Clipperride

The part count isn't too critical (within reason), which is one reason why I keep away from mods. The basic game with medium/low graphics settings can cope with a couple of hundred parts. It's interesting to see how others players put those stick parts together to create something unique.

These Microthrusters from NASA take precision position holding to a whole new level. The increment between levels of thrust is just 0.1 micronewton! Interesting piece from Phys.org PS makes caps lock look a little silly in comparison!

I want to make something that looks like a good sized base with stock parts. Of course, docking the bits together might be an issue unless I can find somewhere really flat!

Ahh, thank you @bewing. That will account for that difference as the un-crewed lander with the rover was in orbit a while as I transported the engineer and scientists in their own separate launch. A day each to get to the Moon = the mysterious 2 day difference in MET.

There is something odd happening - playing a different save and noticed my Mun Rover Mission Elapsed Time reads 62 days, but the lander stage that delivered it there has an MET of 60 days. Could it have anything to do with the game sometimes slowing (timer going yellow) making the time spent with an active stage slightly longer than one out of physics range?

Hey, there's a launch window for Duna coming up fairly soon and I'm looking for inspiration for my first ever Duna Base. Looking around on line there are lots of nice looking configurations, but they mostly make use of mods. As I play on an aging laptop, I like to keep things stock (apart from Better Burn Time) to keep performance up. I'd be grateful if you could post some pics of your stock missions to Duna, especially those including a base, so I can steal get some new ideas. Cheers, Clipper.

@MR.Mac please ignore - tablet browser won't let me delete the "at" grrrrrrr. In other news, I tried (for the first time) adding nose cones to the back of my space plans engines to see how it reduced drag. I flew the same (well similar as it was done manually) ascent with and without the addition and was surprised by the difference. Without fuel/ox remaining by LKO was 840/538 and with 949/672. Quite a saving!

Thanks for the suggestion @WanderingKid, but that doesn't seem to fit what I'm seeing. In just over 3 days the lab has produced a little under 200 science points. It seems the MET is a day shorter than it should be. Obviously I'm happy about the extra points, but confused as to where that day went to!

Never, ever, set set an action group to jettison the heat shield (one day you will hit the wrong key and blow àn otherwise promising mission)!

Until last night I'd assumed that, when two ships dock the Mission Elapsed Time would be equal to the MET of the ship that had been flying the longest. For example, when a landing craft leaves an orbital lab, the landers MET starts when you undock and (seems) to return to the Labs MET when it redocks. But then I noticed that my orbital labs had produced more science points than its MET x points per day. Which means it must have been orbiting longer than the MET suggests. Does anyone know how the game produces the elapses time for a space station made up of multiple parts, launched over a period of days? I know it's a very minor issue, but it's bugging the heck out of me!

You might also want to take a look at the excellent (IMO) Better Burn Time from @Snark The mod takes into account the change in mass caused by burning propellant as your fire your engines, which gives a far more accurate result. It's also nice and small so doesn't effect game performance, even on my ageing laptop. One other thing I find really useful is that it takes account of the engines "Thrust Limiter" setting (one of the tweakables when right clicking an engine). I find that really handy for small velocity changes. As a bonus it also gives you a closest approach/burn time as you get near another (targeted) vessel and a time to impact/burn time when approaching the ground. The only thing it doesn't cover (which was a design decision that helps keep the mod small) is staging during a burn. I avoid most mods as my system can struggle a little playing KSP, but I'm a complete convert to Better Burn Time. Edit - just noticed the date on the original post, but the above info may well help others with the same issue

@MR.Mac. Loving the design of your boosters on that big rocket! I may have to steal develop something similar myself. Nice work.

Bob - Command Central, this is Friendship 4. We have a problem. Jeb - Booooob, This is CapCom. You say you've had a problem? Bob - Command Central, this is Friendship 4. No I said we have a problem. And you know that isn't my call sign. *mutter* Jeb - Looking at my briefing notes it says "Scientist Boob will head up the "Science Processing Lab" delivery mission and then continue experimentation on the Munar surface." Says it right here in front of me Boob. Bob - Command Central, this is Friendship 4. I'm guessing it says that in biro? Jeb - Sorry Boob, you're breaking up little there. What's the problem? Bob - We are about to reconfigure the orbiting refuelling outpost to include the Lab, but it seems that the Lab section has neither a command pod or probe core. Jeb - That'll teach you to fly scientist only missions without me! I wonder how that could have possibly happened? I hope no one snuck into the VAB and altered the design specs? Bob - Command Central, this is Friendship 4. Is there anyone else that could Kerbal the CapCom? Jeb - Nope. It's Vals birthday, so everyone else has slipped off down the pub. I'm only here because I over slept and no one bothered to come wake me. Bob - Disregard CapCom, I'll dock the return vessel to the lab and work round the issue that way. Friendship 4 Out. Jeb - Love you. Oh and that snack resupply mission may be a little delayed. Have fun Boobie. Bob - Jeb, I really hate you sometimes............ Snack launch overload.... Reconfigured LMO base. (With lander and return vessel) Not sure if that's her name or a character trait?

I still do Thanks to the second hand book sellers on Amazon-UK I've been re-reading the "Scott Saunders Space Adventures" by the late Sir Patrick Moore. The language and stereotypes may be rather outdated these days, but he did base his fiction on real science. I've also become fascinated by his early pre-space age, popular astronomy books. Just to see how much our knowledge of the Universe in general and our Solar System in particular has changed since the early 1950's. Vegetation on Mars was considered pretty much certain and artist impressions of the Moon were full of sharp, jagged mountains.

After deciding my original Mun Hopper (with in orbital refuelling stage) was a little too marginal for my liking - I decided to build something with a little more leeway for Biome hopping. It was hoped that this configuration would allow for a last minute change of landing location should a steep slope appear. It has a return to Kerbin section at the top with the lander below. Originally named "Friendship 4", in honour of the original Kerbanauts, Jeb (who was somewhat annoyed that this mission, once again, required the scientific skill of Bob rather than his own unique skill set) sneaked in, just before the fairing was fitted, with a can of spray paint and re-christened it "Bibbly Bobbly Bookins". Sadly no one noticed as the vehicle was transferred to the launch pad With various bits and bobs still in Munar orbit after previous attempts at building an effective Biome Hopper, the CLAW was also dispatched to mop up the remaining fuel before docking with the refuelling stage from my last mission. Once all the pieces of this hodge-podge project were assembled, it was time to send Bob down to the Muns surface to start the science project Bob made several successful landings in different biomes, collecting data and ignoring Jebs taunts over the relay satellites. The attached Experiment Storage Pod allows for a "collect all" data action group. Even though "collect all" appears on the command modules list of actions, it doesn't seem to work out in the field. We are pleased to report that, on each return to orbit to refuel, Bob was able to dock with the refuel stage within half an orbit of liftoff. With much science collected, it was time to transfer it over to the return vehicle, undock and then use the attached probe core to redock the lander ready for the scheduled arrival of the orbital Science lab. The return trip was looking nominal until some "time warp weirdness" occurred. After setting the apoapsis to 29,503 m Bob came out of time warp at around 200 km altitude to jettison the tank and engine to reveal the heat shied. Hitting the ">" key, Bob waited for the 70,000 m re-entry interface only to see it speed past. By the time control was regained, the returning ship was well past apoapsis and heading back out to Munar distance. With the only control being down to the reaction wheels, he had to spend a couple of days drifting until returning back to Kerbin. This time everything went to plan and medals and snacks were handed out for close on 2000 science points. Even Jeb seemed pleased that several new parts will be available after this science haul.

Sounds like you'd enjoy the Praxis Manned Spaceflight Log 1961 - 2006 (if it's not already on your bookshelf/e-reader). That should keep you busy for years! What inspires me? One of my earliest memories is the tension surrounding the return of the Apollo 13 astronauts and I vividly remember following the last 3 Moon landings. Children's astronomy books at the time were full of predictions about what would be possible by the turn of the Millennium - holidays on the Moon, A base on Mars etc. Sadly the authors of those books turned out to be overly optimistic! I've spent years studying early spaceflight (1957-1975/ Sputnik 1 to ASTP) and have written a couple of articles on the subject. I was aware of KSP for a while, but about a year ago I inherited a laptop that was capable of actually playing it. I usually play in Science Mode because I like to set my own goals and missions. I'm finally (virtually) building the things those children's books promised me I'd see. And I love it!

Yesterday was one of those "Doh!" - Revert Flight days. After the success of my low tech Minmus Biome Hopper, I thought I would see how it faired in the higher gravity environs of the Mun. Minmus Biome Hopper (Full Stack) The Lander After touching down in the Farside Crater followed by a sub-orbital hop to the Polar Crater, the drop tanks were empty, so Bob headed home for snacks and medals. In order to gain more science in a single mission, I build myself a lander with a lot more fuel and sent that towards the Mun. As I entered the Muns SOI, I realised that I had forgotten to fit any relay antennas and, as Scientist Bob was driving, I reverted back to VAB for a fix. Despite a pretty much perfect launch the first time, the next attempt resulted in a flip, due to turning to quickly at too low an altitude. Revert. Then a couple of launches got to LKO, but with a lot less propellant remaining than the initial attempt. Revert, revert. Another flip followed. Revert. A fresh cup of tea helped me guide the next launch out of the atmosphere, but for some strange reason, rather than hitting "0" to trigger the fairing ejection action group, I hit the space bar and watched as a load of unburnt fuel and oxidiser drifted away. Revert and much cursing. Then success! Or so, I thought. As, after landing, I realised my new craft was way too heavy and returning to orbit would burn most of what remained in the tanks. Certainly not enough for "biome hopping". Revert. I went back to a light lander design, with an over powered transfer stage and docking port for refuelling the lander. That launched cleanly, but a lack of batteries on the transfer/refueling stage and absence of RCS on the lander led to another revert and fix. Finally everything looked good. The refuelling stage was suitably equipped and the lander was nice and light. It was at this point I learnt that Kerb Net (which I use to find the elevation of my landing zone) requires a signal back to Kerbin!?! (My previouse 1.2 game saw me launch satellites around both Mun and Minmus as soon as I could, so it hadn't been an issue before) So, I gave up on landing and spent another hour or two positioning 3 relay satellites around the Mun. The 3 satellites were launched on a single rocket which deployed them with just one incident. After releasing the final relay, I went to map view to start tweaking it's final orbit when I heard a "bang". I hadn't moved far enough away from the launch vechile and had hit it at some speed. Luckily the only damage to the satellite was to one of the solar panels smashed into its component parts. I had fitted 2 to keep things balanced which should be enough to keep it online. Moral of the story? Double check your vechile has the parts needed for the planned mission before heading to the launch pad!

I tend to build larger rovers based on a Cupola attached to a Mobile Processing Lab. It isn't going to survive rolling over, so frequent quicksaves are the order of the day. When building for a Kerbin tour, I also like to add some liquid fuel and a jet engine, for adding some speed on the flatter stretches. The picture below shows my recent Mun Rover, which doesn't have jets, but shows the basic concepts. Happy Touring

Cheers. There are so many ways to play KSP and new ways to solve the challenges it provides. Thats why we love it so

I like playing Science Mode. Mainly because it still gives you the tech tree to unlock but without all that flying snotty nose tourists around to earn enough to do the things I enjoy most. I have played Career Mode, so I am able to build reasonably efficient launch vechiles, rather than solving problems by simply building bigger. I usually take my time, sending individual missions to the various Minmus Biomes before exploring the Mun and finishing off the tech nodes with an orbital lab or two. The only problem with that is, by the time I've finished, it's the middle of year 2 and the next Duna Launch Window is well over a year away. Instead of fast forwarding time, I end up building some bases, doing some mining and setting myself a driving challenge or two. Having finished my first play through since the 1.2 release, I decided it was time for something different - send a flotilla of ships to Duna when the first window opens up on Year 1 Day 236. So, today I've set about being more efficient when collecting science points. After a couple of launches, I built myself a little buggy to mine points from the Space Centre and surrounding area. I was surprised to find that, even with just the thermometer, pressure sensor, goo canister and material observations (plus samples and reports), you can easily get over 250 points to play with. Although, it would have been much easier if I'd taken the time to balance the small aeroplane wheels so the wrenching thing held something approaching a straight line! Add in a quick Mun fly by for my first orbital flight and by Day 4 I was ready to explore Minmus. A few (ok 4, which was probably overkill) HG-5 High Gain Antennas were enough to keep in contact with Kerbin and make up for Bob Kerman's lack of piloting experience. I arrived in Minmus orbit with enough fuel to hit all the Flats as well as the Lowlands, before returning home with 2600+ points. I could have squeezed in another couple of biomes, but it was getting late and I prefer taking a probe core with me, to let me know the elevation of the ground below. A similar Mun mission tomorrow should see most of the technology I want opened up with plenty of time left to start working on my Duna ships. Looks like it will be easier than I thought to get enough tech for a reasonable base and exploration craft! Gotta love Kerbal Space Program

Which part is troubling you? Are you able to get your two ships within <2km? Or is it the final approach and actual docking that's the problem?

Thank you for the answers. And for confirming that pushing in the opposite handle does give you slightly finer control. I thought it did, but wasn't sure! I might try turning up the sensitivity of my mouse, so a larger movement is needed for the same effect. For most burns I do, as suggested, tweak the final orbit with either RCS or turn down the main engine to 1% thrust. But it's still a little annoying when you go to make a small adjustment and then see the resulting orbit disappear out of your target SOI completely!

Is there a way to make fine adjustments to a maneuvere node?

Bit of an old one, but the craziest survivable accident is definitely....... Once a long enough ladder was found, the crew made it home in time for snacks and medals.

Sorry for the mess in the quote box above, when posting on a tablet editing can be a real issue! Hopefully a quick blast from your RCS will be enough to stop any motion and keep your lander where it is.