dangerhamster

Sentinels are meant to be in a solar orbit, not around a planet/moon. If you push one out to escape Kerbin SOI wait for it to go into solar orbit and check again. Once tracking the context menu will tell you which bodies orbit they are watching. I currently have two up watching Kerbin and Duna orbits providing a nice little earner in career mode.

Following the runaway rover of doom incident a new design was sent to Minmus tasked to general runabout and contract work. Due to the width limit of the cargo bay it had to unload using a narrow wheel setup and have the bigger wheels fitted on site. The new wheels were fitted ASAP as it handled like a hippo on rollerskates..... Also brought along were containers of science equipment and a new antenna for the lander. With the new wheels it was time for a test run giving Bill in the replacement mining buggy a wide berth. Initial reports are that it works. Which is nice. Next is a jaunt to the lander to fit the antenna and do a contract that has come up for nearby.

A somewhat mixed day in the new career.... Crew training using the standard Bunny went well. With the deployment to Minmus of a mining buggy the Bunny can now do a full Mun/Minmus tour in one mission with the possibility of dipping into Kerbol orbit for that pesky 3rd star. Although at the moment that mission is running from KSC using an overpowered monstrosity known as the Flinger. I'm not saying this thing is a tad overspecified but when thanks to some ham fisted astrogation it ended up returning to Kerbin in a retrograde orbit it still had enough DV to reverse the orbit to the customary direction and establish in LKO with 1K DV to spare.... The feshly minted 3 star crew then took a lander to Minmus for some science hoovering whilst another crew did the moons tour taking along a gravity meter netting just under 2k science in one mission. Kerching. With the lander in place Bill in the mining buggy was asked to top up the tanks. However during the 10 km jaunt he got a little carried away and things went south rapidly. With the crew of the lander franticly trying to find the section in their flight manuals dealing with being hit by a ballistic rover at 30m/s whilst the driver screams " it's all right I've got it" Bill took discretion over valour and bailed out. With the stricken rover bouncing off over the horizon Bill managed to bring himself under control and made several landings before coming to rest a couple of km beyond the lander. After a lonely trudge explaining to everyone how a badger ran out in front of him the lander crew eventually let him in after disabling all their flight controls and engines. Luckily a couple of asteroid tracking contract completions mean the hardware can be replaced and in future a brick will be placed under the throttle pedal of any rovers deployed to low grav moons, Or have Bill in them.

As a bit of light relief from the expanding Duna mission I started a new career save mostly to practice early career (prep for 1.1). Currently at the kill billionaires fly tourists to orbit stage. So I took my old newbie designed tourist bus and tried to maximize income with it taking stuff off, trimming the ablator oh and changing everything behind the pointy bit. Turns out it may have been "slightly" over engineered as the Launchpad ready cost went down by just under 2/3rds. Ermahgawd. On the science side I decided to build an orbital deployment system to place a rover in each of the Kerbin biomes except for the ocean (hopefully). The idea being that after the initial survey and recovery of the crew the rover would remain in situ to attract those tedious but profitable "conduct survey near stupid probe" contacts. Test flying proved the concept. And the need for a tad more stability. Although at the time I really should have spotted the derp moment waiting to happen...... Not sure if this is that efficient a way of lowering the CoG slightly but it looks good. With a full suborbital lob the system performed flawlessly.......... Right up to the point where numpty decided to lose the weight of the heatshield forgetting that it was staged with the parachute. Ooooops. Staging sequence sorted it just remains to tack on a first stage to give enough oomph for orbit.

Damm it I just traded 60k science for spenderoonies...... meh.

The increasingly "parochial" attitude of the Duna dirtside team has led to increased priority being given to bringing a crew rotation system into place. Thanks to data from the Deliverance landings a simulator has been developed to allow risk free testing without waiting for those annoying transfer windows etc. The Super Bunny DEV ( Duna Excursion Vehicle ) has now lost its main chute and gained a nose docking port as the tests showed it was quite capable of landing using just drogue chutes and a tad more power. As it is meant to be refuelled dirtside this is not a problem. Further tests to see if removing the drogues is possible are planned. Simulations were also carried out using the MOAR ( Modular Orbital Assistance Rocket ) system designed to be field assembled from palletised kits. Whilst everyone agrees it looks good some feel that 250 m/s isn't worth a Deliverance mission whilst others point out you could take a lifetime supply of parts in one go or stick a few kits on the back of another mission. The jury is currently out on this one. Probably watching the A Team for inspiration. On the actual getting it there front the DEV was mated to the business end of a Chelonean and successfully flown ( shown without fairings for clarity ). The system is designed to shuttle between Minmus and Duna with the DEV refuelled at both ends and the transfer vehicle at Minmus. In clear example of mission creep a crew bus and hab were unveiled. The bus is intended to ferry crews to and from the DEV and with its containerised pack of science equipment can also carry out contracts leaving the Science Bus on site. The hab doubles as an extra battery/solar farm with the panels ground deployed so they don't spoil the view.

Chelonean 3 arrived in the vicinity of Duna without having to avoid splatting into Ike. For once. With ample Dv on hand they decided to set up for a flyby of Duna before orbiting Ike. A quick lap of Ike later they burned again to go into a wide orbit of Duna. This brought the crew up to 4 star level, although they would have to wait for their spiffy new shoulder pips. Curious as to the welfare of their compatriots on the ground powerful cameras scoured the area they landed. Nearly 30 km away they finally spotted them. It appears they were expecting company..... Rumours that the message was spelt out with potatoes have been denied by mission control. The groundpounders new spirit of independence may have been caused by the arrival of another Deliverance carrying a mobile fuel store. They weren't told that the mission almost took a nasty turn when just before de-orbit control noticed a severe lack of Dv in the final stage. Turns out some helpful soul back on Kerbin prefilled the cargo with fuel... plus points to the design team that the craft still performed flawlessly up to that point but minus several million to the payload dept . Luckily the transfer stage hadn't staged so control was able to pump the excess fuel into that and use it for initial the de-orbit burn. Unaware of this the ground team were gratified to pick up the Deliverances transponder signal only 6km away. Ribbas took the Ickle Miner out to the site and performed the now traditional ceremony of the swapping of the solar panels.

Don't worry about that, I took a lab out filled it with 500 processed science and returned it to Kerbin. Not realising I was supposed to transmit the data.......

Did you transmit the data from the lab perchance? The contracts require raw data rather than processed, a quick crew report will do the job even if it has no science value. Strange but true.

Sideways. Into a crater rim. Screaming. First successful landing was Minmus as were the next million or so until I had the confidence to try again.

On Duna the Science Bus team moved out to the east following a rising ore reading, after 10km they realised they had forgotten to hitch up the miner..... One collective shrug later they elected to carry on sure that the miners auto navigation unit would home in on any flags they planted. With the heady wine of irresponsibility coursing though the team Ribbas decided to turn the wick up and see what the bus would do. At a shade over 32 m/s actually slowing down became a problem due to the wheels spending very little time in contact with the ground. Oh and there were some complaints from the back about expensive gear headbutting the scientists. Back at Kerbin a steady flow of craft have been declaring mission completed,equipment problems and in one case lack of deodorant as a reason to RTB. This may have something to do with the increase in crews being trained to 3 star level. The crew of Orbcam 3 who are already 3 star are rightly miffed at this but restrained themselves to observing that it was difficult to take nice pictures with all the clownshoes zipping across their telescope.

Science Buggy landed on Duna. The control probe was cunningly programmed to find a sloped site to help the KerbalFlop payload delivery technique.... Once clear of the Deliverance the scientists set about calibrating their widgets whilst the engineer went out to kick the tyres (and sneakily become the first Kerbal to walk on Duna). He soon called them out to watch the sunset. Whilst basking in the glory their unspoken thought was "what if they forget about us?". Their fears were allayed somewhat by the arrival of another Deliverance. Which appeared to have found a flat bit. It turned out to contain the Ickle Miner designed to top off a landers tanks. Experimenting with towing the miner they were surprised to receive a message congratulating them on starting an outpost and carrying out a docking. Go figure. Caravan club membership sorted they returned to the Deliverance to liberate some solar panels so the gigantors only have to be deployed once they park up. Meanwhile back home the Chelonean Mk3 was launched and met up with an auxiliary tank. Next stop is Minmus to fill the aux tank.

The errant crew of Chelonean Mk2 returned to Kerbin to a background of comments on launchpad safety. During the transfer Leeree somehow managed to turn the engine on resulting in a graceful bellyflop back into atmo which even Jeb in the rescue ship was unable to stop. Mainly due to being busy "securing" Leeree with space tape. Back at base the first dirtside component of the Duna mission was unveiled. The Science Bus with 2 scientists and an engineer on board is tasked with gathering science and scouting for landing locations for a possible mining mission. Launched in a modified Deliverance class they were packed off to Minmus to top up the tanks and set themselves up at the edge of Kerbins SOI.

Two competing designs have emerged for the lander component of the Duna mission. The Fizzbomb 1 has the advantage of fuel commonality with the mothership, but the committee feels it may be overspecified in some places and under in others. The Super Bunny made a good impression thanks to its good looks and clever use of the Kaprikorn One film set.

A spate of activity at KSP as testing prototypes of the Duna and beyond lab takes place. Probe controlled versions were flung at (and later into) orbit before moving onto nuke engine burns, giving the design team the chance to work up a mission profile. A slight hiccup occurred when Leeree supposedly showing four compatriots around the Mk2 hit the big red button with his foot whilst trying to demonstrate how to eat an orange in freefall. Mission control gave a collective sigh and then suggested he try a few more buttons as they weren't in the mood to come and get them at the moment. Our errant Kerbals set up a burn for Minmus and just managed to achieve orbit whilst observing that the ship lacked "oooomph" with it's single engine. The designers sent them details of the dictionary page with the word prototype on. The crew salvaged some credibility by carrying out a practice docking with the Minmus orbital fuel truck and confirming that all the sticky out bits did indeed stick out. Opinion at base is divided on wether to let them go for a solar orbit or recall and sit in LKO..... Meanwhile the Mk3 made a successful flight and looks likely to be adopted for service, to the extent that simulations with a drop tank were carried out. This led to development of a launcher for the range extender (and anything else they may have forgotten.. lander perhaps?), although things did not run smoothly at first. Eventually a design evolved bringing interplanetary crewed travel a step closer. Although the idea of adding a lander has gained headway to the despair of the design team who have started openly wondering how long this thing will end up being..

That core has no reaction wheel and the RCS probably doesn't have enough oomph to make a difference. If you have a reaction wheel unlocked try fitting one.

Don't use steam myself, but I believe you can simply copy the game folder to a different location (outside the steam folder?) and play from there.

Getting hit in the face by bugs at 60 mph is bad enough.....

With Bunny 1 safely home after their training mission the crew of Bunny 2 competed their Minmus tasks and refuelled before heading out of Kerbin's SOI. "I don't know what the fuss is about, we had over 200 m/s left." Safely away with all crew actually inside the capsule this time they briefly went into a Kerbol orbit before burning for home. Instead of establishing in orbit before re-entry Leeree hot dogged it straight in, with a cry of "result!" they landed safely. When asked later if he had actually miscalculated his Pe over Kerbin Leeree mumbled something about chicken and wandered off. Leeree was promptly packed off to do a milk run LKO rescue mission using his newly acquired target hold ability whilst the others had some therapy thanks to his ability to take off with crew tethered to the ship and inability to ask others where the atmosphere starts. Smarting over the doubts of his fellows he snagged the stranded capsule and promptly set up a perfect return. With the stranded scientist still in her capsule..... Thanks to his monobraking system he was able to splash down safely but refused to open the door until witnesses had arrived. With Bunny 1 and 2 completed their are now a pilot, an engineer and 3 scientists available for the Duna mission. And Leeree. Who now has "Jenkins" on his helmet.

You could have a look at [removed link to defunct website], contains some nice service bays and other useful stuff. Although taller I don't think they are double height, you could use tweakscale to upsize them but might end up looking like a snake that's swallowed a beer keg. For fairly big stuff I've ended up using a disposable system based around the mk3 cargo bay. It lands vertically and simply does a graceful bellyflop for unloading. so much more elegant than strapping stuff outside... but at a greater cost. Final version above only needs the nose legs to hold her steady at a slight angle making driving out a breeze. The running gear on the rover comes from the Buffalo rover pack and with the wheels on the narrow setting fits perfectly. http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/index.php?/topic/122617-105-buffalo-nasa-inspired-msev-fly-like-jetman-yves-rossy-with-the-jetwing/ This kind of system is perfect for non atmo work but would need some beefing up to survive re-entry. Might also be worth looking at some of the structural packs for parts that could be repurposed.

A combination of the rescue of two scientist from orbit, a glut of contracts to spot asteroids and the sale of a metric ton of science found behind the sofa injected new fervour into the plan to actually go somewhere..... Thus was born the concept of the Duna Orbital Observation Machine. Since expecting even Kerbals to willingly blast of in something referred to as D.O.O.M the name was quickly changed to Project Rampaging Bull. This meant that some intensive crew training was required, after a Munar flyby in the orbital excursion vehicle with extra fuel strapped the newbies set off in the "Bunny" moon taxi. With the ample DV at hand they were able to orbit the Mun, exit back into Kerbins SOI and return with fuel to spare before topping off the tanks at the fuel truck waiting for them. They then went dirtside for the statutory "if you lean here it looks like you're pushing it" moment. They also took the time to test out the Kerbalsafe idiot proof EVA system before taking off to exit Muns SOI again. The next few minutes showed exactly why it is considered good practice to get a helmet count before hitting the go button.... With their shaken but not stirred (and slightly irate) comrade safely wound in the exit, refuel and landing to plant flags legs went off smoothly. They are currently in a wide Kerbin orbit setting up for a the Minmus flyby leg and teaching the pilot to count up to three and not just down from five.

I don't think KAS lets you flip parts in place once they have been attached. When you dismount them try placing them somewhere else if you can and then move them again to the desired location.

It's just an extending arm Rizzo. The manipulator rover suffered an existence failure earlier but due to not having a ground anchor system even rotating the base (in low grav)caused problems. I was working on a retrofit package but keep forgetting.... That's a very neat solution you have BTW.

Operation Beached Whale swung into action today. Like, totes interrupting Bills fave eppy of Kerbie Shore, like. Although still grumbling he set to with a will removing the docking port (which some idiot put on the wrong way round) and positioning connectors on the stranded fuel tank. Netrice brought up Utility one and connected the winch...... Suffice to say it was a partial success and resulted in Utility one being renamed "The little rover that sort of could". The incident was removed from the official records and filed under "don't do this". After some thought Netrice emplaced a ground winch powered from the rover whilst Bill checked if he could see his house from here. He couldn't. Slowly the tank was persuaded into position to a background of helpful hints from the control pod along with dire warnings of TV rights being revoked if it hit the solar array or his pod. Catastrophe failed to occur thanks to careful fingers on the controls and judicious siting of the winch. Gracefully it swung around before coming to rest in the position designated "that'll do 1". Hard work over it was simple to remove the transport package and plumb in. Job done our intrepid duo took some time out, Bill practiced his going up and coming down again whilst Netrice worked on her parallel parking.

A request to add fuel storage to the Minmus facility led to experiments with a delivery system capable of Kerbin return in a bid to cut down on the growing amount of scrap metal which is causing a slight eccentricity in Minmus orbit. Initial testing proved successful with the main body able to return home, although re-entry testing was not carried out. A slight miscalculation in the weight/available traction ratio meant that even with the fuel transferred to the return unit and sent on its way the tank couldn't be positioned. The question now is wether to simply stuff an orange tank in a Deliverance mk2 or pull the damm thing into position with a succession of ground winches.