0.16 and beyond

[Resender]

Hello all, I\'m starting this new topic since I\'m also starting fresh out in 0.16.

Haven\'t succeeded in getting the 3 kerbonaut pod into orbit, so atm I\'m trying the single kerbonaut pod

My latest rocket Farscape B

The top half on test run in Kerbin orbit, this will later be the lander

The lifter, strange that it\'s sticking togheter

Farscape B was based on Farscape VI, I was making, but that rocket kept keeping massive lag during liftof and the dials were completely messed up so I kept missing orbit, anybody else having problems with he new solid boosters.

[Resender]

OK the following are from the failed Farscape B II, mission, it failed to get into orbit.

Farscape B II in the VAB

During liftoff

Orbital burn

Lander trying to get orbit burb

Conclusion, we need more power or more fuel for orbit burn, and hence more power during liftoff

[Aphox]

That thing looks like it was built by Mun-kerbals to blow up the sun.

You should do that.

Also, as far as I\'ve learned, more power needs more fuel needs more power to push more fuel needs more power etc.

It\'s a cynical process. It took me about a week of learning this game to get to the Mun. So far I\'ve made it to Minmus once, but with a craft I didn\'t build.

My advice? Try the giant new parts. Also that much RCS is unnecessary and adding more weight than you should have.

[Resender]

I tried the new giant parts but I\'m having a very hard time manually adjusting the rocket during liftoff

[undragonslayer7]

You\'re problem is that your rocket is gigantic. The larger your rocket is the more thrust is needed and the more unstable it will be. For a one man lander you can easily get away with three stages and possibly even make a powered landing at the KSC. Try laterally coupling things much earlier on. Remember, more thrust doesn\'t mean a better rocket, you want a better thrust-to-weight ratio, which is best achieved with minimal rockets. But all said, a very good rocket for a beginner, I remember my first Mun capable rocket was so big I had to cover it in winglets and RCS thrusters just to keep it pointing up during take-off.

[n1ghtcross]

New SRB issues, i havnt seen any, but thats just me. but reading some of these comments here i figured id post and try to help you out.

You\'re probably going to want to change your engine configuration, seeing as how the outside rockets on your 1st stage work harder then the inner rockets. but imo if ur building big u dont want any of those non powerhouse rockets for your initial stage. and do get rid of all those extra RCS\'s those are just adding weight that you dont need. and you could also experiment with tri engine configs on the initial stage, would require a bit of tinkering but you could easily have 20+ engines with only a few more tanks of gas to push them along, just a thought tho.

Perhaps some general advice tho for your 1st and 2nd stage, put boosters on the 1st stage to help with initial velocity and will help save fuel for the 1st 10KM of flight, also on that note i dont know how you usually launch your rockets but with big rockets if they can hold together it is reccomended not to fly straight up the entire way(also a huge waste of fuel imo). For the 2nd stage why only 1 engine? this is your orbital stage it needs to either finish getting you into orbit and then make your TMI for you. you want this stage to be a powerhouse as well, no need for overkill but more then 1 engine would definatly help. and if you are able to keep enough fuel past TMI this stage also saves you fuel on lunar descent.

A good way to see if your doing it right or not is; by the time u are trying to burn into your orbit, u want to be going at least 1500m/s, minimum of at least 1k. however it is duable at slower speeds but requires more fuel to finish the orbit.

'You\'re problem is that your rocket is gigantic'- haha this rocket is small on the scale that i attempt to launch, even with .16 i still make my desktop cry. but if u dont build big then why build at all.

[purple100]

Tip: Don\'t use more than 3 tanks of fuel per engine.

[Giggleplex777]

Tip: Don\'t use more than 3 tanks of fuel per engine.

Yup, the heavier the rocket, the harder it is to take of and get into orbit. That\'s because the heavier the rocket the more thrust it needs to take-off, therefore, more fuel is needed to feed the engines, making the rocket heavier. Smaller rockets may seem pathetic, but as long as the rocket can get into orbit and still have enough fuel to burn to the moon, land, get back into kerbin orbit, and retro-burn (your lander should have enough fuel for that), you can, well, land on the Mun (and even Minus)!

BTW: First post!

[CtrlAltEL1TE]

Tip: Don\'t use more than 3 tanks of fuel per engine.

That is true for sub orbital engines however for orbital maneuvers i feel it is better to have a single engine with more fuel. Less total weight for equivelant thrust.

[n1ghtcross]

to giggleplex,

your statement is true but also false, there is a point around during a takeoff where you will burn 90% of your fuel, that is the thickest part of the atmosphere, or for kerbin up to about 10-12KM ish, i have found that if your 1st stage has enough fuel to push past this mark, and you are able to bank over to give or take 70degrees @ 090 or 270(090 preferred) that most heavy lifers have enough thrust to easily escape kerbins atmosphere going in excess of 1km/s and you shouldnt have to drop your 1st stage not including boosters until 50,000 KM +

that is what i have found, but small rockets for me are so boring =o. bigger ones provide a nicer challenge and i also dont have to worry about fuel once im in space.

[Klopchuck]

You can probably get much more from the lower stage...

...f you combine fuel-cross-feeding and some complicated staging to minimize dead weight by dropping fuel tanks (and attached engines) as soon as possible. Here are two discussions you might find helpful:

http://kerbalspaceprogram.com/forum/index.php?topic=10204.msg154334#msg154334

http://kerbalspaceprogram.com/forum/index.php?topic=16144.msg243459#msg243459

If you post your .craft or send it to me, I\'d be happy to try.

[Resender]

Txn for the replies, well my biggest problem pre-0.16 was that my lander always broke on landing on the moon, I keep tipping over.

As for 0.16 I haven\'t even gotten into stable orbit yet.

[Resender]

Ladies and gentlemen, we have achieved orbit

Burn to the mun done

And with some fuel left in the lower tanks I can use them to get into munar orbit and use the second stage to decelerate

[Ciber]

I have found that 3 of the largest tanks is just enough to nearly get into orbit, with a second stage consisting of a single small 1.5 meter tank and a small 1.5 meter engine being sufficent to fully acheive orbit and trans lunar injection.

[A Fat Pokemon]

Ladies and gentlemen, we have achieved orbit

-snip-

Burn to the mun done

-snip-

And with some fuel left in the lower tanks I can use them to get into munar orbit and use the second stage to decelerate

What in the... How much fuel is left in that thing?? If you can manage to get that into orbit, then you could attach another ship using the smaller parts, and jettison that larger stage when need be. I haven't done much experimenting with the larger parts, but whatever you did there could be a there and back ship to a planet with the necessary modifications and additions like a second smaller ship on top.. I approve!

Edited August 5, 2012 by A Fat Pokemon

[Resender]

In the large tanks in the bottom I think there's enough fuel left for a 1-3 second burn.Then there's a second smaller stager to slow the lander down to reasonable speed to use the lander itself.

Unfortunately I have a problem this rocket is on an external HD which uses a 3.0 USB cable, and when I took it out the connector was bent over, I looked all day yesterday for a new cable but none of the normal shops sell them.

And the only 2 IT-specialists stores are closed for a few weeks.

So at the moment I'm on a separate copy on my normal PC and I mad a shuttle after kurtjmac's attempts

The kurtprise (as I called it ), unfortunately start tumbling around at 10 km altitude.

[Resender]

Double post

Edited August 5, 2012 by Resender

[Resender]

And now we return to our journey to MUn

Not the best ladder I've seen

[Resender]

I also decided to take another path to shutlle design, instead of making the complete plane first I'm developing a lifter first with a basic body of the shuttle on it (I found out yesterday evening if you keep thrust at 2/3 you'll have a slower liftoff but you'll get higher up before you start getting problems)

THe basic body after a lifter failure

[Resender]

Half a step is better then none

Lastest shuttle attempt

Managed to get out of the atmosphere and aim for a nice cruising altitude only to run out of fuel mear meters from getting a full orbit

[Resender]

Success I got an orbiter finally into an orbit

Edited August 11, 2012 by Resender

[MrMadGameplay]

If you are posting a few large images can I please remind you to use ["spoiler=TEXT]Image[/spoiler"] (Without quotes) thanks.

[Resender]

Hello, been at bit busy both at work as in games. Tried to get to the second KSP using any possible means from planes to landers not succeeded so I decided to go spacewards again. But instead of trying to fail landing on Mun, but successfully touching down on it, I decided to go to Mimmus instead, where it's lower gravity should allow for a smoother landing.

I named my craft MOB, Mimmus or Bust

I also decided on a slower trek, and I'm using 5 minute as minimum trust as possible burns near the apoapsis to increase my orbit (only the engine at the back is fired the 3 in the front are for landing)

The current orbit is 1,074,000 at the apoapsis and 564,000 at the periapsis

Edited September 4, 2012 by Resender
Chrashes of firefox while uploading images to photobucket

[Resender]

OK after, 8 burns I've gotten the apsis just beyond Minmus Orbit

It is however a bit skewed

And we've used 78,7 liters of fuel, out of the 800 in the stage.

[TalonX273]

Hi! Just in case it would be helpful, here's an album of my first mission to Minmus. This was my first try too.

http://imgur.com/a/qXQk3

I named it the Atlas 7. This was the Mk3 version with added fuel and four SRBs from the Mk2. I'll be posting more pictures and info in a few days along with debuting Talos Aerospace.