SRV Ron

Like real missions, docking is a S L O W process using tiny movements with thrusters. Get some practice in with two ships or just launch a ship, then practice flying around the booster. Two examples below, one with two ships in orbit around Mun and one using a full orange fuel can and booster. The manned ships were not designed for docking, they cannot use lateral thrusting. The fuel can is designed for lateral thrusting and docking.

This all stock design will send and land a probe anywhere in the Kerbal system. That includes a suicide run on the sun and a voyager mission. An LV-N is used on the interplanetary stage using drop tanks. Suicide probe of Jool Landing on Laythe Orbiting Poi And, Moho Eeloo needs a Jool intercept window but is easily reached by this all in one design. The probe is equipped to land on those worlds where landing is possible.

A career mode ship that made the orbital mission; The maneuver mode to get a Mun capture with a safety feature, a return to aerobraking landing in case the insertion burn failed to take place. (IE, your battery goes dead.) Jeb in low Mun orbit. Note resources left. The key to that mission, don't transmit any report back and turn off SAS when not under powered flight. The return maneuver to a direct aerobraking landing. This is far more efficient then trying to go into low orbit then landing. Coming in to land and complete the mission. Later up the tech tree, a lander design to reach Mun or Minmus; And, a successful landing on Minmus. Start out slow. Learn how to set up maneuver modes once in orbit. Conserve resources and recover for mav science value. When you get solar panels, go with probes and transmit back reports on a regular basis until the return from such reports are no longer of any value.

If it doesn't crash the game, the Voyager mission drives the computer nuts. Examples of one such mission in Career Mode; After I switched to flying it to send data on a materials bay, the view was tumbling wildly until I hit Esc; What map mode looked like afterwards as it changed flight paths wildly.

The booster impacted into Minmus with the landed probe in the background. The Eve probe landed and functioning; A Laythe water landing;

If you study the history of Kerbal Space Exploration, they started out with manned flights before advancing their tech to use probes. Thus, the reason probes are not in use first. Fact are, they stay using the limited 1.25 fuel cans and limited engines until the 3 man capsule gets unlocked. Skippers and Mainsails remain a ways off. Anyhow, there are now probes with science stations on Duna and Eve although the one that landed in the toxic sea has lost its solar panels.

Really inexpensive and small orbiter using NovaPunch mods; Later design in 0.22 no longer needed the 1/2 ton SAS to control it during launch. Parachutes are added for recovery. Both design can orbit Mun or Minmus. BTY, very nice artwork.

Spin gets caused by twisting of the asparagus stages. With proper bracing, it can be controlled or eliminated altogether. Note how this one is braced; This micro design didn't need bracing since the radical decouplers are nearly as long as the fuel cans. However, it can swap ends if you try to turn too quickly. A better look at the bracing on this four pair design using NovaPunch fuel cans. It won't be the number of braces used but rather how they are placed to distribute the increasing stress and prevent twisting that can cause the unwanted spinning as fuel gets consumed.

I found this design most efficient for a Mun or Minmus orbit and return. With careful management of power usage and direct return to aerobraking, you will have both fuel and power to spare. This assumes that you have the LV-909. If you don't have radical decouplers, this pancake design will also do the mission. Once you get solar panels and probes, go for a landing. This one works well. And, with fuel lines, you can head for Duna and Eve landing with this. It is just a matter of trial and error to find out what combos work best and are most efficient.

Pictures do not download from personal computer. You need to place them on a hosting site such as Imgur and use the link feature to paste them in your post. Unusual atmospheric effect in Kerban orbit.

A burn using the Oberth effect around Kerban will point to the Sun, but end up on a retrograde escape. To reach close Sun fly by will take a ton of delta V, much more then doing a Voyager mission. There should be a substantial fuel savings if one can do an Eve encounter that slows you down retrograde without ending up with a capture. You can use aerobraking to aid in the slowdown but the maneuver will be tricky. To get into a close circular orbit will take tons more fuel. Note the speed on this suicide encounter.

An untweaked experiment. I don't have the stats on weight but this design placed a full orange tank plus thruster pack, controller, and docking port, around Mun with a small expenditure of RCS fuel to trim the orbit. The tweak, to do your challenge and find the right center stage size to have all its fuel gone at the 100K desired orbit. Currently, that core stage has sufficient fuel left to do a Mun high orbit. I'll also play with this mini design some more. I may be able to get the center, upper stage, and probe into a lower orbit with all fuel left in the core stage. Not quite in orbit Guess these won't work due to the use of NovaPunch fuel tanks and engines.

Start Steam while you have your internet connection enabled, go to your Games folder and select Kerbal Space Program. Steam should automatically install the update. You will see that in an indicator and message display. Steam may also update itself at this time as well. When you run the game, career mode will be available as a default when you start a new game.

As an experiment, this asparagus design using only NovaPunch small fuel cans and Rocomax 48-7S engines. A bit unstable to fly on the SAS of the probe but made orbit with fuel in the core stage and a full upper stage. With landing legs, the upper stage could land and return from Mun or Minmus.

Time for a mod with the specs required; Yep, it is for real with unlimited tardis power built in.

Doesn't work. Design is very unstable once one tries to turn. (Unless you add the extra 1/2 ton SAS ring.) I even rearranged the solar panels, no go, note hard over control; The results of that flight. Had better luck with this one even though it was difficult to keep under control while in the lower atmosphere; In orbit. Yet, this one flies perfectly stable with no extra SAS ring; All were using that mini Rocomax engine on NovaPunch fuel tanks. Design has a lot to do with what works and what becomes unstable and wants to swap ends during the orbital turn or sooner. You only find out when they are built and test flown.

While you can use Mun for an assist, it is not necessary. Better for a direct approach with enough to get an encounter, then circularize and land. Thrusters alone will do the job for the final decent. You will need to turn SAS in to keep the probe from dancing on the surface.

Highly unlikely. The floating algae concept a possibility. There would also be flying blimp size creatures feeding on them and hunter killer flyers feeding on the blimp algae feeders. But, not on Jool with its hot high pressure toxic atmosphere.

Experimenting last night with the tiny Rocomax engines set up as asparagus on the small NovaPunch tanks, I ran into the same issue. It is atmospheric effects that will cause the rocket to flip over the instant I start a gravity turn. With an extra SAS, I could make the turn but it required no vectoring to start it. It even happened on this design without an external SAS; It may be an issue with NovaPunch as some fly well while others shake badly. You can stack five of their 1.25 x 6 meter tanks with no bracing, yet stack two 2.5 x 12 meter tanks and they will fall over on the launch pad.

Mass of your rockets is measured in metric tons. Therefore 0.1 tons is 100 kilograms, 0.01 tons is 10 kilograms, etc... When building your rocket, all parts have their mass listed in metric ton units. You can display the total weight with a mod while building, or check in map mode when on the launch pad or in space.

Orbiter Jeb did just that. Note the power left when I was orbiting Mun and when I did the reentry.

They will be available soon. You find them here on the tech tree.

Get some OxStats and you can eliminate a ton of batteries.

I was able to get that Eeloo intercept without a major orbital plane change when sending several probes to Jool. As mentioned, that window is once every 10 Kerbal years.

No atmosphere. However, the low gravity and flat sea at zero altitude on Minmus makes landing there easy for your first attempts.