themonk

If the tracking station is updated, and it must be... because you have a comm network showing.... I am at a loss to explain why the satellite icon is Missing on the comm display... Was it missing during the entire flight?

I see the antenna now.... but wouldnt the fact that the uncontrollable satellites are not in the communications network indicate a comm problem?

Hmmm... why need to deflate? If I needed to use the inflatable heat shield again... I would have a second Inflatable heat shield ready to go after I stage off the used one.... Very Kerbal, I think, Mor Heat Shields!

I think you just answered your own question.... Your satellite needs an antenna of suitable range and a line of site back to Kerbin or a communication relay satellite. Remember planetary bodies can block Line of Site...

Where can I get one of these "Potato PC's" Sounds Tasty!...

I am so glad someone has explained how to do the Interstage Fairing... I have been doing it So Wrong... But then, maybe thats the Kerbal way! Thumbs Up space cadets! themonk

I have found one of the easiest ways to line up docking ports is by using the "Normal" and "Anti-normal" pointers on the Navigational indicator. When you get close to the ship you are docking to... Switch to the target ship, highlight the targeted docking port, assign it "Control From Here" and have it point in the Normal direction. Make sure you have SAS on. Then switch back to the docking ship, and have it point Anti-Normal. This way you are only having to fiddle with the Translation controls as you move closer. When playing in career game, you usually will have the Normal, Anti-normal control available to you, either by Kerbal or Probe, by the time you need to start docking. I flailed around for a long time till I noticed this was one thing I didnt have to juggle around with while docking! Thumbs Up, space cadet! themonk

Another good use for a Lower Kerbin Orbit is a way station for returning all those stranded kerbals back to the planet. Set up a station with multiple cheap return vessels docked to the station, with a utility vehicle to go out and pick the stranded kerbals up. and a fuel tank to keep the utility vehicle fueled. That way you save on not having to launch a rescue ship each time to bring them all the way home. When you run out of return vessels, send up a supply ship with more return vessels and fuel. Nice cheap way to recruit more victims.... err Heroes.

Does this mean a Saturn V of my very own to that I can crash and burn???

Yes, yes they are....

Thank you for your responses.... I never thought about using the wet mass/dry mass to figure remaining DV.

So I find myself in a craft that has just picked up Herbal Kerman from the surface of the Mun, and I have changed the inclination of my orbit to meet up with a Science Station, and I discover that most of my fuel is gone... But I notice I have a bunch of RCS monopropellant left and I wonder, Can I do this rendezvous with just RCS? Yep... It worked! Still have half the monopropellant left as I finally docked. Now my question is, as the title asks, Can you calculate DV for RCS?

Ah.... So the sky IS just a texture... That would mean that there ARE Constellations that never change! Now all i have to do is find the Kerbal equivalent of the Big Dipper....

The other day I got caught in a situation with a rover where I couldn't see a Target marker on the maneuvering ball, because it was pointed vertically. (didn't have anything mounted on the front of the rover to do a control-by from, to give me a horizontal view). So I picked a couple of stars to guide me in the right direction. This got me to thinking... Are the stars fixed in the sky? If I look in the same direction will I always the the same stars and constellation? And, has anyone gone to the trouble to actually map constellations and give them names? Boy, I ask a lot of questions... But I'm a curious guy!

My play style in career mode evolves as we move from one major revision to the next. At first was was taking all the advice I could find on advancing the tech tree, but as things progressed, I found that once I had the basic skills, like docking and landing, I found that just grinding science didn't give me the thrill that experimentation and learning how to do things I had only read about. In my latest career, I decided just to advance the tech tree as efficiently as I could, and left a lot of the science gathering to science labs around Mun and Minmus. This gave me the opportunity to try new things like a Free Return from the Mun, building an effective refueling base and orbiting station, and astroid capture and mining. The tech tree kinda filled itself out while I was doing these things. I haven't left Kerbin's SOI as of yet on this career, but now with all my science going to finance, I have plenty of cash to continue on... Like I said, my play style changes from revision to revision, and the ability to do this is probably the main reason I have been playing this game with the same enthusiasm since Rev 0.18.... What a great game this is!!!