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I feel the need to post here because there are a couple posters who think Squad's old resource plan is too complicated. I'm a Dwarf Fortress veteran and I think that Squad's old plan is adorably simplistic. I would be utterly delighted to see a much more complicated ISRU mod. I would respectfully ask that you guys who'd prefer a simpler system don't try too hard to talk this guy out of making the mod of my dreams

CHAPTER 51 IMPACT *** 6 DAYS LATER BILL: …liftoff. Apoapsis at 25,628 meters, 3 minutes to the circularization burn. Everything's looking good. GENANAND: :sigh: BILL: Already missing the asteroid, doc? GENANAND: Yes. Every one of them – Bop, Pol, Gilly – is a window through which we can look into the past, through which we can discover secrets from the very beginning of our solar system. And although formation begun more than 4.6 billion years ago and all the celestial bodies were created during this ancient period, only these planetesimal give us such opportunity. Planets were transformed during Late Heavy Bombardment and during the millions of years of geological changes, some of them also shaped by their atmosphere and hydrosphere, like Kerbin or Laythe. That leaves only these asteroids as witnesses of the conditions of the protoplanetary disc, true time capsules, only waiting to be opened. So yes, I'm sad we're leaving so soon. BILL: Yes, it's a shame that after so many months we get only less than a week here. But our supplies aren't unlimited and we're already pushing it – we have only 5 more hours on life support, so we need to rendez-vous with the CHM. GENANAND: Mhm. I wish we have more time. BILL: Well, LAMGMLs are a terrific spacecraft but even they have their limits. Look, I know you would like to stay there forever picking rocks and exploring but- GENANAND: It's alright, Bill. We still have few polar orbits before the rendez-vous, right? Who knows, maybe we will discover something even in these last few hours. BILL: To be honest, I wouldn't count on that – but hey, while there's life there's hope, right? GENANAND: Exactly. BILL: But besides all the science, you know what I miss the most? GENANAND: Hmm, let me guess – beef jerky from “Proteus†supplies? BILL: Yeah, this too. But apart from the food? GENANAND: I don't know, Bill. Go on, enlighten me. BILL: A decent shower. I mean sure, wet sponges from CHM are great and hell, after a week in LAMGML it would be a great to use them, really. But... GENANAND: What was that? BILL: Hmm? What? GENANAND: This alarm just went off, for a second or so. BILL: This one? This little lamp? GENANAND: Yes, this with PRXM letters near to it. BILL: Oh, it's nothing than. It's the proximity alert. GENANAND: Hmm. Unless there are some tiny rocks orbiting Bop. BILL: What? Asteroid's mun? Is it even possible? GENANAND: Bop is too small to capture anything with its small gravity well but a debris ejected after impact could in theory get into elliptical orbit. Let's check this, shall we? BILL: Sure, why not. I'll use the radar to try to find it. I think though that you shouldn't get your hopes up too high, doc – if it's really some tiny mun, we would've detected it by now. It's probably just another glitch in the software. GENANAND: Perhaps. But nobody will come here for a long time, so it's worth a shot. How's this radar? BILL: Gimme a sec... there. Radar activated. GENANAND: Hmm. Could this be it? BILL: I don't think so, it- oh, dammit. GENANAND: What? BILL: Just look here – you see this dot? If the readings were true, this rock would be much bigger than LAMGML but much less dense. GENANAND: Giant snowball, hmm? It's rather improbable. BILL: Yeah. And look at its velocity, way too slow to be near periapsis while in elliptical orbit. GENANAND: Oh, right. BILL: Well, we tried at least. Sorry doc, it seems that its the equipment again. I swear to Kod, this malfunctions are getting more and more irritating. Good it's just the radar, imagine what would happen if it was RCS and we were in the middle of docking procedure. We really need to- GENANAND: Look! Bill, look at it! BILL: Huh? GENANAND: It's changed its orbital velocity! BILL: What? No way. GENANAND: And look at its trajectory! BILL: What the- But it's impossible, no rock can just stop and turn around. It must be a glitch, doc. GENANAND: Give me the external camera, I'll get a visual on it. BILL: Why would – proximity alert?! GENANAND: Double malfunction?! BILL: It's – it's moving in our direction? But it's impossible! GENANAND: Crap, I don't see anything – roll the ship, Bill! BILL: Oh frak! GENANAND: Bill? Roll the- BILL: Forget about it, it's on a collision course! Prepare for the emergency evasive maneuver! GENANAND: Collision?! BILL: Engines ignition on my mark – mark! We're changing the- uh! GENANAND: Argh! Did we hit it?! BILL: Frak! Short circuit! Kod damn it, I've lost control! Sparks are everywhere, I can't – fire! GENANAND: Bill, the engines are still- BILL: Forget about it, give me the damn fire extinguisher! GENANAND: But we're loosing altitude! BILL: Shut up and give it to, it's behind you! GENANAND: Where?! BILL: Just behind you, doc! GENANAND: I can't see, the flickering lights and smoke- BILL: Just unbuckle the safety belt and reach for it, for the love of Kod! GENANAND: I'm trying but - Bill, look! BILL: Holy frak! Prepare for impact! Landing gear extended! Doc, fasten your- *** NED: BERTY, we're ready. You may prepare the observation module for the separation. BERTY v.2.0.8b: Yes, chief Ned. NED: I have to admit, I'm really glad you are here, Jeb. JEB: Mhm. NED: I'm serious. Too long you've been isolating yourself from the rest of us and behaving, well, uhm... kinda erratic. JEB: Indeed? NED: Yes. I know that not everyone shares my view but I'm really glad you're back. What happened, happened and there's no need to focus on that. I mean this whole voting business and you forcing everyone to get to Jool. JEB: I know. You're not very subtle about it, you know. NED: I was never a smooth-talking type, if you know what I mean. In engineering there are no euphemisms, it either work or it don't. JEB: You're an expert in nuclear propulsion. NED: Well, these are subtle systems and they do require sophisticated approach, but unlike people machines accept only honesty. JEB: I'm sure they do... NED: Go on, BERTY. Anyways – it's good to see you coming back into shape. BERTY v.2.0.8b: Yes, chief Ned. Separation in progress. NED: That's what I'm talking about! It was perfect, BERTY, no malfunctions this time. BERTY v.2.0.8b: Thank you, chief Ned. NED: And I was so worried about this. Hell, at least once in a while something can go smoothly and without problems. It seems even our bad luck have its limits – am I right, Jeb? JEB: I guess you do. NED: Come on, the separation was flawless and it seems we wouldn't even have to push the module away from the “Proteusâ€Â. Really, you should relax a little bit and enjoy the EVA – you've been confined in this ship for too long. When was the last time you were outside anyways? JEB: Duna. NED: Oh, right. Crap. How's your leg doing? JEB: Great, as long as I don't need to use it. NED: :sigh: We're done here, BERTY – we're moving to the heatshield for a visual inspection. And that's the other thing I don't get, Jeb. He broke your leg and tazed you, why the hell did you let him go? JEB: Well, I didn't really- BERTY v.2.0.8b: Skills of captain Rozer are vital for this mission to succeed, Ned. After the tragic accident on Eve there were no other pilots who could have land on Laythe. Whatever is your personal opinion about other crew members, chief Ned, only the cooperation can lead to the fulfillment of mission goals. Isn't that true, commander? JEB: Yes... yes, it is. NED: Okay, okay, I understand that we need to work as a team. But he's not a part of this team, he never was. And whatever you think about his skills, he won't respect you as the commander, ever. He cares only about the mission and you know it. Don't you agree with me, Jeb? JEB: Actually- BERTY v.2.0.8b: Commander's decision was well thought through and reasonable. The good of the mission demands- NED: Yes? Demands what? NED: Err, BERTY? Are you there? BERTY v.2.0.8b: Attention. Abort the extravehicular activity and return to the ship immediately. Mission endangered. NED: What?! JEB: Endangered? BERTY v.2.0.8b: Attention. All crew members on board “Proteus†need to abort current activities and go to their quarters. Jeb. Ned. Please return to the ship immediately. Commander, your presence is required in the command module as soon as possible. NED: But we didn't check the heatshield! JEB: What the hell is going on, BERTY? BERTY v.2.0.8b: There was an accident. *** Uhh... My head... BILL: Genanand, where :coughs: Blood. Frak. It ain't good – I may have broken ribs. Or worse. BILL: Doc, are you :coughs: Think, old man. There is no smoke inside the capsule, so the hull must've been punctured. If – oh my Kod. Did he fall out through this hole? Sweet Lord, the pod is almost broken in half! BILL: :coughs: We must've crashed. I have to get out of here. Come on, old man, unbuckle the safety belts and crawl out of here. BILL: Uhh! Oh frak me, it hurts like hell! BILL: Argh! There we go. Now get on your feet and – holy crap... Dear Kod. We ain't flying anywhere with this bird. BILL: Doc! Can you hear me? I need to find him quickly if we are to use EMU to get in orbit. The gravity is small enough for us to make it and than from the CHM we could call for help. BILL: Doc! :coughs: Do you copy? He ain't here. My Kod, where is he? Concentrate, idiot – he's in a spacesuit made of a reflective material. He'll glitter like a Christmas tree in this darkness. Where are you, doc? I ain't leaving without you. Think, Billâ€Â: if he fell out during the impact, he should be – there! BILL: Doc! Do you copy? Is that him? He's so far away! Crap, I need to use the jetpack. Is it still working? BILL: Frak! :coughs: Iis it dead? Restart, koddamit! EMU: EXTRAVEHICULAR MOBILITY UNIT RESTART INITIATED. Yes! EMU: MONOPROPELLANT LEVEL 8,5 %. OXIUM LEVEL 2,24%. LIFE SUPPORT NOMINAL. COOLING SYSTEM NOMINAL. PRESSURE 0.935 ATMOSPHERE AND FALLING. WARNING. OXIUM LEVEL CRITICAL. PLEASE RETURN TO THE SHIP IMMEDIATELY. No! Oh Kod, no! It must've been punctured too. BILL: Doc! Can you hear me?! :coughs: Maybe he have more monopropellant to get us into the orbit. I need to get to him right now! I still have enough monopropellant for one jump – it should do it but with those broken ribs... Crap, it's not like I have a choice! BILL: I'm coming to you, doc! Come on, work! EMU: MONOPROPELLANT LEVEL 4,5 %. WARNING. OXIUM LEVEL CRITICAL. PLEASE RETURN TO THE SHIP IMMEDIATELY. MONOPROPELLANT LEVEL 3 %. It's him! Concentrate, you need to land first. BILL: Uhh! EMU: MONOPROPELLANT LEVEL 0,5 %. WARNING. OXIUM LEVEL CRITICAL. PLEASE RETURN TO THE SHIP IMMEDIATELY. BILL: Doc! :coughs: Doc! Come on, don't you – oh my Kod... BILL: Genanand! Sweet Lord, Genanand... At least with the holes that big depressurization didn't – no, don't think about it. Check his EMU, maybe he still have some oxium or monopropellant left. Dear Kod, doc... Frak, it's punctured too! Crap, crap, crap! I don't have enough monoprop even for one jump – how am I supposed to get into orbit? EMU: OXIUM LEVEL 1,89%. PRESSURE 0.879 ATMOSPHERE. WARNING. OXIUM LEVEL CRITICAL. PLEASE RETURN TO THE SHIP IMMEDIATELY. Think, Bill, think! Your spacesuit is punctured somewhere, you have oxium for just a couple of minutes, you don't have enough delta-V to get into orbit, the lander has crashed and Genanand... Frak, frak! There must be something I can do! There's always something! Maybe if I salvage the LAMGML I'll be able to – wait, how much time do I have? Is it possible at all to even get to the lander? With broken ribs and no monopropellant left I would have to take a long walk and I don't feel like – no. No. Face it, old man. This is it. BILL: This is it... My Kod, this is really it. I'm going to die. I'm going to die... EMU: OXIUM LEVEL 1,48%. PRESSURE 0.854 ATMOSPHERE. WARNING. OXIUM LEVEL CRITICAL. PLEASE RETURN TO THE SHIP IMMEDIATELY. No. Concentrate – you still can make it count. Every flag is also a small RTG powered radio beacon. Let's move. There. At least they'll know when to find ours... us. BILL: :coughs: Ugh! Frakking ribs. But not for long. Where's Jool? There it is. Good Kod, it's so beautiful. I wish I could see Laythe or Tylo. I wish I could tell them something. Damn, I'll never see Kerbin again. Frak Kerbin, I'll never see the Sun. Is that how it's going end, in the darkness, lonely? UNKNOWN: You're not alone, Bill. BILL: What the hell? :coughs: Who said that? UNKNOWN: Don't you recognize your own father? BILL: Pa...? But – but you died in a car accident, decades ago! BILL'S FATHER: Does it matter? BILL: Does it matter? :heavy breathing: What are you doing here?! BOB: Isn't that obvious? BILL: Bob?! BOB: Your brain is deprived from the adequate oxium supply. Your heart is beating slower and slower, your organs are slowly failing one by one. The truth is you are dying, Bill. BILL: But why - :heavy breathing: - why you? BOB: Survivor's guilt? Old friendship? You tell me, I'm just a projection created by your mind. But I'm sure about one thing – nobody wants to die alone. BILL: No! :gasps: Shut up! Get out! EMU: OXIUM LEVEL 1,02%. PRESSURE 0.823 ATMOSPHERE. WARNING. OXIUM LEVEL CRITICAL. PLEASE RETURN TO THE SHIP IMMEDIATELY. Concentrate, concentrate! Calm down and breath slowly, you can't – oh, what am I doing?! Fighting for these few more seconds like they matter? I should just – what's this? Another part of the wreckage? So far away? BILL: Uhh! BOB: Why, Bill? Why all this struggle? And for what, to spent last minute of your life looking at what's left of the lander? It's pointless. BILL: Shut up. :heavy breathing: EMU: OXIUM LEVEL 0,53%. PRESSURE 0.814 ATMOSPHERE. WARNING. OXIUM LEVEL CRITICAL. PLEASE RETURN TO THE SHIP IMMEDIATELY. BOB: It'll be a long walk, my friend. And you know what awaits you at the end of it. BILL: :heavy breathing: Frak, is it a part of the lander at all? I can't see very well in this darkness. BOB: It's not the darkness, Bill. It's asphyxiation. BILL: Leave - :heavy breathing: - me alone. I can't feel my hands. My ribs are on fire, I can't – no, don't give up now. Never give up. BOB: It's pointless, Bill. BILL: :heavy breathing: It's not the LAMGML and it's not a rock. What the hell is it? BOB: It's your imagination, Bill. EMU: OXIUM LEVEL 0,12%. PRESSURE 0.810 ATMOSPHERE. WARNING. OXIUM LEVEL CRITICAL. PLEASE RETURN TO THE SHIP IMMEDIATELY. BILL: :heavy breathing: It looks like – dear Kod... It can't be true. It's impossible. My Kod, it's – it's... BOB: It's the end, Bill. On the edge of the Solar System, in the shadow between light and darkness. I... EMU: CRITICAL WARNING. OXIUM DEPLETED. CRITICAL WARNING. OXIUM DEPLETED. BILL: :choking: So this is it. The last moment. Funny, I always thought what they say about your life flashing before your eyes was true. Or at least that part with the bright light. BILL: :choking: I can't see it. No light. Where's the light? Where's the- BILL: Ugh! :choking: No. Not on my knees. Stand up. Stand up. Don't give up now. Never give up. Never... *** JEB: What' the hell is going on?! Why everyone had to go to the hab modules? Why did you want me here? BERTY v.2.0.8b: Emergency procedure is in progress. Crew must be protected at all cost. Otherwise mission failure is imminent. JEB: Failure? Why? Tell me, koddamit! BERTY v.2.0.8b: LAMGML “Beta†was critically damaged while in orbit above Bop. All contact with the vessel and its crew was lost since the accident which occurred 29 minutes ago. JEB: “Betaâ€Â? But... Bill! Oh my Kod, Bill! And Genanand! We need to rescue them! Patch me to Dan, the other LAMGML have to- BERTY v.2.0.8b: Jeb. All contact with crew was lost. The LAMGML “Beta†was heavily damaged or destroyed. The supply of oxium- JEB: No! They may still be alive! We need to send a rescue team, now! Dan can- BERTY v.2.0.8b: By the time either “Proteus†or LAMGML “Alfa†get to Bop orbit, the personal supplies of oxium will be depleted for both crew members of the LAMGML “Betaâ€Â. There is no doubt about that. JEB: No, koddamn you! We need to save them! I need to save them! Calculate the transfer to Bop, we have to- BERTY v.2.0.8b: Attention. Incoming transmission. Alfa-class priority. JEB: Distress signal? From Bill?! BERTY v.2.0.8b: From Duna Laboratory Module. JEB: Duna...? But how- BERTY v.2.0.8b: Jeb. I think it's about time we talk about the real goals of this mission. *** MISSION STATUS ***

My favorite DS9 episode would have to be "Trials and Tribble-ations" where the main characters travel back in time to the TOS "The Trouble With Tribbles" episode. I'll never forget the moment when Dax looks at the cabbage-headed Worf, and then at his smooth-headed forebears from the TOS episode, and asks, "What happened?" Whereupon Worf says (with great embarrassment) "We don't talk about it."

One of the three would, but this is just proof-of-concept graphics. The point is, there's whole range of parameters with which if you enter the Mun SOI, you will exit it with the same parameters. And you just need to pick those which allow you to pass above surface and allow another intercept with the same parameters in an orbit of a few. It's about doing the math. I can point out there are potential solutions and how do they look like, but I am not willing to do the math because as I wrote above, the thing is cool to talk about but totally impractical to implement.

This is one of things which sound really cool when you talk about them, but are extremely impractical to have. I think it might be possible to calculate a set of two orbits around Kerbin which intersect Mun's trajectory and each Mun encounter switches the ship from one orbit to the other. It's just not something obvious - you need to take appropriate equations and start crunching numbers. But even if you find such orbits, they're definitely going to be unstable, meaning any deviation from ideal position and timing will cause the next encounter to deviate even more. Regardless whether in physics mode or on rails, the ship would deviate from ideal orbit gradually more and more without proper upkeep. Edit: here you have three more ideas which involve putting the ship on the same orbit around Kerbin each pass, but with phase shift. Of course I did not do the math but I'm pretty sure there are enough free parameters to allow a solution.

VKM Two landing A roar of thunder and VKM shook and vibrated it's way into the sky. Over the airwaves you could hear Jeb laughing like a maniac. "I love this thing!" he yelled as the boosters rammed the ungainly construction into the sky. "Talk about unstreamlined! How much wasted acceleration is there due to drag again?" "VKM Two, er, I have no clue." Bill said. From the sound of it he was rustling paper. "I think you're good to go. Oh, thanks Milton. Hey Jeb, you met Milton yet? Once Caldin's done he's gonna take over on Telemetry on the day shift." "Yes Bill, I've met Milton. So, how's the flight so far? Have I blown anything up yet?" Bill made a half-hearted laugh as Jeb jettisoned the boosters and ramped up the second stage engines. They'd gone with liquid boosters for the launch stage this time, though Jeb could have sworn the things were just as loud as the trash can boosters! "Heh, er, yeah... I mean no. No, nothing as exploded whatsoever! Look just keep it... Oh, gravity turn Jeb!" Jeb just chuckled and carried on with the maneouver he was already planning. Bill was funny! *** "Ah baby, nice to see you again." Jeb said, hand on the window that showed the Mun approaching. "You doing anything tonight?" "Uh, Jeb? You know you're live right?" Bill's voice came over the speaker and Jeb attempted to keep his face straight. "What Bill, you spying on us? You have a double date with Minmus or something?" There was an awkward pause from Mission Control and Jeb sighed. "I guess not huh? Flight, I'm getting ready for my orbital insertion burn. Get Milton to pipe up the burn data, OK?" "Uh, Roger VKM Two. Where's the switch on this darned thi...*click*" Jeb put his hands behind his helmet and waited for the data to stream in. Milton was a pretty good egg, and he was happy with him as replacement for Caldin. Not as cheerful as Caldin, little glum on occasion, but very competent. From what Jeb heard Caldin's 'Space Camp' course was pretty much done and he was going through the final testing. He'd have to put a word in later for the guy. Caldin really wanted into the program. Huh, maybe he'd get in on the Munbase project? His scientific expertise might help in surface analysis. Heck, him and Seanbur could do double duty as geologists or something. Finally the burn data started filling Jeb's screen and he focused on that. Pretty standard burn and he got prepped for his landing. Of course they were sending him down to the Alpha site again. Plenty of Kethane there and the more data they got on the area before the Base got there the better. "Flight, I'm ready for orbit insertion burn in... four minutes. Warming up the engine." *** Again Jeb was screaming down across the Munar surface, waiting for the suicide burn timer to get close to zero. "Nineteen kilometers and dropping Flight. Speed is five eight zero. I have the transponder for the Alpha site and VKM One on my sensors. Looking good for landing so far." "Roger VKM Two. Keep it steady man!" Shaking his head Jeb steadied his craft as he soared in. Right now the engines were still cold, and it did feel odd knowing you were on a crash trajectory. Rather exhilarating actually! He was coming in hard, given his thrust to weight ratio, so it was less than a minute later when he hit the thrust and weight pressed into his back again. "On track, drifted a little. I'm going to put down about eight kilometers away first then hop over to the Alpha site. Maybe check out VKM One too." "Jeb? I mean, VKM Two?" Bill's voice crackled in the capsule. "Priority is the mining test. Get yourself refueled, OK? We don't want to have to send someone to rescue you too!" Jeb looked as his fuel gauge and silently whistled. Yeah, maybe he hadn't done the most efficient transfer after all. He was nearly on fumes! "Hey, no troubles. I got this. Besides, I double checked everything. The converter will work." He clicked off his mike for a second while he mouthed 'I hope'. Two kilometer, one and a half. The altitude dropped and his thrust pounded at him. At two hundred meters he let off a little and corrected his drift... then looked over at the Kethane map. "Er, Flight. You know that re-entry burn put me a few kilometers off course? I think I'm off the edge of the Kethane field." There was an awkward silence from Mission Control. "Hey, don't worry!" Jeb put in quickly. "I got enough fuel to hop over." he said, tapping his very low fuel gauge. "I'm not far off. It'll be fine. Oh, nearly down. Hang on." He adjusted the engine's gimbals and settled slowly, the legs finally touching regolith with a slight bump. "VKM Two is down. Um, I'll double check the Kethane." Jeb said, engaging one of the Mining units. Motors whined, hydraulics hissed, and the pod hinged open, the drilling rig extending down to the surface. The sensors read the back pressure on the drill head and it ground down to the required depth... and no Kethane. "Bad news Flight. I got no Kethane." Jeb quickly continued before Bill could get too down. "Don't worry, a quick hop over closer to the Alpha site and I'll be fine. I'll be mining in a jiff!" "I hope so Jeb, I hope so. I don't want to have to send Bob up after you, or worse Jedwig!" Jeb shivered. "Er, no Flight. I'm good." Yeah, no problem... sure... He hoped.

PDCWolf, you've got a lot of frustration in your posts and I think most of that comes from you being ill informed about features. It's like your points in your first post in this thread: Resources were shelved because they weren't fun(by the dev's standards) in their working version. Inside VAB information was never an announced feature. In the article, were you got your quote from, they talk about deciding if they wanted it or not and not about announcing it one time and scrapping it the next. Procedural solar system were mention on last Kerbalcon. They said they won't add it(and never announced it as a feature) because they want the experience for every player to be the same. Their idea behind it is that sharing your mission experience is a lot more enjoyable/recognizable if you have the same solar system instead of some random one which others might not care about. Work on Career mode only started in the previous update and it's hardly finished, so expect the upcoming updates to be mostly about career mode. Multiplayer, and someone correct me if I'm wrong, will be added after they finish scope of the game and not in the next update.

For a sec, I thought you were going to talk about the order of Kerbal rule, and hierarchy.

Greetings, I've been addicted to KSP since April (version 0.18) and was introduced to it by a friend who had been playing the demo. I've always dreamed of a game like KSP ever since I played a very basic rocket sim at the Smithsonian when I was a kid. So of course it didn't take long for me to buy the game. Until now I was more of a forum-reader than a poster, but I finally decided I should put in my 2-cents. Talk to you soon!

Hello there! 0.23 came, and with it the awesome RAPIER engine. Time to get some SSTOs going! I went for elegance and utilitarianism on this one: It is not only beautiful, but it actually does something useful! It carries with it up to 12mT of payload in a bay that is very accessible and spacious. In fact, to show this usefulness while I was testing the hell out of it, I went ahead and designed a bundle of subassemblies (included) to assemble a deep-space vessel/station with modular parts, and we will talk more about those a bit further down. I even documented it quite extensively, check out the imgur album for a somewhat chronological graphical account. Plenty of MMU action in there, since I designed the payloads without any kind of control to save on parts, and just a couple of docking ports to grab it with MMU's for assembly: I think I get points for "NASA style"! Now some juicy details, because I'm proud at how well this all worked out: it's simple, it's elegant, and it performs brilliantly. The traditional wing+tail arrangement gives it very good handling characteristics, and a low wing loading means it is an excellent glider, maintaining the agility of much smaller crafts. Combined with the clearance the raised tail gives you, it's very easy to take off and land, and flying it is a dream. The new ASAS doesn't always stick perfectly, but after a few tries I can usually lock >45º pitch headings with ease at all altitudes, and land her almost on a pin's head (I usually stop on the runway before the third perpendicular dotted line). The fuel is a bit on the tight side, though, with the maximum payload: make sure you airhog below 30kms as much as you can before letting the RAPIERS transition to rocket power! That happens a bit after 30kms always, and by then you should aim to have >1600m/s speed, with a healthy vertical component (but RAPIERS give it such an awesome T/W on rocket power, you don't have to worry too much about that last one). Also, the part count is about 150 without payload, so pretty good on that front for potato computers. Some more interesting details on the payloads... See the little docking ports along the spine of the brodsword? That's because the payloads are only supported by a double dock, so you can actually put them out and then back in, and return them to the runway without them wobbling to death or whatever. That means that if you design new ones, you either keep to the distance I use on one of the three different ones, or place anoter yourself (which is a bit tricky which ever way you go about it). You could, of course, add a few struts to forgo all that and be even more rigid, but you would lose the really nice feature: the Broadsword can be really reused! The second file here is called "Broadsword support crawler" for a reason: it can reload and refuel a parked Broadsword. Aweosme right? Well, it's actually not the most practical thing, but I recommend trying it at least once because it's really cool. And I bet someone finds a reason to modify the crawler and put it on top of a rocket so you can load modules on Laythe or something. The payloads are also really part-limited, so the resulting space station/deep space vessel is also quite light, while still fulfilling pretty much any role you want from it, form fuel depot to crew transfer station and orbital laboratory, complete with full science suite. You could also use the skeleton of the one with the nuke to place other smaller components, or you know, whatever you want really, it's a very flexible set of parts... perhaps lacking a good lander in there to fulfil all roles, but hey, I've got to leave something to the imagination, don't I? Also note that while the payload capacity of the Broadsword is only around 10-15mT, one of those payloads is a humongous orange tank. Obviously, it's not full, and in fact it is there as a yardstick so you can see what the maximum payload is (and length, with that inside, you have to use the drop at the end of the runway to pull up without scraping the runway with the payload). You are actually have to move some liquid fuel to the front of the ship, since the climb takes so long! But it will still manage 1,600m/s in the end, and make orbit just fine with excess liquid fuel on the red tank and not having touched the oxidizer in there. The rest of the payloads, it takes to orbits with ease without touching their fuel supply. Have fun running a reusable space program! IMGUR ALBUM: (Full example space station assembly) DOWNLOADS: Broadsword Mk II SSTO shuttle Broadsword Support Crawler (Includes all the example payloads attached to the back, remove the ones you won't use before launching) Rune. Like to LEGO in spaaace?

Yes, money, contract, reputation will be added in the near future. If you want to read something here is PCGamer that went to Squad and talk about.

Yeah, I've seen talk of not only a budget/money mechanic, but also a reputation mechanic.

I dont really know how to govern various pods and living modules influence on kerbal sanity because there are many options. Distanmce from kerbin, size of crew, comfort of command pods and size nd number of living modules, time of mission.. But i have some ideas what shoudl mmomentary boost their mood: - Various tasks that brake their boredoom. Eva in space (smallest gain), arriving in SOL of other planet, landing, driving rover (largest gain). - Landing on Laythe or Duna gives especially large boost because these are earth like. - If no kerbal (in this savegame) landed on some planet/moon before, doing it gives strong "exploler" moorale bust. - Docking with another ship and meeting with kerbal that wasnt on board before. This is to prevent just undocking part of the ship and redocking right away to boost morale in cheat way. - Death of one of the crew members. This woudl of course decrease morale. Also, communiation equipment. These parts coudl boost morale in similar way that living modules do. SImpliest antennas allow to talk to mission control, mmore sophistiated allow video-chats, downloading mmovies and games fromm kerbal-net. Farther from kerbin ship is, more power antennas drain.

So, I have some ideas that i would like to share with everyone! First of all, 0.65m Reaction wheels. I really enjoy making space probes, and sometimes they are a bit heavy, and the tiny torque from the control capsules (or whatever they are called) is not enough. Now a suggestion not only for the game. I think Squad should create topics for we to vote or talk about things they create. For example, they surely had parts that were half developed and left aside because they weren't good enough or just didn't fit. If the players could give their opinions on those parts it would be nice.

The only other one I see is mostly filled with "I made my launch stage in a really weird and not very functional way", where as this is more about how someone designed a mission itself. Seems rather valid to talk about two different kinds of complexity. My planet missions tend to be more complex than they really should be. Usually relying on building small stations in orbit that then get transferred into orbit of another planet, and generally are planned to have multiple ships follow for resupply, and for no real good reason either other than the smaller crafts are easier to get up to orbit, and that I kind of like docking.

Why did you conclude it was cheap and reliable? Even the Soyuz is about twice as cheap, and has displayed more successful flights with less failures. However, the Space Shuttle had one unique capability: The ability to bring large cargo back to earth in the cargohold. That's just the launch vehicle, so excluding crew capsule. I think you are too pessimistic (although you may say realistic) about SpaceX's future endeavours. -The dragon capsule has achieved several milestones in NASA's Commercial Crew Development Program. -The Falcon Heavy is for the most part identical to the Falcon 9 hardware, which exists and has been proven. -The Falcon Heavy has three upcoming missions on the manifest. It'd be a bit odd to sell a rocket they can't build. -All of the hurdles for reusability have been demonstrated to be passed. Upper atmosphere retroburn and reentry has been successfully executed on the CASSIOPE flight and landing on the surface has been demonstrated with grasshopper. They will try to execute the complete maneuver on next ISS resupply mission in early 2014. I wrote my post mainly because there was talk about launch vehicles in the thread. It indeed does not apply to the Soyuz spacecraft. However, the Soyuz spacecraft is old. Even though improved and updated over the years, sometimes it is best to start over from scratch, with 21st century materials and construction techniques. This is the main reason for the Falcon's success, and if SpaceX manages to apply this reputation to the Dragon spacecraft the Soyuz can retire. Aside from Dragon there are more next-gen crew vehicles in development, like Boeings CST-100 and perhaps the SLS. In overall design, the Soyuz has an orbital module AND a descent module, instead of just having one capsule. (+ service module) Next-gen capsules which do not have that extra module will be lighter, carry more crew and cargo, while being cheaper and more reliable.

Lot of angry peeps on this thread. It's just a game folks, it'll be ready when it's ready. Go for a walk and get some fresh air. As for the OP, it's difficult to know how much of the devs' time is productive (assuming you measure productivity in lines of code). You could try asking Harvester I suppose, he might be happy to talk about team management nitty-gritty like that. Not much point in asking anybody that didn't work for Squad though, it'd just be pure speculation.

People That Talk Like This Are Hard To Understand. Well, go search "universe replacer", and follow the instructions on the thread. It's on the fourm, and you can download replacements for EVA suits, the Skybox, and even planets and moons.

I have read zero literature on the Oberth Effect (that's going to be the name of my next metal band, by the way), but the way I understand it is this: An orbit is just a free-fall, with a lateral velocity that allows the earth to fall away at least as quickly as the vessel falls toward it. When you pass your apoapsis, you begin falling into the planet's gravity well, with the acceleration due to gravity in a vacuum. When you pass your pereapsis, however, you begin fighting against the planet's gravity well and lose speed on the way up, until you hit the Ap again and begin "falling." (Let me know if this is poorly-communicated, and I'll edit it to make more sense.) You've seen people talk about "delta-v." What you need to know is that "delta" means change, and v = velocity. The delta-v of a burn is merely how much speed you have to add to reach a desired orbit. The farther you want to go, the more delta-v you need. The reason why it's more efficient to do this at your Pe is because you've already spent so much time falling in towards the planet, so your baseline velocity is higher, meaning less delta-v is required. I'll try to explain with math, but I'm not that good with numbers. For those that are good with math, don't laugh at my ridiculously simplified explanation. You want to reach a hypothetical orbit that requires a speed of 4,000 m/s. Your initial orbit is oblong. At your apoapsis, after fighting gravity for so long, your velocity is 800 m/s. 4000 - 800 = 3200 delta-v At your periapsis, however, you've been falling freely for a while, so your velocity is 2,000 m/s. 4000 - 2000 = 2000 delta-v On any given engine, lower delta-v required means less fuel burned.

As an actual plant biologist I think I can help out. I sent you a PM and we can talk details. In general would would be great is to somehow tie in the biological processes with the biological mass. So, for example, more units of biomass present would result in more O2 production per unit time. Also, a way to deselect ships, reselect them some time later and have resources calculated would be great. Gug. Someday I will learn not to end drafting a message too early. Right now, Roboto and I are assuming that BioMass is glucose, so we do track sugar, but call it Biomass. Transpiration and Respiration are different processes. You can effectively ignore transpiration in my opinion. Respiration always takes place: 1BioMass(C6H12O6)+6(O2)-->6(CO2)+6(H2O) Photosynthesis is 3 to 4x greater than respiration: 1Biomass+6(CO2)+6(H2O)+light-->2Biomass(C6H12O6)+6(O2) The holidays have gotten in the way of me revising things, but the respiration is going to be in line with the calculations you did for TAC-LS. So, 1 unit (kg) of biomass would, for example Respire:0.1795units of biomass+0.04097units of O2 --> 0.1717units of water + 0.0488units of CO2 per 1 human day Photosynthesis would be the opposite reaction and 3.7x greater: 0.6353units of water + 0.1806units of CO2 --> 0.6642units of biomass+0.1516units of O2 Right now I have photosynthesis 3.7x greater than respiration, but in the presence of wasteWater, the rate increases to 4x Dead biomass is what is called Biocake in the science+ version. It's used to make food or fuel in what's on github.

Hey guys! A little while back before the holidays I had a little sit down with InfiniteDice the creator of Boat parts and the ICE mods. In this interview we talk about his plans for the mods, current features, and how things work in a little more detail. One thing I know people will say about the video, the audio never loops but the video footage does. I spent two hours trying to think of a way to not do this and didnt come up with anything... But anyway here it is!

when you consider that your cpu has to wait hundreds of cycles to get data out of ram, then it starts making sense. big thing to get memory latency down. this reduces the number of cycles needed to talk to the ram so the cpu spends less time waiting on data. there are several clever tricks cpu architecture designers and compilers and programmers can do to speed things up. things like using vectors extensively (its faster to load a block than a single value), predicting what the data will be (by running the op on ever possible value so its result is ready when you get the actual value), optimizing machine code to load data long before operating on it. i actually had a good source for this, but its 404. meh. warning very technical and aimed at programmers but covers complexities of memory access.that said its a slight improvement. when i build a new computer i will spend a day or two just tweaking memory settings to get every scrap of performance out of my ram as possible. but if you do this on an older machine, dont expect a lot.

You don't need to be a banker to tell if the banks are doing well. Until they aren't and go bust or need bale outs. except well you sort of do.The Falkirk wheel doesn't look like it should work or is real but it is. But the I-35W Mississippi River bridge looked fine before it suddenly collapsed. If they were then they would have much less time to be critics. Though I admit there are some.You don't need to be programmer to not like the play style of a game, but you do to talk about the production times. Its fine to complain about the taste of the food, but not about the cake taking more than 5 minutes to cook from scratch. If you are not a cook how can you know it takes longer? You just know you are not happy that it isn't on your plate.

It bothers me how this game was in alpha for three years and it doesn't look even remotely finished,the development is slow. And seriously,don't even talk about that "it's hard to make games,try to make one yourself and then you can complain" stuff. THEY have choosen to be game developers,if they'll don't do their jobs well then we CAN complain. And KSP looks like it's going downhill for few months now. My opinion on this is that most of the stuff for the game are added by users in form of modifications,seriously. New planets,new sound effects,new game mechanics and hundreds of new parts. It's just my opinion. *Bracing for hate in 3,2,1...*

Tre Kerman, brave kerbonaut, steps off the ladder and onto the dusty orange-red soil of Duna. Letting go of the last rung, he turns to face the alien vista. Though he is not alone, he has the honor of being first to make the descent - standing, as it were, in the footsteps of greats like the legendary Jeb Kerman. He opens his mouth to say something appropriate for the occasion... and his phone rings. "Hello? Yeah, it's Tre. Yeah. Yeah. No. Look, I'm kind of busy right now. I'm on Duna. Duna. Next planet out from Kerbin, the red one? Yeah. Yeah, I'm command pilot for the First Duna Expedition. That's what I've been doing for the last two months. That's why I haven't been by to see you. Right. I sound funny 'cause I've got my phone up against my space helmet. No, I can't take it off. There's no air here. Yeah. No... no, I can't pick up your dry-cleaning. 'Cause I'm a couple of million miles away right now. I won't be back for almost a year. That's right. Because that's just how transfer windows work. No, not power windows, transfer... No. Look, I'll get someone at the Space Center to take care of that for you, all right? I have to get back to the mission now. Yes. Yes, I promise. I will. Okay. I'm hanging up now. Goodbye, Saul." With a sigh, he puts the phone away and looks around again, the historic moment now past. "... I guess that's it, then." *** I met Tre Chipman through City of Heroes, a superhero MMORPG. He was best known there for his character Ascendant, "a guy with the powers of Superman and the luck of Peter Parker." His one-sided phone conversations with his less-than-competent agent/manager/uncle Saul were famous on the Virtue server and even got an official nod from the game's devs in a line of NPC dialogue. After eight years, and despite truly heroic efforts on the part of the community to keep it open, CoH was shut down near the end of 2012. Seven months later, there was more bad news: not only had we lost our game, we'd lost one of our own. Taken from us, by a sudden illness, much too young. Tre's writing, both humorous and dramatic, and his overall attitude were an inspiration to me during my years playing CoH. I regret that I didn't know him longer or better. I never knew he had a Twitter, or got to meet and talk with him in person; but I'm informed by those who did that he was as warm and friendly (and clever and funny) in real life as he was in-game. I especially regret not learning until after he was gone that he had started playing KSP. This personal tribute began taking shape within weeks of the announcement. It's taken six months and a couple of versions to get all the pieces in place, to do it right, but I was determined to get it done by year's end. And so, late yesterday (Boxing Day), in my own space program... Tre Kerman finally and officially became the first kerbal on Duna. /e salute TRE CHIPMAN 1969 - 2013