bsalis

The easy one is near the equator, which is... 2 degrees 28 minutes 43 seconds NORTH 81 degrees 30 minutes 47 seconds EAST The less commonly spotted one is... 12 degrees 28 minutes 2 seconds NORTH 39 degrees 8 minutes 16 seconds EAST

I updated the leadboard Suzaku. That was a pretty impressive flight. I didn't know you could build a SSTO so small. That glide landing was also brazen. Never thought of doing a direct flight myself. Thinking that after getting to orbit that KSC2 would be too close (or past already) to de-orbit and land. edit... Yeah you are correct. Will edit my original post. I forgot to get a pic myself. However, it's kind of obvious my craft is orbit capable (see pic). Heck, it gets to the Mun and back!

Well first I just want to point out that the question from the OP has been answered. However, the orbit in the provided picture is just a polar orbit (90 degree inclination). As for setting up a stable sun-synchronous orbit in KSP, I would say that it is not possible. Reason being that, according to the Wikipedia entry maltesh provided... With the patched conics that KSP uses, such things as "extra mass near the equator" don't exist. Also, as I pointed out, such orbits are not polar since they are not 90 degrees.

From the dev blag it looks like our persistent save is safe for now, but no guarantees. The feeling I get from the 0.17 planned changes and dev blogs is that this is generally a low impact release. However there are no certainties.

Only requirement is that the Periapsis needs to be more than 70Km. Apart from that it does not matter if it is circular, or what the inclination is, or how long you are in orbit (ie. no need for a full loop). I did an easterly orbit, changed inclination, and landed at KSC2. So not a full loop. You could go directly to KSC2 as you have, but just need to get that Pe to 70Km+ before re-entry. That way the challenge proves that the craft you have is orbit capable (ie. a real spaceplane), as well as other neat things such as... * you can build such a craft * and be able to fly it to orbit * and re-enter and fly to a specific location * then land it in the rough in one piece, at a less than ideal landing site (uneven ground, in a bowl)

So how will the website work exactly? Do you have a planned feature list? What's happening with registration of mod creators and security in general?

I don't think a sun-synchronous orbit is possible in KSP. Strictly speaking it's not polar either.

I use them for the mapping mod, having one around each of the three Kerbin bodies. Shame it only works when using the craft. They are good for polar landings too, obviously. Having a craft at both Munar poles. There's some interesting landscape there in perpetual twilight- I recommend a landing if you have not done it already. Not sure why so many use them for comsats. Since 3 or 4 in equatorial orbit having line-of-sight links gives you 100% coverage. Just make sure the comsats have at least 2 dishes, but best to have 4.

Great work Suzaku. You seem to know your way around a spaceplane. However to qualify for this challenge you need to do an orbit as per one of the rules...

Image file name says tidal_lock_polar_orbit.jpg Because it's a polar orbit. I'm not sure it's possible to have such an orbit keep it's orbital plane 90 degrees to Kerbin.

Keep at it. You will get better with practice. Might help to have more thrust until you get a better feel for it. Plenty of fuel is also nice.

Or maybe you can decide what role you want by taking different paths on the tech tree. It's a planned feature. * Not interested in spending a lot of time building rockets that work and rather be in mission control or piloting? - choose more robust parts. * Your piloting skills no good? - upgrade and develop piloting aids * No clue how to plan a mission or work out Delta-V - develop a mission control computer to work that out for you

Agree... post some pics. Are you trying to get any spaceplane into orbit? Or are you specifically after an SSTO from the Spaceplane Hanger to get to orbit? Without seeing any pics I can only speculate you need more/bigger/better control surfaces, and/or more lift, and/or higher angle of attack on the runway.

I confess I have not done this challenge but I have been working on something for the new planets. I'm not spending any more time on it until 0.17. Since who knows what will change, or even if 0.16 craft files will work. It looks a lot like what olex is using (if you know it, what's the Delta-V on your craft?) Anyhow, some pics below of testing my prototype... In the VAB Landing under chutes Success To orbit again

Oh no not this thread again.

You can't yet. Best you can do is quickly switch to the craft with whatever keys you have mapped. Stop the rolling then switch back. The rolling should not be as bad, or may be gone in 0.17. When docking is added, we can expect a proper solution.

I have a strange relationship with Kerbonaut safety. I don't willfully do any harm to them. If any are stranded in any way, I put a lot of effort in saving them. However I routinely put them into rockets with highly questionable success of getting off the pad without exploding, and think nothing of it.

Here I am... Actually, that's not me. That is me being mauled by feral rabbit. I'm actually here enjoying a sunny Sydney day at home and here after totally not crashing that plane. Which is a big win by KSP standards.

Make sure everything is enabled. Exit back to the Tracking Station. Go back to your craft... hopefully the fuel flow should all reset.

Someone should write a nice little guide. There will probably be one in the game next drop anyhow though. Guide should cover things like... * Delta-V * Thrust to weight * Specific impulse * Center of mass * Center of thrust * Gravity loss * Drag loss * Max-Q * G forces * Gravity turns * Staging, both horizontal and vertical * Using struts * Actually how to use the VAB UI to build a rocket from a spec I'd do one myself, but i'm kinda lazy, and if it's less then perfect the resident forum rocket scientists will be all over it like seagulls on a chip (you know who you are).

Looks like he is suffering a bad case of canarditis

It's Personal Preference. I started using MechJeb to get a large rocket into orbit because the framerate was a slideshow. I could do it myself, but it was ASAS all the way to second stage, so that was not efficient. Since then I have learned a lot from using MechJeb. I use it mostly for ascent and orbital operations. Sometimes for transfers. Oddly, I still do all my landings manually because I really enjoy them... especially a brazen straight-in landing on the Mun doing over 800m/s as your landing site approaches in the distance! Landing a spaceplan on Kerbin is also good fun - MechJeb won't help you there. There's nothing I have asked of MechJeb that I have not done myself manually. MechJeb does a better job of it, but sometimes messes it up! I often need to do things mixing MechJeb and manual control (eg. MechJeb to coasting-to-Ap then manual control to setup for circular orbit). I don't find launching a perfectly working rocket for the Nth time a challenge, I find it tedious. I wonder how the view of people will change when MechJeb features are added to the game, as I fully expect they will in some form.

Avoid x2 speed. It's hard on the physics. If that's not enough, try using some struts. This should probably be in How To. Expect a Mod here to do that in 3... 2... 1...

It's (one of) the mast cameras. I'm guessing they just patched/photochopped the picture around the base of the mast. You can still see the shadow of the mast. Occasionally you see photos of Mars and there's something that really strikes home about the unreality of the photo. Looking back westward, the sun is noticeably smaller. Can't help but gaze and think fark, this really is another planet.

Tweaking! Right click on the offending part. You will get a small popup window, where you can click a button to retract/extend the leg or wheel.