New to KSP and need help

[Synergy25]

I'm new to KSP and I need some help. I started career mode and I can complete the basic tasks/missions such as reach x amount of speed and go x amount of distance away. After completing these I have to fly to x point or take someone into orbit. I don't have the parts to build anything that can do these tasks/missions and I don't know how to get any more science since I can't complete these.  Any advice?  Thanks to all that can help. 

[katateochi]

post some pics of the craft you're attempting with and we can probably give some pointers. 
If you've got even just a bit of science to unlock some tech nodes you'll be able to reach orbit, or at least do a sub-orbital flight.  Without knowing what your attempting to build I don't know what pointers to give, but probably the best tip is that less is more; You don't need a lot of rocket to reach orbit.
Just as food for thought, have a look at this vid;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIR1m7bEpRA

What's he's doing in that vid is pretty skilled (single stage to orbit rocket on first launch), but what it shows is that you don't need that much to reach orbit, and it shows a good ascent profile.  If you've got a decoupler unlocked then you could split that sort of sized craft into a couple of stages which would be easier.

If you're really strapped for science, you can get enough to unlock some of the early tier nodes by taking science readings around the different buildings at KSC, bit boring but might give you just enough to get something else unlocked. 

[RX2000]

You can easily do suborbital with just the tiny SRB you start out with.

Are you taking the contracts? Do them as they are given & that gets you more science also.

Also, as mentioned above, you can create a small science "car" & roll around the KSC getting quite a bit of science early on.

[TheKosmonaut]

Friendly neighborhood moderator dropping in, I'm moving this thread to "Gameplay Questions". 

[bewing]

There are a lot of insider tricks to getting some extra science points at the beginning of the game. Taking an EVA report while jumping, for example. Knowing where to find the 14 biomes at the KSC campus. Knowing where the other 4 "natural" biomes within walking distance of KSC are. Getting some practice at driving a plane/kar into the water and back out again. The one location on the planet where you can gather science from 9 more natural biomes in one place.

Basically, at the beginning of the game you have a choice between two paths -- take the rockets and get into space ASAP with the lowest tech you can, or stay on Kerbin and click a lot of buttons to collect some science 3 points at a time. If you are going to stay on Kerbin for a few days, then you need to research scientific instruments and airplane parts -- and then start flying around a bit. But flying takes a lot of gametime. People who only have an hour or two a week probably shouldn't try playing it that way.

 

[DD_bwest]

use the goo cans you get at the start to your advantage,  with the basic tech you can get 4 from 1 launch.  basically, it helps to know HOW to get science

science experiments, crew reports, and EVA reports are some of your main ways to get science, and your able to write a new report for every biome.  if you want to do them on the same mission, remove the data and store it in a pod.

once you get the thermometer, place 2 on your next ship and use them for whatever biomes you hit on the next mission.

every time you are about to launch a mission, plan where you are going exactly, and what biomes you are likely to hit.   you can use the science archives to see what you have done in them already, and plan accordingly to make sure you can get them done.

once you are able to get into orbit,  a standard 0 dregree inclination orbit will hit 6 biomes that you are able to get EVA reports for.

also with the starting tech, if you mount a SRB ontop of a SRB, and fire the one ontop after the one below is done,  the exhaust will destroy the one below in short order and youll be able to reach even greater heights lol

[Synergy25]

Thanks for the replies. I'll post my rocket with part numbers and also the contracts I have available. Thanks again! 

[Plusck]

When you start, there are three science reports you can do: goo cannister, crew report (from inside the command pod), and EVA when landed.

If you take the science from a goo cannister, you can't reuse it (unless you're a scientist, but then you can't operate the flight controls). Goo cannisters also have weight as separate parts, so they need to be perfectly balanced. So you always take two.

If you can EVA, you can remove the crew report from the command pod, then store it back in the pod, get back in, and do another crew report. Every landing should be made to count - so go west too, get out once landed, remove and store experiments from/to the command pod (as mentioned above) and do an EVA report and another crew report on the ground.

With just those three "experiments", you can get quite a lot of science in the first two or three flights if you head in different directions - which allows you to unlock at least one more experiment and the basic rocketry stuff that can get you suborbital. You really don't need to go running around on the ground at KSC getting fractions of science points (but you might enjoy that... to each his own).

 

After that it's more a question of rocket design than scrounging for science. The best I can suggest is to take it easy: add a little to your rocket and see how much further it can get you. Don't try to add too much at once: less is often more. Do try to make the absolute cheapest heap go as far as possible, especially for tourists, but don't scrimp on the lightweight science experiments ever - you never know when you might land in a new biome, and you'll kick yourself if you forgot to bring a thermometer.