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Starstrider42

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Everything posted by Starstrider42

  1. Starstrider42
    If you don't want to/can't launch multiple satellites on the same vehicle, you can use the built-in rendezvous planner to align the satellites. You need to know the distance you want between each satellite (for four equally spaced satellites, orbit radius × sqrt(2)). Launch your first satellite into the orbit you want. When launching your second satellite, set your first satellite as the target, and adjust the maneuver node so that you hit apoapsis at the height you want, and the "closest encounter" distance is the amount you calculated before. Then circularize at apoapsis as usual (like the others have said, the period needs to be as exact as you can make it). Repeat with the third and fourth satellites. With the fourth satellite you might want to try both the first and the third satellites as targets, just to make sure it's equally between them. That should give you a more or less even formation, while letting KSP figure out the timing for you.
  2. Starstrider42
    Umm, doesn't that require that every launch follow the exact same trajectory (exact same gravity turn, exact same timing of orbital burns, etc.)? Or am I missing something?
  3. Starstrider42
    If you mean how do you get the separations between adjacent ships (which IMO is the easiest way to set up the formation, just use the built-in rendezvous planner), the distance is 2r sin (θ/2), where r is the orbital radius (including Kerbin's radius) and θ is the angle Greenspan mentioned.
  4. Starstrider42
    If you don't want to do the math, a good rule of thumb is to use the shortest-range dish that will reach. That will give you the widest cone you can afford. Yes, you almost always want multiple dishes on a relay satellite, for two reasons: 1. A single relay will never have an unbroken line of sight to your target. As soon as you start putting up multiple relays, they need to be able to exchange information with each other. If they're too far apart for omni antennas, that leaves dishes. 2. (This one new players forget pretty often) Active vessel is only useful if you're trying to get a direct connection to the specific satellite you're controlling. If, say, you have a relay sat around the Mun, or a mothership that's supposed to act as a relay for a shorter-range ship, you need to have a dish pointed at the Mun if you want the relay connection to last while you're controlling something else. At the minimum, you're going to need a dish for every celestial body that has (or will have) its own comm network, or the two planets' networks won't link up.
  5. Starstrider42
    Some special terrain features can be seen from orbit, but I know of at least one that very definitely can't (and it's nowhere interesting, so you won't just stumble across it while on EVA). So if you want to get them all, a mapping mod is probably the only way.
  6. Starstrider42
    A hint: all the really big craters are their own biomes, so if you're after science those are good places to start.
  7. Starstrider42
    Timestamps are in seconds from start of game. For example, you can get the current time by opening up your main save file and searching for "UT =". In addition to Nachocuban's list at http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/67246-0-23-Final-Frontier-0-3-3?p=939222#post939222, there are the following tags: C = collision (currently can only be assigned manually?) MA = survived mission abort (currently can only be assigned manually?) I(1):<Body> = (first to) enter sphere of influence of Body V(1):<Body> = (first) eva in either space or surface? I actually haven't been able to figure out when this one gets assigned, but in my case it always accompanies an E (space EVA) achievement D(1):<Body> = (first) docking in orbit around Body X# = custom ribbon # X+# <Name>~<Description> = Assigns <Name> and <Description> to custom ribbon #. MUST appear, with timestamp but with no name, before any assignments of X#. This is true even if the ribbon is predefined, e.g. 481443.136760898 X+1 Inter Sidera~"Among the Stars" - A commemorative ribbon for fallen kerbonauts FO# = reached orbit in # seconds MT# = spent # seconds on-mission M# = flew # missions
  8. Starstrider42
    There's also a scenario that's basically an EVA sandbox. It's a good place to practice without risking any of your real crew.
  9. Starstrider42
    Sounds like one of two things are happening: 1. You need to slow down before you reach the ladder/hatch. At high speeds, your kerbals will lose their grip. 2. You have a part blocking the hatch. In this case, you need to place your kerbals so they get the "board" option while floating in space. This takes some trial and error, so I can't just tell you a quick way to do it. Hopefully your problem is the first one -- the second is much harder to fix.
  10. Starstrider42
    The forum doesn't like iframes -- probably because they're a security risk. Try [noparse] [/noparse]
  11. Starstrider42
    Awesome! One question, though: is progressive recycling possible, or would that require too much dangerous meddling with the parts list of the partially disassembled ship? (I ask because I had to design my current salvage ship with a rather low cargo capacity).
  12. Starstrider42
    Part count will increase loading time (as you've probably noticed, it takes a LOT of text to describe every setting on every module), but I'm not aware of any in-game effect except on active vessels.
  13. Starstrider42
    RemoteTech does not modify anything related to the solar panels, so that's not the culprit. What other mods do you have? Also, can you right click on one of your panels and report the illumination (I think that's what it's called) and the energy generation rate? The ratio of the two will tell you if you're using the stock (and very, very gentle) solar panel curve, or if it's been modded.
  14. Starstrider42
    I'm pretty sure that your probe will blow up before you get in range of even the synthetic aperture radar. I don't think scanning Kerbol is possible without modding the altitude limits.
  15. Starstrider42
    No. Once you've transmitted an experiment, the only way to get more science from the same part is to repeat the experiment (if you're allowed to).
  16. Starstrider42
    Actually, that *is* the updated .cfg file. According to the second post in this thread, the SS-5 and LL-5 shouldn't be used anymore. I imagine the category = -1 is specifically to keep anyone from using them by accident.
  17. Starstrider42
    This statement only applies to the expendable experiments (goo and materials lab). For the reusable experiments, like the thermometer or gravioli detector, you can repeat acquisition-transmission until you get to the transmission % limit.
  18. Starstrider42
    For the Mun and Minmus, I've used surface retrograde and managed thrust in real time. I had to switch from follow-retrograde to hold vertical position (fortunately, that's the default attitude for "custom") or SAS on final approach, otherwise the computer gets confused when you touch down. For landing on other planets that approach won't work.
  19. Starstrider42
    Deadly reentry offers support for a handy module called ModuleAnimation2Value, which lets you set properties (including drag, damage tolerance, etc.) depending on a part's animation state. So you could add those to the habs to get the effect you want. The catch, of course, is that the module would have absolutely no effect for anybody without the DRE plugin.
  20. Starstrider42
    I'm just starting with FAR aircraft, but this sounds like too much control authority. Click the FAR button while in flight, then click "DCA". This will lower the sensitivity of your control surfaces to compensate for your speed / air density. I've also found a lot of control stability problems can be fixed by tweaking the control authority in the SPH (right click on the control surface).
  21. Starstrider42
    As far as I can tell this is a problem with limited computational accuracy in the code that calculates spacecraft trajectories. It should only happen when 1. You're in real-time mode (the orbit should freeze in time warp) 2. Either your orbit is very close to circular, or the periapsis passes very close to the planet. In the first case, a small uncertainty in trajectory turns into a big uncertainty in the periapsis location because all points along the orbit are at almost the periapsis (or apoapsis) height anyway. In the second case, I assume it has something to do with close approaches requiring smaller simulation steps, but I don't know the details of how the engine handles that (e.g., an adaptive step size).
  22. Starstrider42
    That's one way of looking at it, yes (though I'm pretty sure a mathematician would disagree).
  23. Starstrider42
    To get a parabolic trajectory, you have to be moving at exactly escape speed -- any faster, and it's a really narrow hyperbola, any slower, and it's a really eccentric ellipse. So while theoretically possible, parabolic trajectories don't exist IRL. In KSP, there's the extra complication of spheres of influence, so it's possible to escape e.g. Kerbin while moving at just under escape speed. But that's still not a parabola, that's just an ellipse with one end cut off. Hope that answers your question.
  24. Starstrider42
    This has been debated to death (in fact, one of my posts was the start of the most recent debate). Given how many different interpretations there are, the current standard is to let players use Module Manager to do what they want. The stock passability list is pretty minimal by design.
  25. Starstrider42
    That was why I asked my original question -- so I could better plan missions. As for the test, simple. Get into an orbit at the maximum scanning altitude. Briefly turn the scanner on to get one "pixel" (or, if your ground track is well behaved, don't bother turning it off). Measure the coordinates of the edges of the scanned area on the big map (preferably latitude, since a degree of longitude has a variable length). Repeat for Kerbin if you feel the need to calibrate.
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