s1l3nt_c0y0t3

Is there some reason you didn't just use a mk3?

[Be more polite please, the KSP Moderation team]

That's a lot of part clipping going on.

We need tanks of just oxidizer, like we have Tanks of just LF. It would improve balancing builds, and make spaceplanes easier to fly.

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/110647-Xiggurat-Industrial-Group I already have a standardized system. And if the terrain is anything other than perfectly flat, it still ranges from difficult to impossible to dock base parts on the surface on any planet with significant gravity (greater than 0.2G). I know it can be done; I've done it. I'm saying there should be a better way to do it. Just like you can build a space station with only 1.25m parts. I used to do that all the time. I still do it early in career mode. But it's so much easier with a part better suited to the task, the Clampotron Sr.

There needs to be a better way to dock ships while on the surface of a planet. It is difficult to impossible to use the standard docking ports to attach two base elements to each other with docking ports while on the surface. Attaching parts with the claw is easier, but tends to crash the game. Plus, the claw's dimensions make it hard to add radially to anything meant to be lifted in a cargo bay. I'm thinking maybe a 1.25m part that has a covered docking port on the end and accordion extends out and can flex around to connect with other docking porst despite slightly uneven terrain.

I've always thought of them as Kash.

Do you think you can make an SSTO spaceplane small enough to fit in a mk3 cargo bay without clipping? I haven't managed yet to make one that is controllable on reentry.

No one can land anyone on Mars without nuclear propulsion. Either nuclear-thermal, like the NERVA and Timberwind engines, or nuclear-electric, like SNAP + VASIMR. The dV is too great to do it by chemical rockets. You simply spend way too much time in a high-rad environment. Of course, there is the alternative of a nuclear-pulse engine, like Project Orion but that's a remote possibility.

If anybody else has used my designs, I'd appreciate any feedback or pics you have.

Yes, there are two fuel lines underneath between the lateral fuel tanks and the main body. I updated the zip for the WsTF, so you can just download the craft file itself. Just click here to get it.

Light spaceplanes updated. Next I'm going to post the light modular system for use at intermediate tech levels (tier 5-7).

Also, the mk2 tanks you're using are marked as LFO tanks. Your plane doesn't appear to have any rockets on it, so you don't need any oxidizer. Try switching those to just the liquid fuel tanks. They're lighter and hold more of the fuel you actually need.

The shape of the fairing matters. If it bulges out to sharply it can increase drag.

You have to actually have both your periapsis and apoapsis above the surface of the body to have it count as orbiting.

I've tested it in 1.0.2 and the mk2 spaceplanes work just fine. You just need to deploy the airbrakes @35k on return to prevent over heating. I'm also working on smaller modules for use at lower tech levels. But that system won't work without the Falls as a reusable lifter, so I'm working on that first.

Files and craft have been updated for 1.0.2. I'm still working on the smaller spaceplanes. Ironically, I've found it harder to build the smaller spaceplanes than the big ones. The changes to the nuclear engines means the RCMS simply doesn't work anymore. I'm working the problem. For now, you can just use your own skycrane. Tutorials for the Aquifer mk2 and Bay mk2 will be up soon.

Not dead. Not abandoned. Bloodied, bruised, but unbowed. After reading some of the dev notes about 1.0, I realized the new aero engine & heating would probably break all my spaceplanes & most of my other ships as well. To test this, I installed FAR & Deadly Reentry. I was right. They all broke. A few wouldn't even get off the ground. Considering the system relies heavily on spaceplanes for heavy lifting, it kind of screwed me. But 1.0 wouldn't be using FAR, so I'd need to wait for it to come out to really assess the situation. Then I learned that resourcing & prospecting would be part of 1.0. In addition to a bunch of new parts. The modular system I've made can adapt pretty easily to these changes. And it has. It only took two new modules to integrate the new features. I also made a third new module to take advantage of some new parts. The hard part is figuring out how to get a spaceplane to orbit under the new engine. I'm working the problem. I've almost got the Bay mk2 finished. It uses half the parts of the mk1. Considering that cargo bays properly occlude loads now, I might not even need to make an Aquifer mk2. TL;DR, I'm going to be updating over the next week or two.

What if you use a SSTO to launch all your equipment? Do you still need to use the figures listed in the OP?

7 Turbojets: -21 161.1m/s: +16.1 12km ceiling: +15 6 extra internal bombs: +72 Refuel: +10 MET: +10 102.1 points I'm going to change how the bombs are loaded so I can get a field reload bonus, too. I'm also going to do a parasite launch. It's okay to carry the parasite craft in the bay, right? Or does it have to be under the wing?

Part 3 of Space Station Construction added. Updated the files for the MES & ... to correct an error and give an added tweak to the Aquifer & Bay. If you're curious what tweaks I added to the planes, I changed the thrust limiter songs for the four wing engines in closed-cycle mode from 76.5 to 77 to give them more stable thrust while in orbit after having burned most of their fuel. That's the level of tweaking you have to do for a heavy cargo SSTO spaceplane. So don't feel bad if your spaceplanes all crash & burn. Building one is a genuinely difficult task.

Was it the subassembly or the actual craft file?

Part 2 of Mun Base posted.

Space Station Construction pt.1 Space Station Construction pt.2 Space Station Construction pt.3 Base Construction pt.1 XIG action group cheat sheet Solar Panels Science Primary Engines/Rockets Secondary Engines/Intakes/Mode Switch Empty Vehicle Special Ladders Parachutes/Cargo Bays Secondary Landing Legs Toggle Landing Leg Suspension

I'm working on that now. But it's taking like ten times as long. I'm building a space station to orbit the Mun and then I'm going to build a base on the surface of the Mun. I'll probably post the first part of it tonight or tomorrow. Edit: I mean editing the photo album is taking ten times as long, not the building, which is rather straight forward.