Zylark

1: Get into a nice stable orbit. Low, high, doesn't matter. 2: Bring up the MJ Landing Autopilot window and then go to map view if not there already. 3: Select 'Pick target on map' in the MJ Landing autopilot window. You'll get a crosshair. Left click anywhere you'll like to land on the Mun. 4: Now press 'Land at target' in the MJ Landing Autopilot window. 5: Go back to vessel-view and enjoy the show

In map view, clicking on those buttons doesn't do anything for me. Left click, right click - nothing happens.In the tracking station however, everything works as intended.

The problem is that the root of your design (ie. the first part in your construction) is not available for connecting more stuff to it. I'm guessing you started with the Capsule, and then built up and down from there. To be able to make constructions into sub-assemblies you really must build your craft top to bottom. If a bit scatterbrained like me however, there is a remedy. One I can't imagine playing without, saves me a ton of time. Get SelectRoot mod. After installing that, restart your game, load up your lander, hold down left ctrl and shift and click on the docking port at the top. Presto - you can now save your vessel as a sub-assembly

The side LFBs' do feed the central one. The central one do not ignite until the SRBs' are spent however. Too high a TWR at the start is just wasting fuel pushing against the souposphere

In my career save, I got a sub-assembly of a lifter capable of getting 45 Tons to a 250km orbit - nearly 60 Tons if the payload got its' own engines to do the final push under its' own power. It's a pretty simpe design as these things go, no fancy non-stock parts, Asparagus or complicated staging. Top to bottom: 4 way large Hub, Zoo module, Science module, Service module, 4 way large Hub. Slung underneath is the lifter itself. This { means in symmetry } 4th Stage - Rockomax X200-32 tank with a Skipper engine. 3rd Stage - Rockomax X200-32 and a LFB KR 1x2. 2nd Stage - 2x {2x Rockomax X200-32 (or just use a Jumbo - I did not have this unlocked when making this lifter) and a LFB KR 1x2.} 1st Stage - 4x {S1 SRB - KD25k} Since I use Stage Recovery, each stage got plenty of Parachutes slapped onto them - and Sepatrons to make sure they do not hit anything when staging. No mishaps yet. Using three launches, I got this in orbit so far: Left to right: The Hab module, Science module and then Fuel and Life Support module. Docked are two vessels, the Station Assembler that is used to dock the big heavy modules. Features a long skirt to envelop the modules, with RCS thrusters at the end for easy docking. And a unmanned little fuel-hauler to carry fuel from my Mun based Karbonite operation and back to LKO. Next up is getting two Cyclotrons to the station. Each of those weigh in at 45 Tons, so is just on the edge of what my Lifter can manage to kick into orbit.

If memory serves right, that is from the Stockalike Station Parts mod.

Decouplers - you'll need them... SRBs will only self-destruct if the stage above it is also a SRB I think, not tried that design because it's kinda' exploity-cheaty. So, decouplers, put those between your stages and you'll soon get rockets to space.

...or use the Goodspeed Automatic Fuel Pump mod. With that mod fuel will be pumped automatically to whatever tank(s) are designated to have priority. Saves a ton of time and fiddling around just to transfer some fuel from A to B. Especially handy with Space Stations. Just set the tanks on the Space Station as low priority, dock a vessel and it'll get refueled with no more interaction from you. TAC Fuel Balancer is another good alternative to ease the pain of transferring fuel. Great benefit of TAC-FB is that it also handles other kinds of commodities, which is a boon if you use exotic fuels or some sort of life-support mod.

I don't think the author is asking for some conversion program, but rather the ability to take screenshots from KSP directly in .jpg format rather than the default .png, like us Steam users can. With Steam, F1 saves a .png screenshot in the KSP/Screenshot folder, F12 saves a .jpg screenshot in the Steam/Screenshot folder if I remember correctly (sitting at work, not home so can't check). For non-Steam users, there is a remedy by using an application such as Bandicam - which also can take video of your game-session, not just screenshoots. You get an FPS counter included for free Or even simpler, run KSP through Steam. Doesn't matter if you got it as a standalone version from Squad. Just affiliate it with Steam, and launch from there.

You're thinking of TAC Self-Destruct, which according to the blurb is a small attachable (even using KAS) stick of explosives that will blow up anything it got the good fortune to be next to. Not tried it myself though. I'm not in the demolition business. Well, not voluntarily so at least

Yes, wait until getting the Docking Port Sr if playing career. You can use the regular docking ports to hook up your station, but to make it rigid enough you'll then need to stiffen it up with Kerbal Attachment System struts or similar. That just adds a lot of parts, and the very last thing you want on a station is a lot of parts. To run smoothly - especially when docking some vessel to your station - you want to keep parts count as low as practical. As have been mentioned, modularity is important. If you got some super reliable lifter capable of throwing hundreds of tons into orbit, then by all means use it. I however tend to limit my launches to the lowest mass I can get away with. For station-building right now, that means 45 Tons or less (of payload) per launch. Not gotten all that far in station building in my current career, but some simple functionality in permanent orbit have been installed: My Kerbin Research Station. Three modules so far. The habitation and docking module to the left, Science module in the middle and to the right fuel and utilities. Docked to it is a big tug to place and dock some heavy parts that is soon to be launched and an unmanned fuel and supplies ship. The station is parked at 200km altitude from Kerbin. It got assembled left to right. First launch was the habitation module, that includes through mods a heavy command module with in-built some serious torque reaction-wheel/SAS. Also got a three-way hub of docking ports for visiting ships to dock at. Next I sent up the Science modules together with the tug that docked it to the Hab module. Then came the fuel and supplies module. That got sent up dry to save mass at launch. Docked it to the station using the tug. Around Mun I got this thing zipping around in a 70km orbit: Basically there just to use the Kolony Logistics part attached to it. That thing scoops up LFO from my Mun Karbonite mining and refining 'base' (it's just one big rig landed down there so far) and dumps it in the fuel tank ready for pick up. Same procedure as the Kerbin station. Hab module came first, then the Fuel and Logistics moduel - sent up dry. However as I have no tug at Mun Station, I fitted the last stage of the lifter that got it to orbit and then transferred it to Mun with a bit of RCS in order to dock it. Next up is building a Science Station around Minmus. I got contracts adding up to at least 3 million that requires such a thing, plus a ton of Minmus biomes not yet visited to which a Station nearby would help greatly in speeding up getting that done. But since I don't intend to have a permanent station around Minmus, I'll probably later disassemble most of it and haul the various modules to a more interesting location, like say Duna or Jool.

I have Fine Print on my current career and just did a contract to capture a class A asteroid. My first asteroid capture as it happens as previously I just did not see the point of it all. But now, not just with the contract, but also some mods to put them to good use, why not?! I'll have to say though, I've not struggled that much to get stuff done since my first ever Mun landing. Let me tell you, getting a good intercept requires a lot of twiddling around with maneuver nodes - over several actually. With a class A, getting it to orbit was not that big a deal. I don't think class B will be either. But bigger rocks, that I think will require some serious power.

General rule, as to keeping with KSP rules of speeding up things... Around Kerbin you want a station placed neatly between 120km and 240km up. Those are the boundaries between levels of time warp you can employ. The higher timewarp you can use, the less time sitting around twiddling thumbs as you wait for your vessel to line up a transfer to your station. A very low orbit station is all well and good with regards to dV, but gets very tedious very fast with regards to time spent in-game doing nothing but looking at the time to maneuver node counting down. Let's face it, most of us will sacrifice dV in abundance for saving some real time. So do yourself a favor right now, and place your station at about 200km orbit around Kerbin. That way, going up, aim for an orbit of 150, you spend less than an actual minute getting a good transfer. Or coming in from say Mun, aim for an orbit of 250-300, and again spend less than a minute a good transfer. dV is over-rated. Real-Time is more important!

Umm, Fine Print for more varied contracts - add to it Dmagic Orbital Science and SCANsat, and you'll even get some anomaly hunting. TAC Life-Support for various supply mission and having to keep your missions on a schedule. running out of food, water or oxygen is - as they say - not an option. Though the goodieness of KSP is what you make it into yourself. Unlocking the Tech-Tree isn't the end of a career in my book - it isn't even the beginning of the end. It's only the end of the beginning...

Done a few of these, so I got a basic four step procedure: 1: After getting into orbit, change inclination to roughly the same as the target orbit where the two intersect. 2: At where closest to the Ap or Pe of the target orbit (whichever I get to first), I make a maneuver node to get the opposite Ap/Pe at same altitude as the targets opposite Ap/Pe. 3: At the same maneuver node I then jiggle the Radial nodes to make the opposite Ap/Pe hit perfectly with the targets opposite Ap/Pe - make them overlap. 4: After doing the burn for the maneuver node set up in steps 2 and 3, I make a new maneuver node where the now overlapping Ap/Pe markers are on the opposite side. This just to extend or shrink my orbit to make it overlap on both Ap/Pe markers. And that does the trick so far. Remember you also got some margins of error, usually between 5% and 10% so no need to achieve a perfect match of orbits. Eyeballing it is sufficient.

Umm, isn't KSP single-thread only. Meaning, it only runs on one core? I was under that impression. And if so, running stuff in the background won't matter much as it'll run off a core that isn't also running KSP. Of course - I could be wrong. It have been known to happen once or twice

In my current career I got a Sherlock Kerman. Ironically he is not very smart. Rather dim actually. For the time being he drives my Kerbin SOI Passenger Shuttle, which was just used in a contract to investigate a Munar anomaly. Mission not completed because he had the wrong kind of Multispectral scanner mounted. So have to return after bolting on a new part. I told you, he isn't very smart

To make good money in Career, you need to cover both ends of the budget. You bring up the rear by recovering spent stages. Use either DebRefund or StageRecovery mods, and slap parachutes on your boosters. Saves a ton of cash in the long run. Next is increasing available funds. A few mods will help in this regard. Standard contracts are for the most part pretty frugal and not all that exciting. Test part X at Y altitude doing Z m/s. Yawn. Fine Print gives a rich selection of tasks to perform - string a few together in a single mission and the cash will start rolling in. To further boost selection of contracts and keep the cash-flow minty green, get DMagic Orbital Science mod. If you're into building Space Stations look into Station Science mod as well. Station Science gives great cash rewards, but you have to do a bit of work to get at it.

Though I am quite the MechJeb (ab)user myself, I woudn't recommend learning through MJ. Before using MJ, one should get the basic skills to do stuff manually. Two reasons for this. First, it is very rewarding and second, at the start of a career MJ will only give you info - not pilot the ship for you. So either way you need to be able to do stuff manually.Although MJ is great and all - a must have in my book - I feel ones use of the autopilot features should be limited to the routine tasks that get very tedious very fast. Like say getting a rocket to orbit. The thrill of it soon wear off after doing it manually a few times. As for docking, MJ isn't that good at it with big ships. Small nimble ones is fine, but come again with something big and ungainly and MJ will eat through your Monoprop faster than a gaggle of cats through a can of Tuna. So knowing how to do it manually is required. As for actually doing the docking approach manually, I can't recommend the Docking Port Alignment Indicator mod highly enough.

In my current career I try to keep my booster designs within the realm of reality. So keep it to vertical stacks with as few stages (to orbit) as I can get away with. My lightest lifter (5 Ton payload capacity) is 3 stages. SRBs' -> Main stage -> Circularization / transfer stage. My heaviest lifter (45 Ton PLC) have 4 stages, mainly due to additional sidemounted LFO boosters. So SRBs' -> LFBs' -> Main stage -> Circularization / transfer stage. In earlier careers I used a lot of Asparagus "pancake" designs. Which are fine in KSP and very efficient in getting heavy stuff to orbit, but is a bit gamey. Such complex designs would fail with a high frequency if tried in reality.

"We choose to go to Mun. We choose to go to Mun this first week and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our guesstimates and luck, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to succeed with, and the free snacks helps as well!" - Jebediah Kerman speech at the opening of the KSC

Isn't building a kickass Space Station reward enough in and by itself anymore? Sigh, the youth of today. I remember when I was a wee lad, and all we had to play with was some cardboard boxes and empty tin-cans. Those were the days. Ummm, yes, but back on topic. What to use a SpaceStation for?! Unless loading up on mods, what you got is an in-orbit gas-station. And even when loading up on a ton of mods, you are still pretty much left with an in-orbit resource station. See what I did there - yes, more to handle with mods - not just LFO and Monoprop. The basic premise is the same though. A Space Station is a convenient place for other vessels to stock up on supplies, whatever they might be. Or drop off supplies for that matter. They are the hub of your operation. KSC is merely a place to get the infrastructure going - and haul to orbit crew and supplies now and again.

^^ This. Also, no reason to bother with a Mobile Processing Lab whilst in the Kerbin System. At most you'll use a week to get any kind of sample from Minmus to Kerbin - and when landing the craft that contain the samples and experiments, get a healthy chunk of change back. You know, besides the science and contracts stuff, but from the vessel itself. Now, come again if at some far-away location it might be more convenient hauling along that MPL. Just to save the return trip that can be measured in months if not years.

You might want to look into a few mods to get your probes as tight, small and nice as possible. Especially the Near Future pack of mods. My take on a little Eve Orbiter and Lander: Already used about half of its fuel getting to an intercept with Eve. The top part is a tiny lander with plenty of sciency stuff in a tiny package thanks to the Universal Storage mod. Coming in at roughly 3.5 Tons when wet, it did not require much to get into Kerbin orbit. Getting it on an intercept to Eve did require two orbits though. I underestimated the electricity budget of that Argon-Electric Hall-Thruster. Or rather, the burn to Eve was not at an optimal angle to the sun and my solar-panels, essentially only getting about 2/3 of its' max electricity input. Oh, and if in career, that thing was not cheap...

...or use the Docking Port alignment Indicator mod by Navyfish. Despite not being updated for a while, it works perfectly fine with .25. The Lazor Docking Cam is a good alternative, I've used it before. But it have one little problem - as you get close, you really have no idea what direction you need to adjust for, as the zoom of the camera is a bit too high so all you see is the mid-section of the docking port. Or a big grey wall if you wish.