BlazingAngel665

The Kerbonaut community watches with growing excitement as docking approaches (whenever it does) and we need to prepare ourselves, especially as eventually, money will be a factor in the game here is the challenge then, Launch the simplest Rocket into a 70x70 orbit, land, and post screenshots of you doing it! 1. On the pad 2. In Orbit 3. Splashed down/landed Scoring: Each part is worth points, lowest score wins! Command Module, 1st Parachute, and 1st decoupler are free. If the part survives then it only counts as 1/3 the points, screenshots of landed parts must be included! Negative points for the following: Landing on minmus or the moon = -20 Having NO (0) decouplers = -30 Rendezvousing in orbit before deorbiting = -30 These bonuses are calculated in After dividing by 3 if applicable Parts: Tiny Fuel Tank: 2 pts Large Fuel Tank: 3 pts LV-T30: 3 pts LV-T45: 4 pts LV-909: 4 pts RCS Tank: 3 pts RCS Thrusters: 1 pt Jet Engines: 3 pts Areospike: 6 pts SRB: 3 pts ADV SAS: 6 pts SAS: 3 pts Small Control Surface: 1 pt Large Control Surface: 3 pts Either Canard: 2 pts AV-R8: 2 pts AV-T1: 1 pt Wings (Structural, Delta, Connecting) : 3 pts Decoupler or Hardpoint: 2 pts Tricoupler: 6 pts Fuel line or strut: 2 pts Landing gear or parachute: 1pt The idea behind the points is cost/complexity, eg the simpler/cheeper the part, the fewer points it is. Rules: No glitches or moded parts Horizontal or Verticale takeoffs allowed ALL KERBONAUTS MUST SURVIVE!!!! LEADERBOARD Verticale 1. BlazingAngel665 -- 15 pts 2. 3. Horizontal Launch 1. UmbralRaptor -- -20.67 pts 2. 3. Astrokerbals (landed their minimalist contraptions on other bodies) 1. 2. 3. Cheaters (mods, mechjeb, or incomplete screenshots) 1. 2. 3. My rocket, screen shots below 4 gas tanks x 3 pts = 12 pts 1 LV-T30 x 1 pts = 3 pts Total = 15 pts The point of this is an economical way to take Kerbals into space without killing them or the budget, so lets see what we can do!

Very possible, Optimal decent challenge had four people (myself included) return a pod to kerbin sans chutes, wings, winglets etc. just four lander legs and an lv909 engine

Squad needs to push the game as an educational tool, our math teacher used the demo to teach advanced formula\'s and physics to our class in Feb, I think I am the only forum member but a couple of kids purchased it afterwards.

Build a rocket looks exciting! More, more, more! This way my incredibly overweight munland can have it\'s very own underburdened (overpowered) engine!

What can we do with the cargo bay? will it have radial decouplers for releasing cargo, or the shuttle robotic arm?

Definetly on to this one, but I still have to reclaim my title in the previous challenge. I will take the kerbals home again. . . somehow (you need another medal for those of us who manage to avoid killing the intrepid crew and/or stranding them in space with little to no fuel.

So I was screwing around in persistance files trying to set up a challenge (it almost seems less work to actually launch stuff where you want it) and I noticed something like In fact every Kerbonaut has one but Jebediah is the only one that has badS set to True, and was just curious on peoples thoughts. . . The others have a (somewhat) clear purpose, except that one. So?

Drat Mager42 now I have to reclaim my rediculously worthless title of best use of autopiliot, congrats on getting them home though, it really is ugly when you do your white knucle retro at 3k with only a little gas left in your tank. . . I had a revolutionary Idea actually, could you raise your apoapsis, then do your retrograte to kill your lateral velocity at a higher altitude where you are moving slower? If you do this on the back side of the Mun (in relation to it\'s orbit) then it is pulling you along instead of barelling toward you leaving you with even less vertical velocity as you start a direct descent hopefully toward some mountain top, I tried it and got 144.4 Gubs in my tank, but I suck at piloting and I was using mechjeb (not the most efficient) so maybe someone can be more effective.

Ish by all means, I love it!

No, the one I am thinking of is just two lines of numbers in the upper right corner, I love mechjeb, but if it\'s on my rocket I will use it. . . not very condusive to improving piloting skills.

Mine battlecruisers be stock, but be there they be screenshots forthcoming! Huzzah!

Our class used it back in Feb. when other kids were wrapped up in state mandated assessments, I am in advanced placement with my friends so we had already taken our assessments (you only take them once for math) and so after I had pestered Mrs. Smiller about helping me with these lovely formula that are slightly beyond my mathmatical capabilities, she inquired as to the purpose, so I showed her, and the next week we had twenty laptops all loaded and ready to go with a very minimal rocket, which I am suprised worked given the un-kerbalness of it, basically PARA, CMD, DC, ADSAS, RCSGAS, DC, TRI, GAS x3, gimble engines, DC, Gasx3, 30s, and it had a very high sucsess rate, the objectives were given out on a sheet of paper, and we got to do simple stuff like calculate total Delta V and the orbital velocity of a 100km orbit. It worked well and got some people interested in rocketry and the game. The last day was build the best rocket you can, which failed epically as the school laptops had an underappreciation for the MASSIVE number of SRB\'s we all threw into our contraptions, those of us who realized what struts do for a rocket were slightly more sucsessful but nobody actually made it to the Mun (no minimus in demo ) but it was a great week in math class. 2 more on topic points, someone had something in the right hand upper corner that showed true altitude. . . Can I have that please?? 2nd I am trying this vanilla w/out mechjeb and we will see how this works. . . probbably leaving some stranded kerbonauts in a transfer orbit this time. . .

There is a plugin or mod or something that tells you your true altitude up in the right corner of your screen, and for the life of me I can\'t find it. Does anyone know what it is called?

I am just learning it right now (sophmore) and have taken quite a few orbital equations to my Geometry teacher, eventually she asked what for, I showed her so now we get to spend a week working on advanced formula\'s in KSP Mrs. Smiller is amazing!!! Unfortunatly its only the demo, and we have very specific tasks to complete with pre assigned rockets, and we have to show work, but still... video games in class, most assuradly affirmative!

Nice, excited to see it finished, I hope you puto some thought into balence though. . .

Did the mechjeb file and just clicked land. . . 122.1kg of fuel left and one messed up lander. . . it landed me on the side of a crater, so I lost all of my legs and my engine from rolling down a hill. The kerbal comic comes to mind. . . Trying again, watch here. Great challenge by the way! EDIT: Used Smart ASS for a retrograde, then activated mech jeb at the periapsis, much more efficient and I still have an intact lander this time. 143.4 kgs of fuel left. GOIN HOME BABY! FINAL EDIT: Not only home, but curtisy of auto-land we are back at KSC after 10 horrible days and burning all but .3kg of gas, I feel pretty damn boss.

Drat, I was hoping to stack my massive boosters to my other massive boosters and fire them all then drop the 1st stage and save my other stage for my rtk burn but I guess we can\'t be that lucky . . .

Not my work, but the rest is self explanitory . . . .

Is this strong enough to fire engines on a craft attached to another and change orbits?

Largest Mun Base 2 craft 0.15.2 MechJeb Screenshot below

What mods??? Very important with craft files

Hold down shift to rotate parts only a little

I am a high schooler too, however, a trip to wikipedia, a calculator and MechJeb make all the diffrence, and MechJeb taught me really useful things like which ways to point you rocket so now I don\'t need it (all the time . . . . )

With updates, the parachutes should deploy even if placed in later stages they only deploy once they reach 500ft though, and they can get ripped off if you try to salvage too much

How to: Beginner Rendezvousing This is a guess and check tutorial for those who have no desire to do math after the get home from class. MechJeb is lovely and will help you get started, or you can use an orbit calculator just to get things going. Or be really amazing and do Stock minus plugins, So first off: 1. Launch: launch make it to orbit this is your target vehicle, try to keep the orbit as circular as possible and right on a specific auspicious orbit, like 90 degrees in any direction. This makes calculating burns much easier. Also altitudes with both apses above 120km will enjoy better time warp capabilities. 2. Launch rendezvous vehicle: instructions as above HOWEVER this vehicle MUST have an RCS system (essential) and a Thrust Vectoring Engine with a good tank and a half of gas. Also remember the bigger your vehicle the more impossible this becomes as precision control will eventually go out the window. 3. Orbit: Controlling the second craft enter as close an orbit as possible to the first ship. Inclination and position are less important right now just that your Apoapsis and Perapsis are with in an extremely tight tolerance (like .005 km) 1. To execute this step wait until you are at your perapsis, with you ship pointing at the green sign in your navball (the one without an X in it, called your direction of travel, I call it DOT) do a prograde burn to raise your apoapsis to the same as your other ship. 2. Now, time warp to right before your apoapsis. 3. Quickly move your ship back towards the same green icon as before, and do another prograde burn to raise your periapsis to the same as your apoapsis. 4. In completing these steps it helps to use long duration burns at very low levels, otherwise you won\'t be as precise as you need to be. 4. Align orbits: Alright, the usefulness of MechJeb if you want to cheat, and haven\'t already been using it, Either use the only functioning piece of the Rendezvous Module and align your orbits (this piece works suprisingly well for how badly the rest of the Module fails) or use Smart A.S.S and set it for Normal or anti-normal and do short burns at the points where your orbit intersects your target orbit. 1. The point you are looking for can be found like this, in the map rotate the camera is level with the target orbit, and it looks like a straight line, the where the other orbit crosses it like a really misshappen X do your short low power burns till your orbit works 2. If you DIDN\'T bring MechJeb with you, more power to you calculate you Normal by moving 90 degrees right and 90 degrees up from you DOT, your anti-normal is just opposite your Normal on your navball 5. Sync: Now raise you apoapsis by 20km, and accelerate time until your ship is very close to the place your target in it\'s lower orbit. This will take a potential forever if you are far apart which is the benefit of a high orbit (better time warp) 6. Re-align apoapsis: Now you are very close so wait until you get to your periapsis which should still be exactly on the orbit of your target and do a retrograde burn to lower your apoapsis to the point where it is circular. 1. To do a retrograde burn point your ship toward the green icon with a X in it this is exactly opposite your DOT 7. Great time to jettison your almost spent fuel stages, this makes maneuvering much easier. Turn off SAS and ASAS if you brought them, and Use MechJeb to lock your ship in a way that leaves the RCS controls in a way that makes sense to you, then turn on RCS and maneuver to your target slowly. Congrats, you have successfully rendezvoused WAIT!!!! What if I didn\'t rendezvous? Well a burn might have been off, or you need to wait longer, this meathod has insane amounts of waiting involved, and no math so high efficent meathods have been disregarded in the intrests of simplicity. Also occasionally your altitude change burn in step 5 you can mess up your orbital allignment, just repeat step 4. Didn\'t work for you? Tell me please. I disclaim any credit for dead/stranded/crazy/sandwicheating kerbals which might result from following these directions. . .