WanderingKid

You are aware there's still sandbox mode, and a mode without funds at all, called Science, right? How are you running out of funds? Revert to launchpad/assembly for your 'simulator flights' as necessary.

I'd have to agree. Just because someone asks you to do something, doesn't mean it's a great idea. Level 1 of dungeon: Dragon in next room. Note to self: Skip room. Procedural doesn't equate everything being equal in value for choice. As to the crazy 'landed' designs, they're completely recoverable for cost, so they're pretty easy to do, no matter what strangeness you end up generating.

I've currently got a contract to Test the RT-10 Solid Rocket Booster... while on an escape trajectory out of Kerbin. Whopping 825 Funds for it, too. I see me avoiding certain contracts with significant disdain.

Well, the reason he's showing in your list at home is because he died (somehow) and Jeb/Bill/Bob can't die, so they get respawned. Now, what happened to your ship? I have no idea.

You can easily build a Mun/Minmus/Return Orbiter with two "systems check" command pods on the runway/launch pad/KSP and a single tank/engine/Command Pod bird to poke at shores/ocean/grasslands nearby. Takes a whole 15 in game minutes, cracks open the separation components, struts, and whatnot you'll want for your first serious liftoff. That trip can easily get you a solid amount of science if you polar orbit Mun, Minmus, and Kerbin (on the way back, or liftoff at 0 for initial) and EVA the biomes during orbit. With wise electrical usage you can even grab most, if not all, of your crew reports too.

Hit space to let go, then activate the EVA rockets. Occassionally you fall off the ladder, or eventually slip off, which is why you're seeing intermittent results. I've never been able to activate the EVA pack while on the ladder.

Okay, that all makes sense, Kasuha, and thanks for the very descriptive explanation. So the mass of the lower parts don't matter, it's that I've gained enough speed for the drag to overtake the SAS, which is why I get variable critical failure points for control? That makes sense in retrospect.

Kasuha, thank you. Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words, and apparently I didn't quite grasp the basic issue of the fallacy, just the details of the particular explanation. Also thank you Flip, that also helped. Just a different phrasing but between that and a good night's sleep it makes perfect sense. So, to make sure I grok this, the problem is two fold. First, my choice of SRBs as injection boosters for the interplanetary ships is causing me to have significant drag across the top when I get into a gravity fight while still in atmosphere and I'm cruising more sideways than upwards. Secondly, when the mass in the lower portion lowers to some critical point, it no longer has the weight on one end to counterbalance the drag on the other. This sideways drag is what is causing the issue, where a straight up/down doesn't tackle the parts in the same manner, allowing for SAS to keep control of it for the minor differences. By George, I think he's got it! Thank you all.

Well, that was an interesting read. Not sure how that applies here though. The fallacy you mention is that gravity won't keep your butt towards the ground if the point of thrust is above the Center of Mass, at least according to the wiki and the followup article on Goddard. Now, that's quite interesting, and good to know. I still would have assumed it would drag the nose down, however, not up. Down would have made sense to me. It's also odd that it only triggers at some point after I perform the gravity turn. For a while it's fine, then suddenly it's not. Good information to keep in mind, however, thanks.

So, as I mentioned, I made a video demonstrating what's going on here. I do three liftoffs. One is to show the general problem, a second to confirm the problem, and the last launch shows that it's perfectly stable going up, just can't turn it, and what the rest of the ship looks like afterwards. http://youtu.be/VpLFxKwGKbI Northstar, They are, but they're not part of the main design. That's a combination of 5 ships at once that will separate once in orbit all tightly packed into a nice little cube. If you check near the end of the video I show the deployment.

I've found rotation seems to help tremendously with getting the docking to work. My ships are never centered properly, but it does kick in the docking clamp.

If you're basically vanilla, like me, you need to know how to eyeball the angle for the Hohmann Transfer. This site helps me a lot for knowing when/how to burn for them: http://ksp.olex.biz/

@Pecan: Thanks, I'm not sure why you're getting not available. I can follow the link directly and it looks like Taki was able to as well. I've burn maybe half my fuel off at that point, when I drop the stage with the SRBs. The problem is exactly opposite of pitching over as I understand the term. I'm pitching UP... and then momentum carries me over. @Vanamonde: I'll record a flight of the Albatross here shortly and get it up on YouTube. Probably the easiest method to show you. @Taki: It's actually trying to lift 5 separate ships for a low-tech multi-interplanetary run, 4 of them will go to distant worlds, one will run Mun/Minmus/Kerbal for biome EVAs. May attempt a few extreme evas on Minmus with Jeb too. It seems like a fun idea. I just have to get the core to stable orbit and separate them. They're fine from there. I've done the 'normal' science progression. I wanted to do something different... and fun.

Hey folks, I'm relatively new here, so if I missed some information that is needed to assist me, please just let me know. Is there something special at the 18-20k mark in atmo for rockets (not SSTO)? I'm playing around trying to get a massive lifter up with minimal science so I've got a few hundred parts on this rocket, but I've tested each stage uniquely. Finally having enough Delta-V to put the entire assembly into space, and with three rebuilds, I constantly run into the same problem. Using a set of stable LV-T30's, at 18-20k when I drop the SRB assist (I think this actually starts around 16k) the rockets constantly start an 'upward' spin, trying to stabilize out to straight up again. And quickly. Once they hit that point they flip the thing over. I've tested each stage from rocket pad and the stage itself is stable. It's only once I have outer stages that it becomes a problem. I've confirmed that the SRB's aren't hitting anything on their departure (to the point of putting Seperatrons on them to make sure they get away from me). All engines are burning well and all at 100% thrust. Nothing's significantly shifted (it's all built via symmetry), and I don't have fuel lines. All tanks are burning at maximum directly down to their engines. I'd assumed rounding errors or clipping problems or something the first two times I did this. At three attempts, with individual stage tests confirming that each one is stable, I constantly get this 'flip' shortly after the orbital turn. If it started pointing down I'd assume I had a momentum problem and needed to stack on more command pods or something to counter the movement, but it's not. It's reversing and tossing me backwards. Any ideas? Anyone ever seen anything like this? On a side note, I should mention I've been to Jool, etc. I can get typical rockets up I'm just trying to get greedy with low tech to see what can be done. Most of my craft haven't done anything like this. I run Kerbal Alarm Clock as my only mod. This particular ship is 459 parts. A quick shot of the ship is here: http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d178/GUDare/KSP/AlbatrossMulti.jpg~original

First time here, so if I missed something let me know. I didn't find anything in the 'Don't ask' list, nor in the planned features list, about this. I'd like to be able to disable the audio somehow without having to back out to the main window, going into settings, and disabling music. When minimized seems like the simplest solution. Why? I like the music when I'm playing, but not when I'm distracted/on a phone call/etc, and don't necessarily want to shut the game down, either. Thanks in advance.