Ker Ball One

There should be toggle in the Settings (Game Settings > Difficulty > KRASH or KCT)

And also "engines". Pretty much any action button that is for "in this stage". I don't know of any other than RCS and engines.

BTW, actions like Activate all engines/RCS in this stage, do not work. I can still activate individual engines or RCS with the stock buttons, and the AllYall buttons for Extend All solar panels and Extend All Antenna do work.

Thank you for such a quick turn around.

I'm not talking about inter-part wobble (like a hotdog). I guess that's the more common use of the term wobble in KSP. Let me call it "swaying" instead of wobble. It does in this case. It solves it if I manually engage Parking Brake. The ground clamps at the bottom of the craft are not enough to stop this swaying. Sometimes it causes fairings to fall off. But if I immediately engage the Parking Brake when the scene loads on the pad, it stops the swaying. That's a different problem. I don't have that issue. When I launch, it does auto disengage the Parking Brake, and I don't have any issues.

I get the wobbles when launching a tall vessel (Saturn V) on a launch pad. It would be nice to have ParkingBrake auto enable at start of launch.

Did not work with AllYAll-0.11.21.b1. Same issue. This did not work either. https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/dkp7of6u30mtsvwef9vko/Apollo-13.craft?rlkey=fm3rvc43utowf5foi77dhhguj&st=4gykclh6&dl=0 This is very much appreciated. Thank you. If the problem is only with the RCS, which I don't really use, then the rest of the mod can still be useful

I've done it using the same vessel. I did it Apollo style where I decoupled, flipped around, and docked.

Ah... nudge nudge, wink wink, say no more sir.

Which mod adds rain/weather effects?

Learning a lot with this challenge, about the free return and the hybrid trajectories used. With Apollo 12 and on, they would start with free return, then after testing the SPS to ensure it would fire, their mid course correction would change it to the hybrid to allow for more landing sites at higher latitudes. And they still could return with the much weaker LM descent engine. https://www.nasa.gov/history/afj/launchwindow/lw1.html

Wow, thanks for the tip. I have a feeling that using KOS will be a deep dive. I do some light programming in Python and JavaScript already and I'm learning c# for modding. I have a feeling that once I get into KOS, it's going to be a major part of playing KSP. Do you know if a repository of KOS scripts that maybe someone already has something similar?

I did it! With careful timing of the launch when the moon was in the correct phase (precise day of the month), I was able to enter the Lunar SOI on the equatorial plane. The visualization was done by cheating a satellite into a near SOI altitude (at 60Mm), equatorial orbit. This gave me a nice white line orbit that I can look at on its edge. The real missing piece that nobody was touching on, was the lunar phase. I was right in thinking that there would be a monthly window when this was possible. With that reference orbit, I could go set a regular direct Translunar Injection manuever node and see how far that path was from the equatorial orbit at SOI. And using time warp, could determine precisely when that TLI burn would be needed. I used MJ to quickly remove and add a hohmann transfer node between time warp intervals to hone in on the day and hour I needed. 3150 initial TLI 10 m/s correction in 4hrs to SOI to eq plane and pe of 110km (10 degree inc at start of SOI) 13.5 m/s plane change to 0 degrees inc at nearest AN/DN (2h into SOI) 788 m/s circularization burn at 112km There is no practical way to get the point of entry into the Lunar SOI, onto the plane of the equator... other than waiting. I have tried reducing Prograde so that the apogee just barely reaches the Lunar SOI, and although that does get that point on the equatorial plane, the perilune is so far away that I need a huge additional burn (750m/s) to bring it back down. So by waiting a few days for that white reference orbit plane and the purple maneuver path to align, I wind up spending less than 25 for all course corrections and plane changes to get my final goal, lunar equatorial orbit. This question is solved. However, it's still eyeballing the measurement with a cheated reference orbit, time-warping to get a date time, and then reverting. There honestly should be a chart or calculator, or some way to do this the NASA way. At this point I'd settle for a mod that could show equatorial planes. EDIT: Found one https://github.com/StrikeForceZero/KSP-OrbitPOInts

Thank you for a good explanation of something to try. I was able to follow and can understand the concept. This was a bit tricky, but I managed to get some visual aids with a couple of Waypoints created on the equator, to line it up with the start of the very short orbital line created by just clipping into the Lunar SOI. 730 m/s for this... and gets me about 1 degree inclined. 16 m/s to set inclination to zero at AN/DN. 640 m/s for circularization (which is needed to do the contract). This really made sense to try. The only big show stopper is the total 7.5 day one way flight time is a bit too much. It also makes sense, since we are basically pulling over at the SOI to make the changes at the minimum velocity. I was hoping that paying the 730 to bring the perilune down would be offset by a much cheaper circularization burn, but it I didn't save that much. Also the initial LTO cost of ~3200 m/s didn't change much by taking off some prograde to just clip into the Lunar SOI. I am also testing lunar cycle timings. I think I managed to get the plane change at AN/DN to less than 300 m/s on one test. Combined with the direct circularization of ~800 m/s, this is still my best approach. I last tried timing my Lunar SOI arrival when the lunar equatorial plane is parallel with the moon's orbital plane. Do you have any thoughts on when in the lunar cycle I should launch from Kennedy and/or burn my TLI?

https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/static/history/alsj/a11/A11_MissionOpReport.pdf "Command/Service Module Plane Change - The CSM will perform a plane change of 0.18° approximately 2.25 revolutions after LM touchdown . This maneuver will permit a nominally coplanar rendezvous by the LM." -p43 "On future Apollo lunar missions, landing sites at higher latitudes will be achieved, with little or no plane change, by approaching the moon on a highly inclined trajectory." -p18 So the assumption is correct, Apollo 11's inclination was near equatorial. This is the main reason. Apollo 11's landing site, the Sea of Tranquility was on the equator, and the mission/contract requires a 2 - 3 day stay on the surface. The lower the latitude, the more the site rotates away from the orbiter's (inclined or polar) plane. This was dangerous because such a small window meant that if they missed it... they would be down there for another 12 days or so. Not enough supplies like O2, food, water, scrubbers, etc. For RP-1 with Kerbalism, the same concerns apply. So equatorial landing sites prefer near equatorial orbits. Later missions have sites at higher latitude, but those are not what I am doing now. The current challenge is to do it the Apollo way. I just want to know how they did it. And it seems like their mid-course correction about 1/3 from Earth to Moon, was the place they lined up to the lunar equatorial plane. Last night I simulated a TLI that took place when the Moon was near its own AN/DN (map view, target Moon, yellow dashed lines), and the mid course (2nd maneuver node) seemed to fair much better with less than 10m/s of delta-v in the normal vector. It seems with that better timing, I may be able to enter the Moon's SOI pretty close to equatorial.

Also, you keep saying Mun. I'm talking about the Moon. This is Real Solar System. The distance are greater and orbits and rotation are all inclined. Plus with RP-1, I don't have the extra fuel or time to do the stock KSP moar boosters, big plane changes that are common advice.

Yes, I aid previously, "Especially Apollo 11 which did not seem to perform any plane changes at all. " which is what I'm trying replicate. They went to a landing site near the lunar equator. I also mention Apollo 12's plane changes in my previous comment. But converted their 350 ft/s into metric, about 107 m/s. These numbers make me think that there was no plane change of significance during Apollo while in orbit of the Moon.... But since that maneuver is typical with stock Kerbal players, most of the advice I get is to just do it the Kerbal way instead of the Apollo way. I'm trying to model this in a way that is repeatable. I'm trying a mid-course correction, as a second maneuver node that I will create before burning TLI. I need to play with the timing of the TLI node, because that mid-course node cannot seem to get into an equatorial lunar orbit unless the TLI node is the correct time of the month. It's just really hard to eyeball this, and I feel there should be a repeatable calculation that I can do to tell me not only the transfer window per day to get an encounter, but also a transfer window per month to get the proper destination inclination.

Yes, from Canaveral. I am not seeing a couple of degrees difference when I arrive at the moon (not Mun, if it were Mun there'd be no tilt, no problem). I see about 28 degrees. I know about a plane change inside the SOI. A node just inside the SOI can't get me to equatorial, probably because I am not actually on the equator yet. Only if I set the node on either AN or DN, which are on the equator. But the cost is very high. I think the fact that I'm not seeing a few degrees difference, means I am not launching at the right time of the month.

The only thing I can think of... is the Mid-course Correction that took place about 1/3 on the way to the moon after TLI. They didn't burn the SPS for this correction right after the S-IVB TLI burn and seperation. Why? Is it because they weren't yet intersecting the plane of the desired insertion inclination at the moon? I would think that plane intersection would occur twice per month. I just have no clue how to calculate that.

Apollo 12 did a 107m/s plane change after getting into a ~110km near circular lunar orbit and decoupling the LM, then a 116m/s plane change just before TEI. Apollo 14 and on, were single plane change burns of similar delta-v. I cannot see what the actual inclinations were, but that's what I got, and that's what should be possible in RO. The other burns like TLI, circularizing, landing, ascent, TEI, etc... all match real world. It seems like they all arrived into the lunar orbit at a the correct inclinations. Especially Apollo 11 which did not seem to perform any plane changes at all.

It's not the way Apollo was done. As I am playing Realism, time is a factor and cannot afford long elliptical orbital maneuvers. The final orbit is to be equatorial.

That may save some fuel, but at the expense of a lot of time. Which I don't have in a RP-1 crewed mission. From what I understand, that method succeeds best when apolune is near the ascending or descending node. But you still have to be in an orbit already. I'm looking for a point in the journey that is between the Earth and the Moon, but not yet within the SOI of the moon. There should be a point that is on the equatorial plane of the Moon, and thus equivalent to the ascending or descending node. But since patched conics don't display that kind of orbital information until you are inside the SOI, I'm finding it difficult.

I am trying to complete RP-1 program contracts for "targeted lunar landings". I see several historic Apollo landing sites fairly close to the Moons equator. So I want to establish a lunar orbit with near 0 degree inclination. I can use MechJeb and the Lunar Transfer Planner mods to minimize delta-v during TLI... but I don't know how to adjust my maneuver node to minimize my destination orbit's inclination. I don't even know if it is possible. (also, MJ doesn't show destination orbit inclination, only Pe, so I am eyeballing it). I know I can wait until reaching the Moon's SOI, and then get the inclination and LAN info. At that point, I can somewhat adjust inclination with a burn just inside the SOI. But I cannot get close to 0 degrees unless I burn at the closest Ascending Node or Descending Node, at which point, I am close enough that it will cost a lot of fuel. I would think that the Moon's equatorial/rotational plane would intersect the Earth twice per month, and that would be my window for a Hohmann transfer, but can't seem to see that happening. To clarify before any confusion, I am not asking about the Moon's 'orbital plane', which intersects my launch site's plane twice a day. That'll get me a lunar encounter just fine, but puts me into a higher inclination orbit about the moon (usually 28 degrees or so). I could be thinking about this all wrong, so please point me in the right direction. My questions: Is there a way to minimize the delta-v needed for that late plane change to 0 inclination, with better timing or adjustments during the TLI burn back at LEO? Or perhaps a mid-course correction burn (half way) still days away from Moon SOI? Is it a mistake to even try for a lunar equatorial orbit for this mission? Can this only be done with an expensive burn close to the Moon? Is a MechJeb Hohmann transfer simply the wrong starting point, and I need to instead make several manual burns? Or is there a calculator that exists to do this? How did the real Apollo missions seem to arrive at the Moon? I've read "Apollo by the Numbers", which gives lots of details, but still can't find out the inclination in their lunar orbits (just Ap/Pe). All I can tell is, most Apollo CSM crafts did a single plane change while in a circular orbit after they decouple the LM, so as to make rendezvous easier. That may imply were not equatorial. But I still don't understand what inclination they arrived into orbit with.

Getting into Lunar Equatorial Orbit I am trying to complete RP-1 program contracts for "targeted lunar landings". I see several historic Apollo landing sites fairly close to the Moons equator. So I want to establish a lunar orbit with near 0 degree inclination. I can use MechJeb and the Lunar Transfer Planner mods to minimize delta-v during TLI... but I don't know how to adjust my maneuver node to minimize my destination orbit's inclination. I don't even know if it is possible. (also, MJ doesn't show destination orbit inclination, only Pe, so I am eyeballing it). I know I can wait until reaching the Moon's SOI, and then get the inclination and LAN info. At that point, I can somewhat adjust inclination with a burn just inside the SOI. But I cannot get close to 0 degrees unless I burn at the closest Ascending Node or Descending Node, at which point, I am close enough that it will cost a lot of fuel. I would think that the Moon's equatorial/rotational plane would intersect the Earth twice per month, and that would be my window for a Hohmann transfer, but can't seem to see that happening. To clarify before any confusion, I am not asking about the Moon's 'orbital plane', which intersects my launch site's plane twice a day. That'll get me a lunar encounter just fine, but puts me into a higher inclination orbit about the moon (usually 28 degrees or so). I could be thinking about this all wrong, so please point me in the right direction. My questions: Is there a way to minimize the delta-v needed for that late plane change to 0 inclination, with better timing or adjustments during the TLI burn back at LEO? Or perhaps a mid-course correction burn (half way) still days away from Moon SOI? Is it a mistake to even try for a lunar equatorial orbit for this mission? Can this only be done with an expensive burn close to the Moon? Is a MechJeb Hohmann transfer simply the wrong starting point, and I need to instead make several manual burns? Or is there a calculator that exists to do this? How did the real Apollo missions seem to arrive at the Moon? I've read "Apollo by the Numbers", which gives lots of details, but still can't find out the inclination in their lunar orbits (just Ap/Pe). All I can tell is, most Apollo CSM crafts did a single plane change while in a circular orbit after they decouple the LM, so as to make rendezvous easier. That may imply were not equatorial. But I still don't understand what inclination they arrived into orbit with.

1. RealismOverhaul has it's own implementation of PersistentRotation without actually needing that additional mod. It makes sense that attitude control would be needed during the entire descent. The way attitude is controlled through warp, is to use Physics-Warp (max 4x). SAS and MJ can keep attitude control through that. The issue is that MJ auto-warps at high warp because there is nothing that prevents such warp during lunar descent until much closer to the surface. The solution is that MJ detect the presence of mods like PersistentRotation and RealismOverhaul, and only do physics-warp during descent since it requires constant attitude control. 2. So with Lunar gravity being 1/6th that of Earth, that is a TWR of the moon between 2 and 3? Makes sense. 3. My issue is probably too much TWR for MJ to calculate a good burn timing. MJ does account for some spooling, as there are several code snippets related to spool time. The LMDE does spool but faster, and has a wider range of throttle. But since the LMDE was designed for Lunar descent, it had a reasonable TWR. I was having serious problems when using an engine with a longer spool time, narrower throttle range, and TWR of 10. I tested with 3 engines (TWR > 30) which amplified the problem. So it seems MJ is designed to handle all these parameters (since 2014), but only within reason. Too much TWR and spool time, and it cannot hit such a precise timing.