aeromike221

Greetings fellow KSP'ers, To those who have mastered interplanetary flight I ask for your advice, inquiry and assistance. I have successfully put a kerbed lander on Duna, however my previous design was limited and my lander doesn't have enough fuel to return back home or even get back into Duna Orbit. So I am designing a new interplanetary mothership that will not only rescue the crew from Duna, will also serve on other interplanetary explorations to other worlds. Here are a couple of photos, attached to the post. (Note, I have yet to assemble the first and second stages...for now please focus on what I have.) As you can see below the payload I am trying to take into orbit is composed of two parts. One the powerful "mammoth" engine block which will give the final push into orbit and perhaps give some delta-v for the Duna burn assuming enough fuel is left. The other half, which is the one I'd like to focus on is the "Endurance Module". It is two be powered by 6 nuclear rockets, with 1 jumbo x64 orange fuel tank, a smaller x16 white fuel tank, a equipment storage container, a "hitchhike" contanier for possible crew, two large batteries, 6 fins, 12 1x6 solar pannels and two dockports(one on the top and one on the bottom.) Also note I plan to attach a fuel lander that will go to the surface and rescue the boys. The Module weighs about 100 tons and total configuration(with the rocket stage below) is about 225 tons. I've previously tried to design a mothership using mainsail rockets and that failed catastrophically. I realize now that nuclear rockets provide the best bang for the buck(they have the best efficiency), however I'm a little uncertain how they will preform due to their low-thrust so I might have to rethink my burn strategy. So for all those who are pros at getting to other planets can you spare some advice on my design as it is. Should I add more tanks, add more rockets, get rid of some containers, scrap it completely, keep it as it is? Anything I should do? Also I would greatly appreciate advice for nuclear rockets because I have never used them before and I don't know what maneuvers I should do because I know they will behave differently then the conventional rockets. Please spare any constructive criticism or advice you have to helping me get of the launch pad, and rescue my guys stranded on Duna currently. Thank you so much!!

Yes! I would love to learn better, more efficient design principles. Thanks so much for your kind offer!!

Thanks for your informative reply. I'm sorry if people were angry by some of my vernacular but mind you this is the first time I've played in months...so having everything changed from last time proved to be quite frustrating. I knew it had something to due with the fuel drainage and the center of gravity but I was confused and went my previous designs started to spin wildly I got fed up and I came to here because I didn't know if it was a bug or some squad changes which obviously now it is. I greatly underestimated the changes done unto aerodynamics. My typical launch approach was to escape the bottom layer of the atmosphere going straight up and then aiming for the 45 degree mark(East) after passing through the second layer and gradually to zero. Here is a picture of my vehicle. The payload is the middle (the engine is not suppose to fire). Mind you that I'm showing you the second stage configuration. I had a first stage design in mind but I'm not going to implement it until I solved the spinning. On the outside are 12 rockets with mainsail engines, designed to give the final push into orbit. Can anyone give me some advice with the fuel drainage and launch approach.

Okay so it's been awhile since I've played KSP...and I recently just started again with the new version that just came out. I've been trying to build a new interplanetary mothers-hip and designing a brand new Heavy- Life vehicle to take it into orbit. Though it's a little different, there's nothing that wrong with it. Everytime I've tried to launch it, when I start the gravity turn it spins itself out of control. Every single time. I've looked into center of gravity but everytime (just about when I've spent half my fuel on the first stage) when I start turning, it continues and spins itself out of control. At first I thought it was just an error in my design, but I've tested similar Heavy-Lift vehicles I've made before the new version came out and it does the same. Even though they worked perfectly fine before. So what's up this. Did those bone-heads from Squad add some new changes to the game that make previous designs/or design strategies not work or is it a bug? I just need help...it ticks me off that its doing and I just want to go back to launching, exploring and landing again with having to deal this. If you guys want I can show pictures of my rockets if it matters. Thanks for any help, seriously.

Thanks I fixed it...I got a full tank, shout out to gpisic for telling me about the mod you saved me from really really really mundane and boring gameplay that would have gave me arthritis in my left hand. Also thanks to Heimdall5008 and Richy teh Space man as well

Quick question...can I still install the mod if I got the game through steam...I'm kind of a noob when it comes to detailed computer files but everything KSP seems to be saved on Steam. (Sorry in advance for my ignorance)

Okay so I landed on the Mun...and I took good ol' Bob Kerman out for EVA...accessing the cheats I thought I had clicked unlimited EVA fuel but instead I clicked on unlimited RCS...so I ran out off EVA fuel and when I tried clicking on "unlimited EVA" nothing happened, apparently that only applies when there's still something in the pack...and now he currently is 5.4 km away from the lander and I unknowingly quicksaved when he ran out. Since I don't feel like wasting an hour of my previous life doing nothing but watching Bob slowly walk back to the spacecraft...I'm curious to see if this is my only option or how I could fix this. Or maybe I could reload an earlier quicksave...just someone tell me something so I can actually have fun with KSP instead of spending god knows how long watching Bob walk back. *Note, leaving him there would not be ideal for me...I just want him to leave with the spacecraft he came with since I plan on focusing more towards exploration to Duna.*