Coga19000

I wouldn't call it exactly scam. The time part was not exactly wrong, for every project of this scale has a weird mathematical equation: the schelduled time for the project shows that at that time, and all times before that, and all times around 5-7 years after that, the project is not going to happen. Mars One won't be the first to do that. As for the monetary issue, it does seem like there's an issue there. However, who knows? Maybe NASA starts to provide some support after sufficient progress is shown -and actually, if the Falcon Heavy is used, they already are. As for now, the equipment for Mars One seems quite advanced for a NPO. I never expected such a thing would go even this far without official govermental support. Well, it's quite possible that it will eventually collapse under its own weight, but I've seen enough projects like that succeed to not rest my case yet.

And yeah, I'm sure Tri-Couplers will help a bundle. Which tech are they in, and which branch should I get to reach them? I have at least two other people telling me to go to Minmus first, and to be frank, I;m not sure about it. It may be more forgiving, but 1. It's quite smaller, and thus easier to miss. 2. It has a slight inclination, which, unless I manage to acuire it during my gravity turn, will need extra fuel to align with. 3. Lower gravity means that, along with the extra delta-v needed to reach it, I'll have to burn quite some fuel to cnacel my excape velocity.

So, first attempt to land on the Mun using a rocket of my design -which is basically the same design for a variety of payloads, manned or not. (not posting it now because I'm on my laptop; I most likely will tomorrow.) It successfully reached orbit, which of course was not the problematic bit of the trip. On my burn to the Mun, though, I saw my remaining fuel to around 30%, and having missed the Mun, I aborted the landing (even if I had reached the Mun, I would not have enough fuel to get out of escape velocity, retrograde burn to land AND return.) I did get some Science from several passes from the periapse of my highly eccentrical orbit by EVA reports, though. Which also proved my main error at orbit-acquired science; EVA gets MANY more reports at orbit than Crew Reports for some reason (which seems nonsensical). I also found out the correct angle for EVAing my pilots; other times, if the ship was misangled, the nose would push away my Kerbal, and with my awful jetpack skills, it was bye-bye Jebadiah. I also found out that mods can give me a push as regards science. I got a nice chuck using SCANSat. So, does anybody know another mod that can generate science realistically and balancedly? (Except for Interstellar. It's a great mod, but the chances of my computer handling it without crashing are slimmer than it boosting itself and getting into orbit independent of other resources.

Whoa, I had no idea I would get that many replies in a couple days! Thank you so much of your replies. I think I'm going to use many of them in the near future. And seeing all those early-tech Munar rockets inspired me to start trying from now instead of just waiting for more advanced tech. It also seems like a thread people are happy to help at, and which could be useful for new players in general. Should I change it to answered, or just let it flow?

Just don't use Shielded Clamp-O-Trons. Unless you're using a mod that runs on the lines of Ferram Aerospace or Deadly Reentry, the only thing the shielded version does more is add mass and drag.

Yeah, but only if I use Asparagus staging. I try to keep things realistic enough, and most probably I'll download Ferram Aerospace soon enough.

I currently have up to General Rocketry, Electrics and Stability. The polar Orbit sounds like a brilliant idea, though. Why travel by yourself over the entire globe when the globe can rotate for you?

Yeah, ut I just cannot sem to understand low LKO and HKO science is supposed to work. I sem to be in the wrong altitude to get a "LKO over biome" research, and instead get a plain "LKO" research that currently gives menothing. Same goe for HKO> And I told you already that the current tech level of mine does most likely not allow me to reach the Mun.

I am currentyl playing Science Mode, and after some flights, I find it quite difficult to generate enough Science. Performing a Report on anything even once seems to deplete most science out of it, to the point that trying to perform it a second time seems counterproductive regarding the remains of science not yet drained. When it comes to biome research, it literally only works once before said biome becomes useless. I do think that actively trying to find more biomes will give me a boost, but the Science needed to conduct research on Mun seems more than what I can get from Kerbin. And suggestions? (I'm sorry in advance if said question makes me look like a complete newbie.)