Illiad

"WTF do you mean I forgot to put Kerbils in it???" re: Science Lab

I hear this. Today, I gloriously undid a few of the (many) strandings that my Kerbil Space Program has become somewhat famous for (to my dog, and girlfriend). I (finally) rescued the Jeb, who was stuck in Kerbil orbit after he'd exited a craft with a blocked hatch. I (nearly) successfully rescued the crew of a flight to Minimus, except the hitchhiker container destroys itself upon contact with the water It was a test run of a lifeboat system to pick up the 10 or so Lunar surveying teams currently stranded, err playing ping pong on the Mun. Ran out of thrust to dock with the lunar space station, but have enough thrust on the space station to move it!! Results pending. Man I hate docking.

Your batteries need an incoming source of power in order to recharge. All your batteries do is create a longer period without incoming power when you still have power. (engines off, blocked from Kerbol by the Mun, etc) If you haven't yet unlocked solar panels of any kind, then the only time your batteries will recharge power is when your engines are running. That is presuming you've got a manned space thing, unmanned are gimped if they run out of charge. Wires are automatic at build time, you can put batteries anywhere and they will automatically be connected to the things that use their power (SAS, Transmission)

I've been unsure as to the most efficient method of decelerating towards an object. My current theory is that it's near optimal is to place your apoasis at twice your height by applying retrograde burn as you descend. If you don't have the fuel coupling unlocked yet, this next bit is moot: Forget boosters, go with asparagus launchers. They take longer to build, but are quite awesome.