spikeyhat09

looking at that sound-generated image, I could imagine being another intelligent species puzzling over the markings on voyagers gold disc. maybe they are the sole survivors of a volcanic eruption? and they escaped to the three inner planets? perhaps one of them eventually evolved into our beloved kerbals! I see Bill, Bob, Jebediah and.... ? O.o

odds are, you were exploiting more fuel than you realized. Even if there is a bug (which it probably isn't), I'd MUCH rather it be that fuel drains to quickly than too slowly. secondly, why aren't you using the nuclear engine? unless you're disgusted by how ludicrously efficient it is (which no doubt some people are), It's sort of a no-brainer. vacuum impulse of 800?!?!? thirdly, what are you doing going to mun and min? they added entire new planets! kerbin moons are for 0.16ers!

I think the devs realized that reaching one of the other planets would already be incredibly difficult for the layman, and to ease some of the frustration, eliminated the prospect of running out of fuel. the result: a ridiculously efficient motor (more than twice the efficiency of the next best rocket engine) that has little thrust (but doesn't really need it either, especially if you carefully and thoughtfully design your vessels) and is too tall to me used in a lander stage (the legs wouldn't reach the ground unless you used hardpoints, but then what about the ladder :/). I think they should reduce the impulse in vacuum to 550-600. getting to the mun/min is WAY too easy now.

My question is, Is it vital to install some virtual on-screen measurement tool to determine the angles, etc., or could i simply hold up a protractor to my laptop screen?

I'd like to aswell!

land on minmus and the moon in one mission perform an orbital rendezvous launch a vessel into interplanetary space, and then safely return to kerbin. take a spaceplane to KSC2 take a vessel to the mun/min using only solid rocket boosters (and crash of course ) create a shuttle or reverse shuttle (launches like a rocket, lands like a plane, or launches like a plane, and turns into a rocket) land a kerbonaut on minmus using only the rcs backpack (once in orbit with the main vessel) perform a kerboldive take a vessel out of kerbols SOI perform various missions using unmanned vessels (by carefully designing it so that you launch it, decouple it, and quickly switch to it using [ ] so that your following the "debris") install a mod or better yet, make one walk to the north pole on foot rescue the crew of a failed mun/min landing attempt see how large a vessel you can make before the game crashes have a kerbal climb up the latter of the water tower at KSC to observe your launches attempt to land a vessel on various buildings at KSC try to scare Jebediah (keyword = try) fly a vessel into the munar arch(es?) attempt to land on the hilly parts of the min/mun at night.

perhaps you landed on the side of a hill

always use the telescoping legs. they extend further, and won't snap off as easily. also use three landing legs. they will sit flat on any surface. there's a reason they make "tripods" and not "quadpods". If you're using the smaller capsule, try to make it as light as possible, and have more than 1/2 a tank of fuel left to return home (depending on the engine. try to make use of the tiny engine (not the white radial ones, those are terrible). they are the most efficient in a vacuum (with an impulse of 400!). they're fairly useless on kerbin, but in space and on the moon they save a lot of fuel. if your using the three man lander, use the bigger version of that engine.

I agree that in reality, no-one will ever achieve a perfect orbit. just moving about inside the capsule would adjust it by an immeasurable amount (or maybe measurable? :/). I'm just wondering if its theoretically possible for an object to move at the EXACT, Precise velocity (for that height), with 0% inaccuracy, and have an orbit that's perfectly circular

just beat my record with 89,877/89,8977

Its not a circle that's being perfect, its the path that the ship takes. why is that impossible?

I'm most excited for the new star layout! too bad it's not an option....

that's kinda what I just said XD

Great! now do Minmus!

change your monitor settings perhaps?

I wonder if you got a perfect, 0% elliptical orbit, if the periapsis/apoapsis markers wold disappear.. or just spin all the way around spaztically until the game crashed

I'm guessing that when people say they want to go for the gas planet, they mean the entire Jool system. It has the most moons, and the ones it has seem like the most unique in the system (the only other body w/ water, one with a crater so large it looks like it got nuked, and one that's so small no-one can really tell what it is... even looks like it has an atmosphere). on top of that, if you have any fuel left, you can see how far you can get inside the planet before bad things happen. perhaps there's even a "Great Green Spot". Also, the creator of this thread forgot to include something - Kerbol! its now got a proper surface, with sun spots, corona, everything! I'll be very excited when I'm able to actually melt my ship (and Jebediah )

yup, thats why you time accelerate. they stop getting all shaky. thats how i got mine to not do that. does it have enough fuel to de-orbit?

1) I would think so. Seems like a logical thing to add to the game (as long as its relatively realistic-looking and not corny and stupid like allot of mods I've seen are). 2) If the devs keep expanding the game (which I hope they will), and it becomes more than just about orbital mechanics and atmospheric physics, I would think that eventually they would add other species to the game (highly dependent on question #3) 3) I dearly, sincerely hope so. As cool as they sound, the new planets will eventually become old news and boring, just as the mun and minmus have. At that point, I believe the only way to keep the game interesting is to either add more star systems, or randomly generate the starting one (unique to every "save" file). If they decide against other star systems, I hope they at least allow modders to create their own. 4) not sure. If they do so, the primary objective of visiting extra-terrestrial worlds will shift from simple exploration to monetary gain. Or at least somewhat anyway.

I recently launched a spaceplane/reverse shuttle and manually achieved a near perfect orbit (or my personal best anyway). the apokee/perikee only differed by about 40 meters, and the speed differed by only .1 m/s. What's the best you've achieved (without mods of course )?

I might have been more impressed if I had the slightest idea what you're talking about

Yup, I'm sure that's happened to all of us at some point or another... but good practice for interplanetary travel!

minecraft has physics?!

I use this method as well, but be aware that you have to design your rocket so that it HAS an extra stage to drop.

landed on both moons and returned safely in two weeks.