Scarecrow88

The closer you can get to being aligned in the up/down left/right axis ( x and y ) the better. Rotationally it doesn't matter.

Once you successfully undock the craft, you may also need to press the [ or ] key to change control from the station to the undocked craft.

I'm using a desktop PC running Windows 7. I downloaded the Mission Controller mod, and unzipped it to the Game Data folder. A also downloaded the NT Space Program mission pack, and unzipped the file to GameData/MissionController/Plugins/PluginData/MissionController folder, where it sits with the Comsat, Mun, Sputnik etc mission files, but it isn't accessible when in game. I downloaded both from the Space Port site.

Downloaded this today, but having a problem. I also downloaded the mission pack, and it says to install it in the bottom subfolder where the stock.mpkg file is, but I haven't got a stock.mpkg file. Is there something else I should be doing, or have I misunderstood the installation instructions? At the bottom of the mission list in game, I have the following options; icon, Nt Space Program and Space program but they are all greyed out and not selectable, or am I supposed to complete the missions above those before they become available?

Most aircraft designers use that trick. It's called the angle of incidence.

I guess if you don't introduce new mods between backups, all you need to save is the persistent.sfs and the vehicle files. To simplify things, I backup the account file, as I have a few different ones for testing and development as distinct from my actual game account.

I'm not saying they didn't intend the game to be moddable, it's just that I enjoy playing it the way they have currently released it. If I thought mods were I complete no-no, I wouldn't be using any.

I usually push the apoapsis out to make an intercept. Struggling to imagine how you would do it by pushing the periapsis out.

Oh, they're home already. Those screenshots were taken two days ago when they got there. It's taken me until now to complete the return journey, which is why I waited before reporting. Splashdown was about 1/2 hour ago.

Not a mission that will set the world alight amongst you seasoned KSP'ers, but I've only been playing for a few weeks, and we all have to start somewhere, right. Anyway, after a couple of successful missions to Duna, the first needing a rescue tanker to be sent out to top up fuel tanks that wouldn't have got all the way home, I decided to have a go for Ike. I used the same craft that had got me all the way to Duna and back without fuel issues, and it proved capable of doing the same to Ike. A couple of pics, of the occasion - the lander separating for it's decent to the surface, and the obligatory flag planting ceremony. In real time this mission launched two days ago, and it's taken me until today to get the lone pilot back, choosing to launch subsidiary local missions whilst waiting for the phase angles from Ike to Kerbin to align. Happily splashdown on Kerbin occurred just a few minutes ago to conclude a mission that I'm really proud of.

I have a Mun station. Attached is a rescue lander just in case anyone fluffs their landing on the surface. There's also a normal lander, which means visiting craft don't have to bring their own lander. There's a few escape pods in there somewhere just in case there's some sort of catastrophe on the station, and of course there's a handful of re-fuelling tanks.

I am trying to play the game as intended but there are a few mods I use that eases that task. Protractor is useful for letting you know when the planets are lined up for interplanetary missions. Kerbal alarm is great when on long time warps to help you avoid overshooting the next significant event on the mission. The last one I use is the Lazer camera docking mod. It doesn't do any docking for you, that still has to be done manually, but it does give you read outs to let you know when you are lined up properly which saves having to keep swapping camera viewing angles. I am still fairly new to the game myself so all missions are still a challenge but I believe I am still playing the game in the spirit it was intended and still get a great sense of achievement when something goes right.

It's a bit of a paradox; in order to slow down you need to speed up and vice versa. Speeding up will make your orbit bigger, which takes longer to go round, thus slowing you down and of course the reverse is true. So if your target is in front of you, in order to catch him up, you need to slow down to make your orbit smaller. I hope that makes sense.

Use a probe with a hitchhiker canister attached. The canister has the advantage of being empty at launch and it can take 4 Kerbals, which is more than any of the capsules.

7. Perform a successful rendezvous and docking

Finally managed to send a mission to Duna that returned successfully without having to send out a refuelling tanker to top them up. Also made a landing on Ike for the first time today, but again I think I might be tight on fuel to get home as I cocked up the transfer burn to get there.

If you are going to ask that sort of question, you might as well ask what's the point of launching them in to space in the first place. The answer of course is there's no point at all, but that in itself is the point. The game at the moment is what you want to make it. You want to strand Kerbals on various planets, that's fine. You want to design a complete mission that will get them back again, that's fine too.

Thanks for all the suggestions guys.

Thanks Trippy. Whilst I understand about phase and ejection angles, what I am wondering is how you can use maximum time warp to the point where the angles are what you need, when your ship in a low orbit limits how much time warp you can use.

Where do you get the alarm clock from?

I'm still chuffed that I finally managed to get my head round the manoeuvres required to make a rendezvous and dock. Despite watching all the tutorials I could find, I struggled to understand the concept behind it all, and my own attempts suffered as a result. My most recent rendezvous and dock was a refuelling ship to a command module in Duna orbit that was marginal on fuel to get back to Kerbin.

What's the best way to time warp when waiting for angles to line up for inter-planetary travel? So far I have only been to Duna, and getting there, I parked my ship in LKO, put a probe on the launch pad and used time warp. However, now that my ship is in Duna parking orbit, it limits how fast I can time warp due to being below 100km. I use a protractor mod to tell me when the angle is correct, but a protractor based at Kerbin doesn't give me the angle I need to return from Duna.

This framework is the basis of the two stations I have built so far. This is one that has had various parts attached to the framework. Sanity that refuelling rig looks spot on. What sort of lifter did you use to get it up there?

Realised today that I hadn't put a rover on Minmus so thought I'd try with the vehicle I used to put one on the Mun. Worked a treat, though driving around in such low gravity was a bit comical.

Are you using a probe to carry the small parts and not a manned craft? If so you need to add batteries to keep the probe powered, and probably a solar panel or two to keep the batteries charged, otherwise the probe will just die.