Complete and utter noob

[bootsam]

Duna is a tougher nut to crack than Mun and Minmus. Im having to re-assess my basic launch vehicle and module. Which in turn means i need to assess some of the parts ive unlocked and ignored since my basic vessel did the job ok. Ive aborted umpteen attempts as I would not be able to return and Im finding hitting the right trajectory difficult. Plus adjusting nodes is a pain as a tiny movement sees it fly off madly. Lots of swearing and shaking of fists and declarations of unspeakable acts to dumb computer equipment ensued. However, I watched a vid for clues and think I know now what to do. But I need a new vessel. Bootspace5 is no longer viable. Ive conceded that. Time to break out the big engines and tanks. Sleeves have been rolled and knuckles have been cracked. What could possibly go wrong?

[Vanamonde]

The good news is that after your first interplanetary ship, the others will be easier. If you're having trouble plotting the transits, keep in mind that it's often a good idea to just get the initial burn close and then perform a correct at the halfway point. 

[Guest]

Suggestion, if you don't mind -- read up on transfer windows. Using a transfer window calculator is not considered cheating by the way.

https://alexmoon.github.io/ksp/

[bootsam]

Kerbals woke up this morning to news that bootspace6 has successfully achieved orbit of Duna. Thanks for the above advice. Ive left it in orbit for now until i get time to crack off the lander and land. 

Then i gotta get home. 

[Vanamonde]

Have fun on the orange planet. 

[bootsam]

Been away a while. Landed on Duna, got home. Just. Had to orbit kerbin a few times to lose velocity as i used all my fuel just to get back into an elongated orbit and bring my peri down to 40k. But we got home. Yay!

I seem to have completed my science as ive unlocked all. My rep is in the 80's too. No kerbal has been lost (if you ignore F9) Im building a space station atm. In 6 parts with tugs and refuelling facilities for the other planets. My 1st stage flew like a banana and wobbled its way to 300km orbit. Its the core section which everything buttons onto and is longest, so fingers crossed for others and then sticking them all together. Then a mining station on each of Mun and Minmus and a fuelling station there too.

 

Ive ignored planes and ssto so far. I just like rockets.

[Vanamonde]

Wobbly rocket? Piffle. I've achieved orbit in craft that did full 360 degree end-over-end rolls on the way up. Let's see those fancy NASA boys do that. 

[bootsam]

9 hours ago, Vanamonde said:

Wobbly rocket? Piffle. I've achieved orbit in craft that did full 360 degree end-over-end rolls on the way up. Let's see those fancy NASA boys do that. 

I messed up my rendevouz and trail my main section by about 20°. Nuts. Esp as I dont have a tug on this section and only have enough fuel to put my lifter back into de-orbit for recovery. So I have to use my tug from 1st stage to bring my second stage close enough for a rendevouz. All because I got distracted by a rather lovely packet of biscuits and didnt pay close enough attention. So I missed my gravity turn to 45k and kept on to 300k. Doh! (I didnt F5 the launch)

 

[Vanamonde]

If you're in orbit, just raise or lower it slightly and time will bring the craft together with almost no expenditure of fuel. 

[bootsam]

Thanks, but I erred anyways by disconnecting the wrong docking port and had to start again. Doh! Instead of the small docking port on the tug, I disconnected from the large one on my station so that the large port came away with the tug. I may have swore a bit and declared unwholesome consequences to my pc and KSP. It was all a bit Basil Fawlty. So I am back to just having my 1st stage at 300km and I can retry to rendevouz without further biscuitgate controversies impeding me further.

This game brings out the determined and unyielding bit of me. I shall not be beaten by a stupid silly game. Again.

[VoidSquid]

We should ban you from the forums, @bootsam, still posting in this thread "complete and utter noob", pretending you're a noob, while you already emerged as a pretty adept player who more than knows his way around  

Edited October 4, 2019 by VoidSquid

[bootsam]

Would someone who is adept mistakenly disconnect the wrong docking port and thus render their 'space station' module undockable? Would someone adept be allowed to take charge of a space mission when they are easily distracted by a packet of mint viscounts?

"Houston, we got a problem. Armstrongs eaten all the tunnocks caramel wafers."

[VoidSquid]

21 minutes ago, bootsam said:

Would someone who is adept mistakenly disconnect the wrong docking port and thus render their 'space station' module undockable? Would someone adept be allowed to take charge of a space mission when they are easily distracted by a packet of mint viscounts?

That would be me then  

21 minutes ago, bootsam said:

"Houston, we got a problem. Armstrongs eaten all the tunnocks caramel wafers."

/me provides your fellow green people some swiss chocolate... better now?

Edited October 4, 2019 by VoidSquid

[Vanamonde]

5 hours ago, bootsam said:

Would someone who is adept mistakenly disconnect the wrong docking port and thus render their 'space station' module undockable?

All the time. 

[bootsam]

Starting again. Had to de-orbit the station though as my f9 was later. Also did my first parachute recovery of a kerbal. Which was nice. I hadnt meant for a kerbal to be in orbit, but jeb snuck in when I forgot to check. I had no recovery vessel, plus I found a few things missing (3 of my 4 mono rcs thrusters on mini tug, no remote controller on section 1, no comms aerial on mini tug, etc etc etc. Plus discovered I can't dock a small port to a large port. Oh and the banana wobbles need looking at so, ...deorbit. Which took ages as i could only use low throttle on atom engine as station would oscillate wildly. Jebs 3 stars and I don't wanna lose him.

[έķ νίĻĻάίή]

Dude, i we've all been there before. jeb's the sneaky one.

[bootsam]

Discovered the hard way that the large docking ports are uni directional. Starting again, ...again. Still, Ive had lotsa rendevouz practice now so that Im pretty good at it. I used to struggle but seem to have found the knack. So, tonight I should hopefully be able to relaunch my station parts 1 & 2 and couple them together. Running out of cash so I shall have to do some tourist missions to support my continual failures.

Im assuming my failure to dock a small port to a large one was due to me having the large one the wrong way round.

On my booster stage I recover my LF boosters via chutes, but the chutes seem to get destroyed on one booster. So I loose one booster. I cannot seem to remedy this. Any ideas? Ive varied both the altitude and atmos to see if I can fix it and added small booster rockets to eject them from my main body of the lifter.

My main lifter section works well on returning to Kerbal. That recovers well now ive added 6 drogues as well as 6 main chutes. But loosing that one booster is annoying me. I want a fully recoverable system with no debris.

 

[Vanamonde]

Small docking rings can only dock with other small docking rings, and larges only to other larges. 

How are you recovering the boosters? 

[bootsam]

Thanks Van, I'd kinda figured that out eventually.

Success!!! Ive got my two main stages which form the spine of my SS docked and ready for the ancillary parts. Yay!! It all went smoothly. I guess because of the practice ive had during all my mistakes. Ive always said you learn more from mistakes than success. Although, by that reckoning I should be giving Einstein a run for his money so maybe its not quite true.

I figured if the boosters came down in one piece theyd be easily recoverable on completion of whatever mission. So I fitted them with chutes and put the chutes on the same stage as the decoupler and small booster rockets. However I am wondering whether I should put a controller on them too, so I can ensure the chutes are staged better individually. I assumed they were auto recoverable. Im beginning to have some doubts. I may have made erronious assumptions. But the main body of my lifter, i put chutes and controllers on and this is fully recovered as I once I seperate the payload and dock, I then switch to the lifter and de-orbit it and drop it into the sea next to ksp via chutes and recover it from the menu. Im wondering whether I should be doing this for the booster stage too.

I like to try to be sustainable. Im waste averse, even in a game. Plus its a challenge. I appreciate that space is mind boggingly big as Doug Adams would say, but Im also aware that if there is even a remotely tiny miniscule chance of encountering my own debris whilst on a critical mission, I'll encounter it in an unfortunate and terminal way. Stuff happens, and when it does its usually to me. Fate and I are on close terms since I've constantly defied her and continued to live and breath despite her best efforts to the contrary. I've been a motorcyclist for over 30yrs. Ive even had a van drive over my head. Seriously. In the words of Yellowbeard - "You'll ave to kill me before I die"

Hopefully the next 4 stages should complete the station before I move onto permanent bases on Mun and Minmus and some mining. Once I get myself all settled in, I can think about the expansions and exploring the other planets.

[Vanamonde]

You know that sub-ships are no longer simulated after they get a certain distance from your active ship, right? And once they're no longer fully simulated, they despawn a certain distance above the ground? (Sorry, the limits involved have changed a couple of times and I don't remember what they are currently.) 

[bootsam]

15 minutes ago, Vanamonde said:

You know that sub-ships are no longer simulated after they get a certain distance from your active ship, right? And once they're no longer fully simulated, they despawn a certain distance above the ground? (Sorry, the limits involved have changed a couple of times and I don't remember what they are currently.) 

I didnt. I know now thanks. ....

 

...move along, nothing to see here. Ahem.

[Vanamonde]

Live and learn. 

[bootsam]

Well, live anyways. The learning bit is a tad more tenuous.

Ive now got 4 of my 6 modules which make my station docked and complete. 2 more to go before I move the squatters in. Tonight should see Hotel Kerbilonia complete and occupied.

I still havent quite figured orientations out. So I know left right etc on rcs. Its one thing I struggle with, except at launch. Everywhere else its trial and error. Mostly the latter to be fair.