Help with 2 Contracts

[Monde]

Hey All,

Ok so I am new and learning so these will be easy for you but causing me no end of pain.

Current Science:

• Start
• Engineering 101
• Basic Rocketry 
• General Rocketry
• Surviability
• Stability
• Basic Science

Issue 1: Haul the Flea Rocket Booster above Kerbin

• Have the Flea
• Flying it
• At Altitude 50 000m - 56 000m
• Speed 60m/s to 210m/s

I can do most but not slow down enough.

Issue 2: Test the LV-T45 Swivel in Splashdown

• LV-T45 Swivel
• Test in Spalshdown
• Kerbin

It explodes each time I touch the water.

 

[Zeiss Ikon]

For the Flea: you may need to reduce the fuel contents of the Flea in the VAB before launch.  Right click the booster and look in the popup window for a slider for "Solid Fuel" -- move it to the left to reduce the fuel.  It may take a couple tries to get a level that lets you slow down enough in the right altitude range -- which, of course, reduces the profits from the contract, unless you make liberal use of "revert to VAB".

For the LV-T45 "Swivel" -- if it's exploding when you touch the water, you're falling too fast.  You need parachutes -- possibly multiples, if you're trying to land the entire vessel (probe core or command pod, fuel tank, engine, possibly fins).  Look up the impact tolerance of the engine (in VAB, in the parts bin), and add enough parachutes that your descent rate just before hitting the ocean surface is lower than that figure.  Then after splashing down, you'll likely need to right click the engine and look in the popup for the "test" button (click it) for the contract to complete.

Welcome to the game, and the forums! 

[Monde]

20 minutes ago, Zeiss Ikon said:

Welcome to the game, and the forums! 

Thanks maybe one more questions, without filling the forum with random questions.

 

How do you return the Science jr to Kerbin without Burning up. Used heat shields and still burns up. Not sure if my angle too much.

[Superfluous J]

57 minutes ago, Monde said:

Thanks maybe one more questions, without filling the forum with random questions.

 

How do you return the Science jr to Kerbin without Burning up. Used heat shields and still burns up. Not sure if my angle too much.

Two things:

1) Close the doors. You can do this without losing the science inside. This does not need an EVA'd Kerbal. This makes it a bit smoother and fits behind that heat shield. It's still dodgy though.

2) Take the science from it and store it in the pod. This does need an EVA'd Kerbal. Then you don't care about the device and it can explode all it wants.

[GoSlash27]

1 hour ago, 5thHorseman said:

Two things:

1) Close the doors. You can do this without losing the science inside. This does not need an EVA'd Kerbal. This makes it a bit smoother and fits behind that heat shield. It's still dodgy though.

2) Take the science from it and store it in the pod. This does need an EVA'd Kerbal. Then you don't care about the device and it can explode all it wants.

^ 3) take the science and transfer it to an experiment storage unit. This doesn't need a kerbal to EVA.

Best,
-Slashy

[Superfluous J]

4 minutes ago, GoSlash27 said:

^ 3) take the science and transfer it to an experiment storage unit. This doesn't need a kerbal to EVA.

Best,
-Slashy

I always forget that one because I cheat use a mod to transfer it directly to the pod

[bewing]

1) To do high altitude contracts at a particular speed, you pretty much need to be using a liquid engine to fly. So you build a liquid fueled rocket, and put a flea with no fuel in the flea on it. Then you carefully fly to the correct altitude at the correct speed using your throttle, and when you get there you test the Flea by using the Run Test button in the action menu.

2) To test something "splashed", it's usually easiest to create a vessel on the runway -- either a rover or an airplane. Then you drive the vessel over to the shore and into the water. Once you've tested the part, you can drive back to the runway and recover you vessel for full credit. Rocket parts are rather fragile, so trying to fly them into the water often leads to breaking the parts.

3) Heatshields are kind of a trap. Yes they provide a little protection from heat. They also make your RV very slippery, so it doesn't slow down. To slow down without burning up, what you want is lots of aerodynamic drag on reentry. But you want very low drag on ascent. How do you do that? Well, you can make your craft tumble on reentry. You can add fins and things to your craft and then reenter the atmosphere sideways. You can use control surfaces and "deploy" them before you reenter. Sometimes you can just throw away the heatshield, and the extra drag you get from doing that will actually make your ship heat up less than if you had the heatshield.