Breizhad

For the sake of argument I'd like to make a counter-point: AFAIK there are relay stations on earth (IRL) to talk to spacecraft, but the communication between those stations is handled via satellites. (Or was handled until the advent of high bandwith landlines) So in the game you should be forced to launch such satellites into orbit before you're able to use the extra ground stations. Or am I mistaken? Why geostationary? Geostationary (or better: kerbostationary) satellites are only required if you have fixed dishes on the ground. Since all Antennae in KSP are tracking their target, you don't need the satellite to stay in its place from the ground dish's point of view. What you must do instead is ensure 100% coverage. That is done by 3 Satellites phased at 120° from each other in high enough orbits, as you pointed out. By the way: Thanks for the hint to occlusion @Geschosskopf, I didn't know about that feature and was confused and annoyed that I got LOS below the horizon. In case you haven't figured it out yet: I play with no extra ground stations. That being said, I love your guide and I will try the eccentric polar relay concept for my own campaign. Thank you for sharing! Finally, one idea of my own to expand your concept: In order to avoid Kerbin from being blocked by the sun, I'd use two relay satellites on solar orbits, with the same orbit as Kerbin but phased at 120°. That way you would always be able to reach Kerbin, provided that you have enough range to talk to either Kerbin or one of the two satellites. If you take this one more step farther, adding rings of relay satellites orbiting the sun would give you 99% coverage of the whole solar system, but then of course that's leaving the minimalistic, easy approach of your tutorial. Best regards, Breizhad

Hello, I just managed to perform my first docking from DockingPort-camera view. It's such an intuitive thing, you don't even need RCS thrusters (forgot to put them on my test ship, lol). I'm a fan, already! I'd like to make one suggestion, however: Please, add a link to the Module Manager to the first post of this thread. It would be really helpful for dumb folks like me who only read the starter post and expect every system requirement to be posted there. It took me well over two hours to figure out why I couldn't select the DockingPort views. Would be appreciated! Then, I've got one question: How come I don't get any range information on the target selected? Is that some other requirement that I overlooked? Or do I have to put some telemetry-parts on both ships before it works? Thank you very much, and awesome work! Best regards!

Thank you very much for your quick bugfix! Kerbal Alarm Clock is one of only two mods that I run, besides Kerbal Engineer Redux. Wouldn't want to miss it and I hope your work makes it into the stock game one day. Certainly deserves it. Once again, thanks!

A second one with the ability to refold would get my vote, too. First it doesn't change anything for designs that already have the non-deflatable shield and second it would be consistent to the Photovoltaic Panels which also come in two versions.

The in-game tutorials are quite useful, or you can check out Scott Manley's fabulous tutorial videos. He covers docking in these two videos: Career Mode Guide Part 17 and Career Mode Guide Part 18. In my humble opinion, docking is actually one of the hardest and also one of the most rewarding things in KSP. So have fun!

If you need some more inspiration, maybe this is helpful: http://www.space.com/31954-nasa-space-travel-posters-gallery.html

A deflatable shield would be nice, but then it should require an engineer, as does repacking the parachutes. @fireblade274 For the time being you could place the 10m shield on top of a decoupler, only deploy it if need be and decouple it afterward. It would give you the option of continuing a mission with the parts as they are.

Hello Dev Team, I hope I haven't overlooked a similar request, if so please close this thread and place a link to the original thread. I love playing career mode, yet I'm missing a bit the element of "story-telling" or "campaign", if you will. You already did a magnificent job with 1.0.5 introducing contextual contracts, such as "expand your base on Minmus" or "shift satellite's orbit". What I'd wish for now is that you take this one step further: Personell shifting on space stations and outposts. Let's say contract 1 goes like: "Build a space station in orbit of Mun. Have a Lab on it." That's in the game. Contract 2 now says: "Expand the station, add room for 4 Kerbals." That's in the game, too. Wouldn't it be great if contract 3 would say: "Ferry 3 external scientists to the station." With contract 4 saying: "Return the 3 external scientists back to Kerbin" (Splitting the Return of the scientists into a fourth contract would be an option, because otherwise this contract would block a slot for 6+ months. Then again, other contracts are pretty long-termed, too) Allow me to clearify why this would be both great and easy to make happen: All necessary technology is available. This would be a new type of the existing contextual contracts. The external personell could use the same models and restrictions as tourists (icon, 3d model, no EVA, etc.) Such contracts would bring life to the stations and outpost. Just look at the ISS and how there's a constant shift of personell. There would be more interaction with "the world outside". "Biological payload" could take a more important role. After all you went at some lengths to implement the tourists, how about adding some serious customers? I hope you find this interesting. Since I'm a software developer myself, I'm quite willing to contribute to the design of this idea, if you find it worthwhile. I'm looking forward to replies and feedback! Yours, Breizhad