What have you learned from KSP?

[Columbia]

Hello, forums!

We all know about the learning potential KSP has, and cherish it for the game. It's one of the things that make it unique from other games. But what did you learn from it that you cherish the most?

For me.. well, other than the basics of orbital mechanics, I learned that mistakes are inevitable events that strike whether it be a booster slightly placed off-center or a wobbly rocket, and the only thing you can do is learn from it. Making mistakes on a launch is perfectly okay. But you learn from it, cherish it and apply it to your designs, so that when you are having a conventional satellite launch or having your first Munshot, that strut will hold on, that landing leg won't destroy itself to bits, and the booster won't separate too early.

What about you guys?

[StrandedonEarth]

That little green men don't come from Duna, er, Mars

[Rematog]

Martians Go Home.... good book by Fredric Brown... trash movie....

[Freshmeat]

I finally got around to learn orbital mechanics and getting a feel for the rocket equation (I knew how to derive it, but true knowledge comes from application). Further, I learned the Arduino programming environment, and how to make simple electronics and circuits in practice, starting from nothing but theoretical knowledge.

[EvilPanda]

In my time playing KSP for the last year and half now, I have learn't many things. Two things I cherish the most is orbital mechanics and travelling to other planets.

[Fel]

What I learned from KSP is that playing KSP while you should be studying / doing homework results in abnormally high scores on tests! It seems that learning rocket science tops everything there is to be taught at school.

[AbacusWizard]

I've learned so much about orbital mechanics and rocketry (deriving the rocket equation from scratch was fun) and developed a much better intuition for forces and momentum in general.

I teach physics and math for a living, so KSP as a hobby synergizes remarkably well with my job! My knowledge from teaching physics makes me better at Kerbal, and my experience in Kerbal inspires me with ideas for examples to use in class.

[General Rarity]

I've learned that rockets stage.

Who knew!?

I've also learned that the people at NASA/Roscosmos/ESA/etc are very smart. Smarter than I thought, and I thought that they were very smart. But they topped that. Building a Space Shuttle that works, docking (I had no idea what this was until KSP), etc.

[dsmiley53]

There are no straight lines in space.

[Norcalplanner]

Basic orbital mechanics. Advanced orbital mechanics. What the heck Isp means. All the real rocketry things that people debate on the forums and come up with mods for, such as: pros and cons of different fuel types; how vacuum thrust is higher than sea level thrust; what TWR you need at various stages in a rocket's flight; that plane changes in real life are no small matter; and a host of other things that makes me really appreciate what's actually been done by all the nations and organizations that have successfully flung something into space.

[juvilado]

I wouldnt know where to start! Basics of orbital maneouvres and concepts, gravity assists, rocketry related concepts, basic fluid dinamics, spaceship stage comprehension, several space related terms (i.e. SSTO, Apoapsis,...), mathematics, physics, and im forgetting things for sure.

Apart from that I constantly pay attention to all real life space launch and have investigated a lot about probes and real space missions. I could say KSP strenghted my interest in space and aeronautics.

Definitely one of the top 5 (sometimes the best) games ever played, and the most educational by far.

[RobotsAndSpaceships]

In stock KSP, very little. RSS/RO taught me quite a bit when it came to real life spaceflight though.

[Motokid600]

When it comes to rockets and orbital mechanics the question is... what haven't I learned? Ditto on RSS/RO teaching me far more about how rockets function and more advanced orbital mechanics.

[CG_Kerbin]

The meaing of the phrase "it's not rocket science" XD learning the hard way

[jarmund]

After toying around with a game-like project when learning android development I thought I knew orbital mechanics fairly well. KSP proved I didn't, so I guess you could say that KSP taught me more about orbital mechanics than reading about it ever did.

[LostElement]

The basics of orbital mechanics primarily.

[Robotengineer]

In stock KSP, very little. RSS/RO taught me quite a bit when it came to real life spaceflight though.

Same.