Reolos Posted July 7, 2015 Share Posted July 7, 2015 Hi there! I have followed KSP progress on Steam for some time. I missed it in the Summer Sale, but started watching Scott Manly videos about it, and couldn't wait any longer, so here I am, a full price player. 😉I have been playing a career game, because the progression is what most appeals to me. I have attained my first Kerbin orbit, but I feel like it was rather inefficient, and I'd like some advice. My 4 stage rocket has 1.5 twr and 1.35 twr on the first and second stage. I started my gravity turn East at 100 mps, and then fought it over to 45 degrees at around 10-12k. From there, I waited till my apo was 72k, and killed my engine. About 30 seconds from apo, I turned prograde and burned at full to gain orbital velocity. I was able to pull the peri up to about 60k, but at the same time my apo went up to 130k. I needed to make 2 more corrective burns to circularize. Where can I improve? I am using the terrier for my last stage, and have tons of delta V, I also have a 3rd of a tank left upon deorbit. Secondly, strictly from a roleplaying perspective, I'd like to salvage as much of my jettisoned debris as I can. I don't want to put stayputniks on them though, and I don't have the confidence yet to leave my main craft in a deteriorating orbit to maneuver the discards. Are there any mods or workarounds to help me with this?Thanks for a great game and a great community, Squad. You guys rock! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwi1960 Posted July 7, 2015 Share Posted July 7, 2015 Any orbit where your Kerbals (or machine) survives... is a GOOD orbit!said By Jeb Kerman, just now, in my head. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reolos Posted July 7, 2015 Author Share Posted July 7, 2015 I do agree! I just want to be more efficient... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lazaruz76 Posted July 7, 2015 Share Posted July 7, 2015 Stage Recovery is a good mod to have to get all your parts back. It adds a small amount of complexity to your build phase as you will need to add parachutes to anything that will come off your rocket the you wish to save. You will need enough chutes to safely land the debris. Your part count, and cost will of course go up accordingly. On the the up side The mod is a very small plugin and function automatically.You can find the mod here: http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/86677-1-0-2-StageRecovery-Recover-Funds-from-Dropped-Stages-v1-5-6-%285-15-15%29It says it is for 1.0.2 but I think it still works in 1.0.4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
basic.syntax Posted July 7, 2015 Share Posted July 7, 2015 I've faced the Apo overshoot problem, and the phrase "fought it over to 45 degrees" is a clue. You may need more control authority so that it's less work to make a gradual arc toward orbit, with your craft. That comes first from gimballing engines like the LV-T45, from tail fins with control surfaces (yaw/pitch adjustment in flight), if you have those unlocked. And last from reaction wheels, if you have those unlocked. I also like trying for in-physics recovery, the 22km physics range in KSP v1.0 allows for more experiments, but, I find its impractical most of the time. You can lower the parachute deployment altitude and do experiments. I have not used the Stage Recovery Mod, preferring to fight (and sometimes not) with the in-game physics, but you might want to check it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reolos Posted July 7, 2015 Author Share Posted July 7, 2015 Thanks for all the posts guys! I do notice that with SAS I don't have to fight so much to get my angles, but to be honest, I am terrified to turn it off or rely on "F", because I endoed so many of my previous rockets 😠I will give it a try though, I need to trust my design more. I know four stages is overkill. My payload is the one man pod, 2 goos, science Jr, a heat shield, and 3 chutes. Not a big load. I like to keep my twr low, because I don't like fighting with the atmo. The extra stages help with that for me, and I only have 30 pieces to work with at this point...I DIDNT use a gimballing engine, I will next time. I did use 3 of the pretty white triangles for aerodynamics. I had 4, but... 30 parts. I will try the Mod, thanks for the tip. Do they need a CPU on them?Finally, Basic-Syntax, you said you had the apo overshoot problem too. At what point before apo were you firing at prograde? Did that change, or did you just change your design?Thanks again all Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
basic.syntax Posted July 7, 2015 Share Posted July 7, 2015 On the stage recovery mod: that one has quite a bit of stuff to it. I'd stay away from most Mods, until I have the basics down, and boredom is setting in This may help with too much TWR: if you're using SRB's to get started. You can adjust their thrust output in the VAB (right-click to set.) When I have SAS modules on a craft, I tend to leave them on. Later on, when you are docking craft at odd angles to each other, SAS on the connected craft can cause wobble and unplanned disassembly, that's when I turn it off and use F sporadically, just to get things to settle down. (If you want to dock a third thing, or go EVA.)On a 30 part craft, the gimbal control range may be too much, leading to a twitchy over-control problem. You may not even need fins. You can set the percentage of gimbal range in the VAB by right-click, if that is a problem. As to your specific question about what I did - I pretty much explained it. When I have this "problem" it's usually because I'm going too fast in a straight-up direction, and wish I had slowed down or had more control, so I could have gone sideways a bit earlier in the process. If you didn't have a gimbal engine before, that will make a big difference. An optimal ascent is a curve toward Apo orbit, that can begin (very slowly) a few hundred meters above the launchpad. Check out this fairly short post, and this other longer post, for some more detailed rocket basics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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