[Eva Umbilical's]

This gives me a related idea - maybe the EVA pack could be unlocked a bit later in the tech tree? It always seemed a little silly to me that you could have Jeb crawl out of a tiny pod in a rocket just barely able to breach the atmosphere and then make him fly around with an incredibly advanced jetpack.

[Introduction & DeltaV Question]

37 minutes ago, Vanamonde said:

It's largely a conceptual problem. Start with the smallest payload which can do the job you need, then build stages under it until the aggregate has enough dV to perform the full mission. Never add mass to the final stage, because that makes every previous stage less efficient. If you do need to make the final stage larger, it might be advisable to delete everything below it and rebuild that from scratch. 

I think that might work really well! I've just recently learned consistent methods of docking - needless to say, this is far more efficient than a direct ascent on Joolian moons. I'll probably make a (small) lander, then take your advice to create the transfer stage and all the stuff before it.

Matters are complicated thanks to the challenge I'm doing: I set my science gains in the difficulty page to 10%, so I haven't researched any engine stuff farther than the "Heavier Rocketry" node, but I think I can work something out.

Fortunately, it's an even simpler task to create a rescue vehicle for the three guys I left in orbit of Dres for nearly a decade while testing designs. 

[Introduction & DeltaV Question]

6 hours ago, Admiral Fluffy said:

I would recommend flying probes to the moons, rather than kerballed missions.

Thanks for the welcome! I've actually already landed four rovers (two for Kerbin's moons and two for Duna and Eve respectively), and I understand vacuum efficiency and how to see DeltaV. This is definitely a good tip, but one I've already figured out. Nonetheless, thank you!

[Introduction & DeltaV Question]

Hi, I'm bobinator_133 (as you may have somehow guessed already). I'm entirely new to the forums - don't worry though, I've already read all the important guides. 

Besides the introduction, I'm also here to ask a quick question about DeltaV. Specifically, I've been having a huge amount of trouble actually getting enough of it. The farthest-out mission I can consistently do is a flyby of a Joolian moon - MAYBE an orbit, but that's a one-way trip. Even then, I'm left with next to no fuel, and have had to literally push my rocket (using EVA packs) the rest of the way into Kerbin's atmosphere. Multiple times. And as if all that wasn't bad enough, I have the OUTER PLANETS MOD installed! Any tips to conserve and/or increase DeltaV would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!