Kerbal Space Program 0.21 is out!

[Taleric]

I like to use the mark 55 radial or poodle for the thrust vectoring. That is me hopping around the surface though and I like to reuse modules.

Straight up thrust to weight to land and get out better go with clusters of rockomax 24-77 or 48-7S.

Duna has a surprisingly easy escape I always find.

[ada221]

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thanks, my logic behind using aerospikes was that i was in the presence of an atmosphere (even if it's a thin one) but i think it would have caused more problems than it was worth. with the first iteration I was already running into staging issues because you cant exactly place a decoupler under one. I ended up taking inspiration from Scott Manley's video where he goes to Eeloo and assembled the ship in space with the lander upside down so that the aerospike wasn't an issue (only two parts, the lander and drivetrain module)

[userzero]

I've found Kerbal Engineer Redux helpful for designing stages for various planets. It will display your delta v for any stage on the different planets in the design screen.

[abzu93]

Mechjeb is an awesome mod. But it's more or less the T.M.I. of Kerbal. You can use it as a purely informational device, but on the other hand, it can automatically launch for you, stage for you, orbit for you, dock for you, land for you, and any number of other things. It is a wonder of programming, but also extremely overpowered.

If the Kerbals one day achieve this kind of automation in robotics technology, but it should come at a hefty price. It would be far better if the materials needed to R&D and manufacture Mechjeb devices came from refined material extracted from Eeloo for instance. Kerbals would also need to complete certain challenges in the field in order to widen their understanding of it.

At least that's what I would do, if I was developing it, which I'm not.

[userzero]

I agree. I tried mechjeb but didn't like all the automation. Engineer Redux gives you the flight data without the automation.

[abzu93]

KSP imitates life imitates KSP:

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[Taleric]

Good design scheme; So glad the Squad team have their heads on right.

Research comments from HarvesteR:

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/sho ... post595806

[FlowerChild]

Meh...we'll see. A tad too abstract for my taste, and I think they're trying way too hard to appeal to everyone, but we'll see.

[userzero]

Good design scheme; So glad the Squad team have their heads on right.

Research comments from HarvesteR:

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/sho ... post595806

I really think that sounds more like a cop out to me as if to say "we don't know how to handle this so we're just going to make it as generic as possible." I was really hoping they would move towards something similar to mission controller. But I think it's still an early phase of thinking on the devs part and they are sharing the process so it could become more refined and morph into something different. The somehow you get less value from data that's transmitted thing bothers me as well. I would make the whole transmitting data a perk you could develop and require a com network for it, like a reward for developing certain tech.

[ada221]

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so this is my masterpiece of engineering, or my baby.... same difference. the K.I.S.S. (kerbal I.S.S.) with the latest addition of the orange fuel tank I feel that it is complete.... for now....

this station grew from my first docking attempt in KSP ever. it stands as a monument to progress that began it all and will now become a refueling station for the latest greatest whipper-snappers and their fancy interplanetary missions

[Taleric]

That is a serious RCS and Ion pack you have on there! Used for regular LKO adjustments to meet up with payloads or just incase?

I always thought about an ion rig for station keeping but end up happy with nukes.

[ada221]

That is a serious RCS and Ion pack you have on there! Used for regular LKO adjustments to meet up with payloads or just incase?

I always thought about an ion rig for station keeping but end up happy with nukes.

well, the RCS is there mainly because I wanted all of the modules to be able to move themselves if they need to be re docked on another port without the use of a space tug but it also helps rotate the station a lot (which I often do because I can never figure out what orientation I want it to be at)

you are precisely right about the Ion drives, I use them to keep the orbit as close to circular as possible. they might be doing some major pushing soon though because until now this thing has been hovering at 168Km (because when i put the hub into orbit I was a total noob and couldnt figure out where the atmosphere ended so i put it high just in case) i hope to put it at about 85 or 90

edit/P.S.: it also has a ton of SAS so it rotates pretty spritely with alot less wobble than youtube videos would make me think it should have. Looking back I bet i could make a mega-probe just by combining the top and bottom modules of the station....

[Jay42]

Bah, 'cause of you all I had to go and check this out.

So I downloaded the demo and have been doing some trial and error.
Here's the Epsilon-III, my first craft to get into a stable orbit and back:

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Not quite a circle yet, and I probably wasted a lot of fuel.

Now excuse me while I go and look up how them stabilizers work, cause keeping this thing on course manually is quite a pain.
An then... to the Mun!
(and maybe beyond...)

[devak]

Bah, 'cause of you all I had to go and check this out.

Not quite a circle yet, and I probably wasted a lot of fuel.

Looking at the size of the rocket and what you put in orbit.... yea you did waste a ton of fuel.

Still, cool that you're giving it a try.

[jkievlan]

So I was curious about the feasibility of constructing a large ship in orbit and landing it elsewhere to begin a base. I chose the Mun, since it's close and has low gravity...I wasn't very confident it would all hold together, so I didn't want to overextend myself. Here are the results:

My standard rocket for 6 pieces plus 2 tankers (I had to modify it for certain things, such as the Kerbin-to-Mun tanker at the end):

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The first piece entering orbit:

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The final construction (this includes 6 different pieces, each with a main Karmony space station module):

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I used a single tanker to refuel the liquid fuel tanks and RCS tanks (attached at top):

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And...we take the whole glorious contraption into a Mun trajectory:

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In Mun orbit, I drop the auxiliary tanks (too much mass to take to Mun surface, and I don't need that much fuel storage) and then refuel using a second tanker I had waiting:

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Mun descent!

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Starting descent...


Dropping slowly...

And...touchdown! I must say, this was probably my proudest moment in KSP so far :)

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Bullseye! (That was the crater I was aiming for)

Actually, I'd say this ship was easier to land than most landers I've taken to the Mun -- it was more stable due to the 5 symmetrically-placed engines. I had plenty of power and fuel, so really the last part was the easiest.

An interesting note: all of the engine modules were detachable and fully-functional landers in their own right. If I wanted, I could have kept the ship in Mun orbit as a space station, and dropped each individual lander to explore various parts of the Mun surface.

[Taleric]

Awsome Mun base build! Even being modular it appears very agile as one unit. I bet you could add in resource collecting/processing features to that design easily once included.

Having a particular design challenge to build around and iteratively progressing is gold in KSP. I have been working towards a solid kethane build that can move, mine and process reliably for a while. Reaching a design that performs extremely well in all areas was incredible fun! Will include some pictures later.

I am hoping squad can come up with environment challenges around resources that require novel design solutions.

EDIT:

Launch is the only time I have encountered issues that were not pilot error. You have to very gently send it up because once even the slightest cavitation sets in it will tear apart spectacularly! The scaffolding on top is extra this 3rd deployment of the model 8 miner for orbital staging.

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Jeb (seen piggybacking in his minimal lander at the moment) will be taking the fleet to plant flags across the system.

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Miner 3 getting the last load before we setout. Minmus was so forgiving to extract from I was able to suicide burn into this tiny valley to collect. The model 8 can take a good hit without issue and I should only have to leave one on Eve to get all the planets done.

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[jkievlan]

Awsome Mun base build! Even being modular it appears very agile as one unit. I bet you could add in resource collecting/processing features to that design easily once included.

Yep it's designed that way -- I have several open docking ports so I can expand it unit by unit. Next task is to build and launch a rover to service the base and lift new parts into place. Then I wait for KSP to add the stuff I really want in a Mun base :)

I haven't played with the kethane mod at all, but it looks interesting. What can you do with kethane?

[Taleric]

I haven't played with the kethane mod at all, but it looks interesting. What can you do with kethane?

Adds scanners that can be used while in orbit to map pockets on the planet/moon. Then you can drill it and store in tanks for refinement to all the fuel types. It is a pretty solid mod with few issues bug wise. Saves having to launch tons of fuel up while still requiring a bunch of planning and effort to utilize.

I believe the dev was hired on by squad so resources might mirror the system closely.

[Katalliaan]

I don't think any of the people who worked on Kethane were hired on by Squad. I was under the impression that it was Romfarer and Novasilisko who were the ones working on the official resource system.