stephensmat

What did I do today? I discovered that I was coming around Jool in the wrong direction for gravity assists. I thought I was decelerating my craft, but I ended up boosting it. After that I spent a few minutes hitting myself over the head. Word of advice, go into settings and dial up the number of conics that are visible. You see the future more clearly.

Tried that. No change. I appreciate the effort, though. Sorry to be an 'unsuccessful' story thus far.

I feel like something has changed, but I can't figure out what. When I was constructing the Duna Base, the Recycle option worked on the Construction Rover. So I rebuilt the Rover to see if it was a 'workshop' problem. But as with the orbital, and ground workshop, suddenly the 'Recycle' button does nothing. I've left the part menus up so you can see there's room for the parts to go. The UI just doesn't respond when I click on 'Recycle'.

When building the Duna base, they were separate objects. Doesn't really matter anyway. The Recycle UI doesn't change when they're still docked either.

Not sure how that works; but to test, I had an engineer on EVA. Same result. Lots of room.

Well, it's been almost a full day since I bugged this thread for technical support. When i was building my Duna base, the 'Recycler' in the workshop was very intuitive. But the Orbital one I put over Minmus is not working. On the assumption it might be a problem with the Part, I added a Ground Workshop as well as an Orbital one. I've put up the menus here in the hopes that'll offer some insight. Both workshops are staffed fully, power on, and there are cargo containers waiting to receive parts. The things I want to recycle are the assorted boosters that are hanging off the ends of my Station here. But when I detach them, and click the 'Recycle' button, there's no menu showing up. No UI appears, beyond what you see right here. I've searched the thread and found others have the same problem. Is it my mistake, or something in the mod?

That's what I was doing wrong. I didn't have the 'Cargo pods' configured for the right cargo. I was looking for a switch in the Processor/Converter, and didn't look further down the chain. My fault. Sorry. Thanks for your time.

It took half a dozen launches, but I got my proper 'Shipyard Station' into Minmus Orbit. With the Global Construction mod, I plan to use this station for most of my 'next wave'. There's plenty of Docking Ports to expand the Station for the Late Game, and I have several autonomous Drill/Converter landers harvesting Minmus for Ore/Metal/Fuel. Far easier than trucking them up from Kerbin.

I don't seem to have USI or MKS. This is Global Construction Alone. I used CKAN to install it. The video on OP talks about running the Workshop window, which I understand fine, I'm just not sure which part makes MK, and what from. ...and I appreciate the community so very much.

Hate to keep bugging everyone like this, but I can't find the part to manufacture Material Kits. I've searched this thread for advice, and I'm finding comments that say it's in the 'Ranger' parts, (Which I don't seem to have anywhere in my Science Tree right now) and other comments saying that's been removed/unbundled from the mod. Where am I messing up?

That. Was. A. Headache. My three hour plan became a three day improv. I've never used the Global Construction Mod for anything big before, and I failed to bring a few parts, made a few design mistakes. I thought I had everything sorted and sent in the same transit window. it ended up taking three such orbits to fix my screwups. Its the Kerbal way. Fly. Fail. Fail better. But eventually it was done, and I threaded together enough steps and took enough pics to make a Proper Mission Report. In fact, now that I think of it, it's my first Mission Report, rather than just putting a post in this thread. (And yes, Baldwin Base was named for the Character in For All Mankind)

Founder's Log: Day One. Contracted by KSP to found a proper base on Duna, So far, the ScanSat, in Polar Orbit for our whole flight here, has located several Ore deposits of 7.8% concentration, but to build a base needs more than that. It needs a flat surface. Nature doesn't draw in straight lines. For that, someone has to actually go and do some prospecting. (Supplemental) My original crew of three went through the snacks by the third week of the flight, and we hummed all the songs we knew soon after. Keeping in touch from Mission Control, General Baldwin recounted stories of his early days on the Mun, with only one episode of Bob Kerbhart to keep his trio entertained. We decided to humor the old man, and played cards for the next 200 sols. Note to future Colonists: Do not wager naming rights on anything when you're holding less than trip nines. I lost my chance to get the Base named after me. To prevent a mutiny, Mission Control overrode us. They will decide the name of any Base we construct. Founder's Log: Year 2. Landing. Our Main duty here is to survive, and find place to found the Base. To do that, we have to land. General Baldwin promises that if we crash, the crater will be named for me, which isn't much... but it did provide the others an incentive to live through landing. Wile-E-Coyote, our patron saint, gave us his blessing and he parachutes opened right on cue. Having landed intact, give or take some scuffs on the paint, we began prospecting. Morale's a lot better now that we've got something to do. Nobody's threatened to eat the cards for five whole days. (Supplemental) We've been rolling for days, taking measurements here and there. We've also been collecting Scientific measurements in various biomes. Mission Control has been eager for our reports, but we aren't transmitting them. Everyone knows the real prizes come when you run the data through a laboratory; but we don't have a lab in the rover. We are, however, getting a tour of some of the historical sites of Duna. I remember as a kid, seeing the news talking about The Little Rovers That Could. They were only mean to last for a few weeks, and went for decades. It's thrilling to see it with my own eyes. The rest of my crew agrees. We were all that space-mad kid. (Supplemental) My science officer tells me that the Rover had one last message stored in its memory, waiting for the power to transmit: "Can I Come Home Now?" We have voted, unanimously, not to mention this to Mission Control. Founder's Log: Year 2. Jackpot. After several months of driving, making our way across the planet at an average speed of 15m/s; we've found a likely spot for a Colony. It was my Engineer's turn to name something. He's dubbed it: 'Clear Spot'. He's a five star wrench turner, but he's not creative. With the site selected, and the Flag (and built in homing beacon) planted, Kerbin launched the Construction Fleet. Huge heavy boosters were launched into orbit, and four different craft was docked, one per booster. This is the most expensive part of the mission, given what it takes to get these things off Kerbin. A Heavy Construction Workshop, a supply pod full of Specialist Parts, and of course the Construction Kit are all on their way Founder's Log: Year 3. Miscalculation. Our Construction Rover, (the only part of the fleet with Kerbalnauts aboard) came in far faster than was expected. As a result, the Rover landed a full week away from the landing site. Even longer, when you consider that the Construction Rover is ten times the weight of our explorer. After conversations with Mission Control, they've decided that the Construction Crew are 'perfectly capable' of making the trek. They're probably right, but nobody likes driving through a sandstorm on Duna. Especially when you have to go around mountains and hills, rather than over them. (Supplemental) The decision was made to continue landing our supplies while the Workshop makes its way over her. But while landing, there was a sudden wave of darkness. While the DIY Kit landed safely, we are making an effort not to be superstitious. Turns out we chose the craziest time for a landing approach. There was an eclipse over 'Clear Spot' Founder's Log, Year 5: Third Miscalculation. The Workshop arrived safely at base camp this morning. We landed the supply pod, and began the work of constructing our new home. But we experienced a technical flaw. Half the reason we were able to get this Base Plan approved was because we were farmed out the job of construction to a "Miscellaneous Operations Department". The Mod in this case was Global Construction. Their DIY Kits are wildly versatile, but there's far less practical experience with their equipment than we have with all the regular KSP equipment. As a result, we apparently forgot a few parts. Small parts. But as with everything in space, the smallest details are the ones that wreck your mission plan. Mission Control's position on the matter is that this is the perfect opportunity to send General Baldwin's brother-in-law, who apparently 'has a fine career ahead of him'. I'm glad the resupply has a Probe Core, so he doesn't have to touch anything. As leader of the 'Founding' phase of the plan, my job is to keep morale up. Fortunately, while we may have forgotten things like supply couplers, I managed to pack my golf clubs. Duna gravity is a third of Kerbin's. I bet I broke a couple of records with that swing. Founder's Log, Year 7: Prospectors to Colonists We were told that building the Duna Base in a complete piece would take 6000 Specialists parts, all of which were included in my supply pod. Apparently, someone misread the manifest. There were other material kits required. Mission Control has done the math and decided that we can absolutely finish construction if we cannibalize all the landers, debris, and our own Return Vehicle. My original Trio protested... vigorously. But apparently the schedule can't be overruled again. Which means for my Prospecting Team to return to Kerbin, we'll have to wait for another craft to come, or for one to be Duna-Built. So we just got promoted from Explorers to Pioneering Colonists. At least, temporary ones. I can live with that for now. (Supplemental) Construction was completed overnight. We took a few wheels off the Construction Rover to polish the chrome and turn on all the lights. The Construction Teams have already claimed their bunks and fought over jobs, while we run the 'shakedown' of the new Base. I've already earmarked a few notes for the revised prototype on the next landing site, or even the next planet. Small outposts have been the norm on the Mun and Minmus, but if this base can properly construct it own parts and craft, odds are most of our construction will be moved off Kerbin. The politicians won't like it, but they can build their own base if they don't like it. The last order of business as the crew made its way inside our new home: A Naming Ceremony. We have to officially open it, and for that we need to know what name to put on the reports. While we've been working on all this, Old Man Baldwin has been taking advice and getting input from hundreds of people. Schoolkids, Government Committees, Newscasters, famous authors... Everyone has an idea of what our first permanent home on another planet should be named. After very careful consideration, General Baldwin has decided which of the millions of potential names will be chosen. Baldwin Base was declared fully operational and open for business this morning. End of Report.

Hi. Me again. How do I transfer material kits? I've got a Ground DIY kit, ready to go. I've got a Construction Rover, staffed with engineers, and another lander crammed full of material kits. What am I missing?

My Tour of Duna Anomalies Continues. (Spoilers for those who haven't found it yet.)

Anyone know what this is? I've been exploring Duna. (I'll make a mission report post when I've achieved a few goals) I've also been using the ScanSat mod. It pointed out several anomalies, so once I got a proper rover landed, I went looking. The first Anomaly was a whole lot smaller than I expected, so I had to do a lot of 'circling'. I was starting to feel decidedly like I was on a wild goose chase, when I finally saw this. It's the anomaly I was chasing, but I don't know what it is. It's probably a reference to something I don't know. But, I planted a flag right next to it, and labelled the site as an Anomaly, so if I ever want to come back, it'll be easier to find.

So, today I landed a Rover on the Mun. I won't show you the rocket I used to ferry it, because it was the ugliest thing I've ever built, and I took no screenshots. I have Science Lab on the Mun, as a small Outpost/Science Farm. I deliberately set the Rover down about three Biomes away, to spend some time Roving and collecting Science Data. You can't really see it from this angle, but I've loaded it up with all the instruments I could. On the journey, I couldn't help but notice something new on the horizon. Kerbin-Rise has never happened to me before. not in daylight, from the Surface. So I drove towards it at full speed, looking for the best shot. I like this next one the most, how about you guys? Also, if you've been following me, you know that I usually set my Boosters with docking ports and Probe controls, so that I can get them into orbit, and reuse them as engine nacelles for larger spacecraft. Here's the latest one. In honor of my first Duna-Flight for this replay, I have named her the SS Bobbi Draper. I've been experimenting with ways to save fuel on arrival at other planets. This time around, I decided to use the three 'Nacelles' for the outgoing flight, then transfer all the fuel into the central tank, and detach the empty ones. Saves a lot of weight for deceleration. I also used gravity assists from Duna to slow me down, and toss me towards Ike. A small adjustment on the way to Ike meant I passed in front of it for another Gravity Assist. This puts the Draper's arrival in orbit of Ike, with plenty of Delta-V left for transfer back to Duna itself once I've farmed some more science here. Ike's gravity is so low, I can use the Lander for two trips One to Ike, one to Duna. Side note, the two Nacelles I let go of for my deceleration burn? They were slowed down enough on the path to Duna that they actually fell into a high, elliptical, but stable orbit after I let them go. I have two (admittedly empty) Booster Engines that I could, conceivably, capture, refuel, and dock back into the Draper for a Return flight to Kerbin.

It took several attempts, but I managed to work the Global Construction Mod enough to build a small base on Minmus.

So, I gave this Mod a try. First, I designed a very simple base for Minmus, and packed it into a Kit, then flew said kit to Minmus. Then I flew an Engineer there, to deploy the kit. The kit began expanding to the size of the Base, as the instructions predicted. But now it seems to have stopped there. I uploaded a pic with the Right-Click menu, and the Construction menu visible. It's been like this for two full day/night cycles. Have I run out of something, or am I missing a 'Deploy' button? EDIT: Never mind, I worked it out. it's the Kerbal way. Launch, land, figure out what you forgot, launch again. Took me way longer than I'm proud to admit; so I'll post the pics another time.

I was following a thread on KSPForums where @theo3er scripted the automatic launch/landing of a SpaceX style Starship and Booster. I mentioned in the Forum that I could use something like this for refuelling flights, but since my 'Orbital Fuel Depot' is always moving in its orbit, the instructions to dock and transfer fuel would be relative, and thus impossible to program. Theo then told me that you'd use the Mechjeb features of auto rendezvous/docking in your KOS script. I've never used KOS. Never coded anything. But in all my games, I have a standard Minmus Lander with a probe brain, and drilling/processing gear for filling large tanks with fuel. I use it on Minmus so that launch and landing are dirt cheap, and my larger spacecraft are refuelled in flight. I'm looking for a simple guide on how to write a KOS script that would allow me to have a probe-driven lander do this: 1) Set down on Minmus in a specific place 2) Extend solarpanels/radiators/drills and activate a mini IRSU, until a small tank is full up with ore. (The IRSU converts it to fuel faster, so the small ore storage doesn't fill until the fuel tanks are at capacity) 3) Launch to a specific altitude, and circularize 4) Target a specific docking port on a specific Station. 5) Rendezvous/Dock 6) Transfer the majority of fuel from Lander to Station 7) Detach from Station 8) Return to point one and repeat. Almost all these actions can be managed by action keys, or Mechjeb2 functions. I need to understand KOS enough to write a script to make this work. So I'm looking for something already written that can be cut/pasted in, or a guide that can explain it to me. (Preferably visual aids. I'm a visual learner) Is what I'm describing possible?

I haven't even looked at the 'coding' yet, so pardon my obvious ignorance, but if you have to program in each step along the way, then is it really that simple to automate a docking? The orbital Fuel Depot is always moving. If you tell the craft to go 'up to this altitude' then 'turn to this orientation', and so on, isn't it all relative, and different every time?

I've never really used KOS. Didn't know how to work it out. Does this mean you can automate refuelling flights to LKO?

Never mind. I eliminated the 'Planetary Diversity' mod, and it appeared to solve the problem.

Trying a new game, with a new install. The mods I've chosen were largely from @Neartea's site. The ones they use/suggest in their own gameplay. So I play this new game, and I'm loving how amazing everything looks, except when I get into Orbit, Kerbin appears to be completely see through from the dark side. Here's a pic from the Tracking Station. I'd show you a picture of the Mun, except it's not visible at all. The Stats say I'm orbiting at an altitude of 150km, but I can't see it. Not even in the tracking station. One of my mods has done this. All of them were installed via ckan, and with the most recent version available, (Though admittedly, that's across a few release versions of KSP1) Here's a screenshot of all the mods I have installed. I haven't touched any of the settings yet, because until now, I haven't seen a problem, or need to. Has anyone ever experienced this before?

I was looking back through some old missions I've done, and came across this one from KSP2. This was my 'late stage' method. Basically, I had XXL Hydrogen tanks with Nuclear Engines, and used them as 'Drive Sections' for my craft, moving them out from Kerbin. They were so efficient that I thousands of DV left over, no matter what my trip was. Of all the things I miss from KSP2, the 'late stage ease' thanks to this configuration ranks about the middle, but I've put in enough work on my current game that I'd like the interplanetary transfer stage to be easier. Is there a mod that recreates the XXL Hydrogen tanks and Swerve engines with the kind of TWR and efficiency of KSP2?