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Sturgeon's House

RobotMinisterofTrueKorea

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Posts posted by RobotMinisterofTrueKorea

  1. This weekend I finished a major hurdle in KSP. I built a pretty decent replica of the Ares from Stephen Baxter's Voyage.

     

    The Ares was a major construction hurdle in KSP for me. Usually if I wanted to explore a planet, I could put probes together, but i figured I'd aim for a manned vessel, and I figure I'd make it a big one.

     

    The star of Voyage is the gigantic Ares cluster, which is a Saturn V derived Mars capable spacecraft built for a Mars mission in 1986. One of the more frustrating aspects of the novel is that the novel regularly takes time to whinge about the technological marvel that is the Ares. Regularly the central protagonist complains about the brutish Ares, and that the more elegant Shuttle should have been built in it's place. (In the Voyage-verse the Shuttle program is cancelled in favor of a NERVA engined Mars mission, and due to a fatal failure, the NERVA vessel is replaced by the Ares). This is regurgitated ad nauseam for the duration of the novel. Stephen Baxter makes some odd conclusions in the novel. A central highlight is that a large number of NASA unmanned missions are cancelled and as a result, the humans of the Voyage-verse know less about the Solar System (including Mars somehow) than we do. This is especially strange as it implicitly makes the claim that two Viking Landers would generate more scientific knowledge than a mobile geologist during a 30 day surface stay.

     

    Like I said however, the star of the novel is the Ares spacecraft. It's all kinds of neat. It's built around a central propulsion core with an SIIC Tank complete with 5 J-2s. It's also got the added SIIC Fuel tanks which it drags along as drop tanks. The Ares is prime KSP material. The bulged section is the MEM. I used the MEM mod to provide the craft, and built the shrowd around it. Just forward of that is an SIVB living space ala Skylab, and ahead of that is the docking segment and Apollo CSM. One of the neat parts of the Ares is that it requires some reassembly at various stages throughout the flight. It's a pretty complicated Spacecraft and I ran a series of tests, during which I snapped a few screenshots. The flights were around the Kerbin System with two flights, one unsuccessful flight to minmus, and a huge successful Mun mission. The Ares is absolutely the largest spacecraft I've built in KSP at 373t and 300+ Feet in length.

     

    Here is the Ares Cluster in Trans-Mars Injection Configuration.

    Ukx3R2h.jpg

     

    During Transit, both SIIC tanks are jettisoned. The fairings around the docking module are removed and the CSM docks at one of the radial docking ports. It stays in this configuration until capture.

    sft3kmg.png

     

    Once in orbit, the crewed block separates from the propulsion stage, rotates 180 degrees and redocks with the propulsion section. This allows the MEM shroud to be jettisoned and the MEM can undock. 

    XX5dl63.jpg

     

    The image above is from Flight 1. Due to a mistake with the fairing jettison force, the airlock and docking segment were destroyed. I EVA'ed some crew over and flew my first run with the MEM. I undocked, set up a deorbit burn and landed on Kerbin. The MEM is based on the North American-Rockwell design from the 1960s. It's an absolute monster to fly. It's unevenly weighted, asymmetrical and all around a blend of astoundingly fun and pain in the ass. Despite some construction errors and an early loss of RCS fuel, the MEM heatshield and parachute tests were astoundingly successful.

    YpCAsbi.jpg

     

    On Flight 2, I landed a MEM on the moon. This was fairly difficult. The MEM is designed to land on a Martian or Duna style planet. It's main way of losing descent speed is through drogue shoots and Ballutes. Just prior to touchdown it has an Aerospike that can be fired up. On a Mun landing, I was entirely dependent on the de-orbit booster and descent Aerospike. I only just managed to put down before running out of fuel. Flight 2 is still in progress with an extended surface stay with the MEM. This one is pictured with the outer fairing removed and some added solar panels. You can sort of see the surface lab behind the RCS strut.

    6qVyf13.png

     

    Ares in orbit. The MEM ascent stage will rendezvous with the Ares, offload her crew before being jettisoned. A major difference between my Ares and the one of the novel is that I've been using a 5 man CSM. I don't quite buy that the orbital segment should be left totally unmanned. It also is capable of extended science missions, so I figure, why waste the man power.

    YiqWfq1.png

  2. 1 hour ago, CobaltWolf said:

    Hey y'all! Saw the notifications from this thread in my email (says how much I check that inbox...) and wanted to share if anyone missed it: BDB v1.5 released back in January! Here's the promotional album for the release, click the image to see the whole promotional album.

     

    https://imgur.com/gallery/WkYHUBb

     

    If you want to see what the next project is, click here and here. :)

     

     

     

     

     

    I've got it downloaded and that I've been fast at work on new rocket designs. Personally, I'm beyond hyped for the new Titan II. I'm a huge Gemini Program fan. The current version of BDB is absolutely fantastic. I haven't toyed around with the new launch vehicles quite yet, but I'm looking forward to it.

  3. 8LO5nMa.jpg

     

    I'm at work again with Skylab in BDB. This time I'm doing an LKO Skylab. This is based on an earlier design which was a Wet Workshop with an Apollo Telescope Mount that retains the LM ascent stage. In a pinch I figure the LM ascent stage can be used to guide incoming AARDVs. Additionally it can be separated from the rest of the station and fly with a CSM to a higher altitude for observations. This is the first of several Apollo Applications Program Concepts I'll be flying with.

  4. B6WUG9S.jpgaOMZrL7.jpg3qsXkGE.jpg

     

    I was alerted to the existence of the universal storage mod from a reddit post where a gentleman made a Direct Ascent Gemini lander. I copied much of his design from that and put my own spin to create a USAF Gemini-I from the Blue Gemini series. With my added use of KAS and KIS, this gives my Gemini spacecraft some extra utility. The Gemini-I(A) as I call it, is a bit different than the one in the novel, where the service module doesn't open. C'est la vie. It's got more engines, giving it higher performance at the cost of endurance. I'm still toying with the design, but the Gemini is going to be a centerpiece of a great many of my future missions.

  5. 1 hour ago, Sturgeon said:

    Did MechJeb always have a "launch into plane of target" mode in its ascent guidance? Cuz that's cool as hell.

     Yep.

     

    W1unI0m.jpg

     

    I decided to return to BDB to make something a little different than usual. This is my 1959 Man-in-Space-Soonest take. It's the stock Mk 1 capsule with some BDB Mercury bits on it, sat atop a Thor. It can lift that little capsule into a sub orbital arc, and really that's about it. I did a separate orbital version:

     

    dhepv2J.jpg

     

    This was tricky to figure out, the Thor, without any sort of scaling mods, was just outside of the ability to put a capsule in orbit. So I figured out this little work around. As you can see, I opted for the lighter Blue Dog Mercury Capsule, which I also stripped down. it doesn't have any sort of maneuvering thrusters, it just has a parachute and a razor thin heatshield. To get the extra DeltaV I stuck the entire Thor on top of a Flea SRB. It can *barely* get into orbit. It can't carry any sort of additional Payload or experiment package. But if you want an orbital rocket in short order, this does the trick.

  6. 11 hours ago, CobaltWolf said:

    Whoa! I was stumbling around Google Images doing research and stumbled upon this site. I'm the author of Bluedog Design Bureau which I see in a lot of these screenshots. Just wanted to say these are some really cool builds! :)

     

    Welcome! Thanks for stopping by, and double thanks for making such a great modpack! I'm a huge fan of BDB, I use it to build, at this point, most things. I was working on a recreation of the Ares from Voyage a while back but the save got corrupted. I suppose I'll need to get back around to building it.

     

     

  7. When compared to specifically a Pz II, then yeah the Chi Ha with like a 47mm gun might be the more attractive tank?

     

    Opposite US Armor, and really just in general, IJA armor is lacking. They tend to be larger, slower, and sport inferior armor and firepower to their Allied counterparts. I mean what does a Chi Ha have that an M2/M3 Light Tank, or M4 Medium doesn't? Literally nothing. In the world of Axis armor, it's the same sort of deal, the contemporary German stuff generally winds up looking superior. There are exceptions, for instance, I don't think Chi-Has set themselves on fire by driving up hills, or blew out their final drives after 200km, as was the case with some wartime German tanks *Cough* *Cough* Panther *Cough* Ferdinand *Cough* *Cough*

     

    It's also worth noting that post-war Japanese armor developments don't emulate their pre-war and war-time efforts. If anything they basically start building AFVs that are infinitely closer to contemporary West German and American designs. 

  8. 1 hour ago, Peasant said:

    It did in A6M8. Which is derived from the 1942 plan. Which began execution in 1945.

    The Zeroes armor would not have helped the Japanese in any meaningful way. Nor would have the self sealing tanks. It would have achieved some aircraft crashing into the sea/not being involved for a series of battles in 1943 though.

     

    Monumentally stupid? Do you think they had anything to use otherwise? Send them to training? You can say it's stupid but look at how feasible your plan is.

     

    Which began execution in 1945?

     

    Dude, That does nothing to refute the fact that the F6F, F4U, and even the plucky little FM-2 were superior aircraft. A quick check shows the A6M8 is going to have a top airspeed of 356mph. Sorry to tell you, this is slow by 1945 standards. The F6F-5 has a higher top speed at 391 mph, and the F4U-4 had a blistering top speed of 446 mph. There's also other US Aircraft to consider, namely the F7F Tigercat and F8F Bearcat, which both broke 400 mph. There's also USAAF aircraft to consider, the P-51D/K and P-47N also break 400 mph. That's not counting FAA aircraft with latter variants of Seafire.

     

    Also, one of the major issues with the A6M was loss of maneuverability at higher air speeds. The entire reason the plane was so maneuverable was that it had these ECKSBAWKS HUEG control surfaces. If you put on any sort of significant airspeed, the airflow over the control surfaces makes maneuvering the aircraft difficult. How on earth would putting a larger engine on the aircraft correct that problem? The Bf-109K4 had similar issues. If you put too large of an engine on an air frame, you turn the damn thing into a death trap.

  9. I've started to go up the German tree. It's an interesting experience. It's less OP than I figured it would be. The Panzer IV with the longer 75mm are solid tanks but, if anyone looks at you, you die horribly. T-34/76s are the bane of my existence whenever I play that tree. Still, they're very potent, and the mix of vulnerability plus lethality makes them pretty fun. The Panzer III is still the unexpected highlight of the tree. The Pz IIIL is EASILY my best tank stats wise with a win rate in the 86% range and a 81:7 KDR. As a weird rule, I'm trying to avoid the big cats and go for the German tanks that receive less Wehrawank. We'll see how long my patience lasts. The end goal is to get to the West German stuff, so I can play Wargame in War Thunder.

     

    My biggest takeaway is that the German tree appears to be great gun on shockingly mediocre to outright bad chassis. Except for when it's a bad gun on a shockingly mediocre chasses (Early Pz IV). German HE filler on APHE shells also has interesting characteristics. They don't seem to ever set off ammunition. They will kill crew like there's no tomorrow, but you're banking on spalling from the shell penetration doing a lot of your damage. Maybe it changes later, but it was a surprising lesson. The US tanks have spoiled me.

  10. Probably my best KSP screenshot so far, or at least, my favorite. I dorked out and decided to write a little blurb to go along with it. Please do not take it seriously.

    IzFVnhW.png

     

    "MoonLab represents our first base outside of the Earth's Orbit, and in that regard it's certainly a remarkable achievement. You'll hear the Skylab guys talk up the fact that they have the nicer facilities where they can get the real science done, but don't pay any attention to them. They've had it easy. When we went to MoonLab, me and the guys spent the first two weeks living out of the Command Module. You see, while Skylab was launched more or less finished, MoonLab is a Wet Workshop. The Labs, Wardroom, Control Center, all of that had to be unpacked or outright built in those empty LOX and LH2 tanks. When you take that into account, you can see where Skylab has the "nicer" facilities. By comparison, yeah, we had to 'rough it', I guess. At least in the early days. That didn't mean that MoonLab was some sort of waste. We successfully proved people could live and work for months at a time away from even Earth orbit, even build a station, if they had to. We've taken up the ALSEP Mission, and performed detailed orbital observations of the Moon. We're just itching to get someone like Schmitt up there. Ultimately, you have to understand, there was just this kind of rivalry between the Skylab and MoonLab crews. They'll never say it, but they're just jealous our guys were the first back to the Moon. NASA tried to smooth it over by giving them the nicer station, but I guess it didn't work." - MoonLab 2 Mission Commander CDR Ryan Hale (USN), June 1976

  11. 28A11CA799EBFF12BDD7087BBFD2B10ED19E82E0

     

    I'm building the interplanetary vessel Ares from 'Voyage' by Stephen Baxter. Once completed this will be my largest KSP vessel. It was fun to see that my earlier Eve vessel was very similar. The crew and MEM are next up along with refueling this beast. The CSM pictured is the attached construction vehicle. I had some difficulties lining up the SII fuel tanks with the main body of the vessel. This may take a rebuild.

  12. Everything broke in KSP! So today I have a montage of effecting repairs.

     

    An Apollo Block V Delivers a habitation and secondary solar generation plant to Skylab. Station wigged out and pointed the wrong direction, and in the process lost all power.

    N9JMrFg.png

     

    Maiden Flight of Big G on a Saturn Multibody. The Big G is serving as a rescue vessel for stranded Kerbonauts. In this particular case a CSM's heat shield exploded, annihilating the service module and sending the command module spinning out of control.

    jIb7cHy.jpg

     

    The crew of the destroyed Apollo craft, plus a KSAF Space Rescueman.

    Dqr75vy.png

     

    All of my missions were successful, although I'm left wondering what I did to provoke the Kraken....

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