1bdI

So I have been playing career mode, and have completed 30 missions so far, with no failures. Reputation is around 170. I did all the stock reach certain orbit and speed missions, and orbited kerban, but I never got the option to go to Mun, which would be the next logical step. It was always the next step in previous versions. All I get a ferry vips, and test parts, with little tech gain, or payout. Does it unlock after a certain rep threshold, or do I need to unlock certain techs to get it? This is for version 1.0 btw Thanks

Thanks for the replies. Having some altitude and speed data points will help me out alot. Capis tips are also very useful, but I don't use mechjeb, or whatever program that is in hodo screenshots that gives you the stats on your plane as you build it out, so I was never really quite sure of how many engines to add versus weight, and things like that. I suppose I should, though it would be nice if that was included in the game at some point. I also have been experimenting with B9 parts, still not sure how everything works with those, there are ALOT of parts in that mod. I did get one up to LKO last night with enough fuel to at least get the space station and refuel. I had to through on alot of intakes though. I also tried a simple single turbojet on a tiny plane, but got nowhere near 1900 km at 33k even with more than 1 intake.

I just can't seem to get the hang of SSTO's. Some I have been able to get into orbit, but with so little fuel left that it is pointless. Not sure what I am doing wrong, but I think it somewhere in my flight. Usually what I do is climb fast to get out of the thick stuff, then once I hit 13k or so, decrease my vertical climb speed to around 10 or so and let my speed increase. Using turbojets and rocket engines design I can usually hit around 20k, with speeds around 1000. However as soon as I cut the engines and switch to rockets the whole plane drops out of the sky and my speed drops off dramatically. By the time I manage to start climbing again I have burnt most of my rocket fuel. Using sabres I can just switch modes and avoid the speed decrease, but my designs usually don't have enough fuel left to do anything useful once I attain orbit. Also I can't seem to get above 1000 mph or so at 20km , without the plane becoming very hard to control. Usually my intakes are starving at that point and the plane starts skidding left and right. I dislike designs with tons of air intakes, so I just usually use no more than 4 or so. Help!

I usually just get into a parking orbit, then find an intercept using the maneuver tool and head off. I have not tried leaving Kerbins SOI then plotting. Maybe for my next mission to Eve I will try it. Also I have used obex site before, sometimes I use it, other times I just go for it, if the delta v cost is reasonable. I've done several interplanetary probes to Duna and Eve in .21 where I didnt care about the fuel costs so much since it was never coming back. In .22 I only did one probe of Duna, and two manned interplanetary missions. One was a manned landing to Dres, and a flyby of Eve. I usually aerobrake on the way back to kerbin from the Mun (or just crash into it because its fun). For this mission to Duna I will probably have to Aerobrake, but I haven't done it outside of Kerbin before. It will take a couple of attempts I think. Also the ship is modular. I did separate ones more in .21 where I would send up the lander, then send up an engine + fuel to drive it, then dock the two. In .22 I have been just sending the whole thing up in one shot to save some time though. (and building big giant rockets is fun).

Thanks for the replies. Starting the burn halfway towards the time helped a lot. I got spoiled doing all those easy science runs to the Mun I guess. In the end, I didn't miss Duna off the initial burn, and only needed to make some minor adjustments to get in closer. I usually have lots of fuel left over from the atmosphere stage (like 1/3 to 1/2 on average) with a skipper on it to help out with burn times, but it calculates the time based off that engine. Its hard to figure out the correct time when you have to switch engines mid burn. I tried putting more nervas on using the 2,3, and 4 way adapter pieces, but then I couldn't add a decoupler, so I figured it couldn't be done, unless there is a different way to do it.

Ok first things first, I usually bring lots of extra fuel for interplanetary destinations, so my ships tend to be bigger than they probably should be. I use nuke engines since they are so fuel efficient, but with all the extra weight, I end up with very long burns times, (usually 10+ minutes, and that's just to get to eve, duna, dres, etc). During these long burn times, my manuever node marker (blue one) starts to drift on the navball. I even tried lining it up dead center via the cockpit view. I assume its correcting the course, so I try to stay centered on it. But by doing this I sometimes end up where my required maneuver thrust value has pretty much stopped decreasing. To correct it, I have to hunt around in the general area on the navball till I find somewhere where it starts decreasing at a decent rate again. Once its done, I'll end up close to where I want to be, but it requires a second burn to correct the first burn, wasting even more fuel and time. Is there something I am missing here? Should I not be following the maneuver marker? Thanks

Funktastic! Thanks!

Can someone make me a flag centered on this image? http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/38/PFunkMothership.jpg In the upper left, in red text have "KSP", parallel to (but not touching, have it above it) the ufo In the upper right, red text, "1bdI", same orientation as KSP Underneath the picture, in larger text, have the caption "Another planet under P-funk!" no quotes though. Thanks!