Vanamonde

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.

They can be fragile, so just put some little landing legs on them.

My priority is to build ships that work, and work reliably. Even after I build something that does the job, I will continue to tinker with it until I smooth out any remaining flaws in its performance. What it looks like coming out of that process can be kind of a fun surprise to me. Stations, on the other hand, since they can't really do much anyway, I build entirely for looks. I am 50.

In case you haven't noticed, France can greet you back, too.

It does seem to be touchier than usual lately, though.

I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you.

The first thing I notice is that the net thrust of your engines is below the centerline, which produces a bit of nose-up torque. That's a good thing, and helps the plane get off the runway. But your control surfaces are counter-acting it until you reach an altitude where the air grows too thin to apply much force to the control surfaces, and then the torque gets out of control. Try shutting off the lower 2 engines with an action group when you get close to that. This will have the additional benefit of channeling their intake air to keep the other engines running at higher altitudes.