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[Sean Mirrsen]

Okay... so, the latest launch of the Longshot was really bad.

It began with the problems with triple boosters. To conserve space, I mounted them together, and just fixed them with a pair of struts as usual. Turns out, three large SRBs have enough thrust to break two struts and the decoupler connection. Whoops. After a series of tests, during which nobody was killed, despite the rocket exploding thrice (seriously, how the pod survived the whole rocket somersaulting over the launch tower and bursting into hot plasma, I'll never know), I finally got a design that kept itself together through the staging process.

What followed was the stupidest successful launch in the history of my space program. The triple NERVA engine block does not have enough power to accelerate the heavier lander quickly. Due to this, even with the orbital boosters, the craft dipped way into the atmosphere on its orbital burn. To about 40Km. The NERVA had just enough power to push the thing out the other side of the ionosphere and get to the Duna transfer orbit, but damn. I really need to work on the orbital insertion sequence for this thing. Maybe another set of boosters attached to the lander...

[sluissa]

That sounds like my experience with the NERVA engines. I'd also been overengineering my rockets a bit, going with the smaller parts for the upper stages which was all of terrible looking, terrible for my frame rate and terrible for trying to hold everything together without it shattering to pieces.

Continuing on from my semi-successful 1 person Ayla VX lander, and my successful in theory but never in practice Bertha series of Deep Space Rescue Vehicles, I present the Isis Mk1.

It behaves a hell of a lot like the Bertha in every stage up to orbit. It just lacks about a dozen boosters and 40-something small fuel tanks which have all been replaced by large tanks and engines. NERVA engines stapled to the outside of the upper stages provide interplanetary transit thrust and avoid the problem with Bertha which ended up being more of an onion rocket, short but wide to wrap around the central NERVA engines.

Isis's only real problem so far is that she's a bit wobbly on launch, but manual control solves most of that. ASAS just tends to be useless until orbit. I've yet to take it anywhere and land it though, it may prove to be too top heavy for anything but absolutely flat terrain. We shall see. I'm planning my 5th trip to Duna, trying to refine my technique and hopefully have a rocket capable of a return trip this time. (Poor Rodfry is still up there, 2 years on his trip clock.)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

She may look like a bunch of grain silos taped together, but she flies. You can trust me on that. Simplicity really is the better option.

[Aptus]

My strategy of screw you game I will not do math on my free time is almost working. I nearly hit the mun this time by just going in it's general direction, I think I was going too fast though since I blasted straight past it :p Guess I will have to get some way to slow down when I get closer to it.

You made a rocket powerful enough to get to the Mun... just by firing upwards?
Show us it.

Sure.



It is the wobbliest, most ungraceful thing you will ever see but damn does it go.

My issue is not getting enough thrust to just power to the moon, my problem is actually hitting it and not overshooting it ending up kerbal knows where :p

[Sean Mirrsen]

You don't need so many ASAS units! Just one! ASAS doesn't add force, it's just a control unit for your engines/control surfaces.

In other news, the Longshot MkIV has finally launched with a degree of acceptability that I would find acceptable.

Spoiler: A bunch of grain silos? Mine looks like a miniature church, with all the domes. (click to show/hide)

Appropriate, because any normal pilots would be doing a whole lot of praying in it. Thankfully, Kerbals aren't exactly "normal".

If you push the thrust to maximum during first stage boost, the rocket breaks in half.


The interplanetary module leaves the impromptu "space dock" of empty tanks with all the finesse of a bulldozer.

Thankfully, empty tanks don't explode.

The orbital booster stage firing. Made more efficient by egghead engineers thinking up a way to save .25 mass units on the final decoupler.

Seriously. The large decoupler is .5 mass. The small decoupler is .05 mass, and each of the adapters is .1. Unless you need the compact size or the durability, it's a good way to shave mass off. Plus, it looks interesting.

Now it's sitting in a 180/80 orbit, with most of two large tanks of fuel for the NERVAs, and two full large tanks for the lander. Plus the RCS, for the emergency maneuvers in space. I'm saving this state and will now savescum to see how far I can get with it.

[Rex_Nex]

I do the same thing minus the waiting for the right angle. I just point myself where I think it'll be.

[Squanto]

herp derp I just noticed I forgot to put landing gear on my first interplanetary rocket.  Oh well, I may as well still see if I can hit a planet to see if its good enough.

[sluissa]

Anyone planning a trip to Eve, be careful... The atmosphere there is like soup... and it might just be my graphics settings, but the liquid surface seemed to be invisible. My engines did almost nothing although my lander had slowed down to less than 70 m/s just before impact even without the engines.

I really can't imagine how a return trip would work, although I'm sure someone will figure it out.

[Graknorke]

So, did anybody on this thread mention the tutorials and scenarios and things?
Because I think those are pretty neat.

[Squanto]

Good news everyone! my rocket is much more powerful than I had planned!  I inneficiently increased AP to Jool's orbit, then waited till I got there, then burned until it showed me entering SOI.  Inside, i circularized orbit and still had about 3 tanks of fuel left.  I decided to enter Jool's atmo to see if anything happens.  While my command pod was falling though the atmo at about 50 m/s, I was like, EVA time!, but as soon as i started he plummeted much faster than the ship and fell to his death.  Kerbals are not affected by wind resistance.  Not planning ahead is the best.

[LoSboccacc]

I started an eastward ascent to drop to moho, using the calculator posted earlier.

The mun got into the way and I got deflected to duna

[sebcool]

Might as well post what i've done...

Here's a kerbonaut watching the sunrise... On the moon.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

And here's Jeb, Bill and Bob stranded on Eve after space Cthulhu ripped their ship apart.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

They had to push their pod with jetpacks to get down there.

[Graknorke]

Is there any reason why a ship design that is perfectly symmetrical would be veering off to the side when I launch it? I did everything with radial symmetry, but when I activate the first stage of boosters, the whole thing just veers off to the side. The SAS doesn't help too much seeing as it's one of the large ships.
Wat do?

[Rose]

Add more SAS. I have a SAS on the top of each solid booster, and one ASAS somewhere near the capsule.

[Graknorke]

I have one set of 6 boosters with a SAS on each, and another higher up with 4 each.
The SAS are all at maximum force, and the craft still tips.

I don't even know where I would add more SAS now.

[Lightning4]

Throw some winglets on it too? Those help a bit more, if your initial stages don't have vectored engines. Those can slow your tip just enough that you *should* being going upwards more than to the side, and your later stages can take over in stabilizing you.