IriathZhul

So I'm looking at this map, and I just know I'm missing something here. http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/41652-A-more-accurate-delta-v-map According to this map, it takes 380 delta-v to get to Duna from Kerbin escape (meaning, after I've broken Kerbin's orbit). Now, that is about 1/3 the best I've ever been able to do. Even with MechJeb's creepy precision, it still takes about 1000. So either: 1) The map is wrong (I doubt this) 2) I'm reading it wrong (Moderate doubt) 3) There's some magical super-efficient way to get around that I've apparently yet to stumble upon after 200 hours of playing (Moderate suspicion) Please, enlighten me.

I haven't been using ASAS, since combined with RCS it just burns monopro as fast as if I'd been rotating constantly. I use ASAS once I've manually used RCS to stabilize myself, but then I turn it off and let the default torque do the work, and it's been fine for most maneuvers. The RCS problem is when I'm trying to translate in pre-docking maneuvers. It's madness. I dunno. My ship isn't that big (just a small tugboat with 1440 fuel and some nuclear engines), so maybe it's handling fine and I'm just terrible at docking.

I've been having trouble getting my RCS thrusters to behave properly. I know I'm supposed to place them as far as possible from the center of mass, which I've done. The ship will turn fine enough, but when it comes to translation maneuvers, anything other than forward/backward makes the ship behave very, very strangely, moving in directions that have nothing to do with what I'm telling it. It's basically uncontrollable and it's becoming impossible to perform docking maneuvers. So what's the best way to place the thrusters? I've been using the 4-way block thrusters, usually with four of them in 4-way radial symmetry on one side of the ship, far away from the center of mass. Any help at all is appreciated.

RCS affects rotation as well? This is good to hear! I thought it was just for translation. I shall try it out. Yes, I'm at 1X timewarp.

I'm having a trouble with controlling ship orientation. Even using the largest ASAS model, the vast majority of my ships are almost impossible to rotate. E.g., one of them I have only weighs about 10 tons and it takes nearly four minutes to turn 90 degrees in any direction. Is this normal? Is there anything I can do to improve the turning speed? As it stands, this is just unfeasible since I can't even get oriented properly before hitting apoapsis after launching off Kerbin...

After posting multiple questions for help in the forums today, I was impressed, again and again, by the speed and efficacy with which the community answered my questions. And because they answered them all correctly, I've achieved my short-term, long-time goal of actually getting someone on Duna in a rover that drives half-well. Granted, I'm regretting not strapping a big solar panel to it, but it's about the baby steps. Lury Kerman says thanks!

Maybe it's from alt-tabbing during load? I know I did that the one time it happened.

My command pod has turned from normal to a texture-less black. E.g., it's invisible in the menu except for the hatch handle, and is a non-reflective black when rendered in real world. I thought this must be because of a mod, except I ain't installed any mods between the time when the pod was normal and the time when it weren't. None of the mods I've added change textures, either, so I don't know why they'd be having an effect. Any idea on which ones might be responsible, or this just some other issue? *edit* Fixed! It changed on reboot; I guess the game fudged the texture when loading files on start-up. Now can someone tell me how to delete this thread so I can quit takin' up space?

I have a small launcher I'm using to get a rover into orbit before sending it to Duna. Everything goes fine, until... Once I disconnect from the launcher stage, the main section starts to spin Q-E like a maniac. If I turn on ASAS, it will eventually slow down and stop. If I take off ASAS, and tap A or D at ALL, it suddenly begins to spin Q-E again, and gets increasingly fast. I can't imagine why it's doing this...I used the exact same model an hour ago and I only added one part: a landing strut. No amount of manual control can stabilize it, but using ASAS is no help because I can't even orient this thing toward the bearings I want. Is this a glitch or did I do something wrong? I have exited and reentered the craft multiple times to see if it was something that needed flushing out, but to no avail. *edit* Tried it again. I don't even have to do anything. I can jump in and out of control of the craft to force a complete stop. Left alone, it will start to nudge A-D...and then stop...and then suddenly starts spinning Q-E, just absolutely flaming crazy. I'm not touching anything. My ship is possessed.

I need help with designing a good rover for the Mun. Every time I think I have a good grasp on the mechanics of it, the weirdness of driving in low gravity gets me. So this is my rover in its current incarnation. I'd love some stern critique of the design, since it handles like a unicycle on a skating rink. It is impossible to achieve a speed beyond 12-14 m/s because even at about 2-4 m/s, it starts to lean heavily to one side, and if I somehow keep it straight long enough to accelerate for a while, the back wheels begin to float off the ground. The rover will completely flip over if I don't lay up on the throttle. ...oddly enough, the rover is also capable of flipping itself upright even when upside-down. Anyways, I'd love your input on wheel placement, mass distribution, basic rover principles, etc. Thanks!