TheFlyingKerman

Blueberries is mentioned as a surface feature.

I play the game using a similarly weak laptop, with 10-th gen i5 and Intel integrated graphics. I find that the weak link is mostly with rendering the ground. So if I fly a plane while pointing the camera at the sky, I get much higher FPS, even better when I go to map mode. I have no problem with 100+ parts ships when they are in space. The optimizations I have done: 1. I run ksp_x64.exe with the switches -force-opengl and -nolog , the first forces the game to use opengl rendering which is marginally faster then directx, the second disables logging. 2. I lower resolution to 1280x720. 3. I disable anti-aliasing in game but forces CMAA in Intel Command Center beta. 4. In setting.cfg I change PLANET { name = KerbinOcean minDistance = 3 minSubdivision = 1 maxSubdivision = 6 } and similar for EveOcean and LaytheOcean, which further lowers the quality of the ocean (it is possible to go lower but there are artifacts).

I use a maneuver node to circularize so that I know exactly when to start my engine.

It maybe trivia, the stock skybox contains a few familiar constellations from the Earth https://ibb.co/7t3ktpB Bottom: Sagittarius, Right: Scopico https://ibb.co/m8K10nJ Bottom left: Orion, Top: Gemini, Right: Auriga, Bottom right: Taurus with Pleiades in the square lower right.

According to Wiki, Kerbin's sidereal orbital period is 426 d 0 h 32 m 24.6 s https://wiki.kerbalspaceprogram.com/wiki/Kerbin or around 426.09 Kerbin days. That means there should be 9 leap years every 100 years. Not as far as I know there is such thing in the official game. Could there be real effect on game physics or contracts?

Helicopters work on Mars Duna. https://ibb.co/mv5Hvth https://ibb.co/qpNZPCq https://ibb.co/pJdg669

I built this modest plane that flies at 170m/s at 20000 m on Eve, using about 20% torque from the smallest motor. Flying higher helps. https://ibb.co/k3dYsbM It is capable of vertical landing and takeoff. https://ibb.co/xDHYJFF In my experience speed isn't the most important factor for a plane on Eve, rather its size and hence how well it can survive entry in to Eve's atmosphere. https://ibb.co/cYMFvnY https://ibb.co/fnpsFN1

IMHO the only science part I miss is an asteroid sample collector for probes. Considering there are elaborated ESA missions this is a bummer. Otherwise more science = more tedious clicking.

I have joined the forum for years but haven't seen anyone building something like this. The underlying idea is straightforward. With a reusable rocket the way to save cost is to use jet engines to reduce fuel cost. While jet engines are useless in space, for a reusable SSTO rocket the thrust is surplus later in the launch, anyways. The jet engine also helps reducing landing speed, saving on parachutes. I call this Jet Assisted Reusable rocket --- JARR. I found that the Whiplash seems to be the best jet engine for this purpose. It has the best thrust from around 3000m - 10000m at around 250 m/s - 800 m/s. Usually the engine cut off below 800 m/s. The biggest pitfall with this arrangement I found, is that the rocket is sensitive to drag. The less drag the rocket has, the faster it goes and the more thrust the jet engine gives. This proportionally increase delta V. Here is an example of the rocket I built. It uses a Skipper and two Whiplashes and six Hammers SRB to help getting off the pad. It is about 88t on the pad.

I end up using the same lifter again and again after perfecting the gravity turn.

That's right. One each body there is one randomly generated green monolith in addition to the known Easter eggs.

Years of research shows that Kerbals' health don't degrade after spending years in space. To become the true space faring race all it takes is a spaceship capable of moving Kerbals around in relative comfort while constantly producing snacks for them. We have built the first of such great vessel, which we simply called Mothership I for lack of a better name. It was lifted into orbit by the huge S-6B rocket. The S-6B was recovered. A few days later the first crew, Val and Bill, arrived taking the HKA-3E spaceplane. They would stay there for about half a year.

Big satellite Small satellite Inter-planetary micro probes

We need more lifting capacity than the S-3D lifter. So our engineers began building a heavy reusable SSTO, capable of lifting 30-35 t into LKO, based on the powerful Twin Boar. The project soon run into difficulty. The main criticism with the Twin Boar engine was its poor ISP, resulting in high fuel cost, not to mention the 65000 Kerbuck entry cost adopting the engine. The real deal breaker was its poor aerodynamic profile - the lifter could not be made to glide. An alternative was based on the Mainsail engine, which has the advantage of better ISP and lower entry cost. However the Mainsail proved to be under powered. At that point, seeing the success of the HKA-3E space plane, some engineers proposed using jet engines as auxiliary engine to save fuel cost, or even some hybrid winged rocket to maximize the advantage to the jet engine... obviously the project went nowhere. Lastly Kerbodyne offered us the cutting edge Vector engine, with excellent ISP at all altitude, and could be fitted into 1.25m profile - perfect for aerodynamics. At that point the R&D cost for engine alone had ballooned to a staggering 115000 Kerbucks!!! Some critics reckoned a SRB based single use lifter would be cheaper, given the relatively low planned credence. However, this time the lead engineer managed to 'convince' the treasurer and move the project forward. The final design, the S-6B, used 2 Vector, a Panther and 6 Hammer solid RATO. Three sets of movable fins and a set of 4 tail fins enable the 20+ t empty rocket to fly through air. With the Panther jet to assist landing, 4 parachutes was sufficient. One was the first payloads of the S-6B was the 30t Kerbin DTS relay satellite, sent into Keostationary orbit above Nye Island. To complement the relay, the S-2F sent two Kerb-link relays into Keostationary orbit to form a constellation.

That offset is deliberate. I attached the docking port to a 1.25 fairing base, which in turn attach to the big fuel tank via inter-stage node. The small tank is attached to another inter-stage node, and offset down. There would be a fairing protecting the legs during transit, because I am sending it to Laythe. I found that even a simple design like this shakes On the other hand, I Alt-F12 the module to Laythe and there seemed to be no shaking :)