E. F. Kranz

But how much more black can it get? ... that\'s right. None more black.

Gahd I love that.

Yeah, it sucks. Also, no 2X roving.

I definitely didn\'t edit anything. I was time-warping to get the moon in the right position, when I noticed this tiny little 'orbit' out in the middle of nothing. For the record, I\'d just started a new persistence file. I dunno what it was, but when I dropped out of time warp, it disappeared.

Just noticed this slim blue circle out in the middle of nowhere. Does anybody else see this?

I didn\'t download your craft, but you should be aware: all KSP parts are made out of TNT.

Yeah, it happens.

That\'s more or less how I got to Minmus the first time.

I design my craft to minimize debris. Fairings and other expendable parts should be jettisoned before you make orbit. Small retro rockets are useful for making sure lower stages don\'t end up hanging around in orbit. Upper stages should have more fuel than necessary, and you should ditch them at times when they will impact a body. If I have to leave something in space, I consider it a failure.

Overlapping parts. Gotta realize, it\'s not the visible parts themselves, but the collision meshes which are 1. colliding, and 2. invisible. EDIT: And now, wait. Why are you using three ASAS units? The ASAS is the brain. The SAS is the brawn. (yall feel free to steal that)

What are yall doing that requires this much precision? Typically, I eyeball it. Burning at either -apsis, I cut the engine when the apo and epi are 90 degrees opposed to my ship\'s location. If the difference is <1km, I\'m satisfied. If I\'m bored, maybe I\'ll straighten it up a little bit.

Hit ESC, then End Flight. Nerd. ;D

Random comment on /.

Neat. I must be retarded or something, because I can\'t get any of the 6-way connecting nodes to work anymore.

It\'s tough, because there are three distinct flight modes. 1. Orbiter, with external tank and SRBs attached. 2. Orbiter, with external tank attached. 3. Orbiter. It takes a lot of work (and planning) to control a craft through those three modes. Took me several hours to balance this design and learn to fly it. It will make orbit without ever touching a drop of its onboard fuel.

I\'ll just leave this here. Made it about a week ago. No notes or narration, just a straight up round trip.

Launches fine, here.

I normally don\'t do the 'stock only' stuff - frankly, I don\'t see the point. But I decided to see if I could make an orbital space plane out of stock parts. This is what I got: It ain\'t pretty, and I haven\'t tested it in full except to make orbit, which it will do. Launch procedure: Hold brake, throttle to full, stage jets, let loose of brake as engines come up to power. As you approach the end of the runway, stage solid rocket assist. Pull up to about 55 degrees, jettison srb\'s as they run out. Proceed to ~18km altitude. When airspeed tops out, stage rocket engine. Pull up to 80 degrees. Watch airflow of jets, disable them when <10. Proceed to ~50km altitude. Push down to horizon, throttle at full, and hang on! Note: the final decoupler will detach your rocket engine. I.... don\'t think you should do that.

Are we talking about spaceplanes that take off from the runway? Or does a spaceplane that launches vertically from the launch pad count?

Put all engines on the same plane (as in planar).

Remove the retro rockets from your re-entry stage. They aren\'t necessary, and worse, they, like every other KSP part, are constructed of pure dynamite.

Sure! Watch you vertical descent rate, keep it <5 at touchdown. Keep your speed as low as possible. Keep your wings level (good luck - hope you have a joystick and a steady hand).

I\'ve never been able to glide in. Period. So for me, powered is the only way to go.

\'X\' kills the throttle.

I\'ve never used MechJeb. I do the 'stop and drop' routine. At around 20km altitude (depending on the craft), I start my retro burn. I keep the craft oriented against the retro marker. At 150m/s or so, you\'ll notice that the retro marker starts to move towards straight up. Follow it. (the marker is moving because your craft is now falling down as fast or faster as it is moving 'sideways.') As your speed approaches 0m/s, cut the engine. Check the map view, your 'orbit' should now be straight down. From there on, it\'s relatively simple. I usually let my craft work up a speed of about 100m/s, then I burn it down to 30m/s or so. Wash, rinse, repeat. So long as you stay on the retro marker, you will not gain any lateral motion.