneract

[Shania_L]

So I have been enjoying Sounding Rockets on my 6.4x career, if not being partucularly successful .... but at least they are cheap

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The balloon manages to carry the 2tonne rocket to about 50km before bursting, then it can boost itself up to about 85km .... not quite the 93 I need for sub-orbital, but I'll get there.

All I need to do now is work out how to slow the fall, it is currently tearing off its chute and plowing into the sea at mach 2.

[enneract]

How are you supposed to use the gyro? Doesn't stack attach, and is really weirdly shaped for radial attachment. Screenshot example would be highly appreciated.

[RoverDude]

It radially attaches to a payload truss so that it ends up centered.

[enneract]

It radially attaches to a payload truss so that it ends up centered.

I must be doing something wrong, it doesn't come out symmetrical using this method?

Edit: Also, in the pre-release, there must be a bug with... something. The height of the parts seems to be calculated incorrectly.

Edited January 9, 2015 by enneract

[SimplyCosmic]

I must be doing something wrong, it doesn't come out symmetrical using this method?

Symmetry doesn't seem to be working any objects on the trusses with 0.2.0_PRE for me either.

[RoverDude]

I must be doing something wrong, it doesn't come out symmetrical using this method?

Edit: Also, in the pre-release, there must be a bug with... something. The height of the parts seems to be calculated incorrectly.

RE height, show me an example, and note the requirement to NOT be in snap mode below.

Symmetry doesn't seem to be working any objects on the trusses with 0.2.0_PRE for me either.

It should, make sure you are not in snap mode.

[eddiew]

I regret nothing!

...but on a more serious note, it's great that these experiment packages are biome and world specific, but perhaps the meteorological and aerodynamic experiments shouldn't work in vacuum? ^^;

[UnanimousCoward]

I've been doing a bit of testing, and I think I've figured out how to reproduce the exploding rocket truss. Stock install with just Sounding Rockets 0.2 pre-release. Build a basic rocket: truss, avionics, one science package, parachute and some batteries. Attach an SRM-L booster and launch. No problem, lands just fine.

Revert to vehicle assembly, remove the booster and add an SRM-S booster. Launch, and the truss explodes on landing, seemingly regardless of impact speed. Rinse and repeat. Same thing. It explodes at 3.9 m/s. KSP.log and output_log.txt are available here, if they're any use.

Granted launching a rocket with only the smallest booster is a pretty unambitious and un-Kerbal way of doing things, but am I the only one having this problem?

--update

That's not it - now the SRM-L is exploding too. I'm stumped. Also, if I rotate the rocket truss by 10 degrees off vertical, I can't get the fairings to line up again afterwards.

I'm starting to think this mod hates me...

Edited January 10, 2015 by UnanimousCoward

[hakan]

I regret nothing!

http://foxwoodstudios.co.uk/kerbal/modshots/soundingrockets/sounding-rockets1.jpg

This is where the "Dream big" part comes in, right? You make me want to have a similar craft in LOW Kerbol orbit

[eddiew]

Yeah, that was a good one. At 40% science return, it still came back with ~250 points from a mix of low and high Mun flyovers

Need to get one into Jool's atmosphere... xD