zanie420

I have been away too long, that was a LOT of reading Cheers to all the new entries and successful runs! Special nod to @dvader and Discopollo. Getting the Kerbal itch again..... but I have a new gaming rig on the way from newegg, and might want to wait I am looking for another challenge, any suggestions?

Congrats! Finally coming back to this thread and catching up. As you know I was consumed by my NCD run . Well done final video I must say as well. I look back on this challenge fondly after doing a full caveman! What if you have a Kerbal actually board the airlock..... does that give you an option to collect the data? I cannot remember, as I basically used an inflatable airlock as an extra passenger seat that was safe for Kerbin re-entry. It was recovered with the Kerbal, and thus science intact. Not sure that help you though, sorry.

Final album is up https://imgur.com/a/bKE9WPw I think I may take a break from KSP.... LOL

Update: finally done, after some initial fuel mismanagement , and thus some tight deltaV margins, then warping pass my intended departure to Kerbin..... it all worked out and got back with all 3 Gilly biomes science, worth 385 and allowing me to complete the tech tree . Album coming later today. I am completely wiped from this challenge.... it consumed me whole.

Same for me, until I started using them as the engines for LFBs attached on the ground with docking jrs. The gimbal comes in handy with the probes.

Update: after 4 days of intense trial and error in sandbox, I was finally comfortable in attempting my final mission, and I got Bob to Gilly! now I just need to get them home with the science and this NCD run is complete

I went with a MUCH bigger nosecone I found yet another praise for the service bay, as the door opening can be used to lift rocket parts into docking position! Yes Bob is going to ride the outside of this thing

Have not invented nosecones sadly. I am going with a combo of ground/orbital assembly for my final mission to Eve/Gilly. Lots and lots of sandbox testing going on.....

@IncongruousGoat, may I ask what comprised the cargo lifter you used to ferry your final orbital construction? I see a reliant(?) and 4 sparks on the bottom, but is there 2 terrier stages after that? maybe I missed where you explained this....

at least it is a node you need to unlock in this challenge, and not something like command modules.... Oh man.... that's a tough loss, especially after just rescuing her! Did you accidentally use the mod key and T at the same time, inverting SAS? That and mistakenly hitting the spacebar have scuttled a launch or five for me....

You probably haven't seen my mission albums, or read my posts on this then. You can reliably get flying over crew reports and temp readings from each of the KSC micro-biome with the roller. It just takes practice with timing, to spin up fast, and hit the experiment at just the right time to get the desired situation. Once you get it, it's easy. I have been doing launchpad assembly like this already, as I find orbital rendezvous much harder. I am designing my final mission this way too. Jeez, I hope at least @The Dunatianis looking at my missions.....

Preface: this is not a rant LMAO: First this is NCD.... and every tiny scrap of science helps. Second, I was trying to do something I haven't seen others do, and the launchpad assembly was soooooooo much less stress for me personally. Third, I did not have fairings, and that was my next goal. At least it wasn't 16 launches like @IncongruousGoat, albeit I am not draining the Mun of science. Forth, I ended up optimizing my design in the end, once fairings had been acquired Update: working on the best way to get fuel into space with the current tech I have. 18 ton limit is the bottleneck, but the mainsail may be the answer......

7th album is up: KSP Caveman 1.6 NCD run - part 7 Summary: I develop a family of ground assembled Munar science landers. I get the needed science to final have fairings. I used fairings to get just enough additional science without anymore launchpad docking, in two more launches. I take fuel systems with resulting 90 points. This sets up my final stab at this challenge with only 270 points left.

Update: I decided to send ground assembled probes to the Mun. Took fuel systems and advanced construction . I only need 270 science now. Crucial decision ahead. Duna? Eve? Jool? I will post the penultimate album in the morning.

I wholeheartedly concur and found out most of this in sandbox testing, which is good practice for the ascent. After you clear 40km, the hard part is over. The key with no drift, is to hit period right after the spacebar. Good luck. I had Bob down to 0.09 EVA prop on the Mun landing

So what I did was find this post that had coordinates, and used kerbal-maps to locate the areas. But seriously, just look at Part 5 of my mission so far, and it will show you all the locations. Via an in-game perspective I wish I would have had. You can technically do it it all in 4 flights unlike I did. I landed upside down in Biakerbanur, and should have combined with the highland/mountains/tundra/ice caps/northern ice shelf run I did next as originally planned. It is time consuming, even at x4. Took 15+ IRL mins to get to the badlands....

You may find yourself needing a point or two, to make 45 or 90 once you drain the KSC micro biomes and surrounding areas.... and now you know how to acquire it on Kerbin easy Grasslands, Desert, and Shore splash down science are all within the SRB range of the space center.

very precariously.... go high and slow on your ascent until you reach the upper atmosphere My solution to my current lack of fairings? MOAR boosters!

At least you had fairings.... which is what I was hoping to get after my grand scheme to land Bob on the Mun. I didn't get to more than one biome like I did in practice however I will need to send at least 3 more rockets back, since I haven't yet unlocked general construction yet, if I want them.

6th album is up: Summary: I send fuel into orbit twice, before sending up Jeb and Bob(on ladder), who rendezvous with it. Not satisfied, I send up another tank. Get a polar Mun orbit, collect all above EVAs, land in the east crater, get back to Kerbin safe with all data, 75.7 science collected. Full mission report here

The Mun science is so... underwhelming! I spent over 100,000 in funds to only net 75 points. Granted I only hit one biome. Not sure that was worth it, versus sending 10 cheap drones all over. But it was fun No more EVAs in the Kerbin SOI left now.

I did it! using the best parts of both @IncongruousGoat and @dvader's clipping crazy craft designs!

Update: since I took aviation, I can make ground assembly robots... so I had been testing a design in sandbox. Planning a mission with Bob to land on the Mun....

supposedly you can 'land' underwater too.... but you need to make a submarine

5th album is up Summary: take aviation, then a science jet to Biakerbanur, Island airstrip, and get splashed down science in alll biomes. I send probes to Minmus and the Mun, successfully finding both green monoliths and unlocking command modules as well as heavy rocketry.