Kosmic Debris

My cycle is pretty different. 1. Look over new parts and build silly things. 2. Re-create my "standard" rockets. 3. Launch a LKO station, a small LMO station and a bunch of fuel. 4. Manually land on the Mun just to prove I still can. 5. Go exploring. As always, I consider myself fortunate to have the opportunity to help build an epic game. :-)

[EDIT] Resolution was using "control from here" on the Mothership MechJeb vs. the RC-L01 I built an interplanetary ship and docked a lander to it upside-down as the easiest approach. The entire ship now thinks retrograde is prograde, as it seems to force it's orientation to the lander can. I've clicked on "control from here" on the node on the ship, but to no avail. Not a big PITA, but is there a means to reverse which way the ship thinks it's pointing?

**Could this please NOT be moved to Mod support? The issue isn't with a single mod, but with ALL mods that have a UI, hence with my KSP configuration. .22 is not showing the UI for any mods I load - MechJeb, Protractor, Engineer, etc. The parts are there and I can attach them, but nothing shows to control them either in the VAB or on the pad. Any thoughts? I reloaded .22 and tried them each one at a time as well with no joy. Thanks!

Loading MechJeb 2.1 (Hooray!) the parts are there, but there's no UI for it - am I missing something basic?

I like the idea of career mode, and the general structure seems right - accomplish something, get more parts. We can (and will) argue over what should come when, research points and methods, etc....but overall the approach seems right to me. As playtesters, our role isn't really to "like" or "dislike"...but just to provide feedback. Overall, I'm finding the performance on my system to be better - but as the focus was on career mode there's not a lot different to get wound up about. Still feeling out the SAS/ASAS changes. So overall, not a really exciting release but great progress on some core work.

+1! Some sort of power generation is needed even for LKO...and fuel cells would be an awesome selection once we get into a resource-consumption mode.

Resources, resources, resources. I still stand by that KSP is a hoot - but there's nothing useful to do. Useful work in space is ultimately the driver for getting there, IMHO.

Anything other than a suborbital hop should have power generation IMHO - even if it's just a small, fragile solar cell segment, fuel cell or nuclear thermoelectric. The fuel cell option might be interesting for future use as we get into consumables. Just IMHO as feedback as they tweak the ladder. Thanks for all the comments on this!

I may be missing something fundamental, but wouldn't a solar array be one of the very first items on the tech tree? It appears there's no means to generate power other than via the engines...?

Absolutely incredible - thank you!

Love the drawings - amazing!

I was pretty excited about the new stack adapters, but I've run into a weird glitch. I basically need to put one on both ends of a set of engines, as I'm trying to change engines in space with docking adapters. But...I can't get the stack adapters to line up on either end. I've tried rotating the adapters and everything else I can think of - is there a trick to this, or am I just trying to do the impossible?

Yep, that's been my experience - some object clipping the hatch.

I am regularly amazed at the diversity of the community - all around the world, all kinds of different interests and expertise...it's a very cool place to be ...and thank you to every one of you for the great craft, pictures, suggestions, comments, mission reports, mods and just the positive vibe!

[Answered my own question - yes, the converter will find any accessible fuel tanks docked or KAS. BUT...apparently not through radial decouplers ] Dumb design question: does the converter need to be attached *directly* to an output tank for fuel, or will it feed via KAS or a docking port? I'm thinking about a Kethane tank + converter on the Mun, and then a KAS on the converter to attach to tankers to take the converted fuel to orbit. THANKS!

Not my understanding from my single internal source, but I think we can agree that it's part of the design and they're actively selling it - regardless of the current readiness or level of effort. I don't disagree at all that they've got a lot of other irons in the fire - it's hard to imagine how well they appear to be managing not only the development but actual production. Certainly shaking up the market! They've won two from the USAF, with the potential for another 3...but that's out in 2015. Both development missions, but could be huge for them. In the end, a lot of this is about a) designing for new capabilities and building on their credibility. They've got a long ways to go to get into the Delta/Atlas club of consistently reliable launches...and a misstep would have a huge impact on their continued success. All good stuff :-)

Not really a correction - I simply noted that it was part of the design. Cross-feed is only required when doing a maxium payload lift...and there are no flights anywhere near that capacity on the launch manifest so far. The first launch will be a test only (although I suspect they'll carry a Bigelow Aerospace station), the second is a relatively light payload. Should be a wild ride to watch

It's cool that they've been able to do it with a rocket; Blue Origin and others have tested the approach and software with jets, but SpaceX looks like they have this nailed. Note that they also crossfeed the boosters on the Heavy...so it's even more Kerbal ;-) The new redesigned Falcon 9 has the engines in a circle with one in middle vs. the prior square arrangement - I understand this allowed for the additional fuel required for the landing as well as configuring the single engine for the return. It also looks like they're planning to land the boosters the same way. Their revamped website shows landing legs on the 9 and the Heavy, and it looks like they're pretty close on the design!

To some extent, the same question the rocket scientists have always had to answer

Kethane has certainly set a high bar for features, functionality and UI!

Looking to build a Skylab?

Congrats! There's nothing quite like that first landing :-D

I was able to avoid the issue by installing Kethane *first* and then other mods, but hit the issue when Kethane was installed *last*. I realize this is too anecdotal to chase...it's just what I experienced.

So my simple findings were: - Fresh load of KSP with current Kethane version - worked perfectly. - Loading MJ, no issues - Loading Lazor, no issues but...loading MJ, then Lazor and THEN Kethane; same issues I had before. So there's something there, but likely an ugly one to debug and I suspect not a scenario that's interesting given the prior "guidance" of wrong download/can't copy a directory. No worries, always other stuff to do in KSP

It's the latest version, and there doesn't seem to be anything unique about the install - I think I can copy a directory I'm setting up a clean install and I'll work through it.