Warzouz

I also had quite a hard time for reentering my SSTO MK2 plane. I had to pitch up/down/up/down/... to cancel overheating, efficient but not very "pleasant". Airbrakes were not usable as in 1.0.4.

In career, we are suppose to "progress". If SSTO (place or rockets) are easy to get early on, why bothering with the other stuff ? I find that quite well balanced. Further more, unlocking the whole tech tree is not "late-game", it's more mid-game. Except if things changed a lot in the tech tree between 1.0.4 and 1.0.5, you can fully unlock it only visiting Kerbin, Mun and Minmus, before the first Duna window which pops out around 30 kerbal days, if my memory doesn't fail me... Finally, we all lack stuff in the early tech tree. I'm very fond of large docking rings and large probe core which are also "late tech tree".

Airbrakes have been nerfed though. They can't really be used for increase drag on reentry.

Ascending overheating is more an issue than before (especially the MK2 cabine). Other than that, I don't see much difference. The ramjet seems to be much less efficient at low altitude. My SSTO has 2 Rapier and 1 ramjet. When returning home, only the ramjet is used, and usually at 1/4 thrust. In 1.0.5 I had to throttle at 100% just to keep speed above 200m/s.

Hmmm, first 1.0.5 test : - Airbrakes are much less useful, they burn very quickly. Maybe I'll remove them. - Engines overheats on reentry (but no blow). - Powered landing may not be as useful if splashing down (no damage at all at 12m/s, even flipping) But that was successful.

(I can't see you vids from here) Your rocket should mostly turn by itself up to 35km after you do a forced turn at around 50 to 100m/s. - If it flips : tails fins are to small - If it's hard to turn : tail fins are too big. Don't hesitate to use wing parts SAS is usually counter-productive at low altitude (it fights the natural gravity turn of you rocket and increases wobble). Use it only after 30/40km when aerodynamic has nearly no effect. Staged launchers are harder to use because TWR and aerodynamic change a lot at each stage. I prefer using SSTO rockets which I find easier to fly. Further more SSTO are easier to recover. Here is my generic SSTO launcher family from 15T to 600T payload (not 1.0.5 certified) http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/123195

I do a lot of SSTO rocket recovery in KSC east waters. I hops things will be easier

Tug is not trivial to build Here is how i do it 1- I Fully build my payload. The payload itself can have to dV 2- I Add a core engine block which will provide most of thrust except escape * 3- I Add booster because I don't like low TWR when quitting Kerbin (those boosters are usually heavy). * 4- Check dV with KER, 5- build fairing around payload 6- Add a launch to LKO stage (one of my recoverable ones) * For most target (except Moho), I only use one Rhino and a one tank. I don't rely much on LVN As Snark said, you should pile up some reaction wheels or Vernors or your ship will be a pain to move. Here is a 5700m/s tug to push a station of 70T around Moho (in addition to the 900m/s dV available in the station itself). It has a 8 LVN (in addition to the 4 station LVN which can provide thrust in that configuration) and 2 rhino (because I don't like low TWR to go to Moho). http://tof.canardpc.com/view/017d2bde-716d-4ca8-a3b2-050147fd4dff.jpg And Eeloo with a simplier interplanetary tug just ditched http://tof.canardpc.com/view/bed0d9ca-1299-4584-b1c1-611849fead44.jpg

Why do you say that using a tool doesn't increase knowledge. This is totally false ! Looking at what MJ does is a very efficient way to learn how to do something and even be better than the autopilot ! It's not that different than looking at a youtube video ! Even KER data can teach a lot to a player. With your point of view we shouldn't event using dV charts or read wiki tips. Are Scott Manley video cheats ? Should we even find the rocket equation ourselves ? KSP as many lacking systems : no dV display in VAB, no surface altitude in regular view mod, poorly designed interface (including manoeuvre nodes). Many mods are very logical holes fillers (especially many KER features, precise node, KAC) Of course going to the Mun without mod is easy, when you have few hours of game experience. But reaching Moho without "Precise Node" like mod to tweak the node parameters is more pain than accomplishment. KSP already has a very steep learning curve. Many mods lower the learning curve, they don't hinder you to climb as high with or without them. They just take players on a different path.

I' play KSP for 8 month now, I've been to every planetary body. But all those planets and natural satellites aren't as nice, some are painful. Personal dislike : - Bop : This huge chunk of rock is a pain to land on. Its x1 time warp set to 24km makes landing extremely looooonnnnnnggggg. That's sad because the landscape is quite nice and landing may be challenging because of many high slopes. - Gilly : The ultra low gravity combined to a timewarp limitation also makes landing very painful. It's a reduced Bop. Landings takes even longer ! Could be improved - Moho land texture seems more "artificial" than other bodies. It's mostly an impression. Landscape could have more distinctive features. - Duna biomes and landscape are very poor. Even Ike has much more biomes. It could have been reversed (8 biomes for Duna and 3 for Ike) - Laythe : sadly the nicest islands to land on don't have any direct sight on Jool. Jool is on the "mostly water" side. Few rocky features could have been nice though. Personal like - Eeloo : Quite easy to encounter, and nicely designed biomes. Exploration hops makes much sense there. - Minmus : nice place to learn landing manoeuvres, nice landscapes due to those flats. - Pol : Landscape, colors and scatter makes it very pleasant even with few biomes (which is logical for a small moon). - Eve : nice and challenging place. - Vall : nice looking place, from orbit and from surface. What's yours ?

You're right but your should add that mid/high TWR is mandatory for an efficient landing. If you have a low TWR, suicide burn might not work. You must buy some time by keeping vertical velocity under control. Of course this manoeuvre cost a lot in dV (+25/40% ?). I landed a 0.98 TWR ship on Tylo that way (starting from 30km). Also, if you deorbit from very low altitude, you're more prone to mountain crash, even with mid/high TWR. Don't forget F5 before attempt...

I think this is a mistake. We acknowledged that 8000m/s is a safe value (I had a 9400m/s ship and ended with 2900m/s left at 140km)

The simplest way I found is to use the "thrust offset" in KER. when the ship in unbalanced this value is not zero. I balance fuel until having a near zero value. Then it's nice to lock tanks to avoid unbalancing again.

I already add a part to a ship (a large dicking ring). It was in 1.0.4, but few month ago, I don't recall precisely My ship was around Minmus but I stick the docking ring the wrong way so it detached with the debris... I went to the VAB, fix the station, removed all the launchers and stage. I put it on the launch pad and did another save file. Then I when to a file editor and compared the two ships so I could find the added part. This is easy. _THEN_ you have to check for varying data in the part definition, especially identifiers probably responsible to part hierarchy. You have to change the added part data to the values of your existing station. I think there was 2 data to change. It worked the first time for me.

Yes, you're right. No planetary body orbit is retrograde in stock KSP

Here are some links : Calculating windows - Web : http://ksp.olex.biz/ - KAC mod : http://kerbal.curseforge.com/projects/kerbal-alarm-clock?gameCategorySlug=ksp-mods&projectID=220289 Calculating window and transfert - Web : http://alexmoon.github.io/ksp/ - Window planner mod : http://kerbal.curseforge.com/projects/transfer-window-planner?gameCategorySlug=ksp-mods&projectID=224116 As for tweaking node - Precise node : http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/47863-1-0-2-Precise-Node-1-1-3-Precisely-edit-your-maneuver-nodes - MechJeb Node editor feature. To get a nice encounter, I set grossly the node in the window and try to get an encounter as near as possible to the opposite side of the sun. This works usually well. Node edition tools also allow to shift time. If I fail to get an encounter, I add time to get to the next orbit, or few orbits. Shifting time that way is a very efficient way to reduce dV consumption. You can shift the node location until the PE is lower / AP is higher, THEN reduce prograde or retrograde burn to get desired PE/AP. That way you don't burn too much. As a result, I never care about phase angle, I simply get it right just by looking at the projected orbit. This is very easy when there is no inclination of the target body. But when there is, the best way to deal with it is to add another node at AN/DN before executing the first burn. Then you have to tweak both nodes to get a nice encounter. Again, probably not the most time efficient, but the easiest way I could find. After the first burn, I reset the inclination burn or do a correction burn to get the nice PE in target SOI. I did few trips to Moho that way, which is supposed to be the hardest navigation. I use those nodes in Kerbal Alarm Clock to be warned of incoming manoeuvres, so I can do other things in between. I usually have at least 2 or 3 missions at the same time.

You can also add a drogue chute which can be open at 700m/s on Kerbin. It's not very useful on other bodies (maybe on laythe) but very efficient on Kerbin. You need only one (or 2 for symmetry), even for really heavy ships (tested up to 450 tons). On Duna : regular chutes can be open at 700m/s which is nearly low orbit orbital velocity. On Eve : atmo will slow you down at less than 100m/s without any chute, if you survive the heat... Air brakes are also very useful to slow down.

KSP has a large place for improvement of its sound design.

Well, this is not that hard. I use Mechjeb, but not for encounter calculation. I even find that MJ doesn't do a good job at it. When I went to Moho, MJ calculated a horrible encounter which cost a LOT of fuel on arrival. I reloaded and did it myself, it was quite well in the charts. How I do it : - Use KAC / Alexmoon to find a launch window to target - Launch to LKO 1 week before (Kerbal time) to have time to set a correct encounter and because KAC is not very precise. - Set a node and tweak it using Precise Node or MJ Node Editor - Search for encounter around the window - If inclination, set a second node to get a real encounter. It doesn't have to be a perfect encounter, it's just to check your first node will give you an encounter. Features I use a lot in MJ - Node editing (that should be stock) to fine tweak nodes. Very usefull to go to Moho - Node execution : very useful when you have a lots of missions flying at the same time. - Rendez-vous : because I'm lame at it... - Data display (even I prefer KER, I use both)

Once, I landed a probe on Eve Poles. It had chutes, so I couldn't control the target location. It landed behind a mountain : the sun was never visible to recharge the probe. I could only send a temp scan...

After rereading the OP, I figured the station fuel state may not be too clear: Take off, interplanetary stage The station, the miner and already docked ships don't have any oxidizer or RCS. Only the Miner has a little bit of RCS. Liquid Fuel is fully fuelled. All craft files are in this state. Self propelled interplanetary The station miner uses all the liquid fuel to get to targeted body orbit. At destination Station should be empty of fuel, Miner should be partially empty. The miner has only the needed fuel to land, mine and come back to the station. Partially refuelled Miner should be fully refuelled for another trip, the RCS and liquid + oxidizer tank reserves for landers and return vehicles Fully refuelled All tanks are full, even ore tanks can be partially full. The station don't have to be THAT full. Recommended skeleton crew : one scientist and one engineer should be onboard at all time for maximum efficiency.

Also, "Kerbal Alarm Clock" KAC mod adds some auto-save and quick-save back-up

The link I gave you is quite well detailed. http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/132464 Pitch : The space station is plugged to a mining lander. This lander is also the engine of the station (so the station is movable for interplanetary travel). The lander only drills and bring back or to the station where it's refined. The station is designed to refuel science landers the fuel capacity is not huge (an orange tank). This allow multiple science missions to most bodies. Jool station passing by Tylo / Jool Station orbiting Vall / Moho station in orbit I may not be the most fuel efficient design, but it's simple and efficient for exploration.

Here is the Salamander Exploration Space Station. There are quite a lot of charts... http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/132464

There is no "flat" adapter 2.5 to 3.75 nor "fuelled" adapters.