RW-1

For a basic small rover: 1 remote probe Inline Advanced Stabilizer FL-T400 Fuel Tank Attach 4 Modular Girder Segment XL or use 8 shorter ones, then attach three LV-1R Liquid Fuel Engine or one Rockomax 24-77 to the ends. Bottom of the fuel tank use a decoupler to suit, but face it down so it lets go of your rover. I sometimes make it pretty with a reversed FL-A10 Adapter. This works for mun and minimus, assuming you get to orbit and perform the deorbit with the stage immediately below your rover. eslewhere you may have to ensure you have enough thrust to control / stop your descent. Just used this to deliver a rover to the mun last night.

I sent Jeb to Kerbal Station One, where he sits in the only kerbaled Tug (the rest are remote guided). He has friends in the Science Lab's, but they won't let him in until he tell's them where he hid the snacks.

Built a station orbiting the mun (Kerbal Station One is too long to accurately move anymore, flex's way too much ) Munar Station One has two modules already, tossed them up separately and assembled in munar orbit. So I now have a station in Kerbin Orbit, Mun Orbit, and currently one 3 Kerbal lander in farside crater, to which I dropped them a rover to go truckkin in.

Ok we knew it was coming --- Not a slogan but ...

Seems your Delta-V gravity well just got a smidge deeper ...

"When it comes to docking, the navball is the most important thing. I'm repeating people here when I say that you need to learn to understand what exactly the navball is telling you. The second most important is practice. " Yep... Basically, in Aviation, you have the practical side, the actual flying to practice, and the Knowledge side, whereas you learn how to use your controls and instruments to accomplish what you want to do with your ship, be it a plane (boring, I CFII in heli's hehehe ....) or a spacecraft. Once you catch on on what the navball (my pref) or other mod such as an alignment indicator is telling you, and follow the methodologies laid out, you will rendezvous and dock in no time, be patient and take it one step at a time.

"I mean I've spent hours apon hours flying around and around and around just to always fly past it or barely get close..." Let's start there: How close have you been to your intended target? I want to start this supposition/methodology with you have following most of the above information. Perhaps in my rambling a light will appear, don't go into it, just let it turn on above you First off, any type of rendezvous will be screwy if you are off plane, early on you need to match the target's orbital inclination, otherwise you WILL drift off north or south after coming close, adding to your frustration. So let's say you get to a close distance to your target (say under 10k), and are in plane, this means you are either above or below your target, or by chance your paralleling it. no matter. For beginner docking, at this point, IMO, you need to make small steps. Switch to target on the navball, (and to do that, you need to have selected the other craft as the target in map mode...) look at your m/s, and you null that out by burning retrograde to match the target speed. Now if successful, you are for the moment matched - you're not getting closer, or farther (this won't last - but to tell you have to look at your orbit and compare to the targets, eventually when in this position having matched speeds BASED on using the target as a reference, your orbits should be nearly identical). You now point to the target and make a small burn - 10-20M/s depending, closer you are , lower the rate. As you are making these burns, you are changing your orbit temporarily - and as you get nearer you then have to cancel it out again, which will bring your orbit back as you match speeds. The prograde symbol should be near the target indicator, and you can control it somewhat by switching to translation as you drift to it, making linear corrections - by looking at the prograde marker and the target symbol, you can even adjust your course to the left right up down to position yourself whre the targets docking port is. Another note, if the prograde symbol drifts constantly on the approach - it can be from differences in your two orbits, that can be minimized by being in plane, as for above or below - can't help that, that's what is making you get near or further from the target - you adjust to fly lower and get nearer, just on a way smaller scale as you get close, but the mechanics don't change. If you are close to begin with, you do this again and again in small steps, and you reach it, at which time you select a docking port instead of the craft itself. I believe the training scenarios have docking, or at least you can load the mun landing one, separate the two craft, then play with it ....

I tend to have a heavy launcher subassembly already set. I quickly put together a tug at top, and then begin on my "Module" of the day, week, whatever strikes me. Kerbal Station One is a giant, and it will be interesting to see if it holds together if/when I try to take it out to the Mun or minimus. For the next one, I plan on having smaller modules as described above with all necessary items so they could separate and function as mini-stations all on their own, then if planned right you could assemble in orbit, take it out to say, Jool, break them off one to each moon, etc. It's fun building for buildings sake.

Mmmmm Animals on the Grill .....

Totally Kewl! This was driving me mad, but only began last week, I'm running stock, no mods, will implement tonight.

I've been experiencing this as well with that kerbodyne decoupler as well, and it's hit or miss. I have no mods installed, completely stock KSP....

This morning, built another science lander, 3 crew, and launched into orbit. Took another ship with 3 crew and two filled hitchhiker containers up to Kerbal Station One to begin permanent residence, and possibly raise station height, or take it out to the mun.

Knowing #1, cannot one just throttle down in the later stages of atmospheric escape? Must ... Stop ... trying to rotate picture of rocket above ....

Anyone else getting weird results with struts in the latest version? I had 6 across a large round decoupler to brace a staging section, which I've done many times before without issue, but lately the stages separate, and the lower stage drifts away and the struts elongate, never detaching from the upper section, until I hit staging again. this morning's separation didnt have that, but the lower stage separated into oblivion, it disappeared ...

Hardcore settings? Hehehe ... Jeb's out thrusting his way on another penetrating mission in the Kerbal system eh?

Orbiter related, was looking if any updates were happening in Orbiter, and came across references to KSP. Grabbed the demo, played with that and even got to the Mun (but not back), and was hooked. Grabbed my paid version and was treated to the latest update the day after. I've not once regretted getting it.

Docked a large fuel tank with RCS tanks to Kerbal Station One. For looks, designed a core science module (four of them around a core module with extensions at top and bottom, clamp-o-tron's at the ends of all, and launched into orbit, realized I hadn't attached ANY RCS to it and the tug, but will see how my milage goes, already added RCS to the one in the VAB, but will remain on contingency. I like building out my station, it may come in handy someday but looks great. I also think I'm going to send up a orbital booster, either to raise it up a bit, or take it out to the Mun.

I find it easy to launch and get my initial apogee at my targets height and burn so that initial perigeee turns into a higher apogee, what I essentially get is my orbit with perigeee at the target's orbit, then can either let orbital mechanics work for me adjusting prograde or retro to get within 10k (more than not under 2K, switch to target, match, and begin closing... I havent yet tried warping to get my target just west of the launch center to try an abbreviated launch to intercept, but will sometime soon.

I wouldn't mind in a future release if the navball was moved to a corner, or gave us the ability to place it where we wish.

I only toss out that if you build an insanely sized landing craft/mission craft, and have a station, you can reduce that launch weight by launching it nearly empty to get it out of Kerbin's Gravity well, then dock it and load up on gas. With the last mod this is reduced somewhat ... of course you can also launch tankers to it in orbit as well, but then where's the fun?

Once you have gotten within visual distance of your target, select the docking port as a target, the navball's pink target prograde symbol will now be to the port. You can use the navball at that point to both align your ship with the port, but you do have to know how it is displaying your drift - the prograde and retrograde yellow symbols, in relation to the target prograde marker which is now the port. I've only used the navball, might add a mod later to make it easier, but why?

I light up my docking ports as well, always seems to be in the dark, or get relative to 0 and await sunrise. Also of note for those with wobbling, part of the issue may also be design as well. I've been building my station, and now at the part where larger fuel tanks are being launched with a small unmanned remote RCS tug to place it, then de-orbit. On the tug I incorporate a Large SAS commensurate with the tank, but of more importance - you need to look at that combined tug/tank (or for purposes of this thread anything you are launching to be docked to something else) center of mass by itself, and then place your RCS on the Tug and module accordingly. You can either go with one set at center of combined mass, however this leaves you without RCS for the tug once it decouples. I go with a set on the tug and another set on the module (right now large tanks, with smaller RCS tanks radially attached, looks nice) whereas I ensure the ones on the tanks are spaced approximately the same distance away from the center of mass as the ones on the tug if possible. I'm going to also try having those on the tug, a set at the COM, and equidistant lower down to equal the tug's, and for the most part that should eliminate wobbling IMHO. My last fuel pod launch and docking was hilaroius, I had used a large clamp-o-tron on one end and a standard on the other end, but reaching the station I realized I had my tug on the large end which I wanted to dock, and that was when I got to 100m in perfect alignment and low RCS! Decoupled, and raced it to get docked to the standard c-o-t, but it nudged the station and started a sloooow tumble. Terminate and begin again as referenced above, this one once near, shold be wobble free, and I set large c-o-t's on both ends, just adding the tug by a decoupler (it's going to remote de-orbit anyway after delivery and transfer of excess monopropellent) Lastly, for rotational maneuvers, turn off SAS, SMALL RCS pulses to start your rate, then wait until just before target direction and nullify, then reengage SAS. Same really when translating, and remember your orientation...

Just my guess here ... Are you playing in career mode? If so it's most likely because they are using parts you haven't unlocked yet, and should say so in the vehicle description. After that, it's because the ship you downloaded uses non-stock parts, and you would have to get the mod that adds them to your installation to use.

I have used the cheats on occasion to save me from myself, then guilt takes over and I go back to the last quicksave to retry. I have yet to play sandbox, for whatever reason though having all the toys, to me the objective is still to gain knowledge/science. So while frustrated at times, it forces me to redesign and come up with creative ways outside my first sentence to get what I need to move forward.

Go with "Kablooie 5" ... Has a K and they all end up exploding somehow ....