[UPDATED FOR 1.0.2] The Complete Compendium of Tips and Advice!

[NASAHireMe]

The Complete Compendium of Tips and Advice! [uPDATED FOR 1.0.2]

This is an updated compilation of the tips from the "What are the most important things about KSP to pass on?" thread. Where possible, I have tried to remove any obsolete tips or update them for 1.0.2, as indicated by the [1.0.2] tag.

The list is broken into categories. 'Tips' are practical information; 'advice' is, well, advice. They are NOT sorted within the categories themselves. Links to important things are included, and [MOD] when the tip refers to a mod. Standard abbreviations (LKO for low Kerbin orbit, AN for ascending node, etc.) are used. Some tips are for advanced players, but most are for all. Feel free to print out a copy of this list for your reference, alongside delta-v maps and such. Thanks to the original posters of these tips and advice for their contributions.

Without further ado:

Rocket Construction Tips:

• MechJeb or KER for calculations [MOD]
  
• Reduce payload weight. “Every gram countsâ€Â.
  
• Modularize/ construct modularly
  
• Shift-Click selects the entire craft
  
• Shift-AQWSDE changes the part by 5-degree increments
  
• Alt-Click duplicates the part selected
  
• Build your rockets radially (i.e. outwards) rather than upwards. [1.0.2]: Drag and aerodynamic stability are now very important, so this tip may no longer apply.
  
• SRBs for high launch thrust/TWR
  
• MOAR BOOSTERS. MOAR STRUTS. MOAR PARACHUTES. All are cheap.
  
• Struts break after decoupling
  
• Cubic Octagonal Struts open up a whole new realm of creative rocket designs
  
• You only need one strut at the top of a booster, and one at the bottom, usually.
  
• The big orange tank tends to overheat easily. Place a lone strut to absorb heat.
  
• Strut ‘inwards’ from a booster (place the first end of the strut on the booster, then the main rocket). This way, you can easily duplicate the booster with Alt-Click without having to reattach multiple struts.
  
• Use this work-around to enable clustered engines in upper stages
  
• 400v batteries and an OX-STAT solar panel so you never run out of juice. [1.0.2]: Physicsless parts have changed. Batteries and OX-STATs are still drag-less, but mass IS added to the parent vehicle.
  
• Navigation lights [MODâ€â€B9 Aerospace]
  
• Lights, in general. [1.0.2]: Physicless parts have changed. Mass IS added to parent vehicle.
  
• Place reaction wheels are close to Center-of-Mass as possible; RCS equidistant and as far from CoM as possible
  
• Reaction wheels aren’t strictly necessary, but can save a lot of time rotating your rocket to the right orientation
  
• Use RCS when your craft has to dock with something, use reaction wheels when they don’t.
  
• Use asparagus staging for launch if you're trying to minimize mass, but SRBs if you're trying to minimize cost or complexity
  
• Radial decouplers are expensive. If you need multiple SRBs, stick one on the other, then connect it to the rocket with one decoupler, vs. having each SRB with its own decoupler.
  
• Stick to one size of docking ports for your fleet as much as possible
  
• Stick a Small Docking Port on every craft, so you can always perform an emergency refuel if necessary. Small Docking Ports weigh very little.
  
• Large Docking Ports are directional. Don’t place one upside-down.
  
• Use the same action groups as much as possible across your fleet (e.g. pressing “3†always toggles the solar panels)
  
• Ladders save the headaches of finicky EVAs
  
• More RCS ports, the better. They are massless, so having more doesn’t hurt.
  
• Sepratrons can help if used and angled correctly. Don't point them directly at the stack, or else they may blow up the main stack's engines and tanks. Angle them 45 deg. or so away from the main stack.
  
• Don’t inadvertently place things on capsule hatches (make sure you don't inadvertently place one by symmetry, too).
  
• Calculate the amount of parachutes you need with this Parachute calculator. [1.0.2]: Due to the new aerodynamics, the parachute calculator will only be approximate. Your vessel’s drag profile may vary.
  
• Double-check the following before launch: electricity, hatches, docking port alignment, staging order, fuel lines, crew, action groups, struts
  
• Fins may be useful at launch to about 20km, but are useless in the upper atmosphere and space
  
• You can launch ‘empty’ and refuel at a refueling station in space. This is often simpler and wiser than adding thrust to haul heavy fuel at launch.
  
• Name your ships and save them.
  
• Save good copies of rockets, landers, rovers, stages, etc. as subassemblies and use prior subassemblies as much as possible rather than designing from scratch every time.
  
• If you don’t like excessive ‘revert flights’, make some way to abort your mission and save your Kerbals.
  
• Monopropellant may be all you need for very small crafts in orbit.
  
• Stick an Octo probe core on every craft. They weigh almost nothing and you get SAS.
  
• Nuclear engine doesn’t need oxygen, so empty those oxygen tanks in the VAB.
  
• Sometimes reducing fuel in the rocket in the VAB can IMPROVE payload capacity.
  
• Ion engines have too little thrust to be useful for anything other than very lightweight probes
  
• Build your payload into the last stage of the rocket, not as an inert payload. In other words, have your final lander/probe/whatever be the final stage, not just a payload to be hauled up to orbit.
  
• Stayputnik doesn’t have reaction wheels built-in, so you won’t have attitude control without either gimballing or a separate reaction wheel.
  

Plane/Spaceplane Construction Tips:

• Center of Lift (CoL) ALWAYS behind Center of Mass (CoM)
  
• Rear landing gear too far back will prevent plane take-off
  
• Front landing gear too far back will cause plane flippage on take-off
  
• Place control surfaces as far away from CoM as possible
  
• Lift is more important than thrust
  
• At high altitudes, throttle down jet engines to prevent flameout while still picking up speed
  
• Assign intakes to action groups and close them to prevent excess drag, or open them for more intake air
  
• Spam intakes if you want
  
• Small Gear Bay is physicsless, whether deployed or retracted. [1.0.2]: physicsless parts have changed. Mass is now added to the parent vehicle.
  
• Don’t forget Center of Thrust! If it’s too far above, below, or to the side of the CoM, your spaceplane will be very hard to control during the rocket portion of its flight to orbit.
  
• Translate your view in the Spaceplane Hangar w/the middle mouse button
  
• Flip the plane upside-down to make placing landing gear easier.
  
• Interleave engines and intakes to prevent asymmetrical flameout, per Kasuha’s technique. [1.0.2]: This is no longer an issue.
  
• MechJeb can handle intake management and throttling for you [MOD]
  

Rover/Landing Tips:

• Rovers/landers should be wide and low to prevent flipping
  
• Place landing legs on topside of rovers to re-right flipped rovers
  
• Remap your SAS keys from your motor keys to prevent accidental flipping, or drive your rover in Docking Mode
  
• Rover CoM should be at wheel axle, not attachment point
  
• Disable steering on rear wheels for better high-speed handling
  
• Use roll and turn controls to ‘lean in’ to a turn
  
• When going up steep slopes, put more traction of front wheels w/SAS or thrusters
  
• Use downwards thrusters to soften falls
  
• Disable front brakes so you don’t flip when braking suddenly
  
• Use trusses as bumpers to guard during crashes
  
• Structural girders make for great lander legs
  
• Use a mod or switch to IVA for radar altimeter readout for landing [MOD]
  
• Use drogue chutes for heavy landers (the red Mk parachute)
  
• You can make a very durable box with stuff inside using structural panels (good for cheap probes). [1.0.2]: This workaround has been superseded by the new gear bays.
  
• Landing directly on wheels can be risky because they have low impact tolerances. Better to land on landing legs, then retract them to settle onto your wheels. [1.0.2]: Some of the new landing assemblies are more durable than their predecessors’.
  
• On bodies with low gravity, a nuclear-powered lander may be more efficient and easier than a manned rover.
  
• If landing on a hill with a tripod leg configuration, position a leg downhill and lock its suspension.
  
• Park a probe/rover with batteries and solar panels near KSC to serve as a target for landings near KSC
  

EVA Tips:

• Pressing ‘[‘ and ‘]’ keys changes between nearby ships/Kerbals
  
• Kerbals can survive falls from great heights, but not explosions. Fall head-first by clicking and dragging the Kerbal during EVA; their helmets are very, very strong.
  
• Pressing ‘Shift’ makes your Kerbal run during EVA
  
• You can collect science even when science parts accidentally break off during a rough landing, either through EVA or the Tracking Station
  
• You can land and return to orbit with just the EVA Jetpack on Gilly, Bop, Pol, and Minmus
  
• If you run out of fuel, you can use your Kerbal on EVA to push the craft (slowly) from behind. And since Jetpack propellant is infinitely replenished by re-entering the command pod, you can theoretically have infinite delta-V.
  
• All of the crew modules refuel your Kerbal’s EVA jetpack, EXCEPT the External Command Seat.
  
• Switch to different view modes by pressing “V†during orbit or EVA. Really helps during EVAs.
  
• Kerbals can open solar panels, repair legs, and repack chutes while on EVA by right-clicking. Useful if you forgot to extend your panels before time-accelerating. [1.0.2]: EVA capabilities now depend on the Kerbal’s role. Engineers can repair parts, scientists can restore science modules and take readings.
  
• Press ‘L’ on EVA to turn on Kerbal helmet lights
  
• Kerbals can survive some take-offs by holding onto the ladder outside the craft. Be very, very careful. This may come in handy if you want to hold extra copies of data, but you've already got one set in the command module.
  
• The gravity of Duna is the limit of the Jetpack’s capabilities. You will NOT be able to fly around on Eve or Tylo, so make sure you have ladders for your Kerbals to reenter the command pods.
  

Flight/Docking Tips:

• Pressing Alt-“.†and Alt-“,†forces physics acceleration when in an atmosphere or under acceleration!
  
• Burn an equal amount of time before and after a maneuver node
  
• To use a maneuver node, burn towards the blue ‘X’
  
• Use maneuver nodes and play with them
  
• Navball switches to ‘Target’ mode when you’re within 50km of the target
  
• If you align your vessels at perpendicular angles, you can dock using only the Navball and engines
  
• Alt-Right Click to transfer fuel between two tanks, even without fuel lines. [1.0.2]: You need to upgrade R&D facilities to enable fuel transfer.
  
• Place a maneuver node near the surface to estimate your suicide-burn times
  
• Use multiple gravity-assist flybys by placing your crafts into resonant orbits with the larger body
  
• Launch heading east (90 degrees on Navball) for cheapest orbital insertion
  
• It’s cheaper to perform an inclination change at launch rather than when you’re already in orbit
  
• Stick a probe in equatorial LKO to help you plan launches. See metaphor’s technique (which is used for real-life missions) for reducing interplanetary delta-v.
  
• Cheapest way to perform an inclination change greater than 45 degrees, by Alexmun: extend your AN/DN, perform your inclination change, reduce your AN/DN and recircularize
  
• Maximize Oberth Effect by performing burns at your highest orbital speed (aka at your periapsis)
  
• Press F5 and F9 to undo screw-ups. Alt-F5 is ‘Quicksave As’, but don’t accidentally hit Alt-F4!
  
• Drop your heaviest stages first
  
• You only need one or two engines to gimbal. The rest can be disabled by right-clicking.
  
• Switch to the Tracking Station or to a stationary, landed craft to time-accelerate when in a low orbit, then switch back to your active craft
  
• Launch an efficient ‘tug’ and use it for laborious assembly tasks in LKO
  
• You can ‘freeze’ the AP or PE readouts in Map view by clicking on them
  
• Use aerobraking/aerocapture whenever you’re around a body with an atmosphere to save delta-V. [1.0.2]: Due to the new aerodynamics and heating, this is much more difficult.
  
• Parachutes tear off in timewarp. [1.0.2]: This has been corrected and is no longer an issue.
  
• To visualize successive orbits, place maneuver nodes one-behind-the-other(useful for planning encounters/gravity assists)
  
• You can’t switch vessels while you’re in an atmosphere
  
• You can only store one copy of each biome’s science data in a command module. Use labs to store multiple copies of data (useful for maximizing the science returns)
  
• Use RCS, or limit your engine thrust by right-clicking, for precise orbital maneuvers.
  
• Be careful on long interplanetary injection burns that you don’t accidentally reenter the atmosphere
  
• Divide your long burn into several short burns (‘periapsis kicks’).
  
• Land on the ‘day’ side of the body, especially if you don’t have lights.
  
• ‘Closest Approach’ pointers only show when your inclination respective to the target is near zero, or your AN/DN directly intersects the orbit somewhere
  
• ‘Freeze’ or turn off batteries by right-clicking when you don’t have solar panels in early stages of Career mode, or need some guaranteed reserve electricity.
  
• When staging, rolling your craft will help ‘spin-away’ the boosters
  
• MechJeb has a pretty good aerobraking calculator under its ‘Landing Prediction’ window [MOD]. [1.0.2]: New aerodynamics means MechJeb’s predictions are approximate.
  
• Make sure your periapsis is above the highest terrain for a planet. Some moons like Gilly and Bop have mountains sticking up to 22,000m above the ground.
  
• Be consistent with your orbits. For most cases, this means your crafts should be in an equatorial, zero-inclination, prograde (counterclockwise) orbit. Nothing’s more annoying than rendezvousing with a craft, only to realize it’s going the exact opposite direction
  
• In Map view, hovering over the top edge of the screen will display the types of objects, just like in the Tracking Station. You can turn on and off debris and asteroids, for example.
  
• Have an escape system bound to ABORT, or the Backspace key.
  
• In docking mode, double-tapping the Spacebar activates “hold†mode.
  
• Don’t worry too much about a perfect gravity-turn/pitch program launch profile, but better to be too steep than too shallow-- too steep, and you waste a bit of fuel; too shallow, and you might be held up by atmospheric drag so much that you don't make orbit.
  
• Be careful with time warps near SOI changes. Don’t timewarp at 10,000x before Kerbin reentry, for example.
  

Gameplay Tips/Advice:

• Spaceplanes are the key to lifting things to orbit for cheap b/c they're reusable and get oxygen from the air, but they're harder to design
  
• Having high part counts on your rockets will cause your computer to lag
  
• The color of the time in the upper-left box indicates physics lag/time. If the color is green, your computer is handling the physics calculations fine. If yellow or red, your computer is getting overtaxed with calculations.
  
• Send flotillas of smaller craft rather than one gargantuan craft
  
• Engine overheating is also meaningless, unless the Overheat bar becomes completely full. [1.0.2] Engine heating, and the entire thermodynamics, of the game have changed significantly. Some engines, like the nuclear engine, are now prone to overheating and explosion.
  
• Change your
  to something that suits you and your computer
  
• Consult the different orbital heights for time-acceleration speeds via KSP Wiki. No one likes to be stuck at only 10x acceleration.
  
• Print out and consult a Delta-V map CONSTANTLY when designing your missions.
  
• Print out a keyboard mapping diagram like this one. There are TONS of key combos you probably didn’t know!
  
• Contracts often have long completion deadlines but provide money up-front. So if you’re really short on cash, accept a bunch of contracts and worry about fulfilling them later.
  
• Upgrade to unlimited contracts as early as possible, accept them all, then use the up-front cash to do the fast and easy contracts
  
• Bundle contracts together and complete multiple contracts in a single flight
  
• Station a couple Kerbals throughout the system and use them to complete easy EVA/plant flag/transmit science contracts repeatedly.
  
• Experiment and test things out on bodies with similar gravities/atmospheres (on Minmus for Gilly missions, Mun for Dres missions, Kerbin for Laythe missions, etc.)
  
• Always have a way to recover Kerbals to Kerbin alive. [1.0.2]: Recovery of Kerbals is now especially important because hiring new Kerbals and leveling them up is expensive.
  
• Don’t worry about Kessler Syndrome. The chances of debris hits are incredibly rare. But excess parts in orbit may slightly slow your computer performance.
  
• Keep space clean by deorbiting stages, colliding it, deleting from Tracking Station, etc. to speed up computer performance and be aesthetically pleasing
  
• There’s lots of easy science near the Launchpad
  
• Minmus is a lot easier than the Mun. May be a little harder to reach because of the distance and inclination, but it’s far, far easier to land and return from Minmus, and there’s easier and more profitable science.
  
• Make lifters that can lift a certain payload to LKO (10t, 25t, 50t, 75t, etc.), save them as subassemblies, and use them rather than custom-building each rocket. This saves time at minimal extra cost.
  
• Contracts that stipulate a station "Supporting 'X' Kerbals" don't require you to fill those seats in the station. You can satisfy a contract for a 5-Kerbal station with a station that has the capacity for 5 Kerbals, but only two onboard, for example.
  
• Space stations are cool but not that useful except for refueling or storage
  
• Money is pretty easy to come by, so don’t worry too much about eking out a few thousand dollars in savings.
  
• Strategies: trade prestige for cash, prestige for science, and take Hard Negotiations = money and science flow in
  
• Upgrade buildings when you have to, not when you can.
  
• In the early stages of Career, before you orbit Kerbin, complete suborbital tourist contracts for easy reputation/science/cash boosts
  
• Science labs don’t automatically start with Kerbals in them. You have to add them manually before launch.
  
• [1.0.2]: Science labs have new features, such as science research. For a breakdown of how science labs now work, read this guide.
  
• After the first 3 tiers of the Tech tree, the bottom levels of the Tree yields more useful immediate results. Things like parachutes, batteries, and solar panels are more useful than large engines or structural parts.
  
• For RemoteTech, attach antennas, batteries, and simple solar panels to any stages or debris and turn them into simple comm sats rather than pure debris! [MOD]
  
• For RemoteTech, remember to deploy antennas before you lose contact with KSC, or else you’ll be a useless and inoperable spacecraft [MOD]
  
• Like in real life, read contracts carefully when accepting or completing them
  

Mods Advice:

• Play w/ MechJeb and learn from it [MOD]
  
• Play w/o mods and learn from it. Please don't get this "MechJeb-or-not" debate started again.
  
• Play w/ additional parts packs like B9 or KW Rocketry [MOD]
  
• Play w/ Ferram Aerospace Research (FAR) for spaceplanes [MOD]
  
• Install Protractor to help w/ interplanetary maneuvers [MOD]
  
• Install Kerbal Alarm Clock to manage multi-ship fleets and transfer windows [MOD]
  
• Plan interplanetary missions with Ksp.Olex or Alexmoon’s Launch Window Planner or a Trajectory Optimization Tool and Alterbaron's aerobraking calculator [TOOL]
  
• Plan multiple gravity-assist flybys or synchronous orbits with a resonant orbits worksheet [TOOL]
  
• Install Precise Node or MechJeb to make more precise maneuvers [MOD]
  
• Install Kethane or Karbonite for off-Kerbin refueling [MOD]. [1.0.2]: This is now included in the stock game, so no mods are required.
  
• Install Kerbal Attachment System (KAS) for post-Kerbin construction [MOD]
  
• Install a visual enhancements mod or Chatterer for aesthetic effects [MOD]
  
• Install Docking Port Alignment Indicator mod for easier docking [MOD]
  
• If you have coding experience or really love KSP, contribute back to the community by making your own mod or tool!
  
• Use TAC Fuel Balancer to balance fuel [MOD]
  
• Use RCS Build Aid to balance RCS and help in construction [MOD]
  

Concepts Advice:

• Take the time to learn the concepts about rocket science and orbital mechanics.
  
• Understand and perform Hohmann transfer orbits and bi-elliptic transfers to the Sun (Kerbol)
  
• Learn the Navball and how to move indicators
  
• Perfect rendezvous and docking without MechJeb
  
• Learn and understand Tsiolkovsky’s Rocket Equation
  
• Performing a burn ALWAYS affects the OPPOSITE side of the orbit
  
• The earlier you perform a burn, often the cheaper it is.
  
• “There are no straight lines in spaceâ€Â
  
• “A smaller orbit is a quicker orbitâ€Â
  
• Learn Kepler’s Laws to understand the interplay between semimajor axis, orbital period, AP/PE, etc.
  
• Learn and understand the holy trinity of rocket design: ISP, TWR, and delta-V
  
• TWR is most important at launch; ISP and Delta-V are most important during orbit
  
• Learn the different types of staging (parallel, asparagus, sequential, etc.)
  
• KSP is a two-body simulation, so only one body’s gravity can affect you at a time. Orbits ALWAYS revolve around the center of the parent body (unlike real life, where objects revolve around the barycenter.
  
• Radial burns ‘twist’ or ‘rotate’ your orbit by reducing or increasing your time to periapsis/apoapsis
  
• Performing your burn at a different point in your orbit is analogous/equivalent to performing a radial burn
  
• When nearing your target destination, radial burns are more effective than pro/retrograde burns
  
• Aerocaptures/ aerobraking can save buckets of delta-V. [1.0.2]: Due to new aerodynamics, they are much more risky and difficult to perform.
  
• Gravity-assist flybys convert radial speed into pro/retrograde speed by bending your trajectory. Remember, velocity is defined by both speed AND direction a planet can change your velocity simply by changing your direction.
  
• Learn basic aircraft dynamics (yaw, pitch, roll, thrust, ailerons, rudders, etc.)
  
• Understand “terminal velocity†and how it applies to launch, TWR, and throttling
  
• Understand phase angles and have some way of calculating them [MOD]
  
• Clustering engines can often give you better parameters than a single, larger engine.
  
• Midcourse corrections can be very cheap and have very large effects
  
• Polar orbits are good for probes and science, since they will eventually cover every latitude and longitude
  
• Burning anywhere other than pro/retrograde will incur mild-to-severe steering losses
  
• The only time two objects in space are perfectly stationary with each other is when they’re docked
  
• Oberth Effect: burning at highest orbital speed (aka at periapsis) yields 'extra' delta-v. It's better to maximize this effect by doing burns at fast speeds as much as possible. EVERYONE GETS THIS WRONG. Or at least not wrong, but very, very sloppy. Oberth effect is related to speed, not orbital height. Obviously, there's a relationship between speed and height, but for the sake of the newbie, please be consistent. For example, if I'm in an almost-perfectly-circular orbit, the difference in orbital speed at PE and AP is almost negligible, so Oberth effect doesn't really matter. I can start my burn anywhere along my orbit. If you're in a more eccentric orbit, the speeds will vary more, so Oberth will vary more. PLEASE BE CONSISTENT.
  
• Duna and Minmus may make good refueling stops, especially with Kethane/Karbonite [1.0.2]: Mining/refining is now included in the stock game. But it is always more efficient (but more difficult) to launch in one go with all the fuel you need.
  

General Advice:

• Understand why things happen rather than follow rules rigidly
  
• Plan missions in advance. Planning is key.
  
• Set both small, short-term and hard, long-term goals
  
• Build things that work in KSP, not things that work in the real world. KSP physics aren't a perfect mirror of reality
  
• When in doubt, simplify and aim for smaller, less complicated rockets
  
• Play the game at your own pace
  
• Watch Scott Manley videos for inspiration, NOT practical advice necessarily. Edit: Scott’s newer Career guide videos are now quite practical and educational
  
• Expect bugs in gameplay and report them appropriately.
  
• When in doubt, consult the Internet, KSP Wiki, YouTube, and the forums
  
• Be yourself and play your way. This is a GAME. Having fun is priority #1.
  
• Make things as efficiently or inefficiently as you want to. You can always slap on MOAR BOOSTERS, for example.
  
• Design your mission backwards: what do I need at my destination? What’s the simplest rocket that can get to my destination from Kerbin orbit? What’s the simplest rocket that can get the payload to Kerbin orbit?
  
• Take notes and learn from your mistakes
  
• “Think outside the box" / “There’s many ways to skin a catâ€Â. There’s many, many valid ways to conduct a mission or solve a problem
  
• Use checklists
  
• Use subassemblies as much as possible to save time during design.
  
• Backup your save folder and craft files b/c the game can crash and mess them up. Back them up in an entirely different location than the save folder. Save early, save often.
  
• Don’t worry about being a ‘completionist’. Especially with version 0.90 and beyond, there’s more biomes and science than a sane person would collect. It’s tedious to try to collect every science point in every biome.
  
• Embrace KSP’s steep learning curve.
  
• Don’t be afraid to completely throw away a design and start from scratch.
  

Thanks for all who contributed. I will update periodically.

[nfpinto]

nice

[Acet]

As of 1.0.2 SRBs don't seem all that great at minimising cost anymore.

When I transitioned from 0.9 to 1.0.2 and started a new career game, I kept designing my ships as before in terms of using SRBs to keep costs down (I had a whole collection of designs in 0.9 aimed at maximum ROI on contracts). After reading a thread here about how SRBs were now more expensive and less effective, I went back and reviewed some of my designs by replacing SRBs with asparagus-staged 'Reliant' columns and for most it was actually cheaper than using SRBs.

They're still useful in cost reduction, for example to give that little extra boost on launch stages with borderline viable TWR instead of using a larger main engine, but in most cases they're not the go-to first option if you want to make cheap lifters.

[heng]

Shift sprinting while on surface EVAs only works, if you haven't activated the jetpack.

If you want to refuel a craft w/o docking port (you should have included one!), the claw can transfer fuel.

You can adjust the color of stock lights by right-clicking during assembly. This can help distinguish left/right or similar, and makes prettier ships.

While descending under multiple parachutes rotate your craft. The chutes will cover slightly more area -> more drag -> slower descent. Pretty minimal effect, though. Might be a life saver in rare occurences. (Or bring more chutes!)

[-M-TheDoctor]

Kinda new here still. This is a great guide and I'm much obliged. One question. How does one make sub-assemblies? I mean, I make the component that I want, then.... how do I save it? I play stock, FYI. THANKS!!!!!

[Sobriquet]

TheDoctor;1968547']Kinda new here still. This is a great guide and I'm much obliged. One question. How does one make sub-assemblies? I mean' date=' I make the component that I want, then.... how do I save it? I play stock, FYI. THANKS!!!!![/quote']

In the VAB, in the upper left corner there is an arrow. Click that arrow and out will pop a new series of push buttons. Near the bottom there is one that will bring up the screen to which you drag anc drop your complete sub assembly. Drag to the area designated, click, name, and save.

[-M-TheDoctor]

In the VAB, in the upper left corner there is an arrow. Click that arrow and out will pop a new series of push buttons. Near the bottom there is one that will bring up the screen to which you drag anc drop your complete sub assembly. Drag to the area designated, click, name, and save.

THANK YOU!!!! I feel like that should have been obvious.

[Enceos]

Someone recently posted on forums a workaround for attaching struts to the stock fairings. I made an illustration:

[OhioBob]

Stayputnik doesn’t have reaction wheels built-in, so you won’t have attitude control without either gimballing or a separate reaction wheel.

The Stayputnik also lacks SAS capability, so adding reaction wheels doesn't help because there is no way to control them. The only way to steer a rocket with a Stayputnik is engine gimballing or control surfaces.

On the other hand, neither the QBE nor the OCTO2 have reaction wheels, but they do have SAS capability. In this case adding separate reaction wheels will provide attitude control. The HECS and OKTO have both reactions wheels and SAS, so separate reaction wheels aren't needed unless the extra torque is required.

Edited June 6, 2015 by OhioBob

[Enceos]

What Stayputnik is good for?

[eightiesboi]

What Stayputnik is good for?

http://i.imgur.com/MHEVwdQ.png

Well, if you use Remote Tech, the Stayputnik is quite useful early on. RT 2 has a flight control computer that can orient and kill rotation, no SAS needed (although you will need some type of control, like a reaction wheel, added to your probe). My early comms sats all use Stayputnik cores, and many of my later ones do too for various reasons (weight being one of them).

If you don't use RT, then I agree, they aren't very useful because of the lack of SAS. I suppose if you had a really well balanced rocket, you could use them for science gathering by giving them ballistic trajectories, using the Mun to capture them, or whatnot. But since RT 2 is one of my must-have mods, I don't see the reason.

So, in keeping with the Tips compendium, if you want to get use out of your first available probe core, take a look at RT 2, as it's flight control computer makes up for the lack of onboard SAS without being too cheat-y, as it also requires you to have communications with your core.

PS - KoS would probably work just fine with a Stayputnik as well.