AbacusWizard

It really does--in fact that entire interface needs an overhaul. I usually only have up to about 30 experiments on one craft but even that becomes a huge pain. It would also be nice if the interface allowed selecting specific experiments to transfer to an EVA kerbalnaut rather than an all-or nothing approach. Being able to transfer experiments from part to part within a ship would be a good idea as well; it's not like researchers on the ISS have to put on their spacesuits and pop outside to move data around.

Nah; clearly the stranded kerbalnauts are there because they stowed away aboard your tiny uncrewed probe. Very sneaky, those kerbalnauts.

That's very similar to one of the first rescues I did, long before contracts were implemented. I had just accomplished my first crewed Mun landing (hooray!), but the lander was very low on fuel. I tried launching anyway and ran empty long before reaching orbit. I briefly tried the "get out and push" approach, but it didn't look like it would work before lithobraking, so I decided to abandon ship. I had the lone kerbalnaut get out, grab all the science data, and use his jetpack to reach a stable orbit... barely. Ran out of jetpack propellant while circularizing. So I sent a probe with an empty command capsule to rescue him. I covered the whole thing with ladders and RCS jets and brought plenty of monoprop, taught myself the finer details of orbital rendezvous by reading some of Buzz Aldrin's writings on the subject, and slowly maneuvered really really close to the poor guy so he could grab the ladders, pull himself inside, and finally go home. Another time my flagship, the Voyager I, was in orbit around Moho and had sent its lander (usually docked inside a cargo bay) down to the surface. The lander was able to take off and re-orbit, but in doing so used up all of its fuel and monopropellant. The Voyager had to do all the work of the rendezvous and then maneuver itself so as to make its own cargo bay engulf the lander. Tricky work.

This is KSP. We can find a way for it kill someone.

By this point I pretty much think of KIS/KAS as stock anyway, since they're always the first mods I install whenever a new version comes out.

I like to do a lot of orbital infrastructure, even in situations where it might not be the most efficient, effective, or inexpensive solution. This usually includes space stations--one each in low orbit around Kerbin, Mun, and Minmus--with lab and crew quarters and, for the latter two, landers; large tankers in low and medium Kerbin orbit to act as fuel depots; a couple of four-seat transport skiffs to ferry small crews back and forth between the stations; a big 16-seat passenger liner for larger crews; a small harpoon-equipped interceptor to grab unwanted debris and haul it into a suborbital trajectory; a "repair cruiser" with a couple of KIS-credentialed engineers whose job is upgrading old ships with new parts. It's always fun when I can find a way to accomplish some task (from a contract or self-imposed) using only what I already have up in orbit, without needing any new launches.

Well, the marooned kerbalnauts don't start showing up in orbit around a planet until you've visited it, right? Obviously they hitched a ride there on your probe as stowaways and now they're getting homesick. Do you use KIS/KAS? You could have an engineer bolt a docking port to the darn thing. Problem solved. (The winches and grappling hooks can also be useful for hauling a part off the surface of a planet, but they get buggy if you try to do much maneuvering or any time warp at all.) And yeah, I think it would be a great idea if everything inside a cargo bay (or fairings, for that matter) was implicitly assumed to be bolted to the interior walls.

KSP's version system is already broken. May as well have some fun with it.

Lithobraking done right! I've tried it on Minmus (easy with the big flat regions and reasonably slow orbits) and it works quite well--not sure if it'd be as feasible elsewhere.

If your plans include a 100-seat ship, might I humbly suggest the Mk3 crew cabin instead? I do like the idea of "EVA button = find nearest exit" though. That could save a lot of trouble in certain circumstances.

What's been keeping me amused recently is the notion of upgrading large orbital ships (and space stations and munar landers and so on) instead of de-orbiting them and launching higher-tech replacements. I have a ship up there called the ChopShop Refit Cruiser with a large cargo bay, plenty of grappling hooks, a couple of KIS-credentialed engineers, and a tiny monoprop tugboat with a klaw on one end and a docking clamp on the other. When something needs an upgrade, I bundle up the relevant new parts in a small rocket or (when feasible) a spaceplane, send them up to the ChopShop, and send the ChopShop to rendezvous with the vessel in need of upgrade. Then the engineers get to have fun moving parts around. Good times. I'm also working on designing a modular orbital construction system--long beams with docking ports on both sides, etc.--that I can send up in a bundle and then assemble into whatever shape I want in orbit. I figure it might be useful to have a simpler pier on which to moor my orbital transport skiffs rather than keeping them all docked to my LKO science station "Bob's Attic."

I came up with a great workaround for that--I have each engineer carry (as standard issue) a powertool, a jetpack propellant tank, a pair of fuel hose connectors, and a ladder segment. Whenever I approach a ship that needs repairs, I start by wielding the powertool, attaching the ladder segment to the ship, and grabbing on... instant handhold, anywhere! Moving large components towards the ship to be attached is tricky. I've been experimenting with a small uncrewed "tugboat" that grabs a part with a klaw, moves it gently into place, and lets go; then the engineer (already on site with said ladder segment) attaches it before it can drift away. Works pretty well so far.

I actually stopped using the big red "delete" button a version or two ago. It's been an interesting challenge designing launch vehicles that ditch their last expendable stage just before reaching orbit, and I've been having fun disposing of the inevitable "rescue mission" orbital junk by means of a two-seat "H-Wing" fighter armed with a KAS harpoon gun.

I'd also like to see more EVA-task-focused rescue missions, like • send an engineer to re-pack the accidentally deployed parachutes on a craft in low Kerbin orbit • send a scientist to reset the experiments on a science probe landed on Minmus • send an engineer to fix the broken wheels of a Duna rover • send a pilot to... uh... what do pilots do again? • we forgot to deploy solar panels before the satellite ran out of batteries; fix plz and so on. If KIS/KAS were absorbed into the stock game, it would open up even more possibilities.

Never send anyone anywhere without a way to get back home. (This may be why I enjoyed reading The Martian so much.) General vehicle design: no abrupt changes from one size to another; any diameter changes should be joined by smooth connections (to make it look streamlined-ish, if nothing else).

Sure, go for it--it's not like the version numbers mean anything anymore anyway.

I've gotten reasonably good at surface docking, at least on Minmus, where the gravity is weak enough to make things a little easier. At first I tried placing upwards-facing large docking ports on the ground (attached by girders) to act as landing pads. Difficult, but it worked, although one bad landing sheared off a third of the solar array. Later I set up a tanker on wheels that could land near the surface refinery and cautiously roll towards the wall-mounted medium docking port. Worked very well. Recently I've been experimenting with a hybrid approach: a refinery with landing pads as before, but a wheeled tanker that lands nearby, rolls along so that its underslung docking port is directly above the landing pad, and retracts its wheels to settle onto the dock.

Congratulations! Minmus is my favorite place to play, due to the low gravity, beautiful scenery, and huge flat regions that I can use as runways or construction zones. Don't forget that if you run out of fuel just before completing the last maneuver, you can always have the crew get out and push!

In case you don't already know about the relevant mods, here are links:

I just have a combination mine/refinery with plenty of solar, lots of backup battery power, and a few "landing pads" (docking clamps) on the surface of Minmus, plus a large LF/OX tanker that lands on the landing pad, waits patiently to be filled up with delicious fresh-baked fuel, and then detaches and takes off up to orbit, where it acts as an orbital fuel depot for whatever needs it. When it runs out I land it and repeat the process. I can see the merit in the "high orbit means more sun exposure" argument, but time isn't too much of a problem here, since I'm mostly using it to refuel either small Minmus landers that don't need all that much fuel anyway or huge interplanetary ships that won't be back for another top-up for a few years anyway.

Is there any reason to lift ore from the surface up into orbit? Why not just process it on the surface and bring the fuel up to orbit?

"Why are we wasting √ exploring space if we haven't fixed all the problems on Kerbin yet?"

Speaking of lonely, I have been reading The Martian and it is AMAZING.

It'd be nice if it could remember the throttle setting from the instant of staging the last time the launchpad/runway was used. That way anyone with a prefered default setting would only have to adjust it once.

Intriguing. Could these forces be harnessed to make a quantum kraken drive, allowing a chair-powered FTL starship?