Spricigo

Like anyone else. In the end is just stilistic differences as you said. People will point out that such and such bother them too much but if it works for you keep the "suboptimal" setup.

Landing/taking off with all that stuff that bend and shake while I fly and have to restart everything each time? No, thanks. For me is either: § mining+refinery in one module sitting on the ground and refueler ship carrying fuel to were it is needed. § refinery stays in space and mining ship is sent to get the ore.

Yes. But keep in mind you may also have "twr requirements". You may eventually reach the Mun with a horrendously low TWR (if you make several small burns each time you pass your kerbin periapsis) but there is no way you can land and return from it in that conditions.

Dmagic's EVA Resource Transfer Mod is something you may have a look at if you want to avoid the docking shenanigans. But If that is not an option for you, my suggestion is a Flatbed Rover with docking ports facing up and everything else with docking port facing down. Use landing Struts (or gears if you prefer) to raise the modules, maneuver the rover in position and retract the struts to couple. Crude example:https://imgur.com/a/Fn5QGqd Just make a long rover with docking ports spaced enough to link different modules (e.g. mining rig to refueler ship) and make it wide if you plan to move the modules around with it.

Because those wings probably are the draggiest stuff there, the kind of stuff you want to put down at the very bottom. ... but then you have to figure out how to place the boosters in a way that keep you CoM at least within gimbal range of the line of thrust... and still avoid other shuttle lookalike design traps.

Good enough. Even if you bash Whatever Kerman a few times in the rescue ship I suspect there will be no lingering health issues. (been there, done that)

[insert ugly helicopter joke here] I took a look at this and it seemed like too much management for my limited game time. But I'm nerdy enough to enjoy learning the theory behind it.

Nice. You just find the option that didn't occurred to me to look for when my stockpiles get robbed.

Don't quote me on that but I think it may be. Have you tried to leave it further away the runaway?

Well, I have only one: how confident you are with rendezvous and docking maneuvers? If you still wonder how to put two ships in close vicinity of each other be prepared for a challenge. (definitely have a save before approaching) If you did once to prove you can be prepared for some practice. (a named save before the stranded kerbal leave his/her ship may still be a good idea) But if you already learned how to do it then is just a fee kerbal waiting to board the ship you put within 2.1km range of him/her. Kerbals have about 600m/s in their EVA backpack and no issues with misplaced RCS thrusters causing induced rotation, plenty to cover for the eventual mista (just make sure you don't fly into the atmosphere.)

I'd argue a Mammoth works too but I guess that is not what the OP had in mind.

Quoting for emphasis. If your Launch vehicle is capable of a nudge in the right direction just after the take off that is all the maneuverability you need. If that is not enough to reach orbit you have a stability problem, a piloting problem or both.

Check your staging sequence. Looks like the engines just snap the craft from the not released Launch Stability Enhancer with the decouplers failing just before. Unstable Shuttle? ... that's an old recurring topic around here. The basic advice is:heavy stuff in front, drag stuff at back, thrust aligned with CoM at all times and control surfaces with enough leverage to actually work.

Notice that is only a concern for science transmission. Even the weakest signal will be enough to grant full control to unkerbaled crafts. Sticking a HG-5, probe core and solar panel in anything you expect to let floating in space is an easy way to build a basic but functional relay network.

Just make sure you have the crew in a command module of some kind, not in crew cabins and Hitchhiker Storages. Those will not give you control.

Yep! You will also need some practice to really get the hang of it.

I suppose you mean a probe core and an antenna. That's enough to reach the Mun. It may still be the case of the Mun getting in the way (landing in the far side). Well, is also possible that you forgot to extend the antenna or attached it to the wrong stage, (like anyone that played long enough, or rather like the very last vessel I launched ).

1st guess: no electricity 2nd: no signal. 3rd guess requires a picture.

You need either a command module (not a cabin) with a kerbal aboard or a probe core with electricity and, if memory serves me well, on default difficult options connection signal to be able to control the craft.

I suspect you have an asymmetric landing craft. May you provide a picture? Preferable in the VAB whit Center of mass and Center of thrust indicator.

The tuturial you are using is fine but i rather preffer this one: It just a matter of practice. At some point you have that "click" and it become one of those things you do without even thinking about. Until then try to do it slowly, so you can see how the ship is behaving and not go too far away if you overshot. Keep your eyes in the navball, reduce the relative speed as you approach and try to maintain the and near each other (Ideally you can keep your ship oriented in a given way and use just the translation controls to adjust your direction, If ) As a rule of thumbs keep your relative speed in m/s at 1/10 of your separation in m. If you feel confident and want to make things happens faster, use time warp, not throttle.

basic check: engine is activated? throttle is up? there is a decoupler in between engine and tank? If it is not something so simple, a picture would help us figure out what is going on. Also, that is a quite old thread. Would be better if you posted a new question to avoid confusion with old post and people that may not be around anymore.

Well, for me the whole point of the Swivel is "because the Relliant is not unlocked yet" but it is not an "upper-atmosphere-but-not-yet-vacuum engine" since upper atmosphere is "pretty much vacuum" anyway. Take a look at how the stats of a vacuum engines change with altitude and you see it. As an example, command pod+crew cabin as payload, a FL-T400 fuel tank and a TLv-909 Terrier (4.6 total mass and 2,6 total mass): Sea level, Thrust 14.78kN , ISP 85s, TWR0.33, dV477m/s 10km, Thrust 51.51kN, ISP 296s, TWR1.14, dV1662m/s 20km, Thrust 58.85kN, ISP 338s, TWR1.31, dV1899m/s Vacuum, Thrust 60kN, ISP 85s, TWR1.33, dV1936m/s Now, when you design a vessel, do it in the reverse order of the use. Let's say is a ship to send 3 kerbals to orbit and back, design the part that will come back to kerbin (crew space, parachutes, heat protection,...), then the part that will make orbital maneuvers and deorbit (a small engine, some fuel tanks, RCS, electrical parts, science,..) and so on until the last thing you design is the stuff need right at the launch pad. Given some room for error, design each stage to be just capable enough to delivery the craft to where the next stage is supposed to assume. If your upper stage can take over at 20km and 1500m/s, don't build a "middle" stage that can place it on orbit, if you just need a pair o SRB to getting you "middle" stage of the launch pad don't build an unnecessary "lower" stage and, going back to the Swivel and why I consider it pointless, don't use a crappier engine with gimbal and movable fins if you can just point the rocket in the right direction at the launchpad and let it fly itself to space (I design my rockets to be launched that way, plenty of examples on my kebalX profile)

This!! Use if you want but you don't need to.

To get tourist you need to be paying in career mode and accept a tourist contract. Go to the mission Control Building, look the available contracts available iand see the description to look which itinerary the tourist is interested in. As mentioned by @steuben, only contract to places you already reached are offered. So no contracts at all until leave the atmosphere.