Spaceweezle

I made a quicksave before the intersection point before attempting anything. It let me perform an EVA so I could jetpack the Kerbal back to my ship. After loading that quicksave, it won't let me do it again, using the exact same method. I didn't know about the hotkey command for switching, I will try that when I play again thank you.

I am on a contract mission to rescue a kerbal in orbit, I made an intersection maneuver with a separation of 600 meters, I then went to tracking station and took control of the ship that needed rescuing and performed an EVA. I missed the mark and reloaded just before the intersection point, but now it won't let me take control of the lost ship and says " can't control an object we don't own" But I just fricking did just that 2 minutes ago ... Is the game spazzing out or what ?

Ok, thanks for that guys. That satellite trick is super sneaky, I like that!

Can it be done anywhere in orbit of Mun ? I just don't want to get back to kerbin and find out it's not completed.

Hello again, I'm back to annoy you with another possibly silly question. On the contract "Explore the Mun" one of the criteria is "Transmit or recover science data from around the Mun" where abouts is that exactly, is there a specific altitude ? I did try gathering from really high up (1,000km, then lower altitudes, but it does not register on the contract sheet. Does it only register once you have returned with said data, or similarly as soon as it's transmitted ?

By "Aero-lift" you mean having draggy parts to minimize aerodynamics ? I have experimented with flying horizontally and found most of my science modules were overheating. If I re-enter retrograde they are shielded by the engine and other components that are more heat resistant. Is there a better way to use Aero-lift than flying horizontally ? No, I meant "bonus ISP" for vac comparative to other engines. Perhaps I should have phrased that differently. As far as the game is concerned, Radiators dissipate heat. I can visually see them constantly depleting heat from all components, reminds me of a 55 monk in Guild wars lol. I have yet to see my Radiators transferring heat into the object on which they are attached. Since they weigh a measly 1 kilogram and save me from blowing up, I don't see the problem. - - - Updated - - - Pretty cool designs. I actually didn't think to add tanks between Tri and the engines. At least your legs are working better than mine. I landed on Mun and blew all three engines on a pointy bit lol.

Most of my returns to Kerbin result in me having to use atmosphere to reduce my Apoapsis by several million meters before I can enter under 3200m/s, I typically re-enter at 2400-2800 which causes most ship components (including the ship itself) to combust) Until I have enough fuel efficiency to be able to retro burn down properly, rads are always included.

If I recall correctly, that was what I used in early beta with the same Tri-coupler design shown above. It worked fabulously. I was just trying my hand at designing non-cookie-cutter lander's, if there is such a thing. One benefit I am noticing with a longer overall rocket is more stability in atmosphere.

Those rads aren't for show. Like 90% of my missions end up with me re-entering at 2400+m/s, usually because I've run out of fuel. At least this way I can guarantee safe re-entry, fuel or no fuel.

Hey, Thanks man, I had no idea such a thing existed. This ship is going to land on Mun and return, I had already done just that with a single LV909 though there were some situations where I needed to rectify miscalculations with more haste. I opted for three LV909's because I need that bonus ISP to counter my ineptitude for making accurate burns, or sensible ones for that matter. Thanks again! Edit: @ Gharst - These are the longest struts I have access to. @Clipperide - That's an interesting idea. I might consider doing that if this translation thingy doesn't work right. The thought of landing without legs kinda scares me though.

How would I go about making these struts protrude enough without having some obnoxious draggy part ? These are the longest struts I can use at the moment, as you can see, just a whisker short.

Oh right! I thought I had literally 30 minutes to get to Mun and back lol. I didn't realize that the expiration was just for compliance, not actually completion, woe is me! Thanks for clarifying.

Awesome, thanks for going into such detail. For a while it felt like I was missing out on a lot of opportunities because of my reluctance/stubborness to flow with the grain of contracts offered early on. It felt like they were pushing me to advance in Spaceplane technology, which would have benefited me ultimately, but I just had no interest in it. I guess my gripe stems from wanting/needing full creative control over my enterprise and also my completionist/perfectionist attitude. Thanks for all the great info, it helped very much!

Not having the part requirement on those "test this" missions has given me some flexibility. It doesn't feel so linear now. At least those missions I can do freely without any major reliance on research. I think where I am coming from is, those "lucrative" missions might as well be mandatory because they are a major stepping stone that could mean the difference between surviving and flourishing. They seem oddly placed on the progression timeline which I guess follows form of how the difficulty fluctuates so randomly. I'm going to restart again with that new found knowledge. I have simply missed too many test missions and my capital is already suffering to the point I am scared to launch anything into space. Thanks for your insights.

Well there are significant static Contracts that appear on a timeline basis, which forces you into researching and developing vessels capable of those tasks. I was not referring to the structure of the technology tree. From what I've been reading the Mun science runs don't get offered again. Early on there are a bunch of missions to survey pin-point locations on Kerbin, A task that is apparently made a lot easier with the use of Spaceplanes. I'm sure it's doable with rockets if you're very experienced, but given the time frame at which the contracts are offered, you are just beginning and don't have the experience or the technology to do pin-point landings in full atmosphere, hence forcing you down the spaceplane route. Thanks for the tip about contract parts, I always ignored the ones that I did not have the part for. This should help a lot.

The Contract system is structured in such a way that it forces you into a linear path of research and development. There really is only the illusion of choice since Contracts dictate what you are researching and building. Personally I don't care for Spaceplane technology, so I lost a lot of resources right off the bat. Having done everything rocket orientated, I set out for the Mun. When I returned I noticed there a bunch of missions that were almost expired, plus those that seemingly eluded me all together. Now there is 2 contracts for Science collection on and around Mun expiring in 30 minutes. Having just returned from there on a 34 day expedition, I got no chance of delivering on these contracts, so do they get offered again at some stage ? Pretty low on funds at the moment, so I guess this spells another restart for me.

Yes I did it! Jeb is now home safe recovering after a hellish ordeal which nearly claimed his life and the ships! Good thing I had those 4 rads.

Thanks for bringing that to my attention- "the new Aero" that is. Could explain why nothing works like it used to back in beta, except for my Kerbals, they still die. I wish I had access to maneuver nodes, not having them means I am pretty much blindly pointing into space. I managed to get into Kerbin orbit with my last stage fully fueled, though it only has a LV909 and takes forever to do anything. It's got so little thrust that I actually pass the Periapsis trying to burn Prograde. I don't have enough science for the adapter thing that lets you have 3 engines. By some feat I got to Mun, did some science @ 500km, but now it seems I am doomed because I re-enter Kerbin's atmosphere at 3200m/s. I know this a bit off-topic, but how do I get back to Kerbin without turning into a meteorite ? EDIT: I tried Retrograde burn at Periapsis but the lowest Periapsis I can make is 287km. I can't figure out how to offset the orbit, if I could reduce the orbit diameter by even half I might survive the re-entry. Problem is I don't have enough fuel to simply reduce it all the way to atmosphere level.

Sorry, yeah I did mean turning from 90 to 0 degrees. Still trying to make sense of the Nav ball. What used to work for me was hitting 10km then turning to 45 degrees until my Apoapsis is at 100km then shut my engines down, but a lot has changed since I last played and it feels much harder now. Essentially I want to know the most efficient method for making orbit. I seem to have terrible efficiency getting my Apoapsis to 100km. That sounds difficult, but I will have to give it a try. @Alshain - Thanks for the tip on using winglets, not having them at the top has really improved stability. Thanks everyone for the help, though much of it eluded me.

Hello again, When building bigger ships, I have noticed they are almost impossible to steer at the 10km mark. I am trying to orientate 90 degrees before my first stage dies, but it's fighting me so hard. I have AV-R8 Winglets on top and bottom of ship and 4 x RV105 RCS thrusters, but the steering is nothing short of woeful. Can I ask how you guys steer your ship at that altitude ?

Yeah, I know what you are saying, but if you look above at my Prograde re-entry you can see just how "un-dartlike" it is lol. I'm just going to start over. This time avoiding any survey missions on Kerbin.

My first 30 or so attempts were Retrograde re-entries. It didn't matter if I was in the pod or with the last stage still attached, the atmosphere just pushes me all over the place. I fail to see what difference the drag from 2 radiators would make compared to the pod itself. If the radiators are placed in perfect symmetry shouldn't there should be equal drag/resistance ? Regardless, the atmospheric resistance on the pod alone has the same effect, I still land to buggery away. Thanks man, I might take a look if I get desperate, but I usually like to build in my own stubborn way, and see how my flawed logistics hold up in space, it's half the fun.

Not once have I tried building or flying a plane type craft. I thought it would take even longer to do in a plane given my ineptitude with them. Well, you've sold me on the plane now, it has to be less impossible than this BS. The thing that irritates me the most about this mission, is the fact that they give it to you so early on. I would sooner be able to place a flag on the sun.

Ok, this is just silly now. I had a perfect trajectory to the beacon- faced Prograde with no throttle, the atmosphere just pushes the ship miles off course. To avoid overheating I had to had 4 rads, 2 large +2 small, plus heatshield on the nose. Before re-entry: After re-entry:

Hey, I know you can activate the nav on the beacon, I've been using it for the last 30-40 attempts. When I try Prograde re-entry all my stuff burns up. I have a heat shield on the bottom of the pod, but it's useless because once I disengage the last stage my course goes to hell. Perhaps I should remove everything bar the parachutes. Thank you for the useful info on using SAS, that makes sense now I think about it. Hey, I've had a real problem with heat so I added two rads symmetrically, even with them the heat bars almost max out on re-entry. I think you have a valid point about the science bay, I shall try removing it. Haha, damn straight, this is a nightmare. I used to play this ages ago, And was able to land on planets way beyond Mun and return. I even once rescued a Kerbal stuck in a 32 million meter orbit around the sun, but this survey mission is really testing my patience. - - - Updated - - - Yep, just tried Prograde re-entry. Chute blew up, then half a second later the Pod blew up from overheating. This is just with a Pod, chute and nothing else. EDIT: Just tried again with 2 rads on the pod, still blows up from overheating. Prograde definitely not a possibility it would seem. My course.