Cubfan

I've gotta disagree with you. I have a mining operation on Pol. It runs just fine with 8 gigantors (on 2 separate modules) and 2 fuel cell arrays for nighttime operation. I don't use any mods. Just standard base-building with a rover.

I don't put relays on sats unless I have to, so you may be right about the antenna. But it can't be the orbit, the box is checked. All the boxes are except "build a new probe..." So either it was built before the contract was excepted, can't generate power, or doesn't have an antenna. Something's not right there.

The dish you have on there is a relay antenna, meant to pass along signals from other antennas and relays. That's fine to have on there, but you need an actual broadcasting antenna that can send signals from the craft itself to fulfill the contract. One of the Cummonotrons. Any will do at such a short distance.

I would agree with that. I never use the service modules, but it looks like the heat is coming around the protected service module and hitting the lander can, which bulges out. I know the modules are useful, but I usually just attach parts radially (taking data from instruments just in case), and kinda hope they don't burn up. With a good angle, everything usually comes through fine. I don't think you need a large shield.

It's just like the crew report says; "one of those large craters might be a good place to land". I've got my base in the center of one. It's flat enough for Kerbal work.

I don't know much about the mods, but I know that solar panels aren't enough to cool down a large drill. Put a couple of medium thermal control systems instead. Extend them, then try again. Between them and your engineer, the overheating should stop.

I had that same contract (or a very similar one). I just dropped down to Duna at about 40km. Duna's atmosphere is pretty thin that high up so it won't help all that much, but you won't need a shield either (and it counts as "atmospheric flight on Duna" for the tourists). From there, just hit the brakes at Pe like normal or, if your timing's right, head straight to Ike for a bit of a gravity brake. Ike is so easy to get an encounter with that you kinda have to try hard to avoid it. You should be able to line it up pretty easy. It worked out well for me, and I made a tidy profit.

In the VAB, you can filter parts by tech level. This will help you to become familiar with all the different parts. This was helpful for me because, in my career game, I unlocked the entire science tree before I began building planes. When I tried to, I was overwhelmed with all the parts and control surfaces and whatnot. Filtering by tech level allows you to become familiar with the progression. It might make things easier. It did for me.

I'm not sure how you intend to use your orbital station but, if it's for refueling, 600 ore is very little. You'll need a lot of trips to build a significant amount. Minmus is perfect for mining. Either with a fuel shuttle, or an ore transport to an orbital station like you're doing. It has low enough gravity that you could lug a lot more if you want. It might be a bit excessive, but for a while I used a 48,000 ore transport to a refinery in LKO. I guess that is a bit excessive. But it worked pretty well.

You said the mission required finding ore on Pol. You only get those contracts after you do an orbital survey, so I'll assume you've done that (you already know you can't mine any planet/moon without a survey first). I have a refueling station on Pol, and the most difficult part was finding a flat place to land and set up operations. The ore concentration is fine, but you have to be in the right spot, as cratercracker said. The drill should tell you the problem. If it says the ore concentration is too low, you'll have to land somewhere else. If it says no surface contact, your drills might be too low and aren't extending fully (small drills can have that problem). Hopefully, it's not the drills. Good luck. Pol is a great place to watch Jool's moons zoom around.

I've seen the bug reports on overheating, but I still haven't run into them. Not even drilling asteroids. I don't know if it matters or not, but I always use the same formula: One thermal control system per drill. Small ones for small drills, medium ones for large drills. But most important of all is the engineer. A four or five star engineer seems to keep things running smoothly.

Mr. Fairing, As you've seen from the above exchanges, answers on this forum can get pretty detailed (not to mention intense). There are players on here with a ton of experience, so you get some pretty good answers to all kinds of different questions. Sometimes they can get a bit technical, though. I learned to play this game by feel and just trial and error long before I discovered this forum (which would've made life a lot easier). For a new player, I would suggest what I always suggest, play through all the training missions, and in the tutorials section on this site, check out EtherDragon's fantastic "Why Does My FLIPing Rocket Always Flip Over". His explanation of a rocket's aerodynamics is incredibly simple and informative. A picture is worth a thousand posts. Other than that, just stay at it. You'll get the hang of it. And it's rewarding beyond words. You never forget your first Mun landing.

Exactly. All you ever see are Kerbals in orbit clinging to pieces of debris. I even rescued one on Gilly. She was just standing on the surface. How'd she end up in the middle of nowhere? I think it'd be cool to see other agencies sats, stations, and ships. Just to see what they'd look like. And the fact that you don't control them. And I really like the idea of new plants/moons having to be discovered through a certain amount of science. Maybe even a comet you could rendezvous with? Like I said, I don't know where else they could go with it, but I'd really like to see it implemented in some fashion.

I've been thinking for awhile about competing space agencies. Not multi-player, but rather NPC's. Contracts to put this satellite or that space station in orbit of whichever planet before another agency does. If they do it first, the satellite or station would actually be there around the planet or moon. They would gain rep and you'd lose it. If you needed to use their satellite, you'd have to pay them to relay your signal. For stations, you'd have to pay for docking, plus fuel or whatever else you need (at a markup, of course). You'd also lose rep for needing help from a competitor. With an International Space Agency, as well. That would open up a lot of new contracts. "Donate this or that module to the International Space Station" to gain rep, or "Have this Kerbal join the ISA for a certain period". You would lose control of the module or Kerbal once docked (the Kerbal you'd get back after his tour was up). You could buy fuel and whatever else at the ISS at cost, and maybe enough rep with ISA opens up new parts? For the Kerbals, maybe they learn new abilities while on board the ISS? A pilot can choose to focus on science or engineering during his stay. A five star pilot now has the abilities of a three star scientist or engineer. The other professions could do the same. Maybe with your help the ISA discovers new planets or a new solar system close enough to visit? Who knows? I don't even know if it's doable (I'm not a programmer), but I'd really like to see it.

The Jettison button is pretty handy for the "Deliver ore to such and such contracts". After delivery, you just dump the extremely heavy ore and move on. It's also useful for mining rovers. It's nice to be able to dump the ore when you want to maneuver quicker. Braking takes a long time with tons of ore on board.