I'm a new player and I'm looking for tips and tricks

[Rocket In My Pocket]

Congrats!

Now to send a rescue mission.

Just make sure your rescue mission doesn't end up needing a rescue mission! Lol.

[Geonovast]

Good job!  There's no stopping you now!

I'm about to go on my lunch, so I'll run your rocket through its paces again and do a quick video for ya.

4 minutes ago, Interstellar Yeet said:

Now the only problem is as I've been told a billion times before is, I don't have enough fuel to get back.

That's.... not your only problem!  I dunno if you noticed, but your rocket is pointing the wrong way. 

[Interstellar Yeet]

1 minute ago, Rocket In My Pocket said:

Congrats!

Now to send a rescue mission.

Just make sure your rescue mission doesn't end up needing a rescue mission! Lol.

Yeah well I decided that I'm gonna go back to my save before departure and do it right instead of sending a rescue mission. I mean a rescue mission would be fun! But also a bit too risky I guess. But I do have like 440 science I can spend on anything I need to get to the Mun and back. So I'm gonna get some new rockets now first of all and try to make them as efficient as possible, then fly again.

[Geonovast]

3 minutes ago, Rocket In My Pocket said:

Just make sure your rescue mission doesn't end up needing a rescue mission! Lol.

 

Edited November 2, 2018 by Geonovast
bigger pic

[Interstellar Yeet]

3 minutes ago, Geonovast said:

Good job!  There's no stopping you now!

I'm about to go on my lunch, so I'll run your rocket through its paces again and do a quick video for ya.

That's.... not your only problem!  I dunno if you noticed, but your rocket is pointing the wrong way. 

HAHA yeah I know! But at least I made it, which is a big achievement for me. I'm one step closer! I'm gonna unlock those new rockets now and try to make a 3 stage rocket where the 2nd stage will have a tiny bit of fuel left for actually landing on the Mun.

@Geonovast I have enough science to unlock 4 things and I think about this; heavy and heavier rocketry, landing, and advanced flight control. This will give me the MK1 landing can, a better heat shield, better landing feet, and better rockets. With this I'm sure I can get to the mun and back.

Edited November 2, 2018 by Interstellar Yeet

[FinalFan]

Sounds like you are well on your way!  But I still hope I can help by throwing my two cents into the mix.  

First, here is a very simple way to think about Delta V: in terms of what it is, it's how much acceleration you get to do, which isn't always the same thing as "how far you can go".  In space, flying smarter beats flying harder.  In terms of how to get it on your rocket, there are just two factors: "how efficient is the rocket?" (Isp) and "how much of my rocket is fuel?" A 1000 ton rocket with 900 tons of fuel has the same delta V as a 10 ton rocket with 9 tons of fuel, if the engines have the same Isp.  

Secondly, it seems you are well on your way to discovering your own solution for your Mun rescue, but as it happens I just finished a reenactment of my very first attempted Mun landing.  (It turned into my first Mun orbital mission, because I was scared that I would not have enough fuel to get home.)  Well, as it turns out this can in fact do a Mun landing, and have tons of spare fuel with only minor modifications, namely using the lifter rocket to help circularize and deorbit on the Mun (either destroying it or stranding it as an orbital hunk of junk) instead of sending it back to Kerbin for recovery which is what I did at the time.  And this is without even having a Mainsail, let alone TwinBoar!  (I hadn't unlocked it when I originally made the vessel.)  This post was originally done from my phone but now there's a link to the mission reenactment post at the start of this paragraph.  

If you read my post, you probably noticed that the rocket was almost uncontrollable at high speeds in the lower atmosphere.  You won't have that problem if you use the design below!  This was due to some silly aerodynamic choices I made that you won't have a problem with.  The gray text is either less important or optional. 

—Skipper with 64 tons of fuel (two Jumbo-64s, or four X200-32s).  Add four steerable fins for stability.  (The guy who said a properly built rocket shouldn't need them has a good point but the drag losses aren't really that bad, and it's a quick and easy way to gain stability and extra steering control.  Just be careful you don't destroy your fins when decoupling your solid rocket boosters.  Speaking of which...)
—two Kickbacks for extra thrust (the Skipper is a great engine but isn't strong enough to launch this thing on its own), and don't forget to use nosecones!  Any type is fine. 
—(Alternative version:  four Kickbacks with fins for steering.  This will be very overpowered but the extra thrust will let you get to orbit with even more fuel remaining.  The challenge will be not going into too high of an orbit!  That's what the fins are for, to help you steer during the SRB stage, which would otherwise be almost impossible after you pick up speed.  If you want to go straight to the Mun without entering a low Kerbin orbit to prepare yourself, this would be a nice choice.) 
—(2.5m to 1.25m adapter, and a decoupler, then) Terrier upper stage with 4 tons fuel (one T800) and landing legs
—decoupler to separate engine and fuel from the rest that will be recovered on Kerbin.  Be sure not to decouple this before you are all done with your rocket and ready for reentry!  Then a heat shield; then a Mk1 crew cabin (with solar panels attached); then a Science Jr. materials bay, then a cargo bay with an experiment storage unit in the middle and two goo containers next to it (it's okay that the storage unit sticks out); then put two radial parachutes on the sides of the cargo bay or the Science Jr.; then the Mk1 command pod (make sure it's attached to the cargo bay and not the experiment storage unit); then the small round battery (Z-200), then the nose parachute.  (Actually, the storage bay and science container are optional.  And I am pretty sure the two side parachutes are also optional, but I would feel safer with them.)  Add a radio antenna—even the most basic one should be okay for the Mun. 

The upper stage alone should have around 2000 m/s delta V which is enough to circularize on the Mun, land, and return to Kerbin.  If you can get to the Mun and still have help from the lower stage then it should be no problem to rescue your guy.  The only drawback is that you might possibly leave the lower stage as junk orbiting the Mun depending on how much fuel you had left on it.  

Sorry for my brain dump, this is sort of stream of consciousness.  I will clean it up in a few hours.  [edit:  you've already done the whole Mun mission, but I decided to rewrite it anyway.] 

Edited November 3, 2018 by FinalFan
rewriting for more detail and clarity, and updating info

[Interstellar Yeet]

52 minutes ago, FinalFan said:

Sounds like you are well on your way!  But I still hope I can help by throwing my two cents into the mix.  

First, here is a very simple way to think about Delta V: in terms of what it is, it's how much acceleration you get to do, which isn't always the same thing as "how far you can go".  In space, flying smarter beats flying harder.  In terms of how to get it on your rocket, there are just two factors: "how efficient is the rocket?" (Isp) and "how much of my rocket is fuel?" A 1000 ton rocket with 900 tons of fuel has the same delta V as a 10 ton rocket with 9 tons of fuel, if the engines have the same Isp.  

Secondly, it seems you are well on your way to discovering your own solution for you Man rescue, but as it happens I just finished a reenactment of my very first attempted Mun landing.  (It turned into my first Mun orbital mission, because I was scared that I would not have enough fuel to get home.)  Well, as it turns out this can in fact do a Mun landing, and have tons of spare fuel with only minor modifications, namely using the lifter rocket to help circularize and deorbit on the Mun (either destroying it or stranding it as an orbital hunk of junk) instead of sending it back to Kerbin for recovery which is what I did at the time.  And this is without even having a Mainsail, let alone TwinBoar!  I'm posting from my phone but will link the mission reenactment post later.  

--Skipper with 64 tons fuel.  Four steerable fins for stability.

--two or four Kickbacks with fins for stability.  The guy who said a properly built rocket shouldn't need them is right but this is pure noobtown, and the drag losses aren't that bad.  Be careful when decoupling.  

--Terrier upper stage with 4 tons fuel (one T800)

--decoupler to separate engine and fuel from command pod and Mk.1 passenger bay, with heat shield underneath for reentry on Kerbin.  Optional: in between the passenger bay and the heat shield put a cargo bay and inside that an experiment storage unit to cram extra science in, or just have the one copy that fits in the command pod.  Add two radial parachutes for extra safety; just the nose chute is okay but it's cutting things close.  Be sure not to decouple prematurely!  

The upper stage alone should have around 2000 m/s delta V which is enough to circularize on the Mun, land, and return to Kerbin.  If you can get to the Mun and still have help from the lower stage then it should be no problem to rescue your guy.  The only drawback is that you might possibly leave the lower stage as junk orbiting the Mun depending on how much fuel you had left on it.  

Sorry for my brain dump, this is sort of stream of consciousness.  I will clean it up in a few hours.  And do a flight test to make sure I'm not handing you a nearly uncontrollable menace on Kerbin ascent:  I was bad at rocket design back then.  

Hello and thanks for your input! Now what I did was unlock a bunch of new parts, and what I'm gonna do is actually send an unmanned probe to the Mun with a Mk1 lander can attached with a service bay under which has the OKTO for SAS. So i will have a stabile unmanned probe on the way to the Mun with the lander can so I can fit my scientist in there with all his data and send him home. Now I'm pretty happy with the amount of science I got done so my number one priority is rescue. What I'm gonna do is ditch all of the science stuff and just send a really light rocket up there to make it as easy as possible for me. I'm also using the rockomax x200 fuel tank one my landing stage for extra fuel, since I ditched all that other stuff. Now hopefully all I need is one really powerful rocket to launch me into orbit and on my way to the Mun, since I unlocked those huge ones. 

EDIT: Actually I'm not so sure my 1,25 meter heat shield is big enough for the lander can to safely return, so I might as well add a few thermal plates on there to dissipate some heat.

EDIT2: https://imgur.com/a/zcS7Aje Here's my lander, it has a lot of delta V it seems like. Now just ignore the fact I forgot the lander strut I'm about to attach those

Edited November 2, 2018 by Interstellar Yeet

[FinalFan]

21 minutes ago, Interstellar Yeet said:

Hello and thanks for your input! Now what I did was unlock a bunch of new parts, and what I'm gonna do is actually send an unmanned probe to the Mun with a Mk1 lander can attached with a service bay under which has the OKTO for SAS. So i will have a stabile unmanned probe on the way to the Mun with the lander can so I can fit my scientist in there with all his data and send him home. Now I'm pretty happy with the amount of science I got done so my number one priority is rescue. What I'm gonna do is ditch all of the science stuff and just send a really light rocket up there to make it as easy as possible for me. I'm also using the rockomax x200 fuel tank one my landing stage for extra fuel, since I ditched all that other stuff. Now hopefully all I need is one really powerful rocket to launch me into orbit and on my way to the Mun, since I unlocked those huge ones. 

EDIT: Actually I'm not so sure my 1,25 meter heat shield is big enough for the lander can to safely return, so I might as well add a few thermal plates on there to dissipate some heat.

EDIT2: https://imgur.com/a/zcS7Aje Here's my lander, it has a lot of delta V it seems like. Now just ignore the fact I forgot the lander strut I'm about to attach those

Yep, the X200 is the same as the T800 other than width.  I am not sure about how accurate the aerodynamics are, but if the game is smart enough to see the landing can's sticky-out parts then you're in trouble.  Do not use heat sinks, they don't work when everything around you is on fire!  They might actually absorb the reentry heat into your lander can!  [edit: imagine you tried to use a fan to cool off, only your air was coming from a furnace.]

I'd go with the Mk1 command pod and the nose chute, one chute is fine with that small of a return vessel.  You can put the cargo bay with the okto and a battery between the pod and the heat shield.  

[edit2: don't forget you can put one set of science in your command pod or lander can to bring home.  Collect it with your Kerbal and then just get in.]

Edited November 2, 2018 by FinalFan

[FinalFan]

Oh, here is a good one for "tips and tricks": if you aren't using RCS, empty out the monopropellant in your pod or can.  It's not much difference in weight, but it is a difference.  

[Interstellar Yeet]

https://imgur.com/a/vach9V7 Right now I'm on my way to the Mun, let's see how this goes!

[FinalFan]

Good luck!  Landing on a specific spot is a lot harder for me than landing just anywhere, but don't give up!  Fortunately the Mun doesn't rotate very fast so you can mostly ignore that when planning your landing.  

[Interstellar Yeet]

7 minutes ago, FinalFan said:

Good luck!  Landing on a specific spot is a lot harder for me than landing just anywhere, but don't give up!  Fortunately the Mun doesn't rotate very fast so you can mostly ignore that when planning your landing.  

I managed to land, but it was 90 km away from the kerbal hahaha. I had some real issues with the limited probe control and I saw that my science ship was actually in a VERY bad spot on the moon, so it's basically impossible for me to save him. BUT, since i did manage to land, and I could have saved tons of fuel if i didn't try to land as close as possible, I now know how to build a proper Moon rocket. So I will go to the save where I've got my scientist on earth and I'll build the same rocket but with more science stuff, then fly to the Mun again  

[Geonovast]

How much dV does the stranded rocket have?

 

[Interstellar Yeet]

1 minute ago, Geonovast said:

How much dV does the stranded rocket have?

 

It was somewhere around 1k delta V, i tried flying it back to recover the funds but it did not go well. So i'm just gonna go with the same rocket and add the science stuff and fly to the moon with my scientist on board.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/3orl3wwq9rqfosp/Rescue Mission.craft?dl=0 this is my new rocket, gonna board my scientist here and go to the Mun. Will probably do some tweaks to it and see if it has enough delta V. It's the same rocket I used to the mun for the rescue mission, but this time i added the barometer, thermometer, science goo and the science junior. I'm not sure where to place the science junior so we'll see what im gonna do about that.

[Geonovast]

1km/s of dV is enough to get you off the surface of the Mun and back home.  Mind showing a screeshot of the poor stranded soul with the KER display up?

[FinalFan]

The most conservative place to put the materials bay on the disposable half of the lander.  Collect the science result and put it in the command pod.  Or you can try to bring it home with an extra copy of your landing zone data!  

[SiriusRocketry]

Awesome job! I'll help you if you want to learn how to land and get back, then on to next projects!

Again, great work @Interstellar Yeet! 

you're a rocket scientist now, bud.

Buzz me on Discord for your next plan, I'm really interested in teaching you about this wonderful game and seeing how you grow as a player. 

Edited November 2, 2018 by SiriusRocketry

[FinalFan]

3 minutes ago, Geonovast said:

1km/s of dV is enough to get you off the surface of the Mun and back home.  Mind showing a screeshot of the poor stranded soul with the KER display up?

I think he was talking about the rescue craft that missed its target.  

[Interstellar Yeet]

1 minute ago, FinalFan said:

The most conservative place to put the materials bay on the disposable half of the lander.  Collect the science result and put it in the command pod.  Or you can try to bring it home with an extra copy of your landing zone data!  

I think I'll try to bring it home, the heat shield + lander can, parachute, science junior and the service bay is just over 3 T and i unlocked a bigger and better parachute. 

2 minutes ago, SiriusRocketry said:

Awesome job! I'll help you if you want to learn how to land and get back, then on to next projects!

Again, great work @Interstellar Yeet! 

you're a rocket scientist now, bud.

I'm playing right now! Gonna try to send my scientist to the Mun now, I've got about everything I need to do planned so just send me a message on discord if you want to. 

[Geonovast]

1 minute ago, FinalFan said:

I think he was talking about the rescue craft that missed its target.  

Ohhhh.

@Interstellar Yeet, how much does the stranded one have?  The one with the kerbal in it?

If it has enough to make orbit but not get home, the rescue is going to get easier (from a certain point of view) and we'll get into orbital rendezvous!

[Interstellar Yeet]

Just now, Geonovast said:

Ohhhh.

@Interstellar Yeet, how much does the stranded one have?  The one with the kerbal in it?

If it has enough to make orbit but not get home, the rescue is going to get easier (from a certain point of view) and we'll get into orbital rendezvous!

That sounds fun but unfornetaly it has about 0 fuel so I won't be able to get it into orbit

[Interstellar Yeet]

https://imgur.com/a/w6fQEwZ I MADE IT. I collected tons of science on the mun and im almost home!

EDIT: I got 407 science from that!

Edited November 2, 2018 by Interstellar Yeet

[FinalFan]

Great job!  I'd recommend looking on the bottom part of the tech tree for more science collecting instruments.  I don't really remember where exactly they are but you probably don't have the atmospheric one, the seismometer, and the "gravioli" gravity detector.  

[Interstellar Yeet]

6 minutes ago, FinalFan said:

Great job!  I'd recommend looking on the bottom part of the tech tree for more science collecting instruments.  I don't really remember where exactly they are but you probably don't have the atmospheric one, the seismometer, and the "gravioli" gravity detector.  

Actually I unlocked the science lab and the docking port so I'm gonna need a trip to Minmus and land there to get the rest of the science instruments.

[Geonovast]

1 minute ago, Interstellar Yeet said:

Actually I unlocked the science lab and the docking port so I'm gonna need a trip to Minmus and land there to get the rest of the science instruments.

Well... no.

Minmus flybys will still get you a good amount.

Plus, every planet and moon has biomes... you can collect more science from the Mun simply by landing in a different spot.  There's also science from high and low orbits.

Here's a biome map of the Mun: