mrclucks

I'd add one of the large reaction wheels on top of the second to last fuel tank in the middle. That should give you some more noticeable rotation when you have the large boosters and engines attached while being in a relatively good center of mass for most of your stages. Once you get down to the second to last stage, as far as tanks and engines are concerned, you'll have good enough rotation from the command pod to rotate without having to wait hours to do a 180. You could also clip some monopropellant tanks into that large middle stack and add some RCS thrusters on the bottom. Be warned that you may run our of RCS so you may just want to use it for the initial rotation and then quickly time warp to stop rotation when you're on or near the desired heading. The closer reaction wheels are to the center of mass the better they work, and the further RCS thrusters are from the center mass the better they work.

I may be wrong, but shouldn't the orbit pass behind the planet to slow down?

What's the point of using real world logic when we could use kerbal logic? Plus I like using engines that I can control the throttle on

This is a bad set of rules since I use fuel duct for practically every craft I make, even the .625 ones. Why stage with partially fueled tanks when you can have them full?

Play with life support, or dang it, they will certainly be a challenge

What the frazzile is that planet doing in a 90degree inclanation?!

This is probably what the OP wants After you detach you put it into orbit and then the mod allows you to 'revert' back to the plane where you can land it at your leisure and then go back to your payload which went into orbit. Scott Manley did a vdieo featuring this mod and stage recovery mod and he explains it alot better than I can

KER hands down. Knowing thrust and dv in space and at different altitudes, as well as knowing burn times, are critical to my rocket building. KAC comes pretty close as well as KJR, tweakscale and tweakable everything

I first used mechjeb to dock for me while building a space station and saw how slow and in efficient it was compared to the videos I saw of people docking with ease. I thought what the heck and researched on how, and thus I discovered the ijklhn keys. Now I use the keys for everything especially docking

Seeing as I test almost every stage of my rockets, I rarely forget it from the actual launch. If I was to test every single vehicle, ID need hyperedit for the Rovers, landers, and re-entry veichile for every atmospheric body that isn't kerbin

I have been playing for about a year now but I am still learning some of the intermediate and alot of the advance tips and tricks. Sandbox is typically where I will test out my new knowledge and skills and is also where I'll build up something or another. If I install remote tech, then I'll build up the kerbin system and then go interplanetary before sending all my kerbals to remote locations. Sometimes I just start making mini bases and adjusting with ore refineries, or space planes. Then there is career. I usually start with Max science, minimize fundsrisk and double funds rewards. Then I'll do a few missions to get a landing and return on both minmus and the mun(usually the same mission) so I can get some decent science. I like the whole unlocking the tech tree as well as some of the contracts that come through but I'm not a fan of having to worry much about funds. I tend to play semi efficient and semi brute force, which is why I build with about 50% more dv in each stage at least. No one should give hate to any of the modes because every one has their own play style and skill level which challenges people at different levels

Great guide! While while there are a few pretty efficient ways to launch, all users should be aware that these are more of a rule of thumb and should not be afraid of expirementing a little to figure out ways of having their particular rockets to orbit. I for one use a starting twr of around 1.2 but more than 1.05, do my slight nudge around 50m/s so I get to 10 degrees at 3km and around 45 degrees at15 km. I also use mech jeb to keep prograde starting from my kick(the nudge that starts the gravity turn) so it's efficient and also because it moves much more smoothly than stock SAS. All of that being said, I do sometimes muck about and launch with twr of 2 or greater with a much steeper angle, but that's only because I have come to understand how typical rockets behave under different conditions in ksp

When you embarrass yourself and desperately hit f9

Why would you stop by the mun for ice cream when minmus is ice cream??

That is exactly the reason why I started playing KSP. Binge watched to episode 83 or so and promptly downloaded it

This seems like you are actually going straight up instead of performing a gravity turn. If this is the case then you need to nudge your craft over a bit shortly after taking off(anywhere between 100m/s and right after launch depending on how much you nudge it) and then follow the prograde vector. This provides alot of the sideways momentum you need to establish an orbit and would reduce your circulation burn to a few hundred dv at most(30 m/s is my best). Look up gravity turns on YouTube and the forums and try out different methods a few times untill you get the feel for it and establish a method that is fairly reliable

Is there any way to actively or passively cool a parts skin temperature? As to the non folding radiators, I've flown an SSTO and had the cockpit explode, then added small nonfolding radiators on the side and flown the same ascent path and had it not explode. I had built a large mk3 SSTO spacesplane if that matters

If they are in fact misaligned and won't connect fully then you may just have to redesign and build it again. If they are all aligned properly but just won't dock, then you sometimes just have to undock the one that is docked and then it'll either dock both at the same time or you'll have to leave the nonreengage distance and try again

I get my lift stages to have at least 3300 m/s at ASL with a twr around 1.2 and then nudge over around 50m/s around 600m which should get me to 10 degrees at 3km and 45ish degrees at 15km. That being said my lifter stages usually have enough dv to be used as an initial transfer stage as well if they are not too unruly. Occasionally I'll build a rocket with a twr of at least 2 and tip over to 10 right as I'm taking off, however I am still aiming for 45 degrees at 15km since that is my magic number for me

I built an ISRU factory the other the day with 6 large drillers and 6 smaller convertors manned by two level 3 engineers and tested it on the launch pad. I find that they convert ore fairly quickly. They also seem not to overheat regardless if I have my radiators or solar panels deployed, however that will probably not be the case in a vacuum

I find that a SSTO with low twr can begin their speed run alot lower than higher twr SSTOs, even beginning right after takeoff and maintaining a 15-10 degree AoA. Higher twr vehicles need to start their speed run alot later so they don't burn up in the lower atmosphere going 500m/s(which has happened too many times to me). I would advise you to expirement with ascents in the same plane since all SSTOs are different and I usually spend a few hours trying several ascents, tweaking and then trying the ascents again. I agree with just Jim, KERs heat panel is a lifesaver on SSTO ascent and their descents as well.

While I'm not an SSTO master, I've built a few of them and landed(or at least reentered successfully). I do an AoA of 20 degrees at an PE of 40-35 km from the start and usually start skipping up around 50-45km where I'll either lower my AoA to -20 or 5 till I start coming back down. I'm nearing 20km around the ocean or the desert and will usually have to turn on my engines at the minimum to make it over the mountains. On the flip side if you're initial descent seems as if you will overshoot, you should combine pointing 15+ degrees down with 15+ degrees up to kill vertical speed faster so you can be low enough to land on or near the runway

I've seen videos of people almost rendezvousing from launch and have tried it a couple times myself. Wait untill the target is roughly 5degrees from you and do a standard launch, and then once you're out of the thick atmosphere you adjust by burning more towards the horizon if its closer or away from the horizon if it's further. Try to practice that a few times with a few variations to develop more of a knack of how to do that.

I agree that sandbox can be the most fun. If I start a career then I give myself a couple thousand science to get through the grind fest, then give myself ten million or so. I like the whole unlocking the tech tree after the 160/300 mark and having contracts to challenge myself, but if I want to give myself a different challenge while I'm working on a contract, I don't want something as silly as funds to get in the way

Sent a one way probe to Eve for the science (KAC alarm for fine tuning peripasis), sent two copies of scanning satellites around kerbin and minmus with all the Scansat equipment and the stock surveyor (mun is next), sent a hastly put together Rover to closely scan the densest ore field I can find and discovered that Rovers don't work very well on minimus, and finally built and kerbin tested the manned all in one ore transport/refiner/driller. Tomorrow I'll launch a quick science expedition (only 10 science away from the SR docking port), launch my ore vessel, start building my fuels depot around minmus, make a copy of my Eve science probe that can land in Duna (and possibly laythe), and possibly start making a mother ship for interplanetary travel