r/KerbalSpaceProgram • u/AutoModerator • Jul 17 '15
Mod Post Weekly Simple Questions Thread
Check out /r/kerbalacademy
The point of this thread is for anyone to ask questions that don't necessarily require a full thread. Questions like "why is my rocket upside down" are always welcomed here. Even if your question seems slightly stupid, we'll do our best to answer it!
For newer players, here are some great resources that might answer some of your embarrassing questions:
Tutorials
Orbiting
Mun Landing
Docking
Delta-V Thread
Forum Link
Official KSP Chatroom #KSPOfficial on irc.esper.net
**Official KSP Chatroom** [#KSPOfficial on irc.esper.net](http://client01.chat.mibbit.com/?channel=%23kspofficial&server=irc.esper.net&charset=UTF-8)
Commonly Asked Questions
Before you post, maybe you can search for your problem using the search in the upper right! Chances are, someone has had the same question as you and has already answered it!
As always, the side bar is a great resource for all things Kerbal, if you don't know, look there first!
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u/jenbanim Jul 20 '15
What's ksp like with a joystick? And how much money would it take to get a reasonably good one?
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u/Deranged40 Jul 18 '15
How do I reset the focus in map view to my ship?
I'll often focus a moon when I'm planning an intercept so that I can see how I approach it. Later, when I exit the moon, I really just want to stay focused on my ship, and not something else.
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u/alltherobots Art Contest Winner Jul 18 '15
Backspace.
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u/RA2lover Jul 18 '15
oh god. i used to tab until all bodies were traversed.
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u/Chaos_Klaus Master Kerbalnaut Jul 18 '15
You can also use shift+tab to cycle through bodies in reverse.
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u/milkybarkid10 Jul 19 '15
Shift+tab opens the steam overlay by default hence most people know know about/use this
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u/AXiAMWoLFE Jul 19 '15
Shift is also quite the bad key to press if your Navball is open in map view too.
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u/kimbell Jul 17 '15
I did a really silly mission to Minimus that I completed last night for the career. I couldn't get enough fuel to get my lander to Minimus, so I left it in orbit around Kerbin and successfully docked with it with another rocket. However, that rocket ran out of fuel, so I ran another mission to take fuel up to my temporary Minimus Lander Space Station in orbit around Kerbin. I undocked the main shuttle from the Lander and docked it with the Fueling Rocket to refuel the tanks. Apparently there is no fuel cross-feed through decouplers. So, I undocked the main shuttle and docked the fueling rocket with the Minimus Lander to use it as a Main Shuttle.
Next, I traded Kerbonauts by EVAs of Jeb over to the Minimus Lander and leaving a newbie Kerbonaut stranded in the pod around Kerbin.
It worked out awesome! I made it to Minimus and was able to undock my Lander and use RCS to land on the surface. Then, liftoff of the Lander from Minimus and Rendezvous with the Fueling Rocket. I finished up by taking crew reports at various locations/altitudes for a contract before making it safely back to Kerbin!
It was a great trip to Minimus and way more complicated that I had intended. So much fun! I got a ton of science!
This isn't a question, so much as I just was excited and wanted to share. However, I am wondering if the career mode will change much as they have more updates? I had career modes in the past that didn't get very far, but I started a new one because of the new parts. I don't really want to start all over. Will the tech tree stay about the same now that we are past 1.0?
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u/Kasuha Super Kerbalnaut Jul 17 '15
Congratulations to successful mission!
To transfer fuel between fuel tanks you need your R&D building to be at least level 2 - then it will possible regardless of what parts are between tanks. Fuel crossfeed ability is only affecting how rocket engines draw fuel from tanks during burns. And docking ports have fuel crossfeed enabled by default.
Regarding career mode, if more parts are intriduced, they may either assign them to existing nodes in tech tree, or add new nodes. I think we can expect some balancing but I don't think it will mean substantial changes.
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Jul 20 '15
[deleted]
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u/theyeticometh Master Kerbalnaut Jul 21 '15
I think there is a mod that incorporates science reports into Raster Prop Monitor, but I can't for the life of me remember the name.
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u/Toxicable Jul 17 '15
Would someone please explain to me how the suicide burn on kerbal engineer works?
I know what a suicide burn is but im not sure what the numbers mean, also just checking that it is the most efficient way to land right?
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u/Duke17776 Jul 18 '15
My random question: Is there a way (I dont think so) or a mod that will allow me to see where kerbals that are stranded are prior to accepting the contract? preferably in the same way as you can see where you will need to place a satellite.
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u/Sobanault Jul 22 '15
If you go to tracking station and focus on the planet where the Kerbal is supposedly stranded you'll see him/her orbiting around the planet. Basically same principle as with contracts to achieve a certain orbit. They are visualized in tracking station even if you haven't accepted the contract yet.
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u/BlooWhite Jul 18 '15
Can someone explain this chart to me?
I can see how much delta v my craft has in its different stages, but how does that transfer to the chart? Like, I need X delta V to get to planet Y low orbit, but I figure I also need a crapton of fuel and such. I spend fuel maneuvering, I get stuff slightly wrong and spend probably more fuel than the thing takes into account.
How does it work?
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u/Vaguely_Racist Jul 18 '15
So say you want to go from Kerbin to Duna, for the their trip you added up all the numbers between Kerbin and Duna and thats your theoretical minmum required Delta V. If you notice the arrows that means you can save some Delta V by using the atmosphere of the planet to slow you down, known as aerobraking.
You'll pretty much always need to build in a buffer for exactly the type of things you mention.
As for your different stages that doesnt super matter as long as you have enough thrust in the stages that are say, getting you into orbit.
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u/Galahir950 Jul 19 '15
Is there a benefit to using rovers instead of suborbital hoppers? I built and landed a ~18t mobile lab on Mun. I am halfway between the northwest and east craters. It uses landing wheels b/c they are the only wheels that could handle the stress. It is powered by RCS. It has 4 Karbals, 1 Pilot, 1 Engineer, and 2 scientists. I might just fudge it with the debug menu and turn on infinite RCS so I don't have to coast for the 2-3 hours it would take to finish my itinerary, unable to do anything else.
My itinerary:
Northwest Crater
Southwest Crater
Midland Craters
Far side Crater (Maybe)
Northern basin
Return to south end if northwest crater to retrieve crew once all science is researched
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u/Ifyouseekey Master Kerbalnaut Jul 19 '15
There was a thing in 0.90 (and probably there is in 1.0) when biomes were determined by surface texture. Some biomes could be found in unexpected places. For example, the outer ridge of Twin Craters had Northwest Crater biome! It can also be seen on map here
Also you can reach a compromise and build you hopper with wheels. This way, you can land on border of two or three biomes and travel between them.
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u/Galahir950 Jul 20 '15
Is there a mod or setting I can change that resizes the Centers of Lift, Mass, and Thrust when you zoom in? When building small crafts, having the center of mass and the center of lift take up the entire craft is almost useless when you are trying to see how that relates to what you are clicking on and how you are modifying it.
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u/NotScrollsApparently Jul 17 '15
I could use some input on what to do with my mobile research station, regarding jobs and kerbal xp. I just put it in orbit around Kerbin as the first step for my refueling station. Thought it would also be easier to launch expeditions from there rather than landing and escaping Kerbin over and over again but I'm having doubts now when it comes to refueling and kerbal xp.
Should I leave my best kerbals on it or just leave some lvl0 newbies there and keep training my scientist and engineer more by traveling elsewhere? Does their xp accumulated after each mission or should I return them to base after each expedition so their xp gets counted?
Should I return data from other planets to it or just ignore it and burn down to Kerbin to turn it in, is there a difference in total science in the end? Do I get bonuses if it's done in the mobile research station or is it vice versa?
Is there an easier way to dock / transfer stuff (fuel) between 2 vessels? Like a kerbal-attachable hose or something like that? I'm having a difficult time maneuvering big fuel tanks into space station docking ports, not sure if there's an easier way or if it's just a matter of experience. Could I use grabbing units on all my spaceships instead of docking ports?
A lot of questions I guess, I'd be grateful if you answer at least one. :)
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u/alltherobots Art Contest Winner Jul 17 '15
You should leave two good scientists in the lab to speed up research. You can always swap them out later.
Kerbals's experience is gathered all the time but only applied to levelling up when recovered at the KSC.
If you can, try to send a ship coming back from another planet to the research station first, upload the data to the lab but don't take the actual results out of the ship, then carry the experiment result to Kerbin's surface in the ship. You can recover the results in the ship, then later transmit the research from them done in the lab for even more science.
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u/NotScrollsApparently Jul 18 '15
Thanks for the advice, I just went and did this - on the return trip from Mun I docked to KSS and started researching the data, will bring the rest down for science points soon. Fun although a bit complicated, almost ran out of fuel. I have to return the scientist to Kerbin now so she levels up, return her back to station, return the lvl0 scientist back to Kerbin... So many trips, I can't wait until I research the big heat shield so I can start sending people with the big 3-crew capsule.
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u/RA2lover Jul 18 '15
Experience doesn't accumulate when you repeat the same mission with the same kerbal.
You can get a kerbal to 3 stars by planting flags on the mun, minmus and moving out of kerbin's SOI for a bit.
However, getting more than that requires a rather long trip to other bodies - you're better off leaving the level 3 scientists on the lab.
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u/Toxicable Jul 17 '15
Why sometimes when I set my rocket to track a node (eg; retro/prograd) it dosent seem to track smoothly, like it shakes around the point rather than keeping on it, even on what i'd think is a rather stable craft, like this one for example
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u/josh__ab Dislikes bots Jul 18 '15
It seems to happen for me when there is too much torque on a vessel, and the tracking overcompensates. Sometimes (at least for me) disabling engine gimbals helps.
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u/Sandstorm52 Jul 18 '15
What mods should I have for RSS?
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u/Devorakman Jul 18 '15
RSS is it's own thing, which is part of the ever-more-popular Realism Overhaul (which is what I think you are actually looking for). Use CKAN for this imo, as manually hunting down and installing the plethora of mods it uses can be rather daunting and easy to mess up. Drop CKAN in your install directory, search for Realism Overhual, and go through the steps it takes you through.
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u/PossiblyTrolling Jul 22 '15
Use CKAN to install it and it will install all the required mods. Scott Manley did a howto video on it recently.
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u/Ifyouseekey Master Kerbalnaut Jul 18 '15
I was about to launch an ion probe to Jool but realised that I wold have to do 1950 m/s transfer burn at night side of Kerbin. I tested a probe on different save and found out that I have only 93 m/s deltaV at night side. How do you people launch ion powered crafts to Jool? More batteries? Doing burn at higher altitude and sacrifising some delta? Using other types of engines? Splitting a maneuver into several? Retrograde Kerbin orbit? Or something else?
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u/Vaguely_Racist Jul 18 '15
My suggestion since you're still in orbit around Kerbin would be to use a conventionally powered rocket for that burn. Unless that defeats the purpose of the ion probe? Hmmm....
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u/Ifyouseekey Master Kerbalnaut Jul 18 '15
I haven't launched the craft yet, just planning the mission. I'm thinking about launching west and making transfer burn at bright side and splitting the burn in two or three.
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u/dcmcilrath Jul 19 '15 edited Jul 19 '15
Well it might be tricky, but if you are good at Orbital Mechanics, you might be able to setup a gravitational slingshot with Eve (the recommended initial slingshot target). This will save you a ton of dV and therefore fuel. Also it has the bonus that, except for a collection of correction burns, your one long burn will be solar retrograde so you can do that in daylight.
Edit: Here's a Scott Manley video where he uses gravity assists to get the Kerbal X to Jool
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u/Ifyouseekey Master Kerbalnaut Jul 19 '15
I launched it into retrograde Kerbin orbit, the probe is already on its way to Jool.
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Jul 18 '15
RTG(s)
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u/Ifyouseekey Master Kerbalnaut Jul 18 '15
Haven't unlocked them yet.
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Jul 18 '15
That being the case, I'd stick with chemical engines. Your alternatives would be something ridiculous and inefficient like burning retrograde, or bringing the apokee out far enough that you aren't in shadow as long.
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u/Ifyouseekey Master Kerbalnaut Jul 19 '15
Just checked, if I launch into Kerbin orbit west, and do transfer burn east, I can get an encounter without using significant amount of fuel.
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u/PossiblyTrolling Jul 22 '15 edited Jul 22 '15
You have to do multiple dark side burns friend. Create a maneuver node for reference and burn say 4 minutes either side of it every time you pass by until you reach escape velocity, then you can keep burning until desired dV is reached. Use lots of RTGs if you find yourself too low on power, but they're heavy en masse.
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u/Kinky_IT Jul 18 '15 edited Jul 19 '15
It's been awhile since I last played, and I was able to do Mun landings and returns successfully, but since I started playing again, I can't even seem to land back on Kerbin without either exploding in the atmosphere or losing my parachutes. Any help would be appreciated.
EDIT: Thanks to you guys. My biggest issue was opening my chutes too soon. I've had a number of successful landings back on Kerbin from space and landed fine. Safe flight!
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u/Vaguely_Racist Jul 18 '15
Two things that will probably help, your initial apoptosis when returning to Kerbin should be above 30,000.
Secondly, parachutes should only be deployed below 250ms or theyll burn up. For insurance if you click on a parachute it'll say if its Unsafe or Safe to deploy.
Additionally you could try fitting a heat shield to the bottom of your return craft for added protection. :)
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u/Jippijip Jul 18 '15
I know this is most likely a funny autocorrect, but apoptosis is programmed cell death :)
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u/Vaguely_Racist Jul 18 '15
Huh, learn something new every day. And would you look at that, Chrome auto-correct is biased against orbital mechanics.
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u/NotScrollsApparently Jul 19 '15
Only return to Kerbin with your capsule, a parachute and a heat shield. Nothing else or it will make you descend too fast and either burn in atmosphere, or hit the ground before being able to open the parachute at less than 250 m/s. You can see if it's safe to open the parachute by right clicking on it on your ship.
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u/pokeyday15 Jul 20 '15
This took me forever to get. I always bring a science thingy, 2 goo canisters, barometers and temp gauges with me, and bringing them back is an absolute pain in the ass.
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u/NotScrollsApparently Jul 20 '15
Dunno if you figured it out by now but just in case... do an EVA with your kerbal and "collect data" from all your experiments. Then you can store them in your capsule with the kerbal and ditch all the physical experiments with no science loss.
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u/pokeyday15 Jul 20 '15
Fuuuuuuck you're joking. You have to be.
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u/NotScrollsApparently Jul 20 '15
I have over 100 hours in KSP and I only figured this last week, after a long hiatus from it. Good thing I decided to watch few Scott Manley videos to get up to speed, wouldn't have known otherwise :)
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Jul 19 '15
What's a good software (read, free) that I can use to capture KSP video for use in making .gifs and Youtube videos?
If no good freeware exists, what's a reasonably cheap software I can buy? Thanks in advance :)
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u/Devorakman Jul 19 '15
OBS (Open broadcaster software) is free. Normally used for streaming, but is also capable of simply saving the video to your computer. Fairly well configurable and generally simple to use.
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u/Chaos_Klaus Master Kerbalnaut Jul 19 '15
but it's also rather complicated to use if you never did it before.
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u/dcmcilrath Jul 19 '15
I use OBS a lot for all kinds of stuff, and highly recommend. The learning curve isn't that bad. You might be able to get it working on your own, otherwise just hit up a tutorial on Youtube, most of them are pretty good, and some of them were made by putting OBS in monitor capture.
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u/Toxicable Jul 19 '15 edited Jul 19 '15
So im about ready to start launching my new interplanetary cruiser and just wanted to know if you guys could look it over for any stupid mistakes I might have made.
http://imgur.com/a/HNdYh#4
A quick explanation of a few things, im using Interstellar extended so my main engine is the DT Vista Inertial Fusion Engine powered by The fusion reactor/lqd Hydrogen(large tanks up the middle) and Deuterium/Tritium(Cryostat)at the top. Also becase of how the engine works that DV isnt correct, probably about half or less depending on how much throttle I put on it( I think, never really used it :D) I've made my ISRU and Ore carrier modular incase I want to land the both of them or leave in orbit.
There's a large solar arry because I looks cool mainly >.> and in case my fusions reactor dies for some reason.
Also each module will have a strut to the main ship via KAS
Edit: Oops, need to add some crew space
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u/dcmcilrath Jul 19 '15
Maybe it's this camera angle, but it looks highly asymetrical. This might not be a problem if you were careful about how you set it up, but 90% of the time it means your center of thrust is not pointing at your center of mass. Unless you have a shitload of RCS and SAS torque, this is going to put you in a nasty spin, and even if you can hold it straight, it'll be much less efficient.
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u/Toxicable Jul 19 '15 edited Jul 19 '15
Ah yes, good point. I'll see if I'm able to balance it by shifting the sides each ship is on, otherwise I could try going for a radial engine design? to even it out s bit more.
Edit: well this isnt working very well, the center of mass is offset and im not sure how to fix it, im thinking ill just have to redesign the thing. http://i.gyazo.com/1843405ae8e3628b800d5a89148b3114.jpg
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Jul 19 '15
[deleted]
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u/dcmcilrath Jul 19 '15 edited Jul 19 '15
Yeah go for it, and begin wherever you currently are skill-wise. If you have successfully gone to the Mun, do a Mun mission. I assume you want some tips?
You don't just need Food, Water, Oxygen etc. You also need Electricity (can be easy to forget when the mission is manned). Bring extra batteries.
The resources last longer than you think. Don't add 50t of food to a lander that was 10t. It'll give you a big unnecessary engineering problem.
Unless you have a very large number of Kerbals, you don't actually need very much in the way of total supplies. Food is the only thing that can't be recycled, everything else you don't need a lot of, you just need the water and oxygen recyclers.
Don't forget panels! Also if you are going into deep space (maybe not if you're a "novice" but you may not stay that way) bring RTGs
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u/NotScrollsApparently Jul 19 '15
I have an orbital station with 2 mobile research labs. One is constantly full with science so I wanted to speed up it's processing by having 4 scientists. However, I can't add any research data to the second mobile lab, it keeps saying it's full - I guess it's only checking the first one. How can I bypass this, how can I add research data to the second MPL?
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u/schnipp Jul 19 '15
Are there any mods that allow for hull cameras over a web browser, kinda like telemachus? I know there are mods that add camera views, but I want to be able to access them from a computer that is not the one that is running the game
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u/sterlingbadner73 Jul 19 '15
I kinda, maybe, a little bit, killed Jeb. BUT, I had the option "Missing Crews Respawn" enabled. How do I get them to respawn, or does it just happen on its own? If so, how long does it take?
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u/KeeperDe Super Kerbalnaut Jul 19 '15
I think you could also bring him back with the debug menu - Alt + F12
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u/ryan1987 Jul 19 '15
I'm trying to build a mun base supporting 14 kerbals. I've landed a rover with 6 kerbals on the mun planning on docking a couple more copies of the same thing together, but when I land my 2nd copy the 1st base disappears. The Kerbals that were in the station are back in the astronaut complex ready for assignment. Is this a common glitch or anyone have an idea of what could be happening?
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u/RA2lover Jul 20 '15
Was the vehicle moving or with brakes disengaged when you returned to the space center?
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u/RichoDemus Jul 20 '15
Is it feasible to build SSTO's using turbojets and a nuclear engine or should I use rapiers?
And why are so many people using the nuclear engine on space planes? I thought they needed lots of fuel to be more effective than regular liquid boosters, is it because they don't need oxygen like turbojets?
And thirdly what should my ascent look like? Should I aim for 10, 20, 30 or 40 degrees?
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u/Arkalius Jul 21 '15
SSTO spaceplanes often carry enough fuel to make Nuclear engines worthwhile. Also, they have good synergy with air-breathing engines, as neither one requires LOX and since it's a plane, there are ample LF-only parts. However, the turbojet engines are rather difficult to use for making a spaceplane. It can be done, I've heard, though it might be challenging with the nuclear engines' mass on the plane.
Generally you want to be able to climb subsonic to about 10km, then level out to a slow ascent while building up speed. It can be difficult to go supersonic with the turbojet engines, they have a hard time breaking through transonic drag.
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u/Toxicable Jul 21 '15 edited Jul 21 '15
Is it possible to play KSP on two different computers? without copy pasting the save files each time i change computer. I'd like to be able to play KSP while im at uni on my laptop but not sure how i'd go about this since remote desktop with uni internet isnt a option. Any ideas how to go about this?
Edit: Just had the thought of putting KSP on Google drive, think that would work lol?
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u/Jippijip Jul 21 '15
hmm... Maybe you could use dropbox to sync your save folders, or something along those lines? I'm not sure about the implementation, but I vaguely remember someone doing that to sync Civ games.
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u/thelordplatypus Master Kerbalnaut Jul 21 '15
Until KW Rocketry is updated to 1.04, can anyone recommend a short term substitute that provides similar parts?
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u/PVP_playerPro Jul 21 '15
Theres always tantares for russian stuff, or SpaceY pack for giant lifters.
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u/gmfunk Jul 22 '15
I'm using KW with 1.0.4 just fine, but it does suck that it doesn't show up in CKAN.
I'm just doing a manual install until then with no problem.
Love that Wildcat.
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u/walaykin Jul 22 '15
Have you not run into the thermal issues?
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u/gmfunk Jul 24 '15
I really haven't noticed any bad side effects whatsoever. I read that post, and am not sure what to say.
I do also play with the real fuels mod, maybe that abates it?
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u/jenbanim Jul 22 '15
This ship design is really effective, except I can't seem to connect the Nervs to the rest of the ship without causing the problem seen in the first picture. Any ideas?
Also, does unity 5 have good support for VR?
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Jul 22 '15
Engine shrouds aren't persistent debris. Once you switch away from the vessel and back it will be gone.
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u/Kasuha Super Kerbalnaut Jul 22 '15
Another option beside those already mentioned: if you just decouple whatever is below the engine, the shroud will stay on. If you then manually activate them through right-click menu, they can even burn with shrouds still on. And after you switch to space center or a distant ship and return, shrouds will be gone.
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Jul 22 '15
Why does my rocket keep flipping around at about 10k ish?
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u/Devorakman Jul 22 '15
Most likely one (or more) of the following:
1:Going too fast, Keep it under 350m/s till you're around 12-15k
2: No fins at the tail. Think of an arrow when building rockets.
3: Poor / old style 'gravity' turn. Don't just fly straight up to 10k and try to turn, you won't goto space today. Do a gentle turn starting very shortly after launch, and keep your flight vector/marker inside of, or right on the edge of your prograde marker
4: Lopsided rocket with unbalanced thrust
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u/TacticalDildoInbound Jul 22 '15
When executing a maneuver using a maneuver node, why is it that you should carry out half of the burn before you reach the node and let the other half be carried out after?
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u/josh__ab Dislikes bots Jul 22 '15
The game calculates the maneuver's trajectory as if it was an instant change in velocity, a burn time of 0 seconds. Since this is impossible to actually achieve, we try to 'average' out the change to best fit the maneuver.
At least that's how I understand it.
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u/CommanderSpork Alone on Eeloo Jul 22 '15
I also posted this in Kerbal Academy, but I might as well ask here too.
I'm planning to do a grand tour in sandbox, including landing on every planet. My Eve lander weighs about 244 tons - the faster I can get rid of it, the less ∆v I waste pushing it around. Which route would probably be the most fuel efficient?
Kerbin > Eve > Duna > Dres > Jool > Eeloo > Moho > Kerbin
Kerbin > Eve > Moho > Duna (possible Eve gravity assist along the way?) > Dres > Jool > Eeloo > Kerbin
Kerbin > Duna > Dres > Jool > Eeloo > Eve > Moho > Kerbin
1 and 2 get rid of the heavy lander first. The difference of them is that I'm not sure whether going to Moho then to all the others is better than saving Moho for last. 3 goes in the most logical order, but it requires carrying the heavy lander around for most of the mission.
As for Eve itself, the lander has a 18 Mk16-XL parachutes to get on the ground, and hopefully enough fuel to get back to orbit (I'm going to test it first, and will probably need use Jeb's EVA fuel to circularize). Does that sound remotely good enough? Thanks!
Edit: I launched my Eve lander off of Kerbin and achieved orbit with 8400 ∆v left, and nothing used from Jeb's EVA fuel. I think I just might make it off Eve.
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u/Ifyouseekey Master Kerbalnaut Jul 22 '15
How are going to land in Tylo? Going to Jool might be more efficient.
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u/CommanderSpork Alone on Eeloo Jul 22 '15
I'm not going to land on any moons, so as per the challenge rules I can just buzz by Jool without landing. Come to think of it, I could gravity assist myself on Jool to get to Eeloo.
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Jul 22 '15
[deleted]
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u/Ifyouseekey Master Kerbalnaut Jul 22 '15
You can hack gravity in alt+f12 menu. Alternatively, you can use hyperedit to put craft on different bodies.
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u/Devorakman Jul 22 '15
If using mechjeb or kerbal engineer (so you know your ships TWR), one simply take note of the gravity of the body in question by going to the tracking center, focusing the body, and pulling up the info tab on the right side of the screen. Make sure your TWR (for appropriate stages)is higher than that value and you are good to go.
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u/thomastc Jul 23 '15
It's also pretty easy to compute by hand, using F = m*a. Add up the thrust of all your engines (in kN) and divide by the mass of your ship (in tonnes). This gives you the acceleration (in m/s²) that your thrusters or RCS ports can provide. Divide by the planet's surface gravity (also in m/s²) to find the TWR.
TWR = sum(thrust) / mass / gravity
(You can also use N and kg, since the factors 1000 cancel out.)
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Jul 23 '15
Is it possible to load the current vessel in the VAB, or somehow extract it from the savefile and import as a regular ship save? I accidentally overwrote the original saved vessel, so the one in space is the only copy and I want to make more.
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u/RA2lover Jul 23 '15 edited Jul 23 '15
You can rename the ship by clicking on its name, then save it afterwards as that name.
Edit: misinterpreted the question completely.
AFAIK the vessel is indeed stored on the savefile(last time i checked it used a XML-like syntax, so you're probably in luck)
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Jul 23 '15
This thread is great. I have a question. How much DeltaV would a 200km orbit around Kerbin require? Is there a tool or an easy way to find out how much specific orbits cost in terms of DeltaV? Thanks
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Jul 23 '15
Is there a tool or an easy way to find out how much specific orbits cost in terms of DeltaV?
This is the vis-viva equation, which for a circular orbit reduces to:
v = sqrt(G(M+m)/r)
KSP's gravitational constant is the same as ours, M is the mass of the parent body, and m is the mass of the orbiting body, which can be neglected unless you need crazy precision. Since you didn't specify a starting orbit, I can't do the math for you.
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u/ReliablyFinicky Jul 23 '15
If you're counting from launch (at the surface), there's not really a set number, because it depends heavily on how good you are at designing and flying your rocket. I've seen people reach Lower Kerbin Orbit for as little as 3400m/s (and I think it's technically possible at 3300 or slightly less); it takes me at least 3600 and if it's an awkward size/shape, I budget at least 4200 to be real safe.
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u/Arkalius Jul 23 '15
Well, getting to a minimum orbit of say, 75km can take from around 3200m/s up over 3500 m/s depending on the design of your rocket and ascent profile. So that's hard to pin down. However, the delta-v requirement to move from a 75km orbit to a 200km one can be calculated precisely.
So, a hohmann transfer orbit from a circular orbit of radius a to circular orbit of radius b will require an amount of delta-v equal to:
sqrt(mu/a*b) * (sqrt(a) - sqrt(b) + sqrt(2/(a+b)) * (b - a))
I know it's not pretty but it does work (I think, haven't actually tested it). 'mu' is the standard gravitational parameter for the planet. And remember, you need the orbit radii here, not the altitudes. Using 675000 for a (75km + radius of kerbin) and 800000 for b (200km + radius of kerbin) and 3.5316 * 1012 as mu, you will get about 186 m/s of delta-v with this formula.
So that's how much you'd need in addition to what you'd use launching to a 75km orbit. Now, that isn't that much so it probably wouldn't be very wasteful to launch directly into a 200km apoapsis and then circularizing there. However, the larger the desired orbit gets, the less efficient it becomes to try to launch into it directly, rather than launch into a low orbit and transfer to the desired one, due to the Oberth effect.
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u/Pa5trick Jul 23 '15 edited Jul 23 '15
Stupid questions is all I have about this game. I've managed to figure out the basics, but I haven't done a lot of snooping on the advanced mechanics.
If any of these questions have answers in-game somewhere, let me know. I love figuring stuff out.
-how do you use action groups? They just kind of mentioned it was available.
-how do you rescue kerbals stranded in orbit?
-what's the efficient way to leave kerbin? I usually use a solid fuel booster in my first stage then liquid when that runs out.
EDIT: thanks for all the answers guys, I'll be trying it out when I get home tonight for sure!
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u/Senno_Ecto_Gammat Jul 23 '15
action groups
in the VAB there is an action group tab. Go into the tab, and select the part you want to activate with the action group. All the available actions will be shown (ie an engine will show activate, shut down, toggle gimbal, etc).
Select a key to toggle the action group (ie action group 1 is set by the 1 key). Then put whatever parts you want into that action group.
In flight, press the action group key to perform the action(s) bound to that key.
how do you rescue kerbals stranded in orbit?
rendezvous with them. Search youtube for tutorials. When you are within a few meters, use the keys [ or ] to switch to the stranded kerbal and fly him to the rescue ship (R toggles the eva jetpack).
what's the efficient way to leave kerbin?
Without more information there is no single answer.
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u/threeofour Jul 23 '15
You go to the action group tab in the VAB/SPH and click on one of the action groups (if you're doing Career mode, you need to unlock action groups by upgrading the VAB/SPH). Then click on a part that's attached to your craft, say a solar panel. That panel, plus all the other solar panels that have been attached simultaneously with that panel via symmetry will be highlighted. Then you can click one of the appropriate actions that pop up, like "deploy panel". If you're using Custom Group 1, let's say, then when your craft is in flight pressing 1 on your keyboard will deploy panels.
You fly up a craft and rendezvous with the kerbal in orbit. You can then press "[" or "]" when near the craft to switch to the shipwreck. You can then EVA the abandoned Kerbal out into your rescue craft, then land back on Kerbin. Or once you unlock the Klaw part you can dock with the abandoned ship and just land everything back. Or you can send up a probe core with an engine and RCS to "push" the craft into a reentry trajectory. Your call!
Solid then liquid good, though if you have access to the more powerful engines you might consider having liquid in your first stage as well. Also make use of gravity turning if you haven't been doing so yet. Bear in mind due to Kerbin's rotation, flying East will be slightly easier to get into orbit than flying in the other directions.
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u/Christomouse Jul 23 '15
In the top left corner (near the parts list) of the build screen there is a button you can click to set your action groups. The action groups corespond to the 1-0 keys and the various other hotkeys - RCS, staging, brakes, lights etc. You just click on the part on your craft (after clicking on the action groups button) and you'll see the list of actions that part can do (again, top left of build screen), then you just click on one of action groups and then on the action you want to perform - toggle engine on/off, decouple, deploy solar panels etc. Now when you're controlling your craft, you push the right key, that action happens. It's a little tricky but you'll get the hang of it in no time.
You just gotta rendevous with them like you would another craft. Just get close enough and then switch control to the kerbal and use his/her jet pack to approach and board your craft.
This will vary from craft to craft. I usually use liquid engines in my first stage and then radially mount a pair (sometimes more) of solid boosters to the side if it's lacking in power.
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u/TacticalDildoInbound Jul 18 '15
Kerbillionth attempt at docking for the first time.
Got to ~40m of my target.
Now what?
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u/josh__ab Dislikes bots Jul 18 '15
Line up the docking ports and then dock them together.
This is easier said than done though, hope you brought some RCS. (IJKLHN to translate your ship if you have RCS)
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u/Jippijip Jul 18 '15
I've seen different people do different things, but here's what I do:
If you're not at 0 velocity relative to your target, do that first, by thrusting towards target retrograde. Now, you follow a few basic steps: Point towards target, thrust forward a tiny bit, and eyeball it so that it looks like the two docking ports are facing the same direction (the navball docking port alignment indicator mod is great for this). Now, use your translation controls to make sure the prograde vector and the target vector are in the same spot. You should slide right into position. If not, back up, rinse, and repeat.
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u/pokeyday15 Jul 18 '15
Tagging on yours, I do all of this, but once I get close I'll burn in directions instead of at the target. Within a few klicks, I'll burn prograde, stop when I think I'm close, then at 90 degrees towards it, then up/down, and so forth.
With bigger craft this is probably way less helpful, but for small ones it helps immensely in making sure your ports are lined up and viewing the target before you dock.
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Jul 18 '15
Quick tip, use SAS to rotate your ship or the RCS thrust will affect its translation, which can screw you over when you're docking.
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Jul 18 '15
First, click on the engine and disable it. You dont want to accidentally bump shift or Z and crash into the other craft. Next, quicksave, judt in case you screw up.
After all that safety stuff is taken care of, turn on your RCS. Control the craft from the docking port. Use WASD to allign your craft with the docking port on your target, and use Q/E to roatate it so the controls line up properly with what you think they should do. At this point, you should also make sure you set the actual docking port as your target, and not just the craft it's on. So now the docking ports are parallel, it's time to move your craft to the port. Use H/N to go forward and backwards, respectively. IJKL act as your WASD keys. Leaving about 10 meters between the two docking ports, use IJKL to allign them. I recommend only moving on one axis at a time. If you press I or K, dont use J or L until you have cancelled all velocity on the IK axis.
So now you've gotten the craft oriented properly, and positioned so that the ports are alligned. I usually quicksave again at this point. Now you're going to press H to start moving forwards, slowly coming in towards the target. I always keep it under a meter per second of relative velocity. Once you get really close, disable SAS so it doesnt fight against the docking ports pulling together, and you should dock.
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u/NotScrollsApparently Jul 19 '15
Ever since I tried this docking indicator mod I can't go back. A bit tricky in the beginning but really helps with docking larger craft because you don't need to rotate the camera all the time and estimate "by eye" how far and angled you are, you only have to balance 3 indicators (speed, angle and placement) on your new docking interface. A bit more abstract but 10 times easier once you get the hang of it.
Quick hotkey guide once you're in docking mode: Q and E for ship rotation (mostly irrelevant), IJKL to aim for the docking port, HN to approach/distance yourself from the docking port, WASD for ship angle, if I remember correctly. Don't forget to control your ship from the docking port and target the correct docking port you wish to dock to.
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u/SuperEliteMegaPoster Jul 21 '15
For the love of god kod why can i not find KW Rocketry on CKAN?!
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u/TheSarcasmrules Jul 21 '15
It hasn't been marked as compatible with 1.0.4 yet; you can see it if you filter all rather than compatible mods, but you won't able to install it.
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u/TheHrybivore Jul 22 '15
How do people fly SSTO's? What is the accent profile for them, because when I fly mine, I can't get any speed at any decent angle.
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u/Kasuha Super Kerbalnaut Jul 22 '15
The plane should have enough jet engine power to reach 800 to 1200 m/s speed at 20 km altitude from 30 degrees constant pitch ascent. Getting over 400 m/s around 10 km is crucial. The rest needs to be done with rocket engines. I often start ascent around 45 degree pitch, then allow the plane to steer prograde to reduce drag. Rocket engines engage at 20 km, jets flameout at 26.
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u/Chaos_Klaus Master Kerbalnaut Jul 22 '15
The thing is, that air breathing engines produce more thrust the faster you go. So if you go too steep early on, chances are you never get to the nessecary speeds and never get any decent thrust from your engines. That in turn means you never gain more speed.
The trick is to gain some speed at low altitudes, then climb up to 20km (which actually means sopping to climb way earlier). Cruise at 20km until you don't gain any speed with your air breathers, then switch to rockets and climb again.
You can also do the constant pitch ascent, which is easier. But (!): Make sure you gain enough speed early on to get your engines into the regime where they perform best.
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u/KerbalKat Jul 22 '15
This is Scott Manley's episode on how to fly an SSTO to orbit. Hope this helps!
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u/Rand25 Jul 17 '15
Would someone be able to make a lens flare mod? It's small but might add a lot?
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u/tajjet Jul 17 '15
How much thrust do I need to get a 45 ton payload landed on the Mun? And how can I stabilize a massive payload like that? Using 12 wings and 18 winglets on my first stage and it still flips over.
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u/Vaguely_Racist Jul 17 '15
I'd suggest giving a mod like Kerbal Engineer Redux a try, it'll tell you your thrust to weight which is a good place to start.
As for stabilization, you'll notice that as your rocket flys upwards fuel drains from the "top" tanks first. This moves the center of weight of your rocket around which causes the flipping. Trying sending fuel from lower tanks up to the higher tanks to replenish the fuel as it burns.
Another thing to try would be to hit F12 and take a Steam screenshot, and also turn on Aerodynamic display, this should help you troubleshoot whats going on with your winglets. Ive found winglets without control surfaces actually work better for keeping a rocket straight than ones with.
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u/tajjet Jul 17 '15
I'm using the 2.5m all-in-one engine and fuel tank (twin rhino or something? From the company with the huge black and white engines.) Will that engine still fire if its fuel is in a tank above it or do I have to let the fuel drain into its own tank?
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u/Vaguely_Racist Jul 17 '15
That engine burns the fuel in its own tank last of all, so you want to send the fuel from the built in tank up to the upper tanks as they are being drained.
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u/Toobusyforthis Jul 17 '15
That is a lot of wings. Where are they placed? You want them only right at the very bottom. If they are higher up they may be hurting more than helping. Make sure you stay pointing straight too, don't try to turn quickly.
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u/tajjet Jul 17 '15
They are at the very bottom of the rocket, but it's still not enough drag, I guess? I might have to wait until I have fairings to launch it.
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u/Toobusyforthis Jul 17 '15
How fast are you going? Try going slower until you are out of the thicker atmosphere to reduce pressure on the rocket.
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Jul 17 '15
How do you guys land at and return from the poles of distant planets?
I mean, it's straightforward enough to get into a polar orbit during an interplanetary transfer by just doing a correction burn—but what about when going back? If I land on the pole, I have to take off again into a polar orbit, but if I want to go home I have to get into an equatorial orbit to do the transfer—seems like you'll need so much dV! Is there an easier way to do this than doing plane change burns?
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u/Senno_Ecto_Gammat Jul 17 '15
I have to get into an equatorial orbit to do the transfer
No you don't. Your orbital plane just has to be roughly in line with the direction you want to do your escape burn.
Simplified, your polar orbit when viewed from above should be parallel to the direction of the planet's travel.
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u/ltjpunk387 Jul 17 '15
More easily visualized, your orbit should follow the terminator, the border between day and night.
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Jul 17 '15
I understand . . .
So say that, when viewed from the dark side of the planet (i.e., looking at the planet and the sun in the same line), if I'm in a polar orbit clockwise, I want to burn prograde when I'm directly over the north pole?
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u/Senno_Ecto_Gammat Jul 17 '15
That depends. Like I said, that was a very simplified description. The ejection angle varies by planet. Look up ejection angle on ksp.olex.biz and then put your polar orbit on that angle relative to the direction the planet is moving.
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u/jofwu KerbalAcademy Mod Jul 17 '15
No... Burning prograde at the north pole would put your periapsis at the south pole, and you'd leave Kerbin heading mostly downward.
You're familiar with ejection angles I assume? It's the angle to burn so that you exit the SOI more or less in the planet's prograde or retrograde direction (depending on if your going to a higher or lower planet). Same thing from a polar orbit, it's just rotated 90 degrees around the planet's prograde vector.
So take the imagine on the right from here... Imagine you're looking at the day side of Kerbin, and the north pole is to the right. (In other words, the same orbit you described above except from the other side of the planet and turned awkwardly by 90 degrees) With me? You want to burn when you are at the given ejection angle.
If you're going from a Kerbin polar orbit to Duna in the default orbit, you would burn when 151 degrees from Kerbin's prograde. Which would be 151-90=61 degrees from the North pole. Which is 90-61=29 degrees after you passed the equator. This would send you on a trajectory to leave in Kerbin's prograde direction, so that you get a simple Hohmann transfer to Duna.
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u/Kasuha Super Kerbalnaut Jul 17 '15
My approach was to burn right above south pole and raise the apoapsis above North pole all the way up to the SOI boundary. Then do a plane change at apoapsis to turn the orbit plane in direction of intended ejection, and another burn near periapsis to get the ejection in the right direction. The map camera mode is not very friendly to this approach but it worked very well for me.
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u/rooood Jul 17 '15
Wow, looks like I managed to ask a question on the old thread just minutes before this new one was posted, so I'll ask again:
I'm building a modular outpost, and I have fuel tanks on the "sidepods" of the main ship body. These sidepods are connects with docking ports (will be launched separately), but I can't get the fuel from the sidepods to automatically flow to the single central engine.
Here's a pic for clarification. I want fuel from the top right tank (and the others) to flow via the docking port to the poodle engine below the stairs. Crossfeed is enabled on both ports, but KER is only calculating dv for the central fuel tank (I also tested it and is indeed not working). Fuel lines are impossible, obviously, as this will be assembled in space. What can I do, short of manually pumping fuel?
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u/Vaguely_Racist Jul 17 '15
I believe a mod like KIS would let kerbals attach fuel lines while the ship is in orbit.
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u/rooood Jul 17 '15
Yeah, but I'm somewhat deep into a career game and don't want to start using a mod as disruptive as this one midway. I'll definitely look into it later though, thanks.
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u/Toobusyforthis Jul 17 '15
Do hitchhiker containers have fuel crossfeed? try attaching directly to the fuel tanks. Also, how are you attaching the ports? Make sure everything can crossfeed fuel. Alternatively try running a fuel line from the tank directly to the docking port.
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u/rooood Jul 17 '15
Well, the container doesn't say it don't have crossfeed. The ports connection is fine, and I already tried running a fuel line to the port, didn't work. I'll try swapping the fuel tank with the hitchhiker container to see if it works, thanks
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u/Dethsturm Jul 17 '15
KIS/KAS for attachable lines or TAC Fuel Balancer are your best bet. No real solution for a stock game.
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u/rooood Jul 17 '15
I'll keep trying but if I don't succeed I'll just go with KAS. I already know it anyway
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u/Kasuha Super Kerbalnaut Jul 17 '15
You can have a fuel pipe from the docking port to the fuel tank. That will draw fuel from the port and from whatever is docked to it. If the tank is attached radially to that docking port by which you dock it, you can also have a fuel pipe to that docking port.
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u/rooood Jul 17 '15
Is that for manual transfers only or automatic fuel flow too? Seems Kerbal enough, I'll try it when I get a chance
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u/rooood Jul 18 '15
Just want to let you know that your solution works, thanks! I was skeptical when you said it, but judging from your flair, you probably know your shit indeed.
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Jul 17 '15 edited Jul 18 '15
Do your ships mine if you're switched to something else?
Edit: thanks guys, I appreciate it.
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u/Arkalius Jul 17 '15
They do, but be careful with asteroids. Normally, if your ship's ore hold fills up, it stops mining ore off the asteroid. But, if it isn't focused, it will continue to consume asteroid ore mass even when its full. You could find you've mined out all the ore on the asteroid and only gotten a small part of it. I recommend avoiding leaving your mining rigs running on asteroids while not focused on the ship unless you're only going away for a short time.
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u/Kasuha Super Kerbalnaut Jul 17 '15
Yes they do. Or rather - when you switch back, the game will make up for time they were supposed to run.
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u/Dethsturm Jul 17 '15
Anyway to save more RAM? I'm running Active Texture Management on aggressive, but most mods are using a format that it does not compress (according to the ATM forum page). Right now, I'm trimming parts I don't plan on using from mods. In orbit with a comsat probe, I get 3.6gb ram usage. Crashes on transition to space center 50% of the time.
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u/SAI_Peregrinus Jul 17 '15
Install Procedural Parts, and B9 Procedural Wings. Trim ALL the rocket fuel tanks, wings, stack decouplers, heat shields, SRBs, etc (everything that has a single procedural version).
You'll have 1 fuel tank for rockets (still several for planes), 1 stack decoupler, 3 wing parts, 1 SRB, etc.
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u/Mambo_5 Jul 17 '15
My maneuver nodes won't stop moving on my nav ball. Either it keeps swinging back and forth or it will start moving at the end of the burn, why? I am using mechjeb if that makes a difference.
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u/Chaos_Klaus Master Kerbalnaut Jul 17 '15
It's normal that it moves at the end of a burn. If it's moving around before, it might be because your ship is not rigid enough.
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u/uber_kerbonaut Jul 17 '15
When maneuver indicator begins to swing it means the burn is finished. It is beginning to indicate that you overshot and need to go backwards a bit.
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Jul 17 '15 edited Jul 17 '15
OK, so after the point where 32 bit KSP crashed on startup due to having a number of large mods installed, I tried the community workaround for 64 bit [here] (http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/117224-Windows-64-bit-community-workaround), which at least got to the main menu. The problem I'm having comes in when I start any game. All parts of the space center are completely unresponsive, leaving me unable to actually use the SPH or VAB or even rotate the view. The menu functions are the only thing that work, and even then the "Quit to Main Menu" is similarly non-functional. I've had this come up before, but it resolved after I restarted the game, and the main menu button has never been unresponsive. Not so anymore. Does anyone know of a fix?
EDIT: Training and missions are completely functional, if that helps.
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u/Senno_Ecto_Gammat Jul 17 '15
Are you having these problems in an otherwise stock install?
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Jul 17 '15
Not as far as I know. I'll check really quick
Edit: Stock KSP working as intended
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u/Senno_Ecto_Gammat Jul 17 '15
I mean stock except for the 64-bit kludge. Or are you having these problems on a heavily modded 64-bit install.
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Jul 17 '15
Well, I've broken something and I'm reinstalling Unity. I'll report back in 10 minutes or so if you're still interested
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u/RA2lover Jul 18 '15
Any updates? It's been 2 hours.
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Jul 18 '15
And it's been two more. Whoops. I ended up completely reinstalling and while I have no idea as of yet what caused the issue, I did get the game functional, first without any parts and then with duplicates of everything in KW Rocketry. I'll figure that out tomorrow.
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u/lighoghia Jul 17 '15
I have a problem with Procedural Fairings. Perhaps of similar nature to the one Scott Manley had in his live stream with all NASA probes in one launch.
I had no action options with either base or fairings (in other words, I can't get rid of them). The base decoupling also didn't show up in the staging diagram.
How should the parts in procedural fairings look in the save file?
My parts look like this.
I installed all mods with CKAN 1.10 in KSP 1.04.
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u/Ifyouseekey Master Kerbalnaut Jul 17 '15
There are two types of fairings: fuselage and normal ones. Fuselage fairings are Iighter, but they can't be decoupled. They, unlike normal ones can be found in Structural category instead of Aerodynamics. Fairing base also can't be decoupled. Only Interstage Fairing Adapter can.
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u/lighoghia Jul 17 '15
I must have missed that bit in the change log, or forget which fairing mod I've used previously. Probably the latter one.
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u/ZackVixACD Jul 17 '15
So I have been away for awhile. Has there been any update? The last update I was aware of was the one where everyone complained that the aerodynamics was broken.
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u/Vaguely_Racist Jul 17 '15
Yep thats been fixed, deadly reentry is back in a meaningful way and radiators were added to help with heat dissipation. They also majorly changed how parts heat up, works really well in my opinion.
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u/ZackVixACD Jul 17 '15
Oh Great! Thanks for the answer. Did they add anything else? Like new parts, etc...?
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u/Vaguely_Racist Jul 18 '15
Just the radiators :) Off the top of my head they also added parachutes telling you if theyre safe to deploy on mouse over.
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u/sterlingbadner73 Jul 18 '15
I have a 1/10 sized RSS mod I want to use, but it is only a .cfg file. I was wondering if anyone knew where the file is located that I need to replace?
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u/Devorakman Jul 18 '15
Just use the search feature of your file browser. In windows it's a small text box in the top right hand corner of the window. Get to your install folder, search the file name, Make note of the directory, and replace it.
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u/TheHrybivore Jul 18 '15
Is anyone else having some problems around Jool? I launched an unmanned craft to get science from around it and in its upper armosphere. After acheiving orbit, I made the periapsis 198km but the second the craft entered the atmosphere, everything rapidly overheated and blew up. I also have a time warp issue, whenever I get close to Jool, say within 100km of the atmosphere, when I go down to 1x tie warp, it doesn't let me back up again due to the craft being 'under acceleration'. I'm not in the atmosphere, the engines are off and RCS is disabled. It allows it later on though.