Nabiscovinco

So I attempted my first Apollo style Mun landing. However, the "get up into orbit stage" did not get me into orbit, so after dipping into Mun transfer stage, I was cronically short on fuel. (I did land on the Mun, however) The return trip landed me with a Kerbin orbit of 500,000m and 13,750,000m at a 4.8 degrees off the equator.... I blame Jeb. After a super complicated encounter, I ran out of fuel on the deorbit burn. I did, however, have almost 5000 units of RSC (don't ask), so after 5 minutes of RCS burning, all Kerbals are saftely back on Kerbin.

1. I really didn't 2. Many thanks

So I looked up the life support mod for giggles, and got interested. But I noticed it was updated only to .20. Is there an update for .21 yet (yes, I checked, but not really) OR does the .20 work with .21?

Ok, I believe I have a ship design in mind, but about the manned lander. (as stated before) is it just a beefed up Mun lander? That's all I WAS thinking of doing, but I can always just check Youtube.

Hmm.. Ok. So I'm thinking of reducing the number to six engines. I would need to work on bringing the fuel tanks/engines up, but that can be worked on. As for the lander, would it just be a Mun lander, but with more fuel/parachutes so it can go through atmosphere? I only ask because my landers are awful.

So, I've decided it is time to explore something other than the Mun, and have plans to make a ship to Duna. But I have some questions. (FYI: I have decided on 8 nuclear engines -have no idea if that is overkill- and plan on bringing at minimum one manned lander, one sat, and one probe to land on the surface. Also, I plan on doing a test run to the Mun to see if stuff breaks) Would the best engine arrangement be having all eight at the back, all eight at the front, or four in the front and four in the back? Oh, and if you all decide to include tips for a Duna land/takeoff lander that would be awesome

Ok. How about no gravity turn? I know it may seem weird, but it may be too advanced (sorry, but it might be the case). Secondly, are you ONE HUNDRED precent sure you put SAS on? Most of the time, it is because there is no SAS. Thirdly, does your engine gimbal? If it doesn't, there is no way for the rocket to correct itself once it is out of the atmosphere without RCS.

Wow. Um... how are you launching? Are you trying a gravity turn, or just doing the straight up method?

Well +19343534 to you, Kevin. You actual have some sort of plan for your station. My engineers went with the "lets put this here because docking is hard and this port is closer," method. But yeah, and if the orange tanks represent the ACTUAL orange tanks, you have to decide if you want them full or not. I'm not a 'master' but am assuming putting a full orange tank into orbit is not a simple task.

What do you mean by sophisticated readouts? The ones from mechjeb or vanilla. Mechjeb also does somethings weird, so make sure you know what is supposed to be happening without mechjeb when you actually use it.

Yes, yes it is. But when you do practice, start with only small things, like crew pods. I try to fit the large RCS tank on my docking things because, well I stink at it, so I need the wiggle room.

Ok, I guess space programs go in different paths, but whatever. But on the orbiting side of things, start slow, then go big. Remember, you need to first get a probe into orbit, then a single crew pod (and leave it stranded in orbit forever and ever) and get it back, then the three person crew pod. Each pod has different mechanics which makes each work differently in getting into orbit. So practice practice practice. And watch some explosions

Yeah, don't rush through things, especially when you get to the more advanced things like Mun landings. (I, for example, testing my landers at least 5 times, making small tweaks on the launch pad before a Mun mission). But do not get discouraged; this is all part of the game. Also, there is probably a Youtube video on everything, or a forum thread. A quick Google search solves most problems, don't forget that. For example, Youtube taught me how to dock.

This design has SAS, not ASAS. SAS does not prevent spinning, but it is still fine. If the craft is spinning, just keep reseting SAS, and it should correct itself. Also, you may be going too fast, (not rocket wise, development wise). Gravity turning is a funny thing. A simple method to get to orbit is stay vertical, NO GRAVITY TURN, and stop when your AP gets to the right height (lets say 90k). Then, when you get to around 30ish seconds before AP, turn to the prograde marker, or make a node, and BURN. No gravity turn required!!! It takes some more fuel, but since this is a probe, it doesn't need to come back.

<-- Scott Manley (a.k.a Kerbal god) Its about 31 minutes, but it covers everything from construction to orbiting, using the nodes.

Rgiht, right. That makes more sense.

First, sorry for the caps, it seems appropriate. So I recently (like twenty minutes ago) stumbled upon the ribbon generator. The main question I have is how can you make more than one ribbon set, and put them both in the signature? For example, I have put a space station, rovers, and just normal crew things into orbit around Kerbin. This means I have to make a separate ribbon for each. However, when I put the links into the signature they all become the newest ribbon. Help?

Also, I have no idea if you know this: but if you are rotating, put on time accelerate (only to 2x) and rotating/flipping stops. (This only works in space, i believe.) Even if this doesn't help right now, trust me, IT WILL.

Have you tried ASAS or SAS? They keep it from... not flipping over. And stupid (lawlz, stupid... I digress) is right. If you think realistically, a much MUCH smaller rocket can be used to put a small probe in orbit. However, on the first stage, get rid of the two tri-couplers and just attach the engines directly to the fuel tanks.

Well an uncontrollable launcher is bad, but what I always do is use the maneuver nodes to make orbits; Noobish? Maybe, but it works.

How about two rovers? Put one (with a crew seat) on one side, and an unmanned one (of about the same weight) on the other. It would keep the rover relatively balanced. At least, that's what I did. Just don't ask me about the decent. (it landed and returned fine, just not as picture perfect as I wanted)

Thank you! I have some ideas now! And am now realizing how much I stink at making rovers

I've never thought about this design! I might just have to try it! Has anyone tried lifting something substantial with it, like a space station core?

Synapse- Decoupling the engines is never REALLY a good idea. I was thinking the orbital method, mostly because it could be reusable. And I am just planning on using a simple rover, for now. I tried to send a manned mission before... he is now orbiting the sun. Forever.

So I'm planning on going to Duna, and am trying to decide between two different methods of transport (for a rover, initially). 1- Go for a single launch rocket thing, and just go to Duna. 2- Go for an ship constructed in orbit. And I guess I can add this: best way to land on Duna? Just a bunch of parachutes, or is it more on the engines, or a mixture? <--- only asking this because my last attempt... we don't speak of it.