Zeropoint

I got my manned mission into a low Munar orbit, but when I separated the lander from the return module, I discovered that I'd forgotten to put in any fuel for the RCS thrusters. Oops; not really safe to attempt a landing without them! Back to Kerbin, boys!

Well, the probe underwent an unplanned lithobraking maneuver which separated it from all the fuel storage, propulsion, and landing gear parts, but it survived. We now have a science station on the Mun! We also know that using the Mun's "mean surface level" altitude is inadequate for landing. It's what Google Translate gave me for "Through explosions, to the stars."

Update! Mun Probe 2.3 launched without any trouble, and the orbit, transfer, and capture maneuvers went perfectly. The probe is now in a ~100km orbit around the Mun, ready for the hard part: de-orbiting and making a controlled landing on an airless body. Did we build in enough engine? Do our pilots have the skill? One way or another, the probe is going to the surface!

Flush with confidence after its recent success in sending a Kerbal to a stable orbit and bringing him home safely, ZASA (Zeropoint Aeronautics and 'Splosion Administration) decided to raise its sights to the Mun. Keeping with the standard ZASA policy of starting small and unmanned, a simple remote-control Mun encounter mission was planned using a new lightweight launch system. The mission was a qualified success, in that the probe did in fact enter the Munar gravity well, but due to mission control missing a maneuver deadline and the probe's battery pack running out, it was not able to enter a Munar orbit, and was instead ejected into the inner system, where it will continue to orbit the sun for the foreseeable future. Never let it be said, though, that ZASA fails to learn from its mistakes! A revised probe, now equipped with solar panels to recharge the batteries, was launched by a mission control fortified with stronger caffeinated beverages. Munar capture was a success, with the probe having ample delta-V to establish a stable circular orbit around the Mun, proving that ZASA has the ability to rendevous with other solar system bodies. The next obvious step was to attempt a soft landing on the Mun. After a few failures, it was established that a remotely piloted "tail-stander" craft could in fact be balanced on a rocket and safely put through a take-off, maneuver, and landing cycle. A simple lander probe was designed, and the Mun probe mission began. What followed is a fairly typical development cycle: Mun Probe 1: the lightweight launch system used in the previous Mun missions proved inadequate for the heavier lander system. Failed to achieve orbit. Mun Probe 2: with a more powerful launch system in place, the mission lifted off flawlessly. However, upon firing the radial decouplers to drop the first stage boosters, it became apparent that said boosters were actually welded permanently to the second stage fuel tank. This extra weight prevented the mission from reaching orbit. We attempted to save the probe, but were unable to bring it down in a controlled landing. Mun Probe 2.1: Extra care was taken to ensure that the boosters would separate properly. Unfortunately, in the efforts to make sure this happened, another detail was overlooked: the boosters were mounted too high. When the launch package was placed on the pad, the entire weight was resting on the second stage engine, which buckled, dumping everything onto the ground. Mun Probe 2.2: The design was revised to lower the boosters, ensuring that they would hold the second stage engine well clear of the pad, both distributing the system's weight across more nozzles and giving it a wider, more stable footprint. This time the hardware was perfect, and mission control confidently triggered the first step of the launch sequence, only to be watch in horror as the radial decouplers fired, dropping the rocket several feet and destroying the second stage engine. Review of the staging and launch sequence suggests that firing the decouplers should happen AFTER the boosters are ignited. Mun Probe 2.3 has been given the new software patch, and is expected to . . . well, honestly, most of us here at mission control expect something to go wrong in the Low Kerbin Orbit stage. Per Fragores Ad Astra! You evil, evil man. I have things to do today!

I just picked up this game on Steam after noticing that it was on sale . . . and I'm glad I did! You can quickly and easily design and fly multi-stage rockets. Take them into orbit, visit the outer planets! What I found especially interesting is the maneuver planning tool, which makes it fairly easy to navigate around the solar system in a Newtonian manner. I heartily recommend it to anyone who likes fun or wants to get a feel for how space travel works.

x2 vulnerability to crowbars.

It's odd that people would think that women can't program, when the world's first computer programmer was a woman.

It gives him a massive Susceptibility to gamma radiation.

Maybe this is one of those "acceptable breaks from reality" that I've heard about? I've heard that statistics collected in WW2 indicate that an unarmored target hit with a modern rifle has about a one in four chance of just falling over and dying on the spot, game over. I've also read that bullets at rifle velocities cause a pressure wave which is transmitted through the vascular system to the brain where it stuns the victim . . . maybe rifles could be modeled with a high Stun Modifier and mandatory use of the bleeding rules; get Stunned and you fall over and bleed out before you recover? The thing is, the player's enemies can get rifles, too . . .

How does the hibernation state affect aging? I would NOT want to take a trip to the outer planets and discover that I've gotten ten years older without having anything to show for it.

I find this observation to be interesting. I've been interested in the philosophy of ethics for some time now, and this isn't the first time I've seen a comic (or other medium) explore the difference between people who are merely bad and and those who are Evil. I'm not yet ready to articulate what the difference IS, but it seems to be a real difference, at least with fictional characters. I, too, am eagerly looking forward to seeing where this goes.

I agree with everything that Ms. Sarkeesian has to say, but . . . I'd REALLY prefer to get it in text, where it takes less time to read and I can go back and review specific points more easily. Mad props to her for her position and courage, but if the bulk of the video is a talking head, maybe video isn't the right format?

"I never drink . . . ale." "Ach, me children o' th' night, wha' beautiful music they make!"

I can hardly tell what that guy is talking about. It sounds like the ravings of a SAN-damaged cultist.

Re: Order of the Stick Re: bloodwart tea: ew ew ew ew!

Re: Interesting article about Sexism in Geek Communities Perhaps I'm being overly charitable to the late Mr. Wells, but I'd read that as "the more intelligent sort of girl who knows better than to be satisfied with the stuff our society tries to feed their gender."

Re: "Neat" Pictures Wow, that is beautiful . . . and it looks like something out of a video game or monster manual . . .some sort of fire serpent?

Re: EB vs EB It DOES seem a bit overpowered to be able to "attack" as an abort action, but I'm used to seeing it played out as a defensive action . . . character A attacks with a beam, and character B, rather than dodging, opts to block with her own beam . . . a risky move, because now she's committed, but if she can muster up more power than A . . . then it becomes an attack again. It does seem as though, if you want the Beam o' War to happen at all, you need to allow characters to abort to it, even if it isn't purely defensive.

Re: More space news! All Galaxy News, keeping you up to date on the Milky Way since 1.2 billion ABB (after big bang)!

Re: Interesting article about Sexism in Geek Communities Agreed; I don't buy it for a minute.

Re: "Neat" Pictures Deleted

Re: "Neat" Pictures Indeed. Pure electric is where it's at. Now, now, is that kind of attitude really necessary? Next you'll be telling me that it's "not manly" to like a cartoon about candy colored ponies!

Re: Golden Age Resources: Superweapons of WW II Here you go:

Re: "Neat" Pictures Looks like a set for a live-action Warhammer 40,000 movie.

Re: Why does DEX affect OCV and DCV equally? I found that in 5e, DEX was still underpriced at 3:1 . . . some players I had immediately recognized it as a "god stat" (Wait, this contributes to Speed and OCV and DCV and dexterity skills and initiative order? Sold!) and bought as much as they were allowed to, whether it fit the character concept or not. 6e's separation is, in my opinion, a big improvement.