DaveyJ576

Everything that Pappystein said applies, but if you don’t already have it I highly recommend the mod Atmosphere Autopilot. I use it and the X-15 flies well, as long as you meet the conditions that Pappystein laid out. AA makes the X-15 more responsive and controllable. It also works very well with the X-20 Dynasoar “Moroz” mod.

Many of the Titan parts have been combined together into one part, with the variations now available via a B9 part switch in the PAW. The parts are still there, you just have to switch the original part to the one you want. Yes, unfortunately this breaks previously existing craft files. The dev team took this approach in order to reduce the size of the download package and keep the number of individual parts lower. It is easier for them to maintain the mod that way.

Okay, I might be suffering from a very bad case of being dense, but is anyone else having trouble with the Mariner 8/9 when it comes to the payload separator? It seems to be clipping on the bottom mounted Mariner 6/7 Scanning Platform and the spacecraft will not cleanly separate. By using the move tool to reposition the scanning platform, I have been able to go from a Kraken-like explosion to a simple hang up and failure to separate. I honestly don't know what is wrong. It seems like the node is messed up or the scanning platform is too big. I have tried the Mariner Payload Separation Mechanism, the Mariner 10 Payload Separation Mechanism, the Ranger/Mariner Payload Separation Mechanism, even the Surveyor Payload Decoupler. They all clip and hang up. Am I using the wrong scanning platform? @CobaltWolf himself said it was used on Mariner 8/9. Is there another? @Zorg, @Rodger

Does anyone know of a good mod for shrouded, deployable lander legs? I am kitbashing a lunar lander based on Apollo parts. The legs will be on the outside of the aerodynamic portion, so I would like them to be shrouded. Thanks.

The display screen on the right would be very useful if one had to put a photon torpedo into a certain unshielded exhaust port…

Truly excellent work. Your kitbashing skills make mine look pretty wimpy by comparison!

Nope, seems like you have everything there. I am not aware of any other parts. Just don’t forget the SAF shroud. It will clip into the top of the tank but that’s ok.

Yeah I gooned up the AS vs SA numbering system. Apparently there was some thought to renaming 201, 202, and 203 to Apollo 1, 2, and 3, but that idea was quickly abandoned due to possible confusion with the ill-fated Apollo 1. The as-planned system pre-fire would have had Apollo 2 as a repeat of Apollo 1. It was cancelled as redundant. Apollo 3 was to have been a dual launch flight (3A and 3B ?) with a Saturn IB/CSM on one flight and a Saturn IB/LM on the second, with rendezvous, docking, and manned LM tests. Post-fire that mission became the single launch Saturn V/Apollo 9.

SATURN IB An evolutionary step up from the original Saturn I, the Saturn IB was the ultimate expression of Werner Von Braun's cluster tank/cluster engine concept. What started out as an expedient to get a large multi-engine heavy lift rocket flying as soon as possible became a handy and advanced rocket by the time it stopped flying in the early 1970's. Below are the various forms of this rocket, with real and some never flown payloads. SA-201 and 202 were early unmanned tests of the Apollo CSM. SA-203 tested modifications to the S-IVB second stage so that it could be restarted in flight as the third stage of the Saturn V. SA-204 flew as Apollo 5 and was the first test of the Lunar Module in Earth orbit. It was hard to get the SA-203 shroud to just the right shape. This was as close as I could get. A variant of the Skylab SAF shroud would be nice for this flight. Apollo 7 was the first manned Apollo mission and the last to fly from LC-34. After that, operations moved to LC-39 for the Skylab and ASTP flights. The H-1 engines on the first stage received upgrades and all of the tanks were painted white. Saturn IB Centaur was a great concept that never came to pass. It could have become NASA's workhorse launcher for deep space missions, with the large shroud that surrounded the Centaur enabling a very capable spacecraft. Finally, two great what-ifs for Saturn IB use that never came to pass. MORL was an early space station concept that never got beyond the concept stage. But, with just a little more funding and will the AAP-2 Wet Workshop could have flown in 1969 hosting several crews. It would have had a LM-based ATM that would have been launched separately on a vehicle very similar to Apollo 5. Saturn IB was at the limit of its performance with an Apollo CSM on top. Further upgrades to the H-1 (H-2!) would be needed along with upgrading the S-IVB to a J-2S. All things considered, this engineering compromise gave the U.S. a capable manned launcher with an iconic and unique look.

Great work!

Breaking Ground DLC is absolutely required. KIS and KAS don't do a thing in this case. One of your astronauts has to be an engineer. Once the rover is deployed from the LM. Drive it around to the back and pull out the remaining parts from inventory one by one. Put the engineer into build mode, and then put the parts on the rover chassis using the move tool. It is a tricky process, and you have to turn and manipulate them to just the right position to get them to go green. Once they do attach them. It requires a lot of practice, but it does work. See this link for additional info: Friznit's BDB Wiki

That is one of the most pointed, but hilarious, things I have read on these forums!

I wasn’t sure about your experience level. I was going off your forum stats. No offense intended. At this point I am stumped. When combined with what others have said, I can’t think of what it might be. Sorry. It’s weird dude, even for KSP.

@Kassler Scott, may I weigh in on this? I would suggest starting a fresh, new build of the LM/SLA from scratch. Start with the LM. When finished, move it out to a launch pad via the normal method and use the cheat menu or the Hyperedit mod to put it in an orbit, all by itself. Test ALL of the functions to ensure it is working properly. If it is, revert it back to the VAB. Add just the SLA without the panels. Once again cheat it to orbit and test the separation from the SLA. If it doesn’t work, then you know that the problem lies with how the SLA attaches to the node on the LM. If it does work, revert to VAB and add the IU to the bottom of the SLA. Test again. Keep repeating this procedure, adding one part at a time, until you find the culprit. Make sure you are following @Friznit’s Wiki build guide to the letter. It is actually easy to miss a vital part. When I am doing scratch builds of rockets or spacecraft I follow this step-by-step testing regimen to ensure that I didn’t goon something up. It makes it a lot easier to find the offending part this way. The cheat menu or Hyperedit is your best friend in this regard. It saves you A LOT of time and head scratching. Unlike real life, KSP is not friendly to “all up” testing by building the whole rocket and flying it to find bugs. One other suggestion… once you find and fix the problem and are fully operational, change how you do the transposition & docking maneuver with the CSM. Once you blow the SLA panels, fly the CSM forwards with the RCS and away from the LM/S-IVB stack about 25-30 meters. Only then do you engage MechJeb to turn the CSM around to dock. In your video you were very close to the LM when you turned around and very nearly collided with it. In real life that would have caused all sorts of bad problems. When using MechJeb for this maneuver, NEVER approach for docking faster than .5 meters per second. I always use .1 to .2 m/s for docking. Addendum: after reading all of your posts, I am convinced that you have a part clipping problem; i.e. one part interfering with or sticking to another. The problem does not lay with any of the BDB parts. I have flown BDB Apollo missions to the moon numerous times and have never experienced this problem. Please don’t take that personally. There is a steep learning curve to all of these parts, and if you are relatively new to KSP it can be daunting. Stick with it. You will figure it out.

I fixed it... I think. Imgur is getting hard to use. I had a previous account with dozens of images that I uploaded here, and now that account seems to have gotten corrupted and I can't access the images anymore. I started a new account and just uploaded those Saturn I images yesterday, but Imgur wiped everything clean today. Very weird. Can anyone recommend a different and more reliable photo sharing service? Thanks.