Randox

Just a brain problem. The relay separates from the carrier ship with only the force generated by undocking, so both craft are in almost the same orbit. Usually I'd make a small burn to distance the craft. This time I let them drift and didn't see I was pointing at my carrier stage when I started my burn.

Trying to get back into the groove in preparation for the new game. For my first mission I decided to launch my pair of interplanetary relays (into alternating highly elliptic polar orbits). Had a non-critical collision during the insertion burn for relay one, which is now a bit lopsided: I'm not sure exactly how close I was to plowing the relay directly into the launch vehicle, but it was someplace between the radius of that radio dish and the missing large solar array. The relay was deflected about 80 degrees off course on impact, though SAS and gimbaled thrust was able to bring it back on target very quickly. For those curious, this relay undocked from the parent ship about 8 minutes prior to the launch burn. Separation was probably around 300m.

I once landed on Kerbin with a Kerbal riding shotgun on the exterior ladder. It was a result of my first manned orbital rendezvous. I had a small purpose built rocket that went up first, equipped with a single occupant command pod and an RCS system (since this was to be the craft to make the final rendezvous), and the second rocket was carrying my Minmus lander, using a 3 man pod that was fully crewed. After circularizing the larger rocket a couple km away from the smaller craft, I switched control and immediately advanced the staging, jettisoning the command pod from the rest of the craft and stranding myself in orbit. Hearing epic rescue music in my head (and perhaps doubting my ability to make a rendezvous again), I was able to maneouver the larger rocket into a closer parking orbit and then EVA the stranded Kerbal over to it so he could hand on to the ladder. This was frankly a pretty stupid idea not just because the 4th Kerbal would have to ride on the outside, but because that lander wasn't designed for a powered landing at all. It was supposed to jettison the command pod to land, but most of the ladder was on the fuel tank so I couldn't detach it. I did a slow burn of the engine on the way in to keep my speeds down, and reconfigured the parachutes to deploy as high as possible to try and avoid ripping the Kerbal riding on the ladder off the craft when they opened (it worked!). I opted for a water landing to try and avoid blowing up on impact, then decided that was still probably going to end poorly and so took control of the 4th kerbal right before landing and had him jump. It worked. The running rocket engine didn't cook him, though the entire rocket very nearly landed on him. The rocket did break up on impact a bit but nothing (important) exploded, and everyone survived. Yay team!

It's been long enough that I don't really remember. Up until double checking to see if my assumption was right, I figured I was introduced to the game by a youtuber (One F Jef), but his videos start at a later update. Best as I can figure, I was probably pointed to this game by the forums for one of the RuneScape fansites, and would have discovered Scott Manley a while after to better figure out how to play the game (ah, the good old days of flying strait up at the Mun). Also, that was about 9 and a half years ago. Yikes!

I like OBS. As noted above, like Shadowplay and Relive, OBS can make use of GPU video recording. That's probably preferable to CPU based recording pretty much all of the time anyway, but doubly advantageous for a game like this that is so demanding on the CPU relative to the GPU. While OBS is much more involved to set up and tune, where ShadowPlay and ReLive pretty much work out of the box, OBS has a lot more flexibility and can do some very useful things. A stand out to me are the available audio tools that can run in real time, rather than cleaning up mic audio in post. I don't have a great mic, so I need to run it through some filters to clean up all the weird noise and make it not sound like it was recorded on a tin can. As a bonus, by doing the audio cleanup while recording, I potentially had the option of uploading strait to youtube and editing there (depending on the type of video I was doing). By not editing on my own machine I avoid loosing quality to the re-rendering process (if I were really into it, I'd have a dedicated hard drive and I'd re-render at a much higher quality and file size). That said, while I can't state it's the best (because I don't know, not because I don't think it's good), the editor I picked was VSDC Free. I believe I picked it largely because it has an excellent feature set for a free program. At least, it was the only free program I found that I liked and did what I needed. The paid version is also relatively affordable. Plus, the program is a little weird in how it works compared to most editors, and that appeals to me I guess. The paid version is able to make use of GPU hardware acceleration for supported codecs, like OBS does for recording. OBS is the only free non GPU specific recorder I know of that can use the GPU for rendering, and so far as I know, no free video editor has that particular feature.

That's got to feel pretty awesome! I think kerbal engineer is able to pull height data at arbitrary points. If memory serves, it would need to do that for bodies with atmospheres where it does a projected impact location that differs from the raw trajectory. Or I could be wrong and it may just be making a guess using the altitude at the games projected point of impact as a proxy value. There is also the kerbNet system, which has altitude data. I'm not sure about accessing that data for a script, but that might have potential. The real trick to me is not just pulling off the suicide burn (which is plenty hard enough), but doing so and landing in a specific place. To that end, perhaps a script that uses a target vessel on the surface for the calculations, at least to start with. It would provide precise location and altitude information you need, and I think plenty of us would find even that more limited application super useful (you tend to waste a lot of fuel trying to land ships together - at least I do).

Being able to write in both C# and lua is probably about as good a pair of options as we'll get. Lua is light and simple to support, and not being compiled gives it complimentary uses to C#. Python isn't really fit to purpose in my eyes. It's slower than lua, and it has a bigger footprint. The advantages it would enjoy are chiefly that it's very popular (which may open up the door to some potential modders), and that it is backed by very comprehensive standard libraries. I wouldn't complain if they supported Python because its a language I really like (it's also possibly the easiest language to read, which makes it perhaps the best language in which to be tinkering with lightly documented code written by other people :P), but it wouldn't be at the top of my list.

I lost a probe. Two, actually, but I think I can recover one. I am testing an extra planetary orbital refinery around Minmus. I am primarily interested in any parts I may have forgotten (I should make checklists), and any quality of life improvements. The first launch was an object lesson in deploying a very large clamshell fairing before clearing 70km. It didn't clear me and turned one ship into several. That probe was lost to the ocean. During the second launch it occurred to me I didn't include any antennas. "No problem" I think to myself. "I have a level 3 ground station and a pair of deep range relays in orbit. It will be fine." Nope. Mun would be alright. Minmus is not. However, the station has a double intercept. It will return to Kerbin in a couple days and head right back. I'm unsure if I can rendezvous during the second transfer, but I'll absolutely try. That would be a huge achievement. Either way, I'm going to launch a communications retrofit that I can attach. Whether I can install it in transit or have to chase the ship to Minmus and install there, I'll get it. Going to have to do some math for this. I've never attempted to rendezvous in transit before, and I feel lime the timing margin for this is only a few seconds. I'm also going to need a ship that can pull 15 g's or more.

To enable intersellar travel, even in a scaled down universe (and frankly, it's not that scaled down if the distance is ~2 ly), we're going to have to encroach on fiction and torch drives. At least, we are if the goal is to have an endgame where you are setting up self supporting bases and building ships in another star system on a timescale that isn't getting into generational ship territory. But I get your point. I have to be on board with Metallic Hydrogen though. Yes, the current signs point to it either not being possible at all, or not being viable with known projected technology. But...it's also really cool, and something that would be absolutely amazing if it were real because it would be both massively useful, and not an existential crisis. Metallic Hydrogen doesn't lean so directly to building an actual torch ship, and by extension, doesn't readily turn into a weapon that can destroy entire planets by running into them. I can see something that probably isn't possible would be an issue...but I think I have to side with the rule of cool on this one. Besides, if we don't include it in a game now, it might be disproven before we have another chance I do feel like concessions to gameplay are going to need to be made, and while I would like things to be grounded in good existing and speculative science, I also have a day job and would like to see myself building ships on planets in another star system sometime before the year 2025.

That might work better for some of these low thrust designs. My sandbox career ships are mostly centered around 2.3 launch TWR, and my gravity turn habits are certainly based largely on that experience. I've been coping alright with these less powerful rockets, but I've not nailed the launch procedure yet. Without a consistent launch regime for lower thrust rockets, I am relying on my skill as a pilot to cope. I'm not entirely sure what went wrong that time. I know I had to hold attitude before 10km to pause the turn, and that I was meeting my 50 seconds to apoapsis shortly after, but I think I neglected to do a sanity check on my vertical speed. Basically, I was checking off the usual boxes, and ignoring other signs for which I don't have specific criteria that something had gone wrong with my ascent profile (I expect I made too large an initial turn). I need a mod for black box data (I think I saw one like that too)

Code Charlie Foxtrot - You Will Not Get To Space Today Not a huge amount of progress made today. I need moar science to do the things I want to do, including the things I would be doing to get more science. So basically, the space program is in a standoff with linear time. Finally accepting that, in order to get science, we might have to visit new places, it was decided to send a couple Kerbals out to Minmus to grab some more quick science. It didn't even seem hard to do; we just took the overbuilt Mun Lander, slapped some more science gear to it (i.e. made it taller and less stable), hired our first new recruit (to reset the science) and threw it on the launch pad. I even took a bunch of pretty pictures, which I will now use as a story aide: I'm So Pretty! The rocket was a bit slow off the mark, but nothing Jeb and Zeltop couldn't handle. After all, this was basically the same rocket our program had launched twice already, without incident. Except a bit longer, and a bit heavier... See, because the rocket has a pretty low TWR - less than 1.5 for much of the ascent - it needs to loft the gravity turn a bit. It needs to fly a bit high, get out of the atmosphere a little faster. This is doubly true given that the ascent stage isn't quite enough to put the rocket in orbit, and without running the gravity turn high, the fairing would end up being opened too low in the atmosphere. Like this: Pictured: Not Plan A (30 km ASL @ 1,300 m/s) The rocket ended up dipping too low in the gravity turn, and the ascent stage ran out of gas at around ~1300 m/s at only 30km. Way too fast; way too low. Ground control ran the numbers and confirmed the rocket was able to hold at 30 seconds from apoapsis, but within seconds of losing the fairing the heat alarms had started to sound. With a vertical speed of only 50 m/s, Jeb knew the lander stage riding on the nose would disintegrate long before they ever made it to orbit. Summoning all his skills as a pilot, he valiantly raised the nose to boost the ascent rate. What a guy! Pictured: Totally Controlled Pitch Up Maneuver to Boost Climb Rate and not a Code Charlie Foxtrot That lasted for about 5 seconds before the whole craft went cheeks over teakettle. Now flying mostly sideways through the air, plus backwards, at substantial speed, the entire control console lit up like a Christmas Tree with heat warnings. Jeb tried to use tactical bursts of thrust from the main engine to help the SAS system regain control, but it was no use. With the very real possibility that the parachutes might burn off, Jeb had to cut the lander loose. Without the lander, the command pod needed to go retrograde to shield the parachutes, so Jeb released the main engine too: Launch Aborted! While the total loss of this ship would certainly be a blow to the space program, Jeb and Zeltop managed to seperate from their stricken ship safely. The command pod safely spun into a retrograde position, and after a long wait for the atmosphere to do its thing, the parachutes were deployed. Don't Know What We're Going to Land On, But We Know We'll Land on it Safely Jeb and Zeltop were perhaps a little pale when they were picked up, but a few snacks cheered them up right quick. Zeltop was informed that, with all the other astronauts currently deployed on Mun, she didn't need to worry about missing the next flight. Her and Jeb would be taking another go at this whole Minmus thing just as soon as soon as a new rocket could be built. Yay!

First Stage + LFO Boosters + SRF Boosters (not mentioned in post. They were half full to get under the weight limit, and gave me a TWR of 1.3, which I misremembered as 1.1) First Stage + LFO Boosters First Stage Orbit was finalized by the orbital engines, which are listed as the fourth stage. So it's a two stage rocket, as such (launch and payload), but it's listed as 4. Here it is with the fairing removed (so that will throw the numbers off a tad): Looking at those numbers now, I think establishing an orbit took about 4,100 dV. Don't launch 1.1 TWR rockets kids!

Simulated construction time and planning. In lieu of a mod for this function, I am limiting the pace of my launches based on Monthly Budget. Launches from the VAB and SPH for new designs and space missions are limited to one per 7 days, and a quarter of the budget (so if something costs more than a quarter of my budget, it will be delayed). Woomerang and Dessert can be used for extra launches, at the rate of two per month each. I use Woomerang a lot for probe launches, and Dessert is typically reserved for things like rescues or resource replenishment.

Adventures Without SAS - Just Banging My Head Against My Desk I'm afraid that this post will be light on pictures (as in, there are none). I was, as the title implies, far too busy banging my head against various objects to take good pictures, so I'll keep this brief. Playing in career mode has been an eye opening experience in regards to all the things I take for granted. Case in point: Despite apparently still lacking most of what I need to make this work, I decided to start building a base on Mun (I am using MKS and USI Life Support). Launch pad weight restrictions meant I launched with my first 3 stages having a TWR of 1.1. Successfully taunted gravity (which was good, because there was no plan B if it didn't make it to orbit over Kerbin). Made it to Mun with almost no fuel left, so I launched the previous missions Mun Lander as a fuel tanker. Got enough fuel to land with 50 dV to spare. Decided to try and move to flatter ground a few metres away and ran out of fuel right before touch down. Bounced, did a cartwheel, stuck the landing. You know, the usual . Then I used the Munar Lander to send down an engineer and pick up the pilot I used to land the proto base. Yeah, about that. Engineers can't use SAS . I guess I should have known that from sandbox...but it's been a while since I did anything like this (by which I mean land something that didn't have a crew of 3+). That lander has 2000 dV. I burned at least 1200 dV landing it. Well, landing implies a level of control. I spent at least 1200 dV spinning my way out of orbit and crashing at non fatal velocities in the rough vicinity of the target area. I was only 5 km off target Bonus points to the fact that, as it stands right now, I have no way of getting Bill and Bob home. There is one ship in the fleet rated to land on the Mun and make it back to orbit, and it carries one Kerbal. But I should have the technology ready to retrieve them by the time I need it. Side note, I have an idea to retrofit that lander for Kerbin re-entry that I need to test. Should be amusing. One thing is for sure, career mode has really put the "Kerbal Spirit" back into my space program. The gulf between what I assume I can do, and what I can actually do (with my current resources), has turned my space program into the most slap dash, fly by night kind of operation it's been since I first played the game, and I'm loving it.

Overbuilding and Worldview - Docking Just Became Routine? - WARNING: May Contain Humble Brag! My first ever career mode is coming along nicely. Last up on the list was putting a flag on the surface of Mun. Given the almost random assortment of engines and fuel tanks the early part of the tech tree has given me, this promissed to be a bit less routine than usual. I failed to take a proper shot of the craft in space, so I'll stick a shot in here is a shot from the VAB with the fairing and engine shroud removed, and the TWR displayed. Ignore stage 0 though; that's the dV it would have if the Munar lander were to push the command pod around. Actual Munar Lander dV is 2,000 dV, which given how effeciently I tend to land, is a comfortable 500 dV safety factor. Also note what a lovely job I did with the TWR ratios, and how breathtakingly close this rocket is to not flying I started to have doubts about the TWR when my rocket just kind of floated above the launchpad as the clamps released. Anyone confused by the engine counts in stage 4 should know that the central stack includes a pair of radial engines to boost the TWR of stages 4 and 3. Anyway, the rocket flew, slowly, to orbit. True to form, though you can't see it, the boosters are topped with SAS units to prevent the craft from wandering off course along the way. I've had plenty of that nonsense already. But how it flies, or even the mission, isn't what made me stop and go 'huh'. No, there is something very fundamental about this style of design that signals a fundamental shift in how I play the game that I hadn't really noticed until now. It's the lander. More specifically, that I didn't think twice about having one. Now, I have made this style of craft once before to land on Mun, shortly after docking ports were introduced to the game. Docking in orbit has been something I've been able to do, and have been doing, since some point during the patch prior to docking ports being added to the game. But I've always been apprehensive about it; it's always been a (big) deal. An event of note. But when I designed this particular rocket, I knew pretty much as soon as I started that I wanted to use that Wolfhound engine (because it's amazing), and that as a result, I was also going to use a separate lander. This design was in fact so successful that after Jeb had gone and planed his flag on Mun, that I was able to refuel the lander and send Valentina down as well. I'll not bother with more pics, because we've seen it a thousand times before and that's not what this post is about. It was only after everyone was safely home, with all the science recovered, that I actually stopped and realized just how unlike me this mission had been. I mean, I've clearly gotten a lot more comfortable with docking in orbit over time when I look at how my missions have changed...but this was the first time that the fact my mission would include orbital docking was as noteworthy as the fact my mission would include getting to orbit, and I thought that was kind of cool. It's like the time I realized that I no longer thought about shifting gears with a manual transmission. Docking is now something I have done enough that I can simply...do it. The last remaining general skill for which that isn't true for me is interplanetary encounters, though I'm not nearly as nervous about those as I used to be for docking. My general knowledge on how to set up encounters has developed enough that, like rendezvous, I've all of a sudden become comfortable with radial in/out maneouvers, which makes things much easier.

True. It has a nice ring to it. Though I guess I feel...unoriginal using that. Some inherent dislike using the same name as everyone else. It gives me an idea though. I could change the name of the space program in response to certain milestones (at least, I think I can get the name to change). That way KSP would be something the program evolves into. Something I'll have to think about. And since I ommited it from my last post, this is my current flag: I've been using the flag my avatar is pulled from for a while, but it's not really suitable as a proper flag. It's pretty, and I like it, but it's not a good flag design. Took a while to find something I liked as a flag for a space organization, but I found this one, and ran it through GIMP to remove the colour gradient from the original. I like the design, and it looks good in game.

Spin Stabilized Emergency Drag Procedure Started a new career mode, and needing some money, I decided to run a tourist mission. Didn't have anything on hand to carry multiple kerbals around Mun, so I took the rocket from my orbital science mission, swapped out the science gear for some 1.5m passenger modules (carrying 4 kerbals), and moved the heat sheild to the bottom. That was easy. Thing is...this made the re-entry stage much more aerodynamic. Dangerously so. "Simulations" projected that by the time I reached sea level, I would still be movoing at more than 1 km/s. The thing just wouldn't slow down. 3 aerobraking trips through the middle atmosphere later and I was still going to come in way too hot to ever deploy my parachutes. The only time I ever really decelerated was when the SAS system lost a fight with physics and the whole thing spun around to go nose first. Sadly, the SAS wasn't nearly powerful enough to maintain a high enough angle of attack to maintain significant drag. Or was it? In a last ditch 'pulling my hair out' effort to salvage the mission (since I was looking at a very real threat of bankruptcy here), my re-entry stage started to spin a bit, like a propeller (that orientation). Siezing my last chance at pulling this off, and knowing that my power was almost out, I spent the ships precious remaining units of electricity putting it into a ferocious spin that would hold the ship sideways in the air, preventing a fatal slip into a nose fore or aft attitude. Sadly, the screenshot doesn't do it justice, since it naturally grabs a single frame. Understand that the reason the parts are seperated in the picture is because it was spinning that fast. Like, maybe 300-600 RPM fast. I almost vomited watching it. Again. Those parts are separating because of it's spinning like a propeller around the center module. Somehow the physics managed to prevent what to me looked like a translucent disk of insanity from flying apart. To my dismay, the initial deployment of the parachute (nose) and drogue chutes (middle) didn't stop the spinning. Nor did the spinning stop when the drogue chutes fully opened at 2500m. Now I was very worried that I was still going to be spinning on impact, everyone would die, and my space program would go under. But, to my relief, when the parachute finally opened the spinning did start to slow, and eventually stop, and the whole thing touched down safely in the water at just under 10 m/s. I will not be using that particular design again. But I am very happy knowing that this incredibly stupid design pulled off what will surely be the most Kerbal landing I will ever have (I think this was even more Kerbal than that time I de-orbited with a Kerbal riding on a ladder because I didn't have enough space for everyone).

I don't let the Veteran Kerbals die. Which is mostly a problem now that I am trying career, and my desire to use the Vets at first is in conflict with my utter inability to design small and simple rockets. I'm used to flying cargo rockets that maintain the launch length all the way to orbital insertion (or at least the upper atmosphere), rockets that can handle payloads wider than their boosters without complaint, because the rocket is still many times longer than it is wide. Tumbling caught me completely off guard. I haven't had a rocket tumble since I learned not to make sharp turns during ascent in 1.0.0. The usual way I build my rockets makes them stable, so I never thing about it, so I'll happily stick an onion pod on a small fuel tank with a swivel and expect it to fly like an arrow at 14km. Anyway, my inability to build proper rockets capable of anything less than making it to Duna combined with my insistance on using the orange kerbals but refusal to let them die has led to a few reversions. Once I get them all into orbit I'll start recruiting other astronauts and the shenanigans can begin in earnest. Or I'll learn how to make short rockets and get over my desire to use the onion pod. Fun fact: if it lands on a hill, it will roll, and it will not survive. Never used it before. Didn't think of that.

Just started my first ever career save. It's called: ISAAC Iinternational Space and Aaeronautics Consortium

First, a pick of my first interplanetary docking. Nothing special. Just something to remember it by: The landing was a bit more...exciting. A quick glance out the window suggested Duna is a pretty hilly place, and the miserable attempt at aero braking confirmed the atmosphere was thin, so a shallow landing trajectory was selected, and the brave kerbals aimed for what they hoped would be a valley. Bill decided to rig the parachutes to open at minimum pressure, maximum altitude, and removed the 'suggested operating parameters' safety locks (intermediate danger setting). Bill and Bob passed out when the chutes opened, but Jeb was the one flying anyway so it didn't matter. With only 15% fuel burned, the rocket touched down with a healthy buffer of extra fuel to make it back into orbit. The landing spot wasn't precarious at all: Not precarious at all The instruments say the ground is 6.8 degrees, but the attitude indicator says SAS is holding the nose at 9.9 degrees. It will stay up upright on its own, but the landing gear dampers must have been damaged in transit, because they are way too bouncy. Bill got it swaying as he was getting out and the whole thing started to sway so bad Jeb had to throw the SAS into radial up and activate the RCS thrusters to recover. The SAS system itself likes to make the nose trace out a circle, so the reaction wheels have been set to a low intensity. Problem solved (there is probably enough power to keep SAS running all night). After everyone had a good stretch and took a group photo, Bill decided to go back into the ship and run some more diagnostics. Bob amused himself with some ground samples before joining Bill back on the ship for breakfast. Jeb decided to go paragliding: This is a fantastic idea Jeb thought he would be so light that the parachute would work just like at home. It didn't: Jeb after hitting the surface of Duna at ~20 m/s He tried to stop his descent with the RCS system. It didn't work, but it probably slowed him enough to save his life. He just kind of laid there for a couple minutes, but was able to walk it off in no time: Jeb, five minutes after hitting the surface of Duna at ~20 m/s After a quick inventory of supplies, it has been decided that Bill, Bob, and Jeb can stay at Duna until the interplanetary relay arrives in a couple weeks. After that, it's lift off back to the spare fuel in orbit, than it will be time to make their way back home. EDIT: Here is the computer readout for the vessel orientation with the Center of Mass marked (colours are resource status). It could land on a steeper slope, but this is definately pushing my comfort level a bit:

Fair enough. And yeah, as long as you don't allow the game to update an out of date version, you can keep using it until your OS/Hardware can't support it anymore. I.e. games that are more than say 20 years old often become difficult to run because of changes to operating systems and computer hardware. 30 years from now we'll all be keeping some ancient PC next to our fancy quantum computer to play KSP

By making a copy of the game directory you can 'freeze it in time'. As long as you don't run the launcher (launch KSP.exe directly), the game wont try to update. All the game data, including mods and saves are contained in that directory. I'm unsure what stuff you would be deleting from game data (unless your talking about removing mods?). If making history is installed, it will be copied along with everything else. This isn't a process for reverting to an older version though. If you want to keep a specific version of the game, copy it before you update (doesn't sound like you're thinking that, but just in case). I have a few versions of the game, preserved with their mods either so I can continue that save without issue, or in some cases because mods become depreciated. I have some mods in 0.19 that provide me with an attachable winch and rotating engines that I am particularly fond of. KSP is basically purpose built for this, being (almost) entirely self contained (some of the logs are, or were, written to a folder in appdata). It's provided ready to execute (the version from the KSP site has no installer), and it contains all the data it loads in the main directory. Most games put the save folder somewhere else, usually Documents or appdata. Some games do this for screenshots and mods as well, which would complicate the issue. KSP doesn't and that just makes it even more awesome.

So was I, but I think that works too Yes. It is very important that we land on Duna today rather than just hit Duna

Almost a year to the day my space program started (3 days late), my first two interplanetary launches of the save arrived in Duna SOI only an hour apart (despite being launched 4 days apart). First to arrive was the only crewed interplanetary vessel I currently have running, with the spare fuel only a few hundred km behind. Both ships have beaten the interplanetary relay that I had hopped would be in place before anyone else arrived, but Kerbin is close enough for both ships to make direct contact, and the relay has been boosting the signal a lot anyway. The fuel tank was carrying a set of local relays for Ike, and their carrier was supposed to be the first vehicle to make an interplanetary landing, but I accidentally wasted all the fuel making my orbit fancy. I completed what I think is my first ever interplanetary docking, in any save. The Duna landing wont happen until tomorrow, but I got the ship fuelled up before getting off. I went way too high for an aerobrake, causing the orbital engine to run out of fuel before I could dock, so I've lost the heat shield I was supposed to have during my descent so I could use the landing engine. I'm sure the Space Program big wigs back on Kerbin are doing their best to assure investors (or whoever pays for my rockets) that these are only minor setbacks, and as long as the manned landing goes off without a hit, I'm sure these snafus will be forgotten. No pressure.

I think I've made an intuition mistake getting back into interplanetary travel. I've decided its high time I used Kerbal Alarm Clock in conjunction with sending multi ship missions. But I've launched the ships in the order I had intended for them to arrive, starting a couple weeks ahead of the ideal launch window, and I'm pretty sure that's backwards (the last ship launched is going to arrive first). The arrival times are a bit difficult to make out though, so I'll have to double check that. In any event, it looks like my first interplanetary mission in at least a year will consist of 3 transfers for 4 ships, unless more get added. The interplanetary relay launched first, followed by some spare fuel. The spare fuel is a novel design for me, so I'm interested to see how it does. The fuel tank is also carrying the relay bundle for Duna's moon, and I think I have a moon intercept on the way in, which works out perfectly. There is a manned mission bringing up the rear...or possibly the lead. Jumping right in with a manned landing doesn't feel quite right though, so I think an automated test landing is going to get added to the roster on a fourth launch. I also noticed I'm a bit past the ideal Jool window, so I'm sending up another interplanetary relay set to try and take advantage of that. I don't think I've ever been to Jool before. I think the relays might been a bit of reworking to get a bit more dV into the relays themselves. I should probably send some of the ion powered minor relays too. I should have a veritable fleet of ships by the end of the day at this rate.