MaverickSawyer

If you do opt to go for a dive in the Buffalo... might want to pack a nuclear reactor. The water thrusters are extremely EC hungry.

I'd recommend Minmus. Lower gravity and the Flats make for easier landing or construction of larger bases.

I suspect that hardware will play a factor... I'm using an old laptop that's really not suited for gaming, and KSP does push its memory limits and processing power pretty hard. Your computer is probably a lot better than mine.

Made it! Stigmun and Hamlin drove the Jalopy over to the base of the tower, did some science, and watched a Munar eclipse as the sun went down. Not bad for an hour's work. They're planning on spending the night on the island, then coming back early tomorrow morning, refueling at the KSC, and setting off to the north.

... Nope nope nope. Not doing ANYTHING in my main KSP save tomorrow.

Hmm... I've found in my own time-intensive adventures that long periods of time at "real time" is a significant source of issues. After over an hour, it's a matter of when, not if, the Kraken comes to visit and/or my game locks up. I'm not sure why, but it's definitely a thing... And I'm suspicious that may be part of the issues you're facing, Triop.

The Communotron 88-88 isn't a relay dish... It's direct connection only. You need to add a relay dish capable of communication with Kerbin to control the HG-5-equipped probe.

Well, the map is complete, so Phase 2 can begin! Hamlin Kerman, on the left, is the scientist and navigator for the mission. Stigmun, on the right, is the driver and the mechanic. And we're off! First stop was to kick around the KSC to check all the systems for issues. A few notable ones were found, chief among them that something was blocking the crew from reaching the aft bay with the science instruments. I think I've got it straightened out now, but I haven't checked it yet. Too excited to get on the road. So, without further ado... to the water! As I type this, I'm about a third of the way to the island. I'll keep y'all posted as things progress.

Could be that they made part of the combustion chamber out of copper. After all, it's a darn fine thermal conductor.

Just tested this and yep, the probe is now rock solid. Maneuver plotted and executed without issue. Thank you much. You just helped me salvage the mission from certain doom.

I think the Kraken follows all such unusual endeavors, just to see how badly they can mess things up for us enterprising individuals.

Jaffa... KREE!

Dang. I'll have to check that out.

Ladies, gentlekerbals, and children of all ages... I have done it. I have built a rocket, in the field, and successfully flown it to a targeted orbit and deployed a useful payload. Phase 1 of Stigmun's Folly is now complete! Let's get caught up on the events of the day... The crew, rested and ready to get on with the mission, flew one last delivery run to the Desert Airstrip with the rocket and the fuel rover... Again, wasn't able to achieve as efficient as a cruise as I would have liked, but I made it with enough fuel to make the trip back. After landing, the first order of business was to defuel the first stage's lower tank so that it could be moved to the pad. Apparently, the Kraken took offense to this level of safety and decided to trash four of the six wheels of the fuel tanker after offloading the fuel into it.... That was considered acceptable for the time being, as the fuel itself was safe. The lower part of the stage was then carted over and stacked on the pad without further issue. It was also discovered that the upper stage, if split into engine and tank, could be handled safely without defueling. So, Stigmun unloaded them and started over to the pad, only to corner too hard dodging a jakrabbit and rolled the rover. The payload and tanks were fine... but the rover could not be righted safely. Attempts to do so otherwise promptly resulted in the destruction of the two remaining rear wheels on the cargo rover I'd left behind the last time I was there... Thankfully, the locals chipped in a near-identical unit to help the effort... largely to get Stigmun and company out of their hair once and for all. Likewise, they allowed the team to use their own fuel rover to unload the first stage's upper tank so it could be driven over to the pad. This was done without issue, and Stigmun was able to stack the rest of the rocket without issue. This new string of success apparently angered the Kraken again, who ate the rear pair of wheels on the new fuel rover as retribution shortly after the fuel from the first wrecked rover got transferred over to the new one. Stigmun... well, I'll show you, as a picture is worth a thousand words: Couldn't agree with you more, buddy. *headdesk* Thankfully, some clever reuse of existing parts and rovers allowed Stigmun to move the now-empty fuel tank from the first fuel rover over to the cargo rover, along with the parts needed to pump the fuel. A careful transfer of fuel (and a quicksave/quickload) later, the impromptu tanker delivered the last of the fuel Stigmun removed the last of the umbilicals and beat a hasty retreat back to the ops building, where he waited until sunset. After all, this is a mapping satellite, which needs a large amount of power for such a small thing. Sun-synchronous (or as close as it gets in KSP) is a must. The launch, thankfully, had only one hiccup... The Mechjeb autopilot cut out right as the engines lit and the vehicle decoupled from the pad. I had anticipated this and was able to promptly restart the autopilot, and the rest of the ascent was normal. Final orbit: I am extremely happy with how well that went, to be completely honest. I never thought it would be easy, but that was... actually pretty painless, loss of Jeb and Bill notwithstanding. Took a lot of time, both in-game and IRL, and caused me to nearly rage quit several times after repeated visits from our tentacled friend, but that part's done. Now, to wait for the map to generate, then I can move on to Phase 2... the main road trip. I've come up with a basic route, subject to change as biome information becomes available, but it'll give you an idea of my plan. Please forgive the shoddy Paint work... all I have is a mouse, and it's poorly suited for such work... Oh, and zoom in. Otherwise, it just looks like a regular map.

Hmm... Just tried recycling a few parts via a WBI MOLE habitat module... It discarded the parts, but I got no Materials Kits from them. The module in question was deployed before I installed the latest dev version of OSE.

Just got to the mid-course correction maneuver on my orbiter mission to Eve, and I noticed that, upon switching to the vessel, the dV readout of the maneuver node was changing all on its own. I have no RCS firing, no engines running, nothing. I then checked the map view, and lo and behold, the orbit was shifting all on its own. I have no clue what's causing this, and I'm going to lose the mission if I can't figure this out, and fast. It's already shifted to the point where the intercept of Eve is now merely a close approach (I.E. no SoI shift). Has anyone encountered this before, and if so, how do I solve it?

Oooohhhh... So THAT'S what that was about. Heh.

I think it has to do with the fact that I had them in a Buffalo rover cab, which has something called "Airpark". I had enabled that, so... *shrugs* Lesson learned.

Mostly worked on Stigmun's Folly, but I did launch a new module for my LKO station, as well as some extra scientists for it... Also trimmed the orbit so that it's exactly circular (to within a few centimeters) and perfectly equatorial. Launched a radar mapping satellite to Duna, as well as a second transmission-only science lander. I have a sample return lander lined up and ready to fly, but I'm waiting just a bit longer to cut down on the dV requirements... It's able to do the mission, but it'll be tight if I launch it now. If I wait a few more weeks, it'll have plenty of dV to spare.

One final update for tonight... I did load the rocket parts and a refueling rover into the Mallard's cargo hold, and loaded the rocket with propellant. I figured that's probably the best way to transport it rather than loading up a bunch of extra tanks just for the trip. I also refueled the Mallard proper. However, while awaiting daylight (and allowing a Duna mission to put some time behind it before launching the next one), Jeb and Bill's refueling rover vanished from the parking lot outside the Administration Building... with them still inside. The game has them logged as KIA, so god only knows what happened, but I'm running Permadeath, so... they're not coming back. First time in a long time I've suffered a legit LOCV (Loss Of Crew and Vehicle). That wraps up the antics for today. We'll see if I can get to work tomorrow, as there's almost 14 cm of fresh snow on the ground right now, and it's still falling...

Higher density, for lack of a better description. The shuttle was pretty heavy compared to its volume, while the Starship, on reentry, will be fairly low mass relative to its volume.

Okay, time to go- ... Nope, not going out today. Nuh-uh. So, more progress was made on Phase 1... Loaded in a replacement set of parts for those that got snapped up by the janitorial crew and proceeded to stage the rocket parts near the SPH... Loaded up the tower for the launch pad... Fueled the Mallard up with the help of Bill and Jeb... And shipped out for the Desert Airstrip once again. Stigmun opted to put together the base of the launchpad first... Several of the outer pieces are missing due to the loss of a cargo canister... it rolled off the platform and exploded violently upon striking the ground. However, the pad seems stable enough as it is, so we're not going to replace the missing parts. After finishing the pad, Stigmun took the tower out of the Mallard and delivered it to the pad. After nearly an hour of work, the pad was finally ready to receive the rocket, which will fly out on the next mission... The surviving cargo canisters were loaded aboard the Mallard, while the rover was left behind to make room for the next flight's cargo. A nominal return flight followed, and the team returned to the KSC just before sundown... All in all, an extremely productive hop. Next flight will be delivering the rocket, its propellants, and the propellant tanker to the airstrip, then stacking, fueling, and launching the rocket. After that, I just need to wait for the mapping satellite to do its job. Easy enough, as the Duna launch window is currently fast approaching, and I'm launching a number of missions a little early to spread them out over the arrival window.

In sandbox, stations are only useful as caches for supplies. In science mode, they're invaluable as a source of extra science... Especially if you add the WBI MOLE kit to the mix. In career mode, it depends heavily on your contracts.

Huh. Now THAT's an odd shape!