If you're after ssto you probably want to go with rapier/ LVN,
However since you have interstellarim sure there's far better engine choices available.
There are, but they require mastery of beamed power, which is indistinguishable from magic.
...Beamed power isn't magic. It's basically flashlights and solar panels, except adapted more precisely to the purpose of beaming power.
Also, I hadn't thought of that. Science fiction ships like the ones I'm trying to copy do tend to use stuff more advanced than chemical rockets. Maybe I'll try that later.
I add more fuel, fuel lines, and a few struts to my previous design; apparently, I added a little too much, because for a moment, my engines didn't lift me off the ground. It must have been a thousand tons or so when we started.
As the rocket burns, we gain altitude and velocity, and our mass drops by hundreds of tons. It's amazing how excruciatingly slow seven massive rockets can push an oversized fuel tank; it takes over a minute to go two kilometers ASL.
Around a a minute and a half in, the first pair of Mainsails goes out. With only 6.6 meganewtons of thrust behind the rocket, we're barely above a TWR of 1, though we've burned off something like a quarter or a third of our weight. I retroactively intended for that to happen.
Less than three minutes in (I miss the exact second), we're down two more Mainsails and need to gravity-turn. Our TWR? 0.77. New plan: Next version, stick a stronger (if lower-ISP) engine in the middle. Also more reaction wheels, it's taking forever for the SASS to turn things.
Four minutes, ~20 seconds. We pass 15 kilometers. Still not much in the way of a gravity turn. Last two Mainsails almost out. TWR almost one. Ground Control taking bets on if the Mainsails will run out of fuel before or after it gets there.
4:26: We're falling. This is bad. The one guy in Mission Control who bet on this happening is getting very very rich. I notice that I confused Pitch and Heading, or...something. I put Pitch in Roll and Heading in both Heading and Pitch. Well, when you're falling down with rockets still running, you've screwed up big time...so I don't think that changed much.
I notice that the throttle's down. I apparently left on the option to stop us from exceeding terminal velocity, but didn't increase the thrust after that stopped being an issue. Oops. Let's try this again, without doing that.
Relaunching and checking some stats. Initial TWR: 1.01. Nailed it; that was retroactively intentional. Initial mass: ~965 tons. We get torqued over by something weird at first, but recover. I wish I could claim credit, but it was either the SAS or MechJeb, and I'm not sure which. I don't
think I activated anything on MechJeb which would have done that...regardless, we continue ascent.
Five bucks says you've never seen a starship that looked quite like that.1:37. The first pair of Mainsails run dry. TWR down to 1.04. Strangely, despite this above-1 TWR, speed starts to drop. We're still pretty low, though, so I'm worried for the next batch dropping...
1:58. We've dropped under 600 tons. Neat note, and it's nearly exactly at the two-minute mark.
2:30. Over 7,500. Torquing, don't know why. Recovered...then we begin going the other direction. Not the most stable ship. Note to self: Fins not bad idea.
2:54. Second pair dead. TWR a bit over three-quarters.
3:20. With only three engines' gimbal and the reaction of a few wheels, the flopping about is getting harder to control. TWR barely above 0.8. Altitude above 12k, so that's...unbad...MechJeb's ascent suggestions still have me going straight up; is that right?
3:48. MechJeb suddenly decides we should turn. ...Huh. We're past 13k now. We're falling, and the engines turn off. Is there a relation, or did I just happen to hit the x key accidentally? Well...once we start falling, we're not likely to stop.
...Yeah...this is enough for tonight. My next attempt at SSTIPS* ships will involve plasma thrusters or something. Probably not beamed power; if I snag some good generator, the same thing powering the Alcubierre drive can power the thrusters.
For the past few years, something mysterious has been going on in the KSP.
It all began that lonely day. Things had calmed down at the KSC. No visits to the Mün or Minmus, and most of the work was centered on building the New Hope Space Station. As everyone went about their business, trying to find out if Daedalus and Icarus are worth it and should be scrapped, if the Munar Base needs an MPL, and checking up on the brave astronauts of the N.H.S.S., a file appeared on the desk of Dr. Wernher von Kerman, containing direct orders from the Director. It was titled: ERB. Inside, was the basic layout for a new rover, with very curious instructions. Wernher quickly assembled a team of elite scientists and made them swear secrecy.
Work on the ERB begun that very day.
No time left, will finish the story later!
Can't wait to see what'll happen...
ERB? Epic Rap Battle? Kerbals vs Minions?
Doubt it.
I idly wonder if anyone's made a Minions mod for KSP. And also why Minions are so popular.
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Topic: Kerbal Space Program: Now Hiring Optimistic Astronauts for Dangerous Munission (Read 1448887 times)