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Topic: Kerbal Space Program thread about mods and shit. it's cool, come check it out.

squeegee started this discussion 11 years ago #46,611

i've been playing around with mods again and have found some great ones. of course the defacto mechjeb mod is the autopilot of choice, and the Kerbal Attachment and Inventory mods are really great. but what i've really been having fun with lately are satellites. early on they weren't really all that useful, just kind of a cheap money maker in the career mode. (there's actually a cool sounding mod that makes the early game all about probes rather than manned flight which makes more sense anyway: better than manned)

but, satellites are now pretty useful. the 2 default probes do surface scans, one to look at resource concentrations and the other gives higher resolution scans directly beneath it. very useful for finding interesting landing zones. stationary unmanned landers and rovers can further investigate and pinpoint the best area for extracting resources for fuel.

there are mods that give you tools to do surface mapping and scan for flat areas in which to land. i'm about to try that one out. i'm most excited to try out a probe and rover pack that evidently has telescopes and a bunch of different probe based experiments. it's going to be awesome!

i'm also wanting to play the Outer Planets mod, but i'm still not putting satellites around the mars equivalent yet. but it's on my list.

i also want to find a really good habitat mod. something that looks like habitats and not just a bunch of landed rockets. there are several mods though, the variety is nice.

Oh yeah, and one more cool one, remote tech revamps satellites further by limiting coms range and networking satellites back to Kerbin mission control. it looks cool, you need a proper network around kerbin to begin with and if you lose lint of sight or get out of range then you'll lose control. so like the Better than Starting Manned Mod it gives you fun reasons to be building satellites. evidently it conflicts with Mechjeb, so i'm not installing it tonight. but it's on my list for soon. it'll probably work as long as the mod pack parts aren't mixed together on vehicles.

i'll also be looking into this Life Support mod. because rocket science isn't hard enough, i want to worry about biology as well.

what are your favorite mods for kerbal space program?

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Methlyfe !KansasxqvM joined in and replied with this 11 years ago, 5 hours later[^] [v] #614,543

squeegee joined in and replied with this 11 years ago, 15 hours later, 21 hours after the original post[^] [v] #614,709

Anonymous D joined in and replied with this 11 years ago, 5 minutes later, 22 hours after the original post[^] [v] #614,711

squeegee (OP) replied with this 11 years ago, 35 minutes later, 22 hours after the original post[^] [v] #614,724

Anonymous D replied with this 11 years ago, 1 minute later, 22 hours after the original post[^] [v] #614,726

squeegee (OP) replied with this 11 years ago, 16 minutes later, 22 hours after the original post[^] [v] #614,735

@previous (D)
learned today that the asteroids in the game can be moved. i did not know this. i saw a thread on r/ksp where a dude captured one and flew it back to kerbin and landed the fucker on the surface. so i've got a new end-game god-tier goal in mind. as everyone knows Sir Issac Newton is the deadliest son of a bitch in space, and i want to prove that to the guys back at the VAB. that's right, i plan to capture and asteroid and accelerate it into the Kerbal Space Center.

bwa hahaha!

Anonymous D replied with this 11 years ago, 2 minutes later, 22 hours after the original post[^] [v] #614,737

squeegee (OP) replied with this 11 years ago, 1 minute later, 23 hours after the original post[^] [v] #614,740

Anonymous D replied with this 11 years ago, 2 minutes later, 23 hours after the original post[^] [v] #614,744

squeegee (OP) replied with this 11 years ago, 1 hour later, 1 day after the original post[^] [v] #614,816

squeegee (OP) double-posted this 11 years ago, 17 minutes later, 1 day after the original post[^] [v] #614,836

squeegee (OP) triple-posted this 11 years ago, 22 minutes later, 1 day after the original post[^] [v] #614,855

squeegee (OP) quadruple-posted this 11 years ago, 18 hours later, 1 day after the original post[^] [v] #615,153

alright, well here's my munar base. pretty sure i broke the save when i replaced the lite habitat mod with the full blown version. s'cool though, everything i designed needs to be reworked and one of the landers is just stock. so not much was lost. i was mostly using that save to learn how all the scanning and resource stuff works.

so i've got a new save going. instead of launching habs to the mun i'm landing them near the Space Port and building a little testing ground. So far my new hab can maintain life support for 261 days. not bad, if i can get something like that to the Mun or Duna then i won't have as much of a problem when i need to time warp for long periods. with a bit more support (like a dedicated mining platform landed on a nice patch of resources) i'm betting the habs can go without resupply for decades.

There's also this kind of cool looking base component that's a trainer for your kerbals. So it's like a simulator. you can park it outside the space center and load it up with recruits and they'll skill-up. So that's about to get tossed down near the Munar Base Proving Ground. basically at this point i'm running a 5 manned "bio-dome" kind of project, where i've sealed kerbals inside of an enclosure to see how long they can survive in that stressful environment. while that's happening i'm going to start my unmanned program as i like to do. i plan to put a few satellites around kerbin before i do anything else. at least the new SCANsat, and also a Resource Map Satellite. it might be fun to land experimental hab modules on the south pole or something if there's resources there. i've got saved habitats ready to go, just need a location.

squeegee (OP) quintuple-posted this 11 years ago, 6 hours later, 2 days after the original post[^] [v] #615,277

altimetry coming in

squeegee (OP) sextuple-posted this 11 years ago, 1 day later, 3 days after the original post[^] [v] #615,720

squeegee (OP) septuple-posted this 11 years ago, 2 hours later, 3 days after the original post[^] [v] #615,778

alright, i've started to map out my plan to explore beyond the Mun. it's a logistical nightmare. the amount of forethought that goes into this fucking game is nuts, it really makes you appreciate the minutia of actual space flight. especially since i'll be running life support mods. but, the plan is simple: launch something at every hohmann transfer. start with satellites and map the surface for resources, then drop probes to determine most suitable landing locations, then send infrastructure and supplies robotically, and then finally send a human payload with a descent vehicle for landing. as part of the infrastructure a DAV (Duna Ascent Vehicle) will be landed and perform automated fuel extraction from the atmosphere. by the time my Kerbals arrive, they'll have a full stocked fuel tank. they'll stay for about a month, and then use the DAV to launch and dock back to the interplanetary transfer vehicle for a return trip home.

science

there's a few months before the first hohmann transfer, so i've got plenty of time to work on the kinds of contraptions i'll need to be sending. the satellites are done (they're already mapping kerbin) but i still need to build the launch vehicle and the transfer stage that'll get to duna and still have enough Dv to hop into a polar orbit. luckily i know a few tricks on how to efficiently do that, so it probably won't be a huge problem.

the bigger problems are going to be with the infrastructure i'll be dropping years down the road. so i've been prototyping out some helpful utility items. here's the latest and greatest coming out of R&D

squeegee (OP) octuple-posted this 11 years ago, 3 minutes later, 3 days after the original post[^] [v] #615,781

yup, that's a rover and a trailer. it works great. I was going to mount tanks on the rover itself, but i'd need a lot of different rovers and that's just silly. i'll send 2 rovers and drop a couple of two or three trailers to tow around for different duties. this one is a shit truck. it stores "manure" and has quite the capacity. it will be linked up to my Bio-dome project near the radar dishes. it's been going on for months now and they are pretty much at capacity with their internal tanks. time to bring in the big guns.

...just back it into position here

squeegee (OP) nonuple-posted this 11 years ago, 3 minutes later, 3 days after the original post[^] [v] #615,782

there we go, now just hook up the winch little buddy. This dude (i forgot his name) is the bio-dome waste management engineer. he's one of the only ones allowed to EVA. in this mission we're simulating recovery of supply dropped infrastructure. this dude's exclusive and sole job is to manage waste containment and transfer. lol.

squeegee (OP) decuple-posted this 11 years ago, 1 minute later, 3 days after the original post[^] [v] #615,784

retract the winch nice and slow to get a locking connection

squeegee (OP) undecuple-posted this 11 years ago, 1 minute later, 3 days after the original post[^] [v] #615,785

and we've got a solid connection. great. now retract the parking strut and we're ready to roll!

squeegee (OP) duodecuple-posted this 11 years ago, 1 minute later, 3 days after the original post[^] [v] #615,786

shit truck on the way! hold it just a little longer, you guys.

squeegee (OP) tridecuple-posted this 11 years ago, 2 minutes later, 3 days after the original post[^] [v] #615,788

parked and linked to the hab and full of shit. everyone is greatly relieved.

squeegee (OP) quattuodecuple-posted this 11 years ago, 14 minutes later, 3 days after the original post[^] [v] #615,792

one of the next missions is to take the very successful bio-dome project to more remote locations. mostly i'm wanting to test re-entry and make sure shit will land okay. the obvious plan is to fly everything to the south pole. the satellites have found some good signs mineral wise, and i've got a nice landing zone that spans a couple of biomes. i'll be landed directly on the ice cap, but flanked by mountains and tundra. i've already set down one lander and it's looking good for at the very least fuel and water extraction. i'll probably be redoing the landing probe and include a small robotic rover.

also interestingly enough the surface temperature of the south pole is in the hundreds of degrees. like, 500 degrees. it's probably a bug, but at least it'll help test out heat dissipation on the habs.

Anonymous D replied with this 11 years ago, 4 minutes later, 4 days after the original post[^] [v] #615,793

squeegee (OP) replied with this 11 years ago, 10 minutes later, 4 days after the original post[^] [v] #615,797

squeegee (OP) double-posted this 11 years ago, 19 hours later, 4 days after the original post[^] [v] #616,029

so far so good, R&D is coming out with some really... interesting stuff in preparation for a manned duna mission in a few years. this is a prototype for an unmanned drop vessel used to deliver mission critical equipment.

squeegee (OP) triple-posted this 11 years ago, 48 seconds later, 4 days after the original post[^] [v] #616,030

technically this is a prototype being used to test the method of deployment.

squeegee (OP) quadruple-posted this 11 years ago, 1 minute later, 4 days after the original post[^] [v] #616,032

see, what we do after we land is we raise a couple of the landing gears to tilt the whole thing and use one of the engines to nudge it over

(Edited 1 minute later.)

squeegee (OP) quintuple-posted this 11 years ago, 55 seconds later, 4 days after the original post[^] [v] #616,033

i forgot to raise the gear so the landing was a little hard

squeegee (OP) sextuple-posted this 11 years ago, 53 seconds later, 4 days after the original post[^] [v] #616,034

but, as you can see after deploying the fairing everything was fine!

squeegee (OP) septuple-posted this 11 years ago, 1 minute later, 4 days after the original post[^] [v] #616,035

decouple from the lander and you're ready to go!

squeegee (OP) octuple-posted this 11 years ago, 5 minutes later, 4 days after the original post[^] [v] #616,036

here's a larger lander with larger equipment. can you guess what it is?

squeegee (OP) nonuple-posted this 11 years ago, 54 seconds later, 4 days after the original post[^] [v] #616,037

you're right! it's the shit trailer! mission fucking critical.

squeegee (OP) decuple-posted this 11 years ago, 40 seconds later, 4 days after the original post[^] [v] #616,038

just tip it in the right direction

squeegee (OP) undecuple-posted this 11 years ago, 30 seconds later, 4 days after the original post[^] [v] #616,039

use one engine to kick it over

squeegee (OP) duodecuple-posted this 11 years ago, 1 minute later, 4 days after the original post[^] [v] #616,040

and let the landing gear/parking strut cushion the fall.

squeegee (OP) tridecuple-posted this 11 years ago, 33 seconds later, 4 days after the original post[^] [v] #616,041

decouple, and you're ready to hook it up and haul some shit!

squeegee (OP) quattuodecuple-posted this 11 years ago, 1 minute later, 4 days after the original post[^] [v] #616,043

and with roughly 1800+ Dv i should be able to land this thing just fine.

so. that's the plan. land em, tip em. ez

oh yeah, and since tipping is so easy to do when landing anyway, i figure why not just work with the problem. i've also placed connector ports right about the waist so that i can roll it with winches if it tips upside down or something.

(Edited 1 minute later.)

squeegee (OP) sexadecuple-posted this 11 years ago, 9 minutes later, 4 days after the original post[^] [v] #616,045

so far i've got one satellite in orbit. this would be the first satellite i've orbited around anything further than minmus. but, in true kerbal fashion the instruments i sent don't work without a preexisting other satellite. so this really should've been my second satellite. this one can still sniff biomes, but it gives me no kind of overlay or detailed information.

squeegee (OP) sedecuple-posted this 11 years ago, 7 minutes later, 4 days after the original post[^] [v] #616,047

it's in a slightly inclined orbit, but it is rather circular. only off my a few hundred feet which is fine. i've still got a squirt of Dv left if i need to feather into a slightly higher minimum altitude. the equipment is optimal at 150km, i'm just shy on my low side. the orbital inclination was fortuitous, but it's still not optimal. i would've liked to settle into a more polar orbit, but i wasted a lot of Dv fucking up the transfer so i don't have the fuel left to do much. it's fine, i'll probably not be spending much time at the poles anyway so i wanted detail through the middle anyway.

my next satellites need to transfer perfectly so i'll have the fuel to hit that vertical orbit. then my mapping tools will map 100% of the surface and i can find a nice flat landing zone with lots of resources and water.

squeegee (OP) septuadecuple-posted this 11 years ago, 1 minute later, 4 days after the original post[^] [v] #616,048

Polar Map Sat being prepped for the next launch window.

squeegee (OP) octadecuple-posted this 11 years ago, 3 minutes later, 4 days after the original post[^] [v] #616,051

in the meantime

squeegee (OP) just kept on posting this 11 years ago, 43 seconds later, 4 days after the original post[^] [v] #616,053

hopefully engineers will get the shit trailer delivery system up to snuff

(Edited 13 seconds later.)

squeegee (OP) just kept on posting this 11 years ago, 37 seconds later, 4 days after the original post[^] [v] #616,054

squeegee (OP) just kept on posting this 11 years ago, 1 hour later, 4 days after the original post[^] [v] #616,097

Polar Mapper on the way to Duna

squeegee (OP) just kept on posting this 11 years ago, 1 minute later, 4 days after the original post[^] [v] #616,098

thanks for the gravity assist, Ike. that's going to save be a lot of fuel. :D polar orbit here i come

squeegee (OP) just kept on posting this 11 years ago, 46 seconds later, 4 days after the original post[^] [v] #616,100

what a gentleman

squeegee (OP) just kept on posting this 11 years ago, 1 minute later, 4 days after the original post[^] [v] #616,101

i made a gnarly burn here to gain more inclination

squeegee (OP) just kept on posting this 11 years ago, 1 minute later, 4 days after the original post[^] [v] #616,102

kinda fucked up the warp and almost ended up with unintentional aerobreaking. luckily i didn't get into even the thin duna atmosphere.

squeegee (OP) just kept on posting this 11 years ago, 33 seconds later, 4 days after the original post[^] [v] #616,103

but, i did get my intended heading :D

squeegee (OP) just kept on posting this 11 years ago, 1 minute later, 4 days after the original post[^] [v] #616,105

well, close enough to "intended". i'll map the whole planet, which is a great step in the right direction.

squeegee (OP) just kept on posting this 11 years ago, 2 minutes later, 4 days after the original post[^] [v] #616,107

i was also left with pretty much a full tank from that awesome assist by Ike. i can putter around and get readings from lots of altitudes. i'm parked at about 150km and letting it map. but i could get into low orbit and take more precise readings for mineral content.

squeegee (OP) just kept on posting this 11 years ago, 6 minutes later, 4 days after the original post[^] [v] #616,111

and we're free

squeegee (OP) just kept on posting this 11 years ago, 5 minutes later, 4 days after the original post[^] [v] #616,112

Anonymous E joined in and replied with this 11 years ago, 22 minutes later, 4 days after the original post[^] [v] #616,113

squeegee (OP) replied with this 11 years ago, 1 hour later, 5 days after the original post[^] [v] #616,138

watching it map is kinda cool for a minute.

squeegee (OP) double-posted this 11 years ago, 6 minutes later, 5 days after the original post[^] [v] #616,141

i didn't get the lander finished in time, i was missing data on where to find water (not in the ice caps) and so i decided to do a dual satellite. the transfer stage has been outfitted with the altimetry equipment and it got dumped into a lower orbit. after i released the probe i circularized the transfer stage and left it gathering radar data and the satellite will be heading for a higher orbit to look for water!

squeegee (OP) triple-posted this 11 years ago, 2 minutes later, 5 days after the original post[^] [v] #616,142

everything is mapping right along, this is great.

squeegee (OP) quadruple-posted this 11 years ago, 2 minutes later, 5 days after the original post[^] [v] #616,144

everything is all set for a round of landers :D

squeegee (OP) quintuple-posted this 11 years ago, 59 minutes later, 5 days after the original post[^] [v] #616,183

this is the fancy schmancy resource scanner

Anonymous E replied with this 11 years ago, 1 minute later, 5 days after the original post[^] [v] #616,186

squeegee (OP) replied with this 11 years ago, 7 seconds later, 5 days after the original post[^] [v] #616,188

and the cobbled together altimetry "satellite." (it's mostly just space debris)

squeegee (OP) double-posted this 11 years ago, 1 minute later, 5 days after the original post[^] [v] #616,190

@616,186 (E)
anything is possible if you donate to my patreon

squeegee (OP) triple-posted this 11 years ago, 3 hours later, 5 days after the original post[^] [v] #616,336

so far this is my most phallic rocket

squeegee (OP) quadruple-posted this 11 years ago, 4 minutes later, 5 days after the original post[^] [v] #616,337

it's carrying a lander. it's probably over built. but i wanted to give it it's best chance to survive. 8 parachutes in total, but in Duna's thin atmosphere they won't help too much. it's carrying a couple of tons of fuel and has 4 engines, but it's actually rather small.

(Edited 14 seconds later.)

squeegee (OP) quintuple-posted this 11 years ago, 4 minutes later, 5 days after the original post[^] [v] #616,338

unfortunately i was slightly off on my fuel requirements to get here and so i had to drop my heat shield. i needed about 7 seconds of extra fuel before i had to blow a stage. lol. i really need to learn more efficient transfers or i'll never get 15 ton habitats on the ground.

squeegee (OP) sextuple-posted this 11 years ago, 7 minutes later, 5 days after the original post[^] [v] #616,339

without the heat shield it was a wild ride. i know it would survive a pretty hot re-entry on kerbin with a heat shield, but without it i was burning up. But, duna is not kerbin. the plan was for aero-breaking though. instead i just spent a little fuel and took a more direct path. i did go ahead and flip on the auto-pilot, i had a bad feeling that without the heat shield i was doomed anyway and i wanted to see how it would stage the parachutes (it didn't, lol)

the landing zone is near the southern polar region.

squeegee (OP) septuple-posted this 11 years ago, 4 minutes later, 5 days after the original post[^] [v] #616,340

the auto-pilot took over and just kind of let the ship shoot through the sky like a damned meteorite. it was losing altitude pretty fast it seemed like, and it wasn't really doing much but kinda spitting fuel every now and then. finally it let loose and slowed down at about 3/4 throttle which was disconcerting and reassuring at the same time. i went ahead and popped the chutes when i felt like the autopilot wasn't going to and it slowed and drifted to a nice soft touchdown.

squeegee (OP) octuple-posted this 11 years ago, 2 minutes later, 5 days after the original post[^] [v] #616,342

alright! engines are shut down, landing struts are locked, torque wheels are turned off and the Autopilot is disabled.

it's time for science!

squeegee (OP) nonuple-posted this 11 years ago, 2 minutes later, 5 days after the original post[^] [v] #616,344

omg this is the coolest fucking game

squeegee (OP) decuple-posted this 11 years ago, 2 minutes later, 5 days after the original post[^] [v] #616,349

nice. i dunno what that is. they should've sent a geologist or something.

squeegee (OP) undecuple-posted this 11 years ago, 3 minutes later, 5 days after the original post[^] [v] #616,351

ah, damnit. this spot was looking good for manned landing. but it's dry as a desert. not as flat as i imagined it either.

squeegee (OP) duodecuple-posted this 11 years ago, 1 minute later, 5 days after the original post[^] [v] #616,354

looks like i missed the better landing spot just west of there.

squeegee (OP) tridecuple-posted this 11 years ago, 2 minutes later, 5 days after the original post[^] [v] #616,356

i do have about a half a tank of gas and a low gravity planet on my hands... i wonder how far i could get going west and still be able to land safely without parachutes...

squeegee (OP) quattuodecuple-posted this 11 years ago, 9 minutes later, 5 days after the original post[^] [v] #616,359

getting pretty crowded around duna these days. just a few years ago there wasn't a bird in the sky

Anonymous E replied with this 11 years ago, 2 hours later, 5 days after the original post[^] [v] #616,390

Anonymous F joined in and replied with this 11 years ago, 40 minutes later, 5 days after the original post[^] [v] #616,402

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squeegee replied with this 11 years ago, 5 hours later, 5 days after the original post[^] [v] #616,463

Anonymous G joined in and replied with this 11 years ago, 9 minutes later, 5 days after the original post[^] [v] #616,466

squeegee replied with this 11 years ago, 41 minutes later, 5 days after the original post[^] [v] #616,476

squeegee (OP) replied with this 11 years ago, 6 hours later, 6 days after the original post[^] [v] #616,645

squeegee replied with this 11 years ago, 15 hours later, 6 days after the original post[^] [v] #616,868

squeegee (OP) replied with this 11 years ago, 7 hours later, 6 days after the original post[^] [v] #617,085

squeegee (OP) double-posted this 11 years ago, 25 seconds later, 6 days after the original post[^] [v] #617,087

fucking imgur cunts

squeegee (OP) triple-posted this 11 years ago, 58 minutes later, 1 week after the original post[^] [v] #617,105

walking back from another successful test crash of the DAV

2 lives were lost, bill here jumped out and used his EVA RCS thrusters to slow his fall. he's pretty badly injured i'd imagine. he laid on the ground shaking for a long time before he got up and started walking back. mission control really needs to stage better recovery operations.

(Edited 1 minute later.)

squeegee (OP) quadruple-posted this 11 years ago, 1 day later, 1 week after the original post[^] [v] #617,433

Catastrophe on Duna!

early reports coming in from mission control are grim. sources close to the project say that the doors have been locked, and that the Duna Ascent Vehicle in Route to rendezvous with the planet this month has experienced a catastrophic malfunction. we don't know more at this time, but historically locking the doors has meant either a complete loss of a vehicle, or as in the case of Kerpollo 13, an "all is lost" kind of scenario.

the Duna Ascent Vehicle launched from Cape Kerbnaveral almost 1 year ago on top on the largest rocket ever assembled by kerbalkind. called the DAV for short, it is meant as a return vehicle to get Kerbalnauts from the surface back aboard the soon to be unveiled Duna Transfer Vehicle for the return trip to Kerbin. Updates will be reported as they come in.

pictured: unrelated

(Edited 39 seconds later.)

squeegee (OP) quintuple-posted this 11 years ago, 29 minutes later, 1 week after the original post[^] [v] #617,443

1 year previously

the DAV perched atop the launchpad being prepped for thrust-to-weight testing and landing performance

weighing in at close to 20 tons, the DAV is being developed to carry 5 Kerbalnauts from the surface of Duna to the Transfer Vehicle waiting in orbit. the launch and landing require 1500 Dv, which equates to around 13 tons of fuel. the DAV is a Single Stage to Orbit ship, meant to perform this one job and then be discarded as debris.

(Edited 5 minutes later.)

squeegee (OP) sextuple-posted this 11 years ago, 11 minutes later, 1 week after the original post[^] [v] #617,445

the vessel is outfitted with engines that have a similar efficiency profile in air as in vacuum. they will operate very well on re-entry as well because they have a nice temperature tolerance. other parts will overheat well before the engines. it's a spartan little thing, but it's going to get the job done.

squeegee (OP) septuple-posted this 11 years ago, 4 minutes later, 1 week after the original post[^] [v] #617,446

the ship may be landed fully under thrust alone, or it may be assisted by either 8 high altitude drogue chutes, three large low altitude chutes, or both.

As you can see it can fully arrest it's descent from terminal velocity on Kerbin

squeegee (OP) octuple-posted this 11 years ago, 2 minutes later, 1 week after the original post[^] [v] #617,448

squeegee (OP) nonuple-posted this 11 years ago, 49 seconds later, 1 week after the original post[^] [v] #617,449

squeegee (OP) decuple-posted this 11 years ago, 1 hour later, 1 week after the original post[^] [v] #617,461

the DAV being prepped for launch atop what ends up being a 450 ton 5 stage behemoth. the boosters have been used multiple times as the first stage of lunar missions. the DAV itself is 20 tons, and a great approximation is that you should use a 1:3 ratio of mass to fuel. for each stage. So if the last stage weights 20 tons, then the next stage should contain 60 tons of fuel for a total of 80 tons. but, you also have to account for the engine weight and the engines can weight 9 tons alone. with 20 tons of DAV and 9 tons of 2nd stage engine, we now need around about 116 tons of fuel above the 3rd stage. then the 3rd stage is going to carry about 348 tons plus the 2nd and 3rd stages. that gets us to 464 tons of napkin math mass. at around 450ish i'm hitting my target overall Dv requirements.

squeegee (OP) undecuple-posted this 11 years ago, 9 minutes later, 1 week after the original post[^] [v] #617,462

when you start getting into super heavy lifting you have a real big problem with diminishing returns. it's really easy to get those first few thousand m/s, but every additional spit of velocity requires more and more impractical measures.

This launch vehicle was made simply with testing the central column in mind. it carries 5600 or so Dv, which is enough to get to Duna, but no where close enough to land. probably orbit, i've orbited Duna with Dv in the 5ks. but the 2nd stage burns most of its tank circularizing orbit around kerbin. i could get an escape trajectory with what i had left, but i'd be burning landing fuel trying to transit. but, this was built to drop the DAV at the apoapsis of a reentry trajectory to test worst case scenario heating problems during aerobraking maneuvers around Duna. unfortunately it explodes! but, duna isn't going to be anywhere near as bad. i think reentry under full burn would slow the DAV fast enough to not explode, but the testing really never called for a flight looking at those parameters.

squeegee (OP) duodecuple-posted this 11 years ago, 10 minutes later, 1 week after the original post[^] [v] #617,465

here's the completed 458 ton launch vehicle undergoing final inspection before launch. Because of diminishing returns adding vertical height to the central column without adding more engines ends up costing you less velocity for the increased expenditure of fuel. i.e. adding weight makes moving it harder and pushing on it longer isn't always the answer. in order to push on it more i needed more engines. but, solid fuel boosters just weren't enough, not even a whole bunch of really big ones. the next best solution is to use additional full sized liquid fueled rocket and strap them to the side of the central column.

squeegee (OP) tridecuple-posted this 11 years ago, 2 minutes later, 1 week after the original post[^] [v] #617,466

the "boosters" are arranged in what the community calls "asparagus staging" because the ships look like bundles of asparagus. since they are liquid fuel and fuel can be routed, what you do is pipe fuel from 2 boosters into the other 2 boosters and then feed that fuel into the main engine. Then you burn all engines and drop two boosters at a time as they run out of fuel. The first boosters expend fuel and feed the other rockets and so they drop pretty quick.

less than 30 seconds after launch the first 2 boosters are empty and dropped leaving the next 2 boosters and the main column with full tanks and a lot less weight/drag

squeegee (OP) quattuodecuple-posted this 11 years ago, 4 minutes later, 1 week after the original post[^] [v] #617,469

after reaching a speed/altitude threshold a minute and a half later the engines are shut off and the ship coasts to the high point of it's incomplete orbit

squeegee (OP) sexadecuple-posted this 11 years ago, 2 minutes later, 1 week after the original post[^] [v] #617,472

the now empty boosters are dumped and the main column is left with a full tank and ready to circularize (not crash into the planet.) at this point we've shed more than half our weight and we've only gone a few thousand km!

squeegee (OP) sedecuple-posted this 11 years ago, 57 seconds later, 1 week after the original post[^] [v] #617,475

dumping boosters is like one of the best parts

squeegee (OP) septuadecuple-posted this 11 years ago, 26 seconds later, 1 week after the original post[^] [v] #617,476

thanks for the lift fellas!

squeegee (OP) octadecuple-posted this 11 years ago, 2 minutes later, 1 week after the original post[^] [v] #617,478

once we're circular we lose the now empty 3rd stage and blow the fairing. i meant to do this earlier, it's just extra mass to carry once you get into space. it should've staged with the second booster and i lost a little Dv here not ejecting it earlier, but it should be just fine.

(Edited 1 minute later.)

squeegee (OP) just kept on posting this 11 years ago, 5 minutes later, 1 week after the original post[^] [v] #617,479

getting ready to burn for Kerbin escape trajectory. This will also put me on hohmann transfer to Duna. it's a pretty good burn, and i'll need to make 1 mid course correction. these maneuvers will consume a lot of fuel, but at this point we're at less than 100 tons. most was spent just getting this far.

squeegee (OP) just kept on posting this 11 years ago, 8 minutes later, 1 week after the original post[^] [v] #617,480

oh yeah, i got the window wrong and i had to orbit kerbin for almost a year before i could launch. but yeah, let's just pretend that didn't happen so don't look at the mission timer in the corner, it lies.

anyway, i've already performed a correction to align my inclination to that of Duna and at the same time i increased my velocity relative to Duna to ensure a good encounter in another month or so. i'm intercepting it at the peak of its ellipse so we're both going rather slow in relation to one another.

just need to burn off this last little bit of fuel to fall into orbit around Duna. then all that's left to do is blow the 4th stage and use the DAV engines to lower my orbit into the atmosphere for an aerobraking maneuver. this maneuver will probably not pull me out of orbit in just one pass, but enough low altitude passes will slow me down enough to eventually lose all of my orbital velocity. oh, and if i get too low then the DAV will heat up too much and explode.

(Edited 9 minutes later.)

squeegee (OP) just kept on posting this 11 years ago, 37 minutes later, 1 week after the original post[^] [v] #617,503

The Present Day

no new updates out of mission control at this time, but engineers from KPL (Kerbal Propulsion Laboratory) have been brought to mission control. It's too early to speculate what the reasoning is, but we can only assume the trouble around Duna is ongoing.

pictured: Florida

(Edited 8 seconds later.)

squeegee replied with this 11 years ago, 11 hours later, 1 week after the original post[^] [v] #617,671

squeegee (OP) replied with this 11 years ago, 5 hours later, 1 week after the original post[^] [v] #617,741

This Just In

Mission Control has just released a statement from Gene Kerman, Flight Director here at Cape Kerbnavaral: at 00:50:00 hrs on the 93rd day of the 10th year the Duna Ascent Vehicle was critically damaged when pyrotechnic bolts designed to sever the DAV from the transfer stage apparently damaged 2 of the engines and sent the vehicle tumbling uncontrollably. Telemetry coming in to mission control showed all systems nominal when the command for decoupling was initiated by the auto pilot. immediately after the command was sent the nose of the craft pitched up violently when two of the 4 engines failed to ignite. the flight computer attempted to arrest the spin but the imbalance in thrust proved impossible to counteract. finally the signal to kill the remaining engines was received and the computer was able to stop the rotation with gyroscopes.

squeegee (OP) double-posted this 11 years ago, 10 minutes later, 1 week after the original post[^] [v] #617,744

a local satellite was moved into position and this picture was taken. in it we can see clearly that 2 of the engines are completely gone having been entirely damaged during the explosive decoupling. flight engineers quickly plotted the course of the vessel and discovered that while the orbit was highly eccentric it was stable enough to consider multiple options for possible recovery of the damaged ship. however, due to the presence of the moon Ike, an eventual gravitational perturbance threatens to eject the DAV out of Duna orbit.

(Edited 4 minutes later.)

squeegee (OP) triple-posted this 11 years ago, 18 minutes later, 1 week after the original post[^] [v] #617,748

engineers from KPL were flown in immediately to consult on options. we considered attempting using the two remaining engines at very low thrust and lowering orbit low enough into the atmosphere for aerobraking. the maneuver was planned at the highest/slowest point in the orbit to make the most fuel efficient and fastest burn possible. unfortunately even at low thrust it was not possible to maintain a steady heading. intermittent pulsing of the engine along the apoapsis was considered as an option to give the computer time to correct the attitude but it would take more orbits to accomplish than are available before Ike kicks the DAV into orbit around the sun.

once the main thrusters were disregarded as an option, only one possibility remained. the command pod carries 70 liters of RCS monopropellant and the maneuvering thrusters were all intact. engineers from KPL calculated that a very long RCS thruster burn would contain enough Dv to lower the lowest point in the orbit just inside of Duna's atmosphere.

(Edited 12 seconds later.)

squeegee (OP) quadruple-posted this 11 years ago, 5 minutes later, 1 week after the original post[^] [v] #617,749

after a successful mono propellant course correction the DAV first encountered Duna's atmosphere at about 38,000m above the surface. the ship reported back slight, but not insignificant heating that reached it's peak around 20,000m. as the craft dragged through the atmosphere it was slowed and the orbit quickly degraded.

squeegee (OP) quintuple-posted this 11 years ago, 3 minutes later, 1 week after the original post[^] [v] #617,752

one aerobraking pass was insufficient to completely deorbit, but the threat of Ike slinging the ship out of the system is gone. Flight controllers were told to bring the vessel through the atmosphere for one more pass to drop the DAV out of orbit and attempt landing.

squeegee (OP) sextuple-posted this 11 years ago, 3 minutes later, 1 week after the original post[^] [v] #617,755

additional monopropellant is eventually exhausted adjusting the re-entry trajectory

squeegee (OP) septuple-posted this 11 years ago, 12 minutes later, 1 week after the original post[^] [v] #617,760

squeegee (OP) octuple-posted this 11 years ago, 25 seconds later, 1 week after the original post[^] [v] #617,761

(man, imgur is really sucking these days)

squeegee (OP) nonuple-posted this 11 years ago, 1 minute later, 1 week after the original post[^] [v] #617,762

all chutes were deployed as soon as the risk was low enough, and the craft was slowed to 21m/s in the thin atmosphere.

(Edited 29 seconds later.)

squeegee (OP) decuple-posted this 11 years ago, 3 minutes later, 1 week after the original post[^] [v] #617,765

unfortunately 21 m/s is too hard of a landing for the DAV to survive. flight engineers attempted to use the remaining 2 engines the slow the descent, but the ship became unstable and threatened to crash even harder. moments before landing the main thrusters were fired but were only able to slow the drop by a few m/s. the ship landed upright and on all four landing gears, and then exploded due to the force of the impact.

(Edited 47 seconds later.)

squeegee (OP) undecuple-posted this 11 years ago, 6 minutes later, 1 week after the original post[^] [v] #617,766

debris was left scattered across the surface, and nothing of any value to future missions survived the explosion. a formal investigation is being launched to determine the root cause of the malfunction to guard against such an accident on future missions. despite the loss of the vehicle and ongoing investigation, all flights to Low Kerbin Orbit as well as satellite launches will continue on schedule. however, all flights to Duna are scrubbed and will be rescheduled once conclusions are reached and preventative measures are in place.

squeegee (OP) duodecuple-posted this 11 years ago, 1 day later, 1 week after the original post[^] [v] #618,049

9 Months Later

Still under high scrutiny after the very high profile disaster last year that cost the space agency billions of dollars and many wasted months, Mission Control is preparing Duna Lander 3 for launch this week. it's now the second generation of lander based upon the highly successful "quad-bubble" design. despite the failure in year 10, engineers are not concerned that similar problems will endanger this mission. speaking on the condition of anonymity, one engineer stated puzzlingly, "we're satellites, not rockets. those guys in the VAB are real cowboys, you know? not us, we're scientist, we check our math. we'll be fine."

Werner Von Kermin has announced that the investigation into the loss of the DAV is nearing completion saying, "it is our understanding that the conclusions drawn from the investigation have led authorities to answers that both satisfy the independent panel as well as internal investigators here at Cape Kerbnavarel. is it our belief that the conclusions reached are indeed in-line with evidence gathered by flight controllers. as soon as the investigation is over all of our findings will be published, as well as risk assessments looking forward to future manned flights. until then all new flights undergo additional inspections and "stage tests" in the days leading up to the launch.

(Edited 1 minute later.)

squeegee (OP) tridecuple-posted this 11 years ago, 18 hours later, 1 week after the original post[^] [v] #618,308

News at 11

pictured: Werner von Kermin - Earlier today Space Program Director Werner von Kermin released a report to the media detailing the cause of failure for the DAV. In it, von Kermin details a culture of carelessness and hubris on the part of both the leadership and their engineers. "When building the DAV design specifications called for a decoupler with a very specific low explosive force, however, due to a conversion error between SI and Metric units instead of using a decoupler with .015 Kn of force a 150 Kn decoupler was used. When the larger more powerful bolts exploded the force sheared off 2 of the engines and directly led to the complete loss of the vehicle days later when during landing insufficient stopping power allowed the ship to impact and explode on the surface of Duna."

More troubling than the math mistake is the rushed schedule which placed the DAV in route to Duna before testing was entirely completed. originally the schedule called for 2 more probe landings before the DAV was even supposed to be launched. when asked about the aggressive schedule, von Kermin replied, "we're planning to land close to 100 tons of equipment on Duna and so far the largest probe we've sent into the atmosphere has been under 3 tons with heat shield. the DAV is close to the weight of a single habitat module, and it was purposefully overbuilt to allow engineers a good test of re-entry procedures well before the first habitats arrive. the DAV is built to refuel, and can even travel around the planet in great "hops" making it the perfect heavy vehicle to land first. it was pushed up in the schedule in part to give engineers much needed re-entry data."

When asked about anonymous sources claiming the DAV didn't actually house an ISRU refinery nor carry any drills for resource collection von Kermin stated, "there is no validity to those claims, the DAV was launched fully assembled and was prepared to begin it's mission. there is NO conspiracy, the DAV was NOT purposefully crashed, but mistakes were made and we're focused right now on making sure this doesn't happen during a manned flight."

In the weeks following von Kerman's initial announcement speculation has grown that the Duna Program in in trouble. Much attention has been paid the the single released satellite photo showing the damaged DAV in orbit around Duna. Experts have said that the vehicle appears to lack the ISRU module for ore refining, and there is no drill visible anywhere on the vehicle. instead the ship appears to contain 2 large cargo bays and a large fuel tank below tapering into the engine cowlings. "The ISRU is pretty big, it'd be half the size of the ship and drills mount radially. We'd surely see them if it had them. Whatever is in the cargo bays, it's not drills. And it's certainly not an ISRU."

Lots of questions remain and officials are looking to move away from this incident quickly. but with another lander launch looming in the following weeks, all eyes are on Cape Kerbnavarel.

(Edited 1 minute later.)

squeegee (OP) quattuodecuple-posted this 11 years ago, 1 day later, 1 week after the original post[^] [v] #619,127

Tonight on the History Channel

Are there aliens on Duna? some Kerbals say, "yes." Join us tonight while we look for tough answers, "KASA has been in contact with an advanced race of aliens who have shared alien technology. The entire Duna Project is nothing but a cover for experimenting with alien devices. We've uncovered evidence which suggests that mission control is using some kind of "warp device" and literally teleporting huge space stations in orbit around Duna. We've also got evidence showing that KASA has the ability to speed up and slow the passage of time.

Join us at 8pm central time following a new episode of Survivor Kerbal!

(Edited 1 minute later.)

squeegee (OP) sexadecuple-posted this 11 years ago, 9 hours later, 1 week after the original post[^] [v] #619,354

this picture was taken by long range soviet telescopes 3 months ago while watching the DAV fall out of orbit. it's hard to say what exactly this is, but it's certainly Kerbalmade. experts have agreed that whatever it is, it's huge. there's no way that KASA could have launched something that big covertly, and for it to be in orbit around Duna right now it would have had to have left close to 2 years ago. and nothing launched 2 years ago that was even close to the size of this thing.

squeegee (OP) sedecuple-posted this 11 years ago, 4 minutes later, 1 week after the original post[^] [v] #619,359

''and it's not just orbiting, it's active. it looks like it may be re-configuring, possibly it's a weapon that was used against the DAV. it's possible that the DAV was sent with a covert intelligence package and was trying to either interfere with this alien weapon or be invisible to it and the DAV was attacked and destroyed, but Duna isn't the only place with an object like this.

squeegee (OP) septuadecuple-posted this 11 years ago, 14 minutes later, 1 week after the original post[^] [v] #619,376

this object was spotted in orbit around the Mun by amateur astronomers around the same time soviets captured their photos. it's very difficult to make out the details, but the shape is remarkably similar to the Duna Object. just larger. KASA has refused to acknowledge these photos, calling them obvious photoshops, but i disagree. i think they are hiding something. something BIG. i think these objects are in fact the same object. Built by KASA as a joint venture with aliens, or at least using Dunalien Tech. some kind of warp technology they are using to instantaneously travel the solar system. the entire Duna Habitat project is just a big front to cover up experimentation with alien devices. but it was damaged in orbit around Duna, and the DAV was sent with spare parts to repair the Alien Ship and then they crashed it into the surface to make it look like an accident. then they teleported the ship into orbit around the moon where it was upgraded with additional construction and made bigger.

and it's either still in orbit now around the Mun, or it's teleported somewhere else. and maybe only Werner von Kermin knows where it is and what its doing.

Anonymous H joined in and replied with this 11 years ago, 6 minutes later, 1 week after the original post[^] [v] #619,382

squeegee's ghost (OP) replied with this 11 years ago, 4 days later, 2 weeks after the original post[^] [v] #621,022

fucking fuck this game is hard. getting to the mun is a fucking cake walk compared to getting to duna. really the only problem is life support. don't get me wrong, the life support mod is awesome exactly because it's making it a logistical nightmare. really i guess it could be a little easier than i'm making it, i'm trying to min/max stuff instead of just giving myself a huge margin of error. i could totally just take a tank of "supplies" that would last everyone the entire trip and then some but that's kind of boring. all that does is make me have to build a slightly larger vehicle to push it. the mod comes with life support and recycling systems that can drastically extend supplies and that sounds like a lot more fun. at least then i'm building a larger vehicle because it's functional rather than just utilitarian. but, efficiency in the "closed loop" life support system necessitates a much, much larger and complicated ship.

which turns out to be just fine, recent testing has shown that a very complex and large vessel will work just fine. but the high part count causes some pretty severe performance issues. so minimizing part count is a priority. that goes for everything from habitats to ground vehicles. badly over-engineered stuff will work, but it will work poorly, and so i'm trying not to rely on piss poor designs and millions of struts to hold the hundreds of parts.

i'm still trying to build my way past the giant hurdle of the interplanetary transfer with 5 crew requiring life support, but i am making good progress. at least i have options. the recently declassified "Kerion" space craft. it's very similar to the Kerpollo spacecraft used during the original munar landings. the Kerpollo spacecraft was built for 2 week round trip missions. the Kerion is built for 5 and will need to be in space for more than 4 years. it's built from a space station "pioneer module" which has a small green house and a science work station. below that is the command capsule and service module. technically this was made for a flyby mission and doesn't carry a proper lander. it was never really intended to fly, but i wanted to mess around with some building practices (the service module is made from dozens of spherical internal tanks.)

the Kerion concept shown is a 1 way variant that could potentially fly after a redesign. this would be a 5 man ship that would fall into orbit around duna and the capsule separates to drop 3 kerbals to the surface where a small awaiting habitat and return vessel will have been stashed. the 2 remaining parts of the orbiting vessel then dock with each other and 2 kerbals "keep house" in the transfer vehicle while the 3 below do science for a while. then the 3 kerbals would use the DAV to ascent and then dock to the awaiting transfer vehicle with a new capsule. then the DAV ascent stage is dumped, the transfer vehicle would be all back in one piece, and the 2 year trip home would begin.

squeegee's ghost (OP) double-posted this 11 years ago, 28 minutes later, 2 weeks after the original post[^] [v] #621,027

of course the program has made great strides in recent years and much more ambitious projects are totally on the table. of course, as always, it's all about implementation. this is an idealized vessel meaning it was not properly launched, but hacked into orbit around kerbin. before attempting the between like 5 and 15 launches just to build this thing in orbit i wanted to see if it would just crumple under thrust. so, it will totally just snap in half (in a really awesome looking explosions of parts) if you're doing a really hard retrograde burn trying for capture in a low altitude trajectory. but if you throttle the thrust back and slowly dial it up you can really put the brakes on.

it's really very much overly complicated and has too many parts and there is a lot that can cause failure. but, it's got life support for years and you can get away with carrying minimal supplies. really the very best part of this whole concept is the companion utility ship nicknamed "piggyback 1" which operates as everything from tug boat to surface shuttle. it carries Dv to spare and can land/redock without refueling. (at least on duna if i'm very, very light on the landing. the mun requires more than half a tank of fuel to slow and land under thrust, duna at least you can use parachutes most of the descent.)

squeegee's ghost (OP) triple-posted this 11 years ago, 13 minutes later, 2 weeks after the original post[^] [v] #621,032

piggyback 1 is a great little shuttle. it's got excellent balance even as the tanks empty out. i was able to cut way down on RCS thrusters by placing 4 along the center of mass instead of having 8 out at the corners. which is nice, because the RCS thrusters on piggyback 1 are used during maneuvering of the full vessel. the full ship is really back heavy so it kinda pitches unevenly, it pivots along the rear fuel tanks. it's probably not exactly ideal, i'm guessing IRL you'd want to pivot more just in the center. idk if it actually matters, but the 4 RCS thrusters on piggyback 1 are more than enough. 8 would have been bad and i'd be shutting them off and carrying more dead weight.

probably the biggest problem with this thing is that any kind of motion is amplified and the whole thing can oscillate. not enough to break it, yet, but enough it "bounces" and can make doing any kind of docking... a real challenge. so, it might just be too unwieldy. it will work, i mean it got to duna, so, really all i have to do is launch the parts and build it in orbit and then go and it'll be fine. but it's not entirely unfrustrating.

squeegee's ghost (OP) quadruple-posted this 11 years ago, 13 minutes later, 2 weeks after the original post[^] [v] #621,051

this was simply a landing test on the mun going on here. yes it was able to land just fine, but it did not have fuel to re-dock. either a dedicated munar lander needs to be built or a munar base with a refueling depot needs to be built to service missions on the mun. unfortunately the mun is not on the agenda right now, so as long as piggyback 1 works on duna then there's not a problem. (although, i am considering including a 1 man Ike Lander and refueling depot for Duna missions or beyond. Ike is a very low gravity body and small so launching refueling shuttles from there will be much more efficient than trying to refuel using piggyback 1.

but, that also depends on how the final vessel is designed. either it'll be gargantuan (as it is) and carry all the fuel for a return trip with it, or, i'll build it more conservatively and intend on refueling empty tanks for the trip home. i can move all the weight of the habitat and work sections, but the fuel weights as much as half the ship practically. it would be nice to cut that down to a more reasonable level. although i will say as is it can go quite a bit further than Duna. but, it just can't support life much longer than a duna trip. but, with enough supplies it could hit any of the inner planets at least. maybe not return, but definitely the fuel to get there.

(Edited 9 minutes later.)

squeegee's ghost (OP) quintuple-posted this 11 years ago, 11 minutes later, 2 weeks after the original post[^] [v] #621,058

first female kerbal on the mun. the men had already been there so they just chilled in the capsule and played poker

(Edited 1 minute later.)

squeegee's ghost (OP) sextuple-posted this 11 years ago, 2 minutes later, 2 weeks after the original post[^] [v] #621,059

squeegee's ghost (OP) septuple-posted this 11 years ago, 2 minutes later, 2 weeks after the original post[^] [v] #621,062

when she found out there wasn't enough fuel to get back to the ship and the landing was going to get f9ed

squeegee's ghost (OP) octuple-posted this 11 years ago, 44 seconds later, 2 weeks after the original post[^] [v] #621,063

10 minutes ago...

squeegee's ghost (OP) nonuple-posted this 11 years ago, 5 minutes later, 2 weeks after the original post[^] [v] #621,066

testing piggyback as a service tug. again, hacked the tug and its cargo into orbit. was really only wanting to test rendezvous capability and docking capability with a large cargo. the whole ship is designed to be constructed in space using docking collars which makes it very convenient to upgrade. here piggyback 2 hauls another habitat section into place. the ship separates to allow for the addition and piggyback 2 docks the new module. so, what i can do is launch a new module and have piggyback 1 rendezvous with the cargo and haul it over and place before docking back to its hatch on the bow.

this was actually pretty fucking hard to do, btw.

(Edited 4 minutes later.)

squeegee's ghost (OP) decuple-posted this 11 years ago, 9 minutes later, 2 weeks after the original post[^] [v] #621,075

but, piggyback is pretty nimble. since it doesn't have a million RCS thrusters it's very controllable. all rotation is done by gyroscopes and all translation is handled by just thrust. it's great.

squeegee's ghost (OP) undecuple-posted this 11 years ago, 2 minutes later, 2 weeks after the original post[^] [v] #621,077

piggyback 2 moves into position to dock with one of the side collars. it'll need a bit of a fuel transfer to get back to Kerbin. (i accidentally flew all of my red suits and i want them back home)

squeegee's ghost (OP) duodecuple-posted this 11 years ago, 1 minute later, 2 weeks after the original post[^] [v] #621,078

heading home with jeb, bill and bob. this will be the first reentry on kerbin for this kind of ship... it wasn't designed for this kind of landing. it's got 4 airbrakes deployed and i'm prepared to burn retrograde for the worst of it, but there won't be fuel for the touchdown. i select a water landing and a slow aerobraking style reentry skirting through the upper atmosphere to bleed off speed and conserve fuel for hard braking to mitigate the worst of the heating.

(Edited 3 minutes later.)

squeegee's ghost (OP) tridecuple-posted this 11 years ago, 4 minutes later, 2 weeks after the original post[^] [v] #621,080

success! nothing exploded and no one died.

squeegee's ghost (OP) quattuodecuple-posted this 11 years ago, 3 minutes later, 2 weeks after the original post[^] [v] #621,081

the second ring isn't really needed, looks cool, but it's just adding weight and framerate lag.

squeegee's ghost (OP) sexadecuple-posted this 11 years ago, 5 minutes later, 2 weeks after the original post[^] [v] #621,084

but with one each of the space station modules and a huge engine with a whole lot of gas it works surprisingly well. there's also a whole lot of room for efficiency to be added. at the cost of adding more complexity i could make a much more efficient drive module.

squeegee's ghost (OP) sedecuple-posted this 11 years ago, 5 minutes later, 2 weeks after the original post[^] [v] #621,085

it's way more complex than the Kerion ship though, which can effectively perform similar work

squeegee's ghost (OP) septuadecuple-posted this 11 years ago, 4 minutes later, 2 weeks after the original post[^] [v] #621,089

so i'm really not exactly sure which kind of mission i'm leaning towards.

squeegee (OP) octadecuple-posted this 11 years ago, 12 hours later, 2 weeks after the original post[^] [v] #621,284

squeegee (OP) just kept on posting this 11 years ago, 12 hours later, 2 weeks after the original post[^] [v] #621,542

ISRU module

launched on top of something like a 120 ton rocket. not as big as the DAV launch, but close. only 20 tons off. the ISRU and companion drill are used for ore collection and fuel production. it's by necessity the first base component to launch and land. originally this was what the DAV was built to do, but it was also a combined vehicle. this one is not. it'll be mobile (and can technically reach orbit from duna when fully fueled) but it can only transport 1 kerbal so it's not meant as a transport. just resource extraction.

mechjeb is fucked for some reason, so the suborbital ascent was done manually. after that mechjeb worked fine and so the rest of the trip was flown by autopilot.

squeegee (OP) just kept on posting this 11 years ago, 5 minutes later, 2 weeks after the original post[^] [v] #621,543

i was really, really close on fuel. actually during the descent mechjeb was asking for Dv than i had, so i cut the autopilot and overshot the target to let parachutes bleed off 300m/s. i could kill 330m/s with the Dv i had left and i was going 500+
when mechjeb started burning hard i was like, nope, and killed the autopilot and let the chutes do the work. then once i was safely under 300m/s i went ahead and started knocking off some speed.

squeegee (OP) just kept on posting this 11 years ago, 2 minutes later, 2 weeks after the original post[^] [v] #621,544

but i only ended up overshooting by about 6km or so, which is totally in range of the future habitat. and it could always be moved pretty easily

squeegee (OP) just kept on posting this 11 years ago, 8 minutes later, 2 weeks after the original post[^] [v] #621,548

mining ore. it's going to be full of gas for whatever i land. the piggyback lander will refuel from this guy.
good milestone. i won't get stuck there, at least not on the surface. it's not a refueler for anything in orbit. not even close. but, i could land one on ike that would work perfectly for that...

squeegee (OP) just kept on posting this 11 years ago, 4 minutes later, 2 weeks after the original post[^] [v] #621,553

i'm getting better on fuel, but man, landing was very close. i've been landing with practically full tanks, but not this thing. buuut part of the problem was i totally forgot about an inclination change i needed to land at the intended target which is not on the equator. oops. luckily i had enough fuel and didn't let mechjeb die like, well, real jeb.

squeegee (OP) just kept on posting this 11 years ago, 4 minutes later, 2 weeks after the original post[^] [v] #621,554

landed in the highlands, lots of nice ore here for fuel. pretty much everything is present in good quantity except for uranite which i'm pretty sure is used to make uranium for mod parts. if i need that i'll make a specialized lander. hard to make out, but 6km from the highlands lander scouting for resources

squeegee (OP) just kept on posting this 11 years ago, 7 minutes later, 2 weeks after the original post[^] [v] #621,557

pretty happy with the general area around the landing site. there's a lot of nice big natural features only a few km away. with the rovers it won't take long to reach them. or piggyback could always putter people around from landing site to landing site. but, i do plan to use trailers to make trips like that because fun. this is technically a 1 man mining and refueling base. so eventually a kerbil will sit inside this to give optimal efficiency. he'll generate mulch and consume resources, so periodically a rover will come around to collect the mulch and deliver supplies. then the mulch will be delivered to the farm.

that's at least when it's not just linked to a hab.

squeegee (OP) just kept on posting this 11 years ago, 21 minutes later, 2 weeks after the original post[^] [v] #621,560

next is to land the actual hab! after that a big supply only - part in containers kind of thing with bouncy airbags and shit :D
the plan is to hopefully build structures on Duna. the Kerbal Attachment Mod lets me do a ton of EVA building. i'm planning on building a solar farm and drills mounted to towers attached to the ground. the ISRU lander might also get scavenged for parts to make a permanent refueling base. i might be able to cut way down on parts if i make it permanent.

the hab pictured is pretty much just a habitat. kerbals within tend a farm and make mulch.

it's going to need a substrate drill and water to last longer than half a year.

(Edited 2 minutes later.)

squeegee replied with this 11 years ago, 12 hours later, 2 weeks after the original post[^] [v] #621,752

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