GoSlash27

True... But Riverside itself *is* in Iowa. They have a pretty good yearly Star Trek festival. Also a Star Trek and spaceflight museum and a very nice marker commemorating "the future birthplace of James T. Kirk". If anybody's planning on going, I'll be there June 30th. Best, -Slashy

Ultimate Steve, There's actually a lot of interesting stuff in Iowegia. The true middle of nowhere seems to be Kansas Best, -Slashy

tater, Yeah, we would've loved to meet you. They want to go back, so we can meet up next time. It would've been amazing to visit the Trinity site and Mcdonald ranch, but as you said they're only open 2 days a year. We hit up the historic marker on 380 and visited the little rock shop up the road. A couple very interesting characters with 2 friendly cats. And of course trinitite, which my son had to own. If you live up in Los Alamos, I'm seriously jealous. Those mountains are jaw- droppingly beautiful! Best, -Slashy

I had 4 days to kill, so I went on a spontaneous nerd pilgrimage to New Mexico. I always thought of the desert southwest as it's portrayed in the old roadrunner cartoons, but New Mexico turned out to be the most visually stunning place I've ever been to. The entire region is an ancient volcano, with the random and chaotic geology that accompanies it. That, coupled with the odd flora that thrives there, creates an atmosphere of a field trip to an alien planet. Setting aside the standard "road trip" points of interest, we saw... -Los Alamos history museum. https://www.losalamoshistory.org/exhibits.html -Bradbury Science Museum. http://www.lanl.gov/museum/ -VLA Radio Observatory http://www.vla.nrao.edu/ -Trinity site historic marker (no website available) -Valley of Fires; the largest volcanic deposit in North America https://www.recreation.gov/recreationalAreaDetails.do?contractCode=NRSO&recAreaId=1803# -White Sands National Monument; the largest gypsum deposit on the planet. Hundreds of square miles of pristine white sand dunes set against vibrant purple mountains and a vivid blue sky. https://www.nps.gov/whsa/index.htm -The New Mexico Museum of Space History http://www.nmspacemuseum.org/ *EDIT* How could I have forgotten the stop at Kenefick Park in Omaha?? The largest, most powerful steam engine in the world (Union Pacific "Big Boy") sitting next to the most powerful locomotive ever built; the U.P. Wasatch turbine? It was a busy weekend... It was a science nerd's dream! Best, -Slashy

KerBlitz, Possibly. Who's the provider, How much internal memory, and what's the asking price? Best, -Slashy

(spoiler referenced above) I hated the movie. Watching it literally made me angry... Wait. Yeah, *literally*, due to the injustice done to the book. (Space Punks) Star Wars Ep.5 :The Empire Strikes Back? Wild Guess... -Slashy

I'd heard that Samsung was going back to the removable battery, at least in their Note model. I may be mistaken. If that is indeed the case, it's a deal breaker for me. I won't buy a phone that I can't change the battery in. I've had the Note 4 since the day it was released, and I'm thrilled with it. They keep trying to "upgrade" me, but I'm sticking with it until it dies. That being said... I don't go in for the "Apple vs. Samsung" fanboi nonsense. Find a phone you like and go with it. Best, -Slashy

3 reasons why I prefer the Samsung Galaxy: 1) Replaceable battery. 2) Expandable storage. 3) I don't have to convert all my files to a proprietary format. Best, -Slashy

If they successfully recovered a fairing, how will we be notified?

*I* sure would! Possibly... but this option must be mentioned any time the subject of time travel comes up. It's like a law or something Best, -Slashy

Depends on how he's dressed (DEST)(+/-)48.2562(ENT)(+/-)013.0360(ENT)(+/-)1889.04.20.103000(ENT) Obligatory -Slashy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKZqGJONH68 We had a "team building exercise" involving the use of random objects to stack red solo cups. So naturally our group of smartasses were singing this song for the rest of the day :D Best, -Slashy

Sorry, can't do that. The truth is the others think you're the only insane person in the class. And since you're the only one not conforming to the socially accepted (insane) behavior, their view isn't totally unjustified -Slashy

Finally got a chance to see The Expanse and get all caught up... So naturally SyFy is cancelling it

Well, that certainly is a... confusing analogy Can space plane parts be used to make a space plane? Yes. Is it difficult? No. End of the issue AFAIC. It would be a different matter if players were driven to using rocket parts to build space planes, but they're not. Therefore not a "game balance" issue. The price of guidance fins is a game balance issue. They lead the player to avoid SRBs in favor of gimballed LF&O engines because the latter choice is cheaper. Best, -Slashy

KerikBalm, If they can still be easily used for their intended purpose, then by definition it's not a game balance issue, even if another part makes it even easier. My $0.02 -Slashy

Rune, I can't comment on the latest patches since Take2 took over. Perhaps there's a new bug. *Shrug*. Having said that, I've never had trouble making space planes out of Mk2 and Mk3 parts. I've made them with .32 t/w without difficulty, even lower with Mk3. Mk2 and Mk3 have always been draggier because they create lift extremely inefficiently. That's why you don't use them to make lift. Keep them aligned prograde with zero incidence, and they're fine. Best, -Slashy

KerikBalm, I'd definitely look at that before recommending part balance adjustments. Cost and mass are critical considerations in career play. Best, -Slashy

Laie, Actually, there *is* a single right answer, but you have to know what your minimum acceptable acceleration, payload, and DV are. Given those, you can calculate precisely how many engines and fuel tanks are required. Best, -Slashy

You should shoot for 0.5G minimum acceleration. In order to answer your question, I need to know the DV required for the trip. A single nuke can accelerate: 1t of payload 7100 m/sec 2t of payload 5800 m/sec 5t of payload 2800 m/sec. Best, -Slashy

KerikBalm, I agree with the lander can. I have no opinion on the Mk2 and Mk3 parts. I've never had drag problems using them. The only time you should be flying a space plane at high AoA is during reentry and landing. Drag is a good thing in that situation. I disagree with buffing the skipper. From a career play standpoint, it's already one of the most cost effective and versatile engines. Buffing it just puts it in direct competition with the Mainsail and leaves a bigger gap between 1.25m and 2.5m engines. The aerospike... Probably wouldn't hurt to monkey with it since it's so outrageously expensive. The RAPIER is fine as- is. If anything, I'd halve it's closed cycle thrust. The Vector does need a rebalance. The price is ridiculous for what it delivers. The most glaring cost imbalance I see is control surfaces. Way too expensive. Best, -Slashy

Wjolcz, I think when we're talking about "quality" in the context of the OP, we're talking about game- breaking bugs making it out the door, not a lack of features or polish. I concur with @klgraham1013; most of us are actually *not* blaming Take2. As for your specific example of DV calculators/ displays, I disagree. I've never used 'em (mod or otherwise), never needed 'em, never wanted 'em. People disagree on which features should be in the game, but I don't think that reflects on quality. Best, -Slashy

What MaianTrey said, but additionally... -The external tank needs to be positioned and the flow priorities set so that the CoM falls along the thrust line back toward the engines as the fuel drains. -The SRBs need to be offset toward the orbiter a bit so that they thrust parallel to the CoM instead of the center of the tank. -The OMS engines need to thrust through the orbiter's CoM. and finally... -You will have to learn how to fly it. Because thrust isn't through the centerline of the cockpit, the entire LV flies "crooked". Roll and yaw become effectively swapped and reversed, with little opposite yaw inputs required to induce roll corrections and opposite roll inputs required to arrest yaw misalignments. It's a very weird way to fly and takes some getting used to. I have heard that adding a probe core that has been pitched down and then controlling from there during launch will alleviate this problem. I haven't tried it myself. I used to have a handy series of pics demonstrating these techniques, but my Photobucket ate my homework Shuttles are a difficult but fun design challenge. When everything is lined up *just right*, the vehicle's behavior remains constant throughout the launch with no pitch moment tendencies. Best, -Slashy

Zosma Procyon, Here's the link for reporting bugs: https://bugs.kerbalspaceprogram.com/projects/ksp/issues?set_filter=1&tracker_id=1 Best, -Slashy

DocMoriarty, I don't share this memory. I remember most new releases being laden with bugs, including memory leaks and crashes to desktop. Quality certainly hasn't improved since Take 2 assumed control, but no... I don't think it's gotten worse. Best, -Slashy