Kerbart

I replied to this two weeks ago. Not sure why the reply isn't showing up.

I'd add to the list action groups that are connected to specific stages and not "staging" in general. So you can have lights turned on, landing gear, solar panels, cooling panels folding out once you reach a certain stage.

Ok, no Dyson spheres. But what about Ringworlds?

Aside from the scenarios pointed out by others you can look at the lively multi-player MSFS environment. What about races/contests? Teams need to build a space station in LKO with certain requirements and then put in in Mun orbit, Minmus orbit and back to Kerbin. Which team gets there first? Or how about a relay race? Use a Mk I Lander can as a baton, it has to be dropped off on various moons/planets and then picked up by the next team member. Who gets back to Kerbin first? Replaying historic gemini/apollo missions? I think there can be many ways multiplayer can be fun, challenging, yes competitive, without the use of military mods. I also think that griefers will be a serious problem but since I haven't heard complaints about that in regards to existing multiplayer mods the problem might not be so big (but then I haven't been listening either). In either case, getting multi-player to work reliable without crashing the program every fifteen minutes might be a challenge; it's that already in single player mode!

Also make sure it's your craft that's doing the spinning, and not the craft you're docking with. Stations tend to have non-symmetrical layouts, and if they're pieced together you might have SAS units everywhere that (theoretically) should work in unison but due to flex at the docking ports don't always do that. Turning off SAS at the station might help in that case.

I'm sure that'll get updated once the game gets out of beta.

I thought you could only store one experiment per type in a pod?

We weren't there so it's risky to judge, but based on what's being told and shown: The clock looks "like a bomb?" Maybe, but I doubt there was ill intent. You either need to cut a window in the container or you need a transparent container; the kid opted for one of those tiny plastic transparent briefcases you can buy at a dollar store. Wires, battery, countdown timer. Yes, it does look like a Hollywood bomb. You'll still need explosives though and those were missing. We *know* it's not a bomb Ok, so where does this get us? It obviously wasn't an attempt to blow up the school, as some key elements were missing The school claimed it was brought to school as a hoax bomb But that doesn't add up to me. Nobody seems to deny what we're being told: Kid shows clock to first teacher Teacher reacts with that's really cool but simple minded fools my colleagues may think it looks like a bomb, better keep it out of sight Kid keeps it out of sight and even doesn't want to show it when teacher is asking for it. Kid keeps telling it's a clock Now either he's playing an extremely smart game of reverse psychology here or he's simply a nerdy kid who innocently brought a clock not realizing that some people might think it's a bomb instead. Occam's razor tells me it's the second option. If he wanted to scare people with a bomb he'd have added to sticks of clay and "hidden" the device somewhere where it would easily be found. Bringing a clock that looks like a bomb and claiming it's a clock so the school would think you'd be hiding the fact that it's a bomb... Nah. Unlikely. Not for a 14yr old who's into electronics. "He's also the school champion of the board game Diplomacy." Now, that would change things...

It's hard to imagine that we went from launching the first man into space to landing on the moon in less than ten years...

At this point probably the best thing that could have happened to the kid. I expect that by the time I get home he has already landed two or three scholarships at top tier technical universities (MIT, CalTech, etc). At the school somebody is probably going to lose their job over it now, as it becomes clear to the outside world that the school pigheadedly decided to stay on the "OMG it's a bomb" track when it clearly wasn't.

Thank you! I will probably work it out a bit more and post a thread for feedback about it first. I'll send you an invite when that happens

You're not preventing it from rolling over. You're simply mitigating the problem. Nothing wrong with mitigation of course. It's usually simpler than preventing the problem from happening.

I disagree. The science system needs a lot of rework. Science should have Fields and Discoveries. Fields are things like Materials, Physics, Biology, Chemistry, Astronomy, etc. Discoveries are milestones in a certain field, perhaps unlocked after gaining x points and succesfully completing a related experiment (maybe said experiment is only offered after reaching the required points treshold in that field). A Discovery will then automatically unlock a part of the science tree. Certain technology might be unlocked by various Discoveries, or might required multiple Discoveries. Example: The first missions in career mode give you points in the field of "Applied Physics" After completing a contract to reach an altitude of 2000m your discovery is "Atmospheric Conditions." This unlocks basic scientific equipment like the thermometer and the barometer. Two special contracts become available, "measure temperature" and "measure pressure" at 1000m (±200m), 2000m (±300m) and 5000m(±500m); you don't need to complete it in one mission Once the special contracts have been fullfilled, "Basic Aerodynamics" is discovered. You now have access to some nose cones and tail fins. Certain advanced technology becomes available after testing it. The Nerv has to be tested in Minmus orbit, landing gear by performing a landing on lunar surface, etc. The "Storyline" should be constructed in such a way that gives you freedom similar to what we have currently. And perhaps some technology can be randomized to a certain degree -- just like in reality you wouldn't know what technology a certain discovery would bring!

I agree that science is too easy and grindy, but the lab helps to get over the grindy part. By the time you're done with landing on Mun and Minmus you should have the technology to have science stations and bases. Coincidentally your mission duration goes from days to months. That works just fine for me as doing the same mission over and over again but in different biomes is getting really, really old.

Whackjob called. He wants his babyrover back. That, my friend, is pretty radical.

The problem with Blue Origin is that you can't really discuss the way the rocket looks. Unless you want to get hit with the banhammer, that is.

I don't think they specifically choose. I did that survey (100% score, thank you) and it was one of those "how smart are you" kind of surveys distrubed through social media. Somebody posted it on a photography forum and that's how I found out about it. I usually don't do them but pew research has a pretty good rep in my book so I was willing to try it.

One might consider this judgemental, yes even elitist. The "common people" ("commoners?" "plebs?" "gepeupel?") in general are not the word you are using there. However most people will not care about these kind of things because quite frankly, the impact on their daily life is about zero. Does that make them [xxxxx] though? One can make the case that anyone unable to make a fire from a few pieces of wood, or without the knowledge how to create a shelter out of leaves and sticks to keep yourself warm and dry during a storm, or without the skill to spearfish, can be listed under the same word you mentioned. And in case those are things you don't need in the city is a reply to that--neither is the knowledge of what you're supposed to see when encountering a black hole. In fact, the chances of getting stuck on an uninhabited island are still infinitesimally larger than that.

Not putting all your civilization eggs in one planet basket is a case usually given. Of course, that needs a colony that is completely self-sufficient (otherwise what would be the point) incuding having its own space industry. How likely that is going to happen is left as an exercise to the student.

Well, the moon's mass is about 7.35×1022 kg. The boulder that the Orion mission intends to capture, from what I understand, is around 94 metric tons or 9.4×104 kg. That means you need around 7.8×1017 boulders to pull this off. Now, let's go for a mini-moon. 1/10th of the radius of the moon, and thus 1/1000th of it's mass (I'm wildly assuming that Moon and Asteroids have the same density). So we only need 7.8×1014 boulders to pull this off. Progress! And now let's say that we launch a mission to capture one every day. Then we'd only need 2.1×1012 years to do this. Which is about 500× times as long before the Sun renders the Earth uninhabitable. So, “even though it may take a long time†and it would be incredibly cool, it's not exactly feasible. (Ignoring all other practical problems)

Because it's so over the top, I assume. Of course, I also assumed that the website of the Westborough Baptist Church was satire, because it simply couldn't be real. So yeah, there's that.

Squadcast is "live" at a time that is not convenient for the entire community. What is puzzling is why Squadcast announcements aren't uploaded to the forum right after the Squadcast. DISCLOSURE: I work for a marketing department. Our CEO holds this weekly update webcast for the staff. We have an excerpt with slides and everything on the intranet site within an hour after the webcast. It's not that hard.

There is a slight chance Ceres intelligence sees this coming. Here's my improvement: Jupiter sends the Spanish Inquisition. Because nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!

We make cars in space simulator They simulate space in a car simulator Meanwhile, in Minecraft...

I was on my way to NYC that day, just passed Iceland. Eventually we turned around and went back to Amsterdam. I'm grateful that the flight crew kept us informed on what really happened, unlike passengers on some other flights who only found out after landing what happened.