Kerbals in Spaaaaace!

[Eirala]

:( Rowsdower will leave Squad next week (today's devnotes). He was legitimately awesome and often on the subreddit too.

[Peelee]

I'm getting better at managing my game time more efficiently; for the first time, I now have two ships with incercept courses for two different orbital bodies at the same time! Despite being launched much, much earlier, the Duna Base I's intercept will occur ten days after the Gilly III's Eve intercept, hopefully allowing for plenty of time to adjust the Gilly III's course to manage a Gilly intercept before I need to worry about take control of Duna Base I for the landing protocol. I was pretty fortunate on the launch window of the Gilly III, as twelve minutes of solid burn was able to get me the incercept course. That also marks the fastest I've ever been able to get an intercept.

Spoiler: purty pikchure

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[RCgothic]

Today I successfully completed my Minmus training mission!

Spoiler

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I also managed to go into Solar Space with it and return! I wonder if there's something wrong with my Deadly re-entry though. I came very hot and yet barely used any of the ablative shielding. I even have it set to 'hard'! Surely Mun and Kerbol return missions should be harder than that?

Turned out three of the kerbals hadn't been to the Mun's sphere of influence, so this poorly conceived idea was a way to send those three plus a pilot:

Spoiler

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The rocket broke in half repeatedly at about 20k metres. Remarkably at the octuple-strutted middle of the orange tanks! Luckily I could fly the orbiter it in for a landing each time. Looks pretty though!

So I built a conventional pod for Munar orbit and return. Raised an eyebrow slightly when the centre pod chute detonated before anything else including the un-heatshielded fuel tank, luckily I had four more reserve chutes. But they weren't quite enough and as I got a little distracted during re-entry my pod came in at 8.5m/s for a hard landing. If I'd been paying attention I could have fired the engine for a soft touch down, but at least my kerbals walked away from it.

So I now have two pilots, two engineers and two scientists all at level 3!

[factotum]

I also managed to go into Solar Space with it and return! I wonder if there's something wrong with my Deadly re-entry though. I came very hot and yet barely used any of the ablative shielding. I even have it set to 'hard'! Surely Mun and Kerbol return missions should be harder than that?

How hot you get on the way down really depends more on the angle you hit the atmosphere than the speed you're travelling. Try sending your return capsule on a direct collision course with Kerbin and I'm sure you'll find the re-entry every bit as deadly as you're expecting it to be!

[RCgothic]

I tend to aim for a periapsis of 35-38km, that could be why!

[Peelee]

How hot you get on the way down really depends more on the angle you hit the atmosphere than the speed you're travelling. Try sending your return capsule on a direct collision course with Kerbin and I'm sure you'll find the re-entry every bit as deadly as you're expecting it to be!

Why is this? Like, assuming you're moving 2,500m/s at 35km above sea level, isn't the same amount and concentration of gas there regardless of your angle, which is being pushed away at incredibly high speeds, thus making intense heat?

[Storm Bringer]

Why is this? Like, assuming you're moving 2,500m/s at 35km above sea level, isn't the same amount and concentration of gas there regardless of your angle, which is being pushed away at incredibly high speeds, thus making intense heat?

yes, but your low approach angle means it gets thicker, slower, and you effectively increase the "depth" of the atmosphere you travel though, so you slow down over a longer period, and thus have a lower "peak" temp.

[factotum]

Yeah, what Storm Bringer said. If you're descending vertically through the atmosphere and you're 35km up at 2,500m/s, you will very rapidly get into the thicker part of the atmosphere and cause the compression heating to go through the roof--not to mention that you'd need to decelerate at around 9g in order to come to a rest at ground level. If you're going nearly sideways you can decelerate slower and stay in the thinner part of the atmosphere for longer.

[Eirala]

It might be an issue with DRE itself since i lose no ablative shielding at all doing reentries in Real Solar System. You should definitely lose ablative shielding even with a shallow reentry (you should always do shallow reentries anyway to minimize g forces) coming from Minmus on hard settings.

[RCgothic]

So apparently I've just about maxed out the tech tree! I only have a couple more 1000 tier researches left!

I've had quite a few successful launches to Minmus now. Next on the list is a trip to Duna/Ike! Except apparently my best launch window for four game years is like RIGHT NOW. About 1800dv for transfer and insertion burns. Now I just need to get exit angles and life support for a years-long trips figured out.

[RCgothic]

Ok, so a lot of preparation work for my kerballed mission to Duna! First I had to replace my long-range relay sats with their pathetically tiny solar panels with some capable of covering the entire inner solar system. That was done in one launch for about 35k funds and the sats arranged themselves using onboard RCS.

Next up was to establish comms around Duna and Ike. So that's six sats, three for Ike, three for Duna, three of which have long-range dishes and all of which have the the best omnis funds can buy, so they should be able to talk to each other from Ike-Duna without dishes. This mission was launched on a fast 1300dv transfer burn so as to arrive there well before my kerballed mission which is going to be heavier and needs to be more careful with its dv.

The mission requirements:

1). Launch pretty much immediately. Dv costs are going up rapidly.

2) dv requirements:

• Launch to LKO: approx 3500dv.
• Transfer to Duna. Flight time approx 260 days, dv requirement approx 2000 plus 10% margin = 2200dv.
• Land on Duna (0dv) and rendezvous (approx 1500dv)
• Land on Ike (approx 1000dv from LDO) and rendezvous (approx 750 dv to Ike orbit over Duna).
• Transfer to Kerbin (no good window) in aerobraking 2200dv and flight time 260 days.

Total DV required: 11150. Not all of that needs to be the same craft though, I can separate for landing.

Other mission requirements:
Orbit Duna. Science from Duna orbit. Land on Duna. Science from Duna. (combined lander/re-entry vehicle)
Multiple science packages above Duna.
Orbit Ike. Science from Ike orbit. Land on Ike. Science from Ike. (smaller lander)
Station with docking port, Antenna, Power and at least 5 kerbals to Duna.
Temperature scans of Ike. (mini-sat hitchhiker?)
Surface scans of Ike. (multiple science packages - two locatons. Extra dv?)
Two place satellite contracts. (micro-sats?)

Life support requirements: 520, call it 600 days for safety.

That's a pretty epic mission package!

[RCgothic]

Ok, the preparations for the Duna mission continue! Some pics from the launch pad:

Spoiler: Duna Service Module

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Tallest rocket I've ever launched! Luckily the mk2 cargo bays are quite rigid. Just enough space to fit in an Ike lander and two remote sats. Also contains the main solar arrays and the expedition's primary RCS tankage and all the life support supplies for the mission. And a mobile lab for good measure. I'll be sending six kerbals, so Jeb is currently sitting on more than 5000 days of life support!

Spoiler: Duna Fuel Module

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Two of these! An orange tank and a half to LKO plus docking attachments. The first stage boosters are rescaled S-1Bs to give enough boost. Then a poodle engine to position in accurate LKO. The first one ran out of power before it could dock, but I did manage to align it north before that happened. The second version included a solar pannel and docked successfully:

Spoiler: Fuel Module in orbit

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Spoiler: Docked Fuel Modules.

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Unfortunately the were orbiting about 120' behind the service module and exhausted their RCS catching up. The service module piloted by Jeb from the Ike lander completed the docking manoeuvre:

Spoiler: Docked Service Module and Fuel Modules

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And so just one more launch to make:

Spoiler: Duna Command Module/Lander

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This contains the engines and attaches to the front of the service module. It'll also be ferrying Bill, Bob, Merfield, and two others who I forget the names of to the mothership. Merfield's the pilot on this one.

Probably a little under-engined, so it may take several burns on successive orbits to complete the transfer burn!

[Jimorian]

Just wanted to dish out a round of Kudos on your space program so that you don't feel you're posting into the void. Well done!

[factotum]

Wow, that is one long spaceship when it's fully assembled, I dread to think how much it'll wobble once you throttle up for the first time!

[RCgothic]

Thanks for the kudos!

And hopefully not too much! It's a puller design, so the engines will be on the nose. It's a stable configuration.

Additionally, three lv909s are relatively few for a craft of this size. I expect the burn(s) will take a while. The fuel modules function as drop tanks when empty. Just detach the rearmost!

This is a major milestone for my space program, made all the more tricky by the rapidly diminishing launch window!

Technically I could use nuclear or ion engines, but I feel that would be cheating if I haven't even gone interplanetary once without them.

[factotum]

I wouldn't say using nuclear or ion engines is really cheating--you pay for the extra efficiency with woefully low thrust (and, in the case of the nuclear engine, a fair bit of extra mass). It tends to change how you look at doing manoeuvres when you know it's going to take a solid hour to complete one even with 4x physical time acceleration on!

[RCgothic]

Slight necro, but I'm back into Kerbal in a big way and there's no newer thread...

After restarting career mode for 1.04 after a long hiatus, I've just designed and flown my first SSTO Spaceplane to orbit and back! No useful payload yet. But now that I've managed it once...

[Wookieetank]

After having gotten a new computer last week I've been working my way back into this myself now that I can play it lag free. Apparently I haven't played since atmospheric heating was implemented. My steering wings exploded on escape, the rest of my ship exploded on re-entry. Was a very Kerbal 2nd mission. XD

[Artanis]

I really should get around to playing a bit of KSP again. I too haven't played for a long, long time: last I played, the only game mode was sandbox

[RCgothic]

It's changed a fair bit! The aerodynamic and heating models have got much more sophisticated. You can actually burn up now. On ascent if you're not careful!

Some of the things I've been up to:

Spaceplane:

Spoiler: Whiplash 1, Low-tech spaceplane

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Low-altitude global coverage satellite constelation for DP-10 probe reception (Remote Tech 2) (18 sats in 3 planes, 180km altitude 89.5deg inclination, planes 63deg wrt each other) and equatorial 3-sat Communotron-16 relays at 700km altitude.

Spoiler: Sat constellations

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Note: There's currently a bug where anything in a perfectly polar orbit explodes over the south pole. An inclination of 89.5deg is safe. 90deg is asking to be devoured by the kraken. (South-Pole Sarlacc?)

[Wookieetank]

I really should get around to playing a bit of KSP again. I too haven't played for a long, long time: last I played, the only game mode was sandbox

There's now 3 game modes (without mods) and at least 1 multiplayer mod (which I need to try and get working again on my compy, battle rovers was hilariously fun).

It's changed a fair bit! The aerodynamic and heating models have got much more sophisticated. You can actually burn up now. On ascent if you're not careful!

Some of the things I've been up to:

Spaceplane:

Spoiler: Whiplash 1, Low-tech spaceplane

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Low-altitude global coverage satellite constelation for DP-10 probe reception (Remote Tech 2) (18 sats in 3 planes, 180km altitude 89.5deg inclination, planes 63deg wrt each other) and equatorial 3-sat Communotron-16 relays at 700km altitude.

Spoiler: Sat constellations

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Note: There's currently a bug where anything in a perfectly polar orbit explodes over the south pole. An inclination of 89.5deg is safe. 90deg is asking to be devoured by the kraken. (South-Pole Sarlacc?)

Very nice! Once I figure out how to exit the atmosphere without exploding/losing bits, I'll have to see about finally getting around to a round trip munar expedition. So far my munar surface contacts have been: 1. @ 560m/s and 2. command module intact, engine + fuel exploded on landing ><

[RCgothic]

Exit without losing bits?! Is it a loss of control, or bits overheating?

[Wookieetank]

Exit without losing bits?! Is it a loss of control, or bits overheating?

Overheating and then boom. Apparently 1 of the tall solid state rockets + command capsule = too fast for wings to survive XD

[RCgothic]

Might want to engage the thrust limiter on that then.

[Wookieetank]

Might want to engage the thrust limiter on that then.

Didn't know that was a thing, will be looking into that next time I play.

[Rakaydos]

Didn't know that was a thing, will be looking into that next time I play.

Right click the booster in the VAB.

I actually use that to psudo-asparagus SRBs when I need a lot more TWR to get off the ground. 2 boosters at 100%, 2 boosters at 50%, and 2 boosters at 33.5%, with independant decouplers so I can drop the SRB pairs as they empty.

[factotum]

Very nice! Once I figure out how to exit the atmosphere without exploding/losing bits, I'll have to see about finally getting around to a round trip munar expedition. So far my munar surface contacts have been: 1. @ 560m/s and 2. command module intact, engine + fuel exploded on landing ><

Try going to Minmus first. It will take more fuel to get there (especially since you have to align your orbital plane, which you don't have to do when going to the Mun), but you'll use so much less fuel landing and taking off in Minmus' light gravity* that it more than compensates for that; plus, there are those handy-dandy blue "seas" which are flat and at 0m altitude, so they're absolutely perfect for practicing your landings. Once you've got that down pat, then you should have a much better chance at doing the Mun.

* It's actually possible to land on Minmus and get back into orbit with a Kerbal's space suit manoeuvring pack--that gives you an idea how little delta-V is needed to do it!

[Wookieetank]

I actually use that to psudo-asparagus SRBs when I need a lot more TWR to get off the ground. 2 boosters at 100%, 2 boosters at 50%, and 2 boosters at 33.5%, with independant decouplers so I can drop the SRB pairs as they empty.

I'll have to try this sometime, usually my response to needing more TWR is MORE SRBs! (and struts, can't forget the struts)

Try going to Minmus first. It will take more fuel to get there (especially since you have to align your orbital plane, which you don't have to do when going to the Mun), but you'll use so much less fuel landing and taking off in Minmus' light gravity* that it more than compensates for that; plus, there are those handy-dandy blue "seas" which are flat and at 0m altitude, so they're absolutely perfect for practicing your landings. Once you've got that down pat, then you should have a much better chance at doing the Mun.

This could be quite the feat for me, took 8+ kerbins stranded orbiting the sun before I figured out how to reliably get into munar orbit. And now with this whole atmospheric friction/heating nonsense, I'm having to relearn just getting into orbit in one piece XD

[Eldan]

Guess I should start this up again, sometime. I never quite learned how to reliably get into orbit before heating and atmosphere, (about 70% or so, with a good rocket?), but I did manage a munar return trip. And a landing on "Mars", whatever it was called, but never a return from there.

[Rakaydos]

I've done a Jool 5 challange mission, landing on all 5 moons in one mission and returning to kerbin, but I've never landed and returned from Duna.