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When you attach an XS engine to an S fuel tank and then add and S decoupler under it, the fairing becomes a cone. It would make more sense to size the fairing to the S fuel tank so the shape of the rocket is consistent and decouplers become regular interstages. At the moment, you have to add an extra payload fairing underneath the decoupler to acheive the same effect. I can think of no advantge to having the decoupler size to the engine you are attaching it to and not the surrounding fuel tank sizes. Maybe even an option in the parts menu to choose a fairing size. Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

Haven’t seen anyone talk about this. Kerbal ragdolling was half the fun of Kerbal 1.

Talk about loaded questions. My biggest gripe with the talk about performance is that 90% of all the "gains" comes from removing elements from screen. Take a look at how low graphics looked in 0.1.0 vs 0.1.4 and it's pretty damning that there's been minimal performance gains, only fidelity losses.

I mean out of the other roadmap items: Multiplayer was always gonna be last because having to QA both singleplayer and multiplayer with each major update would be a huge increased weight on dev time/resources. Interstellar ready engines have been stated to require resource gathering if you want to build them in career mode Resource gathering has been stated to no longer be ISRU and require Colonies and trade routes So... unless anything new has come up, the OG roadmap was already arranged in the order of "the order things need to be developed in" anyway. Probably not a bad idea to assume it'll still be more or less in that order. Although given the talk of the imminent upgrade to using HDRP, I could see that getting a major release update number.

Hi, You may know me as an insane person that plays ksp 2, but imma cut the chase. Been playing KSP 2 For Science update, and I got a few actual bones to pick with how the missions work and behave.. Settings I play on. TLDR, Hard. but revert and quicksaving due to skill issues/bugs (many) I been playing ksp 2 new update for a while, and let me say, there is a huge hard wall/brick that comes with this update in gathering science, I play rather simply, each object I created in this save has a purpose to further progress my game. It usually does a main mission, or a side mission, if not completing a few while doing both on the same craft... So, lets get to it. i have done a few missions about 12 hours~ or so in this update ( I have about two hours I forgot to stream ) but it was just simply building and testing a craft. yup amazing, playing about 10 hours, with zero views, its a fashion statement at this point with how little traction I have. during this time progression was fine if not perfect pace for 50%, this was until I saw, and seen the big four Duna Monument Wheelin and Dealin LIL CHONKER Keostationary Orbit let me just quote my discord post(s) For me there is a huge (quite a few) gaps in how research is earned, and how main mission's skill slope is way to aggressive. as of now, I'm quite stumped as behaving as a general player trying to follow the loose primary/story missions, there were 3 steps to complete missions of getting a lot of research to progress For me, each main mission required a vehicle, so did land on X object, "weird signal" created a probe/sat, and then landing a craft near the objective, while this craft needed to also (optional) land at each biome and get science/etc. Now, with the stop of nonsense rambling There should at least 2 or 4 more missions before landing on duna for me this is too aggressive (no idea if it's like this for other missions I haven't progressed that far) Put a satellite into a high duna orbit Put a satellite around dunas moon Do a prob X parts and land safely create a Craft to go to the monument Duna, in the way mission control is set up, is the FIRST post kerbin sphere of influence, it has a Moon, Atmosphere... Why in the name of Bob Kermin do we need to be thrown directly into the duna's monument when other things should be taught / more research to be given out. As of right now with 1 secondary mission that is a little to silly Lil Chonker, 1 mission simply not working, Wheelin, And Dealing, the only option to further progress is to do keostationary orbit, or do off "story" missions.. there is way to large of a gap in what is needed to be learned when going from minmus to duna. Second talk Doing a lot of sidequests of gathering ground science, flying science etc, there is simply just not enough Science points to be given out without finding the secret POI's as also stated in my discord post.. these missions might feel fine with normal research speeds and you have loads of of SP to get into deeper into the second tech tree without not completing the first tech tree, but for me, its hard. There needs to be a way to have like camera satellites, to find POI's on certain planets something like the surface scanner, but in a few tiers, with the weakest only finding the largest/most noticeable and the strongest just finding everything as a part both slowly in days(months) in game depending on range, geostation orbit/ polar orbit/ etc I really didn't want to do this post cause I'm not feeling well and I'm going sound like a complete mad man when I have what I want to say in my head, but out loud its just me spouting nonsense/broken english. personally, I that even doing premium+ missions that i need to be very picky on what i need to further progress the game, if the game had what i said above being able to get the few extra 100's of SP needed for a competent build should need to happen let alone teaching players that after getting to X planet they might have moons, or a atmosphere etc... i really hope the rest of the main story isn't like this, i don't know what I'm going to do honestly but the aggressiveness slope is to high from minmus to duna. please understand I'm really trying to say something that my brain isn't able to process due to being sick, and well, not able to do it in the first place without like 9 English to english translators.. also if anyone is able to translate this right now into something that is more, like readable I will edit this post make it better, but there is at least some points I'm trying to give out.

It’s like they picked the worst of both worlds. Talking a lot at times but only about insubstantial stuff (amas with softball questions, dev insights into features that were supposed to come a brief window after launch) And then trying to change to a “under promise over deliver strategy” without acknowledging or wrapping up the loose ends of everything they’ve already discussed (reentry heat video was supposedly supposed to come out 11 days ago, has since then not been even acknowledged) all the while not actually delivering everything. It’s like they keep flip flopping on how much to talk thinking that’s the reason the player base is grumpy when, if the game was making progress, they could talk a lot or not at all and many would be happier. Because the communication style isn’t the reason for the backlash, the state of the game is the reason.

Also I don't recall NASA having to string together a road of relays between Earth and the Kuiper Belt in order to talk to the Voyagers (or any other distant probes), and probes that have to land on the far side of objects tend to be smart enough to do this autonomously. Point being, I think probes being 10x more reliant on communications than any real probe is silly, and I would much rather Commnet just be a mod or set to off by default.

Hardly a deliberate tactic, just passion. Remember that a forum (or any community) is mostly made up of the most passionate people for a project, both positive and negative. Those who don't really care and just play occasionally tend to lurk at best, but usually just don't engage these kinds of spaces at all. The negative speakers are speaking out because they want to be heard - the prospect of driving others away makes that harder, not easier. And its not some effort to tank/punish/etc the developers for it, as again, the majority of people don't interact with communities at this level. They'll see the steam ratings, a few suggested and top reviews, and make a decision there. Folks are upset with the state of things, and they want to talk with other people who are upset with the state of things. Others are ok with the state of things, and they want to talk to people who are ok with the state of things. Both groups want to feel vindicated, justified in how they feel by confirming that no, they're not just crazy or stupid, others feel the same way. Some of those people just take it a bit too personally when they stumble across someone who doesn't feel the same way they do. The community ends up on defense mode, with all members wary that someone's there to tear them down for hate/hope for the project. Which in turn leads most conversations to be snippy and aggressive as everyone takes every quip by assuming the worst. The gap between the groups grows wider, and the outliers become more extreme. Back immediately following launch, the extreme positive side was "Wow this is rough but the bones are so good, they'll sort it out soon" and the extreme negative side was "Wow the games in a terrible state, how'd they think this was ok to release?". Now, six months on, the extreme positive side is more or less saying "Lol why did you expect a full price game to be any good or playable when its got the Early Access label? You're a fool if you expected anything else" and the extreme negative side is "The devs have cut and run, the ones left over can't tie their own shoelaces much less write a line of code, how hard is it to copypaste from a decade old game?". The moderate opinions and positions are still here, but frankly, nobody listens much to them lol, quirk of human nature. So long as these narratives remain so extreme and so divergent, things won't get better in the community. The devs actions will shift the dial one way or another, but from a community perspective its in the worst possible state - Maximum risk of genuine incompetence and failure in the game, and maximum possibility that its all just around the corner. Six months with minimal quality patching is extremely poor. But six months plus change to a major feature release is pretty good. Frankly, until the devs land it, flat on their face or perfectly, its going to continue to diverge. Once they do the narrative will likely unify, either to "Yea it sucks" and "It sucks but recovery narrative NMS guys", or it lands it and goes "It sucked but its turning around" and "I told you guys to stop crying, its great". But all the while, as the passionate community divides and bickers and hopes for some proof one way or another, the real danger is the quiet majority audience. They're not hanging around reading devblogs. They're not digging deep into community discussions and roadmap details and the rocky development cycle the game has. They're seeing a 29% Mostly Negative recent review score on steam, and skipping the game. They're taking a gamble, buying it, having a bad time, and refunding it with a negative review. They're folks who bought the game, tried playing for a bit, left a negative review and put the game down and probably won't come back, alter reviews if it gets good, etc. The easiest representation of this I can see is the mission reports forums for the two games. The first games one is still pretty active, with the entire first page of threads having been posted in this month. KSP2 has six threads that've been active this month, and its first page goes back to April. If the passionate forum goers aren't flying as much, what do you think the casual audience is doing? Nothing much, I'd imagine. Balls in the developers court, but the clocks ticking - This lurch period of uncertainty isn't helping any aspect of the game or the community.

(Not directly related to KSP2, but rather, the community's reaction to it.) I haven't been active on the forum recently, and I wanted to talk about some cool stuff I was doing in the (absolutely amazing) Planet Jam 2 pack for KSP1. I browse a little in the KSP2 forums just to see what's going on, and I'm gonna be real: thinly veiled tension or outright hostility seems to be the norm in the KSP2 subforums, and this has on occasion leaked over to the KSP1 or offtopic subforums too. Look, I get it, I really do, KSP2 simply is very much not what it was announced to be all the way back in 2019. There's a ton of missing features on the early access alpha launch, which notably arrived 3 years after it was originally scheduled to release. Most computers can't manage 30fps right now. I myself, since the launch of KSP2, have been completely unable to even go to the Mun and back without some mission ending bug destroying the craft, squiggling my orbits, disintegrating my kerbals, or so many other tiny and silly things that somehow break a mission (for example, just last week, after planting a flag on the Mun, I simply was not allowed to board back into the craft). All of my recent forum topics are me complaining about KSP2 bugs. I too was a bit disappointed after paying $50 and not getting a stable experience that was reliably enjoyable. I too was real annoyed at the several missing parts and features that you can just find in stock KSP1. I do not play KSP2 regularly. However. I feel like a schism is being driven in the KSP community about the state of KSP2 due to the incomplete state of the game. Tensions are rising specifically because some users feel cheated or scammed out of their $50 which they could've used for better things. This tension wasn't there before KSP2 (obviously), and as a forum user who hasn't done a whole lot here since KSP2's release, the contrast between the lovely, unified, and supportive community of old KSP1 (i say "old" relatively, I joined in like 2019), and the tense, warring community of modern day KSP2. This community doesn't feel the same anymore. A lot of people blame the developers, which I think is definitely a little out of place. The developers have gone through some serious hardships (Take Two pulling the contract from Star Theory and causing internal stresses, as well as severe stresses from COVID, both happening at nearly the same time), and are still working hard. There's evidence in the game files and code that long-term future features, such as interstellar travel or colonies, are definitely being actively worked on. The developers have seemed like genuinely nice people over the forums and over live interviews and stuff like that, and they admit the shortcomings of the game and are actively trying to improve the state of things, so I don't think they're being superficial with their interactions with the community. (To me, their interactions seem more like they're going "ah heck, this early access release isn't going great." than "I'm going to maliciously convince every player to like the game even though it isn't good.") Ultimately, the choice to release KSP2 in early access in this kind of state, with these kinds of specs, with those kinds of missing features, was inevitably going to be controversial. I don't think this is the fault of the developers themselves though. I think it's the fault of the conditions in which the game was developed, and the circumstances and difficult situations the developers have gone through. But if it's the fault of anyone, I'd probably blame the publishers, who choose things like release dates, pricing, announcements, and advertisement, and I don't think the individual developers had too much say in it (especially with how far the game was already delayed). Another major contributing factor to this schism I feel has been lack of communication between the developers and the community before, during, and directly following launch, which I feel has mostly or entirely improved since then. This lack of communication did a lot of damage, convincing a lot of people that the developers were just trying to get a quick 50 bucks and a rise out of the KSP community. I genuinely do feel like things can be better now if we calmed down a bit about the state of KSP2 and listened to eachother and to the developers. Nate Simpson and his crew of dedicated and talented game developers genuinely seem like they're trying to interact with the community and make sure everyone's in the loop on all the stuff happening behind the scenes, and everyone involved seems genuinely passionate about their job, their project, the community, and the future. When I bought this game, my ideas was, "if I buy this game now, not only will I save $10 in a few years, but also, I'll get to watch the game grow alongside me." My goal was to watch the development of the game, interact with it hands on as it grew, provide feedback when I can, and sit there and witness it become the game we've all been hoping for. I don't know what everyone else was expecting when they bought KSP2. I do know some people went in with the expectations it was a full, polished, addictive game the trailer promised which they could sink thousands of hours into. I don't mean to be blunt, but we all bought into a public early access alpha build. We shouldn't've expected something completely up to triple-A standards. While the communication issues I mentioned perhaps hindered our understanding of just how rough this game was going to be, I still feel like "early access" should be enough of an indicator as to how patient and tolerant we'd have to be. I know a lot of people have expressed concerns relating to the future of the project, and don't anticipate the game fully reaching its promises. I, however, would like to note that Take Two, despite all their interesting and peculiar business strategies relating to KSP2, have indicated they're in this for the long run, and Nate's also indicated this project isn't dying any time soon, and has expressed confidence in the team's ability to (eventually) meet what they promised so many years ago. I don't anticipate this project's death. I don't expect it to be done any time soon, so I understand waiting a long time probably won't be super fun, but honestly, we kinda need to figure out this whole patience thing really quick. I don't think the KSP community as a whole is doing too great specifically because of this controversy. I'm gonna be honest with y'all. A lot of comments on developers' updates have been short-tempered, cold, and all in all just kinda awful to the developers. This obviously doesn't include whatever's had to be removed by the moderators. I've read things on the KSP subreddit (which is currently down for some reason?) actively vilifying the developers (often specifically Nate since he's the face of the team), which I see to just be completely unfair. Some people are going to the point of accusing anyone who doesn't blame the developers for stealing $50 from you as a shill, which is truly an accusation of all time. (I swear to whatever you want me to swear to that, instead of being paid to say "KSP2 is kinda cool guys", I actually had to pay to say those words.) I've seen YouTube videos accusing KSP2 of being a permanent failure and a disgrace because of its rickety launch, and I find that really quite awful. I'm having fun with multiple aspects of KSP2, despite all its obvious yet temporary issues. I like spaceplanes now mostly because of KSP2's procedural wings. I write this in the hopes that, maybe, just maybe, this post impacts the community slightly in such a way that helps us cool down and engage in civil discussion instead of arguing and bantering endlessly until we all get tired of hanging out here in this cool forum. I genuinely think the outlook for the forum's community as a whole, at least in present times (and maybe moreso a few months ago), is worse than the outlook for KSP2. At this point, the only thing we can do about KSP2 as a fanbase is to wait, listen, provide meaningful and constructive feedback for the developers to listen to, and be nice enough for the community to still be fun to hang out in once KSP2's all done. I'm probably overstating the threat to the forum community as a whole, and I don't think many people will fully leave the forums due to KSP2 controversy, but it sure isn't fun to sit through, and it would be a way more pleasant forum experience if we all just stuck together, waited patiently, and made sure to keep things civil and calm for the time being. We can panic if huge and bad news on the game's forecast comes. (this took me an hour to write! i should go to bed) TL;DR: Lads, lasses, everyone in between, can we for the love of heck cool down a little about the state of KSP2, and just wait a little?

everything else is hidden sorry cause i actually talked in all of those, a lot.. a lot a lot, if I wasn't commentary about what I was doing and why, Im insane.. its "prob not talk unless someone asks"... speaking out aloud on every other one ,a lot, with the only person was my mom.. yes my mom watched, the last one, and me checking if the stream was working. i felt its just not worth keeping them up cause i sound insane.. hope that helps :3

Rules: 1. You have to use a planets name from the Kerbal Universe to make a sentence. 2. You cannot repeat the same sentence but, you can repeat the same planet. 3. As usual stay within the forum rules 4. I post per user So I'll start: This is the most easiest forum game. EVE-n a baby kerbal could play it!

If the devs bring in science trust me most of the discussion will be on science. That’s more interesting for everyone to talk about. I’d like to talk about resources and asynchronous options for multiplayer but it’s hard to have those conversations not even knowing what science will be like. And, to keep this merry go round conversation going, KSP1 was much cheaper than KSP2, was a new idea combining Orbiter like mechanics into a sandbox game without any prior game to get ideas/solutions from, was made by far fewer people, and had more progress down its “roadmap” over any 3 month period than has KSP2 over its lifetime. When your game is less playable with less features than the prior entry in the franchise, is more expensive, and is progressing substantially slower than the first game yeah people are going to get grumpy. If you then apologize and try and start off with a clean slate and return to overpromising and either under delivering or never delivering yeah people will get upset.

Honestly, I think the hard part about trying to stay positive about the future of the game is that many of the things, that would normally be sources of hype, have been proven to be unreliable for people to be putting their hopes in. So of course we can't change that. It's weird feeling like their has to be a dichotomy, between positivity about the game and negativity. I want to be want to complain about the things wrong with the game, but like many others I would also like to see this forum, if not full, at least largely so, of people engaging with the game and enjoying themselves. It's frustrating when the core problem is that people feel that they can't get engaged with the game enough due to all the bugs and whatnot. It's a valid feeling, full stop. I just wish the game was in a state where it was more interesting to talk about what we're able to do in it, than to talk about how difficult it is for us to GET to that point of engagement.

Here, here. If the ISS can continue functioning with all that is happening, this forum can surely do the same. I bet they don't talk politics much on the ISS

Reported Version: v0.2.0 (latest) | Mods: none | Can replicate without mods? Yes OS: Windows 10 | CPU: i7-6700K 4 GHz | GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Super | RAM: 16 GB Images talk for themselves. A pill-shaped object appeared in the KSC view after recovering a landed vessel. This "object" seems to be located at a specific place because when we zoom out, it "shrinks", but it will also disappear if we rotate the camera enough. The object seems to disable rendering of the water in the field of view, but not the land and the sky. Included Attachments:

I was saddened by the fact that there was no thread do talk about all things NASA, instead there was many different threads on more specific topics so I thought I might start my own However this likely won't go very far as I'm not a well known member of the community. Other NASA threads: Now who's excited for LUCY? I certainly am! https://www.planetary.org/video/lucy-mission-trajectory

Not a picture but a video. Finally an on topic reason to talk about cats in a spaceflight themed forum. https://x.com/nasa/status/1736900843813605759?s=46&t=Jd73T2beq0JLNtwTy1uR5A First laser transmitted ultra HD video from space (that is, sent through the space based laser comms test bed) is of a cat.

Your drag model has no power over me! Archimedes is a single-seater VTOL SSTO, capable of reaching orbit on Kerbin and Laythe with some dV to spare for docking. It's actually my remake of my friend's stock replica of my 2017 modded craft that itself was lifted off Star Citizen promotional material (talk about a crisis in creative industries...). The defining ring with contra-rotating propellers incurs unpleasant drag and breaking sound barrier is a slog, but the flight thereafter is a rapid and very enjoyable ascent. Same goes for liftoff and landing -- it's got a very low stall speed and you can easily land on a dime in VTOL mode. Powered by 2 RTGs (perfectly balanced). It's a rather useless runabout, except of course if you need to land on aircraft carriers. It's not that large and can hover indefinitely, which makes for nice landings on rough seas of Laythe. I wish I could add folding wings, but it doesn't seem that easy to figure out geometry in stock.

how does one make, keep, and better friendships? i struggle with all of these- if you're trying to make a friendship, you talk to someone, right? say hi? well after that what do you say? talk about the weather? well that's only gonna get you so far. you could talk about common interests, but having common interests means you both know what is to be known about the subject. and keeping/bettering friendships- how does that work? so far playing video games together is a pretty good way to keep a friendship, i've found, but what if the person doesn't play games? and how much should you text people, and what should you text them? because i don't know, i only text people when necessary for practical reasons, but i've been told that i should text more. I'd certainly like to text more, especially if it'll help friendships, but I don't know what to say, and when I have an idea, I'm too anxious to put it to any use- am I being annoying? if it's a question or advice, am I just selfishly using them as a resource and nothing more? and how much should I text? and how do I get out of what I call the "acquaintance-zone", where you've talked to someone, kinda know them, but not that well, especially if you don't get to see the person too much?

rn I’ve been eating a weird amount in a short amount of time. Just a bit ago I had pizza, a Coke (slurp slurp) then thinly sliced Parmesan (yum yum), and then chips. jeez...

The Epstein drive is a literary device, it's not even a theoretical engine. I'm fairly certain it's not going to be in KSP2 and if there are plans for it I'll consider the game an absolute failure. Real talk though, if you want to get to another solar system in a reasonable amount of time you're going to need something which has an isp which is a significant fraction of C. If you use that in-system it will likely trivialize travel but it's worth noting, again, that engines can usually only prioritize thrust or isp so you'll still need landers and utility craft, and you're probably not going to be using something like a nuclear salt water rocket for a lander either because that would constitute landing on a continuously detonating nuclear explosion. The challenge is not going to go completely away.

Since I do not really know about you, there's a risk I'm going to talk some nonsense, but on the other hand, there's also a chance of telling something useful. So I a flipped a coin and… Let's go: Chances are that you will miss it in the future. Try to focus on the good things, and try to accept the difficulties as the price you need to pay to getting such memories. This will not make things easier, but it will allow you to build memories that will be precious later in your life. Christmas is a bittersweet time of the year to me - to the point that 4 years ago I didn't mind having to work December 24 and 25 (my son was visiting his mom, so no parental negligence here ). But yet, I have one big regret about this event: I had a friend, one of that friends that you make when you are a teen and carry on for the rest of your life. And by some reason, we ended up getting into the same troubles in life [EDIT: and doing the same things to fix them]. When I fired my family and moved away from them, I took some really harsh years - I made a bold move, I liquidate all my economies buying a home on the Subprime Mortgage Crisis (that also affected Brazil, only a bit later) and I took me almost 10 years to rebuild my finances - the sad fact of life is that somehow my poor economic state leaked out my network and by then all the job offers I got were paying less (because the <piiii> knew I had little to no choice due pressure on paying the mortgage). EDIT: This friend of mine did more or less the same, except by the jobs offer - he did way better than me on this one. No regrets here, I would not had afforded this home otherwise. But it took a toll on my friendship, because I was working all the time, including holidays, for some years to pay all the bills and rebuild my savings (not to mention trying to keep contact with my son, still a kid and living very away from me at that time) - what it means I neglected that friendship, because he was living a bunch of hours away from were I live and I rarely could spare that time at the same days he could and vice versa. What I didn't knew is that he had a serious health condition, and he were risking dying suddenly sooner or later - and, so, every year I failed to spend some days with him on the holidays meant smaller chances on managing to do it next year. And, then, he died. About a week before Christmas. On the very year I was finally sabbatical and could attend something with him. I can't say I regret all that years I spent the holidays working my cheeks out to pay the bills - my son and I have a comfortable life nowadays exactly because I did all that sacrifices. But, yet, I still regret not spending more time with this friend of mine even at the cost of some economical security on the short run. That friend of mine would die nevertheless - but I would have more memories of such friendship, and he surely deserved such. Buy a cargo cart. Second hand, third hand, build one yourself - but get yourself a cargo cart. One that you could use on the streets. I can't emphasise enough how my life got way less hurtful once I started to get old on the very day I bought one for myself. I bought it in 12 instalments to avoid financial risks on the short run, and so I ended up paying almost 25% more than if I had bought it upfront - but even this way, it worth it because I didn't hurt my back anymore since then and, so, didn't had my DayJob© jeopardised by pain in the back (the upper one! ). Check your home's power, you may have fluctuations sporadically on your electrical system. Additionally, do you have a neighbour engaging on ham radio? In a way or another, a HAM radio emitting near you would saturate your WiFi antennas to the point the MCU could not handle the noise and just crash.

Welcome. I'll be documentation the colonization of the soon to be released KSS2 interstellar mod for KSP1. This system contains a number of unique and interesting features. Get yourself a nice beverage that tastes almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea and follow along. I will be primarily focusing on the needful for FTL trips out to the Aethera system. Unless you are doing this in sandbox mode, there will be considerable buildup of infrastructure and resources (particularly graviolium and fusion pellets) to support the 4-9 day trip. Note: My primary mods Blueshift FTL drive KFS gravatic drive Buffalo2 for rovers Pathfinder for habitat DSEV for various ships Other mods: Custom Barnkit: This provides for a Level 4 Tracking Station. You will need this for communication across interstellar distances GU Parts (legacy): In particular, this provides the antennas with the necessary range to talk back to the KSC. This is desired if you are going to do anything with probes. I'm not sure where this can be obtained now. DM me if you need it. Kerbal Attachment System / Kerbal Inventory System : In particular, KAS in conjunction with DSEV has parts that make the construction of a shuttle craft able to carry all the needful to a planet A note for STL cats: Do not think that you can use stock engines for Aethera. If you are new to Interstellar travel, get yourself acquainted with the numerous mods available to provide blowtorches with the required ISP to get you there - and more importantly - settled into an orbit.

Yes, but forward to...what? I totally agree a lot of you are tired of seeing or having the same discussion over and over again (I'm hardly posting anymore, just reading the same 6 people fight), but...you know...what is there to talk about? (A lot of people think) the game sucks isn't good (yet?), so what else is there to talk about?

Audacity Memoirs of a Kerbonaut by Martina D Kerman Thread of the month! Thanks, kind nominee (whoever they were- let me know and I'll give you a cameo part ) Contents: Chapter 0 - Maps and stuff Chapter 1 - First Contact (scroll down!) Chapter 2 - Perseverance Chapter 3 - Darude Chapter 4 - Aftermath Chapter 5 - Gategrash Chapter 6 - Overture Chapter 7 - Progress Chapter 8 - Expectations... Chapter 9 - ...and reality Chapter 10 - Ablaze with stars, part 1 Chapter 11 - Ablaze with stars, part 2 Chapter 12 - Ablaze with stars, part 3 Chapter 13 - Love, and loss Chapter 14 - On a knife-edge Chapter 15 - Bah, politics! Chapter 16 - Bring the Mun Chapter 17 - The night is darkest before the dawn Chapter 18 - The beginning of the end Chapter 19 - The road to recovery Chapter 1 – First Contact It was the music that caught her attention first. That stirring, upbeat tune that sounded like a military march, simple yet instantly recognisable among the other jingles and ads.* The voiceover kicked in as the camera seemed to soar over mountains and shoot up through the sky until the sky changed from blue to black and the stars appeared. "We chose to go to the Mun, not because it was easy but because it was hard. Now, we choose to move on from our first steps to take our next giant leap forward into space." The immortal footage of the great Jebediah Kerman stepping down onto the Munar surface accompanied the first half of that sentence; the latter was backdropped by a panoramic image from the Spirit of Discovery rover from Duna’s surface, Ike hanging low in the sky overhead. "Our programmes continue to expand with more recruits arriving every day." A montage of trainees going through their regimen of exercises, underwater EVA practices, centrifuge training and more flashed across the screen. Scientists in white coats and engineers in yellow overalls traded notes in front of a scale model of the Acapello rocket, pilots flew simulated manoeuvres to dock with a space station, a Javelin launch booster dropped onto its landing barge with a tremendous plume of fire from its engine exhausts and (miraculously) stayed upright and in one piece when the engines shut down. "There’s only one thing missing..." A space suited figure appeared in the centre of the screen, flipped up their visor and looked directly at the camera- directly at her. It was the very same Jebediah Kerman, and he pointed right at her. "-You!" A final musical flourish and the screen cut to black with just the familiar red logo and the slogan "Kerbal Space Program - join now!" "That doesn’t look like homework to me," a voice from behind her made Tina jump. Too late she tried to click onto something homework related but instead managed to start the video again. Several frantic button presses later it eventually stopped and she turned to face her father, blushing furiously when she saw the amusement on his face. "Um..." was all she could think of to say. Dad put on a mock stern expression. "Homework. Now. Or I’ll eat your Minmus sorbet." It was an idle threat- Dad was on a strict diet and everyone knew it, and he liked to complain about it every mealtime. "Yes, Daddy." Tina played the Daddy’s Girl card, looking up with big, round eyes and slightly trembling lower lip, and he laughed and walked away but left the door open so she could hear him muttering loudly: "Mmmm, Minmus sorbet. I can barely remember what it tastes like, maybe I could sneak a little spoonful from the freezer..." Tina smiled, but it faded quickly as she turned back to the English essay that was supposed to be written by now, the cursor blinking mockingly at her on the empty page. It was hopeless- that poem made no sense to her at all, how was she supposed to write a thousand words about some stupid people from hundreds of years ago swooning over each other. She stood up from the desk, grabbed her phone and a jacket and was downstairs and out the door in seconds with a "That was quick!" from Dad following her out. She headed for the end of the street, through the little play park and out to the open field at the edge of town, then cut across the north side to her usual spot on the bank of a small river. It was quiet here, just the sound of the river and birds and the wind rustling through the trees and she felt herself relaxing with every deep breath of that fresh country air. A muffled thud reverberated through the air, almost felt more than heard. She sat up, slightly too quickly, looking around to find the source. A second, louder thud came shortly afterwards and she scanned the skies again with no luck. Only a supersonic spaceplane made that distinctive double sonic boom, but there weren’t any flights scheduled anywhere near here according to kerbinspacetracker.com or- A much louder bang came from behind the trees, accompanied by a chorus of car alarms. The trees themselves seemed to be rustling with increasing volume and the river looked like it was rippling. She climbed back up the bank to get a better view and was promptly blasted back down by a tremendous wall of heat and noise and light that made her teeth rattle and her ears ache. When it had finally stopped, she cautiously peeked over the edge of the bank. The ground looked scorched, the trees had lost most of their leaves and the field was covered by smoke and steam, but there was no mistaking the shape sticking up at an angle in the middle. It was a Dynawing. Tina grabbed her phone and took a picture, then reconsidered and began recording a video as she slowly approached the downed shuttle. She saw what looked like an airbrake with its outer tip buried in the ground and a single wheel, torn off its mount by the impact, and then she saw the shuttle itself, sad and broken now, resting on its belly and one valiant landing gear that hadn't been torn off in the crash, missing half a wing and- pointing backwards? The marks on the ground confirmed it: the Dynawing was facing the wrong way. Even more intriguingly, the scorch marks on the ground suggested that the engines had fired to bring it to a halt, so it had either landed fast and spun around, or else it had actually landed backwards. The heatproof panels were still smoking slightly so she kept her distance, still recording, when suddenly a ladder deployed below the cabin hatch in front of her and the hatch itself opened with a clang and a hiss. A space suited figure emerged, clambering down the ladder and hopping the short drop to the ground. When they turned round, Tina’s jaw dropped: it was Valentina Kerman, the most famous female astronaut ever and her greatest hero. Tina had dressed up as Val last Halloween, had a little bobble head Val sitting on her desk back at home, followed every social media account she had, and now here she was right in front of her!! Val noticed her and waved; Tina was too star-struck to respond, which made Val come over and ask "Are you OK?" She tried to speak but couldn’t so resorted to nodding. "Jeb, you nearly landed on someone!" Val shouted up to the open hatch. "‘Nearly’ being the key word in that sentence," replied a voice that was instantly familiar to Tina. She felt giddy- first Val, now Jeb too!? It couldn’t be... A second astronaut emerged from the hatch and climbed down to the ground. Tina was slightly disappointed that it wasn’t Jeb, but only slightly. "Nice idea with that monopropellant thruster, Val, it sure did the trick." "Thanks, Nat. Still, I can’t take all the credit-" she punctuated this remark with a nod of her head towards the hatch and a roll of her eyes at the same time-" and anyway, it was you who figured out that the SAS core was misaligned in the first place to give me enough control for that manoeuvre." "I heard that eye roll, Val!" Val stuck her tongue out in the direction of the hatch. "AND that stuck out tongue! I know all your tricks, Valentina." "Really? I didn’t see you suggesting that monopropellant thruster trick, Jebediah..." Val retorted. Nat laughed. "She’s got you there, Jeb." Jeb suddenly appeared on the roof of the shuttle, tool two steps then jumped off and only just got his parachute open in time yet managed to land perfectly. He spotted Tina and her phone, struck a glamorous pose and said "And that, viewers, is how you land a Dynawing backwards!" Val snorted. "‘Land’ indeed; ‘belly flop with the grace of a brick through a plate glass window’ would be more accurate." Tina giggled; Jeb acted outraged. "You’re taking her side!? Me, the greatest pilot in all of spacedom, who just landed a Dynawing BACKWARDS, and you pick Valentina ‘use the monopropellant thruster’ Kerman over me!?" "Electronics are all shut down, fuel cells disabled and fuel tanks locked off." A fourth astronaut emerged from the shuttle and joined them. He spotted Tina straight away. "And who might you be, young lady?" "I’m Tina," she replied in barely more than a whisper. "Hey, just like me!" Val grinned. HOW COULD SHE NOT HAVE NOTICED THIS BEFORE!?!?!? Sirens were approaching in the distance and a crowd was already gathering at the edge of the field, phones and cameras clicking furiously. "Alright people, selfie time!" Jeb plucked Tina’s phone from her hands and propped it against a rock a few paces away. "In three, two-" "Wait!" Val interrupted. She popped her helmet off and plonked it on Tina’s head, nearly making her fall over under its weight. Jeb rolled his eyes theatrically. "Whenever you’re ready..." "Ready." "Three, two, one-" Click. BOOOOOM!!! "Uh, Doodul? Did you turn off ALL the fuel cells?" "Oops..." THUNK. A lump of smoking debris bounced off Tina’s helmet, leaving a little scorch mark, then landed straight on top of her phone and cracked the screen. "Nice going, Jeb..." muttered Val. "Hey! That wasn’t MY fault!" Jeb retorted. "You stole the poor girl’s phone and then it got broken, how is that not your fault?" Nat chimed in. "Fine, if it makes you happy..." Jeb pulled a notepad and pen out of a pocket, scribbled something on it and handed it to Tina, but when she went to take it he snatched it away and said "Nope, you chose Val’s side, so I don’t like you." The big grin on his face said otherwise, and he handed her the note again. "Just make sure that gets framed and hung on your wall, OK?" The first of the first responders had just arrived. The four astronauts and Tina headed towards them, picking up her damaged phone on the way. Half way there, Val and Tina slowed down for a chat. "So what do you want to be when you grow up?" Val asked. "I want to be an astronaut, like you." Tina replied, still unable to talk above a near whisper. Val smiles. "Excellent choice! Well, if you work hard at school, do all your homework- ALL your homework," she added as she saw Tina grimacing, "then when you’re ready, you send in an application to the Space Program and I’ll talk to some people and get you a place." "Really?" Tina was thrilled. "Sure" Anyone with such an impeccable choice of favourite astronaut deserves to join the Program." "I heard that!" Jeb shouted over his shoulder. Val peeled her name badge off her suit and stuck it on Tina’s jacket. "Just keep hold of that, so I know it’s really you. I will need that helmet back though." Tina was actually glad to lose the helmet, it was really heavy and the rim was digging into her arms as she tried to prop it up. Another explosion shook the downed Dynawing, sending a fireball into the sky and causing the last wheel to collapse, shaking the ground as it settled heavily onto its belly. "Just promise me when you’re an astronaut, you won’t do that," Vall added and Tina nodded so quickly she made herself feel dizzy. As they reached the crowd at the edge of the field, Tina spotted her parents at the front and ran to them. They immediately started fussing over her. "Are you OK? Are you hurt? What happened to your phone?" "I’m fine, really!" "I take it you’re her parents," Val said from behind her. "Unfortunately, yes." Dad replied. "Well, I told her that if she wants to become an astronaut, she has to finish ALL her homework. Can you make sure she does that?" A very mischievous grin appeared on Dad’s face. "Absolutely! Right young lady, you have an English essay to write and I have a Minmus sorbet to eat." "No you certainly do not!" Mum rebuked him. "You're on a diet." Dad sulked. Val was about to walk away, but turned back and quickly signed her own name on the note Jeb had given Tina. "We both know who your favourite astronaut is," she whispered loudly enough that Jeb could hear it; Jeb sulked even more than Dad. The four astronauts were escorted through the crowd by police, stopping for photographs and autographs, then climbed into four separate ambulances and were rushed away with a police escort, while firefighters tried to contain the fires as much as they could and prevent the river being polluted by leaking rocket fuel. On their way back home, Tina read the note Jeb had given her and was confused by it- I. O. U., Jeb. Dad explained: "An IOU is what you give someone when you owe them some money, but can't pay it right there and then. It's basically a promise that you'll pay them later once you have the money." "I think we have a picture frame somewhere, we might be able to get the pictures off your phone and print one out to put on your wall with that note and your name badge," Mum said. "Hey! That's for my before and after diet photos!" Dad protested, then seeing everyone's expressions added, "And there will be an after photo, too." Never in all of history had anyone eaten a Minmus sorbet so slowly, and with so many appreciative "mmm"s and "yum"s and bowl scrapes to extract every last minty morsel, as Tina did that evening. Later that night, after everyone else had gone to sleep, Tina still lay awake. The events of that evening were replaying over and over in her head. She got up and walked over to the window, and as if on cue the clouds parted and revealed the full Mun in all its glory, illuminating everything with its soft white light. She looked up at it, trying to pick out the place where only last year Jeb, Fleegus and Bartger has taken those famous first steps, and trips and falls and faceplants, on its surface. Some day she was going to do the same, or if not the Mun then on Minmus, Duna or Ike or even Gilly. Some day she too would be strapped to many tons of explosive rocket fuel and hurled into the sky on a giant trail of fire and fury, then travel on to other worlds; or even other solar systems, if the rumours she had picked up online about Grannus being real were true. Some day she too would become a Kerbonaut. Of that, she was absolutely certain. Chapter 2 (*Yup, it's KSP Theme. They did it with the Imperial March in Solo, and if it's good enough for Star Wars...)