Mission Proposal -- The Kerbin Physics Project

[SlowThought]

Physics from scratch, Kerbin style. A Brief Description...

Ok, I was right, I should have listened to myself. Exporting PowerPoint to PDF to IMGUR was not a good choice.

I have the rocket cars built, I have ideas for the oceanic and polar vehicles. I have coding examples to expand on the geometry of triangles, circles, and ellipses, either leveraging or anticipating maths from algebra and trigonometry to calculus and differential equations, with a touch of complex and quaternion number theory, depending on context.

My goal is to acquaint people with the history of significant mathematics and physics in a fun style. I'd appreciate feedback on how to do a better job, and especially on where I may have got things wrong.

I intend a light-hearted description of events in Mission Reports, with a more disciplined, "factual", dull(?), style in my blog (to leave a more durable record of my efforts). I am undecided about allowable extensions, but I am strongly tempted to include NEAR or FAR, as stock aerodynamics are so very far from (our) reality (although FAR/NEAR/REAL aerodynamics fit neatly with a discussion of Kuckingham... still offering bonus points for the reference).

[Synapse]

There are more things in Heaven and Kerbal, Koratio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy

[BlkBltChemie]

This is a pretty cool idea.

Here's a quick trick you can use in PowerPoint that may make your life easier if you still want to go that route. (This is actually how a lot of people generate figures in scientific journal articles.)

• Make your design on a single PowerPoint slide - it is ok if it goes off the edges or you can resize the slide so everything fits.
  
• Ctrl-A or right click and 'select all' - Note: make sure you are on the actual slide, not the slide navigation that is on the side (otherwise you select all of the slides in the presentation instead)
  
• Then right click on the edge line of one of your image boxes - Note: if you click on the slide background it deselects everything
  
• In the menu that pops up, toward the bottom (mine is 3rd from the bottom), there is an option to "Save as a Picture..."
  
• That will open up a window where you can specify a save location and file type (png, jpeg, etc).
  
• Then you should be able to upload the image file to Imgur much more easily than going through a PDF.
  
• CAVEAT: If you use a background on the slide, it will not be saved, so what you can do is (sorry this part is kind of convoluted...)
  
  • After pressing Ctrl-A, right click on the edge and select "Group" -> "Group"
    
  • Now any separate boxes are grouped and you can move, resize, etc. them together
    
  • Then, Ctrl-X to cut,
    
  • Then on the menu (not the Ctrl-V shortcut) click the arrow below the "Paste" button, and select the sub-option to paste as a "Picture."
    
  • Then, right click on the picture, click on "Format" -> "Fill" and select "Slide Background Fill"
    
  • Now your slide background should actually be the background of the image
    
  • Then you can right-click, "Saves as a Picture..." and the image file should now have your background as well.
    

(It is really a lot easier than it looks, but I just wanted to give as much detail as possible...)

[kahlzun]

Wouldn't the perfectly circular orbits of Kerbin and the Mun make initial measurements harder? Like, wasn't the moons libration one of the big hints re: spheres/ellipses?

[SlowThought]

Here's a quick trick you can use in PowerPoint that may make your life easier if you still want to go that route.

I never WANT to use PowerPoint... I was on my work tablet, and so had MS thrust upon me.

[SlowThought]

Wouldn't the perfectly circular orbits of Kerbin and the Mun make initial measurements harder? Like, wasn't the moons libration one of the big hints re: spheres/ellipses?

My QUICK scan of Wikipedia didn't reveal a direct connection between libration and ellipses, but I did find this page, which will make for interesting reading, and many more scientists' names to which I must prepend "K".

I have to work libration into the script. These historical asides and scientific dead ends are exactly the things that fascinate me, and, I believe and hope, inspire others.

I did overlook libration as an element in my script (primitive as it is for the moment), and I'll have to work it in. Historically, it's too important to ignore. As you note, apparent variations in size due to distance are out. New terrain as one moves north and south, and as the Mun rises and sets, could help in determining the size and distance to the Mun.

- - - Updated - - -

Still on my work MS tablet (I WON'T say the name), still struggling to do what should be simple. I apologize for apparent clumsiness/repetition because MS must be difficult.