match

How about a heat-dispersing part in the shape of an ice cube tray and a new 2-man pod in the shape of a martini glass?... I'm terrible at this game... It's a breadbox, isn't it? A radiant breadbox?

I turn my target ship's dock to face the chase ship before before I launch to rendezvous... I think I'm a bit optimistic

After setting up and performing a rendezvous maneuver, don't burn the last little bit. Make sure your heading is set on the maneuver node indicator on the navball and delete the node. Then slowly finish the burn with your mouse over the intersection points (in map mode). You can watch the distance update in realtime and get much closer than you thought possible. Opting to use RCS for this part is a prudent choice. The intersection markers will not update in real time while the maneuver node still exists. ~This probably has been posted before, but hopefully is worth passing along again.

I just noticed a stat in the ship info window a few days ago. Something like "delta v to 0 vertical al speed". Kind of forgot about it until reading this thread. It might be worth checking out.

If all else fails, you can do a hard search for "ships" in the install directory... maybe limit results to folders, or even better, search for "VAB". It is less likely to return false hits. Either way, the folder is created in new saves by default where rofltehcat describes. The higher level "SHIPS" folder in the "Kerbal Space Program" folder is where the game stores stock ships. You can copy your own ships there and select "Allow stock ships" or something like that in the settings so multiple saves can use the same design... but that doesn't really help your particular case since you have independent install folders.

Keeping the your apoapsis ahead of you is the first priority while gaining orbit speed in atmosphere. The time is arbitrarily set far enough out to allow for losses during ascent. It is short enough to be close to your apoapsis where your thrust through prograde is contributing more to horizontal speed rather than vertical speed. It all depends what your goal is and the tools you have at hand, if you have a draggy payload, staying in the atmosphere any longer than necessary is bound to cause more issue than the efficiency granted by a picture perfect ascent profile. Is a case of theory vs application.

Set up a way station to match Minmus orbit, but at 0* inclination- will want it to be in front or behind in the orbit to avoid Minmus' SOI at the AN & DN. It may add more annoyance with the extra hop, but if you intend to do many voyages to and from Minmus, it makes it more routine.

If you put your hand out your window while driving, you will feel the same force that it is showing. As you angle your hand more in the airflow, you feel more and more force trying to raise or lower your hand depending on the angle presented. You also feel the drag increase along with it as your hand is pushed back. If you put your head out the window, you won't experience nearly as much lift due to shape of your head. You will however, experience a strong desire to hang your tongue out and bark at the other motorists.

@OP... you didn't happen to have any other active missions going on while you saved Valentina, did you? Might find them slightly off course if you did.

SRB's are creating angular torque due to the offset connection point (think of the decoupler as the fulcrum of a lever and visualize where the force goes). The fins are able to maintain control authority until staging relieves both the torque and the opposing force. Equilibrium is disturbed and flip ensues. Once back in plane, equilibrium is retored. ~Just a guess, but who knows? Also... "head heavy" and "head draggy"? I have never heard those terms before. Gotta be correct, both posted within moments of each other. Must be industry jargon! I gotta keep up with these new terms...

She is gonna be maaaa-aaaad! Check to see she isn't listed as debris. She may have ragdolled out there in the boonies.

If you are using mods, you may have an older version of Module Manager installed. I believe the newer versions corrected it, but older versions would duplicate tweakables if more than one Module Manager was installed.

Simple, affordable and easy to drive: The SSTURD Craft

Just a guess, but are you attaching the tanks to the decoupler or to the main body? It's easy to miss the decoupler when placing the larger tank. To see if you have actually attached it to the decoupler, pick up the decoupler- the tank should come with it. ... Next up, making straight attachments! Tip- if you zoom in while placing the tank, it may be easier to see what you are doing.

please refrain from feeding it, the asteroid is a migratory creature and interrupting its tendency to move along could be devastating to the natural order of things.

Atmosphere also partially blocks the sunlight, so if you do a bench test on Kerbin, you will get much better results once out of the atmosphere.

There are quite a few bits of biomes in that area. Superstitious folk say that somewhere in that area is where the Kraken makes its lair and it has dragged back pieces of its prey. I am not superstitious folk, however.

I figured you'd get to this eventually! You can calculate delta-V using Tsiolkovsky's Rocket equation which goes a bit like this: <shamelessly copied from wikipedia> If you feel up to the math, there is a wealth of info on the internets that can do far better than I explaining it. Otherwise, the stock game is a bit lacking in regard to delta V info. The Isp listed for each engine gives a fair approximation as far as efficiency, but you will have to do your own work to figure out delta V on your vessel. The mod community steps in where Squad leaves off, and there are a few mods that will calculate for you. Personally, I plugged in the numbers for a little while but eventually let Kerbal Engineer do the heavy lifting while I pondered the mysteries of Eve.

If you already have a tanker in orbit, then take control of your tanker and plot the maneuvers from it. Once you find your solution to the desired orbit, add up the delta V of each maneuver node (mouse-over a closed node and it will display the delta v needed). Since your vessel will be docking with the tanker once in orbit, it will be starting from the same orbit and use the same amount of delta V. Now you know how much the mission will require and you can build your mission vessel accordingly. I suggest adding 10-20% into your delta V budget, or more depending on how efficient you feel you are. Don't forget to plot a return maneuver node so you know how much you will need to get home!

If your tanker is situated to accommodate vessels leaving the launch pad, then leave it there. Vehicles can be engineered to meet the needs of specific missions. You can calculate what will be needed for any mission using your tanker as your baseline. Plot a course from the tanker itself and you will find how much delta V is required. Even if you have a rather eccentric orbit to hit, starting from the tanker will work. The simplest way is to plot your maneuver to intersect your Apoapsis with an ascending or descending node of the intended orbit and another maneuver at that point to match the orbit (this takes a bit of "eyeballing" your maneuver to get an intersection of your Apo and the intended orbit track). This may not be the most efficient as it often will include radial burns to match the orbit. If you are attempting a rendezvous (like OP's example), you will want to plot the course at a time when the target will also be at the AN or DN (when you arrive!). Since your target is in a high orbit you may have to wait a bit to gain the proper intersection, but also will save delta V as you are performing the maneuver at the slowest point of your orbit. (For more efficiency, rendezvous at the node which is farther from Kerbin) Like others have offered, you may decide to bypass your tanker depending on the pros and cons of the mission, but I don't think having a tanker in a retrograde orbit will add much future benefit for your program.

Nice accomplishment! ...and just like a unicycle, you can't really put training wheels on KSP- either you learn to do it or you faceplant!

Not sure when it got implemented, but I keep forgetting you can transfer between more than two tanks at a time now. Trying to balance two tanks is soooo much easier now (as long as you have a third tank to use as a measuring cup.)

I hope the leak is plugged rather than the feature (temperature gauges) killed. I rather like monitoring the dissipation of heat. The feedback during re-entry is welcome and thought provoking.

This happens to many of my longish stations with lots of mass in lower orbits. My theory is that gravity is acting on individual parts and if the CoM is not the center of the vessel, then the vessel starts to tumble and translates the movement into smallish orbital changes that eventually accumulate into larger ones. Try putting it into a higher orbit and see if this remedies it, or at least subdues it.

Remind me never to call you for a ride home