Kerbal Space Program
- Thread starter Leonel
- Start date
Thorgalaeg
Deity
Cool. But it would even be more amazing to do it retrograde.
warpus
Sommerswerd asked me to change this
Cool and useful tool I found
You plug in available delta v, and it tells you where you can go. Good for planning missions
You plug in available delta v, and it tells you where you can go. Good for planning missions
Leonel
Breakfast Connoisseur
Oh well, it's still an awesome vid 
hobbsyoyo
Deity
- Joined
- Jul 13, 2012
- Messages
- 26,575
Sweet! I am pretty excited about that as the wobble was destroying my will to play it (along with the frustrating experience that is docking a lot of huge space station parts together).
Plus, I've never even spent more than an hour or two with spaceplanes as in their current state they are pretty much unusable due to control issues.
Very exciting news, thanks for sharing!
Plus, I've never even spent more than an hour or two with spaceplanes as in their current state they are pretty much unusable due to control issues.
Very exciting news, thanks for sharing!
hobbsyoyo
Deity
- Joined
- Jul 13, 2012
- Messages
- 26,575
Trimming controls is pointless when you can't build an aerodynamically stable craft to begin with because the game (or at the least the implementation I'm playing) sucks donkey balls wrt aerodynamic forces. It's somehow possible to build enormous 50 wing planes that are dynamically stable but a basic jet flip flops head over heels as soon as it leaves the ground. (if it leaves the ground)
Your Center of Lift and Center of Gravity have to be on top of each other (or Lift slightly behind)
edit to avoid dp
further editing: have you tried FAR? Since you seem to be an aerospace engineer, that seems to be right up your alley.
edit to avoid dp
further editing: have you tried FAR? Since you seem to be an aerospace engineer, that seems to be right up your alley.
Chairman Meow
Class IV
IIRC, it's a mod that simulates more realistic atmospheric effects, including heating due to atmospheric drag.
hobbsyoyo
Deity
- Joined
- Jul 13, 2012
- Messages
- 26,575
Yup, no not going to do that. I am for realism up to the point where it sacrifices fun and from what I've read it seems like FAR goes way beyond that point. The game is challenging enough as it is and I don't need more challenge.
I've been having a blast lately. I restarted from scratch (well I kind of had to as the new version broke my saves) and I've been doing it all from the basics. I'll post pics of some interesting rockets I came up with in a bit.
Edit for pics:
So I started from the beginning. First, I designed a Mk I pod Launch Escape System and tested that from the launch pad. It worked, but the lateral-firing sepatrons that were meant to push the craft away from an exploding stack only sent the pod tumbling. No arrangement of lateral firing sepatrons gave me a satisfactory result so they were scrapped and all of the sepatrons now only fire straight up (with a slight outward bend so as not to fry the capsule below).
Next I designed a shakeout vehicle so that I could test the abort system on a live rocket without it flying too high, too far or too fast. It was a simple stack of 3 SRBs and I used the abort mode during every phase of flight to ensure it worked. (I really love using the abort button!)
Then I decided to go a bit higher, a bit faster and a bit further with a two-stage SRB system. This one put me on a solid suborbital trajectory that put me out a few hundred clicks from the pad, just like the Mercury-Redstone missions. It also worked satisfactorily but to get to orbit, I'd need a bigger stack.
My next vehicle, the Lolbiter I, could *almost* get me to orbit. I took the 3 SRB shakeout vehicle and added a stack of 3 liquid fuel boosters. The problem I encountered is that it was top heavy. As the liquid fuel burnt out, the center of mass shifted high up the rocket (it started high to begin with). Thus, when I tried to do a gravity turn, it flipped over end-for-end. To deal with this issue, I just burned straight up (to almost 100km altitude) and then dumped the empty liquid boosters. Then I turned to 90 degrees and lit the second stage SRB's. This got me a low peroapsis of 13km or so and since the orbital stage only had a small fuel tank and engine, I had to redesign the rocket or else I wouldn't have enough fuel to get a stable orbit and then deorbit without resorting to RCS.
My final design, the Lolbiter II, encorporated an SRB 'kicker' stage. The 15 SRBs at the bottom could get me to 10km and I only used minimal thrust from the liquid fuel boosters for the thrust vectoring abilities they have. Then, at 10km, I revved up the liquid fueled rockets and burned to about 120km or so. I could do a very gently (15degrees) gravity turn to help pick up a bit of horizontal velocity. At apoapsis, I lit the SRB's at 90 degrees and achieved a 150x35km orbit. I was able to use just a tad of fuel from the orbital stage to get above the 70km mark and then did a few orbits. Oh and I kept the abort stack until I had orbit as a just-in-case measure. In a pinch, I could use the abort stack to give a massive kick to the pod, but since there were so many sepatrons on it when I actually tried this it put me on a solar orbit I couldn't return from.
This ended phase I of my rebooted space program.
Phase II of my space program centered on putting Satellites in orbit around Kerbin, the Mun and Minmus. I went through several Sat Launchers before I got to the final design. It uses 2 SRB stages to kick the launcher to ~20km before the main engines are fully revved up. The main stage can propel the satellite into a high polar orbit or send it half way onto a Kerbin escape trajectory. The insertion stage can place the tiny Satellite on polar orbit around the Mun and Minmus. The only problem I have is the sat doesn't have enough batteries to remain function during a complete night-cycle so I'll have to revisit that issue.
My next project was to land a Kerbal on the Mun which my Lunar Lander vehicle does pretty handlily. The two side boosters are just copies of the central core that crossfeed their fuel into it. I was able to safely land on the Mun but due to really, really sloppy flying, I was stranded in a highly eccentric orbit. However, I was able to use my RCS reserves to bring my Kerbal home safely. Better mission planning will resolve this issue in the future.
I think next I'll try and put a fully functioning satellite in polar orbit around every single body in the solar system, then build a space station followed by manned landings everywhere.
What do you all think I should do next?
I've been having a blast lately. I restarted from scratch (well I kind of had to as the new version broke my saves) and I've been doing it all from the basics. I'll post pics of some interesting rockets I came up with in a bit.
Edit for pics:
Spoiler :
So I started from the beginning. First, I designed a Mk I pod Launch Escape System and tested that from the launch pad. It worked, but the lateral-firing sepatrons that were meant to push the craft away from an exploding stack only sent the pod tumbling. No arrangement of lateral firing sepatrons gave me a satisfactory result so they were scrapped and all of the sepatrons now only fire straight up (with a slight outward bend so as not to fry the capsule below).
Next I designed a shakeout vehicle so that I could test the abort system on a live rocket without it flying too high, too far or too fast. It was a simple stack of 3 SRBs and I used the abort mode during every phase of flight to ensure it worked. (I really love using the abort button!)
Then I decided to go a bit higher, a bit faster and a bit further with a two-stage SRB system. This one put me on a solid suborbital trajectory that put me out a few hundred clicks from the pad, just like the Mercury-Redstone missions. It also worked satisfactorily but to get to orbit, I'd need a bigger stack.
My next vehicle, the Lolbiter I, could *almost* get me to orbit. I took the 3 SRB shakeout vehicle and added a stack of 3 liquid fuel boosters. The problem I encountered is that it was top heavy. As the liquid fuel burnt out, the center of mass shifted high up the rocket (it started high to begin with). Thus, when I tried to do a gravity turn, it flipped over end-for-end. To deal with this issue, I just burned straight up (to almost 100km altitude) and then dumped the empty liquid boosters. Then I turned to 90 degrees and lit the second stage SRB's. This got me a low peroapsis of 13km or so and since the orbital stage only had a small fuel tank and engine, I had to redesign the rocket or else I wouldn't have enough fuel to get a stable orbit and then deorbit without resorting to RCS.
My final design, the Lolbiter II, encorporated an SRB 'kicker' stage. The 15 SRBs at the bottom could get me to 10km and I only used minimal thrust from the liquid fuel boosters for the thrust vectoring abilities they have. Then, at 10km, I revved up the liquid fueled rockets and burned to about 120km or so. I could do a very gently (15degrees) gravity turn to help pick up a bit of horizontal velocity. At apoapsis, I lit the SRB's at 90 degrees and achieved a 150x35km orbit. I was able to use just a tad of fuel from the orbital stage to get above the 70km mark and then did a few orbits. Oh and I kept the abort stack until I had orbit as a just-in-case measure. In a pinch, I could use the abort stack to give a massive kick to the pod, but since there were so many sepatrons on it when I actually tried this it put me on a solar orbit I couldn't return from.
This ended phase I of my rebooted space program.
Spoiler :
Phase II of my space program centered on putting Satellites in orbit around Kerbin, the Mun and Minmus. I went through several Sat Launchers before I got to the final design. It uses 2 SRB stages to kick the launcher to ~20km before the main engines are fully revved up. The main stage can propel the satellite into a high polar orbit or send it half way onto a Kerbin escape trajectory. The insertion stage can place the tiny Satellite on polar orbit around the Mun and Minmus. The only problem I have is the sat doesn't have enough batteries to remain function during a complete night-cycle so I'll have to revisit that issue.
My next project was to land a Kerbal on the Mun which my Lunar Lander vehicle does pretty handlily. The two side boosters are just copies of the central core that crossfeed their fuel into it. I was able to safely land on the Mun but due to really, really sloppy flying, I was stranded in a highly eccentric orbit. However, I was able to use my RCS reserves to bring my Kerbal home safely. Better mission planning will resolve this issue in the future.
I think next I'll try and put a fully functioning satellite in polar orbit around every single body in the solar system, then build a space station followed by manned landings everywhere.
What do you all think I should do next?
Attachments
J-man
Deity
Seems like your Launch Escape System is a bit overpowered 
Perhaps you already know but the most efficient height to start your gravity turn is 10km, don't turn to fast.
http://wiki.kerbalspaceprogram.com/wiki/Basic_Maneuvers
Perhaps you already know but the most efficient height to start your gravity turn is 10km, don't turn to fast.
http://wiki.kerbalspaceprogram.com/wiki/Basic_Maneuvers
