Is there any skill/ ability that you still haven't mastered in KSP?

[Human Person]

I consider myself pretty good at designing and flying rockets. I can fly efficient trajectories to orbit (in the stock game and in RSS). I'm good at docking, transfer maneuvers and gravity assists (although I rarely do the later). I'm the kind of guy that goes to Eve for Tee.

On the other Hand: I've yet to figure out how planes work. I've build one or two planes that flew relatively well but I can't repeat that result, I just got lucky with my wing placement. This is no Joke: A friend of mine who just bought KSP build his very first plane and it flies better than any of my designs. 

Edited August 3, 2017 by Physics Student

[Azimech]

I'm pretty novice at building SSTO's in the recent versions, I've only built two small ones.

Also, never built me an SSTA nor a vehicle that can launch to orbit from Eve or Tylo.

If we're talking about modded KSP, I'm not very good with robots.

But I don't really care anyway.

[HighFructose]

I haven't been playing that long, only since 1.2.2, but I still can't do rendezvous. I've done it once, but it was luck,   I put down a maneuver node and dragged it prograde about 10m/s, and I had an 0.9 km separation. Mechjeb does all the other ones, and I watch to see how it's done. I hate having to watch someone else do it, but hey, it works.

[monstah]

The greatest skill I'm yet to learn is the ability to keep an old save rather than starting from scratch at every single new update

 

10 hours ago, 5thHorseman said:

I can't do spaceplanes but I really don't care to try.

Oh, and this, too.

[Laie]

On 27.7.2017 at 8:44 PM, regex said:

Transfers to other planets from launch sites at higher latitudes. I like to challenge myself and launch from places like Baikonur or Wallops (where my current career is based) which makes timing for things like going to the moon or Mars very important.

I'm sure you've heard that before, but here goes: I kinda-sorta solved this problem using Hyperedit and "markup satellites".

Thats not a proper NASA-like solution, but one that works well with KSP maneuver nodes and MJ.

For interplanetary, just put a probe into an orbit with your natural inclination. Have MJ calculate a transfer, place the maneuver. Note the normal component of said maneuver. Then use Hyperedit to adjust the LAN of your probe's orbit by like 30°and calculate a new transfer. Rinse and repeat until you have a departure that suits you. Finally, launch into a that orbit -- that is, when your launch site happens to touch on said probe's orbit.

[regex]

18 minutes ago, Laie said:

I'm sure you've heard that before, but here goes: I kinda-sorta solved this problem using Hyperedit and "markup satellites".

Thats not a proper NASA-like solution, but one that works well with KSP maneuver nodes and MJ.

For interplanetary, just put a probe into an orbit with your natural inclination. Have MJ calculate a transfer, place the maneuver. Note the normal component of said maneuver. Then use Hyperedit to adjust the LAN of your probe's orbit by like 30°and calculate a new transfer. Rinse and repeat until you have a departure that suits you. Finally, launch into a that orbit -- that is, when your launch site happens to touch on said probe's orbit.

I've used "launch sats" in the past and found them very useful, but I'd like to learn the math, if I can, because a due east launch will be more efficient than an inclined launch, insofar as I understand it.

Edited August 3, 2017 by regex

[Tyko]

18 hours ago, 5thHorseman said:

I can't do spaceplanes but I really don't care to try.

I can do gravity assists, but have no real clue how to make them efficient or save loads of dV with them. Mostly I fiddle until I get something that works.

I'm with you on both of these points...I'm playing a 2.5x career game now. DV requirements are roughly 1.6x higher. Gravity assist courses are going to be more necessary than in Stock.

[waterlubber]

Mk III planes. I could never really get high enough TWR.

Interplanetary gravity assists. I can kick around in Jool's moons or even Kerbin but using Eve as a slingshot is very hard for me.

Rovers. They always end up with ridiculous part count.

 

2.5m landers and capsules, I don't have problems with them but I can't use them because of how heavy they are. My brain won't let me, they're too inefficient.

[bonyetty]

"ARS, are you burning retrograde when in target mode (you know, the navball thing)?"

this I also feel may be your problem. The black display at the top of the nav ball that shows the crafts velocity. With a target craft selected. Click on the velocity display till it says 'target'. Now it displays prograde, retrograde velocity(speed) etc relative to the target(not relative to the 'surface' or 'orbital' velocity). In 'target' mode, movement towards or away from the docking target can be canceled by thrusting with the retrograde centered in the nav ball and thrusting until it reads target 0.0m/s. 

Or possibly not. When I got access to, relative to target vectors it was like taking the blind folds off for me when learning to dock. 

 

I need to to learn how to time warp more so I can get out of the inner solar solar system. 

Edited August 4, 2017 by bonyetty

[The Aziz]

Well, there is at least one thing.

 

[RoadRunnerAerospace]

well, takes off are optional, landings are mandatory... Right?

[SupperRobin6394]

Me: Building good rockets

Friend: What kind of?

Me: Yes

[Laie]

On 8/3/2017 at 11:12 PM, regex said:

I've used "launch sats" in the past and found them very useful, but I'd like to learn the math, if I can, because a due east launch will be more efficient than an inclined launch, insofar as I understand it.

I sense a misunderstanding and have a strong urge to insist; if that takes me offtopic, so be it.

I take the inclination as a given (it's pretty hard to get into a much lower inclination than your launch site's latitude). Twiddling the Markup Satellite's LAN doesn't change the inclination, so you can still launch due east. However, the LAN has a tremendous effect on how expensive your eventual transfer may be.

Side note, you may find several opportuniteis that differ slightly in cost, but may be weeks or even months apart. The latter is the most important factor when it comes to the cost of entering into an orbit around your destination. Or if your first launcher fails and you need to build another.

 

[Andrew Hodgson]

focused studies, airplanes, and landed stations

[Jim DiGriz]

Proper trajectory optimization that isn't just plagiarizing NASA technical documents.  Calculus of Variations, Pontrayagin's Minimum Principle, Primer Vector Theory, etc.

Getting past Venus and Mars flyby/orbiter missions in RP-0 without getting distracted by turning the game into a software development project.

Upgrading my 0.90 SSTO knowledge to >= 1.0

[Whackjob]

I cannot build... efficiently.

[monstah]

2 hours ago, Whackjob said:

I cannot build... efficiently.

You shouldn't ever have to. Your creations are beautiful unique snowflakes among our boring efficient rockets.

[NISSKEPCSIM]

I cannot do gravity assists or interplanetary free return trajectories for the life of me.

[septemberWaves]

Sticking to a schedule of releasing content I suppose. Though that's not really an in-game skill as such.

I'm also not great with spaceplanes; I can make them fly, but more with guesswork than precise engineering.

[steedcrugeon]

Yet to master* the concept of interplanetary transfers. Sure I've made it to Duna on about three occasions now but never, ever efficiently. I simply take a butt load more Delta/V than should actually be needed and fudge my rendezvous together somehow.

I really need to learn this to build me some stations in Duna Orbit.

 

*by master I mean fathom...

[septemberWaves]

47 minutes ago, steedcrugeon said:

Yet to master* the concept of interplanetary transfers. Sure I've made it to Duna on about three occasions now but never, ever efficiently. I simply take a butt load more Delta/V than should actually be needed and fudge my rendezvous together somehow.

I really need to learn this to build me some stations in Duna Orbit.

 

*by master I mean fathom...

I recommend getting MechJeb to plot the transfers a few times so you can get a good idea of what the trick is. It's very similar to a Mun transfer, only rather than your spacecraft being at the right place in Kerbin orbit relative to the Mun, Kerbin has to be at the right place in Kerbol orbit relative to Duna. A near-perfect Duna transfer takes around 1000m/s, so that's around the sort of number you're aiming for (though 1200m/s is not bad either).

[NewtSoup]

Making Stock Electric Prop Engines - mine always fall apart.

[The Space Dino]

Rendezvous- check

Docking-check

Interplanetary travel-check

Landing-check

Buiding a plane (in career mode)- ehhh....

Flying a plane or SSTO- *runs away*

[RoadRunnerAerospace]

legend has it, when one puts the center of lift on or a little bit behind the center of mas, one shall be blessed by the aeronautical gods 

[septemberWaves]

On 8/8/2017 at 0:43 AM, RoadRunnerAerospace said:

legend has it, when one puts the center of lift on or a little bit behind the center of mas, one shall be blessed by the aeronautical gods 

That's only half of the trick and a fraction of the skill. Getting the center of lift slightly behind the center of mass on full tanks is reasonably trivial; keeping it there while all the fuel gets expended is a whole different can of worms. And of course, you also have to make sure that you have plenty of wings and enough engine power to fly with the amount of wings you have.

Edited August 10, 2017 by eloquentJane