Margaul

Duna has been quite the adventure for the Kerbals. But, with several successful landings under their belts, they have started to wonder if Eve is really grape flavored and they have begun to dream about beach vacations on Laythe. But before they make the next leap, it was important to put a rover on Duna. Why? Because there is still lots to see more than a few feet away from the landing site, and more importantly, the people of Kerbin need to know if the polar ice caps would make good ski resorts. The Skystrider lander has been very successful on Duna. However, because of it's three engine configuration, there was uncertainty about how to use it to get a rover to Duna. Skystrider II was designed as a Moon/Minmus lander that delivered the Skyroller rover to both moons. The center Poodle engine was removed and the rover attached with a decoupler. Shortly before touchdown, the rover was decoupled and dropped like a small bomb onto the moon, much to the delight of the kerbals. The two engine configuration may have worked on Duna to put the kerbalnauts back in orbit, but it was uncertain. Why try with two engines when three worked? Then, in true kerbal fashion, the answer became obvious. Why three engines when you can use FOUR! Thus Skystrider IIA was born. This is a long duration mission, so I'll probably post a few pictures when the kerbals make it to icecap. After a 93 day journey, an unexpected encounter with Ike and some quick recalculations of aerobraking (due to the Ike-altered velocity) I was just happy to get the kerbals into an (almost) equatorial orbit, a quick landing, and 22.7km in the rover. As is typical of my journeys so far, I use only stock parts, and no mechjeb or any other mods at all. Just manual maneuvers and keyboard bashing. Skycrosser/Skystrider making a close pass with Ike Lander and Rover preparing to enter Duna's atmosphere After a safe touchdown, the parachutes were repacked (Thanks DMagic for that little gem of an idea for the return to Kerbin) and the kerbals are ready to deploy the Skyroller rover The flag is planted and the site named "The Sanguine Fields" A quick spin ensures the rover is functional and it's time to roll After making an impressive start of 22.7km shortly after touchdown, the kerbalnauts pose. I'll post more once the boys make it to the ice cap. But it could take awhile. Fortunately, it will be a few weeks/months before Kerbin is in the optimal position for a trip home.

There's a couple more things than arches to find

It may be a little hard to see in that screenshot, but the hidden file you need to look for is in your user file. i.e. C:\users\[your user name]\Appdata\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files\Ksp_Win Here is another shot showing that hidden file you need to find

You probably did the exact same thing I did when I first installed the full version of KSP. I did exactly what you aren't supposed to do, and put the game in "Program Files." It turns out that when you do this, all the save/craft files get put into another location via Windows virtual memory system. Since I still have 0.19 installed on my laptop (and I'm far too lazy to put in the right place now that the next version is out), I took a screenshot of where to find the files. You will have to "Show all Hidden files" as an Administrator to find the location. If you look at where my files are, and mimic that on your system, you should be able to find the files Hopefully that helps you out.

Awesome station. I'll have to say it's much more complex than my little station. I used only stock parts, and just made it big enough to hold enough fuel to fill the tanks of my interplanetary ships. Honestly, it's not much more than a small town gas station you'd expect to be run by a guy named "Earle." Way to go!

Nice caps and awesome looking vehicles/station. Awesome job. I feel rather humbled considering my little trips.

Yup. Gyroscopic motion is a real thing. While the Kerban versions are really powerful, it is actually used in real satellites and spacecraft. In fact, the Kepler telescope, which has been used to identify planets in other star systems has become almost useless because its gyroscopes have begun to fail. Wiki has a good article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Control_moment_gyroscope You can see in this video how a bicycle wheel can be spun and used to spin a guy on a rotating stool. It's a simple demonstration, but you can see how its done.

I think that's pretty impressive. Good job. I like the idea of Minmus-surface-docking. I also just like Minmus. A lot of fun to be had with the low gravity.

Welcome to KSP Take a look at some of the tutorials on the wiki site. That might help you with some of your rocket building issues. Also, you shouldn't need to much RCS. If you have a command pod that holds 2-3 kerbals, it should spin and move without RCS. The game has a learning curve, but since you are getting to the moon, you'll figure it out pretty quickly.

When I started, I went to the moon, built a space station and then made a trip to Minmus. I Like going to Minmus because it's such low gravity. You can "Space-Jump" Kerbals on EVA to land safely on Minmus. If you are very brave, you can launch them back into orbit. The Mun has some interesting Easter Eggs to find. Keep your eyes out for things that "sparkle" Interplanetary travel is alot of fun, and each planet has it's own adventures to be had. I'm a Duna Vet, and currently working out a way to fly to Eve and back (without killing TOO many kerbals) Welcome to KSP

Nice shot of the sun over Kerbin. Enjoy Minmus. Don't let your Kerbals bring spoons. The whole moon is made of mint ice cream. Margaul the Magnificent, Slayer of the Elevator Boss, AKA Prince Ali, and the guy who always has his finger on the "talk" button.

Impressive. This makes me want to tool around with Moho sooner than I thought. Margaul the Magnificent, Slayer of the Elevator Boss, Prince Ali, and the guy who always has his finger on the "talk" button.

So after my last post, I decided to combine a test of the nuclear engines on my Skycrosser and a long term Minmus exploration mission with an oversized lander and a rover. I left Jebidiah on the command module and landed my exploration team. Well, we all know you can't leave Jeb alone to run circles in space, so I decided to land him anyway, sans spacecraft. The first picture is shortly after disembarking from the command module. Jeb has started his jump at ~ 31Km up. I burned retro and got the lander site where Jeb could see it. I switched between the map and Jeb until I had a decent trajectory After a good 9 or so minutes of freefall, I started burning again to get his fall strictly vertical. I got Jeb within a couple of kilometers from the primary landing site, so I was pretty pleased. Right before touchdown, Jeb got a great view of the landscape Jeb touched down with about 20% of his fuel left, and planted his flag. Named the site "Jeb's Resting Place" Not his final resting place, but probably his most awesome (to me anyway) Macsy came along and picked him in the Skyroller to bring him back to camp After the drive back, the shadows were getting pretty long and the Minmus evening was getting close, so I let the boys camp out till the next afternoon before taking a group photo All in all, even though a trip to Minmus was setting my sights lower than I normally do for space travel, this was probably one of the most fun missions I've done in awhile. I totally recommend jumping down to Minmus to anyone who is looking for something a little different to do. Margaul the Magnificent, Slayer of the Elevator Boss, AKA Prince Ali, and the guy who always has his finger on the "talk" button.

I like the design. I'm rather fond of "tractor" style ships. I think you should be able to get to Duna without a problem. With careful aerobraking, you should have the fuel you need to get home. As far as your solar panels, I've done the same thing. Sticking a photo-voltaic panel that doesn't need to be opened would help you make sure your Kerbals don't get cold because you'll always have the juice to open your big wings. Also, with those big wings, you could easily strap a couple of xenon tanks and some ion engines on the ship to help you make little tiny maneuvers without blowing through fuel. Margaul the Magnificent, Slayer of the Elevator Boss, Prince Ali, and the guy who always has his finger on the "talk" button.

I'll need to play around with the nuclear engine. I haven't had a great deal of luck with it, but I'm also not nearly as patient as I probably should be when it comes to design. I will take the suggestion and lower the amount of RCS I am taking. Now that I am a little more experienced with the game, I realize I don't need nearly as much. The only other thing I use it for other than docking is to make minor adjustments early in an interplanetary transfer to save rocket fuel I'd otherwise need for braking or last minute maneuvers. The lander is incredibly versatile, and I've used it in a variety of situations. My wife laughs at me (she's a Kerbal-head too), but I removed the poodle engine and the parachutes and added a simple Skyroller rover (0.19 so no nifty seats) that looks like a truck you'd expect to see in movie about a third world country. I actually took this weird looking craft to the Mun and Minmus (but really who needs a Minmus rover when you can have flying kerbals). I drop the rover like a bomb a few meters above the landing zone and then set the lander down next to it. I have to say the whole thing is incredibly silly.

I've been playing for a couple months now, so I thought I'd show off my mod-free, stock parts, Duna Trip. I took way more fuel than I needed, but seeing as I was basically putting my college math/physics skills to the test, it seemed like a good idea. Plus, it allowed me to make a bonus pit stop, so I was rather pleased. My Skycrosser is the command module, and is a pretty basic design using Aerospikes and a Poodle. I found this to be the most stable configuration. I've since used the Skycrosser to make Mun and Minmus trips with big landers that carry rovers, and an Orbital Trip to Eve with a lander probe. However, I originally designed it for this trip. My Skystrider is the lander, and the engine configuration is the same. The fuel capacity is half that of the Skycrosser. My idea was an Earth Orbit rendezvous, Trans-Duna injection, parachute assisted landing, Duna Orbit rendezvous, and then the trip home. However, for weight considerations on the return trip, I transferred the remaining fuel from Skycrosser, separated the command pod, and went home using the Skystrider. I actually got the idea from Apollo 13, and it has worked brilliantly. I attached a probe core to each vessel that allows the vessels to be operated independently. I took only two Kerbals for the first trip. Obviously, Jebidiah was first down the ladder. Each part of the ship went up independently and docked with my Olympus Fueling Station. Pictured below are the ships awaiting departure from the station with my handy-dandy Laurel II fueling/rescue ship docked up top awaiting any "Uh-Oh" moments that occasionally occur on my missions. A quick un-docking, a roll to correct for photo ops, and we are ready for the initial rendezvous with two fully fueled ships. After a nice, long burn, the solar panels were deployed and Jeb and Bill had a few weeks to swap stories about the Kraken and Daring EVA's. After I entered Duna's SOI, I narrowly avoided Ike's SOI, but I managed to get what I think is a rather epic screenshot that I currently use as my desktop. After that, I retracted the solar panels and performed my only picture perfect aerobrake into a circular orbit. Ever. Seriously, I've never ever had another perfect aerobrake. Skystrider seperated at that point and began it's descent to the Dunar surface. I only took one screenshot of the descent. Mostly because I was too busy trying to manage the descent and worrying about the parachutes ripping my craft to shreds and worrying about the final touchdown since I had absolutely no idea (other than the appearance of the shadow) of how high/low the surface was. Everything worked out nicely, I made a smooth touchdown just shy of a rather large canyon and Jeb and Bill took a walk outside. After I got bored jumping around and using the EVA packs to splat-n-slide my Kerbals in the dirt, I launched Skystrider and maneuvered for a Duna Orbit Rendezvous. I refueled, separated the Skycrosser command pod, and got ready to make the long wait for Kerbin to be in the right place to get home. At this point, I realized I had a ton of fuel and time, and Ike was just sitting there teasing me, so I figured, why wait in orbit for Kerbin to be in the right place when I can wait on the surface of a crazy shaped moon? A few quick maneuvers later, Jeb and Bill were dancing on Ike's face. This still ranks as one of my proudest KSP moments. Finally, Kerbin was in the right place, so I launched Skystrider and made my shot home. The pit stop at Ike and the shot home drained all of my fuel, and I had to make so pretty clever use of my RCS in order to get into Kerbin's atmosphere. Finally though, the home fires started to burn I had two good chutes, and after fluttering down to safety, Jeb and Bill made their final EVA of the trip If anyone has any feedback, or suggestions on the design of my crafts, I'm curious to read what people have to say. Also, my Skycrosser program is pretty successful, but I think it's reached it's limits without mods, unless I can come up with creative ideas. Margaul the Magnificent, Slayer of the Elevator Boss, AKA Prince Ali, and the guy who always has his finger on the "talk" button.