Billygoat_J

Ok, I'll keep that in my bag of tricks. So far the Kerbal Joint Reinforcement that @Jas0n and @SpannerMonkey(smce) suggested seems to be working so far (though I've only gotten to play around with it once since downloading). Is it an issue of not clipping terrain? My other big base that this happened to regularly was built entirely from stock parts and so had to be on permanent wheels (aside from the central hub) in order to assemble. It too was in a Minmus basin. I would assume the shock absorbers in the wheels would absorb what miniscule terrain features might show up on Minmus plains.

I'll give that a shot, then. I don't have any intrinsic understanding of KSP's joint sizes or how that affects things. But why can a station go from perfectly stable one day to suddenly shaking itself to pieces like a carnival ride on NOS the next?

I hope you can forgive me asking a question that has almost certainly been asked many times before, but I don't know the best search terms to find it. This problem has shown up in my other large surface stations using all stock parts. I just downloaded Kerbal Planetary Base Systems and it seems to do the same thing when my base gets big. The only other mods I use are Mechjeb and Kerbal Alarm Clock, so I doubt it's a mod-induced issue. It seems to only happen some of the time and only within the first few seconds after switching to the base. I end up holding my breath hoping it will be stable when I first switch to it. If it doesn't start flailing and explode in 30 seconds or so, the base seems to remain fine until the next time I switch to it. Is there a mod (or some other solution) that will keep my oversized bases intact? https://i.imgur.com/3A7PJPv.mp4 *Edited because I'm new to this whole imgur link business*

Had a long absence from KSP and even longer one from this site. Always nice to be back at it. Felt like toying around and trying to answer a question I posed myself a long time ago: can you reach orbit using only sepratrons? Answer: YES! It took a while (and had my laptop's fan protesting the whole time), but I found a configuration that got into orbit and even had a single pair of sepratron rockets left over for de-orbiting. It's all stock aside from the Mechjeb unit I used for delta-V monitoring purposes only (ignore the Maneuver Planner window - I basically always have it open and didn't think to close it despite its uselessness with solid boosters). Getting the staging right in the VAB was a poodle, but eventually it came together. The "payload" is just the bare minimum: an OCTO2 command pod, a small reaction wheel, and a small battery. Structure consisted of just "structural fuselages" for the lower stages and octagonal struts for the top stage. Everything else was Sepratrons - 464 of 'em if my math serves me right. Maybe if I get onto a more powerful computer someday, I'll try lofting an actual Kerbal with this nonsense.

I had no choice but to call it the Plesiosaur: A mostly goofy build that evolved from a serious attempt at a spaceplane (a distant evolutionary relative, mind you). It took off fine (surprisingly), but maxed out a little over 10km altitude on jet mode. Rocket mode got me higher, but still nowhere near orbit. Out of curiosity I tried a ramjet instead of the RAPIER just to see what kind of acceleration that could give me. Encouraged, I loaded it with a "swivel" rocket and a decouple-able ramjet. It looks horribly tailheavy, but flew fine. Plesiosaur Mk. 2 managed to achieve orbit, but can't really claim to be capable of much once there. I may play with it a bit tomorrow.

Let's face it: this had to happen at some point: I tried a whole bunch of configurations using rockets, but of course their fuel didn't last long. This one with ramjets could go forever. I made sure the thrust was only horizontal, to see just how much lift I could get out of the wings. Answer: not much, but enough to get it in the air. Rose about 1km per minute for the first 11km, then slowed significantly. I killed it after 25 minutes and 15km, having used about half my fuel. My pilot was none too happy, but his centrifuge training served him well.

That is one beautifully compact little orbiter.

Thanks for all the extra documentation! I got it to work as advertised. I did end up trying a similar configuration yesterday with the fuel tank and radial intakes rather than pre-cooler, but evidently my problem there was the angle of ascent. I was trying to head up at closer to 30 degrees (again, serious lack of experience). Following the tweaks made possible by your info, Katxie successfully piloted and docked a very sleek looking Zarr spaceplane with the much more rickety Jeb's Truckstop. Given the Truckstop's de-facto primary mission of LKO Kerbal rescue (it's picked up at least seven wayward Kerbonauts by now), it looks like I now have a more efficient way of getting them back home.

I love this spaceplane and am trying to replicate it, but failing miserably. I'm getting nowhere near orbit. I'm guessing the part behind the service bay is an Engine Precooler? Are there any fuel tanks under the wings? Also, are your RCS thrusters a mod? I've seen those before, but can't replicate them with RV-105's and Place-Anywhere's as I expected. When it comes to spaceplanes, I'm a complete noob, so I could be missing something extremely obvious.

When I figured out that each building at the Space Center was its own biome, I had to throw together a sciencey hovercraft to check them out. I quickly decided I needed a manned one, so I could get crew reports and all-important surface samples of the roofs. It ended up significantly larger. I love that my space program's admin building is a double-wide with a (presumably leaky and noisy) external AC unit. smile emotico

I was trying to do this very thing last week, but couldn't get the stupid modules to form a ring and attach to each other. How'd you manage it?

Got a contract to mine the Mun and decided to try and make my launch look like a real rocket with a fairing. The rather giant lander meant the fairing really dwarfed my giant triple rocket. Flawless mission though. Topped off the tanks of the ascent VX and sent its crew home to rack up some experience, leaving their engineer, Stelcy, doin' her engineer thing. She appeared quite happy cooking up fuel alone. I figure she'll throw quite a party when her buddies return. Wasn't too long before she got some company. New contract to expand the base (I like that feature of 1.0.5). I had planned the driller to be compatible with my science rover design, and it worked much better than my last attempt at such things. Landing things on top of the station is a serious pain, though.

[COLOR=#141823][FONT=helvetica]Jeb took a break from riding explosions into space to work on some explosions in the atmosphere using the new goliath engines. Dubbed the Ridiculizer, control was a bit sluggish due to the weight, but effective. It hit 550 m/s before the engines overheated and turned the fuselage into a lawn dart. [/FONT][/COLOR] [IMG]https://scontent.fsnc1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xft1/t31.0-8/12244549_10100535942035099_837377202306929077_o.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]https://scontent.fsnc1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/t31.0-8/12238245_10100535942015139_5411803680638489863_o.jpg[/IMG][IMG]https://scontent.fsnc1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xtf1/t31.0-8/12239422_10100535942020129_473977989511248874_o.jpg[/IMG]

Welcome to Jeb's Truckstop, home of world-famous kerosene-smoked ribs and current record holder for most [COLOR=#141823][FONT=helvetica]Welcome to Jeb's Truckstop, home of world-famous kerosene-smoked ribs and current record holder for most Kerbals rescued by a truckstop. [/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#141823][FONT=helvetica]Jeb got her to orbit with FAR more fuel to spare than expected (thus the longishness). The Apollo-style crew pod, originally intended to return a couple new launchies after their first spacewalk instead ended up filled with three (count 'em!) wayward rescues from LKO whose stores of snacks had reached critical levels. [IMG]https://scontent-sea1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfp1/t31.0-8/12265934_10100533510433049_2294027687113023830_o.jpg[/IMG] Thanks to its resounding success, KSP officials have informed Jeb they now want to use him and his Truckstop as a stepping stone to Duna. Negotiations were stalled, but are picking up again now that Gene Kerman appears to have convinced Jeb that it will not, in fact, involve anyone physically stepping on him. [IMG]https://scontent-sea1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/t31.0-8/12184230_10100533510453009_7585809440359394579_o.jpg[/IMG] Actually built this a couple weeks ago, so I've got more stuff now. It was, to that point, the biggest thing I'd gotten into orbit, and I was amazed how much spare fuel it had. I've since started trying to be a little more technical about my delta-v.[/FONT][/COLOR]

Ok, thanks. I never knew about that menu. It looks dangerous!