Tank Buddy

I don't know, but it might be because the actual collision mess (terrain) differs from the rendered surface. Or terrain could be KSC buildings and such. But I have no idea so don't quote me on it.

1.25 in stock, but 2.5 in RSS. I think I like the 2.5 meter parts more.

There is a mod that enables FPS-like VAB camera controls. I am yet to try it.

I put 70%, but the bottom line is the game isn't completed. With all the bugs and unimplemented features, I think there is still a lot of room for improvement.

Wow! Congratulations! I just downloaded KW Rocketry because if felt like I needed some larger diameter parts.

It would be awesome if you could add WindowShine to CKAN. Great Job BTW, looks amazing.

A more direct answer to your question: if your local TWR is 1 and you are flying parallel to gravity, your acceleration will be 0. You can multiply the value of TWR-1 by local gravity fo find actuall acceleration. For example, 1.5 TWR @ Kerbin, 1.0 is counteracting 10m/s^2 (approximately) of gravity and .5 is free to accelerate your rocket. .5 * 10m/s^2 = 5m/s^2 or .5g. You can calculate acceleration when not parallel to gravity by using trig, but you don't really need that if your launch TWR is sufficient. When perpendicular to gravity (in orbit) multiply your TWR by the local gravity. You also could use Newton's 2nd law: F=ma => a=F/m (thrust/mass).

I actually started a thread because I couldn't find any adequate tutorials on how to get to the Moon. I did figure out that if you set the Moon as target and use KER's "relative inclination" value you can launch straight into an orbit that has the same inclination as the Moon. (Warp until value is 0°: Moon's orbit is directly overhead; follow heading of 90° into orbit) You only have to wait <1 full orbit until you have a window. I will work on a design w/ a 25 ton payload when I get the chance.

If you have extra Delta V you should ditch the extra fuel and tanks. Because of the logarithmic nature of the rocket equation, you may be able to shrink the launch vehicle a decent amount. You have to try to squeeze as much DV from your upper stages if you want to get a single stack. You kinda have to deal with the fact that you need a taller rocket so that is why I don't usually use a LH2 first stage. I don't know exacly how you get into a parking orbit, but I don't stick around for more than 1 orbit so my TLI stage is usually LH2 like the Saturn V's. Boil-of isn't significant but the mass savings are. Also, what is the mass of your payload you are delivering to the Moon?

I just started doing the RSS thing aswell. If you want a smaller rocket, you will need the same amount of ÃŽâ€V but use much less fuel to achieve it. There are three major things that affect your ÃŽâ€V: Payload Mass Fuel and ISP Engine and ISP If your payload, i.e. lander + return vessel is too large, your launch vehicle will be similarly massive. Same goes for the TMI stage (mass also dependent on payload); more payload, more pain. For your launch vehicle to be in a single stack, you should use an efficient fuel-motor pair, such as LH2 and INSERT ENGINE NAME HERE. Also make sure you have several vertical stages. The Saturn V has 3 massive stages burnt out by the time it was in a Lunar Transfer Orbit. Even then, a single stack may be out of your reach depending on the engines you have (I use the stock engines with the RF configs) There are only two things you can do: Decrease your payload mass or increase the ISP of your rocket motors. Since you can only really decrease payload mass, you'd better get working on designing a striped-down lander. If you've read The Martian, you will know you need to get rid of anything unnecessary. But probably not as drastically as in The Martian. You may want to try some variation of the Apollo style for your lander. For your lander and TMI stage, you will have to pick the fuels that will give you the best bang for you buck (mass). LH2 is not very dense and also has a much higher ISP thank RP-1 or Aerozine 50. You will just need to throw in more tankage if you choose to use it because LH2 is less dense. Keeping with comparisons to the Saturn V, make note that the S-IC (First stage) was fueled by Kerosene and the upper stages LH2. The CSM used MMH because cryogenic fuels would have boiled off, as you probably know. And lastly, use the lightest motor you can get away with in your upper stages as this will save on payload mass. Good luck!

Most likely because the RCS thrusters have a lower specific impulse (efficiency) under the pressure of Eve's atmosphere near sea level than on Kerbin; 5 atm vs. 1 atm.

Yeah, I started throwing mods in like crazy and it was rejuvenating.

They are landing gear, not "wheels". By wheels they mean rover wheels.

@mythbusters844 Pffffffffffff. Just to funny. I love that guy.

You can't use conventional Hohmann transfers to get to Moho easily. The best thing to do is wait until Kerbin is at the ascending/descending node of Moho's orbit, then make a transfer burn that matches your periapsis with the orbit of Moho, at the AN/ DN. (This way you are guarenteed to cross Moho's orbit w/o a plane change) You can save some DV by launching into an orbit that matches Moho's inclination at that time or adding in a plane change with your ejection burn. When you reach Pe, set up a maneuver that creates an intercept with Moho, and wala! Should be self explanatory from then on.

Adding an angle of incidence will shift your CoM and it will add torquing force if you have too steep an angle. (essentially moving the CoM far from the CoL.) Angle of incidence pretty much allows you to have a different AoA than what your current attitude would permit.

I have a several major releases. I missed some of the hotfix patches. I figure it's like the stuff on my old ipod; I thought I would be traumatized if I lost them but I never use them anyways...

Try RSS. It really adds a lot of things to re-learn and experiment with. I just installed RealFuels and not RO because that was a bit much for me. 6.4x Kerbin or Outer Solar System are also a good bets; diversify the game. If you are not already using CKAN, browse through the mods and try some you like.

Yes and No. You have the liberty to determine what constitutes as a grand tour. If a challenge requires no refueling, then it wouldn't count, but if you are doing it on you own you can decide. To me, a Grand Tour would consist of a single ship; either a single launch or a singe vehicle assembled in orbit. Really you can decide to send parts of the ship to its destinations ahead of time or not. Since your craft has a drill and refinery it should be self sufficient, but you say otherwise. You will just have to live with the fact that you completed a Grand Tour with refueling. Nothing more.

It is easier to lower your periapsis from a higher orbit to use the Oberth effect than being too deep in the gravity well.

You would want an equatorial or near equatorial orbit (possibly a few degrees toward Gilly but low inclination nonetheless.) If you have an inclined orbit it will not help with inbound craft because it will not shift to accept craft coming in on Eve's plane, as the obit will remain static relative to Kerbol's cartesian grid. In other words, the inclination will only be helpful twice an Eve year (two spots in oposition), and even then they won't often coincide with an Eve launch window. So the best inclination is 0 degrees. Unless you are a hipster and want a retrograde orbit. (This actually allows an ion powered craft to be in daylight for an outer system transfer burn)

Red is Drag Blue is Lift from wing surfaces Cyan is Lift from lifting bodies (non wing parts like fuselages) Yellow is Lift from control surfaces* *I think

The force of gravity (and acceleration) follows the inverse square law: the force of gravity exponentially decreases the further you get from the mass. (Because you are dividing by the square of the distance between the objects) Equation: The gravitational force decreases significantly the further away you are from the center of Jool. Because your spacecraft is 119 Km from the surface of Jool (and however many more from the center), the local gravity is much less than you'd expect. KER actually changes your TWR value based on this. Also note that even though Jupiter is more than 200 times more massive than Earth its surface gravity is only a little over 2g. This is for the same reason; Its diameter is so great (11x Earth's) that you are far enough from the center that the gravity is diminished because of the inverse square law.

There is an image for the SOIs of the Joolian moons; I recon that is the only location you would really need that info. Otherwise you just need to look at the size of the SOI in the wiki.

Pandoras Kitten hit it right on the nose: just copy your saves and pull any mods out of the GameData folder.