Green vector lines

[Ty Tan Tu]

I know this is probably a stupid newbie question, but what are the green vector lines I am seeing orbiting Kerbin? I just wanted to practice landing at precise places on planets with an atmosphere, so I launched a very simple MK1 command pod to see if I could land it close to the KSC. Now that it is in a low Kerbin orbit, I am seeing these green line vectors pointing down to the surface. Are they some kind of communication vectors? They seem random, pointing to spots in the middle of the oceans at time, My ship is about as basic as you can get, it is a MK1 command pod with a heat shield, parachute and enough fuel to de-orbit me.

What are the green vectors trying to convey to me?

[ForScience6686]

Yes that's communications.   What you are seeing is the connection to the ksc  tracking station.   it does have the ability to track through a bit of  kerbin  which is what I'm guessing you are seeing when it's in  the ocean.

[Ty Tan Tu]

Thanks ForScience6686.

D'oh! I landed a good 200 km short. That is not going to be good enough for Laythe. Back to the drawing board. :-)

[Ty Tan Tu]

This atmosphere stuff is really hard. It is like rocket science or something. :-) OK, I am in orbit again. (At least I am getting more efficient with my gravity turn).The worse part is Laythe is a whole new problem. Once I figure out Kerbin, I am going to have to do it again with Laythe.

[ForScience6686]

Laythe  can be challenging.   You should do a lot of practice on kerbin first to understand the mechanics.   there isn't much dry land there.

[Snark]

On 11/26/2016 at 0:49 PM, Ty Tan Tu said:

Once I figure out Kerbin, I am going to have to do it again with Laythe.

Yep, adjusting to a new planet with new parameters is always a new batch of stuff to practice. 

One really handy tool that got added in 1.2 that may help you in preparing for a mission to Laythe (or anywhere else):  the alt+F12 cheat menu now includes an option that allows you to put a ship into a specified orbit around any celestial body you like.  This is fantastic for testing purposes:

1. save your game
2. launch your Laythe lander
3. cheat it directly into Laythe orbit from the KSC launchpad
4. try landing as much as you like
5. when you're satisfied with how it works, just revert back to your pre-cheat save from step #1, and now you can fly your mission "for real"

It's really handy because it allows you to debug your Laythe landing (both ship design and piloting) before going through the lengthy, laborious process of getting to Laythe in the first place.