FloppyRocket

That feature still exists, but I think you only get the marker and distance if the target is nearby (within 30km?)

I guess the basics would be: Is SAS enabled? Are the engine gimbals enabled? Is the control point set to the same vessel that has the engine? An image would be helpful for more context. Another issue would be, perhaps moving the fuel around changes the center of mass such that the engine doesn't have enough gimbal range to steer the stack.

I'm not sure whether I'll try this challenge, but I gotta say it's one of the funniest sets of goals I've seen. And also sadly all true.

Thanks much!

Mission report: Caveman Apatite (Normal Career) completed: Notes: The Normal career 1x science multiplier really made this challenge a grind. Similar to my Talc Challenge missions, I stayed away from science farming on Kerbin (other than Launch pad, Crawlerway, and Runway). All missions returned to Kerbin for full points, no data transmission was used. I did accept a few contracts for accomplishments I was going to do anyway (reach orbit, etc). I did not take any parts testing or tourist contracts. Once I earned enough funds, I set up a 25% R&D strategy. Again, I have no idea i

Thanks for the update, I've been curious about what the problem was.

Cool. I was not sure whether to try to aim for Minmus without having any maneuver nodes for trajectory planning.

Well, as I'm partway through Apatite now (Normal career mode), I am struck by how easy the Talc mode was, because it gave a 2x multiplier for science points (which I did not realize at the time, having not done enough research about the Difficulty settings in the first place). So, yes, I'm planning to do some Mun landings.

The kOS documentation is unlikely to tell you if there is a bug in the 'a' value.

Thanks, I did not yet look into what capabilities are lost in the harder challenges.

I completed Talc (twice) without landing on the Mun. One high-space flyby and one low-space flyby. But I never transmit any data, I return all the science to Kerbin. I think Goo is the only one that doesn't count for 100% completion on one attempt, so I carry two Goo. A third Goo yields very little, so not much is lost. No transmitting also means no need for relay satellites. =================== From the rules: Use of the KER and/or MechJeb mods, or other mods that provide more information than the stock game does, is not permitted.

Yes, it can be done in one continuous burn. Early rockets did this primarily because they did not have re-startable engines. The basic trick is that you fly to a higher Ap than your target orbit, then fly "downhill" to raise the Pe while lowering the Ap. If you balance everything just right, you get a circular orbit at the desired altitude. It's not easy. The math is very complicated.

I wasn't able to get enough delta-v into orbit for a Mun landing and return with a single launch. I do have a design that launches a separate fuel tank/engine/probe core, and docking with it to use it as a transfer stage. But before using it, I found that it I didn't need to. Flying two fly-by missions around the Mun (low space and high space) collects enough data to complete the 4th layer. I didn't need any KSP science farming or contract-chasing, no relays needed in Mun orbit (since Jeb or Val were on-board), and no science data transmissions (since I think that loses science points). I d

I think rendering all of that physics was eating all your CPU cycles.

I don't think so.