Remember your first launches?

[serolrom]

I see in theforums and in Youtube that many of you have gone a long way in KSP. You havevisited remote planets, built huge space stations, created original things andclever ways to get them in orbit.

I am stillquite far from that. I started two days ago and messing with a rocket buildthat can rescue the first crew that got to Mun and got stuck there when theirrocket exploded. Bill Kerman suggested jumping high enough in the low gravityof Mun could make it, but Bob doesn't have the courage it takes for such atest.

I just wantto let everyone know how I am enjoying my new toy and also invite you toremember how your first days were, before you got to know all the stuff, whenjust getting into orbit was, if not much, at least a bit of a challenge. Yeah,when some of you might even do a countdown before the launch.

Now back todesign. Jebediah really wants to come back home to lead the important missions.

[magnemoe]

First I launched straight up. Then I remembered to tilt the rocket but I tilted far to slow and high, high probability I thought I needed 250-300 km attitude for orbit like on earth.

This was in the old demo felt pretty cool then I managed an circular orbit, bought the game and continued.

First Mun mission, probe with some science equipment and one static solar panel no battery. Got into orbit around Mun lowered it and lost controll as the solar pannel pointed away from sun and the science equipment also drew power.

[Umlüx]

yes i do. and i immediately achieved orbit too

but that is because i massively over engineered my rocket and because i found the game through some youtube tutorials.

[Streetwind]

My first launch went like most people's first launch, I imagine.

Capsule, tank, engine, and then a parachute on top. Go to launch pad. Hit spacebar like you learned in the tutorial. Watch it horribly crash and burn as the parachute deploys at launch! Oh right, there was this thing called a staging order that the tutorial back then neglected to mention...

[iCT]

My first rocket haven't decouplers.

And i attached rocket engine on solid rocket boosters.

So... exploded.

[Frank_G]

Fire and fun it was... Actually my solid rocket boosters decoupled and launched, leaving the main rocket on the pad with the above mentioned deployed parachute before tipping over.

I have never encountered a game, where failing is so much fun... I guess this is, what kept me going. For almost a year now... With no end in sight

[steve_v]

Fairly sure my first launch was an SRB & a command pod.

Also pretty sure it didn't end well.

Then I discovered parachutes

[DunaRocketeer]

It was a long time ago, and in the demo version...I loosely remember making a single stick vehicle initially, having a big grin on my face as the vehicle slowly lifted off from the pad - then quickly realising I had rolled the vehicle over too early, was quickly running out of propellant, and my second stage had terrible thrust to weight. Crashed and burned, shortly followed by obssessive tinkering with vehicle design that has continued to the present day

[Hary R]

Unfortunately, I don't... but i'm sure it was something like going up, gravity turn (yeah I watched scott manly before acquiring the game:P) and pouf, rapid unplaned disassembly. Ah! those time before KJR become stock:D

[Overfloater]

Can't say I do either, probably something generic with insane amounts of monoprop.

I do on the other hand remember my 1st successful Laythe landing! 8-]

The 1st thing I launched probably did look similar to this.

[Starwhip]

Actually, I don't... It was probably a horrid failure, though.

I do remember how I got to the Mun in the demo version, though. I had forgotten, and when I played again (After mastering the game) I crashed and burned the ship.

It was designed to go straight up, then turn (At apoapsis) and get into orbit. I hadn't learned to gravity turn yet!

[Titusin]

Jeb died a lot in the early days. Crashing into kerbin and mun mostly.

[Rainbow-Dashie]

I do try to repress those memories.... *shudder*

My first launches weren't as "Explosive" as everyone elses seemed to be, I did have alot of mistakes with staging, and hard to control rockets, but they did manage to get off the ground and not kill everyone....

However.... I do remember my first 50 or so rockets failed to achieve an altitude above 50,000m.... I just could not build rockets powerful enough to reach space. Though... when I did reach actual space... I was quite pleased.

[SRV Ron]

Some early missions;

Stranded on Duna and Minmus;

[bartekkru99]

I remember my first Mun lander... Ahhh those days... And my first station, it was about 3 or 4 module, but it was looking nice. I was so proud of it. And my first interplanetary mission - Gilly landing. I sent 10 kerbals. 7 of them stayed in transfer vehicle, while Jeb, Bill and Bob were chosen to land in small RCS powered lander. They went on EVA and froze. The rest in transfer vehicle ran out of fuel in Kerbol orbit, so they had to fly with RCS, then they ran out of RCS and I had to send an unmanned rescue vehicle to put them on Kerbin orbit, they were sitting there for about a week, Then They've reentered Kerbin's atmosphere, but Jeb, Bil and Bob were still sitting on Gilly frozen, so I came up with a plan to recover them. I've sent 1-man crew to recover them, I had to use KAS ropes, but strange things were happening on time warps, so they've died.

[GoSlash27]

I started on the demo version. I pretty much followed the NASA progression for spaceflight. I didn't have a lot of failures because I went after the math first.

Best,

-Slashy

[Nemrav]

oh yes, the demo version.... I still have the demo craft files for it I think.....

I made liquid fuel rockets, 4x simitry, and then boosters on those, making a big box... center rocket was doubly tall....

I thought space began at 100,000m So when I only made it to 80k on 2nd try, I was super disapointed

Then I perpetually made the box bigger, then added solid fuel below it... still lags my pc....

Those were the days...

[cantab]

I remember my rockets, at least. I didn't know about the whole not going too fast thing, so I just kept adding MOAR BOOSTERS in stage 1. Think eventually it took 18 or so, with a single central stack, to make orbit.

I also remember my first SSTO. Four 800 tanks and an LV-T engine. Made orbit but didn't have the fuel to deorbit. That made me learn how to rendezvous. Nowadays I can do an SSTO with half that fuel.

[r_rolo1]

Fairly sure my first launch was an SRB & a command pod.

Also pretty sure it didn't end well.

Then I discovered parachutes

Well, cheer out, friend, you're not alone

[UmbralRaptor]

There were control issues, then I learned about T to toggle SAS (the tutorial only mentioned F). Orbit was achieved shortly thereafter, as was various bits of insanity. (Playing with designs and a lack of destinations, really)

But then, this was 0.8.4, so minor things like ASAS, struts, RCS, the map, planetary rotation, and any body other than Kerbin didn't yet exist...

[Commissioner Tadpole]

Oh, I remember them fondly.

[serolrom]

Thank you guys for sharing... I have to say I've laughted with many of your adventures. One makes quite an effort to build a rocket, you really want it to reach space, and when it explodes... err... well.... KSP has something that, instead of feeling frustrated, I laugh and go for another one.

Yes, I am enjoying these first days. I like to watch videos and all, but honestly, I prefer not to learn much at first... I want to go through the problems by myself first.

[Thomas988]

My first launches were insane! I could only get a few kilometers up, just because I was so bad at rocket building. Man did I get frustrated! So, I watched quite a few tutorials (Hail Manley), and I learned a lot! The in-game tutorials were incredible too! it took many months, but eventually I learned my way into orbit.

[Engineer of Stuff]

I used the Kerbal X for my first launch. I burned straight up and got myself on a Kerbin escape. I did not know how to revert, so the crew is still orbiting the sun in that abandoned save.

The first time I got into orbit was when I was messing around with maneuver nodes.

Edited November 3, 2014 by Engineer Of Stuff

[capi3101]

My first launch was the piloting tutorial. I couldn't figure out why the stupid thing would only go up a few thousand meters before it crashed. Then I started reading about delta-V, and I designed and flew a rocket that made it all the way to space! Yes! Orbit!! Except.......not. Learned quickly that "in space" and "in orbit" were two different things...but at least I remembered the chute.

I remember the first time I killed a Kerbal - I decided to add these cool looking "launch clamp" things to my rocket to see what they did. Didn't know they were supposed to go on the bottom-most stage. Hit the SRBs and couldn't figure out why my rocket didn't go. Hit the controls for the next stage...with the SRBs still burning..........