Survey Contracts

[Anquietas314]

OMG *doeslittledance*

edit: oh I meant while in flight.... lol

lol, yeah in flight's not really an option, sorry (otherwise, what would be the benefit of liquid fuel engines! besides higher fuel efficiency, of course)

[juanml82]

I just built a small jet plane to do several aerial survey missions in one go- they were in close proximity to each other and a mixture of above/below 19000m. I didn't have landing gear yet so I stuck some legs on the tail, launched vertically and landed by parachute.

Legs? Where we're going we don't need... legs (read with the Doc's voice from Back to the Future)

Here's my wheelless airplane

Kind of complicated to stabilize for take off, I think I should had removed a lot of the fuel on the SRBs

[Anquietas314]

Legs? Where we're going we don't need... legs (read with the Doc's voice from Back to the Future)

Here's my wheelless airplane

http://i62.tinypic.com/27y2uj6.jpg

Kind of complicated to stabilize for take off, I think I should had removed a lot of the fuel on the SRBs

You do however need legs if you want to survive a landing at more than 6m/s... (and you're not using a plane designed to survive a hard crash)

[juanml82]

You do however need legs if you want to survive a landing at more than 6m/s... (and you're not using a plane designed to survive a hard crash)

Nah, the parachutes are enough. Of course, there is no taking off again

[Anquietas314]

Nah, the parachutes are enough. Of course, there is no taking off again

If you can't take off again, that's quite a bit of money down the drain - spaceplane parts are not cheap

You should always bring them home when you're done

[WanderingKid]

If you can't take off again, that's quite a bit of money down the drain - spaceplane parts are not cheap

You should always bring them home when you're done

KSS Lawn Dart.

[Bill Phil]

Launch like a normal rocket. At 10 km pitch over towards target. Unless it's really close to KSC, then it might be good to make an airplane.

[hypermetric]

There is, at least for when you're piloting a ship/rover: set navigation on the map view, then follow the marker on your navball Obviously that doesn't work for when you're actually on EVA, but if you bring a plane or rover you can get close enough to the marker, stop, get out, then do the report

In a plane or rover the navball points at the horizon making it difficult to see the marker. Is there a way to get around this?

[Anquietas314]

In a plane or rover the navball points at the horizon making it difficult to see the marker. Is there a way to get around this?

If you're flying a plane, you should be pointing near the horizon anyway except possibly during your ascent to high altitude. With rovers it obviously depends on how you design it, but you should generally make it so "forwards" is not "up" on the navball

As for seeing the marker on the green background, well... usually the marker is quite a different colour. If you can't see it, it usually means it's on the other side of the planet (in which case use the map to estimate the direction), or you're facing the wrong direction

Edited December 24, 2014 by armagheddonsgw

[hypermetric]

There is no way to see how close to the ground you are in map view during landings. I like VTOL aircraft with lots of lights rather than trying to land like a plane if I am trying to reach specific coordinates. I basically am hanging on the "You are now entering ...", "You are now leaving.." dialogue. Walking just isn't that fun. I wish there was some kind of MFD that would give whatever info you need in a given situation. Today I want a terrain map with waypoints, tomorrow it will be orbital elements.

[Anquietas314]

There is no way to see how close to the ground you are in map view during landings. I like VTOL aircraft with lots of lights rather than trying to land like a plane if I am trying to reach specific coordinates. I basically am hanging on the "You are now entering ...", "You are now leaving.." dialogue. Walking just isn't that fun. I wish there was some kind of MFD that would give whatever info you need in a given situation. Today I want a terrain map with waypoints, tomorrow it will be orbital elements.

Two things: 1: you can add those targets to the navball so you know where you're going (and so don't need the map view at all really), 2: If you don't mind mods, you can use Kerbal Engineer Redux or MechJeb to give you a readout of the altitude above terrain. There are other mods that have that feature (and only that feature) but if you're going to use a mod for it, it may as well be one of those

[hypermetric]

I don't really know anything about Kerbal Engineer but I'm pretty sure MechJeb will screw with the game balance. I tend not to use mods in my games for this reason. I have been playing the EVA missions in a small plane and I am starting to get a better feel for it, but I still think the navball isn't the best possible tool for this job. Real craft usually have an MFD with a map or a radio/audio signal to tell you how close you are and there would probably be a way to view your coordinates so you can compare with target coordinates.

[MoridinUK]

Thanks for the ideas, I'm not sure I could manage a rocket plane, and I've just been very silly and accepted a visit point A, b, c for eva reports. I'm sat on about 160 science, and about 280k funds, nothing upgraded. I could open some parts and try to land nearer... I did manage to drop a rocket within a few miles of the site, and I was happy with that, but walking all that way was impossible boring...

So far I've only opened Basic and survivbility. I'm thinking of upgrading the launch pad, and getting flight planning to put up some satellites and come back to these later...

[Anquietas314]

I don't really know anything about Kerbal Engineer but I'm pretty sure MechJeb will screw with the game balance.

KER only gives numerical readouts during construction and optionally in flight - there are no autopilot features whatsoever. Some of the readouts certainly make it easier to design and fly rockets/planes, but I wouldn't really say it affects the balance of the game. For example there's a readout for intake air usage (as a percentage of available) which is handy for keeping the throttle low enough to prevent flame-out, and you get per-stage deltaV readouts during VAB and in flight which helps to minimize the guesswork(/maths) in designing rockets. That's also good for telling you whether it's safe to go ahead with that Mun landing or if you're just going to run out of fuel and crash

[SRV Ron]

The early Career ones I have taken require you to be over a certain altitude. The first two are directly on the orbital plan, you either tilt East or West to fly over them. Later ones requiring taking off and turning at a different angle to reach. You will be notified when you are over the target area in Map mode so you can switch back and make your Crew Report.

BTY, this cheap SRB design, with tweaked thrust and fuel load, is fully capable of fulfilling many of those contracts.

[MoridinUK]

The early Career ones I have taken require you to be over a certain altitude. The first two are directly on the orbital plan, you either tilt East or West to fly over them. Later ones requiring taking off and turning at a different angle to reach. You will be notified when you are over the target area in Map mode so you can switch back and make your Crew Report.

BTY, this cheap SRB design, with tweaked thrust and fuel load, is fully capable of fulfilling many of those contracts.

I like this but my missions are certainly not inline with KSC. I need to maneuver, and so I'm stuck with the LV-909 which is annoying but there you go... if one is careful with fuel I can normally keep it in one piece for recovery....

[MoridinUK]

Man i can not fly wihtout Jeb.. lol any suggestions for an early lifter for an early satellite?

[Anquietas314]

Man i can not fly wihtout Jeb.. lol any suggestions for an early lifter for an early satellite?

"Early" lifter, you say? stick it on a RT10 with the throttle limiter set at like 30-40 (I'm using that still after finishing the tier 2 tech tree... I have the science for tier 3, but not the funds )

The second stage should be the smallest 1.25m (same size as the mk1 command pod) liquid fuel + oxidizer tank with preferably a rockomax 48-7S. It might work with the LV909 but you won't have as much deltaV

If you use that, it should be able to fulfil all of the basic satellite contracts around Kerbin, Mun and Minmus. At a stretch Duna and Eve, but really it's way easier just to do loads of the local ones . Obviously if you need to slap a goo canister or materials bay (or both!) on there you're going to need a bigger satellite and launcher

[MoridinUK]

ARgh What have I done so wrong now? It wants me to put these satelites (my first satelite contracts available) around the Mun and A tundra orbit around minimus... something has gone wrong helps!

- - - Updated - - -

"Early" lifter, you say? stick it on a RT10 with the throttle limiter set at like 30-40 (I'm using that still after finishing the tier 2 tech tree... I have the science for tier 3, but not the funds )

The second stage should be the smallest 1.25m (same size as the mk1 command pod) liquid fuel + oxidizer tank with preferably a rockomax 48-7S. It might work with the LV909 but you won't have as much deltaV

If you use that, it should be able to fulfil all of the basic satellite contracts around Kerbin, Mun and Minmus. At a stretch Duna and Eve, but really it's way easier just to do loads of the local ones . Obviously if you need to slap a goo canister or materials bay (or both!) on there you're going to need a bigger satellite and launcher

So my 'sat' doesn't need to do much at all, just be unmanned and in the right orbit? I have flight control and electrics unlocked. 67 sci left to spend and 330k funds. No upgrades yet, though I think I'm going to need maneuver nodes, which is the tracking station and mission control. I want to upgrade teh launch pad too for bigger rockects but I'm all out of cash! lol... Should I just try to get to Mun for the explore mun contract?

[Anquietas314]

So my 'sat' doesn't need to do much at all, just be unmanned and in the right orbit?

It needs to have a probe of some kind on it - a stayputnik counts but be warned it has no SAS or torque, as well as solar panels. Batteries do not count! (Also, don't forget an antenna!)

I have flight control and electrics unlocked. 67 sci left to spend and 330k funds. No upgrades yet, though I think I'm going to need maneuver nodes, which is the tracking station and mission control.

Yeah, I would recommend getting maneuver nodes before attempting satellite contracts, especially if you're not the best pilot. It can be done without them, but it takes a fair bit of skill and you need to understand the navball pretty well .

I want to upgrade teh launch pad too for bigger rockects but I'm all out of cash! lol... Should I just try to get to Mun for the explore mun contract?

Well, unless you're really good at building rockets, you'll definitely need an upgraded launchpad (and probably the VAB too) to go to the Mun (with a Kerbal). Again it can be done without that, but it's not easy. You should be able to get a probe there much more easily though, which is enough for the contract, but that's not as much fun

Edited December 29, 2014 by armagheddonsgw

[aratnamedsammy]

how about survey mission on ground???

i have one with 4 sismic reading to take on Mun.. i landed with my rover at about 20km to first point.. but cannot even really see where i need to go, and crash my rover about 20 times only to found out the good direction on the damn navball...

btw, dont get a flat on your rover wheels, it need an engineer lvl 3 to fix it !!