zerotwo

My suggestion is this: Until 3km, reach and maintain 100 m/s At 3 km, depending on TWR of engines (under 1.5 twr, max it out, over 1.5 twr go until you start seeing air friction) increase to maximum speed. At 7.5 km turn to 90 degrees and proceed until the apoapsis hits 60~ Turn to 5 degrees above the horizon line and accelerate as much as you can, most of this takes part (for me anyway) from about 22km to 35km~ -- This is a very early orbiter. This is a basic flyby vehicle for passing by Minmus and the Mun. As soon as I hit miniaturization this was the first thing I built. It has somewhere between 6k and 7k Dv, you could get to Jool with it I think-but I use it just for Satellite missions (because I am freaking terrible at getting my Argument correct) The last ship I would consider "Early" because the next iteration moves to 2.5 m parts to replace that silly bottom section. -- In previous versions of KSP I made a beeline to science techs, but after experiencing the change brought on by unlocking fairings, frankly, everyone should get those before anything else. Fairings made the game much much more playable, I highly recommend getting there ASAP. Hope that helps!

I guess given that drag is likely irrelevant this is a good point! I did see and read your original post. Depending on setup you could even apply the decoupler ring to the bottom of a stack, then attach the SRBs to that ring. Interesting idea. Regarding part count: It is a helluva thing to try and get to the mun, do a lot of science, and return in under 30 parts! Those big KD25ks are making it possible (theoretically) for me to haul all the basic (under 100 tech) science with me in one go!

Two things I will add; consider cost and consider part count. It takes half the parts to employ BACC boosters in place of RT-10 boosters and with the 30 limit on the basic hangar this can be a realistic concern early on. LethalDose's post above highlights the only other thing I would consider important to consider: cost. As a matter of utmost efficiency in 0.9 I have spent the beginning 500~600 science or so launching everything with an RT-10 as midstage and a BACC as 1st stage. The price of 2 RT-10s (decouplers) as the basic stage is far too much to accept. If you have unlimited part count and unlimited funds, then yes, huge volumes of RT-10s in hilariously complex asparagus staging formations is more efficient than BACC boosters in a similar setup-however if you're interested in maximum efficiency with unlimited funds and part count, why are you using SRBs at all? The point of SRBs is low-cost and low-part count, imo. Hope that helps.

Thank you KerbMav! That verifies the testing I had just completed. All I needed to bring home was the probe core, regardless of whether or not it was the "primary part" as was hypothesized earlier. e.g. the first part of the craft you are building is a fuel tank, that doesn't seem to matter. So the answer is: Bring the probe core home: get "Recovery of a vessel returned from the surface of X".

Well, I will have to disagree that space stations have so little value. I use the early science to collect enough engine, fuel, and scientific limbs of the tree to allow me to get access to the Science lab. I will then launch a lab, load it with kerbins and then strap an engine too it. I then fly this lab to the Mun (which I should only have had to visit once or twice to get to this point) and then settle it in orbit. I can now send reusable landers to land, collect science, dock to the station, process and transmit that science, then scrub the experiments for reuse. Clearing the Mun and Minmas this way is remarkably time saving, guarantees access to all biomes (you can miss, take off, reattempt, and refuel your lander at the science station), maximizes science collection, and provides a huge boost forward in your campaign rocket program.

Parachutes past the centre of mass. *flip* "Oh... well... haha.... I guess that's working exactly as I designed it."

Dear Duxwing, Press F5 on approach before you hit the atmosphere. Press and hold F9 after you explode. Long ago I did my first aerocapture into Jool's atmosphere probably 20-30-40 times to try and get it right. Test! TEST! Have fun! Regards,

That is an intriguing idea. Thank you for your reply, that will make for an interesting test.

It looks like testing is going to be needed. I haven't had much time to play KSP lately, so I was hoping someone would have some experience with it. The science I am referring to is the bonus after completing a mission that says "XXX landed on the Mun and returned", not a particular science module output. I imagine that yes, the only way to return science from a probe is to remove the science with a kerbal and stuff it in a command pod, but, what I want to know is if grabbing a chunk of the ship that landed will give you that landed science. I will let you know tonight!

In my experience, 119.5km is the perfect zone to leave you in a very oblong orbit. Can make it easier to access other moons in the system.

Good day! I am curious if anyone has tested this: 1. A lander has landed on the mun and returned to orbit. 2. A recovery ship comes out and removes half of the orbiting lander, docking that half with the recovery ship. 3. The recovery ship returns to Kerbin. While the primary vessel itself did not land and return, a portion of it did. Will I receive the land & return science? If so, this means I only need recover a tiny portion of a lander to secure this science on return? Thanks for your response! Regards, 02

Try a mission with multiple objectives: // Option 1 In a "campaign" game, put a station into orbit around the Mun with a rig to carry science probes to the surface and return them for processing at a science station. Build a train out of as many of these processed science modules as you can and bring them all back to Kerbin at once. When that is complete, transfer the station to Minmus. I think seeing 8000~ science at once should be a straight shot of confidence. (For more challenge: repeat the process on Minmus, then transfer the station to Duna!) // Option 2 In either Campaign or Free Play modes: Develop a craft that can travel to Jool and separate into enough parts with enough fuel to land a probe on every moon. I enjoyed this project immensely. Seriously. Immensely.

Masked Turk: Look at the engine ISP and guess where you will be in flight when that engine turns on. Mainsails, LV30, LV45 for going to orbit, Aerospikes, Poodles, skippers, and 30/45 for LKO stage, then 909 for short range (Kerbin influence) or 1 LV-N for any kind of long range. (General rules here, can be broken) TWR in space is meaningless, just Dv counts. If you can keep your fuel ratio high and your engines efficient, you can get anywhere. (Fuel ratio is amount of weight of craft that is fuel, multiple LVNs ruin this) Hope that helps

In my experience the two mods do not react well together under most circumstances. The only way I have found to mitigate this is to launch using only one of the two. Disable all of the components in mechjeb you can and do a horizontal lift into orbit or shut off everything you can in FAR and do a vertical launch. I went looking for a good mod to swap control computers but unsurprisingly it did not exist. (Kind of a rare need) That flip may also be a result of your craft's centre of mass shifting too far backwards due to the way you are burning fuel in flight. Engines always reach for the furthest source of fuel and aircraft designs tend to be heavy towards the rear already, if your craft burns all it's forward fuel in flight it becomes incredibly unstable and the aft weight imbalance can cause the craft to flip into and unrecoverable stall. Try locking forward fuel tanks and draining from the rear first? Hope this helps.

How much for one of these?