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SiliconPyro

By SiliconPyro
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SiliconPyro

SiliconPyro

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So my friend sent me an email yesterday titled, 'I\'m terribly sorry.' I open it to see, 'What I\'m about to show you is something that will literally eat hours upon hours from your day. All I can say is that I\'m sorry.'

Well obviously he knows me pretty well and I downloaded the game as soon as I got home, walked through the tutorials and graduated on to making some magnificent ICBMs. I lot of brave Kerbals died yesterday. But I finally made orbit with a gloriously stable rocket, which only tightened the addiction. Of course I ran out of fuel before I could get my orbit back into the atmosphere, so there are three proud Kerbals still taking laps up there, but I know what I was doing wrong.

Of course after I successfully orbit then return (which I\'m fairly confident my current design is capable of if I make better burns), I have my eyes and my heart set on the mun. I suppose that means mods too.

Yeah, y\'all will see me around here, that\'s for sure.

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VincentMcConnell

VincentMcConnell

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So my friend sent me an email yesterday titled, 'I\'m terribly sorry.' I open it to see, 'What I\'m about to show you is something that will literally eat hours upon hours from your day. All I can say is that I\'m sorry.'

Well obviously he knows me pretty well and I downloaded the game as soon as I got home, walked through the tutorials and graduated on to making some magnificent ICBMs. I lot of brave Kerbals died yesterday. But I finally made orbit with a gloriously stable rocket, which only tightened the addiction. Of course I ran out of fuel before I could get my orbit back into the atmosphere, so there are three proud Kerbals still taking laps up there, but I know what I was doing wrong.

Of course after I successfully orbit then return (which I\'m fairly confident my current design is capable of if I make better burns), I have my eyes and my heart set on the mun. I suppose that means mods too.

Yeah, y\'all will see me around here, that\'s for sure.

Welcome to the forums. There are plenty of helpful people here that will basically walk you through a trip to the mun. Scott Manley has a great video on how to do it.

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wired2thenet

wired2thenet

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Scott Manley has a great video on how to do it.

That video is what ULTIMATELY got me there. There\'s another one too I can\'t recall off-hand that was exceptionally well-done and detailed.

Just remember 'stupid mistakes' trying to return are just as easy to make as the ones you make landing :). Never underestimate Kerbal\'s Laws.

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SiliconPyro

SiliconPyro

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They aren\'t impressive at all really. Ae was just over 100km, Pe was around 84km. It\'s my second time making orbit though with fuel enough to bring it home safe. I\'m narrowing that right now, but man I suck at fine controls.

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VincentMcConnell

VincentMcConnell

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They aren\'t impressive at all really. Ae was just over 100km, Pe was around 84km. It\'s my second time making orbit though with fuel enough to bring it home safe. I\'m narrowing that right now, but man I suck at fine controls.

Use RCS in short bursts for fine controls. Right now, I\'m about to make my first surface to orbit rendezvous around the Mun at 100KM. This requires some intense fine controlling and a little bit of skill ;). My advice would be WEAK RCS thrusters in short spurts.

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SiliconPyro

SiliconPyro

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I just started experimenting with RCS on my last flight as I\'m starting to experiment with hopes of a mun mission. I can definitely see the advantage. I made that orbit I posted with only a liquid rocket engine. What do you mean by 'WEAK' RCS? I only see one option. I\'m playing 100% vanilla.

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VincentMcConnell

VincentMcConnell

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I just started experimenting with RCS on my last flight as I\'m starting to experiment with hopes of a mun mission. I can definitely see the advantage. I made that orbit I posted with only a liquid rocket engine. What do you mean by 'WEAK' RCS? I only see one option. I\'m playing 100% vanilla.

Oh, ok. With 100% Vanilla, you already have the relatively weak RCS. Good. I posted my Lunar Orbit Rendezvous, it was successful. Just keep playing around with getting good orbits and what not. If you have any questions about trying to perfect an orbit, don\'t hesitate to ask.

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SiliconPyro

SiliconPyro

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I think I have some of the basic concepts down after some experimentation. I didn\'t get my lunar Lander into orbit (not enough lift), but I was really just making sure the stages were correct. Maybe I should bring home Orbital Two and add RCS so I can establish a proper orbit. Once I\'m more comfortable manipulating my orbit with RCS, then I\'ll continue my work on the mun mission. Any idea how much rocket you need to escape the mun?

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VincentMcConnell

VincentMcConnell

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I think I have some of the basic concepts down after some experimentation. I didn\'t get my lunar Lander into orbit (not enough lift), but I was really just making sure the stages were correct. Maybe I should bring home Orbital Two and add RCS so I can establish a proper orbit. Once I\'m more comfortable manipulating my orbit with RCS, then I\'ll continue my work on the mun mission. Any idea how much rocket you need to escape the mun?

I have a pretty good idea about returning actually, lol. You don\'t need that much fuel. Maybe 45-50 seconds worth for establishing an orbit around the Mun of 100KM and then a burn at Kerbinrise until AP reaches about 13,000KM.

If I were you, I wouldn\'t focus on the parameters of your Mun mission yet. You have to get Kerbin orbit down first. It is very important to understand orbit really well so that you don\'t screw up and end up in Solar Orbit after your Mun mission. When you are getting ready for a launch to the Mun, let me know.

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VincentMcConnell

VincentMcConnell

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Good advice. I think I\'m actually going to bring Orbital Two home, add RCS then send it back up into a better orbit, then attempt a rendezvous. Achieving that will be a milestone on my way to the mun.

I hope it works. Here is a guide I wrote on getting to the mun. I did this when I didn\'t even have KSP for a while, too. LOL

http://kerbalspaceprogram.com/forum/index.php?topic=7787.msg114042#msg114042

I\'m going to begin writing up a guide on rendezvous so I\'ll send it to you when I\'m finished.

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SiliconPyro

SiliconPyro

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Thanks, that\'s a great guide. I\'m going to take steps to get there for now. Next step is a 100km equatorial orbit as perfectly circular as possible, then release stage and return. Next phase is a rendezvous with what I left in orbit, hang out for a photo op, then return home. Then, I\'m shooting for the mun. If I make a clean orbit with enough fuel, I\'ll attempt to land. Otherwise, I\'ll just take it as experience in orbital transition and head home.

Of course docking would make everything easier, since we wouldn\'t have to take as much to the surface of the moon. Have to make due though.

Once I\'ve done all that, I\'ll have to think about a mun base. I would really love to establish a space station, but again, docking. In all honesty though, we will probably have docking by the time I\'ve completed all this, haha.

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nivvydaskrl

nivvydaskrl

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I just started experimenting with RCS on my last flight as I\'m starting to experiment with hopes of a mun mission. I can definitely see the advantage. I made that orbit I posted with only a liquid rocket engine. What do you mean by 'WEAK' RCS? I only see one option. I\'m playing 100% vanilla.

I just installed Visual C#. >.>

Also, you should be aware that hitting CAPS LOCK switches you to \'precision\' mode, where your inputs start weak and get stronger as you hold the key down. This lets you make some very, very delicate RCS tweaks.

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