[Tutorial] Beginner Science

[bigalqld]

This tutorial is intended for those people new to career mode, or even new to KSP. All of the craft in this tutorial should be easy to build and require minimal piloting skill. Thanks to the new tweakable engines you don’t even need to adjust the throttle mid-flight.

When I first started a career game in 0.23 I had been using the sandbox mode for so long I couldn’t remember how it was possible to make a rocket without decouplers, fuel lines, reaction wheels, aero parts, etc. I also didn’t know what could be done to get a meagre 5 science to unlock the first technology. After some reading and a few explosions I'm now a whole lot wiser, and I'm ready to share some of that wisdom with the community.

With the release of contracts in KSP version 0.24 I've updates these missions to include the cost and recovery cost of each craft, along with any recommended contracts. Thus far the general goal of each mission has remained unchanged. in some cases you can remove a few parts to reduce the cost of each craft. I recommend you perform missions 1 to 4 before you look into accepting any of the part specific contracts. Many of these contracts cost you more money then they pay for completion so make sure you read all the conditions before you accept.

Mission 1, Capsule Integration Test

The first “mission†isn’t exactly a mission if the normal sense of the word. Think of it as a press event, KSP showing the world its brand new capsule, ready to reach for the stars. If that doesn’t suit you then you can think of it as an engineering integration test. This test will ensure that many of the capsule subsystems function as expected before we put any kerbals in mortal danger. It will also teach you how to send data, perform an EVA and recover a craft without any time constraints, or any need to rush. I'll also try and get you to use some of the new features of 0.23 in an attempt to make a good beta tester out of you. As a software engineer by trade I can't tell you how important good beta testing is to the process of making software better.

Craft Cost:

$1,322

Contracts:

None

Required Tech:

Start with a Command Pod Mk1

Add a Mk16 Parachute to the top, we don't actually need this part but we do want to make it look real for the press.

Add a Communotron 16 to the side, if you want to adjust the angle of the antenna you can do so by pressing SHIFT+W or SHIFT+S.

You don’t need to worry about any staging setup, or use any of the new tweakable parts.

You don’t need any engines or fuel tanks. Like I said, this is just a press event / capsule test.

Once the craft is built find a willing young applicant, as this mission is far too trivial for a national hero like Jeb. Thomvin looks like a suitable candidate to me.

Press the launch button at the top right of the screen when you are ready to proceed.

Press the space bar once to start the test. You may hear an engine start sound, despite the fact there is no engine.

Right click on the capsule, and select “Crew Reportâ€Â

Press “Transmit Dataâ€Â, this will test our transmission system and ensure that no-one wired it back to front. (And because crew reports can be transmitted with 100% efficiency, so there is no loss for the transmission) You should see the antenna extend, and some text at the top left of the screen to show the progress of the transmission.

Move the mouse down to the little picture of Thomvin and click on the EVA button. Just to make sure the door works from the inside too. Your kerbal should now be hanging onto the capsule for dear life.

EDIT: While holding onto the ladder you can perform an EVA report and it should read "While flying over Kerbin's shores". You will need to keep the data. Right click on the capsule and select "Store Experiments".

Press the space bar to make him let go.

Walk around for a little bit, to get used to the controls. You can always turn the camera around to see the scared look on his face.

Right click on your kerbal and perform an EVA report.

This time we will keep the report, the capsule doesn’t have enough power left to send it anyway.

Right click on your kerbal and collect a surface sample. Again we will keep the sample. Notice how this time the transmission value for the surface sample is much lower than the recovery value. Many of the experiments can’t be transmitted with 100% efficiency. This is to give you more incentive to recover your craft, instead of just making multiple transmissions.

Walk back to the capsule, press F to grab the door, and press F again to board the capsule.

Move the mouse up to the altimeter, and press the “Recover Vessel†button to complete the mission.

+1.5 Science, Crew Report from Launch Pad

+2.4 Science, EVA Report from Launch Pad

+9.0 Science, Surface Sample from Launch Pad

+5.6 Science, EVA Report while flying over Kerbin's shores (EDIT)

Recovered Craft Cost:

$1,322

+25 Reputation

You should now have enough science to unlock the first tech, and we didn’t even need to leave the ground, unless you jumped while EVA.

EDIT: If you want more science, you can always repeat this mission from the runway as well. Just rebuild your capsule in the spaceplane hanger.

+1.5 Science, Crew Report from Runway

+2.4 Science, EVA Report from Runway

+9.0 Science, Surface Sample from Runway

If you feel like a short walk, you can also walk just off the side of the runway and perform an EVA report and surface sample from KSC. You will have to store the "Runway" experiments in the capsule first. You can do this by right clicking on the capsule and pressing the "Store Experiments" button.

+2.4 Science, EVA Report from KSC

+9.0 Science, Surface Sample from KSC

Edited August 9, 2014 by bigalqld
Added Craft Costs

[Specialist290]

Looks like your pictures aren't displaying on my end.

[bigalqld]

Mission 2 (Flight Test)

In this test we are going to go on a short flight all the way to the upper atmosphere of Kerbin, and back down to the ground for a soft landing. We will also send some reports, look at some goo and do an EVA when we land.

If you haven’t done so already, please go to the R&D department and unlock “Basic Rocketryâ€Â.

If you are playing the new 0.24 career mode with contracts then please accept the contracts for "Launch a new vessel" and "Set altitude record of 5000m". The advance payment for these contracts will help to cover some of the costs of building this craft.

Note: Please be aware that the contracts are randomly / procedurally generated. Therefore you may have different contracts with different conditions which pay different amounts for their completion.

Craft Cost:

$6,247

Contracts:

Launch a new vessel

Set altitude record of 5000m

Required Tech:

Start with the capsule from Mission 1

Add 3 Mystery Goo Containment Units using 3 way symmetry to the side of the capsule. Press X to cycle through the symmetry options, SHIFT+X to cycle the other way. I attach the goo canisters from the back so that I can make sure it is in the middle. We don’t want to block the door of the capsule, then poor Thomvin wouldn’t be able to get out.

Add a TR-18A Stack Decoupler to the bottom of the capsule

Add a FL-T200 Fuel Tank, and a FL-T400 Fuel Tank to the bottom, you can place these two fuel tanks in any order.

Add a LV-T30 Liquid Fuel Engine to the bottom of the fuel tanks.

Right click on the engine and set the “Thrust Limiter†to about 60%. It doesn’t matter if you forget this step, the rocket can still complete the mission with 100% thrust. I just wanted to test out this new feature for the 0.23 release.

No, you don’t actually need this much fuel to reach the upper atmosphere. It will ensure that you do not land on one of the buildings at KSC, which seems to happen if you go straight up to only 20km and then come back down.

If you want to get obsessive about saving cost and weight, you can right click on the capsule and set the mono-propellent to zero. We don't need to use the RCS thrusters for these missions.

The staging should be setup as follows

Stage 0 Parachute

Stage 1 Decoupler

Stage 2 Engine

Assign your chosen kerbal, and press the launch button to proceed.

Don’t press the space bar, we want to do some science from the Launch Pad first.

Right click on one of the Goo Canisters, click the “Observe Mystery Gooâ€Â, keep the data.

Press T to enable the SAS to keep us flying straight up.

Hold SHIFT until the throttle is all the way up.

When you are ready, press the SPACE BAR and the rocket will launch.

The contract for "Launch a new vessel" will now be marked as complete. Yay, that covers the cost of this craft and gives you 5.0 free science.

At some point before you reach 18km you will need to right click on the capsule and send a crew report. You will also need to right click on one of the unused goo canisters to “Observe Mystery Gooâ€Â, keep the data.

At an altitude of approximately 20km the fuel will run out. When it does you should press the space bar to separate the capsule. Once separated press X to cut the throttle to zero, we don’t have any engines left at this stage.

When you are above 20km you will need to right click on the capsule and send another crew report. You can also observe the last mystery goo canister. You should have plenty of time as this craft will reach an altitude of 42km.

At some stage in your decent you will need to press the SPACE BAR to deploy the parachute. Using the default parachute settings it will semi-deploy below 23km, and fully deploy at 500m. You can press the SPACE BAR at any point from 40km down to 1km and the craft will survive.

You should land a short distance from KSC. I've run this mission a few times and all of the craft ended up within one hundred meters of each other.

Once you are back on the ground perform another crew report, this time you will have to keep the data as there isn’t enough power left for the transmission.

You can perform an EVA, and gather a surface sample. Then jump back in the capsule and recover your craft.

+3.0 Mystery Goo Observation from Launch Pad

+3.5 Crew Report while flying over kerbin’s shores

+7.0 Mystery Goo Observation while flying at Kerbin

+3.5 Crew Report while from Kerbin’s upper atmosphere

+7.0 Mystery Goo Observation from Kerbin’s upper atmosphere

+1.5 Crew Report from Kerbin’s Shores

+9.0 Surface Sample from Kerbin’s Shores

+2.4 EVA Report from Kerbin's Shores

+5.0 Recovery of a vessel that survived a flight.

+5.0 Completion of contract (Launch a new vessel)

Recovered Craft Cost:

$3,644.99

+25 Reputation

Contract Payment:

Launch a new vessel

$1835 + $4587

+11 Reputation

Set altitude record of 5000m

$459 + $2294

+11 Reputation

You should now have enough science to unlock a little bit more of the tech tree. If you are going to continue on to mission 3 you won't need to unlock anything at this stage.

You should also have access to quite a few more contracts.

If you want to repeat this mission you won’t need to perform the crew reports, I also recommend skipping the goo observation on the launch pad. Instead make the final goo observation from where you land.

+0.7 Mystery Goo Observation from Launch Pad (Option A)

+1.6 Mystery Goo Observation while flying at Kerbin

+1.6 Mystery Goo Observation from Kerbin’s upper atmosphere

+2.3 Surface Sample from Kerbin’s Shores

+0.8 Recovery of a vessel that survived a flight.

+3.0 Mystery Goo Observation from Kerbin’s Shores (Option

Edited August 9, 2014 by bigalqld
Added Craft Costs + Contracts

[LillePer]

Thank you very much for this. This is what I really needed.

Please continue the tutorial. I love it!

[bigalqld]

Mission 3

In this mission we are going to add some solid boosters to make it all the way into space.

Please accept the contract for "Escape the Atmosphere". If there is also a contract about setting an altitude record with a value of below 100,000m then you should accept it.

Note: Please be aware that the contracts are randomly / procedurally generated. Therefore you may have different contracts with different conditions which pay different amounts for their completion. The first time I ran career mode the contract for an altitude record of 56000m was not available.

Craft Cost:

$7,222

Contracts:

Escape the Atmosphere

Set altitude record of 56000m

Required Tech:

Start with the rocket from Mission 2

Add a 3 RT-10 Solid Fuel Boosters using 3 way symmetry to the lower stage of the rocket.

Add a MK16 Parachute to the top of each of the solid boosters. (Optional, I don't like the idea of solid boosters crashing into someone's house. This way they can land softly on top of someone's house.)

As of KSP version 0.24 I don't add the parachutes as they cost extra money. Additionally if you don't fit them you reach a higher altitude of 130km, and can perform an extra EVA in space above the grasslands.

Right click on one of the solid boosters and set the thrust limit to 38%. This will ensure the solid boosters run out of fuel at about the same time as the liquid engine. The thrust limit on the liquid engine should already be set to 60% from the previous mission.

The staging should be as follows

Stage 0 Parachute on the capsule

Stage 1 Decoupler, Parachute on the solid boosters

Stage 2 LV-T30 Engine, Solid boosters

Select your chosen kerbal and press the launch button to proceed.

Press T to enable SAS

Hold shift until the throttle reaches maximum

Press the SPACE BAR to launch.

At approximately 27 km, the fuel for the first stage will run out. The solid fuel runs out a second before the liquid fuel. Once both are empty you will need to press the SPACE BAR to separate.

Once you reach an altitude of approximalty 70km, you are in space near Kerbin. The music will change to let you know you are no longer in the atmosphere. Please send a crew report, and observe your 3 goo canisters. You will need to keep the data from the goo canisters. There should be plenty of time as this craft will reach 109km before it starts to fall back to Kerbin.

Note: When you are performing the Goo observation it will appear as if you will get 10 science for each canister, this is because you have not yet recovered any information about the goo in space. You will only get 10 science for the first one, the other two will give you less science when you recover the craft.

The contract for "Escape the Atmosphere" will now be marked as complete. 15 free science, and quite a large amount of money.

While you’re in space you can also perform an EVA. Be prepared to press F if your kerbal isn’t smart enough to hold onto the ladder. It can be quite a scary moment when you go EVA and you can see the craft slowly drift away. If you do happen to let go you will need to activate the jetpack by pressing R.

(SHIFT = up, CTRL = down, A = left, D = right, W = forward, S = back.) The directions are based on the current camera angle, your kerbal will become aligned with the camera as soon as you press R. Don’t try to move around too fast, little movements and a bit of patients tend to work best.

When you are safely on the ladder perform an EVA report and keep the data. Hop back in the capsule and enjoy your ride back to Kerbin.

Note: You can perform and keep the EVA reports from different conditions in the capsule. This includes an EVA while above different biomes. Eg If you are in space above Kerbin’s water, that is a different report to being in space above Kerbin’s grasslands, and you can have both in the capsule at the same time. At this stage you don’t need to worry about this, it will become more important once we reach orbit.

After the warm glow of re-entry subsides you will need to deploy the main parachute. Press the SPACE BAR between 7km and 1.5km. You should land safely in the grasslands to the west of KSC. Once there perform a crew report, keep the data.

EDIT: Go EVA, and generate an EVA report while holding onto the ladder, keep the data. Right click on the capsule and click the "Store Experiments" button.

Press the space bar to let go of the ladder. Generate another EVA report, keep the data. Take a surface sample, keep the data. Jump back in the capsule and you’re done.

+5.0 Science, Crew Report while in space near Kerbin

+10 Science, Mystery Goo Observation while in space near Kerbin

+2.3 Science, Mystery Goo Observation while in space near Kerbin

+0.5 Science, Mystery Goo Observation while in space near Kerbin

+8.0 Science, EVA Report from space just above Kerbin’s Shores

+8.0 Science, EVA Report from space just above Kerbin's Grasslands (Optional)

+1.5 Science, Crew Report from Kerbin’s Grasslands

+5.6 Science, EVA Report while flying over Kerbin's Grasslands (EDIT)

+2.4 Science, EVA Report from Kerbin’s Grasslands

+9.0 Science, Surface Sample from Kerbin’s Grasslands

+8.0 Science, Recovery of a vessel after a sub-orbital flight

+15.0 Science, Completion of Contract (Escape the Atmosphere)

Recovered Craft Cost:

$3,623.41

Note: You may notice that the recovered amount is slightly less than what was recovered in mission 2, despite the fact that both recovered craft are identical. This is because the recovery amount decrease the further you are from KSC.

Contract Payment:

Escape the Atmosphere

$9449 + $29528

+95 Reputation

Set an altitude record of 56,000m

$6614 + $33071

+213 Reputation

The only technology you are going to need for the next mission is “Survivabilityâ€Â. Although feel free to unlock any other tech you want and play with the new parts.

EDIT: If you want a little more science from this mission you can observe only 2 goo canisters in space, and leave the last one until you land in the grasslands. This will give you +3.0 instead of +0.5.

Edited August 9, 2014 by bigalqld
Added Craft Cost + Contracts

[Specialist290]

This looks like it's shaping up nicely

[bigalqld]

Mission 4 (High Space Test)

In this mission we are going to add a middle stage to our rocket and go even higher. The aim is to reach space high above Kerbin.

If you haven’t done so already, please go to the R&D department and unlock “Survivabilityâ€Â. The LV-909 engine is quite useful for the middle stage.

Craft Cost:

$8,797

Contracts:

None

Required Tech:

Start with the rocket from Mission 3

Separate the rocket after the decoupler.

Add a FL-T200 Fuel tank to the bottom of the decoupler

Add a LV-909 Liquid Fuel engine to the bottom of the fuel tank

Add a TR-18A Stack Decoupler to the bottom of the engine

Re-attach the lower rocket stage

The staging should be as follows

Stage 0 Parachute on the capsule

Stage 1 Decoupler on the capsule

Stage 2 LV-909 Engine, Decoupler on the LV-909, Parachute on the solid boosters

Stage 3 LV-T30 Engine, Solid boosters

Note: You don’t actually need a rocket of this size to reach “Space High Above Kerbinâ€Â, however if you only just reach 250km without any direction change you seem to come down in the mountains to the west of KSC. Mountains and parachutes don’t mix well. This rocket will reach approximately 365km, which will cause you to safely land over the other side of the mountains.

Select your chosen kerbal and press the launch button to proceed.

Press T to enable SAS

Hold shift until the throttle reaches maximum

Press the SPACE BAR to launch.

The rocket will lift of quite slowly, this was by design.

At approximately 21 km, the fuel for the first stage will run out. You will need to press the SPACE BAR to separate, and fire up the second stage.

The fuel for the second stage will run out at approximately 110 km. You will need to press the SPACE BAR to separate.

If you feel like going EVA during the ascent, sometimes you can perform an EVA report while above the grasslands. (223km to 250km.) This will depend on how straight your ascent was. If you went slightly west you will be above the grasslands, if you went slightly east you will still be above the shore. Don't stress if you are above the shore, we can always do the grasslands EVA on some future mission.

Once you reach an altitude above 250km, you are in space “high above†Kerbin. Please send a crew report, and observe your mystery goo. You will need to keep the data from the goo canisters. Please perform an EVA while in space high above Kerbin, this is NOT specific to any biomes, keep the report. Climb back in the capsule and enjoy your ride up to 365km.

If you want to speed up time, you can press the decimal point / dot / period key. Press the comma to slow down time again. You will want to be at normal speed before you get below 250km so that you can do another EVA.

On the way back down to Kerbin you can perform another EVA, possibly two. Depending on your ascent at an altitude of 250 to 245km you may be able to perform an EVA report above Kerbins mountains. If you went slightly to the west you will already be above the highlands, if you went slightly to the east you will be above the mountains. If you did get the EVA above the mountains then please right click on the capsule and press the "Store Experiments" button. This way you can then perform another EVA report over the highlands. Once you have the EVA over the highlands report please climb back in the capsule ready to return to Kerbin's surface.

After the warm glow of re-entry subsides you will need to deploy the main parachute. Press the SPACE BAR, I’ll let you judge the altitude this time. You should land safely in the highlands to the west of KSC. I have a flag planted at the end of the runway to make it easier to measure the distance to KSC. On this occasion I landed 68.5km from the runway, on the side of a small hill.

Once you have landed perform the usual crew report, EVA and surface sample.

EDIT: Remember to perform an EVA while holding onto the ladder to get "Flying over Kerbin's Highlands", keep the data.

+8.0 Science, EVA Report from space just above Kerbin’s Grasslands (Optional)

+5.0 Science, Crew report while in space high over Kerbin

+10.0 Science, Goo Observation from space high over Kerbin

+2.3 Science, Goo Observation from space high over Kerbin

+0.5 Science, Goo Observation from space high over Kerbin

+8.0 Science, EVA Report while in space high over Kerbin

+8.0 Science, EVA Report from space just above Kerbin’s Mountains (Optional)

+8.0 Science, EVA Report from space just above Kerbin’s Highlands

+1.5 Science, Crew Report from Kerbin’s Highlands

+5.6 Science, EVA Report while flying over Kerbin's Highlands (EDIT)

+2.4 Science, EVA Report from Kerbin’s Highlands

+9.0 Science, Surface Sample from Kerbin’s Highlands

+1.3 Science, Recovery of a vessel after a sub-orbital flight

Recovered Craft Cost

$3,506.4

+22.7 Reputation

If you want a little bit more science you can observe only 2 goo canisters in space high above Kerbin, and save the last one for when you land in the highlands. This will give you +3.0, instead of +0.5.

For the next mission you will need to unlock "Science Tech".

Edited August 9, 2014 by bigalqld
Added Craft Costs

[combat squirrel]

Excellently written, great tutorial - thanks

[celem]

Very nice guide, good screenshots.

You missed a trick on the very first 'PR' mission however. After hitting the EVA button, while the kerbal is hanging off the hatch, do an EVA report to get a 'while flying above kerbin's shores' result. You then right-click the command pod itself and hit 'store experiments' before letting go of the ladder and getting your pad EVA/sample. While this feels a bit cheesy (his feet are like 2 inches off the deck), its probably the only safe way to gather 'while flying above...' EVA reports. Trying these whilst actually flying will almost always result in the kerbal falling off. If you have a fast mouse-hand and/or some lag then you can also gather EVA while flying by jumping and filing a fast report.

This can be extended even further. You mentioned repeating from the SPH for the runway data (note the eva report hanging off the pod is the same on pad/runway; flying over shores). In addition to this if your kerbal leaves the pad/runway and steps onto the grass you can gather EVA reports/samples from 'KSC'. Going further than this involves some serious legwork for your kerbals and is generally not worth it.

You can also gather 'EVA report from Kerbin's Upper Atmosphere' on any of the flights after the first. This is a really dangerous bit of science to gather however as the kerbal can be blown off the ladder. I generally trip this one around 45km on a descent. Be FAST! Upper atmosphere may begin a bit lower than that, but higher is better when you got a guy hanging onto a ladder inside an atmosphere at MachX.

Regardless of the things I mentioned above, this is an excellent series of mission profiles to get the tech tree rolling.

Edited December 26, 2013 by celem

[bigalqld]

Mission 5 (Material Study)

If you haven't already done so please unlock “Science Techâ€Â. We are going to use the SC-9001 Science Jr to get a whole lot more science for the next mission.

Required tech:

Unfortunately the SC-9001 Science Jr doesn't really fit in with our existing rocket design, we will have to build this next rocket almost from scratch.

Start with the capsule from mission 1.

Add two of the SC-9001 Science Jr to the bottom of the capsule, on on top of the other.

Add a Mystery Goo Containment Unit to the back of the capsule, you can add more if you like but you're not going to get much extra science.

Enable 2 sided symmetry by pressing X

Add a FL-T400 Fuel Tank to each side of the lower Science Jr.

Add a SC-9001 Science Jr to the top of each fuel tank.

Add a Mk16 Parachute to the top the of the two Science Jr.

Add a LV-909 Liquid fuel engine to the bottom of each fuel tank

Add a LT-1 Landing Struts to each side of the fuel tank (Front and Back)

Right click on the landing struts and select “Deployed†and “Lock Suspensionâ€Â. You will need to do this for all 4 landing struts, the "Lock Suspension" is not automatically done by the symmetry. This step isn't required for the mission, but it does test that the new 0.23 tweakable landing gears function.

Right click on the parachute at the top of the capsule and changes its deployment height to 50m. This will save us a small amount of time when the craft is landing, and test the tweakable parachute.

The staging should be

Stage 0 All 3 parachutes

Stage 1 LV-909 Engines

Select your chosen Kerbal and press the launch button to continue.

Don't press the space bar, as we want to perform a materials study before we launch, we also want to play around with the landing gears to help up end up in the grasslands to the west.

Right click on the landing struts on the western side (left) of the craft, and select "UnLock Suspension". The craft should lean slightly to the west.

Right click on one of the Science Jr, and perform a materials study. Keep the data.

Press T to enable SAS

Throttle up, and press the SPACE BAR to launch.

Once you are in the air press G to retract your landing gears.

Using the A (Left) and D (Right) keys, point the craft 5 to 15 degrees towards the west. Please see the navigation ball below. You should only need to tap the A key a few times and you won't even need to disable SAS to perform this maneuver. Don't rush, you have plenty of time to get the craft pointing in the right direction. Don't stress if you don't end up pointing exactly west, if you're a little to the north or south that is ok. The main purpose of this maneuver is to cause us to land in the grasslands, where we can get a little more science than the shoreline.

At some point before you reach 18km, perform another materials study. Keep the data.

Once you are above 20km, perform another materials study. Keep the data.

The fuel will run out at approximately 21km

This craft should reach approximately 33km

Once you are below 18km, send a crew report. It should be “while flying above Kerbin’s grasslandsâ€Â.

Deploy the parachutes when you feel the time is right. Anywhere from 10km to 1km will suffice.

Press G to lower your landing gears

The two parachutes attached to the Science Jr should fully deploy first, the one on the capsule should deploy later.

Once you have landed, perform your last materials study, keep the data.

Observe the mystery goo, keep the data.

If you want a bit more science thanks to celem, you can go EVA, but don’t let go of the ladder. When you perform an EVA report it should say “While flying above Kerbin’s grasslands. If your Kerbal does happen to let go of the ladder then you will have to recover your Kerbal and Craft separately. Recover your Kerbal using the "Recover Vessel" button at the top of the screen. Then go to the "Tracking Station" and click on your craft from the list on the left side of the screen. Click on the "Recover" button at the bottom left of the screen. Its yellow and has a picture of a crane.

+7.5 Science, Materials Study from Launch Pad

+17.5 Science, Materials Study while flying at Kerbin

+17.5 Science, Materials Study from Kerbin's upper atmosphere

+3.5 Crew report while flying over Kerbin’s grasslands

+7.5 Science, Materials Study from Kerbin's grasslands

+3.0 Goo Observation from Kerbin’s grasslands

+5.6 EVA while flying over Kerbin's grasslands (optional)

You should now have enough science to have the whole first tier unlocked. For the next mission you are going to need "General Construction". Which can be access from either "General Rocketry" or "Stability".

Edited January 28, 2014 by bigalqld
Added Tech Tree

[bigalqld]

Thanks celem, I've added that extra bit of science to the first, third and fourth missions. +16.8 Science

I wouldn't recommend a beginner should try to perform an EVA while in Kerbin's upper atmosphere. If you don't wait until the correct altitude and time it right it can end in disaster.

[bigalqld]

Mission 6 (Orbit)

In this mission we will achieve a large milestone. Orbit around Kerbin. You will also perform a number of maneuvers to change your orbit. Plus we will complete any EVAs above Kerbin we may have missed earlier. If you haven’t been into orbit before now then I highly recommend you split this mission into two parts. This won’t give you a lot more science, but it will provide additional practice getting to orbit, changing your orbit, and re-entry from orbit. You can also have two craft in space at the same time.

If you haven’t done so already please unlock “General Constructionâ€Â, we are going to use the “TVR-1180C Mk1 Stack TriCoupler†to make the rocket look more streamlined. We are also going to use the TT-70 Radial Decoupler as it allows you to attach a radial stage over the top of the landing struts.

Required Tech:

Start with the capsule from Mission 1

Remove the parachute

Add a Mystery Goo Containment Unit to the back of the capsule.

Add a TVR-1180C Mk1 Stack Tri-Coupler to the bottom of the capsule. I rotate the tri-coupler 180 degrees so that the flat side lines up with the capsule door. This will be useful in later missions when a ladder is attached to the front to allow your kerbal to reach the ground.

Turn on 3 way symmetry

Attach a SC-9001 Science Jr to the bottom of the tri-coupler. I rotate the Science Jr by 90 degrees so that I can attach a parachute to the outer edge. You can physically add the parachute to where the doors open on the Science Jr, but it looks silly.

Add a Mk2-R Radial-Mount Parachute to the outer edge of the Science Jr

Add a FL-T400 Fuel Tank to the bottom of the Science Jr

Add a LV-909 Liquid Fuel Engine to the bottom of the fuel tank.

Add a LT-1 Landing Strut to the lower side of the outer edge of the fuel tank.

Turn off 3 way symmetry

Add a Z-100 Rechargable Battery Pack to the front side of the FL-T400 Fuel Tank only. One on the left fuel tank and one on the right fuel tank. These are to provide extra power for a long duration orbital mission. The will also counterbalance the single goo canister on the back of the capsule.

Time to add the first stage rockets

Turn on 3 way symmetry

Add a TT-70 Radial Decoupler to the side of the Fuel tank, over the top of the landing strut.

Add a FL-T400 Fuel Tank to the decoupler.

Add a Mk16 Parachute to the top of the fuel tank.

Add two FL-T400 Fuel Tanks to the bottom of the Fuel Tank.

Add a FL-T200 Fuel Tank to the bottom of the Fuel Tank.

Add a LV-T30 Liquid Fuel Engine to the bottom of the Fuel Tank.

Add an EAS-4 Strut Connector to the lowest FL-T400 fuel tank. This will keep the first stage nice and solid during the early launch phase.

Right click on the LV-T30 Engines and set the thrust limit to 80%

Closeup of the complicated bit

The staging should be

Stage 0 Radial Parachutes on 2nd stage craft

Stage 1 Decouplers, Mk16 Parachutes on 1st stage rockets, LV-909 Engines on 2nd stage craft

Stage 2 LV-T30 Engines on 1st stage

Note: I have run this mission using the first stage as above, and using only 3x FL-T400 Fuel Tanks per rocket, and using 4x FL-T400 Fuel tanks per rocket. All 3 craft get into orbit.

Select your chosen kerbal and press the launch button to continue

Right click on the capsule and click "Rename Vessel", I've called mine "Mission 6 (Orbit, Thomvin)" so that I tell the craft apart later on in mission when we have two in orbit.

Press T to enable SAS

Hold Shift until the throttle is at maximum

Press the SPACE BAR to launch

The fuel for the first stage will run out at approximately 30km. Press the space bar to separate and fire up the second stage.

Turn you craft 45 degrees to the east as shown on the navigation ball below. You may need to press T to disable SAS for a faster turn, just remember to press T again once you are done so that it doesn’t veer of course.

Note: The reason we turn to the east is because that is the direction of Kerbin’s rotation. This way we get 174.5m/s for free. You can use this same technique to go into orbit in any direction you like, it will just use up more fuel.

Press the M key to switch to the orbital map view. You need to watch the height of the Ap (Apoapsis). This is the point in your orbit where you are the furthest distance from the object that you are orbiting. When it gets to 150km please press the X key to cut your engines.

You will now need to setup a manoeuvre node for the orbital burn. Left click on the Ap and some funny looking symbols will pop up.

The “Prograde†and “Retrograde†have the greatest effect 180 degrees from the burn. A prograde burn will raise the altitude of the other side of the orbit. A retrograde burn will lower the altitude of the other side of the orbit.

The “Radial In†and “Radial Out†have the greatest effect 90 degrees from the burn. These will rotate the orbital plane around the point of the burn when looking from above. If you are moving in an anticlockwise orbit a radial in burn will move the orbital plane in an anti-clockwise direction and a radial out burn will move the orbital plane in a clockwise direction. To think of it another way, if you burn radial in it will tighten the side that you are moving towards and extend the side you just came from. Most of the time you don’t need to use a radial burn.

The “Normal†and “Anti-normal†have the greatest effect 90 degrees from the burn. These will rotate the orbital plane around the point of the burn when looking at it from the side. A normal burn will tilt the side you are going towards up, while an anti-normal burn will tilt the side you are going towards down. They are used to great effect when you need to change the inclination of your orbit, eg when you want to go to Minmus to taste its minty goodness.

Please take a look at the wiki if you want more information.

http://wiki.kerbalspaceprogram.com/wiki/Maneuver_node

For this node you will need to left click and drag the prograde symbol. This will add velocity in the direction you are traveling, otherwise known as a prograde burn. You want to drag this until the Pe (Perapsis) is visible on the other side of Kerbin. This is the point in your orbit where you are the closest distance to the object you are orbiting. The target altitude for the Pe is approximately 120km. I then adjust the Radial In / Radial Out in order to place the Pe where I want it, on the opposite side of Kebin. Radial In to move it clock wise, Radial out to move it anti-clockwise. You can then re-adjust the Prograde / Retrograde to make sure the Pe is still at 120km.

Press M to exit map view. The navigation ball will now tell you how long you have until this node occurs “Node in T -1m, 49s“, how long you need to burn “Est Burn: 1m, 20s“ and in what direction you need to burn. Turn your craft to point in the direction of the blue maneuver prograde symbol. When the node time is about 2/3 of the estimated burn time you should start the burn. I started my burn at T - 55s. Hold shift until the throttle reaches maximum power. The Delta V indicator should start to drop. When this is close to zero press X to cut your engines. At this stage close to zero is anything under 50m/s.

Congratulations, you should now be in orbit above Kerbin. Everyone at KSC can now stop holding their breath and celebrate.

Now it is time to clean up that orbit. Press M to switch to orbital map view. Left click on the node, right click on the node, then left click on the red X to remove the node. Left click on the Ap wherever it ended up, mine is never where I planned for it to be. And adjust the prograde / retrograde until the Pe is 120km. This should require only a small burn. Align your craft and wait for the node time. You can speed up time if you like. Just remember to slow it down to normal before your node occurs. Time will NOT be slowed back down for you. For this burn you will not need to use full throttle. A few taps of the shift key should be enough. Press X when the delta V is low enough for your liking.

Once the maneuver is complete you can remove the node, and do some science. Press M to go back to craft view. Right click on one of the Science Jr, and perform a material study, keep the data.

Now we will raise the Ap so that we can perform some science high above Kerbin. Left click on the Pe and adjust the prograde / retrograde until the Ap is approximatly 300km. Anything above 250km is ok, 300km just gives you plenty of time to perform your science. You will need to wait about half an orbit before this node occurs. 17 minutes for me. You could speed up time, or you could go and tell everyone else in the house that you made it to orbit, and “You are the bestest rocket scientist ever!â€Â

Align your craft and perform the burn when the time is right. Again you shouldn’t need to use full throttle. 1/3 throttle worked for me. You will then have some time to wait until you are in space high above Kerbin, about half an orbit. Once there please perform a materials study and keep the data.

We will now drop the Ap back to an altitude considered space near kerbin. Click on your Pe and drag the retrograde until the Ap is about 200km. (Anything under 250km will do) Again you will have to wait for half an orbit for this node.

Once the maneuver is complete its time to go EVA and report from space just above any biomes we missed earlier. For an equatorial orbit you should cross the following biomes. Water, Shores, Grasslands, Highlands, Mountains and Deserts. Ensure you perform an EVA report above each to make sure you have them all. Climb back in the capsule when you are done.

This is where I’m going to split this mission. In Part B we will launch a second craft and put it into an inclined orbit for some more EVA reports. Then we will attempt to land one craft in the desert, and one craft at the ice caps.

Press the ESC key and return to the “Space Centerâ€Â.

Edited January 28, 2014 by bigalqld

[bigalqld]

Mission 6 (Part

Now it is time to start up part B of this mission. Go to the rocket hanger and load up the mission 6 craft again. You are also going to need another Kerbal as Thomvin is already living the dream in orbit.

Rodin in the new guy, and he gets to make the first night launch.

Once on the launch pad, please right click on the capsule and select “Rename Vesselâ€Â. I’ve called mine “Mission 6 (Orbit, Rodin)†so that I can tell the two craft apart when in space.

Please follow the same launch process as you did for part A, except you want to turn to the north instead.

Launch, turn 45 degrees north after separation, cut the engines when Ap is 150km, setup orbital node, perform orbital burn, clean up the orbit so that Pe is at 120km and Ap is approximately 150km to 200km.

By turning north we will now be in a heavily inclined orbit. Mine is 75 degrees from equatorial. The aim is to fly over the biomes of Tundra, and Ice Caps.

This view is of the northern ice cap.

Just to be sure I’m going to incline my orbit further. Left click on your orbit where it crosses the equator and create a new node. You may notice the orbit of the Part A craft in white. I’m using that as my equator reference. For this node you will need to drag the Normal / Anti-Normal. If you are going from the southern hemisphere to the northern hemisphere at your node you will need to drag the Normal, if you are traveling from the northern hemisphere to the southern hemisphere then you will need to drag the Anti-normal.

Depending on how far you dragged the Normal / Anti-Normal you may need to add some retrograde to keep the Ap below 250km. When setting up this node please try to keep the Delta V under 350m/s, as we don’t have a lot of spare fuel. Remember you don’t need to go directly over the poles. Just over the ice caps will suffice.

Once you’re in an inclined orbit over the poles you can go EVA and generate a report from space over the Ice Caps and the Tundra. This is the land area just below the ice caps. From this orbit you can fly over all of the biomes of Kerbin, although only the Tundra and Ice Caps are left over from Part A of the mission.

Now that the EVAs are complete we can perform another set of Material studies. Please perform one in space near Kerbin. Then raise your Ap to above 250km and perform a material study from space high above Kerbin. I have 39.23 Fuel left in the tanks before raising my orbit. It will take about 6 to adjust my orbit to reach space high above Kerbin, and about 25 to land at the ice caps. Feel free to skip this step if you’re ready to land, or think you may be cutting it a bit close. The extra material study is only worth 5.5 science. Notice how the prograde and retrograde burns have the same effect even though the orbit is inclined. You don’t need to bring your Ap back down as we have already performed the EVA.

Press the M key to enter orbital map view. Left click on the first craft "Mission 6 (Orbit, Thomvin)" and click “Switch Toâ€Â.

Note: You can land the craft in any order, but switching craft is just another feature we haven’t tested yet. Please be aware that any nodes are lost when you switch between craft.

You should now be in the first craft, with brave Thomvin. This is the craft we would like to land in the desert. I have chosen the desert because it’s a biome we haven’t been to yet. Therefore we can get a little bit more science from this mission.

Left click on the orbit about 60 to 90 degrees before the desert. Add a retrograde node such that the dotted line intersects Kerbin just beyond the far side of the desert. You may want to adjust this node as you get closer to it is as Kerbin will rotate. The adjustment will be made in the prorade direction.

The red x marks where I should have aimed, I did still end up in the desert but it was quite a bit further to the west than I expected.

Note: As Kerbin has an atmosphere we will not land at that point, we will land well to the west of that point. Also Kerbin will rotate a bit before we get there, causing us to land even further to the west. The desert is quite wide so even with these errors in our navigation we should still end up somewhere in the desert.

Perform this burn when the time is right. Then wait for the craft to fall out of orbit. After the glow of re-entry has passed and you are ready, deploy the parachutes by pressing the SPACE BAR and press G to lower the landing gears. Send a crew report before you land, it should read “while flying over Kerbin’s desertsâ€Â.

Once you are safely on the ground send another crew report, perform the last material study and observe the goo. Then go EVA and generate an EVA report while holding onto the ladder. Store the EVA report back in the capsule. Let go of the ladder and fall to the ground with a thud. Perform an EVA report and collect a surface sample.

Unfortunately we don’t have a ladder to allow us to climb back up to the capsule. We will defiantly have to speak to the guys over at KSC about that small oversight. You will have to recover your Kerbal and craft separately. Click the “Recover Vessel†button to recover your Kerbal. Go to the “Tracking Station†and select your craft on the left side of the screen. Click the “Recover Vessel†button.

Can you see how far to the west I ended up? I still need more practice before i'll be able to chose my landing sites. Right now I'm quite happy to be able to land in the correct biome.

From the left please click on Rodin's mission 6 craft, and click the fly button. The aim for this craft is to land in the ice caps. Click on the orbit about 60 to 90 degrees before the chosen ice cap, north or south it is up to you. Add a retrograde node such that the dotted line intersects Kerbin about 5 degrees beyond the far side of the ice cap.

The red x marks where I should have aimed, this time I overshot and ended up in the tundra. This wasn't a complete loss as its another biome I had yet to visit. So I ended up with the same amount of science.

Perform this burn when the time is right. Then wait for the craft to fall out of orbit. After the glow of re-entry has passed and you are ready, deploy the parachutes by pressing the SPACE BAR and press G to lower the landing gears. Send a crew report before you land, it should read “while flying over Kerbin’s ice capsâ€Â.

I overshot the ice cap and ended up in the tundra, notice the white ice in the distance.

Once you are safely on the ground/ice send another crew report, perform the last material study and observe the goo. Then go EVA and generate an EVA report while holding onto the ladder. Store the EVA report back in the capsule. Let go of the ladder and fall to the ground with a thud. Perform an EVA report and collect a surface sample.

Again, we don’t have a ladder to get back into the capsule. Thomvin has already had a quiet word about this problem. Recover your kerbal and craft as before.

Part A (Thomvin)

+25.0 Science, Material Study from space near Kerbin

+25.0 Science, Material Study from space high over Kerbin

+8.0 Science, EVA Report from space just above Kerbin’s water

+8.0 Science, EVA Report from space just above Kerbin’s shores (Already done in Mission 3)

+8.0 Science, EVA Report from space just above Kerbin’s grasslands (Optional from Mission 4)

+8.0 Science, EVA Report from space just above Kerbin’s highlands (Already done in Mission 4)

+8.0 Science, EVA Report from space just above Kerbin’s mountains (Optional from Mission 4)

+8.0 Science, EVA Report from space just above Kerbin’s deserts

+3.5 Science, Crew report while flying above Kerbin’s deserts

+1.5 Science, Crew report from Kerbin’s deserts

+7.5 Science, Material Study from Kerbin’s deserts

+3.0 Science, Mystery Goo observation from Kerbin’s deserts

+5.6 Science, EVA report while flying above Kerbin’s deserts

+2.4 Science, EVA report from Kerbin’s deserts

+9.0 Science, Surface sample from Kerbin’s deserts

+10 Science, Kerbin Orbital Craft

Craft A had 43.77 Fuel left when landed on Kerbin

Part B (Rodin)

+5.5 Science, Material Study from space near Kerbin

+5.5 Science, Material Study from space high above Kerbin

+8.0 Science, EVA Report from space just above Kerbin’s tundra

+8.0 Science, EVA Report from space just above Kerbin’s ice caps

+3.5 Science, Crew report while flying above Kerbin’s ice caps

+1.5 Science, Crew report from Kerbin’s ice caps

+7.5 Science, Material Study from Kerbin’s ice caps

+3.0 Science, Mystery Goo observation from Kerbin’s ice caps

+5.6 Science, EVA report while flying above Kerbin’s ice caps

+2.4 Science, EVA report from Kerbin’s ice caps

+9.0 Science, Surface sample from Kerbin’s ice caps

+1.7 Science, Kerbin Orbital Craft

Craft B had 7.23 Fuel left when landed on Kerbin

The plan for the next mission is to send one craft on a flyby of the Mun. I recommend you unlock “Fuel Systems†so that we have access to the FTX-2 External Fuel Duct.

Edited January 1, 2014 by bigalqld

[LillePer]

Thanks for your continued effort! Your guides are very detailed and easy to follow. I enjoy them very much, and they have taught me more about this game than most other guides. Thank you so much. Happy New Year's!

[bigalqld]

Mission 7 (Flyby high over the mun)

For this next mission we are going to perform a flyby of the Mun. I recommend you try for a far/high above flyby of the Mun on your first attempt, and then repeat the mission later aiming for a close flyby. Once in space high over the Mun we will perform our usual science, Material Study, Goo, Crew Reports and EVA. You can use the same mission with a slight change to the rocket to also perform a flyby of Minmus.

If you haven’t done so already please unlock "Advanced Rocketry" and “Fuel Systemsâ€Â, we will use the FTX-2 External Fuel Duct to make the craft a little bit more efficient. We will also add a bit more fuel so that you don’t need to perform a free-return flyby of the Mun.

Please load the mission 6 craft.

Remove the batteries, and add one to the top of the capsule.

Remove the goo canister, and add two to the capsule using 2 way symmetry. If you want you can add 3 like we did in previous missions. But the extra science (+1.6) isn’t worth much.

Turn on 3 way symmetry

Remove the LV-909 engines from the 2nd stage.

Add a FL-T100 (Mun) or a FL-T200 (Minmus) to the bottom of the existing fuel tank.

Add a LV-909 Liquid Fuel Engine to the bottom of the fuel tank

Move the LT-1 Landing struts down

Add a FTX-2 External Fuel Duct from the top of the first stage fuel tank to the 2nd stage fuel tank.

Make sure you click on the stage 1 fuel tank, and then the stage 2 fuel tank. The arrows will show the direction the fuel will flow.

Remove the bottom FL-T200 Fuel tank and LV-T30 engine from the first stage

Add a FL-T400 Fuel tank to the bottom

Add a LV-T30 Liquid Engine to the bottom

Move the EAS-4 Strut Connector down to the last FL-T400 Fuel tank.

EDIT: As you already have access to the FL-T800 fuel tank, feel free to replace the 4x FL-T400 Tanks with 2x FL-T800 Tanks. It won't change the performance of the rocket, but the black stripes up the side will look more snazzy.

Right click on the LV-T30 and set the thrust limit to 74%.

Change the staging of the LV-909 so that they turn on at launch.

The staging should be

Stage 0 Radial Parachute on the 2nd Stage

Stage 1 Decouplers, Parachutes on the 1st Stage

Stage 2 All engines

The external fuel duct will allow the LV-909 engines to use the fuel in the stage 1 tanks first, before they will use the fuel in the stage 2 tanks. This way we will have all 6 engines working straight from launch. This is why we can add more weight, and turn down the thrust on the LV-T30 engines. Additionally the LV-909 engines are more fuel efficient, so we are using less fuel to do the same job.

Select your chosen kerbal and press the launch button to proceed.

Press T to enable SAS

Hold shift until the throttle reaches maximum

Press the SPACE BAR to launch

The fuel for the first stage will run out at 31km (Mun) or 28km (Minmus). Press the SPACE BAR to separate.

Turn 45 degrees to the east.

Switch to your orbital map. (M)

Cut the engines when your Ap reaches 150 (X)

Setup the node to get the Pe to 120km to 150km

Perform the orbital burn when the time until node is 2/3 of the estimated burn time

Now to align our orbital plane with that of the Mun. This step is optional as the Mun’s orbit is not very inclined, it has a large SOI (Sphere of Influence) and it is quite close. Left click on the Mun and select “Set as Targetâ€Â. You will notice two additional symbols. AN and DN. These are the Ascending Node and the Descending Node. These are the two points where your orbital plane crosses the Mun’s orbital plane. The Ascending Node is where you go from below the Mun’s orbital plane to above it. To align your orbit you will need to perform a Normal / Anti-Normal burn at one of these nodes. Normal for the descending node, Anti-normal for the acending node. This step will be more important when trying to get to Minmus as its orbital plane is inclined by over 6 degrees.

Mun

Minmus

Adjust the orbital view so that the Mun is at the top of the screen. Left click on your orbit approximately 90 degrees clockwise from the Mun. (120 degrees clockwise for Minmus) Drag the prograde and you should see an encounter with the Mun. There are many different ways you can flyby the Mun, any will be suitable for this mission. Please be aware that while you are in the SOI of the Mun your orbit around Kerbin will be changed. As Minmus has less gravity its effect on your orbit will be reduced.

If you flyby on the close side, the Mun will pull you in the Radial Out direction.

If you flyby on the far side, the Mun will pull you in the Radial In direction.

If you flyby on the trailing side, the Mun will pull you in the Prograde direction.

If you flyby on the leading side, the Mun will pull you in the Retrograde direction.

Sorry, I was unable to get a picture of a retrograde pass of the Mun.

For this mission I’m aiming for a flyby on the close side of the Mun at between 1 million meters and 1.5 million meters. That should give me plenty of time to do science without my orbit being changed too much. For this craft the burn to get out to the Mun requires 110 Fuel for approximately 814m/s change in velocity. If you have over 120 fuel, you can flyby the Mun. If you have over 135 fuel, you can flyby Minmus. Perform your burn when the time is right and then sit back and watch the Mun get bigger.

Now you have a few hours to wait until your craft reaches the Mun. You can speed up time, or get to work on launching your “Near Mun†rocket. I’ve hired two more applicants and launched all 4 missions at once. Feel free to run these missions at your own pace. I didn’t start out by trying to run 4 flyby missions at once.

Once you enter the SOI of the Mun your orbit line will change, now it is referenced relative to the Mun, not relative to Kerbin.

Please send a crew report, perform your 3 Material Studies and 2 Goo Observations. Keep the Data. Go EVA and generate the EVA report, keep the data. Now you can jump back in the capsule.

Once you have completed your science, it is time to try to fix up your orbit to return to Kerbin. I’m not going to do anything as my encounter was only radial out, which is the main reason I aimed for that kind of encounter. If you’re not going to be within 200km of Kerbin on your way back home try playing around with some nodes to see what works and what doesn’t. In my “Near Mun (Part †mission adding a node at the Mun’s Pe and draging prograde caused a burn in the Kerbin retrograde direction. The fallback node is at the Kerbin Ap, with a burn in the retrograde direction. You are aiming for a Kebin Pe of under 250km. We will worry about setting up the aerobrake once we are on our way back to Kerbin.

When you are about half way back to Kerbin its time to setup the aerobrake. This is where we fly through some of Kerbin’s atmosphere to help us slow down, but not so much that we break things. I aim for between 36km and 40km. Anything from 32km to 65km will work. The closer to the surface you go the thicker the atmosphere and the more drag. Please be aware that at 36km you can rip off solar panels, especially if you accidentally left them extended. Add a node about half way from the Mun to Kerbin. You should only need to drag the Radial In a little bit.

After one pass though the atmosphere at an altitude of 40km my Kerbin Ap was dropped from 11,000km to 2,400km. It you want to choose where to land, like in mission 6 then you should raise your Kerbin Pe to about 42km after the first orbit, then higher again after the second orbit. These adjustments will be a tiny prograde burn at the Kerbin Ap. After the 3rd or 4th orbit you should be ready to spot your landing site just like you did at the end of mission 6.

You already know how to do the rest (land and recover your craft), so I'll let you get to it.

Edited January 28, 2014 by bigalqld
Add Tech Tree

[bigalqld]

Mission 7, Part A (Far Mun)

This is the node I used to get to space high over the mun. After the node I had 42.4 Fuel left on my way out to the Mun.

+75, Material Study High above the Mun

+16.4, Material Study high over the Mun

+3.6, Material Study high over the Mun

+30, Goo observation high over the Mun

+6.9, Goo observation high over the Mun

+15, Crew Report high over the Mun

+24, EVA report high over the Mun

+12, Recovery of a vessel after a flyby of the Mun

Mission 7, Part B (Near Mun)

This is the node I used to get to space near the mun. After the node I had 38.6 Fuel left on my way out to the Mun.

Space near the Mun is anything closer than 50km. Your orbit is going to be changed quite a bit when you are this close to the Mun. Don’t stress as we should have enough fuel to get back to Kerbin safely. Just try not to get thrown out past Minmus’s orbit or you may have to wait a while to get back home.

The EVA while in space near the Mun are biome specific. Just get the ones you happen to pass over. I passed over midlands, highlands and eastern crater. Later on you can send a craft into orbit around the Mun to collect the EVA reports over the other biomes. The following is the biome link in the KSP wiki, in case you want to know where they are or what they are called.

http://wiki.kerbalspaceprogram.com/wiki/Biome

+75, Material Study in space near the Mun

+16.4, Material Study in space near the Mun

+3.6, Material Study in space near the Mun

+30, Goo observation in space near the Mun

+6.9, Goo observation in space near the Mun

+15, Crew Report in space near the Mun

+24, EVA report just over some biome of the Mun (Optional)

+2, Recovery of a vessel after a flyby of the Mun

Mission 7, Part C (Far Minmus)

This is the node I used to get to space high above Minmus. After the node I had 28.2 Fuel left on my way out to Minmus.

Ensure that you match the inclination of Minmus’s orbit before you try to get an encounter. Minmus has a much smaller SOI, so it may take a little bit more effort to get an encounter. The gravity of Minmus is much smaller than the Mun so you don’t have to worry about what kind of encounter you get, anything will suffice.

+100, Material Study High above Minmus

+21.9, Material Study high over Minmus

+4.8, Material Study high over Minmus

+40, Goo observation high over Minmus

+9.2, Goo observation high over Minmus

+20, Crew Report high over Minmus

+32, EVA report high over Minmus

+15, Recovery of a vessel after a flyby of Minmus

Mission 7, Part D (Near Minmus)

This is the node I used to get to space near Minmus. After the node I had 33.2 Fuel left on my way out to Minmus. I had to make a trajectory adjustment in order to get to space "near" Minmus.

It is almost impossible to get a close encounter from Kerbin’s orbit. Just get any encounter and then adjust your trajectory once you pass the Mun’s orbit. Setup a node around the Mun’s orbit. You should only have to adjust the Radial In / Radial Out a small amount to achieve a close encounter. Space near Minmus is anything closer than 30km.

Note: Don’t go below about 6km, or you may crash into the highlands.

The EVA while in space near Minmus are biome specific. Just get the ones you happen to pass over. I passed over Midlands, Slopes, Lowlands, Highlands. Later on you can send a craft into orbit around Minmus to collect the EVA reports over the other biomes.

+100, Material Study in space near Minmus

+21.9, Material Study in space near Minmus

+4.8, Material Study in space near Minmus

+40, Goo observation in space near Minmus

+9.2, Goo observation in space near Minmus

+20, Crew Report in space near Minmus

+32, EVA report just over some biome of Minmus (Optional)

+2.5, Recovery of a vessel after a flyby of Minmus

If you complete all 4 parts of this mission you will have another 830 science, enough to unlock quite a few more technologies. It is entirely up to you what you choose to unlock. We already have enough technology to be able to get to the Mun and Minmus. With an updated rocket design we can also land, and bring a surface sample back to Kerbin.

Solar Panels are good when you want to run long duration missions as batteries get heavy quite quickly.

Reaction Wheels are good when you want to make bigger rockets but still want to control them.

Ladders are good if you want to land, and then get back in your craft. They aren't "needed" for a landing on Minmus or the Mun as you can jump and use your jetpack to get back up to the capsule.

Temperature Sensor, Seismic Sensor, Pressure Sensor and Gravity Sensor are all good to get you more science. Just be aware that each sensor has a specific use and may not function in other locations. Eg the pressure sensor doesn't work in a vacuum, so its useless for the Mun or Minmus. The seismic sensor only works when you are landed on the surface, so not much use for a flyby or orbital mission.

[Sirine]

Push this thread up to the sky!

Best Beginner guide ever!

[Specialist290]

I agree. I'd say this is complete and comprehensive enough to have earned a spot on the Drawing Board

[Semtex89]

Great tutorial, wish this had been available when I started out

[bigalqld]

Mission 8

For this next mission we are going to land on Minmus, do some science, and then fly back home to Kerbin. Why Minmus and not the Mun you ask? Well that is because it has far less gravity, and some nice big flat spots to land on. Having less gravity means we need less fuel to slow down and land, and less fuel to take off. The lower gravity also means you have more time to think and maneuver as you are coming in to land. It has also been given the biome treatment as of 0.23 so we may as well check that out.

Required Tech:

No, I don't expect that you have enough science to unlock the tech highlighted in Blue. These will either make future repeats of this mission easier, or give you more science when repeating this mission. Mk1 Lander can will make it easier. Seismic sensor and gravity sensor will give you more science when you repeat this mission.

We are going to use the second stage of the mission 6 craft as the base for this mission. We will start by making a sub-assembly to use as the first two stages. You can build this craft without using a sub-assembly but it will make sure everything lines up nice a straight.

Go to the rocket hanger and create a new design.

Start with any form of capsule / probe.

Add a FL-T400 to the bottom

Add a FL-T800 to the bottom

Add a LV-T30 to the bottom

Set the thrust limit to 70%

Turn on 2 way symmetry

Add a TT-38K Radial Decoupler to the front, about half way down the FL-T800.

Add a FL-T800 to the decoupler. These FL-T800 fuel tanks should sit a little bit lower than the middle one.

Add a FL-T200 to the top.

Add a LV-T30 to the bottom.

Turn off symmetry

Add a AV-R8 Winglet to the left side only

Don’t worry about any staging right now

Disconnect the assembly after the capsule and put it in the “Sub Assemblyâ€Â

I’ve called mine “M8 Liquid Boosterâ€Â

Note: When we attach this assembly using a radial decoupler. The chosen snap face is the right side. I have no idea why, but it is always the same. This is why we created this assembly from the side, and not the front.

Now open the mission 6 craft

Remove the batteries, and goo canister

Remove all of the first stage fuel tanks and engines. Please keep the TT-70 Radial Decoupler as we will attach the new assembly to it later.

Add a Z-100 Battery or an OX-STAT solar panel to the top of the capsule.

Add 2 temperature sensors to the back of the capsule. (Optional +72 Science)

Turn on 2 way symmetry

Add a goo canister to each side of the capsule. (Optional +61.5 Science)

Turn on 3 way symmetry

Attach the sub assembly we created earlier to the TT-70 Radial Decoupler.

Add a fuel duct from the FL-T400 fuel tank on the sub assembly to the FL-T400 fuel tank on the final stage.

Add an EAS-4 Strut Connector to the middle tanks on the sub assembly.

The staging should be

Stage 0 Parachutes on the final stage

Stage 1 TT-70 Decouplers

Stage 2 TT-38K Decouplers, LV-909 Engines, Middle LV-T30 Engines

Stage 3 Outer LV-T30 Liquid engines on the sub assembly. (6 Engines in Total)

If you want to add any parachutes to the top of the 1st or 2nd stage rockets, feel free. They aren’t exactly required for this mission and leaving them off makes the staging lines a lot less complicated.

Select your chosen Kerbal and click the launch button.

Press T to enable SAS

Hold shift until the throttle is at maximum

Press the space bar to launch

The fuel for the outer boosters will run out at 11.4km, press the spare bar to separate and fire up the next stage.

Turn 45 degrees to the east when you reach an altitude of 30km. The turn does take a while as the craft is still quite large at this point in time. Don’t worry it you turn more than 45 degrees. Anything from 60 to 30 degrees will be ok.

Change to the orbital map and wait until your Ap is 150km. Then press X to cut your engines.

Setup the node so that your Pe is 120 to 150km.

Change back to craft view. This time you want to start the orbital burn when the time to node is equal to the burn time. Your next stage will run out part way though this orbital burn which will reduce your thrust to weight ratio. Therefore the estimated time will be less than the time it will actually take to perform the burn. Press the Space bar when the outer stage runs out of fuel.

Note: When this stage runs out of fuel the last stage will already be burning. The longer you leave the extra dead weight, the more fuel you will waste.

(377 fuel left in Kerbin orbit)

I'm adding these notes about how much fuel I have left, just to give you an idea of how much fuel each of these steps take. Don't stress if you don't have as much fuel left as I do, as I returned to Kerbin with about 40 still left in the tanks.

Align your orbit with Minmus. Normal / Anti-Normal burn at the Ascending / Descending node.

(334 fuel left in Aligned Orbit)

Setup a node get an encounter with Minmus, any encounter will do. Perform the burn when the time is right. (2/3 of the estimated burn time)

(174 fuel left on the way out to Minmus)

Once you are past the Mun’s orbit / half way to Minmus, perform a course correction to get your Minmus Pe between 50km and 250km. If your resulting orbit is inclined you can use the Normal / Anti-normal to correct it.

Once you enter Minmus’s SOI you will need to setup a node at the Pe, to circularize your orbit.

(144 fuel left in Minmus orbit)

If you want to use your temperature sensor, or collect any EVA you may have left over you will need to drop your orbit to less than 30km. From an equatorial orbit you should pass over Slopes, Lowlands, Midlands, Highlands, Lesser Flats, Great Flats and Greater Flats. (Optional +32 Science for each EVA, +32 Science for a single Temperature reading)

(138 fuel left in low Minmus orbit)

Note: The temperature sensor does NOT do anything when you are in space “high aboveâ€Â. It has only a single reading when in space “nearâ€Â, eg not biome specific. The temperature sensor is biome specific when landed on the surface. Please perform 1 temperature reading in space “near Minmusâ€Â. We will save the other sensor for the surface.

Once you have had enough orbiting you can choose a place to land. I would recommend one of the large flat areas. If the chosen area is NOT in daylight then speed up time and wait in orbit until it is. Night landings are quite a bit more stressful, and we didn’t fit any landing lights to this craft.

Add a node 20 to 60 degrees before the area you want to land. Drag the retrograde until it intersects a few degrees beyond where you want to land. The rotation of Minmus will cause your landing location to be to the west of this point.

Switch to craft view and change the navigation ball to “surface†mode. You can do this by clicking on the grey area where it says “Orbitâ€Â.

Once you are over the flats, you want to burn in such a way that your lateral velocity goes close to zero. This way you will be falling straight down. To do this you want to point your craft to the horizon directly under the “retrograde†symbol on your navigation ball. It should be approximately 270 degrees if you were orbiting around the equator.

Burn until the retrograde symbol disappears over the top of the navball.

Then point your craft 30-45 degrees above the horizon in line with the retrograde symbol, and burn again. By now most of your velocity should be straight down.

Turn you craft to the retrograde symbol and reduce you velocity to 50m/s.

When you are within 1000m of the surface your velocity should be no more than 50m/s

When you are within 500m of the surface your velocity should be no more than 30m/s

When you are within 200m of the surface you velocity should be no more than 10m/s

I try to aim for less than 5m/s when landing, the landing struts are rated to 12m/s, but do you really want to test that limit so far from Kerbin?

You should start to see your shadow at about 500m, it will be very small. You can use your shadow to gauge the distance to the ground. This is another reason why night landings are more difficult.

(95 fuel left on the surface of Minmus)

Note: If you are landing on the flats then the altitude display is close to correct. If you are not landing on the flats then you may want to change to in craft view to check how far off the altitude display is. Press the C key to change switch between in craft / out of craft view.

Congratulations, you are landed on another celestial body. Or maybe like Jeb you came in a little too hot and now need to be rescued.

Note: Jeb was testing an earlier version of the rocket. And being the show off that he is, was trying a night landing in the highlands. Once I have a few more capsule/probe core choices I'll send another craft out to rescue him.

Luke was the pilot for this mission, and he has some science to be doing before the sun sets. 1 Crew Report, 3 material studies, 2 goo canisters, 1 temperature sensor, 1 surface EVA, 1 surface sample. Feel free to plant a flag and write some nice message for future Kerbals to read.

When you are ready to get back in the capsule please press R to enable your jetpack.

(Jump = SPACE, Up = SHIFT, Down = Ctrl, Forward = W, Back = S, Left = A, Right = D)

Use your jetpack to get back to the capsule door, press F to grab the ladder when you are close enough. Or just jump on top to admire the view that no other Kerbal has seen.

Time to get home, burn in any direction until your Ap reaches 20km, then circularize your orbit. It is up to you which direction you go, you will only get 9.2m/s from Minmus's rotation. You may want to go north/south, so that you can get the EVA over the poles. Or you may want to go west, just because you can. I was boring and just went east.

(67 fuel left in near Minmus orbit)

Once you are in orbit and you’re ready to go back to Kerbin, setup a node. You want the node to be in the Kerbin retrograde direction. Change the view so that Minmus is at the bottom of the screen, and Kerbin is at the top. You want to exit to the left side of Minmus’s SOI. This can be done by adding the node 160 degrees clockwise (if you took off to the east) or 20 degrees clockwise (if you took off to the west). You are aiming for a Kerbin Pe of below 500km. Anything under 2,000km will do, you will just need a larger correction to get into position for your aerobrake.

(47 fuel left on the way back to Kerbin)

If you find your return orbit is heavily inclined you may want to drag the Normal / Anti-normal. This should help you get a smaller Kerbin Pe.

Once you are half way back to Kerbin setup an aerobreak as you did in mission 7 and come back home safely.

(42 fuel left landed at Kerbin)

+32 Science, Temperature reading from space near Minmus (Optional)

+32 Science each, EVA report from space near “biome†of Minmus (Optional)

Some of the EVA have already been done in mission 7

+125 Science, Material Study from “biome†of Minmus

+27.3 Science, Material Study from “biome†of Minmus

+6.0 Science, Material Study from “biome†of Minmus

+50 Science, Goo observation from “biome†of Minmus

+11.5 Science, Goo observation from “biome†of Minmus

+40 Science, Temperature reading from “biome†of Minmus

+25 Science, Crew report from “biome†of Minmus

+40 Science, EVA report from “biome†of Minmus

+150 Science, Surface sample from “biome†of Minmus

+37.5 Science, Recovery of a vessel from the surface of Minmus (+6.3 for your second craft)

You may notice that there is a lot of “biome†related science we just got from Minmus. The good news is there are 9 separate biomes that you can visit when/if you repeat this mission. That should give you a lot more science, and quite a bit of landing practice in preparation for a visit to the surface of the Mun, where landing is a whole lot harder.

Edited January 28, 2014 by bigalqld
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[bigalqld]

Once you have completed mission 8 for the first time I recommend you unlock "Specialised Control" to gain access to the Mk1 Lander Can. This part is lighter, has the same drag factor, has lots of flat space on the top for science things and has a larger window for your Kerbal's viewing pleasure. If you upgrade your mission 8 craft by replacing the Mk1 Capsule with the Mk1 Lander Can then any future visits to the surface of Minmus are a little bit easier. You can also remove the second temperature sensor as you have done the reading in space near Minmus.

I've also added some extra solar panels so that I don't have to worry about which side is facing the sun. After these modifications the craft is now 0.16 tonnes lighter, and has a more robust power system.

When you have enough science to unlock "Electroics" you can then add two seismic sensors to your craft. This will give you an additional +100,+9.1 Science per biome. The seismic sensors only work when on the surface, not in space.

Edited January 25, 2014 by bigalqld
typo

[Justin Kerbice]

Hi,

@bigalqld: thanks a lot for this valuable tutorials serie (it might be a good idea to include it with KSP as training scenarii)

@anyone: whatever I've tried to do, my rockets always go sideway (I've tried multiple time the one from the tutorial 2) on full throttle. By sideway I mean at a given altitude (near 5000 m at 100% throttle), rocket suddenly point itself to the ground, no input, just SAS enabled.

But, with only 75% throttle, it works fine. with 75 % + 2 graduations on throtle scale, it's happen near 10000 m altitude.

So I'm unable to use boosters at all, even a single one (no symetry/wrong weight distribution issue) it's happen.

Note I have Ferram Aerospace Research mod and texture compressor (easy mode). but it also happened before I add FAR mod.

Any help will be appreciated.

Regards

[Oss Spy]

This isn't a bad guide. Wish I had this when I first started playing :/

[bigalqld]

Mission 9

For this next mission we are going to land on the Mun, do some science, and then fly back home to Kerbin. This mission will test out how much landing practice you have done on Minmus. Due to its higher gravity things are going to happen quite a lot faster on the Mun.

Required Tech:

Depending on how many trips you made to Minmus will determine if you can unlock the tech highlighted in Blue. The seismic and gravity sensor will give you more science for this mission if you can unlock them. Fit only two of each to the craft. Don't try to use the gravity sensor in space, as that is the purpose of the next mission.

We are going to use the same booster stage that we used on the previous mission. However the rest of the craft has been re-designed to use some of the larger "Rockomax" components.

Go to the rocket hanger and create a new design.

Start with any form of capsule / probe

Add a TL-T400 to the bottom

Add a LV-909 liquid fuel engine to the bottom

Add a Mystery Goo canister to the left side only. This way it will face outwards when we connect the sub assembly.

Turn on 2 way symmetry

Add a LT-1 landing strut to the front of the fuel tank.

Don’t worry about any staging right now

Disconnect the assembly after the capsule and put it in the “Sub Assemblyâ€Â

I’ve called mine “M9 Lander Engineâ€Â

Note: When we attach this assembly using a radial decoupler. The chosen snap face is the right side. I have no idea why, but it is always the same. This is why we created this assembly from the side, and not the front.

Start a new design

Use the Mk1 Lander Can as the base.

Add a Z-100 battery to the top

Add a solar array to the top. (OX-4L or OX-4W it is your choice)

Add a communotron 16 to the top

Add two temperature sensors to the top

Add two seismic sensors to the top

Turn on 2 way symmetry

Add the “M9 Lander Engine†assembly to the side of the lander can

Add a SC-9001 Science Jr to the top of the fuel tanks. I turn my inwards so that Thomvin can perform his research while standing on the top of the lander can.

Add a Mk16 parachute to the top of both the Science Jr

Add a TR-18A decoupler to the bottom of the lander can

Add a Inline reaction wheel to the bottom of the decoupler

Add a Rockomax brand adapter to the bottom

Add a Rockomax X200-8 Fuel tank

Add a Rockomax X200-16 Fuel tank

Add a Rockomax poodle liquid engine

Turn on 3 way symmetry

Add a TT-70 radial decoupler to the front of the X200-16 fuel tank

Attach the “M8 Liquid Booster†assmbly to the decoupler

Add a fuel duct from the middle booster to the X200 fuel tank

Add a EAS-4 strut to the inside of the middle boosters

The staging should be

Stage 0 Parachutes

Stage 1 Decoupler on the lander can, LV909 engines

Stage 2 TT-70 Decouplers on the X200

Stage 3 Poodle Engine, Middle Engines on the M8 Assembly, TT-38K Decouplers for the outer engines

Stage 4 Outer engines

If you want to add any parachutes to the top of the “M8 Liquid Booster†rockets, feel free. They aren’t exactly required for this mission and leaving them off makes the staging lines a lot less complicated.

Note: Don’t look too closely at my craft, it turns out I put Monopropellant containers on my lander instead of mystery goo canisters. I didn’t realise until after I had already landed on the Mun. Sadly Monopropellant canisters are much heavier (0.6 tonnes each) and Luke ran out of fuel before he could make it back to Kerbin. Currently he is stuck in a low orbit around the Mun awaiting rescue.

Select your chosen Kerbal and click the launch button.

Press T to enable SAS

Hold shift until the throttle is at maximum

Press the space bar to launch

The fuel for the outer boosters will run out at 7.9km, press the spare bar to separate

Turn 45 degrees to the east when you reach an altitude of 30km

The fuel for the middle boosters will run out at 43km, press the space bar to separate

Change to the orbital map and wait until your Ap is 150km. This will take a while as the poodle engine isn’t very powerful. Then press X to cut your engines.

Set the node so that your Pe is 120 to 150km. Perform the burn when the time is right.

(517 fuel left in Kerbin orbit)

Once you are in orbit it is a good idea to extend your solar array. Don’t stress if you forget as the battery can provide enough power for this mission on its own.

Align your orbit with the Mun. This step is optional as you should already be within 0.5 degrees.

Setup a node get an encounter with the Mun. I aim for an encounter between 50km and 200km. Perform the burn when the time is right. The fuel for the next stage will run out about half way though this burn. Press the space bar to separate. Congratulations, you’ve now left your first piece of debris in space. Please try not to crash into it in any of your future mission.

(312 fuel left on way out to Mun)

Before you speed up time, make sure that your solar panel can see the sun. The battery will provide enough power for this mission, but I want you to start thinking about this kind of thing so it becomes second nature when you try inter-planetary missions. You don’t want to get all the way to Duna only to find out that you are out of power because you forgot to extend the panel / face it towards the sun.

Once you enter the Mun’s SOI you will need to setup a node at the Pe, to circularise your orbit.

(274 fuel left in Mun orbit)

If you want to use your temperature sensor, or collect any EVA you may have left you will need to drop your orbit to less than 50km. From an equatorial orbit you should pass over Midlands, East Crater, Northwest Crater, Farside Crater, Canyons, Highlands, Midland Craters, East Farside Crater and Twin Craters. (Optional +24 Science for each EVA, +24 Science for a single Temperature reading)

(269 fuel left in low Mun orbit)

Note: The temperature sensor does NOT do anything when you are in space “high aboveâ€Â. It has only a single reading when in space “nearâ€Â, eg not biome specific. The temperature sensor is biome specific when landed on the surface. Please perform 1 temperature reading in space “near the Munâ€Â. We will save the other one for the surface.

Once you have had enough orbiting you can choose a place to land. I would recommend one of the large craters near the equator. If the chosen area is NOT in daylight then speed up time and wait in orbit until it is. Night landings are quite a bit more stressful, and we didn’t fit any landing lights to this craft.

Add a node 20 to 60 degrees before the area you want to land. Drag the retrograde until it intersects on the far edge of the crater. The rotation of the Mun will cause your landing location to be to the west of this point.

Switch to craft view and change the navigation ball to “surface†mode. You can do this by clicking on the grey area where it says “Orbitâ€Â.

Once you are over the crater, you want to burn in such a way that your lateral velocity goes close to zero. This way you will be falling straight down. To do this you want to point your craft to the horizon directly under the “retrograde†symbol on your navigation ball. It should be approximately 270 degrees if you were orbiting around the equator.

This process will take a while as you are travelling a lot faster (500m/s) than you were for on your Minmus landing (150m/s). I don’t worry about retracting the solar panel as the Mun has no atmosphere.

Burn until the retrograde symbol disappears over the top of the navball.

Then point your craft 30-45 degrees above the horizon in line with the retrograde symbol, and burn again. By now most of your velocity should be straight down.

When you are within 2000m of the surface your velocity should be no more than 100m/s

When you are within 1000m of the surface your velocity should be no more than 50m/s

When you are within 500m of the surface your velocity should be no more than 30m/s

When you are within 200m of the surface you velocity should be no more than 10m/s

I try to aim for less than 5m/s when landing, the landing struts are rated to 12m/s, but do you really want to test that limit so far from Kerbin?

You should start to see your shadow at about 500m, it will be very small. You can use your shadow to gauge the distance to the ground. This is another reason why night landings are more difficult.

(140 fuel left on the surface of Mun)

Note: You can't really trust the Altitude reading at the top of the screen as there is a large variation in the elevation of the Mun.

Congratulations, you are landed on the Mun. Time to get to work. 1 Crew Report, 3 material studies, 2 goo canisters, 2 seismic sensors, 1 temperature sensor, 1 surface EVA, 1 surface sample. Feel free to plant a flag and write some nice message for future Kerbals to read.

When you are ready to get back in the capsule please press R to enable your jetpack.

(Jump = SPACE, Up = SHIFT, Down = Ctrl, Forward = W, Back = S, Left = A, Right = D)

Use your jetpack to get back to the capsule door, press F to grab the ladder when you are close enough.

Time to get home, burn in any direction until your Ap reaches 30km, then circularise your orbit. It is up to you which direction you go.

Once you are in orbit, setup a node. You want the node to be in the Kerbin retrograde direction. Change the view so that the Mun is at the bottom of the screen, and Kerbin is at the top. You want to exit to the left side of the Mun’s SOI. This can be done by adding the node 60 degrees clockwise (if you took off to the east) or 120 degrees clockwise (if you took off to the west). You are aiming for a Kerbin Pe of below 500km. Anything under 2,000km will do, you will just need a larger correction to get into position for your aerobrake.

Once you are half way back to Kerbin setup an aerobreak as you did in mission 7 and come back home safely.

+24 Science, Temperature reading from space near the Mun (Optional)

+24 Science, EVA report from space near “biome†of the Mun (Optional)

Some of the EVA have already been done in mission 7

+100 Science, Material Study from “biome†of the Mun

+21.9 Science, Material Study from “biome†of the Mun

+40 Science, Goo observation from “biome†of the Mun

+9.2 Science, Goo observation from “biome†of the Mun

+32 Science, Temperature reading from “biome†of the Mun

+80 Science, Seismic scan from “biome†of the Mun

+7.3 Science, Seismic scan from “biome†of the Mun

+20 Science, Crew report from “biome†of the Mun

+32 Science, EVA report from “biome†of the Mun

+120 Science, Surface sample from “biome†of the Mun

+30 Science, Recovery of a vessel from the surface of the Mun

You may notice that there are a lot of “biome†related science we just got from the Mun. The good news is there are 15 separate biomes that you can visit when/if you repeat this mission. You will be sick of going to the Mun by before you have been to all of them. The other thing to note is you get less science from each of these items then you did from Minmus.

Edited January 28, 2014 by bigalqld
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[bigalqld]

Justin, I'm not sure about the rockets suddenly deciding to turn sideways. The only thing that is off symmetry on the mission 2 craft is the Communotron 16, but that shouldn't be enough to make the craft turn at all.

You say that it it flies normally at 75% throttle, what happens if you tweak the thrust limit down to 75% (or even 30%) when building the rocket and then fly with 100% throttle. This should result in the same amount of thrust from the engine while still using 100% throttle. If the problem is in the physics side of things then I would expect the craft should fly straight, without turning.

The other thing to try is to fly the craft from the inside (Press C to switch views) and watch the control inputs. As far as I can tell these control inputs move when you or the SAS make a control input. This should allow you to see if the SAS or some other phantom control input it what is causing the craft to turn.

I haven't played around with the FAR mod at this stage, so I have no idea what kind of an effect that will have of how the craft flies.