MaverickSawyer

That's kinda what I want to try for.

My plan is to do a flyby of Duna, then return home, akin to a real-world opposition-class mission to Mars. But, as I've never done such a mission before, I'm not even sure it's possible. (Just got home from class and KSP is loading now, so checking to see if it's possible at all is high on my priority list.) I've also got a Cassini-esque orbiter headed to Jool right now, and the plan with that is to run a bunch of slingshots and/or assists to reduce my dV expenditures to allow me to make as many flybys as possible, gathering data the entire time.

I'm currently just before the heart of my first Duna transfer window of my current save, and I'm eyeballing a crewed flyby mission. I've never attempted a flyby of anything other than the Mun, and even then it was more of "let's see what happens" than out of any real need, so... I'm not entirely sure how this is going to shake out. Does anyone have any experience with these kinds of missions, or better yet, with doing a flyby during that first Duna window? Any tips or advice would be much appreciated.

Other folks have already touched on the stock science parts, so I'll plug some of my personal favorite science mods... - DMagic Orbital Science provides a few new experiments for both orbit and surface uses. - Probes Plus! adds a few more versions of the DMOS parts in somewhat more compact packages, as well as a host of new probe parts and assorted accessories. - Bluedog Design Bureau adds a few new experiments early in the tech tree, along with a rather extensive selection of parts for spacecraft and launchers. These packs have been core parts of my game for a long time, and dramatically soften the science curve early in the game.

Ah, I see. Stupid mobile version of Imgur automatically cuts resolution. There's a couple of options missing from that menu, most importantly the "Link" option.

Can't see anything on the menu in that picture. Any chance you can up the resolution?

If it's not too difficult to implement, I'd go for it. If it'd be a pain to do, skip it.

Couple of good ones come from Schlock Mercenary's "Seventy Maxims of Maximally Effective Mercenaries"... 2. A sergeant in motion outranks a Lieutenant who doesn't know what's going on. (Consultation with IRL veterans has resulted in a more generalized "An NCO in motion outranks a clueless butterbar.") 3. An ordinance technician at a dead run outranks everyone. 14. "Mad Science" means never stopping to ask "what's the worst thing that could happen?" 17. The longer everything goes according to plan, the bigger the impending disaster. 29. The enemy of my enemy is my enemy's enemy; no more, no less. (An often forgotten lesson from life, no?) 31. Only cheaters prosper. (Alternately, "he who fights fairly, loses.") 32. Anything is amphibious if you can get it back out of the water. 35. That which does not kill you has made a tactical error. (Popular with the veteran community, that one. ) 41. "Do you have a backup?" means "I can't fix this." 70. Failure is not an option. It is mandatory. The option is whether or not to let failure be the last thing you do. And, finally, the most popular one of the bunch... Maxim #37: There is no "overkill". There is only "Open fire!" and "reload." Other assorted bits of wisdom I've accrued over the years... (insert profession here) training 101: NEVER. TAUNT. MURPHY. "A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky animals and you know it." Equipment that can't perform up to spec gets replaced. Equipment that won't perform gets abused until it will, or until it can't. (Field confirmation provided by numerous mechanics.) And finally, my rule for life: "Never argue with drunks, idiots, internet trolls, and/or conspiracy theorists. They'll simply drag you down to their level and beat you with experience."

LGG's got a point. If you make most of the ejection burn just to rendezvous with your fuel depot, then leave it topped off, you only need a small burn to complete the ejection. You'd be saving 150-250 m/s, compared to orbiting Minmus, as now you don't have to make the burn to eject from Minmus orbit.

I'm away from my computer right now, and will be for close to another 12 hours (hooray for retail wage slavery!), but they recently added the ability to name saves and select from them. I've seldom used that function, but I do know it's there.

You can have more than one save.

I use both Trajectories and MechJeb landing guidance prediction, and cross reference them. Then, I use RCS to adjust my entry as early as possible for rough corrections, and continue to fly the vehicle via RCS until around 650-700 m/s. After that, you're pretty much committed. I also set the parachutes to open fairly late, to minimize the displacement from the target point they generate.

Clean install of MOLE and Buffalo successfully cleared the fault. Thanks for the assistance.

Uh-oh. Guys? He made it off of Kerbin. We've got to get him back, otherwise he'll find Minmus, or worse... Duna.

Share 'em here, by all means. There's also the "Show off your awesome KSP pictures!" thread.

Question regarding the Buffalo omni-converter... I have tried twice, both in the VAB and on the launch pad, to configure the converter to see what it can make. Both times, I get a GUI window and nothing else. No options, no buttons, nothing. Can't even "X" out of it or drag it around the screen. Is this a bug, or am I missing something?

As well as better traction under less-than-ideal conditions like a wet deck, and better weight distribution across the suspension (if it has any).

I'd swing by the station. No sense taunting Murphy any more than absolutely necessary.

Really? So one should always trust management, without hesitation? That sounds hopelessly naive.

... Y'know, there are days... There are definitely days. Back on topic. I'm not saying that NASA is inferior or superior to companies like SpaceX. I am saying that they're making some decisions that are decidedly odd, to the point of raising serious questions about the possibility of a disconnect between management and reality, one that could well proven fatal to astronauts... Or, worse yet from the perspective of the people calling the shots, it could put a permanent end to their careers and aspirations. Maybe that's why they're slowballing SLS... So that they aren't the ones in the path of the metaphorical fertilizer striking the rotary impeller.

I'd argue you spent it VERY wisely!

Yes, you manually drag the slider over. As near as I can figure, each tick on the slider is 0.1 seconds. Ah. I'll have to update the subassemblies, then.

I've also seen it as the B-52 pilot going back and either getting a cup of coffee... or using the restroom.

Next batch of subassemblies has been completed... Should be posting them within the next few minutes. New Delta II 7320 and 7420, and a revised 7920 with more historically accurate staging: groundstarts eject in two sets of three instead of all at once. Timing is adjustable via a Smart Parts timer. As delivered, the timing should be ~0.5 seconds. An Atlas V 551 has also been made. I'm just going to make a Hangar for you guys over at KerbalX to browse through: https://kerbalx.com/hangars/54727 Side note... @CobaltWolf, @Jso... I noticed that the Daleth-K Interstage isn't sitting quite right... there's a slight gap between the top of the interstage and the bottom of the fairing plate. Nothing that can't be fixed via offset (the subassemblies I'm issuing have this fix, btw), but it was a change made in the last update.