Vanamonde

This is one of the harder things to do in this game. Congratulations.

Parts talk moved to the part of the forum where the parts played by the game's parts are discussed.

Gentlefolks, not every forum member reads in the same order or with the same frequency, so there will be times when somebody is excited about something *you* have already seen. That's no reason to poke fun or poop on someone else's excitement. Just move along, before somebody else beats *you* to the newer stuff. Thread closed before some more grouches chime in.

Thank you for the kind words, folks. I do enjoy writing these, and the really fun part is that I don't have to make anything up; I just record the weird, cool, and amusing stuff that really does happen in this game, though I do like to come up with silly explanations for them.

Indo, if you don't see this, you probably have an old version of the game. It's easy enough to check, though; see the version number in the lower right?

Wehrzon: So the mission was ready for the homeward leg of the journey. Now, there are more efficient ways to do it, but it can be difficult to plot an interplanetary transfer from inclined and elliptical orbits, so the first order of business was to circularize the orbit of Dres Revelation and match planes with the ecliptic. After a brief wait of a few days for a launch window, the ship fired up its mighty drive engines once more, and nailed the return trajectory, though the ship did make two minor burns to fine-tune the approach to Kerbin. Four months later, with the snacks all long since consumed and the guys thoroughly sick of the season 5 set of How I Met Your Progenitor by Unspecified Means, it was a welcome sight to find the homeworld growing in the windows. And yes, even old spacehands like Jebediah and Barfan still must pause to marvel at the beauty of spaceflight, from time to time. The aerobraking manuever, while routine in its performance and successful in its outcome, was nevertheless accompanied by the usual exciting fireworks. Jebediah was especially proud of having plotted an aerobrake which dropped the major axis of the orbit spot on the ecliptic, leaving an equatorial plane matching and circularizing burns to be simple matters. Then it was time for the real payoff of the mission: bringing the science home! The Mk103 Vacuum Instrument Package undocked and de-orbited itself on RCS. There were some tense moments indeed when bad luck brought the module down in a mountain range, but then compensating good luck settled the module safely between peaks. Reporter: Do I recall correctly that Dres has no atmosphere? Wehrzon: That is correct. The same reporter: Then may I ask why the "vacuum instrument package" carries a barometer? Wehrzon: We were hoping you wouldn't notice that. [sighs.] See, we meant to put a Gravmax gravity meter on there, but they're both little blue boxes of the same size and shape... Moving on, the crew then left Dres Revelation on autonomous control. The ship rests in a 200km orbit, waiting to be refuelled and sent out again. But the flight crew for this mission relocated to Highlander and bid their travelling home of the preceding 421 days a fond farewell as they departed for Kerbin. Jebediah was once more pleased to use the last of the lander's fuel to bring the ship down just under 30kms from KSC, so that it took mere moments for the SAR plane to pinpoint their landing spot, and it was a relatively short jaunt for the Crew Recovery Vehicle to pick the boys up. Second reporter: I've heard an odd tale that on the way out to the landing site you only passed tufts of grass, but moments later while coming back along the same path, you found yourself driving among fully-grown trees. Is this true, and if so, can you explain it? Wehrzon: Yes and no, respectively. Second reporter: And a follow up, if I may. Why does the CRV have that goofy-looking spar with the two additional wheels sticking out front? Wehrzon: We found that without those, the stupid thing absolutely frikking insists on flipping over on its face when the brakes are applied. And now, I am pleased to present to you the heroic flight team of the Dres Revelation mission; Jebediah and Barfan Kerman! [Applause, applause. Then:] Another reporter: The We Have No Cities Times is claiming it has evidence that this final photo op has been staged, but the reports are conflicted. Firstly, is it true that even though one Kerbal looks exactly like another so nobody would have known the difference, you really did take that CRV rover on a one-hour roundtrip to pick up the crew from the lander, just so that the individuals our readers will be seeing in this picture really would be Jebediah, Barfan, and Wehrzon? Wehrzon: That is an inaccurate report. I first built and tested the CRV, which took about half an hour, and then it crashed three times on the way there and back (hence the front wheel spar), so that I actually spent not 1 hour but about 4 hours making sure that the individuals in that picture really would be who we claim they are. That third reporter: What is wrong with you? Wehrzon: Well, that's a subject for another time. But I must admit that there has been a bit of harmless trickery invovled in this photo op after all. That reporter: How so? Wehrzon: For one thing, we made you all stand here overnight so that the sunlight would be coming from a favorable direction for the picture. Some reporter: Is that why we've been here for 10 hours? Wehrzon: Affirmative. And of course the official photo neglects to record how we had to keep standing Jebediah and Barfan up again, because every time we came out of time warp, standing on those stairs would cause them to be flung up in the air and fall in a comical sprawl. Reporters: Yeah, that's not very dignified. We'll leave that out of our accounts. Wehrzon: Well, thank you all for coming-- Smart-looking reporter with the pipe: Pardon me, but you said the science was the most important part of the mission, and yet you are trying to call this press conference to a close without discussing the specifics. You have explained how the mission went to lengths not just to transmit data back, but to physically return the orbital science module and Dres lander. Why are you now trying to skip over that? Wehrzon: Well, see, that was all somewhat anticlimactic. The mission did net 2354 points! That's pretty impressive, isn't it? A reporter: Yes! And what will those points be spent upon? Wehrzon: Well, nothing, actually. We've already discovered everything there is to know, and invented everything that can be invented. In fact, we did that before Dres Revelation set out. The tech tree has been picked clean of fruit. Pipe reporter: But as for the mission at hand... What was anticlimactic about it? Wehrzon: When all was said and done, almost all of this mission's points came from transmissions. Bringing the orbital module back was only worth an additional 69.6 points (though that would have been more if it had had a gravity meter instead of a barometer), and retrieving the lander with its surface sample only added 149.4 points. Pipe reporter: And the desire for that surface sample was your primary reason for replacing the lander? In the manuever which cost the life of Dudmond Kerman? And you're trying to skip over the fact that the soil sample was only worth 15.7 points? To avoid having to admit that you killed Dudmond for less than 16 additional science? On a mission which was entirely moot in scientific terms to begin with? Wehrzon: That's about the size of it, yeah. But to distract you from that, here's some surplus spaceflight porn pics from the mission! [He flings handfuls of photos at the reporters as he runs away, yelling:] This concludes today's press conference! See you all next time! The flung pics follow:

Did you get an F3 report for any of them?

It's hard to diagnose without pics, but as a first guess, it sounds like your RCS thrust is not centered (causing a swing to one side) and then the SAS imposes a correction (swinging to the other side), in which case, just about every tap of a translation key is going to trigger a oscillation.

Posting pictures is often just as helpful, but easier for other players to access. May I suggest that you try that?

This might not have been *intended* to be a question about release dates, but that's essentially what it is. And since 1) nobody knows because Squad does not announce such things, and 2) such questions are against forum rule 2.3.c, let's just lock this thread and move on to other topics, shall we?

(Thread moved to gameplay questions, where it's more likely to receive helpful attention.)

I'm sorry Lazareyes, but currently, external sites are the only way to post images and share craft files.

This is worth trying; lower the main building, dock, then raise it again. But it might tip over from the unbalanced weight.

That is a cute little lander.

Put as many legs as you want on there, then spit them off with decouplers as you're taking off.

Congratulations on your (semi-)successful mission. (And thread moved to mission reports, where it is more likely to find an appreciative audience.)

Indeed.

I answered this question a long time ago, but it was wiped in the forum catastrophe. Anyway... an aerospace engineer passes through a rocket scientist in the VAB or SPH, and 20 minutes later, a newbie pilot is born!

Hello and welcome to the forum.

Wehrzon: So Highlander was descending toward the surface of Dres, taking and transmitting instrument readings all the way, when instrument operator Bob Kerman decided that they needed an EVA report while "flying over Dres" to complete the data collection. He exited the hatch, whereupon something, possibly the RCS thruster above the door, knocked him loose. He was falling at 20m/s toward the surface of Dres, less than 2000 meters below! Fortunately, Bob is an experienced spacewalker and was able to RCS back to the ship, but it made for a tense few moments of the kind of life-or-death drama that helps spice up mission reports. A reporter: What caused this blow that knocked him loose? Wehrzon: That's a headscratcher alright, because that part of the lander design has been used on many prior flights without any such trouble. We are looking into it. Anyway, upon discovering that his near-death EVA report was merely a "space near Dres" of the sort he could have recorded safely from orbit, Bill commented, "Whatever. Can I do it again? Can I?" Bill changed his underwear, and Highlander proceeded to a touchdown on the highlands of Dres. The boys began the intensive series of scientific experiments for which the lander had been equipped, and started transmitting this data back here to Kerbin. They transmitted. And transmitted. And transmitted. For 3 local days. The lander only had the one RTG, which, in the past, had always been sufficient for flight, but it seems we seriously underestimated the power drain of transmitting so much data, and much of that time was spent merely waiting for the lander's power supply to replenish. But the boys were not bored. Nobody gets tired of jumping in light gravity, and scaring each other with horror stories by the eerie light of the lander's floods. Eventually, however, the extensive experimental program was completed, soil samples were stored, and reports filed. It was time to begin the journey home. There would be a stop along the way, though. Highlander awaited a rendezvous window, and then launched to meet Dres Observation Platform 1. (That's the new name of the Mk100b dispatched earlier.) Reporter: What's all that mess? Wehrzon: Orbital tracks for the 2 polar and 2 tropical satellites, the ship, the (surviving) rover on the surface, the flag the guys just left, some stuff around another planet in the background, and of course the lander and the station. Dres is a busy place now! Anyway, the thing is, Bob Kerman was all alone on DOP1, and would be there for some months or years, and needed company and help operating the station. And so Highlander was scheduled to stop by on the way home and drop off Bill. For some reason, this was the scariest part of the mission for Bill. Or perhaps he was just sad about the diminished potential for lethal danger on station-duty. But before long he was safely inside, and at the window to wave goodbye to the departing Highlander and its pilot, Barfan Kerman. Then it was up to Barfan to arrange one final rendezvous, to return Highlander and the surface excursion samples and data to Dres Revelation. That didn't go so well. Reporter: Do tell. Wehrzon: Barfan is a qualified rendezvous pilot, but Dres Revelation was in a rather inclined, highly elliptical orbit, and most importantly, he couldn't set out at any old time, and would have to wait for orbital mechanics to bring the lander and ship near each other. The best launch opportunity he could find was less than optimal, and then it was a tedious matter of burn after burn to bring the vessels together. After a full day of trajectory tinkering, Barfan got aggravated and tried a novel approach. Recalling that bizarre incident from earlier in the mission, he waited for apoapsis and then brought the lander to a dead stop, and waited for the ship to catch up. Reporter: That worked? Wehrzon: Oh yes. Dres' gravity is pretty wimpy to begin with, and the ships were quite high on top of that, so the lander just kind of floated there like a soap bubble. Highlander was only falling at 3.5m/s by the time Dres Revelation closed the distance. Then from that proximity it was a relatively simple matter to plot a final intercept. Smart-looking reporter with a pipe (remember him?): That all sounds needlessly sloppy and complex. Couldn't you have done the math to plot an efficient intercept, and then waited for a proper window? Wehrzon: Have you no poetry in your soul? Besides, that might have required calculus, possibly polar coordinates, who knows, maybe even "radians," whatever the heck those are. No. We couldn't risk it. So Barfan winged it, and (eventually) succeeded. At long last, all the mission's science payload was safely aboard, the mission objectives had been completed, and it only remained to bring the ship home with its priceless hoard of scientific data. Tune in (whenever) for the last scintillating chapter of... some guy's mission report!

You could do that, or, you could simply not spend ALL the points that you collect.

Thread moved to general, seeing as this is neither a suggestion for a mod nor a request for help. Carry on.

Yeah, 'cause *that* was the problem, and not that the pilot was making up the mission as he went along.

A right-click deactivation requires a right-click re-activation, regardless of staging.

Your question is a matter of perception. To bring ships together at rest with respect to each other for docking necessitates matching orbits. You WILL expend the same delta-V whether you do it as one burn or several. It's just often easier to match orbital parameters one step at time.