Kerbolar's KSP Blog

In the universe of Kerbal Space Program, the human known as Solar is the Kerbal known as Kerbolar. Because reasons. This is my space program.

[yournewkeyboard]

“Behold the KSP-HOTASABBAK Controller (Kerbal Space Program - Hands on Throttle and Stick and Button Box and Keyboard), just in time for the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.” via u/MelkorsGreatestHits on reddit

[girl-sim-deactivated20230806-de]

[kerbolar]

The first problem with kerbal space program is how much I enjoy it. The second is how long it takes to design, launch and manoeuvre rockets even in such a simple game.

Yes, I still play. I haven't posted about it for ages because I went a long time with too little time and my saves kept corrupting.

But I'm playing again. With TAC Life Support, near future propulsion/power, a few other mods.

I'm thinking about reviving my old aerospike parts.

[roboticsappreciationsociety]

JPL releases plans for build-your-own Mars rover

NASA's Curiosity lander touched down on the surface of Mars in August, 2012, and its rover payload rolled out shortly after to begin its meandering mission. Now tinkerers and students can build their very own mini Mars rover for exploring backyard craters and vast garden mountain ranges.

Based on NASA’s Curiosity and the Mars 2020 rovers, the ROV-E mini outreach rover was built by young engineers and then went on tour in 2015, visiting schools, universities and museums to inspire and engage youngsters – our future space engineers. The six-wheeled rover was designed to answer questions about Mars from the public, and could follow voice commands to move around. It had a built-in audio speaker, a combined Raspberry Pi and an Arduino brain, 3D-printed components and remote-control truck wheels. And it could connect to the internet.

The ROV-E was pretty well received, and responding to many requests from folks who wanted to build their own, engineers from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory at Caltech (JPL) have designed a new rover model, which anyone with around US$2,500 to spare can build themselves from off-the-shelf parts.

“We wanted to give back to the community and lower the barrier of entry by giving hands on experience to the next generation of scientists, engineers, and programmers,” said the JPL project’s Tom Soderstrom.

JPL’s Open Source Rover has a similar six-wheel steering mechanism and rocker-bogie suspension as the full-sized Curiosity rover. The base model should weigh in at 25 lb (11.34 kg) and have a 24 x 14 inch (61 x 30.5 cm) footprint. Its 5,200 mAh battery is reckoned to be good for 5 hours of continued use per charge and control comes over Bluetooth using an Android app or via a Xbox Controller. Build plans, detailed how-to instructions and a materials list have been posted to GitHub for anyone to freely download and start building.

Numerous hardware and software principles are discussed in the instructions, and if roboticists don’t fancy a carbon copy of the rover, there’s enough design freedom to customize the build. Hobbyists can even bounce ideas off of each other as part of a wider build community.

“We released this rover as a base model,” said project manager Mik Cox. “We hope to see the community contribute improvements and additions, and we’re really excited to see what the community will add to it.”

Source: JPL Open Source Rover Project

[kerbaldevteam]

StarMods: Kerbal Wind Tunnel!

This mod runs your spaceplane through a virtual wind tunnel while still in the SPH and predicts its engine and flight performance at every speed and altitude! #KSP By Booots

[kerbaldevteam]

Modding Monday: Historical Progression Tech Tree!

This tech tree is designed to take you through the history of the human space program. The tree will start you with unmanned parts before you progress to learning how to send Kerbals into space safely, by pap1723! #KSP

[kerbolar]

Supply drone approaching the Mun base at Twin Craters.

[ciryes]

I was playing Kerbal Space Program, sending one of my kerbals on a walk, when he tripped, fell, hit the ground and then died

[kerbolar]

How fast was he walking?!

[kerbolar]

So, exploring Minmus in career mode. I built a little 1-kerbal lander. It's actually autonomous, with a seat, so a scientist or engineer can ride it. Naturally, it used monopropellant instead of rocket fuel. So, after a round trip between Minmus station and the surface I only had enough monopropellant fit either the station out the lander. Thus I resolved to build a tanker. Now I already had a ship whose sole purpose was to transfer crew between KSC and Minmus station, so I decided to use the same rocket. I took the weight of the crewed section and built a tanker of the same mass. Due to my current position on the tech tree, it was a scaffold tower bristling with spherical tanks. I don't remember how many, but they held almost 4000 units. I put it on the rocket and hit launch. The launchpad and craft loaded. Physics switched on. The monopropellant tower exploded. It didn't fall apart, it exploded. All that remained was a docking light and the aerodynamic fairing, which fell off the rocket. So I added some struts, tried again and reached space. Then I separated the tanker from the final rocket stage. It exploded. Nothing remained, no debris except the dropped stage.

[kerbolar]

I might make some parts again.

[cubecubed]

I wonder what the KSP community would think if I made a ‘funny quotes’ or ‘Out of Context KSP’ blog.

Something I definitely am considering.

[kerbolar]

Sounds good to me.

[triprobellant-deactivated201709]

kerbal space program is an amazing game in a lot of ways but the most amazing thing about it is how often people misspell minmus

[kerbolar]

I haven’t played Kerbal Space Program for a while, what with all the other things going on in my life, but last night I had a dream about it. Broadly speaking.

There were lots of differences from the real game. In my dream there was a photorealistic sky with a detailed and graceful HUD style overlay of projected flight paths, with altitude markers.

But the best, most enjoyable part of the dream was that I launched two rockets simultaneously. I controlled one while the other was on some sort of autopilot. They launched side by side.

I could see both and compare their performance. At first the smaller rocket that I controlled raced ahead, but the larger rocket caught up and overtook. It was fascinating.

It was beautiful.

It was a dream.

[prostheticknowledge]

The Open Hand Project

A 3D printed robotic prosthetic hand which is a fraction of the cost compared to current available models - video embedded below:

The Open Hand Project aims to make advanced prosthetic hands more accessible to amputees. The Dextrus hand is the realization of this goal, it’s a low-cost robotic hand that offers much of the functionality of a human hand. Ultimately, these hands will be sold for under $1000 (£630).

The Open Hand Project is open-source, which means all of the plans to make a robotic hand will be published online with no patents, anyone has the right to make their own and even sell it themselves. You’re funding the full development of the hand with the Open Hand Project, after that companies will be able to use the designs and sell the hands all over the world. This really helps get these devices out to developing countries and places where import taxes might otherwise increase the cost of distribution.

The project is looking for funding through an indiegogo campaign - more info can be found here

[kerbolar]

The Kethane grid wasn't displaying, so I updated the plugin.

Now the Kethane field I landed in... is gone :'(

[kerbolar]

Launched by Minotaur 5, KD4 is the drilling module of my upcoming Münar Kethane mining base.

The Münar 1A rover was sent to scout a suitable landing site. KD4 touched down 24 metres from the rover.

[kerbolar]

I built a ship and sent it to the moon. During landing I realised that I'd overlooked a shortcoming in the way the part tree works while building.

It had four landing engines, but I'd built bottom-up so that the lander came after the launcher in the part tree.

Three of the four engines were actually not connected and just fell away.

The ship did not survive.