Kerbal Space Program
Discussion
Been playing this a lot more recently.
I have now developed a good launch platform that can get into Orbit on the first stage (Lifting 2 decent sized fuel stages also) which should give me a good platform for planet transfers (Only ever gone for a trip round the Mun and back!)
One thing I want to do is create a probe to send off to different planets. Anyone got a good basis for this? Can't seem to decide how to be clever and build one properly! Step after that will be a space station and landers I think!
I have now developed a good launch platform that can get into Orbit on the first stage (Lifting 2 decent sized fuel stages also) which should give me a good platform for planet transfers (Only ever gone for a trip round the Mun and back!)
One thing I want to do is create a probe to send off to different planets. Anyone got a good basis for this? Can't seem to decide how to be clever and build one properly! Step after that will be a space station and landers I think!
Probes to other planets/moons are a good next step after some Mun/Minmus landings. You can usually find some contracts to place satellites in specific orbits of Duna or Eve fairly early on so they can be profitable (assuming you're on a career game). Contracts will specify particular equipment to be on the satellite, usually the big and unwieldy surface scanner, sometimes a materials bay or goo.
Plenty of hints online about how much dV you'll need to get to specific places, and Kerbal Engineer is a great mod to tell you how much dV your design has if you don't want to do it by trial an error.
I use the Scansat mod, which has scanners for mapping planets, and RemoteTech which means I need to have a communicatons network, not too sure how comms work in the vanilla game these days. Worth having a read of the wiki on the comms system or you might find you don't have a lot of control when you get there.
My usual probe designs have a service bay with a long range comms dish, a probe core and some batteries inside as the central element, with a payload on top and a fuel tank and a Terrier or Spark at the other end. I also always have a shorter range antenna for a local network in RemoteTech.
The key thing is working out when to launch to get the most fuel efficient trip. Plenty of online calculators (or the Kerbal Alarm Clock mod) to tell you, or better yet plenty of website to teach you how to work it out.
Plenty of hints online about how much dV you'll need to get to specific places, and Kerbal Engineer is a great mod to tell you how much dV your design has if you don't want to do it by trial an error.
I use the Scansat mod, which has scanners for mapping planets, and RemoteTech which means I need to have a communicatons network, not too sure how comms work in the vanilla game these days. Worth having a read of the wiki on the comms system or you might find you don't have a lot of control when you get there.
My usual probe designs have a service bay with a long range comms dish, a probe core and some batteries inside as the central element, with a payload on top and a fuel tank and a Terrier or Spark at the other end. I also always have a shorter range antenna for a local network in RemoteTech.
The key thing is working out when to launch to get the most fuel efficient trip. Plenty of online calculators (or the Kerbal Alarm Clock mod) to tell you, or better yet plenty of website to teach you how to work it out.
wst said:
Recently started playing this again so a new career it is. I installed Kerbal Engineer Redux to help me with building...
Currently trying to scrape together enough science to think about landings. I don't even have ladders yet! That'd be awkward for the Kerbal...
I never bother with ladders for Mun/Minmus landings, the suit RCS is powerful enough for them to fly.Currently trying to scrape together enough science to think about landings. I don't even have ladders yet! That'd be awkward for the Kerbal...
I've just managed to land on the Mun for 8630 Kredits, but actually put it on the surface with zero fuel remaining 
Using the big solid booster as the main engine kept the cost down but resulted in a hideously inefficient launch to over 300km but suborbital, so in theory I should be able to get a much better launch but I think I'm going to need another stage which will up the costs a lot.
Jeb wasn't too keen on the view though. Using his suit life support for a trip to the mun and back is a bit of an exploit though. I'm interested to see how cheaply I can get this lander back to Kerbin, and then I'll have a more NASA style attempt and send a decent pod.
(I've got Kerbal Engineer installed which I hope isn't against the spirit of the challenge)
Using the big solid booster as the main engine kept the cost down but resulted in a hideously inefficient launch to over 300km but suborbital, so in theory I should be able to get a much better launch but I think I'm going to need another stage which will up the costs a lot.
Jeb wasn't too keen on the view though. Using his suit life support for a trip to the mun and back is a bit of an exploit though. I'm interested to see how cheaply I can get this lander back to Kerbin, and then I'll have a more NASA style attempt and send a decent pod.
(I've got Kerbal Engineer installed which I hope isn't against the spirit of the challenge)
Edited by RizzoTheRat on Sunday 31st December 16:39
You can get away without anything there in some cases as most components below an engine will overheat after a couple of seconds, however thanks for that tip as you just saved me the cost of the one decoupler I was using
I've added an intermediate stage to my previous design to get this for 9,780 Kredits
Launch profile was still a bit rubbish with a fairly high suborbital shove from the first stage, and the second stage used to circularise at about 150km and then get most of the way to the Mun, with Valentina transferring to the lander seat before leaving Kerbin orbit.
As I knew I had a fair bit of excess fuel I wasted a bit getting her within waving distance of Jeb
The view on re-entry must have been pretty good, but probably a bit warm with the doors open
Splashdown with 658 m/s remaining
I wasted a bit of fuel trying to land close to Jeb, so probably have around 750-800m/s spare, and I've still not not managed a decent launch profile with these solid boosters so there's probably some excess to be shaved there too. If I half the tank size on the intermediate stage it comes in at 9,480 Kredits but will it make it there and back...
I've added an intermediate stage to my previous design to get this for 9,780 Kredits
Launch profile was still a bit rubbish with a fairly high suborbital shove from the first stage, and the second stage used to circularise at about 150km and then get most of the way to the Mun, with Valentina transferring to the lander seat before leaving Kerbin orbit.
As I knew I had a fair bit of excess fuel I wasted a bit getting her within waving distance of Jeb
The view on re-entry must have been pretty good, but probably a bit warm with the doors open
Splashdown with 658 m/s remaining
I wasted a bit of fuel trying to land close to Jeb, so probably have around 750-800m/s spare, and I've still not not managed a decent launch profile with these solid boosters so there's probably some excess to be shaved there too. If I half the tank size on the intermediate stage it comes in at 9,480 Kredits but will it make it there and back...
| Ranking | PH Name | Ship Name | Cost | Mass | Parts | Mission Notes |
| - | ash73 | Lunar 9 | 9,340 | 44t | 22 | solid boosters |
| - | RizzoTheRat | Munlander Budget 2 | 9,780 | 31.8t | 19 | - |
| - | ash73 | Lunar 8 | 14,822 | 42t | 28 | minimalist Apollo |
| - | Donbot | Mun-turd | 22,260 | 66t | 24 | - |
Third time lucky. Solid booster as an intermediate stage and double the fuel on the final stage, which then did a chunk of the circularisation burn as well as well as the transfer, landing and return. I still don't think this is particularly efficient though.
Fell over on landing but the reaction wheels were strong enough to get it upright again
Splash down with nearly 500m/s remaining
Fell over on landing but the reaction wheels were strong enough to get it upright again
Splash down with nearly 500m/s remaining
| Ranking | PH Name | Ship Name | Cost | Mass | Parts | Mission Notes |
| - | RizzoTheRat | Munlander Budget 3 | 8,595 | 31.4t | 18 | - |
| - | ash73 | Lunar 9 | 9,340 | 44t | 22 | solid boosters |
| - | RizzoTheRat | Munlander Budget 2 | 9,780 | 31.8t | 19 | - |
| - | ash73 | Lunar 8 | 14,822 | 42t | 28 | minimalist Apollo |
| - | Donbot | Mun-turd | 22,260 | 66t | 24 | - |
I'd not been playing for a while and this got me back in to a it a bit 
I'm using some mods so not a valid entry, but I just had a go to see what I could do in my career save, which has some advantages over a sandbox game in that you can recover part costs. Unfortunately I don't have the command seat researched yet so can't do a full mission, but I know my upper stage from the above entry can make it from LKO to the Mun and back, costs 2935 Kredits, and weighs 2695kg, so I built a correctly weighted replica and played around with an alternative launch, resulting in this:
I think the only mod parts it's carrying are Mechjeb (I really couldn't be bothered with the manual launches to test it), and the landing legs which are replicas of New Shephards legs
The launch stage costs 19445, so a total of 22380 with the lander, which isn't cheap, but that Skipper makes a nice heatshield
Plan was to aim to overshoot the airfield and burn fairly late to bring it down on the flat area around the KSC, but I had a bit less fuel left that planned so ended up coming in a bit short. It's also a bit over parachuted so doesn't need the landing burn I was expecting
Landing close to the KSC nets me nearly full price for the parts so the launch hasn't cost me a lot more than the fuel used
Total mission cost is therefore 5558... I can see why SpaceX, Blue Origin, etc are looking at reusable launch vehicles. although I suspect their refurbishment costs would be somewhat higher than 2.5% that KSP's assuming here.
Both our lander designs would fit in a Mk2 cargo bay so it would be interesting to see how cheaply a launch could be done that way, but I don't currently have any space planes in my game. However a reusable vertical ascent rocket like Falcon/BFR/New Shepherd is a bit more realistic than an SSTO spaceplane.
I'm using some mods so not a valid entry, but I just had a go to see what I could do in my career save, which has some advantages over a sandbox game in that you can recover part costs. Unfortunately I don't have the command seat researched yet so can't do a full mission, but I know my upper stage from the above entry can make it from LKO to the Mun and back, costs 2935 Kredits, and weighs 2695kg, so I built a correctly weighted replica and played around with an alternative launch, resulting in this:
I think the only mod parts it's carrying are Mechjeb (I really couldn't be bothered with the manual launches to test it
), and the landing legs which are replicas of New Shephards legsThe launch stage costs 19445, so a total of 22380 with the lander, which isn't cheap, but that Skipper makes a nice heatshield
Plan was to aim to overshoot the airfield and burn fairly late to bring it down on the flat area around the KSC, but I had a bit less fuel left that planned so ended up coming in a bit short. It's also a bit over parachuted so doesn't need the landing burn I was expecting
Landing close to the KSC nets me nearly full price for the parts so the launch hasn't cost me a lot more than the fuel used
Total mission cost is therefore 5558... I can see why SpaceX, Blue Origin, etc are looking at reusable launch vehicles. although I suspect their refurbishment costs would be somewhat higher than 2.5% that KSP's assuming here.
Both our lander designs would fit in a Mk2 cargo bay so it would be interesting to see how cheaply a launch could be done that way, but I don't currently have any space planes in my game. However a reusable vertical ascent rocket like Falcon/BFR/New Shepherd is a bit more realistic than an SSTO spaceplane.
Loving that platform
I launched Val in a Mk1 capsule as part of the intermediate stage and eva'd her over to the cargo bay.
Just tried a quick test on the pad, with her standing next to the cargo bay there was no problem clicking on the seat and telling her to board, so I'm surprised you can't get your pilot in on the pad.
I launched Val in a Mk1 capsule as part of the intermediate stage and eva'd her over to the cargo bay.
Just tried a quick test on the pad, with her standing next to the cargo bay there was no problem clicking on the seat and telling her to board, so I'm surprised you can't get your pilot in on the pad.
Well, I managed to crash into the Muna surface for K11,942. Need more fuel...
ETA: have been experimenting with a horizontal take-off/vertical landing spaceplane to try and stick to the recycle ethos. Currently using est. K2,500 of fuel, all else can be reused. Still need more fuel though.
Damn you, Tsiolkovsky and your infernal rocket equation.
ETA: have been experimenting with a horizontal take-off/vertical landing spaceplane to try and stick to the recycle ethos. Currently using est. K2,500 of fuel, all else can be reused. Still need more fuel though.
Damn you, Tsiolkovsky and your infernal rocket equation.
Edited by Alias218 on Saturday 6th January 18:22
I'll be interested to see how well it works on a console. I can see the controls being great for flying, especially docking, EVA and aircraft, but surely building is going to be tricky on a controller compared to a mouse and keyboard?
I've found in the past that horizontal takeoff is great to Kerbin orbit, but beyond that the extra weight you're carrying starts to be a problem. I had a space plane in an earlier game that I used to carry fuel up to my Kerbin station, and have used them successfully to launch small probes, but I've never yet managed to make one that could get beyond Minmus
Thanks to this thread revival I've not only achieved a lot less around the house the planned over the last few days, but I'm thinking I need to upgrade my PC now as well. It really struggled with this 310 part, 800 tonne, 450k kredit launch. The launch ran at less than half real time, with frequent pauses, and any part I clicked on took a second or two to open the menu, so I left it to MechJeb as I think it might have been tricky to do by hand.
My reusable SSTO's are doing well with lighter payloads, but as the payload gets heavier the sheer size of the launcher you need starts to get silly, so I used my 45 tonne payload launcher with an extra 4 disposable mainsails and fuel tanks. My best landing yet from one of my spent boosters though.
The 158 tonne payload is intended to do quite a few jobs
I don't think Bill's going to be allowed to drive the rover though after what happened in testing!
I'm making an effort in this game to try and do multiple contracts in one launch, and limit the number of launches that I don't get paid for. My last launch netted over 1M kredits with contracts to place a station in Kerbin, Munar and Solar orbits. Annoyingly straight after I'd completed it I got contracts to place one in Minmus orbit, and one to put a telescope in to Solar orbit which I could have combined with it.
I've found in the past that horizontal takeoff is great to Kerbin orbit, but beyond that the extra weight you're carrying starts to be a problem. I had a space plane in an earlier game that I used to carry fuel up to my Kerbin station, and have used them successfully to launch small probes, but I've never yet managed to make one that could get beyond Minmus
Thanks to this thread revival I've not only achieved a lot less around the house the planned over the last few days, but I'm thinking I need to upgrade my PC now as well. It really struggled with this 310 part, 800 tonne, 450k kredit launch. The launch ran at less than half real time, with frequent pauses, and any part I clicked on took a second or two to open the menu, so I left it to MechJeb as I think it might have been tricky to do by hand.
My reusable SSTO's are doing well with lighter payloads, but as the payload gets heavier the sheer size of the launcher you need starts to get silly, so I used my 45 tonne payload launcher with an extra 4 disposable mainsails and fuel tanks. My best landing yet from one of my spent boosters though.
The 158 tonne payload is intended to do quite a few jobs
- Fulfil a "Station orbiting Kerbin" contract
- Leave a fuel dump and RemoteTech comms relay in Duna orbit, with the comms range to also cover Ike
- Fulfil a "Land a base on Duna" contract
- "Plant a flag on Duna" contract
- 3 x "Rescue astronaut from Duna orbit" contracts
- "Satellite in to polar orbit of Duna" contract, which will then close in to ScanSat map the surface once I get a contract for that
- Launch another ScanSat probe in to Ike polar orbit to await a "Scan Ike" contract, this is also the first orbit of Ike this game so extra cash from that.
- Land a rover on Duna for a "Conduct seismic surveys at location" contract
- Possibly do some additional landings if I get some more Duna contract before the return window
- Return the original crew of 3 plus the 3 rescuees to Kerbin. leaving the lander and rover in Duna orbit for future missions.
I don't think Bill's going to be allowed to drive the rover though after what happened in testing!
I'm making an effort in this game to try and do multiple contracts in one launch, and limit the number of launches that I don't get paid for. My last launch netted over 1M kredits with contracts to place a station in Kerbin, Munar and Solar orbits. Annoyingly straight after I'd completed it I got contracts to place one in Minmus orbit, and one to put a telescope in to Solar orbit which I could have combined with it.
Edited by RizzoTheRat on Sunday 7th January 13:11
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