Sardonyx

I typically pick a name for a mission / ship role. Then for minor changes I typically add a letter like "Gallileo A" for example. Major revisions or redesigns that support the same mission get a Roman Number like "Gallileo II" and subsequent minor revisions get a letter e.g. "Gallileo II A."

First, I enjoyed your music very much! I feel like the style doesn't fit with KSP though. The tunes are very focused and emotionally charged. Which can be good, but it has a more cinematic feel to it than the tone of KSP. These could easily be pieces that are part of a movie soundtrack. KSP is more whimsical and the style of music that typically fits that are things you currently hear in KSP, but also games like SimCity, The Sims, etc. It's more background, doesn't draw your attention and tends to be unspecific in terms of mood (generally just happy bouncy music) because as a developer you don't really know what's going on in this type of free play game at any given moment in terms of how the player is perceiving the situation. I would say your music more fits the style of game like X or Eve. They tend to have a more cinematic feel / more serious tone to them. I did enjoy the music personally though! Thanks for sharing!

Wait a sec. Is .21 deleting debris? That would be annoying as some of my craft split into multiple useful pieces on purpose...

I'm not quite ready to dip my toe into mods yet, which is why I mentioned vanilla. Personally, I like the constraints of the universe (game) and finding clever ways to do things inside those constraints. I'll probably get to mods eventually (Kethane sounds cool, and I've heard good things about the B9 parts pack) but I'd like to stick with the vanilla game for now. @everyone who suggested landing legs - that looks like the way to go. I've also considered creating missiles and blowing the stuff up but I'll try to deorbit it first. All my designs now incorporate at least one docking port so I can grab it / refuel it should it become stranded. Just for the curious: I'm more interested in doing this "in universe" - it's fun! I'd just edit the save file if my only goal was to remove the debris

Haha, I just watched that video on Youtube because it was recommended to me on the front page when I went to serach! (Google knows too much...) But this is exactly what I want to do! Thanks for posting that

Pretty much what my title says. Is it possible to capture space debris in some way to de-orbit it? Some of my early missions left large fuel tanks and boosters in orbit with no control mechanisms and no docking ports. Is there a way to grab these and de-orbit them? Even better would be to be able to transfer the fuel out or dock with them somehow Any thoughts are appreciated! Thanks!

I recommend Fraps to anyone who asks about screen recording as it's the best screen recording software for capturing 3D games, but you've ruled out spending money so that's a no go. In fact all the good screen recording software costs something

I've seen K2, which I thought was pretty clever since Kerbals like to name things with K For those not familiar: K2 is the second tallest mount on Earth.

I usually design my craft with modules that can operate independently if needed. It usually means some of the solar panels have to be pulled in to clear the docking ports and can't be extended while the docked module is in place. The docked module usually has some of it's own solar panels as well. That said, I always retract them. My docking ability isn't that precise yet I'd totally destroy them.

Rescue mission successful Now what to do with all that precious fuel in orbit? To be fair, that's how i created that wreck in the first place Any other thoughts?

So, I'm working on building a long range exploration ship in orbit of Kerbin. The first modules to go up are the fuel tanks/engines. Essentially each module is two large orange tanks with an engine at the bottom, 2 sets of 4 connector ports in a + shape and some solar panels, batteries, SAS. First one inserted into orbit perfectly. I launched the second and when attempting to rendezvous I realized I'd forgotten a critical element. RCS! These modules have no RCS to help with docking. I contemplated holding off and sending up another module with RCS to help dock them. But Kerbals wouldn't do that. Kerbals would foolishly try to dock them anyways. So I did. And I slammed the top of the second module into the side of the first which caused the second module to explode, destroying the robotic control center and sending pieces flying. Crap. The first module survived unscathed, so I decided I'd fix the design (add some dang RCS!) and dock that module to continue building. However, one almost full orange tank of fuel, the solar panels on the lower section, and the main engine survived the the explosion and are in stable orbit. 4 docking ports also survived. The tank is fortunately not spinning, though SAS is offline of course. So while it's currently uncontrollable, something could dock and control it. I can't use it as part of the station, but I hate to let all that fuel go to waste. My question is: What fun things can you think of to do with it?

My first station module ended up in a Polar orbit around Kerbin due to a *ahem* malfunction during launch. The station was meant for testing long duration missions in Kerbin orbit. It only has solar arrays and a reserve of Monopropellant on board now. While I've replaced it with a much larger (and more useful) equatorial station, it did serve as the docking target for my program's first orbital rendezvous. Before returning to Kerbin, the ship that docked corrected it's orbit to a more circular / stable orbit. So it's safe. For now it remains piloted by computer in polar orbit. No plans currently, but it could be incorporated to the new station or be used as the core of a much larger polar orbit station in the future.

I just finished my first landing on Duna. I used my to date unused Mun Lander with a little extra fuel. Unfortunately not enough to take back off, so I have a rescue mission in the works. The awesome thing is that there was also a celestial event right when I landed. I won't spoil it, here's the pics

After some quick testing 0.21.1 - this is much much better. It's able to hold my large rockets to a point I set even if the rocket naturally wants to turn away from that. It's applying enough force and doesn't seem to release that if I try to input a rotation in one direction. Bravo! This is good stuff! P.S> It seems to be locking on to a heading and holding if you quickly tap F again

It's probably working the same for everyone to be quite honest. Some craft are probably more or less prone to showing the effect given design variations. And then there's variation in piloting technique. Myself, I noticed I tend to anticipate the need to counter momentum and apply counter thrust early even when I was trying to test it. That habit comes from playing a lot of free rotation 3D space games over the years that require manual stabilization and this lessens the effect of weak SAS somewhat, but that type of piloting shouldn't be necessary according to the demo videos. Also, it was clearly releasing hold on all axes when it was given an input, when it should really calculate how to project that hold onto the rotated axes allowing you to adjust one dimension (or that's what described). Depending on the craft that release of controls will affect some a lot more than other under certain flight profiles.

Videos are up Take a look and see if that matches what you were seeing. Shortcut: http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/showthread.php/41835-Come-back-old-ASAS-all-is-forgiven%21?p=542289#post542289

I downloaded the file and gave it a try. I experience the same issue. It seems the ship doesn't have enough control authority to correct the attitude even with manual controls. I changed the engine to one that's vectorable and it seems to be stable. Here's the craft file for that modification: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B93L9D7Q-uYpY0lsQ3pmNEpkdDA/edit?usp=sharing ETA: A second set of winglets at the top of the first stage also helps immensely. However, as the fuel burns away the ship becomes top heavy and really wants to point prograde. Even with the winglets I can't fight that with manual controls.

Ok, I took two flights with it. I can't claim to be super experienced so hopefully you'll forgive my flying (video shortly). What I noticed is that once in orbit it does tend to lose control at the slightest input. On the second flight, I ran out of gas and glided for a good amount of time. It wasn't on purpose but I think it shed the most light on the issue. I wanted to pull the nose level and hold it there to extend glide time for testing. I was able to pull it up with some difficulty and SAS was able to hold it. However, as soon as I input something like Roll, the SAS release the Pitch hold and the nose starts falling. When I let go of the roll, it continues to drift downward in pitch as if that's the proper level. In orbit I had some issues when doing rolls where I would spin out even with SAS enabled. Take a look at the video and see if that matches what you experienced. http://youtu.be/5iLK_ksBydg http://youtu.be/R4xkomm7Zy0 All in all I think there is an issue with the way it's doing hold. It seems like it's releasing control of all axes when an input on one occurs and doesn't resume them to their previous level when input is removed. Based on their description I feel like it's supposed to hold the other axes stable while releasing control on the channel you provide in put to.

Awesome I'll give it a go and report back shortly

Could you send me a copy of your craft file? I'm happy to test it out and see if I have the same issue.

Did you run out of electricity? The new reaction wheels consume it turn the ship. If your ship ran completely out of juice you'll basically have no control.

Would you be willing to post a copy of the vehicle? I'm happy to try it out on my system and help narrow down if it's a bug related to a particular install.

Would someone who's having trouble be willing to post a craft they're having trouble with and a description of what happens? I'd be willing to test it out and see if the same thing happens on a clean install on my system.

Yes, SAS will move control surfaces. Take a look at my videos in this thread and you can see them under SAS control: http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/showthread.php/41978-0-21-SAS-Test

Added another test: Test 4 - This is a small craft with 2 Reaction Wheels. One at the top near the capsule, one at the bottom near the engine. There's some slight roll at the gravity turn, but overall it's relatively stable.