chrisl

I'm at a loss then. Do you have a craft file you could make available? Can't say for sure I'll figure out the issue with it, but at this point it's the only other option I can think of.

Are you sure about that? Looking at the screenshot you included in your post, one of he buttons on the right hand side of the screen says "MJ". Looks exactly like the MechJeb button I have on my screen.

@nablablaI believe the 100t avionics from the capsule only counts when the capsule in manned. Since you're launching without a crew you're limited to the 1t from the probe core and whatever other unmanned avionics you've got included. Of course, if you're not seeing the notice about insufficient avionics in the "Flight Results" windows, that's not the issue. What about your ascent guidance window? Do you have anything there checked? Oh. Very weird.

@nablabla Do you have more avionics than just the Octo probe core? I think that core only gives you a 1t avionics limit and while I don't see your vehicle mass anywhere, my guess is you've got more than a 1t craft. Even though you may not be using it, check MechJeb's ascent guidance and make sure you don't have anything selected that might be shutting your engine down. I noticed in my game that if I have the "Limit throttle to Xm/s" set, even with a manual launch, the engines would shut down (since they can't throttle) once I hit that limit. Before launching, are you controlling the rocket from the probe or from the capsule. Not sure if that would make a difference or not.

I normally encounter this problem when I start KSP, choose to resume my last save, then tab out of KSP while that save is loading. If I leave KSP in the foreground and wait until the load completes before tabbing out, it loads up correctly.

RP-0 isn't ever going to be completely historically accurate and I don't really think that's the intent anyway. That's fine since there are contract packs and parts packs that let you be (more) historically accurate already. I'm not looking for complete historic accuracy. I'd just like to see more satellite contracts in RP-0. Even if it's just running the same couple of contracts over and over, that would still be better than what we have right now (IMO, anyway). And I know there are parts packs you can use to complete some RP-0 contracts (and even some stock contracts) "earlier" than you can with RP-0 alone. I'd just like to see a couple recurring satellite contracts, especially for the early (post-sounding rocket, pre-Gemini) spaceflight era, so there isn't quite so much repetition when you're not using extra parts or contract packs.

I've got a concern with the "WeatherGOES" (aka, "Geostationary Weather Network") RP-0 contract. This contract requires that you launch a satellite that includes "deployable solar panels". But without additional parts modes, you need "Electrics" before you'll get your first deployable solar panel. You can complete the previous RP-0 satellite contract just with "Basic Avionics" but to complete "WeatherGOES" you'll need to research "Stability/Early Probes", "Improved Instrumentation" and "Electrics". That's 135 research points and around 4 years of research (depending on how you spend your KCT points, of course). It's not that I have a problem with the research requirement or the requirements for this contract. My concern is that you have no other satellite contract you can run in the mean time. In my game I've been relying heavily on continuously rerunning the "(1/LEO)" contract along with some of the doable, stock "Position satellite in a specific orbit of Earth" contracts (with sounding rocket, "X-Planes (Suborbital)" and "Scence dataf rom space around Earth" thrown in where possible) just to cover the entry costs for new parts. But at this point I'm up to my 14th Mercury launch (10th Mercury-Atlas) and I've completed at least 20 of the "Position..." contracts. And I've still got a minimum of 2 years of research left assuming I stop my research on Gemini (Mature Orbital Rocketry & General Construction) and focus on Electrics. I know I could decrease my research time by buying more KCT points but first you need funds for that which means you need contracts. And second, my game is already at least 3 years ahead (It's 3 Dec 1959 in my game and MA-9 flew on 15 May 1963). Speeding up my research just puts me even further ahead. We need some repeatable RP-0 satellite contracts that fit between "WeatherGOESSMS" and "WeatherGOES".

Looking at #667, it seems very likely that is the same problem I'm experiencing. I've uploaded a save and output_log.txt to https://www.dropbox.com/sh/dnfvzjv6d9i6dxr/AAAzQu-R1-TLfQfjgmqz266Fa?dl=0 The save should focus in on a satellite named "Transit 1 - DeltaA" which is currently over the south pole. If you press 2, that'll pull a Telemetry Analysis (which is already fully researched) and an Orbital Perturbations (which is not researched). Select to transmit the Orbital Perturbation data. It'll count up to 100%, then after a second or two it'll report as "Done" but if you look at the total research, it hasn't changed (it's at 90.9 before transmission and after) and if you hit 2 again, you'll find that Orbital Perturbation still isn't researched. You'll get the same results if you actually right click on the Orbital Perturbation part (currently on the "bottom" of the satellite) and select the "Record Perturbation Data" option. The one thing I notice in the output log is: RemoteTech: [Transmitter]: Uploading Data... (Gravity Scan from space just above Earth's Poles) - 1.33 Mits/sec. Packets to go: 24 - Files to Go: 0 There are several lines similar to that, just with the "Packets to go" getting smaller. But all the lines list "Files to Go: 0". Not sure if that should be 1 since the research is still being transmitted or not, but it's the only thing that popped out at me. Anyway, hopefully the files found at the dropbox link I provided can help resolve the issue. I'll also see about adding these details to #667.

I'm playing a "new" RO/RSS/RP-0 game using KSP 1.1.3 and all of the required/recommended mods as well as a number of parts mods (such as FASA). All my mods are the "latest" 1.1.3 versions (so none are built for 1.2). That includes RemoteTech 1.7.1. I'm having trouble succeeding in a number of RP-0 contracts. The problem happens on contracts where I have to "return/transmit" data. I'll gather the required science, then transmit it. The game goes through the process of sending the data but once it reaches 100%, it basically just says done and removes the science from my ship. But I get no credit for transmitting the science (available research points doesn't change) and the contract returns to a state requesting me to gather the science again. This doesn't happen on all science contracts (First Spacewalk is an example where the bug happens), but on those where it does happen, the only option I have is to exit out of the game, remove my RemoteTech folder, then go back in the game, regather the science and transmit. At which point the contract will progress properly. I can then exit the game again, put RemoteTech back and start the game up again without issue, but that's a long process (takes about 5 minutes for KSP to start up because of all the mods). Simply turning RemoteTech off doesn't allow the contract to complete. I literally have to start KSP without RemoteTech installed. I know we're up to 1.8.0 (or 1.8.1?) but I understand that isn't backward compatible with KSP 1.1.3 so I'm hoping something might have a fix for this problem.

I know the early unscrewed Lunar Impactor, Lunar Flyby and Lunar Orbit have a setting that they can only be run a set number of times. I wonder if the Weather Network contracts could be setup the same way and if there is a way to require a certain contract to be run x number of times before the next contract can be run. I.E., require that "Weather Network" be completed three times before "Geostationary Weather Network" becomes available.

Just tried to do the "Weather Network" contract. The contract asks me to launch three satellites, each with slightly different EC resource requirements but otherwise with identical orbit requirements. I built a satellite that had enough EC for all three contracts because I planned to just build three copies of the rocket. I launched the first copy, got it into the correct orbit and completed the mission. Never had to build, let alone launch, the other two satellites. I'm assuming this is a bug but I'm not sure how a single contract is supposed to use three separate rockets to be completed. Maybe this "Weather Network" contract should be a single satellite, but you have to run the contract three times before the milestone is completed. Not sure if that can be done or not. And though I haven't run it yet, I'm guess the same problem is going to be true of the "Geostationary Weather Network" contract.

When you're playing with RSS, Geosynchronous requires extra dV to acheive. Anywhere from 900-4000 depending on the number or restarts your engines have and that's assuming a launch from Canaveral. I'm assuming if you launch from a site in Russia, it would require even more. I'd suggest that an initial Geosynchronous contract would not include an inclination requirement. Just an AP, PE, Ecc and Orbital Period. Then have a second contract that added the inclination requirement since that adds an extra level of difficulty. Historic rockets are a legitimate frame of reference that everyone has access to. Even if you're not creating your own Vanguards, Junos, Thors, Atlas', Titans, Sputniks, Voskhods or Soyuz (or any other historic rocket), you can still figure out the dV, twr and carry capacities of these rockets with a quick internet search. Therefore they are a good frame of reference to use when setting up RP-0 contracts. For instance, if the "First Artificial Satellite" contract can be completed with a Vanguad, Juno or Sputnik rocket (which it can), then a player who has never played RO/RSS/RP-0 before can at least estimate the dV required to complete the contract with their own non-historic creation. Same goes for pretty much any RP-0 contract. If it's setup so that a historic rocket of the appropriate era can complete it, then a similarly powerful "fictitious" rocket should also be able to complete it. I'm not suggesting contracts that require specific historic rockets. That's beyond the "light weight" scope of RP-0. But if the contract is meant for "Early Orbital Rocketry", then I think it should be doable with Vanguard, Juno and Sputnik rockets as well as "fictitious" rockets.

Just came across another contract I have a concern about. I recently completed the "Achieve Geostationary Orbit" contract. I found it to be a fairly difficult contract using more or less historic rockets, primarily because I misread it and therefore took it too soon. When I saw the contract, I thought it was a Geosynchronous Orbit. My mistake for not reading the particulars closely enough, and in the end I was able to do the contract. But it got me thinking. Shouldn't there be a "Achieve Geosynchronous Orbit" contract before you try preforming a Geostationary orbit? If you're playing with RSS, Geostationary is another level of difficulty above Geosynchronous. Or does RP-0 not distinguish between these two orbit because you might not be using RSS?

@Maxsimal, @przybysz86 I know I will be starting over again when RO and RP-0 are updated for 1.2, so I may hold off trying out Historical Missions until then. It's definitely on my list now, though. And I still think RP-0 needs a repeatable contract similar to Atmospheric Analysis. Just maybe with a more doable minimum periapsis.

I seem to be encountering a problem with the "Lunar Flyby (Uncrewed)" contract. I've finally put a satellite up that has made the trip to the moon and is going to pass within 5000km (4412.62km periapsis). I'm currently at an altitude of 4922km and looking at my active contracts: Launch a new vessel is flagged as true Vessel State: Destinate: the Moon; Altitude: Below 5,000,000 m is flagged as true Crew: Unmanned is flagged as true Collect Science is not flagged Destination: the Moon is flagged as true Experiment: Any is not flagged Recovery: Recover or transmit is not flagged So I tell the probe to "Analyze Telemetry". So not I have a windows saying "[1/1] Telemetry Analysis while in space high over the Moon". Now the contract info reads as above but instead of "Destination: the Moon", I now have: Telemetry Analysis while in space high over the Moon, which is flagged as true. So now all I should have to do is transmit the Telemetry Analysis. As soon as I start to transmit, the contract stats go back to what they originally were, even after the transmission is complete. It took a lot of effort to get to this point so I'm really hoping someone has an idea what is keeping this contract from completing. EDIT: After some further testing, it seems this is a RemoteTech 1.7.1 issue. I removed RemoteTech, then reloaded my save and this time when I transmit the science, the contract completed. So I'll check on the RemoteTech thread and see if this is something that's been reported.

@przybysz86 I know they CAN be done. Hell, I could put together a monster sounding rocket that could complete the early lunar missions. My point is, you can't complete them with historically accurate rockets until you get to the Thor/Atlas/Titan era (i.e., "Basic" rocketry, construction and avionics). And there just aren't enough contracts available to get you through the earlier Juno/Vanguard rocket era (i.e. "Early" rocketry, construction and avionics). I don't think we need a ton of contracts for that era. But I do think we need more than the two (neither being repeatable) we currently have. I hadn't thought about using chutes to "land" a rocket plane. I may have to give that a try. As for the Historical Missions contract pack, my only question is, is it compatible with RP-0?

I have trouble building and flying planes so I don't take those contracts. I know that handicaps me a bit (more than a bit?) but it is what it is. Besides, I love rockets more than I love planes. I agree that sounding rocket contracts are really just fillers. But those are basically the only contracts I can do right now. I wasn't getting any other contracts that were doable with my tech level. Like I said previously, I did get the "Atmospheric Analysis" contract and while I think the specs for it are a bit high for historic early era rockets (i.e. Juno I/Vanguard), it is doable if you throw history out the window. But you only get offered that contract once. As soon as you complete it, the next satellite contracts that come up (disregarding the non-RP-0 "position a satellite into a specific orbit" contracts) are "Meteorogical Satellite" and "Micrometeorite Measurements". Both of those contracts again have rather high periapsis requirements for such early era historic rockets, and they require a level of upper stage control that you don't really have in the Juno I/Vanguard era. You also get the Moon Orbit, Flyby and Impactor contracts, but again those really aren't doable in the Juno I/Vanguard era. They should be perfectly doable in the Thor/Atlas/Titan rocket era since you have a bit more upper stage control (and dV for the moon contracts), but that basically means you only have two contracts available during "Early" rocketry (First Satellite and Atmospheric Analysis). And, at least for me, that meant having to rely on sounding rocket contracts to make the funds needed for new parts and site upgrades (I'm still working on the funds to improve my launch pad). Just seems to me we need some repeatable early era satellite contracts (i.e. contracts with only minimum periapsis and apoapsis requirements). Maybe with a new Milestone contract that has you put a satellite into a more controlled orbit (i.e., min/max peri/apo requirements, possibly with mid inclination requirements) before you start getting "Meteorogical Satellite" and "Micrometeorite Measurements". @Maxsimal I wasn't aware that there was a contract pack for "historical missions for RSS mod". I'll have to look for that. Is it listed as a suggested mod for RO/RP-0/RSS and I just missed it?

I actually created by own "spin motors" to handle this. It is based on the small separation motor but with 1/10th the thrust and fuel. I usually mount at least two at a 45 degree angle, then cut the thrust and fuel down further. Gives a modest spin, especially on lighter stages. For sounding rockets, in the end I just ended up using my Vanguard which can consistently hit 7800km going straight up. It's a bit expensive (1800) but I added a recovery shoot to the first stage which effectively cuts the cost in half. The trouble I'm facing now is that all I'm doing is Medium and High sounding rocket contracts. I've done at least 15 so far and estimate I'll be doing at least another 5 if I don't want to just skip time. There just aren't any other doable contracts at this early stage. I did manage to completely the "atmospheric analysis" contract but I think it's requirements are set just slightly too high for Vanguard/Juno era rockets. Trying to get 560km x 3200km when you only have about 10km/s dV available is really not viable. It's the 560km periapsis that's a bit much. I could reach that altitude, but rarely had enough dV left to complete orbit let alone push apoapsis to 3200km. The difficulty is you pretty much have to do everything with a single burn and have limited control by the time you get to you last stage. I only managed to do it by taking my Vanguard rocket and attaching eight Aerobee 170 SRBs to it, then firing those in succession. It was completely unstable and took me several tries to complete. Any mistake during the flight would either cause the rocket to go out of control or miss it's target. I'm sure there are any number of rockets I could put together using Vanguard/Juno era equipment that could do the contract, but if you're trying to go with more or less historic rockets, this contract is extremely hard to complete. Maybe reduce the periapsis to 350km. A 350km x 3200km orbit is hard but at least doable. But once you complete the "atmospheric analysis" contract, the next type of satellite contract you get have requirements that are impossible (or at least beyond extremely difficult) to accomplish with Vanguard/Juno era parts (let alone with actual Vanguard or Juno rockets). I have two satellite contracts available: "Meteorogical Satellite" and "Micrometeorite Measurements". Both of them have periapsis and apoapsis requirements that are too strict for Vanguard/Juno era equipment. I know all three of these types of contracts are completely doable once you have Thor/Atlas/Titan era equipment. It's just getting to that point that I'm finding very repetitive. I just think we need a few satellite contracts that can be completed with Vanguard/Juno era rockets (i.e. single restart and limited upper stage control).

Hmm. I'll have to look at that. I have a Bumper (V-2 with WAC 2nd stage) but it can only reach 480km. And I have a "Bumper III" (V-2 with Aerobee 150 2nd stage) which can reach 1600km. But I hadn't tried creating my own A-4 powered first stage.

@przybysz86 That's an interesting design. Unfortunately, I don't have Sergeants. Not sure which mode those come with but apparently not one of the parts mods I'm using. And I don't really want the sounding rocket contracts just to make money. They were simply the only contracts I really had available. Once I managed to finish researching the tech node that gave me access to the A-7, X405 and AJ10, it because less of a problem. A spin stabilized "dumb" Vanguard with a baby-Sergeant (from Juno 1) in place of the proper third stage was hitting right around 5800km and was costing me about $1800 per launch. They were more expensive than your setup, but I still made enough that I'm a bit ahead of the game after finally getting my first satellite into orbit.

Out of curiosity, are you using a parts pack for your high capable sounding rocket? What engine are you using? I've been limited to the small WAC-Corporal until just recently when I get the AJ11 (from RN_US_Rockets) but my three stage Aerobee 300 can only get just above 400km. I'm looking at something using the A-6, A-7 or X405 (will 2nd stage AJ10) but those are basically my only engines right now.

@Jonno For the Re-entry contracts, I just think you shouldn't get them until after you've completed research on Survivability. If you don't have that tech node, you shouldn't get the contracts. Though looking at the contract, I see that you start getting the contract once you have the ability to research Survivability, so I guess it's supposed to be an enticement to finish that research. I guess looking at it that way, it makes sense. Before starting over, I have 38KCT upgrade points. I'd guess about half of those had been put into R&D. I'd also launched about a dozen sounding rockets but only two "satellite" rockets. I suppose my main issue was that I couldn't launch a £300 sounding rocket that could succeed a "High" contract. My sounding rockets (built using RN_US_Rockets: Aerobee) cost more line £900 and if I made it to 800km, I felt lucky. Only rockets I could launch that could complete the "High" contracts was my Juno I/II (from FASA and RN_US_Rockets) and that cost closer to £2000 per launch. I must be wasting funds somewhere. I'll have to pay more attention to exactly what I'm spending this run through.

Just came across another surprise. It's been so long since I'd started a new game, I completely forgot that you can't target anything with the level 1 tracking station. So doing the Lunar Flyby and Lunar Impactor contracts is basically not possible. I'm likely going to start over again since I'm such a short way into this game but it got me thinking. The tracking station costs 150k to upgrade but I'd question whether I'd earned much more than 150k since I started my game. And most of that went towards entry costs (though I know I spent about 50k on KCT upgrades). Since you basically don't get to do much beyond sounding rockets (or planes which I can't do so I don't do those contracts but also don't pay entry cost for those parts) in the early game, maybe the sounding rocket contracts should reward a bit more than they do.

@Jonno Odd about the re-entry contract because I am still 251 days away from having Survivability. I'd think the contract shouldn't become available until you actually have the tech node available. I do have the "Atmospheric Analysis" contract. Just haven't tried it because it's orbit requirements seem a bit stricter than I can do at this point. Ap +2200km, Pe between 549km and 599km. My first satellite barely made it to 155km x 502km orbit so trying for a 549km x 2200km orbit seems like a big jump. At least when all you really have is Early Orbital Rocketry. Once I finish researching Basic Orbital Rocketry, Basic Solids, Basic Construction and Basic Avionics, that orbit won't be so out of reach but just seems like we need a satellite contract to help "pay the bills" while we finish all that research. As for the stock contracts, it's too bad there isn't at least a way to restrict the target body to only those we've actually been to. I may not be able to complete the "position satellite into specific orbit of Earth" contracts just yet because the requirements require more avionics control than I have at this point, but at least they are in reach.

So after a short hiatus, I decided to start a new game. 1.1.3 (started like a week before 1.2 was introduced) clean install with RSS/RO/RP-0, all their required and suggested mods, plus a couple parts mods (FASA, SSTU, some raidernick mods, etc). Game started off just fine with launching sounding rockets higher and higher. Then got the contract to put my first satellite into orbit. After a bunch of test launches, I finally succeeded. But now my available contracts have bloated. Keeping in mind that I barely managed to put a satellite into orbit and have just the most basic of guidance control right now, my current list of available contracts includes Lunar Flyby (Uncrewed), Lunar Impactor (Uncrewed), Lunar Orbit (Uncrewed), Successful Reentry, Position Satellite into Molniya Orbit of Mars, two "position satellite in polar/specific orbit of Earth", and two "position satellite in specific orbit of Moon". Shouldn't we get the "Lunar Orbit (Uncrewed)" contract after we've successfully completed the Lunar Flyby and/or Lunar Impactor? Shouldn't "Successful Reentry" contracts only become available after we've learned the "Survivability" tech node since before then we don't have heat shields? Shouldn't all these "position satellite into specific orbit of Earth" contracts be waiting until we have "Stability/Early Probes" since that looks like the first tech node where you can build controllable upper stages? Or at the very least, shouldn't the orbit specifications be limited just to min/max inclinations? Shouldn't "position satellite into specific orbit of Moon" contracts be waiting until after we completing "Lunar Orbit (Uncrewed)"? Shouldn't "position satellite into specific (or any) orbit of Mars" (or any other planet) be waiting until we have a contract to first leave Earth's SOI? And shouldn't we get a couple contracts just to put up satellites, without specific orbits (except maybe inclination) while we are researching things like "Stability/Early Probes" and "Survivability"? It really seems like there is a large gap here. With the upgrade points I've spent so far (Kerbal Construction Time) I'm looking at around 560 days of research to get those two tech nodes (and their requirements) assuming I focus strictly on those. Closer to 1000 days if I also research important nodes like Basic Construction and Basic Orbital Rocketry. I don't have an issue with the research time. My problem is, funds are extremely limited at this point in the game so launching rockets without contracts really isn't feasible, but there really aren't any contracts I can continue to use other than just sending up more sounding rockets. Just feels like you spend a fair bit of time on sounding rockets, then get teased with your first satellite, then have to go back to sounding rockets instead of having the option to do both.