Tiberius K

Thanks for that, I feel like the Kraken has a personality now. My Kraken is content in just wobbling rather than gobbling and thankfully KJR sent it packing. I think because I 'eyed' the rotation when docking the two identical solar panel banks I introduced the slight asymmetry. It is odd that there is no problem until reloading the craft though, surely the physics should be identical in both cases.

Thanks PLAD. My new mission is to make a kerballed Juno mission and re-supply it as it passes kerbin

Agreed, this is excellent. I will try this tonight. It would be fun to send a small rocket up to resupply snacks as it passes Kerbin. For reference here is the actual Juno slingshot: Juno actually encounters Jupiter after reaching a an Ap beyond the orbit.

Hi ferram, thanks for the reply. I loaded an earlier (higher altitude) save and followed it through to a successful landing and undocked the rover so all is well. I don't know if it is a bug with stock wheels or add-ons. I noticed it only happened when loading a save from within 5-6km altiude above the mun (when max time compression is10X), right as the KJR stiffening message appears and the overstress explosion occurs and looks to be about 1 craft length behind the craft. If you are still interested to investigate I can link to a craft file and save file, just let me know. I didn't automatically upload these because I have quite a lot of mods (interstellar, Dmagic Orbital Science etc etc) and didn't want to waste anyone's time getting the same mods running to load the craft for a bug that may or may not be related. Installing KJR saved that orbital station which was moshing like it was at a metal concert, it's now a picture of tranquility, so I'm really thankful for that and have clicked your yellow button.

I have a vessel with a stowed rover with 4 - Rovemax model S2 wheels (0.05 mass), 2 of which explode due to overstress when I reload a save approaching a burn to land on Mun. I'll try tweaking the MassForAdjustment setting to 0.05 unless anyone has a better idea?

Foxster and Stoney3K every time. I've never used a sepatron for anything other than scaring kerbals on the runway. If you just eye it so the decoupler is a little above what looks like the centre of drag of the shed boosters ... and use a single strut at the top to stop wobbling prior to decoupling you should be right if you are steady in your prograde marker. If your decoupled boosters are enormous you might want to use a hardpoint or the extended decoupler

I once banished Jeb to endless orbit because I was fed up of him showing up in craft that were supposed to be empty upon launch! He just sat there smirking for decades whilst the other kerbals reached for the stars... You might figure this out yourself the hard way but if you do get out and push leave enough EVA fuel to get back in your pod! You can also head back in to the pod to refill the EVA fuel from the mystery endless reservoir. Re-entry should be interesting because it'll take a lot of shallow dips into the atmosphere to bring that high Ap down enough for a final capture (or a lot of EVA pushing to get deeper in). I think the pod itself should be able to re-enter without exploding if you lower the Ap enough before the final capture (you don't always need a heat-shield). Part of the joy of this game though is to just experiment and see what happens. Well done on making orbit and returning Phoenix 2.5!

I use KER to save having to hand comp deltaV and I use visual and part add-ons but nothing that automates burns. I tell myself this is near-stock ... or not cheaty

With the current excitement around the Juno mission approaching Jupiter after its earth-gravity-assist journey there'll be a lot of people playing around in KSP with similar goals. One thing that always holds me back in my interplanetary craft design is an efficient transfer as I always feel it is something akin to blind luck whether a planned assist will actually be useful or not since it is very difficult to set-up with options we have. Before launch we can use an orbital satellite say to set-up a practice node, and we can even edit the set-up files to show a couple more SOI changes in the patched conics but how do we set-up an encounter with Kerbin from within the Kerbin SOI? For reference this is the Juno gravity assist & an awesome video filmed from Juno of the earth fly-by Two years after launching and heading out beyond the orbit of Mars Juno returns to encounter earth again giving it the extra Kinetic Energy required to reach Jupiter. I know that there are a lot of complexities in achieving this, and KSP is just a game after-all, but so much has already been achieved with the 'Map' screen in making previously impossible concepts easily visualized and achievable that I wonder if there is some way I don't know. I've seen some videos of people setting up elaborate gravity assists that take 10's of years and minimal burns using precise node and Mechjeb ... but what can we do in stock (or near-stock)? Are there any tricks I don't know about? Improbable 34 stage wobbling skyscraper rockets screaming their way obnoxiously through atmosphere are fun and all ... but a trim efficient design can be much more satisfying.

I wonder if my issue is connected. I have an issue with banks of solar panels shaking uncontrollably after re-loading the craft. I posted about it here There is absolutely no vibration until I leave the craft then return to it. My best guess at the moment is some weird feedback loop caused by the tiny rotation of solar panels

Hello, Problem: Sadness caused by horrific vibration of vessels caused by ridiculous wobbling of OX-4L 1x6 solar panels. SAS disengaged I spent an enjoyable session adding solar panels to my LKO station using the smaller not retractable panels (gigantors not unlocked yet), docked my tug and left Jeb to admire his handywork. Next session I 'fly'my station from the docking station and watch in horror as the neat banks of panels start to wobble uncontrollably looking like they should tear off. The station is torquing about 2 or 3 axis by the look of it, rotating and looking like it wants to rip itself apart. If I undock the arms (girders, I-beams, clamp-o-trons each end) carrying the solar arrays the station settles down whilst the solar arrays move away still wobbling ridiculously taking my happiness with them I have recreated this at the launchpad as well. Not a problem when first deployed, only when I return to the vessel. No control input or SAS in either case. I've never seen this before and searched the forums and google but came up blank. I've investigated and come up blank, has anyone got any ideas? Modded 1.1.3. Thanks, - Thanks bewing for pointing me to a related known bug in the tracker

It just sounds like you don't have enough lift:weight to pull-out of the dive. Also could mean your centre of lift is too far behind your CoM so your lifting surfaces are not very effective (especially at high speed). Have you tried taking off from the runway without the fuel and payload (maybe a throwaway solid booster to get moving) to test how it should glide upon re-entry?

I launch most kerbin system vessels with a single stage to orbit rocket with just enough fuel for a controlled-ish parachute assisted landing near or hopefully right on the KSC. I haven't really done the math but I'm sure the value of recovering the engine + empty tanks trumps the cost of the extra fuel used to lift a larger single stage.

If rep is negative what ACTUAL difference would it make? People are saying 'better' contracts appear for higher rep, but does that mean higher $$ rewards or more interesting goals? I've learned to just ignore it because it is illegible, though the needle always seems to be at around top limit. I decline repetitive contracts (needle never moves) but never time-warp more than a few days because I'm unduly paranoid that my kerbals will vegetate and become useless couch potatos, or rebel and spray anarchy symbols all over the KSC

I didn't think I would but I actually enjoyed getting the early science in my new 1.1 game. This time I Installed crowd-sourced-science which definitely gave a reason to pay attention, and DMagic Orbital science which adds more variety and interesting experiments (plus makes it quicker without feeling like you've cheated). I didn't do much science on Kerbin though, like Warzouz just what Biomes I land in plus the local Biomes to KSC

Have you practiced with the scenario/tutorial landing and returning from the mun? Sounds like you can learn a lot from this experience though. Normally I'll triple-check everything before launch but on an old save I actually banished Jeb to a mark 1 crew cabin in LKO because he kept showing up in pods that were supposed to be empty! I was punishing myself more than anything.

Since it takes off as a shuttle the weight of fuel etc is obviously not relevant but it's not necessarily lacking lift as some are saying. You should try transferring it to the SPH though and launch it from the runway with a tiny bit of fuel (minus payload, external tanks etc) just to test if it'll glide at a reasonably low speed without stalling. In my experience when you are re-entering and in the thin air high up in the atmosphere you can either allow the craft to tumble and attempt to regain control by manically trying to push the nose into the dive lower in the atmosphere, or if the COM/COL are very close try to keep your nose glued (or very close to) prograde to avoid tumbling. You can end up diving quite steeply following the prograde vector but should be able to pull up when the air bites assuming you've re-entered shallow and bled off most of your speed high up. If you have air brakes disengage them.

Dream ... Build ... Fly It was after seeing this video that I was finally "right, that's it. I'm doing what it takes to get this game". I showed my wife the video and she (thankfully) understood so we broke into our saving and I built a PC. For me the real joy is in the process of dreaming and building. I spend a LONG time in the VAB tweaking, balancing thrust, positioning experiments/batteries/solar panels/landing legs just so, solving all the design problems that arise until it's something I'm truly proud of. When the fairings detach, the solar panels open and I line up my burn I feel a real sense of achievement I really enjoy the flying part, it's the icing on the cake, but for me the dream/build is what set's this game apart from anything else I've ever played

I don't know an answer, sorry, but it reminds me of the 1.05 bug where a kerbal would be 'unresponsive' when knocked into whilst in the external command seat. Previously the only way to fix that was to edit the save file, but I'm certain that this was fixed for 1.1.

I have this too occasionally, I've found it to be not frequent/bothersome enough to warrant uninstalling mods to find the solution. I'm fairly sure that I had it also in vanilla 1.1 pre-release. Usually I'll switch to another craft and back in map to fix.

expanding on tg626's comment if you move your roll control surfaces closer to the centre of your craft ... i.e. closer to the fuselage ... they will have a less pronounced effect. The Principal of Moments.

Remember you can change the root part of sub-assemblies that are ghosted, i.e. dragged off to the side of the main craft, using the re-root tool

I think he's talking about quicksaving whilst mid-burn. When you re-load the engine ignites as though it was not already ignited. Should have posted to the feature request section but I don't think anyone else will have noticed or will care either way.

For reference for anyone with terrain shadow issues, with certain sun angles I have intense shadow acne (flickering stripes) until I increase the Shadow Normal Bias setting up to 0.9, at which point it is un-noticeable. At this setting however the shadows are large imprecise smudges so I'm going without. It would be the icing on the cake if it worked but honestly this mod is fantastic without.

Very much appreciate all your work. Hexagonal Storm is a great touch! I'll check it out tonight but am in two minds ... I kind of want to 'discover' them first time when my fledgling career get's a probe out there (ticking of mun and minmus biomes now). Does Sarnus really cast it's shadow across the rings?