Best ways to explore Kerbin.

[0x7be]

I'am about to start seriously gathering science on Kerbin.

Basically we have two options of doing it:

1. Aircrafts.

+ Cheap. Can achieve best refund via recovery.

+ Can visit multiple places in one launch.

+ High accuracy.

- Very time-consuming, especially before SAS/Mechjeb.

- Can't land everywhere, need flat gound.

2. Suborbital flights.

+ Quick flight to destination

+ Less demanding to landing site.

- More expensive, expendable rockets, less refund on recovery.

- Less precise.

- Can't visit many places in one launch.

What would you suggest?

Please, share your experience.

P.S. For aircrafts I've devised "air-droppable science pods" technology, tested it once. Anybody used it?

[Tex]

3. Rovers/Road trips!

+Fun adventure

+Get to see beautiful Kerbin scenery

+Adventure!

+Can visit many, many locations

+Only electricity required for rover wheels

-Require good handling skills depending on terrain

-Improper designs can be destroyed easily

-Quite slow

I absolutely love doing road trips. In fact, I had some fantastic experiences driving a rover around the mountains just west of the KSC, and in fact am driving there again in a humvee-esque rover design I created to see how well it did. I am currently in the planning stages of doing a long-haul trucking mission to gather some ore from high-density deposits on Kerbin. Driving, coupled with good music, makes for fantastic fun. At least in my opinion.

Flying jet aircraft is also very good, and it's much the same thing. Barnstorming is awesome And yeah, you can land on uneven surfaces. Parachutes are the rookie option, but I've landed on an uphill grade before. Wow, that was scary...

[Grunnt]

Use both.

What worked well for me is to use a jet for the biomes nearby (all the KSC biomes, the shore, grassland, highlands, desert, I think there's even a patch of tundra nearby KSC). Make a two-seater jet with all the science equipment you got, take Jeb and Bob (a scientist) and start collecting science biome by biome. Works like a charm.

Edit: so use the scientist to reset the instruments when landed, works much more efficiently than by dropping disposable science pods (though that sounds kinda cool).

Edit2: also remember that you can drive jets just fine, which is especially good when visiting all KSC biomes.

However, to reach the badlands and pole biomes by early-career jet is not really feasible: it takes ages to fly there. So for these ones you could build a rocket, maybe even one with a small jet strapped on top. But to be honest I have not bothered for the few science points that this would net me. Much better by then to fly to the mun or minmus.

[Temeter]

3. Rovers/Road trips!

+Fun adventure

+Get to see beautiful Kerbin scenery

+Adventure!

+Can visit many, many locations

+Only electricity required for rover wheels

-Require good handling skills depending on terrain

-Improper designs can be destroyed easily

-Quite slow

I absolutely love doing road trips. In fact, I had some fantastic experiences driving a rover around the mountains just west of the KSC, and in fact am driving there again in a humvee-esque rover design I created to see how well it did. I am currently in the planning stages of doing a long-haul trucking mission to gather some ore from high-density deposits on Kerbin. Driving, coupled with good music, makes for fantastic fun. At least in my opinion.

Flying jet aircraft is also very good, and it's much the same thing. Barnstorming is awesome And yeah, you can land on uneven surfaces. Parachutes are the rookie option, but I've landed on an uphill grade before. Wow, that was scary...

Or you do it the true Kerbal Way. Flying rover.

[0x7be]

Rovers are so-o-o slow...

Actually, I think I build some big plane with mobile lab, lots of instruments and fly around globe trying to visit as many biomes as I could.

- - - Updated - - -

Or you do it the true Kerbal Way. Flying rover.

My rovers usually tend to fly in multiple directions simultaneously.

Very Kerbal indeed

[monstah]

- Can't land everywhere anywhere, need flat gound eject+parachutes.

Fixed that for you

[0x7be]

Fixed that for you

Hmm... expendable scientists as payload?

[Temeter]

Oh, you can actually land planes with parachutes. Just make sure to have an engineer in your crew (and ladders!). Put ~2 chutes on top of a plane, make sure the center of mass is directly between them. To land just slow down by turning, and then activate parachutes. Then just repack them with an engineer before the next take off.

It's a true VTHL.

[panzer1b]

I have to say the basic jet engine+wheels is what ive found nice. I made a aircraft style design that has all the gear needed to drive around, and the basic jet gets incredible levels of ISP, so even a small fuel tank can take you a long way now, and the wheels are for well driving around neat spots on the surface, or driving off cliffs and then gliding to safety (winged cars FTW).

For ISP, the ONLY practical engine is the basic jet engine, with ~20000 ISP, its the best you can get, and it makes the ion engine look like garbage. You still need fuel for some super long range trips, but you dont need some lucridious amount like rockets do.

[0x7be]

Oh, you can actually land planes with parachutes. Just make sure to have an engineer in your crew (and ladders!). Put ~2 chutes on top of a plane, make sure the center of mass is directly between them. To land just slow down by turning, and then activate parachutes. Then just repack them with an engineer before the next take off.

It's a true VTHL.

Ok, landing part is solved, what about taking off again?

[Temeter]

Ok, landing part is solved, what about taking off again?

Normal! Just land at places where you get at least a short 'runway'. In KSP102 often you'll only need 100m or so.

Btw, my fault, it's a HTVL. Important distinction!

[0x7be]

I've experimented with jet rovers. Main problem with rovers is that if rover drives fast, it inevitably smashes into something.

If rover drives safe, it gets ages to get anywhere.

[Beale]

Don't know if hooligan labs is still working:

But, airships!

Reasonable speed (100m/s+), able to fly at 4x timewarp, really hard to crash into obstacles, easy to land...

Many fond memories cruising around.

Airship to visit large crater west of desert.

South pole visit airship.

Edited May 7, 2015 by Beale

[0x7be]

Hmm.... airships.... Hindenburg

Not very spacey

- - - Updated - - -

BTW, what mod brings in propellers?

Are helicopter parts included?

[adsii1970]

I use Firespitter Mod drop tanks. With the way the fuel is consumed in 1.X, it is symmetrical, meaning all tanks drain at the same rate. After first landing, be sure to set parking brake, then right click on the engine and select "shut down" as you can reactivate it later. I put two small solar panels on the top so that it can generate electricity while the engine is off. While landed, I normally transfer the remaining fuel out of the drop tanks and jettison the empty tanks to reduce weight as I begin the next flight.

When you're ready to take off again, right click engine, increase the speed, and release the brake - and take off as you would from the runway.

Note: It is possible to land and take off on inclines and I will tell you it can be very tricky without Kerbal Engineer...

Edited May 7, 2015 by adsii1970

[Kuu Lightwing]

Umm, for plane landing, I was able to land this drone plane on mountains and take off again. Actually when I unlocked Mk 1 inline cockpit (And smaller control surfaces from Stability node) it's not a drone plane anymore. It is quite slow, though and I got tired when I was flying to pole. Landed on mountains halfway to it

Edited May 7, 2015 by Kuu Lightwing

[MiniMatt]

P.S. For aircrafts I've devised "air-droppable science pods" technology, tested it once. Anybody used it?

Curious how this is working with the re-jigged physics bubble - probe core on the drop pod, parachute triggered on the decouple stage? Assuming basic jet engine I'm guessing ~5km altitude and ~250m/s velocity? Which *trigonometry* should give us ~35 seconds flight time to keep the package within an arbitrary 10km range (assuming pod kills off horizontal velocity sharpish).

[SkyRender]

With stock parts, there's always the VTOL option.

+ Fast take-off and landing!

+ Just as fast as a jet plane!

+ You can land anywhere!

- Landing vertically requires quite some skill to pull off well...

- Eats through fuel faster than a jet plane...

[WOODY01]

P.S. For aircrafts I've devised "air-droppable science pods" technology, tested it once. Anybody used it?

I have, the main design problem early on is figuring out how to carry multiple pods, drop them 1 at a time, and still have a stable aircraft. I ended up going with a design that dropped 2 pods at a time to maintain balance. Later in the game with more part options it becomes a lot easier to design something but by then the science you get will not have much effect on getting that next node.

I have fun with planes and messing about on Kerbin but when I need science a visit to the unvisited biomes on the Mun or Mimus is usually a lot quicker real world time.

[Drethon]

Launch a rocket with multiple command modules with minimal RCS and deorbit them at appropriate intervals. No I have not tried this myself...

[LordFerret]

All stock stuff I've done in the past (and soon to do again as I progress through the Tech Tree): A plane with a cargo bay which drops a Mk1 capsule loaded with a Kerbal and plenty of science, and a rover which could be dropped from orbit 'near' places of interest and then driven to.

[T-Bouw]

Planes are also my preffered way to make local (quarter globe) explorations.

In my experience, the fixed landing gear is a lot more rigid (duh) than the retractable ones and therefore harder to use on rough landings.

Yes, I've crashed quite a few planes that way. Bounce, skip, skip, slide, explode!

[magnemoe]

Hmm... expendable scientists as payload?

You can just recover them afterwards.

[DeltaB]

Make a two-seater jet with all the science equipment you got, take Jeb and Bob (a scientist) and start collecting science biome by biome. Works like a charm.

This. I actually did a 1 seater jet with a probe core, batteries, reaction wheel and goo containers in a service bay. Strap Bob in and take him for a ride around Kerbin. I can post screenshots/craft file later if you'd like.

[Feradose]

Ships are also excellent for hours long, loud and dangerous travels.. Solid rocket boat, anyone? (Kickback circumnavigation of kerbin by sea to win the internet)