Starhawk

This question about Add-ons to KSP has been moved to the Add-on Discussion section of the forum.

When you build a rocket using a single stage, you will face severely diminishing returns as fuel/engines are added to the craft. In order to deal with this, one builds in stages, creating a craft with sections that are used up and thrown away. Generally, each stage that is discarded (staged away) is quite a bit larger than the one above it. This can be easily seen in the case of a rocket like the real-life Saturn V. Kerbin is much smaller than Earth and this results in a much smaller velocity needed to achieve low orbit. This means that the ships can be much smaller than RL rockets, but staging is generally still required in order to create craft that can make orbit, let alone go anywhere significant after that. There is much much more to say on this topic, but that will give you a general idea to get started with. Good luck and ... Happy landings!

Allow me to welcome you to the forum again. Yes, it is truly amazing. The learning curve is somewhat steep, however. We have a very informed and helpful community to assist with that learning curve. Happy landings!

This is a simple example of an arrangement I like to use. This allows for a lot of space between craft, and the longer you make the tubes, the larger the craft that can be accommodated. Happy landings!

Hi Lankspace, and welcome to the forum. We do, indeed, have an introduction thread. It's here: Or, you can start your own thread in the Welcome Aboard section of the forum. Happy landings!

Moved from KSP Discussion.

A few posts which began life in another thread have been merged into this one since this is the place for discussions of version 1.6 Thanks for your understanding.

This discussion relating to an add-on has been moved to the Add-on Discussions section of the forum.

This fan work has been moved to the Fan Works section of the forum.

Congratulations on being chosen as one of our Threads of the Month ! Happy landings!

Congratulations on being chosen as one of our Threads of the Month ! Happy landings!

Congratulations on being chosen as one of our Threads of the Month ! Happy landings!

Congratulations on being chosen as one of our Threads of the Month ! Happy landings!

As is customary on the first of each month, today we bring you a selection of the best threads from last month, but we confusingly use the name of this month. C'est la vie. Assisting me in selecting threads this month were @Poodmund, @Kerbalstar, and @Just Jim. @5thHorseman sets out a challenge in this thread that is both interesting and unique. By the time you complete this challenge you will have finished nine missions and landed everywhere in the solar system. In the Spacecraft Exchange @Makc_Gordon created this wonderful video showcasing a number of very creative recreations. This month we also highlight a mod thread from @damonvv I have never used this mod, but I love the look. And it has an excellent cinematic in the OP. Finally, we have one from Gameplay Questions. @Dihydrogen Monoxide asked a very timely question this month with the recent release of 'To Vee or Not to Vee'. Thank you to everyone who nominated a thread, and please keep the nominations coming. The easiest way is to just use the 'Report Post' button. Make sure to say that you are nominating a thread in the popup box. Happy landings!

OK, so the MOAR STRUTS thing is kind of an in-joke around here. If something doesn't move, but it's supposed to, you add MOAR BOOSTERS, and if something doesn't stay together, but it's supposed to, you add MOAR STRUTS. Now, joking aside... In the old days (pre 1.0) the aerodynamic model was extremely simplistic and struts were commonly used all over the place to hold things together. Nowadays, we have a much more sophisticated aero model and drag matters a lot. We also have something called autostruts. If 'Advanced Tweakables' is turned on in your settings you will get an autostrut option on the little part window that opens when you right-click a part (this is called the part action window, or PAW for short). Autostruts, used properly, can help immensely with holding things together. All that having been said, spaceplanes are some of the most difficult things to engineer in KSP. There are a lot of threads around about how to build them and get them to orbit. They require a lot of design and testing time. It's fun and exciting to build large and complex craft, but I recommend starting with small and simple. Pictures of the craft in question, uploaded to a free image server (such as imgur.com) and linked in a post here will allow others to see your craft and we can then dispense specific advice to address any problems with the craft design. Good luck! Happy landings!

This request for help playing the game has been moved to Gameplay Questions - the forum section where this sort of thing resides. Happy landings!

Hello RoyCreditor, and welcome to the KSP Forums. Happy landings!

A player after my own heart! In my saves, command chairs are for rovers. OTOH. This is a good point. And Tylo is a vacuum world. Not some place full of nasty atmo like Eve. Happy landings!

Some very general guidelines I used to use for smaller SSTO spaceplanes: 1 Rapier per 20 tonnes 1 lift per 4 tonnes 20 to 50% more LF than Ox (depends heavily on design and flight profile) These numbers change a bit for heavier craft. My current medium-heavy SSTO spaceplane carries a Jumbo 64 (orange tank) to 350 km orbit. It has 6 Big-S wings, fully fuelled, 6 rapiers and a bit more LF than oxidizer (6380 and 5500 units respectively not counting the orange tank) and masses 132 tonnes. Some design tips that I find very useful: Engineer the craft so that the wet and dry CoM are in the same place, or as close together as possible (the mod RCS Build Aid helps immensely with this) Add incidence to your wings Separate pitch and roll authority on different control surfaces - yaw control surfaces are unnecessary The smaller the craft, the more drag matters Happy landings!

I know this seemed like a lie because I was gone from the forum for such a long time. I always intended to continue this mission report. The adventures of KRRAKC will continue soon. I will, however, drop in a couple of shots from the descent of the Eve Rescuer during one of the many simulations. So, imagine that thing spinning as fast as I could get it going during all this. Yeah... As far as this part goes, there was an enormous nerf to the wheels between versions and they ended up using way more power than when I planned the mission. Happy landings!

The original post has been edited to remove the embedded log file. Hey @Roartalhuge embedded text files play complete havoc with our forum. Especially for mobile users. In order to prevent massive clogging when these pages load, the log file has been removed. Please upload it to a file hosting service and link to it here. Thanks for your understanding.

Your best bet might be to look at the Jool 5 Challenge thread. There should be lots of different Tylo lander designs in there. Happy landings!

Hello RockKrawler, and welcome to the forums! A motley group, indeed! Happy landings!

The quoted post has been edited to remove the embedded log file. Hey @egoego, huge embedded text files play complete havoc with our forum. Especially for mobile users. In order to prevent massive clogging when these pages load, the log file has been removed. Please upload it to a file hosting service and link to it here. Thanks for your understanding.

Hello MrSystems, and welcome to the forums! Interesting spreadsheet. Looking forward to seeing the release. Happy landings!