Bay 12 Games Forum

Most of the Board supports researching "kethane stuff"; others advise Advanced Metalworks and Heavier Rocketry. Since "kethane stuff" could be construed as either Advanced Metalworks or Heavier Rocketry...well, we already have kethane drilling units, so let's go with Heavier Rocketry. And I'll also grab Specialized Construction, which has a few fun toys and docking ports, and also unlocks Advanced Metalworks so that's nice flavor.

People seemed interested in getting a kethane rig set up, so we prepare an automated rig.


_{During the demonstration, it wowed the audience by mining some variety of fluid from beneath the surface. However, we just burst a sewer main, something that we came to regret both when the smell of the attempted processing hit us and when we got the repair bill.}

Impressive, isn't it? When filled, it will have nearly 3,000 m/s of Δv, far more than enough to land on Minmus (or, indeed, to fly there from LKO)...but not nearly enough to get into orbit. Issue? We think not.


_{"The Mainsails and the Skipper, too, will do their very best/To get this probe into orbit so it can go to Min-mess."}

Using novel "asparagus" stagins and the newly-discovered Mainsail engines, this little thing should get the probe at least most of the way into orbit.
As we launch, I notice something...mildly irritating.


_{The rig was installed upside-down, relative to the rockets. Until we ditch the booster, we're going to be controlling it upside-down. More importantly, it's night!}

Well, nothing much to do but take off and HOLY CARP! We don't get a kilometer up before we swiftly approach 200 m/s. Our TWR turns out to be over 5; I hit the VAB, because six Mainsails and a Skipper is way more power than this needs and less efficiency than I would like.


_{This will vastly improve fuel efficiency. "The Poodles and the Skipper too" just doesn't have the same ring to it, though.}

Relaunching. It's a lot slower this time.


_{"I am incapable of maintaining visual contact with my housing unit from this location. Evaluation: Insufficient height."}

A kilometer up, we ditch the first Poodles. After we rise another kilometer, we hear explosions. Of course, we hear more a moment later, so...um...maybe the engine and tank exploded separately, and one hit a bit before the other?
We ditch the next pair at 4.4 kilometers.
The third makes it through the gravity turn. We ditch them around 13.5 kilometers. Now it's just the Skipper, with the double-sized fuel tanks. The initial turn was too hard, so we straighten up some. A lot. In fact, we're basically vertical again now. I fiddle with MechJeb to have it hold my position and wait. I'm hoping to only have to do orbital insertion with the rig. But with the fuel half-gone and the craft only at 22 kilometers ASL, apoapsis just a kilometer and a half past that...


_{In other news, night launches make it very hard to see what's going on.}

Around 30 km up, the Time to Apoapsis reaches the magic value of 40 seconds and I flatten out our trajectory slightly. Then slightly more. Then more. Then I remember that I want the apoapsis to be in space before this runs out of juice, and I'm not sure how much more it can give, so I increase the angle slightly. Once apoapsis gets close to space, I flatten out a lot. I get the apoapsis up to 73 kilometers before the fuel runs out, and then ditch the rocket and have the rig turn around.
I hit apoapsis half a minute before apoapsis. Several seconds later, we're close enough to prograde that I start burning. We start veering away from prograde! But...but...the ship has perfect balance! Three-way symmetry for everything not inline with the center! We quickly spin towards retrograde, but I've long since turned off the rocket. Wondering if it's a MechJeb problem, I turn SASS off and try manual control...nope, nothing. I burn when I'm pointing more towards prograde, but still...the inevitable is the inevitable. We re-enter the atmosphere, still spinning. In fact, our attempts seem to be worsening the spin! Certainly, we're spinning faster more than we're improving the orbit. Eventually, I give up and revert the flight to the VAB.

I check the centers of mass and thrust.


_{Nope, they're aligned. From every angle.}

...I got nothing. And we should probably scan for kethane first, anyways.