Always something...

[Crowdpleaser]

Hello fellow Kerbalnauts! I was looking for a Game like this a loong time. Some came close to what i wanted, but this one really nailed it.

At first i had bad trouble learning the Game but that was to expected. I saw some Tutorial Videos on Youtube (mainly Scott Manleys) and i got more and more ambitious. I learned how to Orbit, how to Dock, how to get to the Mun and beyond and it was time for me to establish a real presence in Space. So i went to work. I put some Satellites and Spacestations in Orbit of Kerbin and Mun and was ready to Construct a Munbase. The trouble began right there: I designed a Vehicle that could double as a Rover and a Base on the Mun. To get it to the Surface i constructed a Skycrane-like Lifting Vehicle on top of the Thing. I tested it on the Surface of Kerbin to see if it would survive the Dropdown. This took some time, but i was ready to invest it. Everything looked good, until i got to the Mun. By that time i had installed MechJeb, the Kethaine Mod and the Docking Alignement System. Mechjeb was unable to Land the Skycrane on the Mun because it would Spiral out of control for some reason. This was not Mechjebs fault, just poor design decisions. Then i thought to myself: Time to redesign. So i did. This time the Lifter was so heavy it started to Sandwich the Mun Base at liftoff until it was crushed. I switched some Rockets and had success. The drawback was, i had to refill the Lifter in Space. No Problem, i just send my Fueltanker up in Space and refill. The Fueltanker was my most reliable, most stable Spacecraft and had never failed me.

At Liftoff there was no Problem, but at roughly 5km up it startet compressing and ultimately exploded. Well sh*t happens, i tried again. This time the Separators wouldn't seperate. Not only that, Mechjeb activated all stages in rapid succesion. This happened 5 times in a row. FINALLY i got the bloody thing in Space. I told mechjeb to Auto Ascend. It did it countless times but this time it was flummoxed by my command and burned retrograde and crashed into Kerbin. Well fine Mr. Mechjeb, if you want to play that way... This time i did it by hand and got into Orbit. My time was running out, because i had to go to work soon so i got Mechjeb another Chance. I told it to rendezvous with the other Spacecraft so i could dock and refuel. This time i watched it closely. It set up the Manouver Nodes correctly and when it came time to execute the Node he hit the mark perfectly. Then something really strange happened: The Blue Marker pointed Retrograde instead of Prograde. I doublechecked the Map, but the dotted line showed exactly the Manouver it should have taken. It started to burn at the right time, but as i then expected the Orbit shrunk down second by second and would eventually crash in the Planet. I tried this numerous times. Everytime the Nodes pointed in exactly the opposite direction. I don't know what is going on here, because this glitch is compeltely new to me.

Do you have any clue to what is happening here? I don't think that this is Mechjebs fault, because it was just doing what the Manouver Nodes told him. And i don't know why the Stage-Seperators failed so badly.

At the Moment i'm a bit pissed, because i didn't even get to the hard Part of the Mission. I'm at work now. I'm downloading the Game again and reinstall in hopes this is getting rid off the glitches. Then one by one i will reinstall the Add-ons.

What are your biggest "What the Hell?" Moments in the Game?

[Xiphos]

I have heard that Mechjeb doesn't do the best job at a rendezvous. Also I think I remember someone saying it wasn't updated for .21? Maybe a mechjeb user can chime in here as I don't use it. But it seems like you have a good plan. Remove some of those add-ons and see if that solves the issue.

EDIT: IDEA! why not get your mun base ship into orbit, THEN launch your trusty refueler to dock with it!

Edited August 27, 2013 by Xiphos

[Tw1]

Sounds like the pod you are controling from is pointing in the wrong direction. Mechjeb won't cope with that. Hard to tell what's up with the separators without a picture, we need to know which ones you're using, what they're supposed to be doing, and how they are attached to make a diagnosis.

Mechjeb's autostage fires when it detects and engine flameout, I believe. Could that be an issue with your design?

Sometimes rockets are just cursed.

Perhaps it's time to scrap that one and re-build. Good luck, and welcome to the kerbal forums!

[Crowdpleaser]

Thanks for the Tip But it seems like Tw1 was right on the Money. I read something similar online yesterday and i remember that i wanted the Fueltanker to attach himself on his Backside. I selected the Docking Port waaay to early.

Your Idea was exactly the Plan that went wrong the whole time because i didn't realize it had something to do with the Docking Ports

[Crowdpleaser]

Strangely the Stages are behving now. But i hope i will remember to make a Screenshot if it happens again. Right now i'm really happy everything went down without a hitch. Well... besides the fact that i'm an idiot and deleted a whole Spacestation by mistake, and botched the landing of the Lifter so that it crashed ^^ But at least the Munbase is ok

[Capt'n Skunky]

Happy Launching!

Arrr!

Capt'n Skunky

KSP Community Manager