Kerbart

Lo and behold! I am! But is @legoclone09?

That depends largely on your design; it can very well go the other way. My rockets tend to have a Titan/Delta-like design with a central core that (after ditching the side-boosters fairly early in flight) doesn't change that much in diameter, hence it doesn't reduce resistance that much when I drop the bottom stage. But... it does reduce mass by a significant amount. And with F = m×a the deceleration as a result of drag will be a lot more when I cut mass in half or more, while air resistance stays the same. If the bottom stage adds a lot of resistance it's a different story of course. But that all depends on the design.

Doh. More plane parts, obviously.

...or perhaps start out with some projects that don't require a scientific calculator, just to build up some experience.

I managed to built my first rocket. Got it on the launching pad. Staged it. Nothing happened. Staged it again. Capsule popped off and parachute released. Great. Google. Manley. “Oooh, there's a Throttle?” While at it, watched some more Manley videos. After that, I “got” the game. The rest was just practice.

Am I the only one who's having problems getting the "rovers" category to show up? I can only access the Malemute parts by going to the manufacturer filter; there's no "rovers" icon in the toolbox in the VAB Deleted KSP and reinstalled from Steam Unzipped Malemute download and copied to GAMEDATA folder Added a few more part mods to make sure that the rest is indeed showing up including custom categories (spoiler: yes, they are) Downloaded the CKK_1.2.2 pack and installed it in the GAMEDATA folder Screenshot of folders: I'm at my wits end. What am I doing wrong? UPDATE: The 0.2.6 rover shows up fine. It's the 0.2.7 rover that has the problem. Updating USI Tools from 8.10 to 8.16 makes the rover icon disappear, but not sure if that is the cause.

You can retract them and the rover will fit perfectly inside a Mk3 fuselage.

The problem stems from the fact that we are starting to realize that there are hundreds, thousands, perhaps even dozens of pluto-like objects in the solar system. It's not that because of the definition chosen, Pluto no longer “qualifies” as a planet. It's that they wanted Pluto (like) planets to be no longer considered a planet and came up with a definition that did just that. Ironically, a much shorter definition would have achieved the same and kept Pluto as a planet: “Planets in the solar system are: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto.” But I guess that's not "scientific" enough.

Getting a GPS that works at the velocities and altitudes that you want to achieve requires an ITAR license. Sure, you're not exporting it. But if you want a weapons-grade GPS (and that's what you want) you'll need that license. Or work on a guidance system that doesn't require a GPS. Finding a launching location will not be trivial though. Both the Tripoli Rocket Association and the National Association of Rocketry do not approve of guidance systems (they'd like to keep three-letter organizations and extensive legislation out of the hobby, so they self-regulate), so you'll have to find launching grounds outside them.

I have the same problem, but I nevered bothered to report it as it seemed low priority. The wheels do indeed spin way too fast. Perhaps the spin rate of stock wheels is fixed and not related to their diameter?

Actually the first stage engine of the SLS. Look at the shape! But your concept remains unchanged in that respect; it *is* the first stage engine of a large launch system.

I will rescind my words then. Thank you for clarifying that. To the OP: go completely bananas on any guidance (remote or built-in), it's totally ok. Nobody will take any offense to it!

I had a contract like that... The orbit was just passing within the SOI of Mun. Not enough to eject it outside the Kerbal system, but enough to foul up any transfer orbit every single time. Of course you could brute-force yourself with some 5000 m/s DV approach right next to it... but at that point the contract had become hugely unattractive.

Well, yeah, exactly. I remember listening to a podcast of some university team that was building an advanced amateur rocket and they emphasize that they had stabilization hard- and software on board, which was totally different from a guidance unit. Because that would get them in ITAR territory. We can laugh about it but it's not so funny when you get an unexpected visit; definitely something to keep in mind once you start building something that's a little bit more advanced than a metal tube with some fins at the end.

I'm pretty sure there are many solutions around. I made a rover in a box that's kept boxed up until after the landing. Not everyone will agree with that; the box is heavy, and so on, but it does allow you to transport your rover inside a protected "bubble" (and not exposed to interstellar radiation, etc). It's a tiny rover though. You'll have to build yourself something similar if you want it larger.

A guided missile, you say? Boy, are you in for a lot of fun... You're rapidly moving into ITAR territory with that.

In KSP? Yes, because it's modelled that way. In real life? A flat earther will argue that our idea of gravity is wrong in the first place at that it doesn't point to a central location, but just "straight down." It's the same as with the moan hoaxers, claiming "we have the photos, we brought back rocks" will easily be dismissed. If you're not with them, you're against them. Scientific "evidence" will just convince them that science is "in" the conspiracy "to hide the truth." Having a flat earth in KSP to prove how unworkable it is will prove nothing to them; they will just claim we're using the wrong model.

With what @snark said in mind, you could make a fuselage out of wing panels. That should give you lift—not because of the fuselage shape, but because it's made out of wing parts.

Mass is not your only problem, the lack of a magnetic field is another. That seems to be the major reason Mars doesn't have much of an atmosphere anymore.

The good ole' "nobody will notice if we replace part 'x' with a cheaper version" played one time too many, I think. is this the same plant where the head of Quality Control got fired for embezzlement to the tune of $140,000? (And as a podcast hist pointed out, "one does not go out and start with stealing that a,ount from your employer, you work your way up to those amounts, so god knows how much he had stolen all together before he got caught")

That's not how torque works, it can be applied from any point. If you're generating torque by applying a force placement matters because you need a lever, but pure torque as the SAS unit generates can be applied from anywhere. The only concern is flexing your craft by inducing torque on it, and that is a consideration. The broomstick is not an optimal example as you are accelerating the center of mass when grasping it by the end. Force is required for that and that's why you have to apply more torque when grasping it at the end. Grasp it at the center and the COM of the broomstick doesn't move. No force required, less torque need to be applied.

Well, you could use wormholes like in Interstellar. Or maybe a portal, like in 2001: Space Odysee. If you see monoliths with a 1:4:9 ratio popping up in the game you know they're up to something. But you probably have to travel millions of miles to find one. It's not like they're going to plant one of those right next to the KSC, right?

Aaah, my bad. Upgrading parts is an interesting option. You could tie it to a part return mission. Retrieve an Octoprobe "from unknown origins" from Laythe and after research the design improvements are applied to your inventory. As KSK and Regex pointed out though, that will be seen as "the regular game" after a while. One could see the very definition of "endgame" as "when the game reaches sandbox mode" making the problem hard to solve

Given the efficiency of LED's I would check the power consumption in the specs, that would seem to be a pretty good indicator of the amount of light they produce. Size is pretty irrelevant I think. I have a flash light with a 3x3mm element that can light up an entire room.

Anything that goes beyond Mun/Minmus is pretty much endgame content in my book. If you consider "something else than contracts," then what would that be? Extending the tech tree would simply put it before endgame, by definition.