Callmedave

So, after an hour or four of designing and a few launches, I have assembled this: It has an on board Science lab, Small lander, Its full of Fuel and is powered by 8 Nuclear engines. Im hoping i can get to Duna with it, and Maybe Duna's moon (name escapes me) What else do you think i can be capable of with it? Also, What is your opinion on this? its the first time ive attempted something like this, so any critisism/comments welcome.

I assume you don't want Bill, Bob or Jeb as the default crew. Could you not put a 3 man capsule on wheels, drive it from the runway to the grounds and leave it there. I haven't tried it but in theory that could work?

I know, I got a science probe to orbit Duna with terrible phase timing and plenty of fuel left over, But i want to undertake the mission using this method.

Thanks, i had a similar idea in my head, Looks nice, I will start work on a design soon. Ive got this crazy idea of using boosters to take off from Duna, I know its not efficient as im wasting fuel just getting them to Duna surface, but ive never seen it done before and i like the idea.

Im planning on undertaking a Duna-Lander-return mission with an in-orbit assembled craft, with a lander craft, fuel tank, tug, with a return to kerbin (probably part of the lander) I would like to see your interplanetary craft that you have assembled in orbit, along with the pros and cons of your designs. Im running this in career so may pack a science lab and visit Dunas moon in the same mission for extra science! I have a fairly nifty little Minmus lander science! module, that i think could be adapted for a Duna landing and take-off.

Im running stock and had a similar problem with the chutes from stage 5 opening when i launched (rockets from stage 9) I placed an empty stage in front of 5 and this cured the problem, you could do this on the launch pad. Another option is to set 'toggle engines' to an action group, toggle them off before launch, and toggle them back on when required. Hope that helps.

I havent played with asteroids yet, but would it be possible to spam it with probes with parachutes on and slow its descent? Ive no idea of the asteroids mass but slowing it down would lessen the bounce.

I found that sometimes when you unlock a new piece of the tech tree, the parts still need to be 'bought'. On the tech tree, the green icons may have a small number next to them, click on the icon, then in the box on the left, click on the pieces with a value below, u should now 'own' these and be able to use on the VAB.

I had a problem with this last night. Took a small lander to the Mun (done a text book landing, right bang in the middle of the north east crater! ) done all the experiments, goo, materials, siesmic, temp, then i EVA'd grabbed all the experimemnts, i built the lander a little high and had to hover with RCS (tapping shift) to get close enough to take the experiments, after i took them all, i could not do anything with the materials bay, It would highlight, but no options would come up (i could get the options for the temp etc) The material bay doors were still open, but i could not close them, the kerbal could not interact with it at all. I was hoping to 'hop' out the crater and repeat experiments, but without use of the material bay there was little point, so i returned home with ~400 science. Did i do something wrong? is this a bug? has anyone else had the same? Maybe i selected the wrong option when i was hovering.... Any idea guys?

I accidentally found out that when adjusting a maneuver node, when the icon you wish to adjust is highlighted, you can mouse wheel scroll up or down to fine tune it, Im sure many of you know this already, but maybe theres a few that dont and find this helpfull.

Agree, this has been very very helpfull in the search for science! thanks to all!

ok, well i will just bring a lander that i can 'hop' on both moons to reach all the biomes, (il use a biome map on the wiki) I done a simple land on Minmus last night and got over 600! imagine what i can get from covering all the biomes!

EVA and crew reports can be transmitted at 100%, Doesnt the MPL boost the transmit to 100%?

I thought about landing a MPL, a rover and a return pod on the Mun (and minmus on a seperate mission) using the rover to reach all the biomes, return to the MPL to transmit duplicates, and use the pod to return the kerbal.

So, a single trip to the Mun (or minmus) with a rover, 1x materials bay 1x goo etc, i could potentialy bring back tons of science??probably over 1500 science!! That is so much help!! - - - Updated - - - Is there a limit to how may experiments i can store in my lander capsule?

Hang on, Are you saying i can 'reset' the goo canister/materials bay and then re-do the experiment? Im taking like 2/3 material bays, 4 goo canisters and loads of thermometers etc to the mun, returning to Kerbin, then doing a whole new launch, and aiming for another biome to get more science. Also, Im having to bring these material bays etc back with me which can make the landings tricky (well not tricky, but easier if i only need to bring the lander back)

Undertook a fairly straight forward experiment last night, Built a 1 man lander, put the chutes in action group one. Took off, got to an altitude around 2000m, killed engines, and hit 1, chutes opened fine, landed, EVA'd and re-packed the chutes (i built a ladder up to where the chutes were. Took off again, 2000M again, killed the engines, then launched the chutes from the stage, worked fine again! Only downside is that the chutes have to be re-packed via kerbal, so he has to be able to access them, which means a ladder up to the top of the craft. But it was sussesfull and helps with my Duna Lander build.

The grouping is a good idea. Im running no mods, but will do a quick experiment tonight on kerbin, its a shame these can only be repacked via an EVA, manully repacked chutes would be handy!

Ah, ok. I could try and re-deploy them with an EVA just before entering kerbins atmosphere. - - - Updated - - - Thanks for all the replys guys!

Im planning a return trip to Duna (so far only got a probe to orbit there) Im thinking of using parachutes for the majority of the descent, then repack them in a space work in orbit, before using the same parachutes again on the return to Kerbin, The flaw with this is that the parachutes will be open when i lift off from Duna, will this cause a problem with drag? The obvious work around is to repack them on duna, but that will take a little re-design on the craft and a fiddly EVA operation.

So, got Bob and Jonke to land 3km from the KSC, so built a small rover with a hitchiker to collect them, drove all the way there EVA'd them both got in the new rover, headed back, all going well...... Hit a bump in the grass, rover smashes, blows up (?? no fuel! all electric!) and i say farewell to two brave Kerbals unable to complete their mission. I mean really!?! I get them in to orbit, land on the mun, back to kerbin, but i cant get them the last Km to the space centre! B*#&cks!

I disagree, it would be nice to see this once or twice, but then it would become tedious and would just skip it.

Really? It seems a little un-imaginative, I feel like setting up a stack of hitchiker modules, the Kerbal thats performed better on his mission lives nearer the top, this would also supply me a few spare kerbals if i ever need to send some extra on a mission. - I wonder how long a kerbal could hold on to a ladder during launch???......

So, My first Minmus landing was a success, (by success, 2 kerbals got on the surface, a little dizzy and bruised, but they made it) they are now in a low orbit around Kerbin, i will aim to land close as poss to the space centre, but what do i do then? just 'end flight'? Should i set up a kerbin living module near the space centre? should i experiment with the ragdoll effect? (its only Bob and Jonke) What do you do with your returned Kerbals?

20 mins is too long. I wait maybe 10 secs to get to launch pad and another 20 secs for the parts to 'settle' I dont know what the problem could be, but i would reduce the graphic settings from the menu to maybe help it run better. Best of luck!!