capi3101

Alright! Here's my entry!!! I claim 267 points. I did not include a fairing and did not return with a polar ice sample, and I did not park a science package in close proximity to an anomaly, so that's -25 points off the 283 maximum. However, I brought three additional rovers for +9 points. I did arrive in Duna orbit in seventy days, but since I did not arrive prior to Day 129, I count no extra points there. I also realized this morning as I was posting the final shots of my mission that I failed to provide a screenshot establishing that I have two science packages at greater than 1000 meters elevation difference from one another. Now, I did accomplish this goal and I am claiming the points in my score; if y'all will bear with me, I can have a screenshot by 04Z tonight that establishes the final elevation and position of that last science rover.

Really, it depends on what you want to do. They work well for small probes and I've also heard of folks using them to provide constant, reliable down-thrust for rovers. You're probably not going to be using them for manned missions, though.

I think what folks are saying is that the design would be unstable if you weren't bracing the payload. There's the key - the extra struts are what makes the design stable enough to fly. Without them, the damn thing would buck like a bronco...I learned that the hard way - the Storax Anacostia mission had a 1-to-4-to-1 stacking between the booster and the transfer stage, it did not use strutting or docking ports, and I'd've liked to have never gotten the damn thing into orbit (ultimately had to do a slow burn, which is not what you want to do when you're trying for orbital insertion). Three out of four of your fairings explode when you decouple without using docking ports, to which I say "Big Deal." Nothing important is damaged and you can literally start your missions with a bang... (Talking about the fairings over the engine bells here, not those annoying LV-N sheaths). Incidentally, I have tried using docking port/decoupler combos. They're dandy provided you haven't got a lot of mass on either side of the port, otherwise they're useless (in my experience, anyway; others may have had different results).

I finally satisfied my fix for getting on the KSP forums... Finished the Storax Anacostia mission during the blackout; still need to get the debrief ready to go. Began farting around with an entry for the Doing it Gemini Style entry too. Got that in orbit before yet another spontaneous computer shutdown occurred.

That's a relief...my booster was a TSTO onion-stage design. And I'm done at this point; it'd be a drag to have gotten this far along and NOT have earned the fifty points for fulfilling the basic mission requirements. Posted my screenshots to imgur today - I still need to get the picture descriptions up and the images in the right order; I hope to have a mission debrief ready by tomorrow.

Hmm...I'd humbly suggest chunking that up a little (i.e. build a drive stage and a separate supply stage, then dock them together in orbit). My Thunderbolt Superheavy 7 is an interplanetary tug with 25 LV-Ns and I launch it under its own power with eight SRBs to assist. It's only got about 1.5 orange tanks equivalent of fuel and it barely makes orbit (though it does chuck off an X200-32 prior to orbital insertion). After I refuel it, I then add a couple of fuel stages and finally a payload. Of course, the only real reason to build something with that much thrust is to push really, really heavy loads...

There is a reputation system - it's the little star-shaped badge in the lower left of each post (right next to "Blog this Post")

Drove a Mk2 pud rover 10k on Duna for a challenge. Need to send another rover out that same way to go pick up Jeb. I'm currently rethinking how I'm going to earn the rest of the points...

Hell, it's not a given that the suits are pressurized...... This one probably falls under the category of "role-playing preferences", which means that at best the answer is subjective (i.e. they're pressurized if you say they are). Consumables of any kind are not in the stock game in any form nor is it the intention of the core team to add them at any point; they've said as much in the development threads. It's the reason why the same Mk-1 Command Pod you sent out to the Mun will also get a Kerbal out to Eeloo and back, or why a kerbal can take a three week hike in a spacesuit. If you're interested in having/playing with consumables, there's a mod for that.

@Maltesh: Alexmoon's Launch Window Calculator (which Kegereneku linked to his post) can give you that information - it's a porkchop plot generator that gives you all kinds of information, including phase and ejection angles and total delta-V. Only real beef I have with it is that it can do moon-to-moon and planet-to-planet transfer calculations, but not planet-to-moon (it's not even good for planning to go to Mun or Minmus). Hey...there's something you could do, vildar - plug your numbers into the calculator and see what pops out (i.e. see if it verifies your math). It'll even give you an idea of how long your grand tour will take. Of course, you do have more than one planet-to-moon transfer there along your route, so that might take some adjusting.

They align 100%; both the Thunderbolt and the adapter unit are using a quad adapter and 4 medium clamp-o-trons - built it in subassembly, yes they match up, yes the ports are facing outwards (just covering the usual noob bases there). I think I'm using the mod in the wrong way to try and get them to dock and I suspect it has something to do with how I've got the roll indicator positioned. Seems to me some pics may be in order to better explain what's going on; I'll try to get a few ready to go this evening.

Your station does have to be balanced while in flight or it will flip around like nobody's business. Only counter to that is good pod torque and RCS - you really need both, particularly if your ship is massive - and I guarantee you you'd run out of RCS before you finished your grand tour. I should tell you about the very first Hellhound mission...it was unbalanced and I was only going to the Mun that time, let's put it that way...... Just a thought - you might want to crunch the numbers on a Dres to Eeloo run and hit it before heading on to the Jool system - designing a ship for 6800 delta-V would be a lot easier than designing one for 9250 (read: less massive, not as many parts so not as laggy). That's a couple of hard targets to reach... I'll also advise you to add at least 25% to all the numbers in the delta-V map. If you've never done an interplanetary run before, you're going to want a fatter fuel reserve to account for piloting errors; the maps account for the best case only.

Whether or not you should use KER is up to you, of course. If you've got a mind to do the math yourself, I say go for it. If not, KER's your answer. Me, I used KER as a reward to myself for successfully completing my first round-trip interplanetary mission (putting Jeb on Gilly and getting him back to Kerbin safely, specifically), so I use it (one of three mods I use) and I can tell you it is an incredibly powerful tool. Like most mods, it's not foolproof, though. Even with KER, the delta-V map is essential for planning mission stages. That way you can say to yourself "okay...I know it takes this much to get to Jool, this much to orbit Jool, this much to get to Tylo from Jool" and so forth. You then make sure your craft is capable of generating the amount of delta-V you need for each stage of the trip. Work it backwards. If you want to do it the hard way, learn how the Tsiokolvsky Rocket Equation works, and get to the point where you can work it forward and backwards. Having a good scientific calculator is a must; alternatively, use Excel (=LN() is the Excel function for the natural logarithm, =EXP() is the Excel function for e).

So, I guess I'll address question 1. Fucntionally there should be no difference other than your initial trajectory; you'll want to steer a few degrees west of north (somewhere in the 350-355 degree range) to account for the planet's rotation when you launch. You will need a little bit of extra delta-V to achieve the initial orbit, but no more than 100-200 m/s. It won't point at the same spot on the ground all the time as well. Other than that it will be just like putting any other object in an orbit at a geosynchronous altitude. So..."about 90 degrees" is a correct, if more than somewhat facetious, answer.

Finally sent the Storax Anacostia 7 lander down to the surface of Duna. Wound up not needing the fuel in the central descent stage tank at all, which makes me awful glad I'd drained the ascent stage central tank into the CSM for the return trip (transferred all that unneccessary fuel for the descent stage into the ascent stage). Naturally, I landed at night and without the help of KER (used the old IVA radar altimeter trick to get the job done). First part of surface operations is complete, but the bigger task - collecting a sample from the Dunan ice caps - lies ahead (a ball buster, as the mission landed near the equator...). Looks like I've got several nights of driving ahead. Joy. And with underpowered mini rovers too...

Alright - my guys are finally down, turned out I was okay to cannibalize the ascent stage for extra fuel to the descent stage (forgot about the gas in the side tanks). I do have a potential problem coming up though that I needed to ask about. I've installed Navyfish's Docking Alignment Mod since I've started the challenge, and I needed to know if it would disqualify me from the base fifty points on the grounds of "no mods that provide improved flight performance or flight assistance are allowed". I've already avoided flying with KER to avoid any potential problems there; do I need to uninstall the mod before I go to dock with the CSM?

Dunno if this question's been asked yet or not, but has anybody had any issues using the mod with multi-port docking? It works exceptionally with single ports, but so far I haven't had much luck trying to dock more than one at a time (I've got an old craft that utilizes a quad of medium clamp-o-trons for docking; I've been trying to put an adapter on it so that it can dock with a single Senior, but so far haven't managed to dock more than one port at once). Is there some kind of trick involved?

@Whackjob: No, not orange tank/mainsail, orange tank/NERVA. Ship's already in orbit so I can't fix it at this point. Though I can see where the same fix would apply - something for the Mk2, right? Had a mostly successful refueling mission for the Thunderbolt Very Heavy 7; I sent up a Barn Burner Superheavy to offload its supply of bipropellant. Only real problem was that the Very Heavy 7 needed more fuel than a single Burner could provide, that and I haven't figured out how Navyfish's docking indicator mod works with multi-port docking yet - I sent up an adapter module so that the Very Heavy 7 (which uses a quad of ports) would be compatible with the Barn Burner (which uses a single Senior port) and got the adapter module docked on the T-bolt's end via just one port. That's acceptable for a refueling op but if I ever need to fly to another world with the adapter attached it could be an issue.

Several questions there... First one: for figuring launch windows, I highly recommend the Launch Window Planner site. Folks use it Mechjeb or no. That didn't quite address your question though, did it? Basically, if you finish your transfer burn and don't get an intercept, you'll have to plan for a correction burn. I usually put mine about halfway between Kerbin and the target. Just fiddle with the node until you get an intercept; the earlier you correct the less delta-V you spend, and be ready to pull radial burns if absolutely necessary. Second one: how to dock. That question gets asked at least once a day around the forums. Sarcastic answer is "very carefully", but of course, that's not helpful. I'd suggest trying out the Gemini 6A/7 tutorial on the wiki. I've written a longer procedure for both rendezvous and docking before; I'll have to fish for those and edit this post later. Here's how you rendezvous. After that, you want to get your relative velocity to the target down to zero once you're within 100 meters. Be prepared to start braking early if you've got a heavy ship or if you're strictly on RCS. One you've zeroed, aim at the pink meatball icon on the nav ball and slowly thrust ahead (to about 1 m/s tops). At fifty meters, zero out your velocity, adjust your aim and thrust ahead (no more than 0.5 m/s at that point). Within 100 meters you need to have the specific docking port you're aiming at targeted. At twenty meters, zero out your velocity, adjust your aim and turn on SAS. Switch to the target, aim its docking port towards the first craft (target it and set your control point as the docking port first). Switch back to the first ship and thrust ahead slowly. At ten meters, zero out and adjust your aim one more time. Turn both craft if necessary. Thrust ahead with the first ship. If you're not spot on, your two craft may dance about a bit as they come into contact. That's normal - do nothing and just let them settle on their own. When the view shifts, you're docked. Third one: Again, this is a topic that gets asked fairly frequently and there are varying schools of thought. I'll have to hunt for pics of how I've done it...right now I'll post so I don't get ninja'd... Skycranes are fairly common, though - basically it's just a lander module that carries your rover underneath or on the sides, it has enough delta-v to get the rover close enough to the target's surface to drop them or land; if it drops them, it usually crashes before making orbit again. Slapping them on the sides of a lander works too. Usually it's a good idea to bring at least two rovers to keep the load balanced. Or, if you've got a single rover that is itself large/unbalanced, be sure to add a counterweight somewhere on the skycrane - my first Hellhound 7 skycrane utilized a counterweight, the second one just packed two rovers and has proven to be much easier to fly. I think I've got pics of that but imgur's being fussy this morning. Good luck; if you have more questions, ask.

Still in this one, just haven't had much time to play lately.

A variant on the return craft/lander/drive stage idea is to do a lander/return craft combo (which is what I do). It does mean that you windup hauling hardware to the target that you don't necessarily need, but easier logistics. Targets with larger delta-V transfer requirements may also need a "service" stage, an intermediate piece that sits between the drive and the lander for the sole purpose of providing extra fuel. This may or may not be advisable depending on your docking port setup; definitely don't add a service stage if all you've got is a medium-sized clamp-o-tron for docking on both ends unless you like wobbly ships. My own interplanetary fleet was wiped with 0.21, but in 0.20 I had six craft. I've been slowly building it back up in 0.21 (been spending too much time on challenges) and I've got a series of interplanetary drive designs at this point (the Thunderbolt 7 series). The latest addition to the fleet is the Thunderbolt Very Heavy 7, which successfully flew for the first time on Friday - it's a large probe-core with a large batt and two medium solar panels, a RCS tank with a hell of a lot of blocks, a Jumbo64, 6 outboard X200-32 tanks connected to the main tank with fuel lines, and seven LV-Ns. The thrust sucks (particularly since the centerline NERVA tends to overheat to critical) but unloaded she gets 11,000 m/s of delta-V. Docks with a quad of clamp-o-trons. Others in the series: Thunderbolt 7 - an X200-32 with five NERVAs. Quad docking. Thunderbolt Heavy 7 (by far the most successful of the line so far - the Eve, Ike and Gilly missions in my salad bar) - five X200-32s with five NERVAs. Quad docking. Thunderbolt Superheavy 7 - an X200-32 with four X200-8s, hauling 25 NERVAs. Single Senior docking. Thunderbolt Ultraheavy 7 - I don't remember the stats on this one. I do know I've never flown it successfully. More fuel than the Superheavy, slightly fewer engines. Single Senior docking. I really need to take a picture of these some time...

Finally successfully got a Thunderbolt Very Heavy 7 into orbit, though it looks like the centerline engine is going to be less than useless - it overheats far too easily. Good thing I installed a cutoff. Essentially did do a self-launch of the thing, using the outboard main tanks to feed the boosters enough fuel to get to an orbital apoapsis. Cut the boosters and let the main engines do the orbital insertion burn. Next step: refuel the thing.

Skorpychan's given you the best advice here. If you try numerobis's idea, be gentle and cut your engine before you get going faster than 10 m/s; a rescue mission will be mandatory otherwise.

If you need to be able to break the connection between two docked sections quickly, what you can do is put a decoupler above the docking port in the stack, like this: stack ||| decoupler port (the port is facing downwards, of course). This way, once the pieces are docked, you can just blow the decoupler to detach them. That's a permanent solution, of course - by blowing the decoupler, you blow off the docking port, so you can attach nothing there ever again... If you're thinking about putting together a lift vehicle in space, I'll caution you about structural stability. You might want to put together a mockup on Kerbin before you launch the whole thing; if you need struts between the pieces, you'll need them when you get to where you're going and to my knowledge there's no way to put them on then.

I usually have to wait until I'm deep in atmo before the chutes even deploy. 5,000 is typical for me on Kerbin. One chute per tonne is the rule I use as far as how many to use, and even then I have to be careful about where I place the chutes if I don't want to break my ship.