What is your most facepalm-worthy moment regarding KSP?

[Dan Kerman]

Did the ooops last night. Mun exploration with my tanker/return module in a polar orbit. Bet you can see this coming. Lifted off my Mun Lander for a rendezvous for fuel...  got into orbit aaaaaaaand....  opposite direction of the tanker. :facepalm

Wonder how many have made that mistake.

[MaverickSawyer]

Took my little Minmus lander down to investigate an anomaly...

As luck would have it, it was the green one! Puttered around a bit, exploring and seeing if a nearby depression would be a good location for my Minmus Outpost, then launched to orbit.

Turns out, I had JUST enough fuel to make it into a stable orbit. I forgot to refuel before leaving for the surface. 

Thankfully, the lander is actually quite spacious, especially when running only a partial load of Kerbals, so the wait for help won't be too hard on them.

Speaking of help, I opted to launch the science return vehicle I had docked to the station as the rescue craft, as it is the only vehicle other than the station itself with a probe core that is in a position to help right now...

I make the transfer burn to go catch the lander... only to remember that I use the BDB CADS ports... which are quite possibly NOT compatible with like, I.E. Active with Active. So, with great trepidation, I lined up for docking... and actually connected.

Four hours of loiter time brings them back to the transfer window. Hopefully I can snatch victory from the jaws of defeat... tomorrow. I'm tired, and I'm afraid I'll screw this up even more if I try to complete the rescue now. After all, my station has some rather large and delicate solar arrays. I'd hate to, y'know, crash into one.

[TanDeeJay]

On 1/30/2019 at 6:48 AM, Dan Kerman said:

Did the ooops last night. Mun exploration with my tanker/return module in a polar orbit. Bet you can see this coming. Lifted off my Mun Lander for a rendezvous for fuel...  got into orbit aaaaaaaand....  opposite direction of the tanker. :facepalm

Wonder how many have made that mistake.

Yep done that! Also, when trying to insert into a polar orbit to match my mun polar orbit station from a kerbin orbit, I ended up in the opposite direction...

[Nails67]

This wouldn't happen anymore, because they've changed the logic about default crews, but once, back in the 0.20 to 0.22 era, I made an Apollo-style Mun Lander. When I got out to the Mun, that was when I found out that in addition to my 3 Kerbals in the command module, I had also brought along 2 kerbals in the lander can. 

[MaverickSawyer]

Fresh one from today...

A picture is worth a thousand words, isn't it.

[Triop]

Learning the hard way . . .

[Schwarz]

I build a plane with large canards, and decided to also use them as airbrakes.
I set them to 85 degrees pointing downwards, then took the plane out for a spin.
During landing I touched down, activated brakes and the canards went into action, pushing the nose so hard into the ground the nose wheel suspension traveled all the way, then bounced up violently and crashed the right wing into the ground.

[KevinW42]

I was trying to return from orbit but forgot that I was still controlling my spaceplane from the docking port in the payload bay instead of from the cockpit so I accidentally burned prograde instead of retrograde. Fortunately I had just barely enough fuel and monoprop left after I figured out what was happening to get my pe down to 40km and was able to salvage the reentry.

[Martian Emigrant]

Posted here in error.

Did someone say facepalm?

 

ME

 

 

Edited February 19, 2019 by Martian Emigrant

[StrandedonEarth]

3 hours ago, KevinW42 said:

I was trying to return from orbit but forgot that I was still controlling my spaceplane from the docking port in the payload bay instead of from the cockpit so I accidentally burned prograde instead of retrograde. Fortunately I had just barely enough fuel and monoprop left after I figured out what was happening to get my pe down to 40km and was able to salvage the reentry.

The number of times I've made a burn while controlling from the wrong point... Luckily I usually quicksave before executing a maneuver node. Usually.

This just inspired a meme...

E:

Edited February 19, 2019 by StrandedonEarth

[Triop]

 

10 hours ago, Martian Emigrant said:

Did someone say facepalm?

Edited February 19, 2019 by Triop

[Alephzorg]

I just updated the game to 1.6 and decided to start over, with a new save.

I launch a few satellites, relays, mapping probes. Then comes the time for my first crewed mission. Nothing ambitious, a mk1 command pod with Jeb as the pilot.
The launch goes well, I make orbit, a bit of EVA fun. No Problem.
Comes the time to go home...
I burn retrograde, aiming for KSC.
But just before the atmosphere, I realize I don't have a decoupler between the heatshield and the tank below it. I think I might still be ok and enter tank first. And then, the whole thing tumbles and ends up head first, going through the air like an arrow, barely slowing down until it crashes in the ocean in view of the KSC.

Yep, killed Jeb on my first try.
 

[Ratwerke_Actual]

5 hours ago, Alephzorg said:

I just updated the game to 1.6 and decided to start over, with a new save.

I launch a few satellites, relays, mapping probes. Then comes the time for my first crewed mission. Nothing ambitious, a mk1 command pod with Jeb as the pilot.
The launch goes well, I make orbit, a bit of EVA fun. No Problem.
Comes the time to go home...
I burn retrograde, aiming for KSC.
But just before the atmosphere, I realize I don't have a decoupler between the heatshield and the tank below it. I think I might still be ok and enter tank first. And then, the whole thing tumbles and ends up head first, going through the air like an arrow, barely slowing down until it crashes in the ocean in view of the KSC.

Yep, killed Jeb on my first try.
 

Did you think to try jettisoning the heat shield, like a decoupler? 

[MaverickSawyer]

2 hours ago, Ratwerke_Actual said:

Did you think to try jettisoning the heat shield, like a decoupler? 

Not all heat shields have that functionality, though I think stock ones are equipped as such.

[4472TJ]

Launched a craft to orbit rendezvoused with my space station did some stuff, undocked, started to deorbit the craft and realise that I forgot the parachutes

[Dafni]

1 minute ago, 4472TJ said:

Launched a craft to orbit rendezvoused with my space station did some stuff, undocked, started to deorbit the craft and realise that I forgot the parachutes

A classic. Maybe The Classic.

[Dan Kerman]

Learning to get rid of some of the space junk that collects in orbit. Launched a vehicle to go to Minmus...  got into LKO...  rendezvous and docked with a tanker I had left in orbit...  it was 90% empty...  <fp> ooops... targeted wrong tanker on launch.

[Alephzorg]

19 hours ago, Ratwerke_Actual said:

Did you think to try jettisoning the heat shield, like a decoupler? 

I could have tried that, it's true.
But by the time I had crashed, it was too late to try again. No quicksave, like at all, for the while flight.
I would have had to revert to the launch.

[fulgur]

I once had a nice big 5-kerb mun lander, coming in to my mun base, and I decided that because it had no struts I'd set my throttle to a TWR of 0.9. So I came down, landed, transferred the kerbals, launched back to orbit, and realised that I had left the engines on for all of the 10 minutes it took me to transfer the Kerbals over. I was stranded in low Munar orbit in a ship with a LKO dV of over 3km/s.

[Lithobrake]

Bringing in a Duna fleet to orbit. I have one craft left. Then I remember I forgot to set the alarm for one of the three spacecraft that are critical (If any of the others fail, there are contingencies) and it has already left the SOI. That's 2 hours I'll never get back.

Edited February 23, 2019 by Lithobrake

[Cheif Operations Director]

Getting all the way to Jool on a science mission and then realising your forgot science modules. I was one the old Xbox version so it took me about two hours to get their.

[Dan Kerman]

Today's discovery....  Captured my first asteroid..  whoohoo...  got into a HKO orbit really far out from Kerbin...  set a reminder in KAC for next manuvuer to get into LKO. Ding, time to burn retrograde and.....  nothing...  ship is dead...  hmmm..  no power...  ship was left orientated so that the asteroid blocks any light from reaching the solar panels. Now to make a rescue..  just need a little probe with a docking port to give the ship some mono or even just a little rotational push to get the panels back into Kerbol light. SIGH

[Puggonaut]

KSP Ver 1.04 my first foray into the little green buddies, I bet they wished I hand't done so , first rocket build , first launch , Bob , Bill & Jeb all dead

[GRS]

Forgetting Parachutes for my Mohollo, darn, would have gained 50+ more Science if i did that, at least all 5 Kerbals survive, thanks to that EVA Chute...panels blocked won't stop me, but Lack of Chutes can.

Edited March 6, 2019 by GRS

[Martian Emigrant]

Hey all.

Today, I get a contract to do a rendez-vous around Minmus. Can do.

Get a contract to save A kerbal from Minmus surface. Can do.

So I launch 2 ships in successions. One commanded by Jeb the other by Val. We will do science from Minmus. Always need more science.

Load a scientist in each. Can't miss an upgrade right?

Get them in tandem to minmus, do the encounter. All good.

 

Jeb goes on a very low orbit and target our stranded friend. Goes overhead and brakes for all he is worth.

Then Jeb ask "Where will buddy ride"?

 

No compartment for him.

Jeb decided to have him ride externally.

 

The contract is to get him to Kerbin. He will trade place with the scientist and get to kerbin.

Our now spitting mad Science-Guy will remain in orbit of Minmus or be left in a safe orbit of Kerbin.....

 

I saved and stopped playing in disgust.

 

I will figure out a better oucome......I'm sure.

 

 

ME