Wjolcz

The hopper is probably harder to work with since it's stubbier, too. There's way more leverage with RCS high up, like on the Starship, than closer to the CoM, like on the Hopper.

That would take some serious precision and measurements. Besides, I'm sure it orients itself engines-first during reentry without that.

The problem with this is if they did that the stage would start tumbling. I'd think that causes more problems than solves. The best way to make sure that the stage reenters properly is to make a shuttlecock out of it ASAP after stage separation.

This is exactly the opposite of what I want and what makes me hate career mode. I don't want to do science to progress. I want to have a choice. What I am saying is "I want to pick to either do science, do World's Firsts (and/or contracts), or both at once", and your answer is basically "Do science or cheat", or just max out the tree right away because rewards can be cranked up to the max (I play sandbox when I want to have all the parts, but thanks). That's not very helpful. That would be perfect. Even with some enormous fees/penalties it would be my favourite (and honestly the only one I would use) strategy.

Entry burn just before the worst part of the flight?

In the video there were some sort of grey elements on the interstage. I wouldn't be surprised if those were some sort of aerobrakes.

I really don't think lift coefficient is taken into account when designing a rocket. As long as they don't have control surfaces, that is. Unless we are talking about boostback boosters like Falcon 9. That one actually glides for a while before landing.

Pretty much everything. I'm a bit busy to go into detail, but it's about how the tree is being unlocked. If I can buy Sci with Funds then I have more flexibility when it comes to choosing my own goals, projects and tech paths. Again, it's about how the tree works. If I want to unlock it I need Sci. To get Sci I need to unlock more experiments. So the career really forces you to be pretty much science-oriented. That doesn't give you much freedom. Also, I don't want to max out the tree right away. I want a challange of spending resources on tech that I might need and working out the solutions with what I have currently, not to grind my way through the tree ASAP. Strategies generate a steady income of science, when activated. I don't need that. I need to buy science whenever I see a need for a new part. If KerboKatz ever comes back from the dead try playing career with minimum science rewards and the mod installed. That one small thing completely overhauls career mode by giving you way more freedom over how you want to play it.

BTW, wasn't there a camera lens with bacteria left by the Apollo astronauts, or something?

Nice. I hoped they would do something like this eventually.

Earth has been swapping rocks with other celestial bodies for the last 4.5 billion years. That's why I won't be surprised if there are archaea and bacteria living all over the solar system. I don't think some (soon to be dead) organisms on the surface of the Moon is that big of a deal in comparison.

Wait... It isn't already? I've seen viewer count drop dramatically after the booster lands on previous occasions.

Digital

I was surprised to read it's going to be SSTO. What even is the TWR and ∆V with three SL Raptors (assuming full fuel and no cargo). Edit: now that I posted this I remembered it's meant for intercontinental hops, so the TWR is obviously more than 1.

Not much happening here.

Currently, (AFAIK) there's not a single mod that does this (KerboKatz had it but it's been dead since 1.4). All I want is to buy Science points with Funds instantly, because that one single thing makes the whole career mode so much better. And, please, don't suggest using currently in-game strategies. I already tried that and they are all awful and useless.

A slight improvement to the last one. Although, Valles Marineris is waaaaay too big and in the wrong direction.

I feel like it's better to build some sort of mobile oil rig-like structure instead.

Aren't the fins of the booser stage meant to hold the engines now? I doubt they did the same, or anything, to the upper stage. Upper stage/Starship major changes: ceramic tiles instead of stainless steel ones. Also no active film cooling, or whatever it's called.

Was about to say pretty much the same thing, lol. It's hard to believe it now, but back then landing an orbital rocket was just a cool trick in KSP.

What exactly is this thrust structure we are looking at? The aft section where the engines will be? I'm guessing the holes are for all the engine plumbing. Also, yep, those are white containers.

There are at least three things wrong with this question.

Fuel cells+electric motors would probably be much better than a heavy piston engine with ~50% efficency running on rocket fuel.

I was about to say how impressed I am by the turnaround time between CRS-18 and AMOS-17 but then I remembered this launch is expendable.

SuperDracos are one use only now.