chicknblender

Thanks! I didn't use any add-on tools other than PreciseNode. I am going to make a video tutorial in the near-future about how I do this. It's a technique that I learned from our amazing colleague metaphor. It's actually stupidly simple to do but not easy to figure out on your own (at least, not for me). - - - Updated - - - Wow, such a kind review! Thank you! I'm glad that at least one person recognized the musical reference.

You have no idea how close I was to doing this. It's heartbreaking. Problem was, I couldn't get into stable orbit around Mun with more than 0.05 units of EVA propellant left. Sadly, that's just not enough to rendezvous. Even with near-perfect technique, the Kerbal wastes a decent amount of propellant on maintaining orientation. So I submit that this challenge is, indeed, impossible. If somebody can prove me wrong on this, I will be most impressed. HOWEVER, this mission could well be improved upon. If I was masochistic enough -- and I'm not -- I believe that I could complete the same mission with 1 less station in Kerbin orbit, 3 less stations in Eve orbit, no station in Duna orbit, and 1 less station in Dres orbit. That takes the number of lander cans from 22 down to 16. Any takers?

Hey, just wanted to thank everyone for the kind words. This is a great community compared to, well, just about everywhere else online. About two weeks of pre-mission planning (mostly flying a probe around with help from HyperEdit and MechJeb), then about a month on the actual mission, then another week putting the video together. It was enough work that I'm taking a little break from KSP now, but I'll be back eventually.

I am scared to admit. It is >100. I am a quicksave spammer.

I am the video's creator. Kerbals are automatically oriented in the normal axis while on EVA, so North/South burns are easiest to get right. For radial and prograde burns, I look at map view to find a visible target (usually the body I am orbiting). Early in the mission, I would try to either face the Kerbal toward the body or toward prograde before burning, but reorientation is an expensive waste of propellant so as I got better I would just approximate the burn from whatever direction I was already facing. Regarding burn magnitude: For big burns, I calculated out how much propellant it's going to take and/or how long the burn should last. (The full jetpack is 620 m/s and acceleration is about 3 m/s/s.) For small burns, I make very small inputs then switch back and forth to map view to see how I'm doing. Since the jetpack does not have a throttle, burns need to be at least 0.3 m/s or else you will overshoot the burn. For very tiny orbital burns, that means waiting until you are closer to your target in lots of cases. (There were a ton of deep space corrective burns not shown in this video because frankly they are boring.)

Apparently somebody has already revived these curves for vacuum. Not my work and would be happy to give credit where it is due.

I believe this is a bug: The Delta-V Stats for designs with drop tanks and fuel lines don't correctly separate the stats for before and after the tanks are empty. Example: MechJeb calculates the delta v for this rocket as if all the fuel will be burned in Stage 1 before the tanks are dropped, and therefore shows no delta v for Stage 0. Thank you to all of the MechJeb developers! You guys are incredible.

Anybody want to resurrect this project with 1.0 parameters? I will buy you cookies.

Launch 13: Humiliation! Launch 14: Equatorial Comsat Network Launch 15: Polar Comsat Network Animation of comsat network: http://www.gfycat.com/LikelyDelayedIbizanhound

Can anybody give me a quick idea of how to land an unmanned probe back on Kerbin? I have a good comsat network around Kerbin, but when I undergo atmospheric reentry I either have to retract my antenna or have it get ripped off, both of which kill my connection.

I appreciate the kind words, fellas. @acc: I am considering including some videos, but I am worried that the amount of time necessary for editing will slow me down too much. I can only dedicate at most 1-2 hours per day for KSP. But would you settle for some gifs here and there? @Fox62: You may want to see these next launches before you conclude that. Launch 8 Launch 9 Launch 10 Launch 11 Launch 12

Oh man, Is KerbSocial a thing? Other than this project, the biggest things on my wishlist are mods that (a) simulate physical health (KeepFit comes close but seems like a dead project), and ( simulate mental health (e.g. being alone in space for 2 years ain't good for ya, and spending five years alone with Billy-Bobman might just lead to murderous intentions).

Launch 3! - - - Updated - - - Launch 4! - - - Updated - - - Launch 5! - - - Updated - - - Launch 6! - - - Updated - - - Launch 7!

Launch 2!

My latest series of missions is an obsessive attempt to stay as close to realism as possible. The rules are: 1. No take-backs, no erasies. If it leaves the launch pad, it counts. The only exception is KSP crashing/glitching. 2. Maximum realism. Realism Overhaul and associated mods are mandatory. 3. In the name of realism, there are no 3rd-person camera views. Hullcams are used instead. In the rare instance that something literally can't be done from the cams, 3rd-person views are allowed -- but only briefly, and not to assist with piloting. Special thanks to RedAV8R, NathanKell, ferram4, and all those modders that are in some way involved with Realism Overhaul! - - - Updated - - - Launch 1!

When I figure out how to do this, I'll probably make two different versions (a "light" version where the mass stays the same but the propellant is decreased, and a regular version for super-hardcore realism). And I'll do some more digging before I settle on the final numbers -- it's still just an idea at this point. Ideally -- and this is a big "if" since I don't know what I'm doing yet -- I would like to be a part of remodeling the Kerbals themselves to be like human astronauts for RO. But that's miles away from my current skill set, which is mostly limited to being a pretty good in-game player.

The stock EVA Kerbal has 500+ m/s delta-v, about 20x more than the closest real-life equivalent, the MMU. Additionally, a Kerbal's mass is only 94 kg compared to 200 - 300 kg for a human in a spacesuit. This makes some pretty amazing things possible in the stock game, such as landing and returning to orbit on Minmus, or getting home from Gilly or even Eeloo with EVA propellant alone. I am beginning work on my first mod, which will be a tiny plugin with the goal of increasing a Kerbal's mass and decreasing his EVA propellant (and possibly thrust) to realistic levels. The rationale is that this will allow physically realistic command seat shenanigans in Realism Overhaul (or with any other mods as desired). I know this is a microscopic project in terms of most mods, but since it is my first, I am still learning where to start. Any advice or suggestions are appreciated!

coldblade2000: The articles by Ferram in the FAQ address this much better than I could: https://github.com/NathanKell/RealSolarSystem/wiki/_pages TL;DR: Point up slightly to help keep from reaching apoapsis too quickly, and don't be afraid to circularize after apoapsis.

I agree, docking works right in RO. It's not easy, but it's not impossible either. I use Mechjeb to keep the docking ports facing each other though, and that helps a lot.

Technically it's "onion staging" I guess, since all outer tanks drain toward the inner tanks.

Brilliant! The sheer scope of this mod is amazing; I have no idea how y'all keep up with it all. OK back to my Falcon Super-Duper Heavy.

Are you saying that these engines are already compatible with RO? Because the first post in this thread says that these are "coming soon" and "NOT guaranteed to work at all." I tested the LazTek mod out and the stats basically look right, but I don't want to install a mod that might break some other aspect of RO.

I just added this to the radial decouplers to create asparagus staging sans fuel lines! Neato.