Sovnheim

Thanks for your feedback. I simulated some re-entries using HyperEdit at speeds up to 5km/s which worked without major problems. Considering the protection of the heatshield as a cone helped me improve my designs. I made shorter vehicles with a larger shield, and it works wonders. That said, I tried to enter Kerbin atmosphere by falling straight down (no horizontal velocity) to push the limits of the designs. It was a bit scary as the craft hit the thick layers of the atmosphere hard but definitely thrilling.

Thanks to you both for your answers. I'll use bigger shields for starters, but sometimes they tend to spin in the wrong direction, and my shield faces upwards, where it is useless. And yes, axial spins have proved to do the job, I noticed that !

Hello everybody. It so happens that every once in a while, my craft baaaaarely has enough fuel to make the trip to another body. I often end up having just enough fuel to enter the atmosphere of a body, but not enough to decelerate to orbit and then enter the atmosphere (which is usually the safer option for me). We are talking about entry speeds along the lines of 2.5km/s to 3.5km/s. Even with a heat shield, something always ends up overheating (often the airbrakes) then explodes. I have tried many techniques but none seem to work and my crafts dramatically explodes in the atmosphere. Any smart solutions that I might use ? Note, I usually have all the important stuff safely locked inside, such as MJ, batteries, antennas and so on. But there is always something outside (RCS engines, airbrakes) and it makes the crafts vulnerable. How do you people manage such situation ? Thanks for your time

Recently I stumbled on the following article from Wired : "If the Moon Were a Cube, What Would Its Phases Look Like?" This is a very interesting thought experiment, which I recommend, and it shouldn't be too hard for anyone playing KSP. However, it made me think : I would really really love to have a cubic moon in KSP. Yes, it is absolutely useless, but it would look awesome, it would be very interesting to try to orbit / land on it. I never found anything relating to a cubic moon mod on the internet, has anyone heard of that ?

Say what now ?

I actually really wish that KSP allowed for space elevator construction. Otherwise I think I'd like to build my own space center in low Kerbin Orbit.

While it is not per se the most efficient, after a few tries I highly recommend Red Iron Crown's approach. I tend to arrive at a medium orbit and perform successive burns at retrograde to reduce horizontal velocity. A well placed maneuver node will help time the second-to-last burn, the one that will kill the remaining horizontal velocity and the most of the vertical. For reference, that was more or less what was done in the Apollo missions.

This looks like you sent it in the wrong direction. I do it all the time. Check other possible issues in your requirements tab during flight : Which ones are not green lighted ? Often the contractors require a craft designed specifically for the purpose. It's annoying but it can be source of issues. If all else fails, alt-F12 will open the developer tab where you'll be able to complete it. I don't recommend that option though - this is likely to be a gameplay error rather than a game bug.

That would make sense. But what about approach ? Is there a way to use the Mun's gravitational force to pull the craft retrograde relatively from Kerbin's orbit ?

Hi all, I'm trying to have more fuel efficient Mun encounter trajectories. I can get there and back. But is there a better way to do it ? I tend to have my orbits in the same direction as the orbit of the Mun, but then I realized that maybe doing the opposite might be more fuel efficient (despite having to fight Kerbin's rotation) What do you guys think ? Thanks in advance !

I... I have been meaning to make that joke since I saw the movie. And I don't know about you guys but I really want to try the Endurance spin-docking while falling through the stratosphere as well.

I love the idea. I'll try to come up with something, I'll let you know EDIT: I found a picture of Jeb online but it made me laugh so I just added a caption. The link with the topic is limited, however.

Hi all, I seen some threads discussing the implementation of n-body physics (rather the conics-thingy what the system currently uses) to KSP. Out of curiosity, I have read part of the official thread for the N-Body Gravitation Mod for KSP, but I have a problem - it often looks like this : I have a degree in literature, not theoretical physics. I would be curious to understand the actual benefits in terms of gameplay would such implementation have ?

An after eight. A big, delicious, orbiting after eight.

I say stupid stuff about space all the time : "I'm fairly sure Jeb can make this 1000m fall without damage" "Hey, I'm sure this aerobraking with 200m periapsis will save me a lot of fuel and can not go wrong" "Jool can't be that far. How hard can it be ?" "Screw this rendez-vous, I'll just ram into the space station until something explodes"