Semtex89

You could slap on a thermometer and a barometer for some extra science Just reinforcing what's been already pointed out: - Bring a small battery and some solar panels so you don't run out of power. No power = no torque and no throttle control. - The Stayputnik has very little torque so you might want to put on a reaction wheel as well.

I replied to your other (messed up?) post; First a stupid question: you are using stages for getting into orbit, right? Put on a couple of detachable fuel tanks on the sides of your lander. Use their fuel to land safely, and then leave them at the Mun and use the fuel in the core tank to burn back into orbit and back to Kerbin. That should solve the fuel problem, though the extra tanks really shouldn't be necessary just for going to the Mun. This design should get you to Minmus and back. How are your landers built? Bulky is generally impractical. If they are unstable, try using the 'center of mass' and 'center of thrust' interface when building your rocket. The center of thrust should be directly underneath the center of mass.

First a stupid question: you are using stages for getting into orbit, right? Put on a couple of detachable fuel tanks on the sides of your lander. Use their fuel to land safely, and then leave them at the Mun and use the fuel in the core tank to burn back into orbit and back to Kerbin. That should solve the fuel problem, though the extra tanks really shouldn't be necessary just for going to the Mun. How are your landers built? Bulky is generally impractical, yeah.

How do you make it to other planets without docking for a refuel in Kerbin orbit? I keep a refueling station in high orbit around every planetary system I visit. This way, I can refuel before/after interplanetary transfers and landings/takeoffs. My Kerbin Orbit Refueling Station with a couple of interplanetary transfer vessels ready to ship a High Gravity Lander and some fuel packs.

On my first Duna landing mission, I miscalculated and ran out of fuel just before circularizing the orbit after taking off again. Luckily, I had some monopropellant left and started thrusting prograde. And I end up with a PE 5km below the damn atmosphere. Just as I'm about to terminate her and go back to the VAB, I realize there's one thing left I haven't tried. I EVA, fly behind the ship and I literally push her forward with my jetpack into a safe orbit. Hopefully this counts as a fail even though I did go to space in the end after all. My most ridiculous KSP moment so far. :')

Yeah, each experiment on each biome/world has a science cap. Cleaning equipment simply lets you perform experiments with the equipment over again.

ISP basically means fuel efficiency. I always use the nuclear engines for interplanetary transfers to conserve fuel. They've got the highest ISP available. Although they don't pack much thrust, so you might want to go with at least two of them so you don't have to burn for fifteen minutes.

What kind of engines are you using? Burning back from the Mun really shouldn't take more than a minute at most. Even interplanetary transfer burns don't take much longer than a couple of minutes in my experience.

Great tutorial, wish this had been available when I started out

Wish I'd read that 10 seconds ago - now my refueling station consists of a Stayputnik and one thoroughly misplaced RCS block....

As it's been pointed out, it's good for transfer stages and to launch parts for a multi-part ship or station into orbit since you don't really need a manned flight for that. Keep in mind that it has virtually no torque, so you might want to slap on a SAS module.