Scarecrow88

I never use docking mode and I've never had a problem docking so yes, you are mistaken.

I was going to claim this one until I realised I didn't put anything on Bop when I was in the Jool system. Hey ho, I'll be back after another mission.

Whilst Minmus might be a little more difficult to get to, it's a bit easier to land on due to the lower gravity. Basically it means your craft comes down a bit slower giving you more time to react to any developing situation. There are also big wide open, smooth areas to land on, whereas Mun can be a bit tricky since they updated the surface with more craters in the last patch.

A geosynchronous orbit works because the orbital period of the satellite/craft is the same as the rotational period of the body around which it is orbiting. The result of this is that it stays above the same point of the body i.e. stationary. If you put it in a polar orbit, all you will have is a very high polar orbit. Can't help with the second question as I've never used Mapsat.

I quite enjoyed that. As you rightly say, it's best for someone who already has an inkling on how to use manoeuvre nodes. Only comment I can really add is that I would remove the seperatrons and make the craft a single stage, just in case someone accidentally presses the spacebar and loses 4 engines and the landing legs in one swift go - especially if they decide to go for a landing after reaching the Mun. If you do that, you might also want to lose the central engine, as it is not currently being used, or include it in the stage with the other 4 engines for a bit more thrust.

Bit difficult to juggle a manoeuvre node from a first person perspective, unless you consider that as the first person perspective of the guy sitting at a navigation console back at control.

This is a game and doesn't mimic the real world - just compare the size of the planets. The game is what it is.

I don't usually make my orbit around Kerbin quite so high, but carry on doing whatever works for you in that respect. As to getting to the Mun, I did a few screen shots of one of my trips that I have added a few comments to. It's not a tutorial as such, but may help with some information or ideas that you are not familiar with.

Landing with too much horizontal velocity is usually the cause of tipping over though, admittedly, having a wider footprint will hep delay the point where the CoM falls outside the footprint.

Another vote for Duna from me. It's the obvious choice after going to Mun and Minmus, is not too difficult to get to, land on and get back from, whilst still being difficult enough to make your first attempts interesting, and I think it has the coolest Easter eggs. The fact that it also has a nice moon helps as well.

I don't use the Kethane mod and have been most places, so yes it's possible. Depending on your lander, you don't actually need that much fuel to get off the surface of the Mun and back to Kerbin. Just yesterday I was messing about with a low mass design to get to the Mun and back, and that was less than 22t on the pad. The 2-stage lander part of that design was around 5t, which got me from low Kerbin orbit to the Mun and back.

Optimisation at this stage is a bit premature. It would be like adding a new fuel injection system to your car - just before you put a new engine in.

Playing around with a more conventional rocket I managed to get a 2 stage lander design to work at a smidge over 32t on the pad. Only had 6 units of fuel left on touchdown at the Mun so that was a bit exciting as to whether I was going to make it down or would have to abort the landing by firing the ascent stage to avoid crashing. ETA: Thought I would try jet engines on the launcher, and binning a few fuel tanks. Got the total weight down to a whisker under 22t, still with a 2-stage lander payload.

The principles are the same as docking in Kerbin orbit. The only problem I found was that a 'close' encounter was usually some distance away compared to the 5km or so that many recommend when making a normal rendezvous. My suggestion would be to put your station together in Kerbin orbit, and only move it to a Kerbol orbit once it's ready.

Actually landing isn't any more difficult, but finding somewhere flat to land is. Most of the time I now find myself touching down on a slope or incline that isn't apparent or obvious from a few hundred metres up.

Just had a go at tweaking my original design. Made a few small changes to the lifter stage and the weight is now down to 33.795t on the pad. If I tweaked the lander so that it worked Apollo style i.e. service module and separate lander I reckon I could shave some more off.

This isn't a tutorial as such, but a few screenshots with notation that I posted on another forum showing the steps I went through when flying to Mun. Hope it helps.

This is mine that I have used to visit all the planets and moons, with the exception of Eve. Also, for Moho, I needed to send out refuelling tankers to get it back, but apart from those two, it is good enough to visit the rest unsupported. Pictures: After dumping the launch and second stages, this is what you are left with. Laythe And this is all you are left with when you start heading back to Kerbin, and most of that gets dumped once you are sub-orbital! You can download the craft file here: Explorer III

No. The website gives degrees as the first two numbers, and the minutes and seconds are listed after the decimal point in decimal format. You need to look at a conversion program (available on the net if you Google it) enter the decimal version of the coordinates, and it will give it to you in degrees, minutes and seconds, which is the format used by the game. ETA: Ninja'd

I had a mess around earlier today at work, having seen this thread yesterday, and came up with a design that looks very similar to yours. One man landing capsule that I managed to get to the Mun and back, and weighs 37.8t on the pad. The nice thing is it leaves no debris anywhere. The lifting stage is jettisoned whilst still sub-orbital at Kerbin; the injection stage gets dumped whilst descending to Mun surface, and everything else comes back to Kerbin.

What ascent profile are you flying in attempting to get your SSTO to orbit, as they usually differ from how you would fly a rocket to orbit?

You don't need to dock a rescue craft, just get it close enough so that you can EVA your stranded guys over. A hitchiker can has enough capacity to rescue all 3 in one go.

The hardest thing I have done so far is putting a manned lander on Moho and then getting it back to Kerbin again. Had to send out a refuelling rig twice as the original craft set off with a woefully inadequate amount on board. First one went to Moho, but used up most of the fuel it was carrying just to get there, which meant another had to go. That one had to rendezvous with the guys on a highly elliptical Kerbol orbit - Periapsis near Moho and Apo near Kerbin. Most tutorials on rendezvousing talk about getting an encounter at less than 5km; I was happy to get one on that orbit below 5000km! Next difficult task I have been putting off is a manned lander to Eve. I have no doubt I can get something on to the surface to plant a flag, but I don't think my current abilities are up to designing something that will get the Kerbals back in to orbit again.

I heard MacDonalds were going to open a branch on the Mun, but Jebediah kicked them off before they could get the second half of the arch erected.

Can't understand how the height of the VAB is giving you problems. My Eeloo ship fitted in there comfortably with room to spare.