[Plz Help me with Minmus ;(]

So i have been playing KSP for Years on and off and i have landed on Minmus a lot. But now that i have started again i can't seem to get into Minmus Orbit. And i am not sure what i am doing wrong.

So it goes like this:

1. Start from Kerbin

2. Reach 75 km and then Circularize.

3. Use Mechjeb to "Hohmann Transfer to Target" to Minmus, about 950 m/s seems fine.

4. Wait till i am past Mun and then use Mechjeb "Fine Tune closest approach to Target" to get to 10km around Minmus.

So far so good (there are probably some things already i could have done for the sake of efficiency though) but now this happens:

I tell Mechjeb to circularize at next periapsis and he tells me some ridiculous number like 2800 m/s whereas it should take only 160 according to http://wiki.kerbalspaceprogram.com/wiki/Cheat_sheet

My only guess is that i do something very wrong from the beginning. How do i do this correctly ?

(Also, yes i know Mechjeb is frowned upon. But apparently i am even to incompetent to use Mechjeb)

P.S: I am using the newest Versions of KSP and Mechjeb.

Thank you for your help!

[ISRU is less more?]

On 8.10.2016 at 10:59 PM, fourfa said:

If you don't have a high level engineer, it's worth your time to do a quick training mission to plant flags on Mun, Minmus, and hop briefly out of Kerbin SOI.

I have heard this one multiple times.

1. Does everybody has to plant flags or just one guy for the whole mission ?

2. What does it take to "Hop out of Kerbin SOI"? What is the Ap so it gets recognized ? (I never went further than Minmus)

[Trying to get to mun or minmus, Burn time keeps increasing.]

On 10.10.2016 at 2:27 PM, Plusck said:

Much the same as with interplanetary encounters - you can do anything if you have the fuel for it.

The quickest way to get to the Mun from Minmus, without spending ridiculous amounts of fuel, is to leave Minmus's SOI on a trajectory that heads retrograde and a bit towards Kerbin (so your resulting orbit around Kerbin has an Ap significantly higher than Minmus) and catch the Mun on the way down.
Since the Mun has an orbital period of about 6 days, while the cheapest return to the Mun's orbit takes about 11 days or so, that leaves a lot of leeway to speed up the return time and catch the Mun in just the right place. It only takes a couple of hundred ms dv to halve that time (or more), so if the Mun is in the right place when you start, you can get into orbit within about 4 or 5 days without too great an expense.

You should take a look at the Alex Moon porkchop planner to see what sort of timings are possible: https://alexmoon.github.io/ksp/#/Minmus/30/Mun/40/false/ballistic/false/1/1. If you click on advanced settings and reduce the minimum time to 3 days, you'll see that a 4-day travel time is possible without excessive cost once every eight days or so, there is an option for a reasonable 5-8 day transfer for about two-thirds of the time, and the rest of the time it is always possible to get a decent 9-10 day transfer.
What the planner is showing, in fact, is just the effect of accelerating more towards Kerbin to catch the Mun in the right place. The best 4-day transfers generally have you leaving Minmus heading directly towards Kerbin with a 400m/s escape burn.
And finally, since that shorter travel time leaves less time for Kerbin's gravity to accelerate you, you actually end up meeting the Mun at much the same speed as if you'd dropped slower, so the capture burn at the Mun varies surprisingly little.
 

Yeah, i am still a noob when it comes to Interplanetary Travel. In fact i was never farther than Minmus. I've been stuck in the Super-SSTA building cycle for far too long. Thx for the link. The diagram seems familiar i think i even have a launch window calculator mod. The problem is basically the Umbra Life Support mod. It depletes no matter if you fly or wait so if a wait for a perfect launch window that's just as bad as just flying. Of course it saves fuel, though.

[Trying to get to mun or minmus, Burn time keeps increasing.]

Ok, i will try this tomorrow. One more question. Is there a fast way to get from Minmus to Mun ? I tried returning to a Kerbin Orbit of 12k km (same as mun) and then rendezvous with mun. It works but it takes very long. I don't have a lot of supplies left (life support mod). Is there a way to start from minmus and directly intercept mun, maybe top it of with a suicide burn. That would be awesome.

[Trying to get to mun or minmus, Burn time keeps increasing.]

Ok, i tried it again with a more powerful Engine. Now it worked, thx for the help. Still it is very baffling. What is the point of having very efficient engines if the resulting burn times make them completely useless and anywhere where i can use them and get <4min burn times i don't need them.

[Trying to get to mun or minmus, Burn time keeps increasing.]

Well, I use 4 NERVs, so my burn time is around 15 minutes. But shouldn't mechjeb account for all of that ? He seems to be spot on the marker the whole time. I tried it with or without mechjeb, with or without physical timewarp. Every time the same thing happens. Obviously i am not hitting the target but what exactly are the maneuvers for if they are not correct.

[Trying to get to mun or minmus, Burn time keeps increasing.]

Hi,

i have a problem: I want to go from LKO to Minmus. So i plan the maneuver and start the burn. Everything *seems* fine until about 80-90% of the Burn then the m/s countdown slows down, stops (or even reverses slightly) and that keeps up until i have no more fuel. I tried using mechjeb in case it was some mistake i made but the same thing happens. The only explanation i can come up with is that Minmus is somehow "running away" from me, but 1. Minmus is in a stable orbit it is not getting faster and 2. even if that were the case, that should have been accounted for in the maneuver and not happen out of the blue. I can't imagine that this is some kind of bug. I think i would've heard something by now if it were impossible to get to minmus. Especially since i was there before and i didn't have that problem.

What i do is basically get into LKO (75x75) and then go to the map, set minmus as target, set a maneuver at the Ascending (or descending) node and pull the prograde vector until i get an encounter. Then i finetune that until i have a minmus periapsis of <100k and start the burn. According to the map i should arive at minmus and then start a circularization burn. Only i never get there....

Thx in advance for any Ideas.

[More Delta-V on Orbital Lifter ?]

Thank you for your answers

[More Delta-V on Orbital Lifter ?]

Ok I enlarged the Tank by 50% and cut the payload by half and i still run out of fuel before circular orbit is achieved. Not sure how i am going to do the engines. I dont have a mounting bracket that can support more than 7. The boosters i use are procedural, not tweak scale. And that didn't work either.

From my experience there is a limit with booster size, at which point they simply lift themselves, if that. I tried adding 4 50m x 7m Boosters. It was ridiculous and even that didn't help. (Apart from the fact that the whole point of the craft is to have one reusable stage.)

Edit: Ok I added some ramjet engines and changed the ascent so that i am longer in the upper atmosphere. Its not elegant and the ramjet run for all of 90 seconds but it saves enough fuel so that i at least reach 80km circular orbit..

[More Delta-V on Orbital Lifter ?]

Hi,

I have a problem. I have build a huge Rocket that i want to use to lift other things into Orbit, because i am tired of having to over engineer my deep space vessels just so they can get out of Kerbin atmosphere.

I used tweak scale so the Rocket is positively massive, which it must be since it has has to carry whole spaceships inside. Preliminary tests seemed promising. But since i added actual payload i can't seem to get into LKO before my fuel runs out. Which makes since, because now i am lifting more mass then before. But nothing i do seems to have any real effect, getting to about 70k Apoapsis and then my fuel is gone, not enough for circularization let alone deorbit burns. I tried adding Boosters, adding engines to get higher TWR, removing engines to get closer to 1.2 TWR and most importantly doubling and tripling the tank. But nothing seems to work. What can I change so the thing does its job ? I dont think i can getter better ISP, its 315 and everything with more isp has to too little thrust.

 

 

[Docking Port -> No Stabilization]

Yeah that is all really not practical in the sense that it creates more problems than it solves. I will probably just have to accept that it is a bug that is not fixable. I am trying other solutions now. Thx for trying to help though!

 

[Docking Port -> No Stabilization]

13 hours ago, bewing said:

There are gigantic red warning signs all over the Infernal Robotics arms that say "do not ever put a docking port on a robotic arm." So I think you are in trouble right from step 1.

Thx for pointing that out. I totally missed those BUUUUUT if i don't connect it directly to a docking port the glitch is exactly the same:

So at this time i just accept that this isn't working. Maybe somebody has an idea to accomplish the same goal (getting the Lander clear of the bay prior to undocking and into the bay after docking) by different means.

[1.1.2 Magic Smoke Industries Infernal Robotics 2.0.2]

8 hours ago, kcs123 said:

That is more issue with stock game than IR parts. I usualy use KJR to strengthen out joints. I never encountered any issue with KJR even when I'm not using IR mod, so I can only highly recommend it. Furthermore, if KJR is not enough to prevent woobling, you can secure cargo better with active struts. Every responsible pilot or driver secure their cargo, why you shoulds not do the same ?

Put some active struts inside cargo bay, once you have placed payload, activate active struts. Those can be used in "linked" way to connect two specific points, or use straight attach to attach first part that encounter in straight line.

On the last note, you should place some other part between IR part and dock port. empty 100 LFO tank or some adapter will work. Just to calm down kraken.

While all of these sound like very helpful tips, sadly none of them made any difference:

As you can see, not only swings it freely it also distends quite a bit from the joint. That is with KJR and as you can see i put parts between IR and the docking port. Active struts sound amazin, only they dont help with something like that because I can only activate them when/if/as long as the part is inside the cargo bay. Now admittedly this is at full Kerbin gravity but it just shows the problem. If it would work correctly the joint would at least try to lift the Lander and then break.

Since it is obviously bugged, is there any other known way i can accomplish the goal (move the Lander in and out of the Cargo bay for Start/Docking) that would work as intended ?

[1.1.2 Magic Smoke Industries Infernal Robotics 2.0.2]

I posted this under general gameplay questions:

Quote

Hi,

I have a problem: I wanted to build an MK3 Cargo bay as part of my bigger ship and inside a lander (Pod, Tank, Poodle, etc.) with a docking port on its nose that is docked to another docking port which in turn is connected to the Cargo bay by an Infernal Robotics Arm. So the Idea was that I would not have to fly in and out of the Cargo bay, instead the arm would swing the Docking Port (incl. Lander) out of the Cargo bay into a 90° angle, which would make it much easier (and cooler looking) to dock and un-dock that little "captains barge". But as it turns out, the connection Arm -> Docking Port has absolutely no stabilizing effect. It is just a point connection and the Lander pivots around it. Just swinging which ever way it pleases. The docking port stays firmly attached to the arm, but only in the one point it freely pivots around.

So the Question is: Is there any way (or mod) which would make this work ? Because a) its freakin' cool and b) I foresee a bunch of explosions and dead Kerbonauts in the near future if i have to maneuver in and out of that tight cargo bay.

P.S.: I am aware that i could stabilize the Lander with struts but that would defeat the purpose of it leaving and returning(!) to the main vessel. Also i do have the mod (Kerbal Joint Reinforcements) installed that supposedly reinforces joints but its not helping here. In fact there doesn't seem to be any kind of stress on the joint at all. It doesn't even try to keep the docking port in place.

So while this more general question is hopefully answered elsewhere, what I want to ask in this thread specifically is: How exactly are those Robot Parts supposed to work, if they can't keep whatever is attached to them steady ? Am i missing something here ?

Here is a screenshot of what it should do. Only it doesn't do it instead it swings the lander around like a wrecking ball. The movement of the arm works flawlessly but the Docking port swings freely around that "one point connection" with the folding arm.

[Docking Port -> No Stabilization]

7 minutes ago, Spricigo said:

The answer it's still struts. 

Kerbal Attachment System  let you place then while in EVA. 

Also worth mentioning: decoupling/undocking will break remove struts between the separated parts

Sadly that doesn't really help because even if i strut the Lander to the cargo bay (which at least would prevent it from thrashing around the rocket during flight), as soon as i move the arm and the struts break the whole thing just swings around the pivot point. Same goes for docking. How am i supposed to strut it in place if its completely out of control and swing around like a wrecking ball. (No collision once docked, and i am not sure if that is a good or a bad thing in this case).

[Docking Port -> No Stabilization]

Hi,

I have a problem: I wanted to build an MK3 Cargo bay as part of my bigger ship and inside a lander (Pod, Tank, Poodle, etc.) with a docking port on its nose that is docked to another docking port which in turn is connected to the Cargo bay by an Infernal Robotics Arm. So the Idea was that I would not have to fly in and out of the Cargo bay, instead the arm would swing the Docking Port (incl. Lander) out of the Cargo bay into a 90° angle, which would make it much easier (and cooler looking) to dock and un-dock that little "captains barge". But as it turns out, the connection Arm -> Docking Port has absolutely no stabilizing effect. It is just a point connection and the Lander pivots around it. Just swinging which ever way it pleases. The docking port stays firmly attached to the arm, but only in the one point it freely pivots around.

So the Question is: Is there any way (or mod) which would make this work ? Because a) its freakin' cool and b) I foresee a bunch of explosions and dead Kerbonauts in the near future if i have to maneuver in and out of that tight cargo bay.

P.S.: I am aware that i could stabilize the Lander with struts but that would defeat the purpose of it leaving and returning(!) to the main vessel. Also i do have the mod (Kerbal Joint Reinforcements) installed that supposedly reinforces joints but its not helping here. In fact there doesn't seem to be any kind of stress on the joint at all. It doesn't even try to keep the docking port in place.

[How to fine tune part placement in Assembly ?]

It works,Thanks again.

[How to fine tune part placement in Assembly ?]

Thank you! That was it.

On a related note: How do i fine tune steering while flying ? My plane tends to not move for a while and then suddenly "snaps" in the direction i have been steering, which more often than not leads to massive over-steering which i then have to correct and thus starts a vicious circle that ends with me in the ground. Or is that some unwanted side effect of using SAS/Mechjeb ?

[How to fine tune part placement in Assembly ?]

Hi Kerbonauts,

can someone tell me how i can make the incremental change smaller when adjusting parts in assembly (Tool: Move/Tool: Rotate) ? I know that it has to be possible somehow because yesterday i must have activated it by accident. Suddenly i could make very small adjustments but today i can not move parts a small amount, they just stay locked until they jump a great deal (move in big steps). If that was a bug of some kind and it isn't possible in the stock game, is there a mod that enables this ? Its really frustrating to want a part just so and it always jumps to the next equally undesirable position.

Thonks in advance

P.S.: yes, "Thonks" is the new, cooler way