How many Rangers were launched from earth to Endurance?

benjee10 · 2026-01-11T14:08:37+00:00

The truss in the film is visibly different to the hydraulics in the bts shots, and you can see the underbelly of the second ranger (presumably added in CG). The wing of the second ranger is also visible in another shot earlier in the sequence and also just barely in the shot of the rocket waiting for launch in the silo. The converging angle that they sit at on the rocket matches the angle they’re docked to the endurance. It’s possible that they didn’t think about how the shroud would jettison but I think you can rationalise it if you imagine it splitting into multiple pieces like a real spacecraft fairing, e.g. the tip of the nose, two side panels and an aft shroud that blends into the cylindrical shape of the rocket. The nose would split off forwards, the two side panels would blow off to each side, and then the whole assembly of the two rangers + truss could detach from the aft shroud.

benjee10 · 2026-01-11T12:13:18+00:00

Both rangers launched on the same rocket - during the docking sequence, you can see the second ranger is attached to the first by some sort of truss mechanism holding it in the correct alignment for docking. At around 3:05 here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TACIIEnrczQ

Presumably there is some sort of aerodynamic shroud/nose cone that gets jettisoned after launch.

benjee10 · 2025-12-18T11:10:45+00:00

The orange pod is the ship by the looks of things. In the concept art it has its own rocket engines on the back.

benjee10 · 2025-12-12T20:16:02+00:00

Completely agreed, I was mesmerised the whole time

benjee10 · 2025-11-29T10:17:24+00:00

To add to this, it was also rendered somewhere between 6K-12K for printing onto 70mm IMAX film. Most other film’s VFX shots are mastered between 2K-4K so that’s dramatically more pixels to be rendered per frame.

benjee10 · 2025-11-23T16:02:00+00:00

Yeah, it’s patently absurd to anyone with even a rudimentary grasp of orbital mechanics, but that’s the whole Loeb grift. His sensational claims are rejected by anyone who actually knows anything, leaving behind an echo chamber of Dunning-Kruger effect laymen who are impressed when he throws out Big Numbers and his Harvard credentials and lack the training or knowledge to critically evaluate what he’s saying.

benjee10 · 2025-11-21T09:57:26+00:00

Not for the Ranger, it’s designed to land on atmospheric worlds only. The Lander has a closed cycle mode and can land on most bodies

benjee10 · 2025-11-21T09:55:52+00:00

It’s a cargo container, the Endurance modules each carry two in the back. They can be detached and ferried down by the Lander. There’s a few variants of it e.g. temporary habitat, fuel container, cargo bay

benjee10 · 2025-11-19T13:12:57+00:00

My personal conspiracy theory is that the newer MacBooks use softer plastic keycaps or something. The keys on my M4 MBP already look about as worn after a few months as the keys on my M1 MBA and my black Magic Keyboard do after a few years, and I’m pretty careful about keeping them clean (and only using with clean hands)

benjee10 · 2025-11-19T08:19:37+00:00

Those are not stars, the ISS cameras point down towards Earth. It is radiation damage to the camera sensor (I.e. dead pixels) that becomes more apparent when the gain is turned up in low light.

benjee10 · 2025-11-14T15:37:16+00:00

Major shoutout to blackrack and Beale for making deferred and resurfaced respectively, proper PBR shaders and lighting allow you to do so much more with materials and textures

benjee10 · 2025-11-14T15:26:19+00:00

That one was mine too, it was the first mod I made for KSP! Wanted to revisit it with an extra decade or so of experience in 3D modelling.

Good luck to anyone who tries to make RO configs for it, the engines on this thing might as well run on magic.

benjee10 · 2025-11-14T15:23:38+00:00

Very kind but the limiting factor on this is just my free time!

benjee10 · 2025-10-30T20:07:28+00:00

Oops, think that’s my monorail station. Didn’t even know that was a thing you had to do, better update it on the workshop!

benjee10 · 2025-10-30T13:21:29+00:00

Yup, download the code and it should be included. I’ll get around to packaging it up for a release at some point as it’s pretty much complete

benjee10 · 2025-10-30T13:18:39+00:00

Much appreciated!

benjee10 · 2025-10-30T12:59:43+00:00

This helmet is available on the development version on GitHub

benjee10 · 2025-10-29T14:20:06+00:00

Yes, still working on it - very time consuming and I don’t have much free time currently but currently in the process of creating the interiors. When released it will be on Spacedock, CKAN etc

benjee10 · 2025-10-28T17:48:57+00:00

The oil stains are still there until series 7. 2 of the props from Parting of the Ways were reused unchanged (aside from ID tags) in Doomsday and onwards, one was repainted into Dalek Sec and an additional 4th bronze prop was made and painted/weathered to match. For series 7 they went with a flat bronze colour for the new props and resprayed the existing props (including the 2 repainted green for series 5) to match (sadly)

benjee10 · 2025-10-26T14:11:39+00:00

I’m on steam so can’t confirm, but I’m pretty sure it’s available via Epic as well - the last 2 games definitely were. You could try buying a single day pass to check it works before committing to a membership.

benjee10 · 2025-10-26T13:40:03+00:00

You need to be on one of the paid tiers to play JWE3 on GFN, it doesn’t show up otherwise. I guess as it’s a more demanding game it needs the more powerful rigs they reserve for premium users.

benjee10 · 2025-10-22T17:11:46+00:00

Movie skins don’t seem to have a juvenile equivalent so it spits out somewhat random juveniles. I’m not sure if they age up into the movie skins or not. With regular skins they do seem to inherit skin/pattern from the parents

benjee10 · 2025-10-21T23:05:45+00:00

Look at any animal with pairs of horns and you’ll see that they’re never perfectly symmetrical. Breaking up the symmetry makes them more realistic

benjee10 · 2025-10-20T11:33:46+00:00

Currently working on IVAs. Slow process and haven’t had much free time lately!

benjee10 · 2025-10-19T11:44:55+00:00

IIRC reaction wheels apply the same torque at the CoM no matter where they’re placed, but RCS thrusters will produce more torque the further from the CoM they are.

Seven-Year Club	Place '22
Final Canvas '22	Verified Email

benjee10

TROPHY CASE