DocMoriarty

I think the problem is that the physics seem to work pretty weird at times. The upper part of the rocket seems to hold the lower part, not the lower part supporting the upper which causes a lot of problems and headaches. Not the number of struts is important, but from where to where they go to avoid problems with this. The first big problem i see is that your inner ring of asparagus rockets is connected to the payload module. Now the payload module has to carry the whole weight of the ring and anything between the center rocket and payload is compressed and squeezed together. I usually strap my struts on like this: The lower tanks basically focus all their weight in the topmost center tank of the launch rocket. And only from this very same tank there are struts going up to the payload. There are no struts going from the side tanks directly high up.

Also keep in mind that transmitting the data destroys the experiment. If you want to get research points for returning the experiment to Kerbin, you have to do the experiment again after having it transmitted. That also applies if processed by the mobile lab, which renders the lab pretty pointless for research purposes. It's only advantage is cleaning the experiments. I usually avoid transmitting (except for crew and EVA reports which transmit 100%) and save everything up in a cockpit for return to Kerbin. All cockpits seem to hold any number of experimental data.

I add them as needed and fly with SAS when needed. There is no real rule. But for example space- and aircraft with VTOL abilities usually get more SAS power. Basically it's a question of the aircrafts total weight and role. Yet i always create my airplanes with CoG sitting right in the geometric center of the tank configuration, so that the aircraft is flyable without SAS throughout it's whole mission if needed. When i fly just for fun a little bit around i usually fly without SAS. When i launch a spaceplane to go into orbit at least the heavy ones (around 14t/rapier) i use SAS during ascend and go do other stuff.

Since you can completely open the research tree just by researching the Mun, Minmus and Kerbin there is no point to fly anywhere. It should be massively rebalanced at some point so that you really have to go to Duna or else to finish the research tree.

My CoL is usually (there can be excpetions if CoThrust is not exactly behind CoG) a tiny tad behind and above the CoG and my tank configuration and the order in which fuel is flown out of the tanks is always made in a way that CoG never changes during the whole operation time of the aircraft. Example: This is a long range space explorer. I could have used a bigger tank in the middle but then i wouldn't have been able to fly out fuel balanced. Note that the structure at the rear end with the 3 fuel lines is actually attached to the middle tank (kinda tricky). Due to the fuel pipes fuel is first flown out of all 4 aircraft fuel tanks simultanously, then the small ones between the aircraft tanks, then the front and end tank in the middle and then the center tank. And the CoG is precisely in the center of the center tank. This ensures, that the CoG never moves, no matter how much fuel is already flown out. This is also important since there are 3 more engines below the craft for VTOL operations in vacuum (visiting moons, Moho etc.).

First of all: i really like Chatterer best because it adds a tremendous amount of immersion. But i have a problem with it. I restarted playing KSP with 0.23 (Windows 7). After adding chatterer, i get frequently lag in KSP. About every 5-6 seconds the program lags for about 0,5 secs. I finally found a way to work around this phenomenon by unchecking the audio-sets for sts and russian sounds. Not sure what actually happens, but it appears that Chatterer iterates at least in my case every few seconds over the sound files to do whatever with them. Probably this helps to fix the problem.

Moriarty Industries proudly presents today: ICBM with WoMS (Intercontinental Ballistic Missile with Weapon of Mass Stupidification)! Here the missile on it's transport rover at the runway being prepared for transport to the North Pole Base. The particular warhead as seen on this image contains a very stupid Kerbal which guarantees a total stupidification of all life within 30km radius of the impact site! After docking the rocket inclusive it's transport rover in the Moriarty Industries Antonov, nicknamed 'Bird of Prey', it's flown up to the North Pole Base (roughly 370 parts assembly). The cargo plane is capable of supersonic speeds at fairly high altitudes around 20 km with payloads around 20+tonnes. Here approaching the North Pole Base getting ready to land. From the North Pole it's easy to fire practically in all directions and hit any continent on Kerbin within minutes. So after unloading from the transport plane it was brought into position next to the other rovers at the North Pole Base. One other rover is used as habitat for the North Pole Base crew and the other one is used to refuel aircraft if necessary. In the background you can see 2 of the 'Bird of Prey's that brought the rovers. Here the rocket from a different angle just before launch. And finally after launch ... Information about the impact site and effects is classified and may therefore not be published, especially not in media that is also accessable to non Kerbal life forms.

Moriarty Industries joined the Kerbal Space Race only a few days ago and is proud to announce today the successful end of development of their first set of airplanes for quick search and rescue operations on Kerbin. Main focus was to create airplanes that can fly at supersonic speeds to every point on Kerbin, land and take off again to retrieve crews stranded from our space program (unless they were unlucky enough to splash down in water). So after some initial tests and developments our airplaine division finally came up with the White Baron supersonic long range airplane program. Due to the fact that these airplanes often have to land and takeoff in rough terrain one development focus lies on a very sturdy setup, especially for the landing gear konfiguration to protect vital parts of the airplanes as much as possible from potential damage. Another design goal was to handle problems that come from tanks getting emptied one at a time and not balanced all at once. So all tanks are centered around CoG and fuel pipes determine how fuel is flown out. This ensures that the flight model stays fairly good throughout the mission. The first developed airplaine in the series was the MI White Baron SS v1x Crew: 1 pilot and a passenger cabin for up to 4 more Kerbals Engine: 3 x TurboJet Engine Fuel: 12x150 = 1800 units Ceiling: 22000m Speed at Ceiling: ~1200m/s (~ Mach 3) Max Distance: 1800km at 1000-1200m/s The initial White Barons performance was found excellent for the purpose but since our crews can crash down anywhere on Kerbin we had to continue development to create a long range version of the plane. So we finally came up with the MI White Baron SS LR v2x as a first shot at long range planes. Basically 6 asparagus staged fuel tanks were added to increase range and. These tanks can be jettisoned 2 at a time to reduce drag and weight. This staging concept also required thorough testing of the flight dynamics with all tank configurations to make sure that balance stays within safe limits. Other minor changes include 2 more wing elements and stronger main landing gear actually for faster breaking especially important in rough terrain. Crew: 1 pilot and a passenger cabin for up to 4 more Kerbals Engine: 3 x TurboJet Engine Fuel: 24x150 = 3600 units, 3 asparagus stages Ceiling: 26000m Speed at Ceiling: ~1450m/s (~ Mach 3) Max Distance: 3400km at 1000-1200m/s Since landing and taking off takes a lot of fuel (>300 units to reach ceiling) this was still not enough to actually pick some crew up somewhere and safely make way back to KSC. So development continued to even improve range some more and lead to the flagship of the series, the MI White Baron SS LR v4x. Since the configuration of the plane is actually getting at some limits the basic idea was to add range by adding more power, so another engine got added. That required some major changes though for the rear part and the wing configuration. The added benefit was some more speed and 4 more cans of fuel. Also some more air intakes were added since due to the staging some intakes are lost over time. More weight in the rear part also required modifications to the wing for more lift and a longer nose for balance. All in all this new version required a lot more testing and fine tuning than expected, maybe even more than all predecessors togther. Crew: 1 pilot and a passenger cabin for up to 4 more Kerbals Engine: 4 x TurboJet Engine Fuel: 28x150 = 4200 units - 3 asparagus stages Ceiling: 24999m Speed at Ceiling: ~1350m/s Max Distance: 4400km at ~1200m/s First Flight around Kerbin w/o stopover The following image shows the White Baron's reentry effects when descending for landing after it's first round trip around Kerbin. Obeny was obviously in a hurry ... The next image shows the White Baron landed on the runway after it's trip around Kerbin. Mission timer in left upper corner shows precisely 1 hour and 1 minute! And it still had 1000+ units of fuel left. Operation Procedures: These airplanes are slow at low altitudes. They are designed to make distance at altitudes > 20000m. That said, it's best to climb fast to 20km+ and then level out and build maximum speed. Although they are partially manouverable at high altitudes it's best to set course immediately after takeoff and then just do minor corrections at best. All planes of this series are very forgiving and well balanced but optimized to be flown with a joystick. That is they are a tiny little bit nose heavy which makes flying at high altitudes easier since you simply have to disengage and reengage ASAS shortly to lower it's nose to stay below it's ceiling (wish there were some autopilot for airplane type vehicles that can actually hold a given altitude and / or attitude). Downloads: MI White Baron SS v1x (supersonic, normal range) http://www.docmoriarty.com/ksp/mods/MI White Baron SS v1x.craft MI White Baron SS LR v2x (supersonic, long range, 3 engine setup) http://www.docmoriarty.com/ksp/mods/MI White Baron SS LR v2x.craft MI White Baron SS LR v4x (supersonic, long range, 4 engine setup) http://www.docmoriarty.com/ksp/mods/MI White Baron SS LR v2x.craft All models are built from stock parts (0.19.1) with the exception of chatterer that can be downloaded here http://kerbalspaceprogram.com/chatterer/

Although Moriarty Industries is relatively new among the Kerbal space agencies we managed yesterday to launch our own space carrier. Neither the biggest, nor the most beautiful but it's a start. It will basically serve as a transport for equipment and personal between moons and planets. Currently parked in a circular LKO. It features 5 docking ports, long range communications equipment and 5 cans of finest fuel for the 8 engines. 4 nuclear jets for long range travel and 4 normal jets for quick maneuvers and for takeoff. Might jettison the normal ones, they were needed for the final shot into the LKO and might just be dead weight. Also provides energie for docked modules. The middle two docking ports are connected via a tube so that 2 manned modules can be docked that can exchange kerbalnauts without EVA. The upper ports are best used for unmanned probes, rovers and the like. The carrier itself is unmanned and operated remotely from our control room at KSC.

Just wanted to say hi to my fellow rocket scientists Discovered Kerbal Space Program a few days ago from a video posted in another forum and had to buy it immediately. To me it looks like one of the most genious and unique game ideas since many years with gigantic potential. Really refreshing compared to the junk food big publishers are trying to feed us with these days. Ok sorry need to go back and rescue a few Kerbals ...