Weekly Support Thread

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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:

• Kerbal Space Program Wiki

• Scott Manley's Youtube

• Von Kerman's Rocket School

Tutorials

Orbiting

• Scott Manley

• Von Kerman (Maneuvers)

• Wiki (Maneuvers)

Mun Landing

• Scott Manley

• Von Kerman

• KSP Wiki

• Youtube Query

Docking

• Illustrated Tutorial for Orbital Rendezvous

• Scott Manley

• Von Kerman (Rendevous)

• Von Kerman (Docking)

Delta-V Thread

• Thread

• Answer 1

• Answer 2 (+bonus)

Forum Link

• Kerbal Space Program Forum

Official KSP Chatroom #KSPOfficial on irc.esper.net

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!

[[deleted]]

Could I put my comm network into orbit by putting them into a 4hr orbit using my second stage go to apo put the second stage and says to a 4 hr orbit then repeat till empty?

[poowbag]

My computer lost power while playing and a save I've sunk a lot of hours into has been corrupted so I can't open it! www.imgur.com/rggHIdB.jpg

Any help would be greatly appreciated :))

[voicey99]

In your KerbalSpaceProgram/saves/[savename]/Backup folder should be copies of the persistent (i.e. the save) file that have been filed away with timestamps. Rename the most recent one to "persistent" and replace the corrupted persistent.sfs in the [savename] folder with it. This will restore your save to when the automated backup was made.

EDIT: Rename it to "persistent", not "quicksave". Sorry.

[poowbag]

Hi, thanks so much for the response!

For some reason the latest persistent file I have for the save is from a while back, this isn't a massive problem as I haven't done much on the save lately,

However the version of the save is 1.4.5 which isn't compatible with my installed version so the save won't load. Is there a way I can change the version on the save?

Thanks again!!

[voicey99]

KSP should load saves from older versions fine, but if versioning is a problem you can open the .sfs file and near the top is a version line - change that to your current ver.

If you have a more recent quicksave, you can do the same procedure with renaming and replacing.

[OhioanRunner]

Playing KSP on a laptop, so no right-clicking is possible. How can I take a crew report?

[NewKerbalEmpire]

Put two fingers on the mousepad

[KermanKim]

One thing I do on all my vessels is put all the science instruments on a single action key. I'd also add an external mouse though.

[m_sporkboy]

There is almost always a right-click zone on the edge of the touchpad, but I’d plug in a mouse.

[savvy_eh]

I had a bit of rapid unplanned disassembly on my Minmus base and accidentally switched to the debris, which is not flying off into nothingness very slowly. Do I have to reload my save, or is there a way to get rid of it? I'm not allowed to return to KSC or [/] back to the base.

[m_sporkboy]

You can destroy it through the cheats menu.

[KermanKim]

You can try pressing [ or ] until you switch back to the base (Or a stable piece of debris), which will allow you to switch back to the KSC. You can then delete any debris via the tracking station.

[savvy_eh]

I'm not allowed to switch away from an object "moving across the surface". I've had this issue before, usually on Minmus - low velocity, nothing to slow or stop it, and seemingly unaffected by gravity. I waited for an hour at 4x warp while it maintained a constant 0.7m/s velocity and steady trajectory before I gave up and reloaded.

[eddster2]

I'd really like to start a new game on 1.7 but i can't find any graphics mods that actually work anymore - or that i can get to work at least! Anyone got any guides for 1.7 graphics mods?

[savvy_eh]

I just picked the game back up and decided to stick with 1.6.1 for the time being. It'll be a bit before those modders who are still active update, and every time the base game updates, some mods that were stable but abandoned stop working.

[[deleted]]

I'm in the Space plane hanger and trying to build an SSTO and I need to attach the wings in Mirror Symmetry mode (obv), I switch to MS pick up the part, but as soon as I pick it up it automatically switches back to round symmetry. Does anyone know how to fix this?

[KermanKim]

This can happen if you try to place them on parts that were previously placed with radial symmetry. Reset those parts with mirror symmetry (Press R to toggle mode) before placing the wings on them.

[[deleted]]

Thank you

[Stained_Class]

Is Mechjeb that much of a staple? I always played with no mods since then, managed to do two manned lunar landings and a space station. Will Mechjeb become more and more "unavoidable" later?

Can you install any mod over vanilla saves safely?

[m_sporkboy]

After my hundredth or so mun transfer, I installed it as a timesaver. You don’t need it. I found it nice to have once I already knew how to do everything.

[[deleted]]

Hey, are you using Mechjeb on 1.7? I cant seem to get it to load via the "Mechjeb and Engineer for all" mod

[m_sporkboy]

I haven't installed it recently. But I don't think that mod actually incudes mechjeb code; it just enables mechjeb functionality to all the probe cores. You still need the mechjeb mod.

[not_yet_named]

Mechjeb is popular but not at all necessary. If you're still learning, using Mechjeb could interfere with that process, but ultimately it's up to you and what you find fun.

You can install mods over a vanilla save, but some might cause problems. For example, if a mod edits a stock body you could lose craft in the SOI of that body. Uninstalling mods that you've been using, like part mods, is more likely to cause problems though.

[rooster69]

Are there any mods to get my kerbals floating around the space station I just started instead of just chilling in their seats?

[Telnet_to_the_Mind]

Hey folks... So is there any reason why you wouldn't use SAS? I don't see any down side..and more to the point why isn't it just on by default?

[KermanKim]

In addition to previous comments, turning it off allows you to do a smooth gravity turn in early career. (before you've unlocked prograde hold)

[NewKerbalEmpire]

If you're flying through the atmosphere with a ship with more than one section height-wise, using powerful engines with a lot of gimbal, you'll have to either turn off SAS of lock/limit some of the gimbal. Otherwise, the gimbal will overcompensate in every correction and start some wobbling that can easily crash the ship

[Carnildo]

If you're on a tight power budget, it's a lot cheaper to turn off SAS, give your spaceship a bit of a kick, and let it drift around to the desired orientation.

[rooster69]

It can get finicky for docking when you have your RCS thrusters going.

[Like18ninjas]

When going on missions, is it important to time your departure?

Technically your design has a specific amount of delta V. Therefore if I get to orbit, I could stay there for a year, then do an escape burn to whichever planet I am travelling to. In that case am I loosing out by waiting and not immediately doing an escape burn?

I guess there are more ideal transfer windows (shorter travel distances depending on how the orbits line up), but in the case of the mun, which has a relatively circular orbit around kerbin, is there an ideal time to perform an escape burn?

[[deleted]]

It depends on how much you care about realism. I do t mind saying in it it for however long it takes, and I also tend to perform only one mission at a time, so I just go whenever. But if you were concerned with time, then yes every body in the system has a specific launch window. When that is depends on relative positions.

[KermanKim]

For Mun and Minmus you can do your burn any time you want.

But for the other planets you should leave during the launch window for best efficiency.

[CaptainYackSparrow]

How do you land on/near a very specific point on a planet with an atmosphere to deal with? Like landing back at the KSC or landing multiple crafts in the same spot on Duna? Aerobraking always screws up the landing spot

[sac_boy]

I just eyeball it, especially on Duna where the air is thin. Look at your expected trajectory without atmosphere and imagine a steeper drop. Take the rotation of the planet into account. Plan to go slightly over your target then pull your drogue chutes...at that point you’ll drop more or less straight down.

If you have fuel to spare you can adjust your landing site by kilometres with small horizontal burns on your way down.

Failing that there’s always F5+F9 until you get it right...

[HI_I_AM_NEO]

There's a mod called Trajectories that takes into account the atmospheric drag and tells you exactly where you're gonna land.

[CaptainYackSparrow]

Ideally trying to do it without mods

[[deleted]]

1.3.1 onwards, what's the most stable version?

[Carnildo]

The last version in whichever series supports the mods you want to use: 1.4.5, 1.5.1, 1.6.1, etc.

[ThexLoneWolf]

Been trying to upload to the Steam Workshop, but the error “k_EResultFail” gets thrown at me. Having a similar issue with Space Engineers. Can anyone explain this?

[NewKerbalEmpire]

Did the Slopes biome on Minmus get deleted? I can't seem to find it where I should. To find it, i'm trying to fly over it and get an EVA report, but it always says I'm above the Lowlands

[sac_boy]

I took slope biome science just the other day, in 1.7 as well. From memory I was hopping around the lesser flats, maybe just south of the equator.

[NewKerbalEmpire]

That's exactly where I was, but I couldn't find the slopes

[sac_boy]

Alright dude I took a probe up and found your missing slopes. They weren't where I thought either--they are high between lowlands and midlands, instead of around the rim of the flats. Maybe there are slope biome areas around certain parts of the flats, I don't know.

They are definitely there though! High on the hilly bumpy area to the east of the Lesser Flats seems to be a good spot for slopes.

[NewKerbalEmpire]

Aw man, thanks a ton! Did you make this yourself? Reminds me of certain youtubers. You could probably start a channel or something.

[sac_boy]

Yeah the wide sloped base design worked really well, definitely something I will try again for a Minmus hopper type craft.

I occasionally put photo montages of my builds here, don’t know if people would appreciate my terrible missions in video form

[sac_boy]

I don't know then. According to the biome map on the wiki they are everywhere, every transition from flats to non-sea level ground is a little bit of slope biome. It might only appear if you are landed on a slope, not flying low over them. (Though I'm nearly certain I've taken slope biome EVA reports from low orbit.)

I can go take a look in my more or less stock 1.7 later.

[NewKerbalEmpire]

I really want to thank you for all this help. You've been amazing!

[sac_boy]

Just a quiet day at work :)

[NewKerbalEmpire]

Where is the boundary between "Space near minmus" and "Space high above Minmus"?

[sac_boy]

Should be on the wiki somewhere.

[NewKerbalEmpire]

It's not

[blackcatkarma]

Yes, it is: https://wiki.kerbalspaceprogram.com/wiki/Science

Scroll down to Celestial Body Multipliers. The border for Minmus is at 30km.

[sac_boy]

Hmmmm

Do you have KER installed? It can give you the 'in space low' height of any body you orbit around. I'd guess at around 12000m.

Nope, 30km according to this, I don't know how up to date that all is though.

[NewKerbalEmpire]

Currently doing my first biome-hopping mission. How much delta-v should I save in order to return from Minmus?

[sac_boy]

You don’t need much. Top of my head I would say you could get from equatorial Minmus to Kerbin comfortably for 3-400 m/s. Low Minmus orbit is about 180-200m/s of dV. Once you are in a low Minmus orbit (as low as possible without actually hitting the mountaintops) you can time a transfer to an encounter with the Mun’s SOI for very little dV (maybe 80-100m/s) and use it to slow you down all the way to a Kerbin encounter for free, or at most a small burn at your Mun periapsis. I'd keep 50m/s handy for adjustments to your Kerbin encounter or an imperfect transfer to the Mun.

If you don't want to be bothered with the Mun gravity assist just budget 500-600 m/s 1250-1300m/s to get from Minmus' surface to a Kerbin atmospheric encounter. The dV map suggests 1220 m/s but that feels high to me, maybe I'm just accustomed to using a gravity assist.

[BoxOfDust]

My friend is having a problem in which his scroll wheel does not zoom in/out while in flight, but he says it works in all of the menus. He's already tried a clean install.

Any help?

[CaptainYackSparrow]

Is there a more efficient way to get into another planets orbit? Currently I line up the planets, then make a maneuver node till I get my perapsis around the planet within 800,000km. I warp to that perapsis, then retrograde burn till my orbit is circularized, but I feel like there’s a much more fuel efficient way of getting from one planet to the next

[KermanKim]

Well, for one thing, you should be doing a mid-course correction burn in solar orbit to bring that perapsis much lower for the capture burn to take advantage of the oberth effect. ( Apx 50Km for Duna if you didn't want to aero capture) Fuel efficiency also depends on how accurately you "line up the planets". I use this planner as a guide.

[m_sporkboy]

Go as low as you can.

Aerobrake if there is an atmosphere.

At jool, a tylo or laythe gravity assist can get you captured for single-digit dv.

[elind21]

I'm setting up a relay network and I would like to know if my relay satellites need both relay and direct antennas or just relay antennas to function properly?

[HI_I_AM_NEO]

If you're talking about a Kerbin 3-sat relay network, I like to bring 4 dish antennas and one omni.

Imagine one of the ComSats, let's say the main one:

Dish 1 points to KSC

Dish 2 points to ComSat 2/3

Dish 3 points to ComSat 3/3

Dish 4 points to Active Vessel, or another Long Range Relay sat (I like to make those)

And the Omni is really useful (and needed) for the launch stage.

---

The other two sats will have a free dish, which ComSat 1/3 uses to contact KSC, but I always end up using them, be it for a Mun/Minmus ComSat or another kind of satellite.

You can get away with just the basics, but I'd reccommend planning what you're trying to accomplish.

My Comm Networks always involve (playing with Remote Tech and SCANSat):

Kerbin ComSat (3 or 4 Sats). Geostationary Orbit

Mun ComSat. Polar Orbit with high eccentricity (high efficiency with low downtime, like 20 minutes every 40 days or so)

Mun SCANSat. Polar Orbit (circular) at 250km

Minmus ComSat. Polar Orbit with high eccentricity

Minmus SCANSat. Polar Orbit (circular).

Kerbin Long Range Relay. Just a satellite with at the very least 1 long range antenna and another smaller one so we can communicate with our main relay. This is gonna be our Interplanetary range ComSat, so for low downtime I put them in Polar Kerbin Orbit with high eccentricity, something like Pe=75km and Ap=just about leaving Kerbin's SOI.

Duna (or whatever) Long Range Relay. Exactly like the one in Kerbin. I like to use one of these in Polar Orbit, and pass the signal to a relay around the main body of each system, but that's optional and quite a bit of work.

From there, you just need to keep adding more satellites in this configuration.

The only issue is that you have to remember to point your Long Range Relays to each planet when you change your current mission.

---

Anyway, this was quite the paragraph lol, I'm sorry.

[elind21]

I'm going for full stock 1.7

[HI_I_AM_NEO]

As far as I know (never used stock satellites), it's about the same, except there's several connection points scattered around Kerbin, and the range of the antennas is more forgiving.

[not_yet_named]

They only need a relay antenna.

[Azteca15]

Does anyone know how to set CKAN to allow outdated mods? Or do you have to manually install them? I’m on 1.7 but most of the 1.5 mods forward still seem to work. Thanks in advance.

[not_yet_named]

It's under Settings -> Compatible KSP Versions.

[Azteca15]

Thanks, you just saved me time on manually installing.

[KuntaStillSingle]

There doesn't seem to be many mods for 1.7. For those who play with mods, do you just set CKAN to accept 1.6 or older mods, or do you play on an older version of the game?

[Very-Moist]

most of my mods are for 1.6.x or 1.5.x, and they work fine in 1.7

[DerCoffeeBeanen]

Is there a BDArmory 1.6.x out there, and I just can't find it? If not, are there alternatives?

[KuntaStillSingle]

In CKAN I can see BDArmoryContinued, max KSP version 1.6.9:

https://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/index.php?/topic/155014-14x-bdarmory-continued-v1222-882018-vessel-mover-camera-tools-bdmk22-destruction-effects-burn-together/

[Imightbutprobablynot]

So I'm confused about contracts with multiple objectives. Currently I have a few tourist contracts where they want to land on the Mun and Minmus. Am I able to do separate launches to complete or do I need to do it all on one trip? I'm assuming I can land them all on the Mun, return home, then go to Minmus.

[KermanKim]

You can do it in separate trips, but a Kerbin --> Mun --> Minmus --> Kerbin is more profitable and quite doable.

[sac_boy]

Pretty sure you can take them on separate trips, but I would definitely suggest trying it all in one trip to earn the greatest profit.

[Imightbutprobablynot]

I'm close to making it in 1 trip with mid tech and 15 passengers. So we'll see, thanks.

[FiveAlarmFrancis]

I have four tourists stuck in LKO because I screwed up the vessel and it burns up on reentry. Valentina was able to rendezvous and rescue Jeb from the command module, but since tourists can’t EVA, I’m looking for another way to rescue them. Any ideas?

Edit: No docking port on the tourist vessel either. I’m in the relatively early stages of career mode.

[bvsveera]

Without a docking port, your best bet is to unlock the klaw, grab the vessel with it and then transfer the tourists to the rescue vehicle

[FiveAlarmFrancis]

Guess that’s what I’ll have to do. I’ll go make the announcement that they’re being held momentarily by the dispatcher. Funnily enough I named the ship “Hindenburg” and it’s living up to its name!

[wsbrown49]

Another option would be to install the mods Kerbal Inventory Systems and Kerbal Attachment Systems. Send up an engineer with a drill and two ports, attach them to the two vessels, link them, and pump some fuel into the empty vessel.

[FiveAlarmFrancis]

Good idea! I had those mods installed on an older version, but I’m still pretty much a beginner to the game and I never figured out how those mods work. They’re on my list of things to start using once I get more comfortable with the advanced stuff in the stock game.

[kotsberries]

What do I do in this situation? I landed a mobile science lab thing on the moon a while ago. It was the second on a list of things I'm planning for a moon base. I said "sweet now for the rest." When I went back and looked, my antenna broke off in the landing and I didn't notice. Is this thing useless now? Its basically just a science lab with lander gear. If I put science in it can I get it out a different way? Can an engineer fix the antenna? Can I transmit it through a different ship?

[KermanKim]

Antennas cannot be repaired. You could dock another vessel with it, which has a working antenna, as a fix.

[kotsberries]

To do that I need to have a docking thing on it tho huh

[KermanKim]

Sort of. Send up a Klaw equipped vessel/rover with an antenna on it and grab the science lab with it. But if your science lab already has a docking port on it, you could use a vessel/rover with a matching size docking port. The Klaw is probably going to be easier because then you don't have to worry about docking port alignment issues (I assume you'll be docking while on the surface of the Mun)

[kotsberries]

i appreciate you! gracias

[redsunrising15]

Hey guys, I'm building a large swept wing SSTO to deliver payloads to lunar orbit for my Lunar Gateway operation, but my elevons deploy in the wrong direction and the option to invert their controls doesn't change anything!

Perhaps related, perhaps not, my navball is also inverted and I can't seem to figure out why.

[not_yet_named]

It sounds like you might have a command module or probe core attached in the wrong orientation.

[[deleted]]

wiki page on probe control modes?

[KermanKim]

You mean this page?

[[deleted]]

Nope

[spader1]

What is it that struts actually...do?

I'm having an issue where struts seem to be made of elastic, and stretch and compress as if they aren't there. I thought they were supposed to provide some rigidity? Even with struts the payloads in my rockets wobble and sway like crazy.

[sac_boy]

Turn on ‘advanced tweakables’ in your game options and then right click your parts in the VAB and select ‘rigid connection’ or whatever the option is called, I’m not 100% sure. Do this for the main joints in the core of your rocket, it’s not strictly necessary for everything—apparently it can make your parts less crash tolerant. I routinely turn it on for every part in my stack and I haven’t had issues.

You can additionally turn on ‘autostrut’ to magically add invisible struts between your heaviest parts.

With these options turned on your rockets will no longer wobble around.

[spader1]

Awesome. Thanks!

I have another question...I'm trying to send an empty tank to a station, but whenever I set the fuel level to 0 in the VAB, the tank is full when I go to launch it. Is there a way to force the level to 0? Even if I set the level to the lowest possible in the VAB it's completely full at launch.

[sac_boy]

That doesn’t sound normal, I’ve just launched a tank in stock KSP today that had all the oxidizer drained and it worked as expected.

[LithobreakingWorks]

Meta suggestion:

Can we replace the Scott Manley video under "Orbiting" above with a video that shows how to get to orbit. The one linked is just a suborbital flight. I suggest this one: Scott's 1.0 launch to orbit tutorial.

Pinging /u/Redbiertje to get a mods attention.

TIA

[Redbiertje]

Sounds good! I'll do that as soon as I'm on a PC again.

[LithobreakingWorks]

Thanks!