AlphaMensae

Did you get that to work? I tried to make one like that too, but the thrust torque just increases until it flips out of control. I then realized that the tank is draining from the front to the back, because it's in a horizontal orientation and the game doesn't take that into account. I solved the problem by using two tanks, with one flipped 180 degrees, and a pair of engines on each tank. Balanced out the engines and it worked fine, I made a large rover-lander version that got into Kerbin orbit and back.

I just love the Rhino! I have used it for its intended purpose as an upper stage for big payloads, but now I downsize it with Tweakscale (the 1.25m version has a mass of .577 and 128.3 kN thrust )and use it on all my large rover-landers and supersized non-LV-N landers. Like this: Then I unintentionally made a SSTO lander rocket using one standard Rhino and a Kerbodyne 14400 tank, which I use as a crewsupply shuttle to service orbiting ships: A larger 7-Kerbal version with more supply capacity needed some SRBs, of course I used Space Y SRBs (it's so ridiculously overpowered). I feel the same way, I'm not interested in building a Scott Manley-esque floppy monstrosity, I'm building my IP ships around a single huge LF tank and launching it fully-assembled and fueled into orbit.

Very good, and here's a jumbo version with over 5300 m/s DV plus a lifter (using only 2.5m parts) to get it into orbit. The lifter is all Mainsails including the upper stage. Yeah, it could have been asparagus-staged, but I usually don't bother with that. And it ought to have used the 3.75m parts, but JackBush doesn't have those yet.

You're welcome! I'm still in my 1.04 Science Mode save, and actually did go to Minmus first for a big science-mining mission that unlocked the rest of the (stock) tech tree (did some earlier one-off landings there and on the Mun too as well as some probes to Eve and Duna, plus I science-mined the KSC). I think I used an Apollo-style mothership-lander combo, refueled in orbit and then went back down for more science. I think I had all the instruments by then, and went to every biome on Minmus (each of the flat areas is its own biome), and came back with something like 4000+ (or was it 6000?) Science. Since you do have the Mainsail, you can use a better lifter: This uses a Mainsail as the core engine, a Skipper and Rockomax-32 tank as the kick stage (enough to send it to the Mun or Minmus), plus two Skippers in the radial boosters. Add two more of those boosters and you'll have over 9700 m/s total DV. I didn't have KER when I was doing my Minmus/Mun missions, so I had no idea what my rockets were actually capable of--could have gone to Duna.

I've been a long, long fan of Stewart Cowley's Terran Trade Authority books, and that thing immediately reminded me of many of the images used in those books, especially the work of Peter Elson, and this image in particular: It's because it's so...round and non-standard.

Yeah, I guess it's a bit more than a "basic" model, it's the higher trim level with more options. The other two instruments are the negative gravioli detector and the seismic accelerometer. All the really huge craters on the Mun are a separate biome and they're surrounded by Highlands and/or Midlands biomes. So all you have to do is land in one of those big craters then jump outside it, then maybe to another big crater, and you'll have visited three biomes just like that. Heh, I quickly built something similiar for a lifter. https://imgur.com/a/KLkl6 (For some reason inserting the Imgur album here was resulting in low-res versions of the pictures, so here's the direct link to the album with launch pictures) Also uses a Skipper, Poodle and 4 Thumper SRBs. Probably could of put a larger tank with the Poodle to send the lander all the way to the Mun, now it just gets into Kerbin orbit with about 160 DV left.

Yup, you only need the one scientist so you really only need the 1-man pod or lander can. You'll have to do an EVA to collect the data from the Science Jr. and other instruments. Here's a basic "standard model" 1-man ship/lander combo (the pod and science package separates for re-entry) using the Mk 1 pod: As you can see from the Kerbal Engineer Redux readout (a must-have mod if you get nothing else), it has over 4200 m/s of delta-V. That's enough to get to the Mun and orbit, land, do a short hop or two to another biome, get back into oribit and return to Kerbin. Build a rocket to get it into orbit; if you have the 2.5m parts in the tech tree then it will be easy, just use the orange tank as a core and add appropiate engines and radial boosters/SRBs. You should be able to send the ship to the Mun and even into Munar orbit without using any of its own fuel, thus extending your surface time.

That's the Kerbal way! Still less than what I used as a radial booster to lift some of my fully-assembled and fueled 5000+ ton interplanetary ships into Kerbin orbit. 20,439 tons!

Playing around with some different rover-lander (my term for rovers that function as all-up landers) designs, plus a new LV-N drop-lander: The little one is a modified version of something I already had, with fewer parts and a whole lot more delta-V. Has a full science package. Started out as a command seat on a 4x4 panel...then it grew. Like the 200% wheels. The big one resulted after I realized what I was doing wrong with horizontal-tank rover-landers--need to use two tanks, with one being flipped 180 degrees, rather than just one, so the fuel drains evenly. With that problem fixed, I built this that got into Kerbin orbit and then successfully landed. I was designing a whole series of rover-landers built around a central vertical tank (usually a disc one from Fuel Tanks Plus), now I have another option.

I also used to use the HDMs (sometimes Tweakscaled to 200%) along with sepratons with big radial boosters, but now I use Space Y's aerodynamics ones with built-in sepratons. The Triple-Packed one especially just about launches big SRBs away, and they'll even handle stacks with multiple 5m tanks and a 5m Mammoth all by themselves. Along wth KJR, I don't even need to strut big SRBs and only have to put a couple or so on 5m+ radial stacks.

That works for me as well. Still annoying though. I went with editing subassembly descriptions. May I add one more to this list? Loading quicksaves (Alt F9) gives you a nice list box to choose from. Saving a named quicksave (Alt F5) though does not.

I didn't know it was odd to bring the labs to other planets. My "next gen" IP ships have two labs (my Jool ship will probably have four) and I ran into that problem while pre-loading some data into one of the ships (still in Kerbin orbit) from Mun test flights. Solved it by transferring the lab crew elsewhere so the lab was inactive, was able load data into the empty lab. This is still in 1.04.

I'm still in my 1.04 Science save (I'll switch to 1.05 when I start Career mode) and had unlocked the stock tech tree without any mods, leaving me with about 1600 science leftover. So I started extensive designing and planning for manned interplanetary missions, then decided to add some mods. Nothing fancy, just KER, RCS Build Aid, Tweakscale, KJR and MJ, plus the parts mods Fuel Tanks Plus and Space Y. The I remembered Porkjet's Atomic Age, with the Nuclear Lighbulb, and that became the basis for all my plans. Turned out that adding that mod (which also added Community Tech Tree) and Space Y gave me several 1500 Science nodes to unlock. I used all of my leftover science to get the LightBulb, then scrounged around for more science from an orbiting lab and a few quickie missions to get the first two wrap-around radiators. That left me with the nuclear turbojet (eyeing that for my Eve lander) and a bunch of Space Y stuff that needed 1500 science each to unlock. So in order to get some science and to test out the Lightbulb, I decided to science mine the areas of the Mun that I haven't been to before, of which there were still quite a few of them. So I built this: And this: The lander has 4 stock and unmodified LV-Ns and gets over 7500 DV, and has enough TWR to take off from Duna (1.15 atmo). I've been making chemical rocket-powered landers, but this just might be my go-to design for most of the Kerbol system. The transfer ship was really just a throwaway testbed for the Lightbulb (I sorta "forgot" to add an RCS tank for resupply), it's not even manned. The engine has been upsized to 3.75m for higher TWR, and the radiators are the Size 2 ones also upsized to 3.75m (no idea if they perform the same as the actual Size 3 ones) wrapped around a 3.75m tank from FTP. So on my Mun mission Kellock Kermin has made about 12 landings with only one refueling. Some of the sites I already had been to before, but there there was still some science left to get (especially with the Gravioli detector, which I didn't have on my early Mun missions). Now in the process to getting back to Kerbin. More pics here:

Getting back to my regular super-sized Tylo lander, I finally came up with a design that did indeed successfully land on Tylo from a 35km orbit and get back into orbit during a test using HyperEdit. Here are the pictures: It has chutes since it's also meant to be a Laythe lander as well (now testing there). Most of the parts are stock execpt the Rhinos and LT-2 struts have been Tweakscaled; the disc tanks are from FTP, and one of them has been changed as well. Probably didn't need the FL-T800 tanks but I added them for a bit of extra DV. It has Mechjeb as well, since I use it now for missions involving lots of landings, re-orbiting, rendezvous and dockings to cut out the drudgery. I ended up using MJ on a later landing attempt as my earlier landings doing iy myself wasted too much fuel--didn't have enough to get back into orbit. MJ proved that the DV numbers were in fact enough to land and reorbit. The ship that will be taking the baby to Jool (and elsewhere) will be using Porkjet's Nuclear Lightbulb(s) (upsized) and a really huge LF tank from FTP, so I won't be worried about DV in that regard, or TWR either, as I plan on .5 minimum from Kerbin orbit.

Speaking of rovers, I'm also designing a series of super to megasized rovers that can function as a full reusable lander. They all share the same basic format, and range in mass from 20t to over 400. That big one is meant for Tylo and Laythe, and has 4800 m/s DV. This is it on Tylo (decided to use HyperEdit so I can test it out): The central tank is a stock Ketbodyne 3600 upsized to 7m using Tweakscale, the others are from Fuel Tanks Plus (the disc tanks also upsized). Four slightly-changed Rhinos and one stock areospike are the engines. The wheels are 315% normal size, and the lights and 4K battery also are upsized. It drives real nicely on Tylo, accelerates on flat ground to about 26 m/s. Unfortunately, I ended up with only about 900 DV left from a starting altitude of 32,000 m, so more tweaking (heh) is needed.

Timely topic as I'm currently desgining my own Tylo and Laythe single-stage landers, or rather a lander that ideally can do either world. I'm in science mode and unlocked the whole stock tech tree without mods, but now making use of a few key mods, one of the main ones being Tweakscale so my designs aren't pure stock (I'm planning to use 7.5 and 10m versions of Porkjet's Nucelear Lightbulb for next-gen interplanetary ships, so you can see what I'm aiming for--no minimalism, it's go big or go home). Anyway, my rough-draft lander uses a central Kerbodyne 3600 tank upsized to 5m, with 4 stock 3600's attached radially and 4 Rhinos downsized to 1.8m. Payload is the Mk2 lander can, with a 2.5m service bay with a science jr and full load of instruments on the bottom (for ease of access and to protect the science package from Laythe entry heating, though I do pretty gentle atmo descents anyway), plus a 4K battery and 2 stock RTGs, and probably 4 mk16XL chutes; landing is on 4 LT-2 struts upsized by 125%. There's also the 2.5m docking port, 8 RCS quads and the FL-R13 RCS fuel tank from FTP KER stats show an intial Tylo TWR of 1.16 and a DV of 5642 m/s with a mass of 167.3 t. This baby already can quite easily get into Kerbin orbit (with the engines upsized just a bit) with plenty of DV to spare, so I'm not worried about Laythe, but is it enough to land and take off from Tylo with enough DV left to rendevous with the mothership (or a tug--like the sound of that idea)? I'm still tweaking the design.

I support this too, and this is one of the few things I use Tweakscale for. I too am currently setting up a nuclear-engined interplanetary ship (with a nuclear-engined lander carrying a large re-dockable rover), and my first draft used the standard LFO tanks. Then I thought "there has to be a better way" and decided to get Tweakscale. It works great with the LV-N engines too, my current "final" design has a main 5m LF tank (over 28,000 LF)) with 3 3.75m LV-N engines attached with modular girder segments. The fully-loaded ship+lander has a DV of over 7,000 and an intitial TWR of .53.