Bill Phil

Yeah. Part of why SLS is so bad is that they had to use old hardware, and just couldn't get away with it. SRBs? Redesigned. ET? Redesigned into a brand new core with a different structure and plumbing set up. The old hardware puts too many limitations on the design. Hell, even the SSMEs they have aren't all identical, and have different performance values on a per engine basis... There are even pressure issues due to the height of the tanks in the core. Not to mention that it's underpowered.

Stop insulting those of us who like this song! /terrible joke SLS could've been alright, but it's been delayed so much that it's not really going to help anything...

Well, Q thrusters can do it, as can photon rockets. They just create tiny amounts of thrust for massive energy expenditure, and aren't reaction-less. Even this system described isn't reaction-less. Reactions are happening, just of a different sort.

As far as I recall it makes some assumptions that may not be very helpful. Mass and acceleration are always changing during a burn...

Maybe something like Gustav Holst's "The Planets," with a theme for each planet? Could have cool fade ins/outs based on distance. I'm thinking something inspired by "Jupiter" for Jool, fading in when you enter Jool's SOI, and fading out when you're close to leaving it, maybe even having small variants for the moons, like changing different aspects to invoke different feelings for the different moons. Like Bop could be slightly eerie (there is a dead Kraken on it, after all), Laythe can be serene, and so on.

One (cheaty) way to minimize the error here is to put the lander on the ground using cheats (can you do that?) and record the numbers... Then just revert to VAB or something.

I wouldn't be so quick to jump to conclusions. Although it's certainly possible that it's not going to do anything. Remember that NASA is a jobs program. It cannot lose the race. All that will happen is they use SLS, FH, NG, as well as the BFR, if those prove their worth. I think a good option would be nuclear thermal tugs like the old STS proposal. I would add more shielding and perhaps longer lifetime...

Simple, but expensive, solution: bring more ships.

I have a sneeking suspicion that the usefulness of the station is, as of now, not apparent. Technically we don't need anything in space to do any mission, just build bigger and bigger rockets with better engines, or go straight to nuclear pulse. Single stage to Saturn and back. As an SLS manifest filler, it'll do its job. But what else could it do? Well, being able to reuse lunar landers would be good, and as far as I know the station is intended to be fairly mobile....

I usually just go into downloads and change up the queue.

Redstone could orbit payloads with upper stages (as Juno I). Not much mass though... You mean first manned orbital rocket? Atlas is a nice rocket though...

Even if they were, they run on solar power. And night happens about half the time in LEO. Although a chemical/nuclear tug could do the job.

SLS is actually a pretty cheap super heavy, all things considered. Not to launch, but to develop. Certainly expensive if BFR comes to fruition and succeeds in being cheap.

My favorite planet is Saturn and my favorite moon is Titan. Oh, for KSP? Jool and Laythe.

The plan was to increment development over time, flying Block 1 and building up to Block 2 through Block 1A or 1B. That plan was started something like five years ago or more, and assumed Block 1 would fly by 2017. As we all know, that didn't happen. By the time the delays started they should've cut their losses and abandoned Block 1. Also, Block 2 was intended to use advanced boosters. Although it'll probably never be built.

Yeah, but KSP is a released game. It's out of alpha/beta. If it was in that phase of development, sure, we would be the play testers. But that's no longer the case. We're customers. It's pretty obvious that KSP wasn't ready for 1.0. But it's too late now. Funnily enough I haven't run into too many problems. The occasional crash, but that's normal for me. The most stable version I ever played was 1.3.1...

I decided to send an SSTO to Laythe. Ambitious, I know. Well, at least for me, that is. I realized that this may not be possible without refueling, so I also launched a tanker. Then the two spacecraft rendezvoused, and the tanker gave the SSTO enough propellant to get to Laythe, and then some. Then they separated and burned for Jool. The real purpose of this mission was to test out gravity assists in the Joolean moon system. I was able to get a Tylo encounter for both spacecraft long before entering Jool's SOI, although the trajectory needed tweaking. Luckily for me the two vehicles had encounters with Jool spaced quite far apart. I put the SSTO into Laythe orbit just days after the tanker entered the system. The gravity assists for the SSTO were somewhat troublesome, and eventually I gave up and just used an aerocapture to get the SSTO into Laythe orbit. 45 km did the trick just fine, although it did get a bit hot near the command pod. The tanker was much more lucky, though, and only needed a 50 m/s burn to capture into Laythe orbit after pulling off some maneuvers. The two spacecraft, after performing their celestial dance, once again met and exchanged propellant. This time, the tanker was completely dry afterwards. And I finally realized that I forgot to put ladders on my SSTO. Ouch. Well, no reason to not continue, I thought to myself. And so I did. The SSTO flew like a brick, and crashed, mostly intact, onto one of the islands of Laythe. Oh, well. Time for a rescue mission. All in all: Success. The real purpose of this endeavor was to experiment with Jool's moons. Gravity assists in the Jool system are actually kind of addicting. I will definitely do this for future missions. It saved a great deal of delta-v. Check out some pics (pic heavy):

Windows 8 is designed around a touchscreen much more so than 10. Starting from 7 will definitely cause problems. But if 10 is the default it's actually alright. Not perfect by any means and, of course, your mileage may vary.

Engine plates are freat. Should be stock, though.

I enjoy doing calculations. Even delta-v. But for KSP? It gets tedious. I'd love a delta-v readout. For VAB and in-flight. Others will have different preferences, inevitably. So, just like advanced tweakables, commnet, reentry heat, and more, it should be an option.

Something crashed. It was probably something as mundane as a balloon, but the possibility of an airplane, drone, or missile does exist. Still, aliens make good stories.

The liter is not an SI unit. It's interchangable though, and is accepted for use with SI units. Also, in America, model rocket motors are classed by total impulse. Usually in Newton-seconds. At least in my experience.

If only we could sort parts by size. If I recall, actually, we can.

True. Even so, it's worth adding in. The potential problems from having delta v be innacurate already exist to some extent in maneuver nodes.

The game also tells you how much delta v manuevers cost. But not how mucn you have...