triple88a

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Launching my Mun base.

Full_Tilt_Boogie

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^Thats ******* badass.
I cant make myself use those nosecones though. They need to fix the aerodynamic engine so that it makes sense.

I have started using this fairing mod though. I built this (quite terrible) moon lander to test it:

NA6C-Guy

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Wut dat?

Mun base gives me an idea. **** building it in space, just build my station fully on the ground and rig up a massive launch system. **** docking pieces together.

triple88a

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How do u build **** in space or do you mean building it in the barn and hauling it up there and putting it together via couplers?

NA6C-Guy

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That's what I meant. I have been carrying small pieces so I can use a very simple launch system. But that becomes tedious with all of the orbits and docking all of the pieces. Then one error like I had earlier and it's all wasted.

triple88a

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Yeah i rather attach few orange pieces and then get it together than 10 little pieces and have to dock them.

Its very simple to do with the 7 tanks method. You can see in the 1st pic bellow i'm using 2 sets of 7 tanks. Say the closest right tank is #1 the middle right is #2, the back right is 3 and so forth and the center one being #7. You run the fuel from tank 1 to tank 2, from tank 2 to tank 3, then tank 3 to tank 7. Then tank 4 to tank 5, then tank 5 to 6 and 6 to 7 again. Then set your decouplers to break off the tanks as they empty out. It will be pairs of 2. So you'll fire all 7 engines at start and then drop the tanks 1 and 4, then tanks 2 and 5, then tanks 3 and 6, and then at last 7 but by 7 you should be far in orbit before the tank starts emptying.



At last the Mun base i launched earlier today is now on the Mun near a nice lovely creater that has nice mountains so when i drive a dune buggy it doesnt get boring.

fooger03

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160+ meters/second at 1500 meters altitude?

I think you might be doing it wrong....

Throttle those engines down, see if keeping it around 100 m/s up to about 10k meters helps you out. Not accelerating, just maintaining speed on those liquid engines. Then hit the gas at about 10k meters.

fooger03

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And +1 on ditching the nosecones in .20

triple88a

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It burns more fuel going at 100m/s. Unless the station is really unstable there's no point of going that slow. 180-200m/s is what u want up to 10k, then you curve.

fooger03

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Thanks, I'll try that out.

NA6C-Guy

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How do solids do with that setup? I like to use solids a lot of time to break off the pad and get some momentum built. I try to not "put my foot in it" until I'm at least up to 10-15k so I can 45 and really start picking up speed. Then again, in a setup like that, it looks to have enough fuel to not have to worry. I just hate using up my main stage with all of the power in the atmosphere, and not getting to use it to easily build speed in the upper atmosphere.

thenuge26

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Also isn't the one on the bottom (that reads 160m/s in your pic) the surface velocity? I thought vertical speed indicator was on top next to altitude.

Too many solids on a setup like that can be dangerous as they raise the heat, but you can counteract that by just throttling back your liquid engines. Since the solids can't throttle you have to take it easy with the liquids until the solids are gone.

No hybrid rockets yet I guess.

Full_Tilt_Boogie

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very excite.

triple88a

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I've never had much luck with solids. For big rockets like the ones i'm sending, they just burn up too fast. The weight in fuel is much better investment.

With the 7 rocket setup you wont be using the main stages at all. The 7 rocket setup will get you in orbit with fuel to spare. Of course you should have a separate nuclear engine for your main pusher in space.

Anyways, I completed my Moon Buggy. Runs on 6 nuclear electric generators that can power it indefinitely. If you look closely you will see i'm using the 200 I Beams as part of the suspension since they flex just enough to soften the suspension.

thenuge26

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I'm saving my money for the Xida mod.

NA6C-Guy

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I actually built a rocket so powerful last night that I couldn't throttle it above 1/2 or it would cause too much compression on the pieces above it and it would come apart and the lower section would crash into it. It was 4 big engines outboard, with 1 in the center, and each of the 4 outboards had a solid mounted to it. The solids were a bit overkill I guess, but I wanted to use them for primary lift off the pad, then ditch them at about 5k and then throttle up the outboards until low orbit at 35-40k, then use the remaining center single to push it up to speed in 100k orbit, then ditch it and use the nuclear for orbital changes and the likes. Worked well so long as you didn't throttle more than 1/3 off the pad, and no more than 1/2 in flight.

NA6C-Guy

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New station. Slowly coming together. That is 4 separate launch sections together. Next pieces will be a long narrow runner from one of the remaining hub docks to a somewhat remote lab section. It even has an escape pod if **** goes wrong this time. Save the Kerbals. Undock and enter the atmosphere, deploy chute and glide to safety. I did a pretty good reentry a few days ago. I don't think it would have burned up completely vertical, but I had a really nice angle, similar to NASA reentry for capsules.

NA6C-Guy

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Progress. I had a bit of a rough docking with this last big piece. So much mass, when the "gravity" took over and sucked the docks together, it hit a bit hard and knocked my orbit periapsis 3km lower. So now my stable 127k +/- 1km orbit is now 128km-123km. Oh well, not a bit deal.



I now have enough fuel in orbit to power probably two full moon missions. Electricity is insane, I'd never be able to use even 10% of it, and I have enough RCS fuel to probably take the station to the moon.

Anyone have any low orbit moon stations? I'm wondering how low I can go. I'd guess pretty damn low. Might start making some trips further out, now that I've mastered home planet orbital.

triple88a

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Woops.



Sadly I encountered a bug in the game where as soon as i press the throttle the rover would spin out of direction so that screwed up my 1st lunar landing attempt. Long story short i remade it twice with no luck trying to figure out whats wrong. Then remade it again however in a vertical position and made the ship first... and it actually flys correctly now.

Jesse use the large docking rings for permanent compartments. They are more stable.

triple88a

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Alright folks, after waiting for the Mun to turn I've discovered it is Tidally locked to Kerbin. Therefore if you're planning on landing a base on the moon choose your locations wisely if you want to see the planet. This sucks very much so because the back of the Mun has some of the best craters.