AbacusWizard

You don't mention the biggest difference, though--Kerbin has a Vehicle Assembly Building and Tylo doesn't. If your launch vehicle doesn't get into orbit from Kerbin you can strap on MOAR BOOSTERZ and try again; if your lander doesn't get into orbit from Tylo you're kinda stuck there.

Easy; just go at night. - - - Updated - - - Even after playing (almost every day) for over a year, and figuring out how to calculate things like ∆v and when to hit the brakes for a "suicide burn" landing from first principles, I still have no idea how to arrange an efficient transfer orbit. Generally I just make my best guess, make a bunch of adjustments, and end up in a ludicrous eccentric transfer that takes two years to get to Duna.

Xeldrak's rocket car has inspired me. Here is Jeb in a rocket car, because Jeb is straight-up crazy. The rocket car has an ejection seat, because he may be crazy, but he's not stupid. At least, not that stupid.

At least he died doing what he loved. Just look at that big dumb grin! Might work better with landing gear instead of rover wheels. - - - Updated - - - Also, I just noticed the radial decoupler--am I looking at a rocket car with an ejection seat? Now I have to go try that...

While this is merely a workaround and not a true fix, I will point out that you can toggle the navball (whether you're in map mode or not) by pressing the decimal point on the keypad. The one reason I can think of to not want the navball active during map view is if you're using TAB and SHIFT-TAB to cycle the view focus from one planet to another--if the navball is active, SHIFT will increase the throttle, which could be disastrous if done by accident while studying the map (especially if the sound is turned off and one doesn't notice until some time later).

As a math major who also minored in philosophy, I find "burden of proof" arguments hilarious. "You have to prove it's true." "No, you have to prove it's false." "No you!" No you!" Come on, folks, quit arguing and write a proof already!

A few versions ago I sent the Phoenix III expedition to explore Duna, Ike, Dres, and the moons of Jool, first sending a probe lander down to each surface and then, if it was able to land and return to the mothership safely, also sending down a kerbalnaut in a crew lander. Laythe was a little tricky; I underestimated the difficulty of plowing up through the atmosphere but later returned with a spaceplane that worked fine. Tylo, on the other hand... the probe lander used ALL of its fuel just slowing down on the descent, ran out completely while still about 10-20 meters above the surface, and slammed into the ground hard enough to break a leg or two. Fortunately the science equipment, the solar panels, and the antenna were all still intact. That was the first and last time I interacted with Tylo. (Except using it in passing for gravitational slingshots; it's GREAT for that!)

...and after dinner, they can go have a drink at the Space Bar.

These days I usually go with aerobrakes that I deploy as soon as I hit the atmosphere (if built correctly, torque from the drag also seems to help keep the craft oriented the right way), then drogue chutes that I deploy when the speed decreases to a safe level, then main chutes that I deploy when I'm close enough to the ground that I don't have to wait forever.

Heh, that's about what happened to me when I tried to land a similar habitat module on top of the munar arch.

Wasn't Lethe specifically supposed to be the river of oblivion and/or forgetfulness? e.g. you drink from it so you will forget all of your past life before you get reincarnated?

Orbital disco ball!

Kerbin having two moons is extremely useful for practicing advanced orbital maneuvers--it's like a mini solar system for figuring out how transfer orbits work. Even if it weren't so full of delicious science points, I still love messing around on Minmus because • the variety of landscapes make it visually interesting, • the low gravity makes for easy repeat landings (refueling from an orbital depot) and efficient fuel mining operations, • the flats are great landing zones and runways for spaceplanes (horizontal takeoff in a vacuum is awesome--bring your own lift) and of course • it's deliciously minty.

I love the modular design! The parking rail to accomodate multiple tankers is a great idea.

I haven't been to Dres since before 1.0, but I would imagine that the uniform flat orbital inclination would make them much easier to manage. Might be useful as a fueling depot for ships bound for Jool or Eeloo.

I imagine getting up to 16 km for "free" (those balloons do cost something) would save a layer or two of booster rockets, but the important thing is it would look cool.

I usually name spaceplanes after birds, rovers after mammals, interplanetary ships after mythological figures, and space stations after their function (Minmus Orbital Command, Duna Fuel Depot, etc.).

Shouldn't be. As far as I can tell, drills will create ore in any ore container on the same ship, and refineries will convert ore from any ore container on the same ship into fuel in any fuel tank on the same ship. The main choice you'll be making is how to split up the infrastructure: • lander with drills mining ore and taking it up to orbital refinery? • surface mine with drills, refinery in orbit, and tanker to carry ore from one to the other? • surface outpost with drills and refinery, pumping fuel directly into tanker which takes it up to orbit? • all-in-one supertanker that lands, mines ore, converts it to fuel, and returns to orbit? So many choices! Keep in mind that ore and fuel weigh the same, at least for now.

Move over first-person-shooter games; the era of the first-person-engineer game has begun!

I've been using it on some of my Spacebus designs--rockets intended to launch crew into orbit, rendezvous with a space station or interplanetary craft, transfer crew, wait around for crew to return, and take them back down to the surface. Radially attached engines means the bottom of the stack can be a heatshield. (Yes, I know bottom-of-the-stack engines make decent heatshields on their own; I didn't know that when I first designed it. I keep using it because I like the way it looks and it works just fine for its intended purpose.) Side-mounted engines also work well when the bottom of the stack needs something else on it, such as a docking port or a harpoon gun or whatever..

Neat. Reminds me of some of Arthur C. Clarke's early short stories about space travel.

I used to just delete debris from the tracking station, but in this version (I usually start a new career game with each major release) I decided not to do that. Instead, I've been trying to minimize orbital debris from launches (jettisoning empty or nearly-empty stages while still sub-orbital whenever possible), and using a small two-seat ship with a harpoon gun (thanks, KIS/KAS!) to tow any existing debris onto sub-orbital trajectories for disposal. It's been an interesting challenge and a lot of fun; I've reduced the debris count from nearly a hundred to about 20; and I've become much better at arranging rendezvous with little ∆v cost.

No problem; just send up a small probe with a matching docking port and a parachute. Modular re-entry!

You don't have to go all the way back to the space center; you can check in the crew info button on the far right edge of the map screen (the view needs to be focused on your ship, of course). The "Kerbal Inventory System" mod also displays each kerbal's job in his or her inventory window, if I remember correctly. That being said, it would be nice to have, I don't know, different color uniforms or patches on the spacesuit sleeves or something.

I've had a lot of success designing small spaceships with spaceplane parts and bilateral symmetry instead of radial symmetry. One of my favorites so far is the H-Wing, which I've been using to grab bits of debris from previous launches and tow them into sub-orbital trajectories for disposal. (The equipment crate and the harpoon gun are from KIS/KAS; the rest is all stock.)