Turns out escaping procrastination is harder than escaping Kerbolar orbit

[VoidPointer]

So, I had heard of KSP, but it sounded way too hard. I mean, rocket science? Something called aerobraking? Whatever man.

Lucky for me, one of my friends got into it and recommended it to me. My finances aren't in the best shape, so I downloaded the demo and made myself a deal: I would buy the game if I could put a man on the Mun.

My personal Apollo program had far more failures than the real one. My first rocket was just the Mk1 pod attached directly to an SRB. I didn't expect much out of it, but I had no way to calculate dV (and only the barest notion of the *concept* of dV) and I didn't know about the parachute parts yet. About ten dead Kerbals later, I discovered staging and parachutes and decided that a good practice run would be to send a Kerbal on a Kerbolar escape trajectory.

That was fun. So was figuring out how much dV I needed to get off Kerbin. I can't remember how many of my rockets tipped over and ditched in the ocean before I discovered how to make the ASAS work. But finally, I pulled it off, and with my new knowledge of very basic rocket design, I set off for the Mun, mostly by guesswork.

I actually never crash landed on the Mun, which was miraculous, considering that I still hadn't been to the forums or anything. I did, however, run out of fuel on the way down. I had to use RCS translation controls to land the rest of the way. But it was a good landing, and Jeb walked away from it. I read the Apollo disaster speech and bought the full game.

Then I discovered how to make REAL rockets, and discovered how much of a Whackjob my designs had been. No offense, Whackjob. You can actually *pull that off*. I cannot. I'll stick to asparagus. Eventually I got around to posting this. I've been lurking for months.

I really need to find more time to play. I haven't even been to Duna yet.

[SuperWeegee4000]

Don't be discouraged! I've been playing for months and I can't get to Duna either. Welcome aboard!

[Decent Weasel]

Yeah. When I started I had no idea how to use SAS, no idea how to work the throttle, no idea I could manually steer. Nevertheless my first really successful rocket had a final stage basically like yours - a capsule on a small SRB - but it pointed toward the pad; the SRB's nozzle was covered with a fairing that had three more SRBs bolted onto it at slight angles to induce a spin.

Yes, the craft took off backwards.

When it took off its center of gravity was too far aft, but since the ship would spin it was stable in the manner of a rifle bullet. As the top SRBs drained, the center of gravity went further and further aft, until finally the craft began to porpoise violently... and the moment it flipped over was calibrated to be the moment it ran out of gas. Once the capsule's nose was pointed skyward, I'd jettison the fairing and light the second SRB stage.

Got me to space, at least. Never had to touch the controls.

Yes, it would be simpler to not have the craft fly backwards at all - but this way was so fun I was unable to resist.

[VoidPointer]

It's not that I can't. It's that I don't have time.

I used to have time. Then my fiancée (whose computer cannot run KSP) was like, "Ooh, what's this game?" XD

Edited August 27, 2013 by VoidPointer

[SuperWeegee4000]

It's not that I *can't*. It's that I don't have *time*.

I used to have time. Then my fiancée (whose computer cannot run KSP) was like, "Ooh, what's this game?" XD

There's an italics button in the editor.

[zekes]

lol i remember when i was a beginner in this game, I would go straight up at the moon... certainly an interesting tactic.

Best of luck!

[VoidPointer]

Sorry about the italics. I'm on a phone and there's no italics button in this thing. It's like trying to fly a mission IVA in here. I'll fix it when I get home and figure out whether BBCode works here.

Edit: Okay, fixed it.

Edited August 27, 2013 by VoidPointer

[Captain Sierra]

lol i remember when i was a beginner in this game, I would go straight up at the moon... certainly an interesting tactic.

Best of luck!

That works great! With a mainsail, infinite fuel and a mk 1 lander can!

[Javster]

Don't be discouraged! I've been playing for months and I can't get to Duna either. Welcome aboard!

Same! I kinda know the theory, but in practice, I can't get it right...

[polle]

lol i remember when i was a beginner in this game, I would go straight up at the moon... certainly an interesting tactic.

I made it!

I started to play the demo first too, and damn i dont reached the mün whatever i did (or an orbit what is it? =)

In fact we lost Jeb in the name of =science= but we build a masterpiece of rocket in a strange mood, capable to reach the mün (straight!!), fly save to kerbin and land.

This was my demo experience and i wanted more so i got the full version

craft of my demo rocket, im proud of, and very happy it works in 21.1.

http://pollix.de/ksp/in_memory_to_jeb.craft

[Capt'n Skunky]

Happy Launching!

Arrr!

Capt'n Skunky

KSP Community Manager