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In Progress Let's go to the Moon and do the other things (Kerbal Space)

Data4

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Ah, okay... you're just using RSS. I'm pretty close to just junking RO and doing what you're doing. I know I have to be doing something wrong, but there are times when it feels like this mod is just trolling me. For instance, "Here's an assortment of RCS thrusters and reaction wheels THAT DON'T DO A GODDAMN THING! Knock yourself out!" I know about setting the fuel types for the RCS, loading RCS fuel into the tanks via the real fuels gui, and making sure there is direct or crossfed access to the fuel, but they seem grossly underpowered. And those reaction wheels/SAS? Completely useless.
 

Cassidy

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Who cares about excessive realism? It's not like there is a mod which replaces Kerbals with Humans and it's not like you need to learn real rocket science by converting a fun space game into a 100% painstakingly realistic edutainment space program simulator if you're playing this game and don't work at a space agency right now. Sure, if you don't have a toaster of a computer that will crash with a realistically scaled Earth when not running it at 10 FPS instead because Unity and a lot of patience, real-scale Real Solar System or even realistically scaled up Kerbal System sound interesting, but why bother with the rest? Between TAC Life Support and RemoteTech mods, in-game aerodynamics and reentry-heat, there is enough already.
 

Burning Bridges

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Data4, why don't you try MiniRO.cfg and then tell us what you think? The reason is, I have not played RO myself, and wonder which way is better. You just need to put the cfg into your GameData file (without RO installed).
I can say it works well with the "normal" engines like mainsail and LV909, and offers a certain challenge. I have not looked closer, but there seems something wrong with NERVAs. They seem to give a dissapointing amount of deltaV.

Here are the mods I'm using. ( 2K/4K/8K are reduced versions of textures I made, depending on where I am playing). EVE Overhaul now gives me real clouds on Earth (RSS). I needed to make a manual change to their cfg though.

Clouds on Venus, Mars and Titan are still not working though, which is a pity. But visually Earth and Moon are more important.

MODS.jpg
 

Burning Bridges

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Who cares about excessive realism?

What I like a bout RSS is that it finally makes the game feel like a real space sim. I can use deltaV maps from real life, discover the same problems. Like with my failed Moon landing .. I had to read through a presentation of Bob Gilruth to understand how NASA did it, and what options they had.
 

Data4

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I'll try it out later on today. Right now, I'm OCDing over a SLS design that I *think* I may have figured out.

Cassidy -- yeah, basically what he said. The enjoyment I get is similar, I suppose, to someone who likes playing a game like Dark Souls on the hardest difficulty. Pain in the ass? Oh god yeah. Make you want to throw a fist through the monitor? Yup. But when you finally pull it off, it's great. I started playing around with RO in .90, and it was better then. It was also more mature for the KSP version, so I'm thinking this is going to get a few bugfixes before all is said and done.

A problem I'm having doing the SLS is there isn't a lot of performance data published yet. Partly because it's still theoretical, and partly because I just found out that some of the deeper details, like deltaV and such, are protected by ITAR regulations against export. I'm having to go with what is known, like dimensions, overall weight, engine types, and payload capabilities and reverse engineer something that looks close and behaves kinda like they think it will. It's.... challenging.
 

Burning Bridges

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I would not even say that it is super hard or anything. I just like how it becomes a small achievement that you just get into orbit, or to the Moon.
 

Burning Bridges

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KSP 2015-06-22 15-55-24-20.jpg


A plane in space?

Recently, the US Air Force have put tremendous effort into their Dyna-Soar concept, a reusable space glider.

KSP 2015-06-22 16-05-35-40.jpg


An unmanned prototype reached suborbital speeds and a heights of 180 km. Most problems with the first two stages are unsolved, and control during those stages would be hair raisinlgy dangerous with a human on board.

KSP 2015-06-22 16-07-59-56.jpg


But the glider itself has shown great potential. It has displayed extreme control and stability,

KSP 2015-06-22 16-13-08-96.jpg


can survive the stress of reentry,

KSP 2015-06-22 16-20-54-42.jpg


and then continue flying like a regular aircraft.
 
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Burning Bridges

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KSP%202015-06-22%2018-11-03-95.jpg


A pure glider has also been tested. Without a heavy engine and fuel it can of course be much lighter, enough for the first piloted version.

KSP%202015-06-22%2018-14-00-60.jpg


But being front heavy, it does not have the desired flight characteristics. That is to say, it flies like a dog.
 

Data4

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Data4, why don't you try MiniRO.cfg and then tell us what you think? The reason is, I have not played RO myself, and wonder which way is better. You just need to put the cfg into your GameData file (without RO installed).

Okay, I just installed RO/RSS over a clean 1.0.2 so I could get all the supported rocket packs like KW, AIES, etc., then deleted RO itself and added the .cfg file. It's generic and works with all engines, including the addon packs. I just sent a rocket into orbit, and yep, it's a keeper. I'm sure I'll revisit RO again after it's been tweaked a bit, but right now, I'm pretty happy with what I've got. This should work fine with the Chaka Monkey mod, which takes bits and pieces of other part mods and unifies them into one comprehensive parts pack for a full on NASA-style space program, including Orion and bits of the various Mars exploration proposals. That's kind of what I was going after with RO. I wanted to do Mars stuff, like a Curiosity landing, which I've already kind of done on stock Duna. I wanted to scale it up a bit. Got lots of other plans for stuff as well.
 

Burning Bridges

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It's just a couple of functions that multiply all engine properties with some factor. That's why it works with mods too. The factors may not be perfect though, because the scales are not linear. If you change the radiuses of planets etc, you wnd up with some exponential shit. Once I tried to change some things in the solar system with some naive values, and ended up with a planet where rockets got crushed by Earth's centrifugal forces, before they could even take off :)

And have you checked the NERVA? The deltaV seems too low, perhaps there is a mistake in the formula.
 

Burning Bridges

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KSP 2015-06-23 18-06-41-70.jpg


The manned glider has successfully finished flight test, and shows extremely good flight characteristics. Total weight is under 2.5 tons for the 1 man version, it is very agile and controllable.

KSP 2015-06-23 18-07-32-23.jpg


While the parachute deploy technique is not perfect, the glider came down safely with only minimal damage. The only part that was destroyed in the landing was a 100$ camera.

KSP 2015-06-23 18-27-48-00.jpg


Finally the time came to mount it to a rocket and send it into orbit. The Vanguard booster was still the only available option for orbital speed, and it is extremely problematic. It is basically too long and can start wobbling like a sausage. If the flight control does not take the right actions like disabling SAS, it can break apart. But the Air Force is making some changes to the booster that could benefit all US launches.


KSP%202015-06-23%2019-24-31-48.jpg


The program has already produced a small success for the Air Force. It demonstrated the first successful docking between two spaceships, when the glider turned 180 degrees and docked to it's upper stage, which serves as a mothership.

KSP 2015-06-23 19-31-15-62.jpg


Final docking approach was made with a forward mounted camera, which appears to be a workable solution.

KSP 2015-06-23 19-39-32-84.jpg


While US lifting capability is still extremely limited, the Dyna-Soar project has covered a lot of ground in space technology. The orbital mission has yielded a lot of experience, that can be used to design future spacecraft.

Currently the spacecraft is still in orbit.
 
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