Wemb

Yup, but not the science - the science is still onboard the vessel - either in the MPL or the ship it came in on - I have the same 'problem' as the original poster - in my case, I have an orbital science base around minmus - the science lab has about 25 experiments on it, of which about 6 are waiting to be 'processed' (soil samples) and the remainder are doing nothing, have already been processed and coverted into data, and can now either be transmitted (at a science cost) or returned back to kerbin on the next supply shuttle, for full science return - the quesitons - is it possible to selectively 'take' or 'store' data - so my scientists can ensure only the processed science experiments get to go home, leaving the unprocessed data on the station. The only way I can see to do it is send another science base to Minmus so it can process the extra data - either that or wait a few years. Wemb

It's the change in versions - Scott Manley, whose design I ripped off, has just posted a video describing exactly what I'm seeing in the new version - his design can't be flown as agressively in the latest version as before - I'll drop a fuel take and dump some oxidiser which was a problem with my design - this looks to be the solution that SMs doing to. Thanks for all the advice guys - I'll mark this as answered as soon as I read how to mark this as answered. Cheers, Wemb

Fly by wire - or in Kerbin's case, more likely string.

Another thing that caught me is following the recent update, my sub-orbital joy-ride which was perfectly safe now turned Kerbal tourists into meat-paste because the Mk16 parachute, which now needed 700m to finishing deploying was still deploying at 500m since my ship had been designed before the update. This wasn't generally an issue with the orbital craft, as that had been repeatedly tweaked and had the 'new' parachutes.

Just a note to say !THANKS! to the devs who put together RasterPropMonitor - I did an instruments only approach and docking entirely from the IVA capsule view without any GUI using MFDs from RPM (alongside the Docking Port Alignment Indicator) in a LanderCan and it went perfectly. Feel like a proper astronaut now - thanks!

Ah, no, we didn't all know that - thanks! I am wondering what sort of insane re-entry you need to do in order to _need_ 200 units of ablation (ablator? asbestos? :-) - I've done re-entries back from the Mun at about 3,000 mps but which haven't used used up more than 4% of the shield yet. Wemb

It might be something in your Windows mouse control panel rather than settings in KSP - I use IVA extensively when docking and I have no problem with the default KSP settings and the scroll wheel. Wemb

I'm not at my PC at the moment - but as I said, I took, err, inspiration, from this video - figuring if SM can do this, the design should be sound - but he does seem to be able to point it at ~30deg off the deck and accelerate at the same time. albeit without a payload.

Yes, but that may not be a problem - a lower twr may well mean a lot more dV, which means you can afford to make small adjustments - and, of course, small engines are great for making small adjustments. Also, if you're going to another planet, being very accurate when you're starting out from Kerbin isn't massively important - what is important is not missing the transfer window - so burns that take lots of time to complete, when you're heading toward something that's orbiting quickly (the inner-most planets) might be a problem. Doing a course-correction to a long burn when you're 6 months out isn't. Wemb

Ooo - good idea - hadn't even thought of doing that... Thanks again.

The Whiplash - haven't unlocked the rapier yet. Certainly haven't been able to get my thing going fast enough to disintegrate, so I'm guessing I've built it too heavy - certainly am taking into orbit, when I finally get there, too much oxidiser - so I might try emptying on the fuel tanks - feeds so counter-intuituive though, since I'm already using almost all fo the fuel in my payload's tank, let alone the launch vehicle. Thanks everyone.

I'm increasing using MechJeb - not for the actual docking itself, but coupled with the RasterPropsMonitor to do in-capsule dockings - having the rasterProp Monitor docking page open on one MFD, showing a zoomed in first person view overlayed with very precision offset co-ordinates, coupled with the Docking Alignment Indicator on a second and the SASS TGT+/- and RVEL +/- autopilot buttons on a third makes I can generally dock, often more reliably, from inside the cockpit with the KSP gui turned off (F2) than I can do outside the cockpit with the gui turned on. Wemb

Ooo - I like that - it doesn't matter which way it re-enters the atmosphere, 'cause if the parachute burns off on one end, the other will survive. Maybe. Wemb

Another thing to note is that saved ships and games done before the most recent updates have had problems with the small parachute - it takes about 700m vertically to slow a stock capsule down enough to land safely, but still deploys with 500m left - you should definitely check that. Otherwise, I've found that from a low Kerbal orbit, a stock capsule can re-enter and land without a heat shield with out problems - what the heat-shield is really useful for is not to survive re-entry, so much as to add balast to a capsule and a science module, so it doesn't re-enter parachute first. Also, if you're having problems hitting the ground a bit fast, add some legs, even if they collapse on hitting the ground, the rest of the capsule may well survive. Wemb

Yup - I've noticed that too - that was one hell of a shock when my poor tourist kerbal on a suborbital joyride popped his mk16 parachute, it opening at 500m and I watched him smash into the ground still doing 70mps

Been playing KSP a while now - but have pretty much avoided flight, and completely avoided SSTO's till now. Have been watching Scott Manley's lastest vids and have built something basically the same as his Blackbird-inspired spaceplane - two LV-T45's, surrounded by a pair of Whiplash engines. My trouble is that it's taking forever, and pretty much most of my fuel to get high and fast enough for the whiplash's do anything more than barely manage 300 in level flight. What's the best way to fly this engine? I've noticed that when it does go supersonic it does go off like a rocket (well, Ramjet) - but what's the best way to get upto speed? Is my SSTO too heavy perhaps? Is it worth trying to boost it to supersonic speeds right off the deck with some SRBs? Should I be trying to go as fast as possible at low altitude, or get up into thinner air above 10,000m before trying to accelerate above 300+? Any pointers would be gratefully received! Wemb