Kerbal Space Program

[Antilogic]

Yeah that's how I've been burning. I think I've been crashing just because I kept trying to land on the dark side of the mun, which is hard when you can't see anything.

Anyways, my winging it strategy (I think you do the same thing warpus) managed to get me to land on the bright side of the mun this time, and, finally, I have been successfull-ish!

Spoiler :

Nice. Happens to everyone, at least your dudes survived the crash. I have plenty of kerbals buried in shallow graves in my 0.17 save.

I think I alt-tabbed out while holding down W

I did the same thing to get back at first - went on reddit for 2 minutes, went back to the game, and he was still walking back towards the lander. In theory it should be possible to walk around the mun like that. maybe



Aww yeahh..

I wish there were some cliffs on the mun you could jump off and screw around with

That would do it.

And just you wait until you land on Minmus. Plenty of 4 km cliffs and even less gravity. I'm planning on sending my brand new "Karl Rover" there for a test run.

 

[warpus]

I can't wait until I'm ready to explore the rest of the solar system. I'm almost there I think, but still am having some issues, and I'm not sure how to rendezvous with something else in orbit yet.

Right now I'm still trying to perfect a rocket design that will get me to the mun and back. My initial design almost did it, but just needed a pinch bit fuel.. I added a bit to my lander, and that seems to be causing my whole rocket to randomly blow up riiight before the 1st stage's fuel is almost gone. It's so random and yet it's happened at that exact time 3 in a row. I'm not sure what's up, but it might mean more ductape.

 

[Antilogic]

I can't wait until I'm ready to explore the rest of the solar system. I'm almost there I think, but still am having some issues, and I'm not sure how to rendezvous with something else in orbit yet.

Using the new tools, left click what you want to rendezvous with, and then use the planner (left-click on your route) to experiment with burns to get close to the target. When you get close, do a retrograde burn to either get into orbit (planet) or to make your delta_V relative to the target zero (i.e. a module you are trying to add to your space station).

Generally, to get to moons, get into orbit of the planet and start your burn at the moon rise. For planetary transfers, I use this calculator to figure out approximately where the planets should be, and now we can do all kinds of corrections and experimentation with the planned maneuvers feature so it should take the guesswork out of planetary transfers.

Right now I'm still trying to perfect a rocket design that will get me to the mun and back. My initial design almost did it, but just needed a pinch bit fuel.. I added a bit to my lander, and that seems to be causing my whole rocket to randomly blow up riiight before the 1st stage's fuel is almost gone. It's so random and yet it's happened at that exact time 3 in a row. I'm not sure what's up, but it might mean more ductape.

If it happens in atmosphere, you might need to dial down your acceleration on the way out. I have several rockets that shake apart if I full-throttle in atmosphere but if I take it up more slowly they work fine.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Warpus - if you want to base jump, there is at least one Mun Arch that would be perfect for it. It is on the rim of (iirc) the biggest crater on the Mun, to the north. I overflew it yesterday while lining up a precision landing. You can see it from at least 50km up. And you can stand at the top, I have read where people do that.

For your random explosions - yeah throttle down near the spot they happen at. Also make sure you aren't overheating (I tend to forget the overheating when I am in map view and then it blows up and I'm likem wut?) or add struts between your lander and core stage.

When I build big rockets, I tend to put a ton of struts between my boosters and core but forget to add enough between the lander and the core. Then, when all the boosters are gone, there are no struts left to hold it together.

 

[LamaGT]

I've played it a bit, reached the Mun and then unsuccessfully tried to get to the Mars-like planet, but ended up with having a crew of poor men drifting endlessly in space with nearly no fuel

Anyway, is there any cool mod out there? Like something to create space stations or colonies?

 

[Antilogic]

Space stations are now part of the main game in 0.18, and if you use docking modules with a little creativity you can build bases on other planets.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

There is also a gazillion mods out there.

 

[Leonel]

Haha oh yes base jumping on Mun. I remember one mission I had landed just on the edge of a massive crater and thought to explore the edge of it. Unfortunately I slipped and careened down the side of it for several minutes! Fortunately though, I had enough rocket pack fuel to get back.

You know maybe I oughta start building a moonbase on the edge of that crater. Getting to the moon is no big deal for me and with all the new parts with bigger rockets etc, it should be a piece of cake.

 

[warpus]

For your random explosions - yeah throttle down near the spot they happen at. Also make sure you aren't overheating (I tend to forget the overheating when I am in map view and then it blows up and I'm likem wut?) or add struts between your lander and core stage.

If it happens in atmosphere, you might need to dial down your acceleration on the way out. I have several rockets that shake apart if I full-throttle in atmosphere but if I take it up more slowly they work fine.

The thing is that that's what I've been doing - the last time it blew up I was burning my engines at under 50% capacity. The whole thing seems rather stable - doesn't wobble too much.. So I'm not really sure what the issue is.. but I am going to try to reinforce it with more structs and ductape..

 

[Antilogic]

The thing is that that's what I've been doing - the last time it blew up I was burning my engines at under 50% capacity. The whole thing seems rather stable - doesn't wobble too much.. So I'm not really sure what the issue is.. but I am going to try to reinforce it with more structs and ductape..

After it explodes and it says the mission is over, check to see which connection failed first in the logs. That will give you some idea of where the weak point is.

 

[warpus]

Good idea, thanks! I usually am filled with much rage right after my rocket explodes and just skip past that stage without reading too much into it.

Who knew that to get Poland into space I needed to turn into Spock.

 

[Joecoolyo]

Nice. Happens to everyone, at least your dudes survived the crash. I have plenty of kerbals buried in shallow graves in my 0.17 save.

Haha I've killed so many kerbals attempting to land on the Mun.

But now that I've done it once, my next two goals are to land on the Mun with no damage, and then get back to Kerbin.

I might have to add more fuel to do that though, blech.

 

[warpus]

Haha I've killed so many kerbals attempting to land on the Mun.

But now that I've done it once, my next two goals are to land on the Mun with no damage, and then get back to Kerbin.

I might have to add more fuel to do that though, blech.

Yeah, that's what I've been trying to do. Getting there seems easy enough, now.. same with landing. The problem is making sure you have enough fuel to get back. I am still a bit inexperienced with the landing, and I think I use up too much fuel there.

What's your lander look like?

 

[GAGA Extrem]

The Terkardian Space Program is back - and I am very happy to announce not one, not two, but THREE major successes for today:

(1) The Alfred & Wagner Space Company has finally finished the design of the A&W 224 "Nausicaa", a next generation multi-purpose heavy spacecraft. The design includes:
- A&W 182 "Nunu" booster unit (18 x Mainsail, 36 x Rockomax Mk. 55, 34.560 units of fuel)
- A&W 302 "Mundo" heavy lifter (6 x Mainsail, 18.720 units of fuel)
- A&W 304 "Irelia" transit stage (4 x LV-N, 4.320 units of fuel)
- A&W 107 "Soraka" heavy lander (4 x LV-909, 720 units of fuel, 1.440 units of reserve fuel)
- A&W 407 "Teemo" heavy probe (4 x PB-ION, 8.400 units of xenon, can also be used as an emergency mobility system)
[A total of 541 parts and 21 stages]

This craft is equipped to reach all planets in the Kerbin system - and should be able to return safely if transit and landing are well planned.
Screenshot: http://imageshack.us/f/850/kspaw224nausicaa.jpg/
Download: http://www.gamefront.com/files/22758506/A&W+224+'Nausicaa'.rar

Important notes on the A&W 224:
(I) Orange fuel tanks are used - do not increase above 80% throttle until all orange fuel tanks are ejected!
(II) Deactivate the two X200-16 reserve tanks before launch to conserve the fuel for later use.
(III) The A&W 407 "Teemo" probe can be used as a potent emergency unit. The Ion engines have not much power, but they last like forever. Just remember that vectors are inverted because it is mounted on the front.
(IV) Adjust later stages as needed. Activate / deactivate parts as needed.
(V) The "ABORT" button will cut all engines, fire all decouplers around the command pod and deploy all parachutes.
(VI) The "BRAKES" button will toggle all solar sails.

[Awaiting your feedback! ^-^]
[I am thinking of adding another set of large fuel tanks to the transit stage to increase total fuel for transit to 7.200]


(2) A manned test flight to Duna with the new A&W 224 was a huge success. The return became a bit tricky due to suboptimal transit, but all Kerbanauts returned safely after 12 days of flight.


(3) The TSCC (Terkadian Space Control Center) also managed to land another A&W 224 unit on Laythe, where three Kerbanauts now enjoy sandy beaches.

 

[Joecoolyo]

Yeah, that's what I've been trying to do. Getting there seems easy enough, now.. same with landing. The problem is making sure you have enough fuel to get back. I am still a bit inexperienced with the landing, and I think I use up too much fuel there.

What's your lander look like?

My lander is awful looking lol

Spoiler :

Its the top part, starts where the landing things are. The two fuel tanks on the side detach when they're empty.

Still a tad tall IMO, dunno.

 

[warpus]

Yours is a lot larger than mine, but the height seems almost the same

I had more weird F9/reloading game issues.. Saved a game while I was landing on the moon.. loaded.. and whenever I loaded my 4 engines that I had on my lander would start floating away..

Weird and really annoying

 

[Luckymoose]

The Glorious Revolutionary Space Station has successfully added a power module after the loss of many children of the revolution. Let me say, I am so proud in this moment that I finally figured out the docking.

Spoiler :

 

[Joecoolyo]

Yours is a lot larger than mine, but the height seems almost the same

Yeah, it is really large. Though out of the series of rockets I've made, this has been the only one to actually make it to the Mun on multiple occasions. So it works.

What's your lander look like? I'm curious as to how to reduce the size a bit, since mine takes godawful forever to leave Kerbin.

 

[Antilogic]

Succeeding at docking is a real rush, especially after burning most of your RCS fuel in overcompensating maneuvers.

My lander has a wide 1600 L tank in the middle and three smaller 400 L fuel pods on hardpoints with nuclear engines. Also I have the traditional RCS, ASAS, parachute, a solar array and instruments, ladders, decouplers, etc.

I need to get screenshots off my new computer and upload them--I'll try to get around to it on Wednesday if I have the time.

 

[warpus]

Yeah, it is really large. Though out of the series of rockets I've made, this has been the only one to actually make it to the Mun on multiple occasions. So it works.

What's your lander look like? I'm curious as to how to reduce the size a bit, since mine takes godawful forever to leave Kerbin.

I posted a pic on the last page or the page before that I think. I'll post an updated one once I manage to land on the mun again.

Last night I was building a new rocket from scratch when.. the game crapped out and crashed on me.

That hurt. I didn't save