Kerbal Space Program

[HiFlyer 9,359]

Yah. I mentioned this on another forum and was told (albeit in a good natured way) that it was not a sim. (nowadays unless its as confusing as possible its not a sim)

 

I think until you have the full version with all the options and variables to consider, its hard to appreciate the depth Kerbal can reach. I would call it a very clever physics sandbox/simulator

[RoboRay 126]

If you are doing anything other than monotonously autopiloting a tubeliner from Point A to autoland at Point B, you are not simming, according to some of the more pretentious people around here.

 

Big yawn.

[RoboRay 126]

I've been figuring out how to manage interplanetary trajectories. I started with an unmanned probe, using the MechJeb and ISA MapSat add-ons.

 

 

Preparing for lift-off. The nuclear thermal rocket I'm using to power the probe is quite heavy, requiring a fairly serious launch-vehicle.

 

 

 

Everything looks good, post-launch.

 

 

 

My really sloppy, fuel-wasting transfer orbit.

 

 

 

About to dive into the atmosphere over Duna's South Pole to aerobrake into orbit without having to use any fuel to slow down from my interplanetary speed.

 

 

 

Aerocapture into a polar orbit so that I can map the entire surface was successful.

 

 

 

Mapping of the surface has identified a couple of things I want to take a closer look at.

 

 

 

Preparing to launch my first manned expedition to Duna. I don't know if I'll land, and the ship really isn't designed for it. If I do, it will strand the crew establish the first manned based there.

 

 

Waiting for the right point in my orbit to start the transfer burn.

 

 

Trans-Dunar-Injection.

 

 

 

To be continued...

[HiFlyer 9,359]

Wow!

 

I don't know if I will ever get that deep into it, but you certainly make clear the possabilitys!

[RoboRay 126]

Disaster has struck the Minerva survey ship enroute to Duna. The fuel lines feeding the starboard pair of engines have broken, leaving the ship stranded in it's transfer orbit. (They broke coming out of time-warp to make a mid-course correction burn. It's a known bug.) Asymmetrical thrust from the remaining two engines cause the ship to tumble if they are fired. A rescue mission is in the planning stages, but it may take years for the proper launch window to arrive for a deep-space rendezvous.

 

 

A warning of the failure is sent to the Minerva II, which is heading inward to Eve.

 

 

 

Jeb suits up and heads aft to conduct an inspection.

 

 

 

Everything seems to check-out OK. Hopefully, there won't be any "open the pod bay doors" shenanigans by Bill and Bob.

 

 

 

Eve is finally in sight, a distant purple marble.

 

 

 

Eve's atmosphere is far thicker than Duna's, and even five times thicker than Kerbin's. I'll only descend to 60km above the surface this time, passing over the North Pole.

 

 

 

The view from the cockpit after final course-correction.

 

 

 

Traveling 5km per second , 60km above the surface. You do the math and see how scary that is.

 

 

 

Good aerocapture. Polar orbits allow imaging of the entire surface of the planet, as its rotation brings another swath of terrain into view each pass.

 

 

Bill makes a burn to raise the periapsis up out of the atmosphere, stabilizing the orbit.

 

 

 

ISA MapSat data is streaming in. I've burned right about half of my fuel getting here, and a lot of that was wasted on correcting my lousy trajectory, so it's entirely possible I might be able to get the crew home.

 

Meanwhile, out at Duna, the Argonaut II probe has completed its survey of the planet and transferred into an orbit around the moon, Ike.

 

[HiFlyer 9,359]

The kerbals have an ambitious space program. I wonder what the taxpayers think. ^_^

[RoboRay 126]

I haven't been around here much lately, but I'm still having a blast with KSP. If anyone cares. For my latest project, I've been working on orbital spaceplane designs...

 

 

 

[HiFlyer 9,359]

Wow! Your space program is like at the Russian/Usa stage, and mine is more like..... Ohio's.

[RoboRay 126]

Hah!

 

I went through a lighter-than-air phase, also.

 

 

I managed to get one to another world, though.

 

 

The 360°-pivoting turboprops worked well there, thanks to Laythe's oxygen atmosphere.

 

 

Spaceplanes are considerably harder.

[Air1 136]

Ha, this all looks like fun, wish I had the time. I am having enough trouble with Birds in Space right now. My volunteer job one day a week is sending 5th graders to space during the school year, We operate a full mission control room and a orbiting space craft. We do rendezvous with a comet missions and have begun Mars missions. A lot of math and science problems for them to deal with. The kids just love it and often ask if they are really in space.

 

www.challenger.org There are 51 centers in operation around the U.S.

 

Steve

[HiFlyer 9,359]

Ha, this all looks like fun, wish I had the time. I am having enough trouble with Birds in Space right now. My volunteer job one day a week is sending 5th graders to space during the school year, We operate a full mission control room and a orbiting space craft. We do rendezvous with a comet missions and have begun Mars missions. A lot of math and science problems for them to deal with. The kids just love it and often ask if they are really in space.

 

www.challenger.org There are 51 centers in operation around the U.S.

 

Steve

 

That's pretty cool! I wish innovative programs like that had been available in my area when I was going to school. :(

[RoboRay 126]

Docking has been added to KSP! Phase 1 of my space station is complete, having been launched in three pieces for assembly in orbit.

 

 

Phase 2 will insert a hub in the middle to accommodate more crew-modules, larger solar arrays, docking ports for visiting craft, and propellant tanks to refuel other vehicles.

 

My volunteer job one day a week is sending 5th graders to space during the school year, We operate a full mission control room and a orbiting space craft. We do rendezvous with a comet missions and have begun Mars missions. A lot of math and science problems for them to deal with. The kids just love it and often ask if they are really in space.

 

www.challenger.org There are 51 centers in operation around the U.S.

 

Thanks for the link! That looks like something fun to get involved in.

[RoboRay 126]

Here is the evolution of my space station:

 

I placed an unmanned craft, based on NASA's Agena, in orbit as a target for docking practice.

 

 

I then reused this Agena-like craft as the service module for my station, shown here in Phase 1, a simple orbital laboratory with an attached crew-return vehicle.

 

 

As the station grew, the old docking target craft was used as orbital tug. Here, it's maneuvering to intercept a pair of incoming hab modules and a new permanent service module for the station.

 

 

The existing station modules required some re-positioning to accommodate the new arrivals. Orbital juggling is in process to complete Phase 2... an advanced lab and permanently manned space station.

 

 

Finally, we see the current form of the station, Phase 3. On-orbit fuel storage to support visits to Kerbin's moons is now available.

 

 

A robotic "kicker" craft, intended to propel a manned lander to the Mun and back, is docked opposite the tug. It's awaiting arrival of the first manned craft bound for the Mun, currently undergoing testing.

 

 

The trusty old docking target, now in need of a new mission, will soon receive an upgrade. I'm going to send up a 1-seat cockpit with docking ports at each end, to turn it into a manned vehicle. Jeb's getting a new ride.

[RoboRay 126]

Ok, last update, probably, since there just doesn't seem to be much interest in spaceflight at AVSIM...

 

I've been building a base of operations on a moon of a gas-giant planet to support exploration by rover and aircraft. This is the final piece that will complete the base.

 

The launch vehicle for the payload/lander, with crew.

 

 

 

The payload/lander, separated from the upper stage of its launch vehicle, approaches the waiting transfer vehicle.

 

 

 

The two craft are docked together. The transfer vehicle is equipped with a pair of nuclear-thermal rocket motors, efficient enough to propel even a heavy cargo anywhere in the solar system.

 

 

 

One year later, the gas-giant planet Jool and its entourage of moons is at last in sight.

 

 

 

The inner-most moon, Laythe, to the left of Jool, is the destination.

 

 

 

Laythe is heated by gravitational interaction with nearby Jool, resulting in a mostly water-covered surface and a thick, oxygenated atmosphere. A more distant orbit would have left it sheathed in a thick layer of ice.

 

 

 

Undocking. The transfer vehicle will return home autonomously to be refueled and used again with another cargo. This was its fourth visit to Laythe.

 

 

 

Deorbit burn, aiming for the existing surface base.

 

 

 

I named this body of water Great Bay, as it's the largest impact crater on the moon with a contiguous rim above sea-level, open to the ocean in only one narrow channel.

 

 

 

The heat-shield, engines, fuel tank and much of the control/guidance system falls away, engines still firing, as the payload and crew compartment's parachutes deploy.

 

 

 

The propulsion section, unburdened from the weight of the payload, slows its descent and begins to climb away from the landing site.

 

 

 

The propulsion section will eventually crash into the sea a few kilometers west of the base, once its remaining fuel is exhausted.

 

 

 

The payload, sinking slowly in its parachutes, is almost perfectly on target.

 

 

 

It settles gently to the ground on the southern edge of the base, exactly as planned.

 

 

 

Two rovers are driven over as the inhabitants greet the crew and prepare the payload, a nuclear reactor, for its purpose of providing electrical power to the growing base.

 

 

 

Finally, this is one of the exploration airships operating from this base, shown here returning from a survey of the next landmass.

 

 

The lights of the base on the narrow peninsula are not yet in view, but soon will be.

[HiFlyer 9,359]

Ok, last update, probably, since there just doesn't seem to be much interest in spaceflight at AVSIM...

 

Well I would say that the people just have a very FSX-centric focus overall......

 

Plus this program just doesn't breach the Sim/Not-a-sim barrier that's become so prevalent. Your posts show a lot of great details available but I'm afraid its still just too darn accessible!

 

Seriously, I've have enjoyed your posts a lot. I would miss them. ^_^