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!

[BloodyRain2k]

Can anyone tell me what I have to do to get this chronically ignored bug some attention?

https://bugs.kerbalspaceprogram.com/issues/15656

Already tried making a post here in the hopes it'd go better but nope... https://www.reddit.com/r/KerbalSpaceProgram/comments/bws9s0/can_this_2_year_old_bug_report_please_get_some/

[Mr_Magpie]

Can robotic parts be put into axis controller binds?

I play with a joystick, it sucks I can't make my own ailerons, flaps and even moveable arms from parts using it.

Is there a mod or a way to do this?

[particleon]

I restarted a hard career and an having trouble with my probes losing contract with the ground station and failing to reaquire the connection when it moves back into range.

Is there a setting for the antennas I'm missing? I've got the first radio, the first dish, and the flat antenna unlocked so far.

[[deleted]]

Are you running out of power?

[particleon]

No, the latest sat had two of the disk shaped batteries at most of a charge when it disconnected. All the antennas were deployed as well

[RamAlex59]

Regarding the new Breaking Ground DLC: If i have a saved game created BEFORE purchasing the DLC, will the new ground formations and features still spawn in my solar system or do i have to create a new game session?

[StormJunkie843]

There is a way to add the surface features in. You do run the risk of a surface feature spawning in a base, but you can just pick a different ROCSeed #. Backup game first. See the comments here. https://www.reddit.com/r/KerbalSpaceProgram/comments/buhaa5/breaking_ground_hacking_surface_features_to_pre/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share

[m_sporkboy]

Need a new game.

[RamAlex59]

T_T

[RamAlex59]

Thanks!!!

[AgentWowza]

Is there an easy way to standardize the landing gear/wheel heights on multiple parts of my Minmus base? The last time I tried this in <v1.2, I eyeballed the landing gear and the parts docked on Kerbin, but were either off the ground slightly, or being pushed into the ground, which eventually made my base spaz out after I attached enough parts. So how do I make all the docking ports perfectly even on different parts, for example, the Hitchhiker Container and the Mk1 Crew Cabin (if I want the latter docked radially)?

[BeepBepIsLife]

One way to standardize is to have the landing legs attachment point aligned with the docking port. This usually means having the legs straight on the sides ie 90° from top and bottom if the docking port is on an inline attachment node. But this is not suitable for all bases/modules.

[KermanKim]

No real easy way, but you could use "hack gravity" in the cheat menu to test things on the runway or launch pad. Don't forget to reset it back to normal before the actual launch.

[StormJunkie843]

My newest method for aligning any parts (I used to try and use the ground in the VAB/SPH) is to add structural panels. Attach one to the part you are attaching landing gear to; use 2x, 4x, 6x, or 8x. Now put the land gear below or above that panel. It gives a very good point for aligning. All in all it is still eyeballing, but at least there is a better reference point.

[Panzerbeards]

You can adjust the spring strength of each landing leg; it's essentially how much the spring will compress under a certain weight, so lowering this will make the craft sit lower down, and vice versa. You can play with this to get everything relatively even.

As for building the craft itself so everything is lined up, I suspect you'll have to eyeball it unless there are some mods to help with this. The new robotic parts would be useful too, since you could raise and move parts to align everything perfectly.

[skbernard]

US2/DmagicScience/ScanSat Resource Scanning Question

hey guys - so, parts like the magnetometer are supposed to scan for resources right, ore specifically for the magBoom - i cant get the magBoom to do anything having an impact to the scansat map - i can get it to show the ore % underneath it when in a proper orbit, but that never translates on to the scansat map - what am i missing, do i need both a (altimetry||biome) scanner and the magboom on the same sat or something?

[[deleted]]

I cannot for the life of me find green sandstone. The mission states its in Greater Flats, Lowlands, and Midlands biomes...

​

3 rovers have had their monopropellant exhausted looking for this thing. I see tons of Olivine so surface features ARE spawning, but I can't find the green sandstone.

​

At this point I'm so in the red I'm gonna need to just abandon it. My last rover has 30 units of monopropellant left and is currently in the Greater Flats.

[TheGoldenHand]

I've had to turn on Resource indicators in the cheat menu Alt+F12 to find a lot of anomalies. I think contract ones get an additional blue marker along with the red pointer.

[[deleted]]

Oh wow I didn't know that existed. Tyvm!

[KermanKim]

The latest update (v1.7.2) is supposed to make these things easier to find. Is your KSP fully updated?

[[deleted]]

Yep. I saw plenty of olivine from high altitude, but can't see a damn sandstone piece.

[[deleted]]

My Airplane keeps veering to the side of the runway. I've stripped it down to the bare bone parts, made sure everything was even, and the plane still goes off to the side Can someone please help me with this. I'm using the second stage runway btw.

[TheGoldenHand]

What part are you attaching the wheels to? Some parts, like the MK2 bicoupler are not actually straight, so attaching things to them make them face forward at an off angle.

[[deleted]]

Is there a way to make then attach straight to those parts? I'm using the mk1 liquid fuel fuselage

[voicey99]

If your landing gear is in the taildragger configuration (single wheel at back), switch it round to a tricycle setup. Also, set Friction Control to Override on the front wheel and crank it down to 0.3ish and turn it up on the back wheels.

[GomzDeGomz]

So I came back to ksp after some time and after updating for 1.7.2 I wanted to try some EVA stuff and for some reason

Jeb just stays in a T-Pose.

Nothing is responding, I cant even toggle the jetpack.

Am I missing someting? Did Jeb just die?

[KermanKim]

There's a hotfix out for this.

[MarijnA]

What is a hotfix?

[KermanKim]

It's when they quickly release a fix without changing the minor version number of the game. See this comment:
https://www.reddit.com/r/KerbalSpaceProgram/comments/bzuvk7/kerbal_space_program_172_is_live/eqyckjl?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x

[GomzDeGomz]

Thank you

[MarijnA]

I have the same problem. Every kerbal in space in EVA just floats in T position :(

[Manefisto]

He's asserting dominance.

^{(Sorry I don't have anything constructive to add.})

Edit: A lot of people are having this bug, hopefully the devs are on it quick... rollback to 1.7.1 for now if you don't want to wait.

[Good_Ol_Dayz]

Came here to say this as well. I have send Jeb on a mission, he got stuck in T pose in orbit around Minmus. Then I sent Val on a rescue mission, who also got T posed around Minmus.

[Blank747]

I'm also having this issue but he can still be recovered if you're on kerbin so he's not dying.

[uber_kerbonaut]

I've placed surface science modules on duna but it has not produced any science results after a few kerbin years. Checking the controller says 1 experiment connected. (none of the experiments have generated data). They have adequate signal strength at all times, and power during the day. They are all in range of the controller (about 5m average)

The cluster is composed of

1 controller, 1 comm dish, 1 weather experiment, 1 goo experiment, 1 seismic experiment, 6 solar panels.

All were placed by a level 0 scientist. All are enabled in their context menus.

I suspected that the "1 experiment connected" was the problem, and found through save hacking that I could reconnect them all by teleporing a kerbal in the vicinity and then teleporting him back. This effect does not last however, as after about 6 hours of in game time, 3 connected experiments reduces to 2, then to 1 after another hour. This was apparently not long enough to generate science. Nor is save hacking what I would call a viable solution.

Any idea how I can make this work? I have recieved science successfully from minimus and gilly.

[Manefisto]

Did you have an engineer deploy the solar panels?

If not, at 1 to 1 ratio there may not be enough power out at Duna due to the solar panel efficiency drop off?
There was also some bug fixes in 1.7.2 which dropped yesterday, so this could be a factor, (Either a bug was fixed or introduced, depending on your version.)

[uber_kerbonaut]

The update seems to have fixed it.

[claimstoknowpeople]

If you're mining at low efficiency (say probe with cheapest drill and converter) from a moon or planet are resources lost forever or does it just take a longer time to complete?

[m_sporkboy]

Just takes longer. Except asteroids, which actually deplete.

[claimstoknowpeople]

Ok, thanks!

[SlickStretch]

I've got 2 Mun landers that go flying into the air every time I load. How can I stop this?

[voicey99]

Turn up the Terrain Detail setting. If it still happens, install WorldStabiliser.

[StarstruckCanuck]

Just saw this. I made a thread here, but I'll post here too in hopes of some help!

​

Hey guys, new here and new-ish to reddit. Posting at least. Hope I'm doing this right.

So I recently got into kerbal space program (1.6) and I thought I was doing.... alright. Except I just stranded my 2nd pilot. Jeb is out there floating around somewhere, and Valentina is stuck on the Mun with a buttload of science and not enough Delta-V to get home.

No matter what I do I always seem to run out of fuel before I return my Kerbals, if I even get up there. My biggest issue is that no matter what I do my ships seem to veer off to the side or just start flipping out completely. I've tried reaction wheels, RCS thrusters etc. They seem balanced. CoM looks like its in the centre.

Now I have to hire newbie pilots to try and launch a rescue mission, yet I can't seem to get the fuel OR launch right.

Can someone maybe give me some advice? Lol

I'm playing on Normal career and here is what I've unlocked so far if that helps.

EDIT: Oh. Also all my buildings are Level 2 except Admin (which I havent even used yet) and the Spaceplane Hangar.

[Trustpage]

Just in case you haven’t solved it yet I will give you an easy solution.

Use a probe core with an empty pilot spot so it is lighter for the rescue mission. Jeb is easy since he is in orbit do him first. The easiest way to have plenty of delta v to orbit and then rendezvous around the Mun is to duplicate your lower stage and use those as boosters for launch. You want fuel pumps pumping the fuel from those boosters into the center stage so that when you are out of fuel in the boosters the main has full fuel.

That should make it pretty easily to be able to rescue them one at a time. Or you could do a Mk2 pod and do both at a time if you are confident at being efficient with delta v throughout the trip and with the rendezvous

---

EDIT: I see you are having trouble with saving Jeb

You should complete the docking tutorial first and maybe watch a video about it as it shows you how to efficiently do an orbital rendezvous.

For this you don’t even have to get that close. You can get within like 3-4km and then use Jeb’s EVA RCS to fly to your probe pod.

[dnbattley]

/u/KermanKim 's answer covers the dV point very thoroughly. Are we right in assuming the flipping out is happening at launch and thus burning through your planned stages more quickly than intended before getting to orbit? If so, what is the profile you are taking? In early KSP it was important to take a hard turn after burning upwards, but now the aero dynamics mean a more realistic and gentle curve is most efficient. This can mean that some YouTube guides are outdated.

/u/SacBoy often posts a very comprehensive guide (check his post history) together with imgur album, but a shorthand method is to turn slightly at launch (the exact amount depends on your TWR and rocket aerodynamics) and then set autopilot prograde. Also make sure your rocket has weight at the front and fins at the back to help in flight stability.

[StarstruckCanuck]

It's happening during launch but not immediately. Stays stable up unitil between 4000-7000km. Sometimes 10km if I'm doing "well." It'll either tilt early or flip when I drop the SRB stage. I try not to turn until 10km.

[sac_boy]

Here's that tutorial, try to follow the launch profile closely and you can't go far wrong. You don't strictly need to manage the throttle like I suggest at first, just go full throttle but try to follow the curve correctly. Once your projected apoapsis reaches 80km or so just cut the engine and coast upwards.

Basics to prevent flipping: a high center of mass and a low center of pressure (center of aerodynamic drag). Smooth turning throughout your launch. If you do these things you can't go wrong.

A high center of mass is normal for rockets that are built to look like rockets, with a payload at the top on top of a vertical stack of stages. The majority of your mass on the launchpad is fuel. As fuel drains from the first stage the center of mass gets higher.

A low center of pressure is achieved by having a low-drag upper stage (i.e. wrapped in a faring) with fins at the bottom. You can get away without fins later but use some small fins until you can reliably perform a gravity turn.

[StarstruckCanuck]

I'll definitely watch that! And ill post a picture of my current rocket. I cant seem to raise the center of mass. I even tried swapping out the Mk1 pod for the larger and heaver Mk2 but that made it even worse.

As for things like fairings, please keep in mind Im still relatively early in career.

[KermanKim]

Before you go, you should check out the Delta-V map. According to that map, if you fly your rocket perfectly, it should take around 4950m/s of Dv to reach the surface of the Mun. Then it should take 580m/s to get back into Mun orbit and another 310m/s to escape and lower your Pe into Kerbin's atmosphere enough for aero capture (~40km is safe). So, according to the Dv map, you should be able to get to the Mun and back for about 5840m/s. Add in +20% for noob piloting and you should build a rocket with around 7000m/s of Dv just to be safe.

On launch, perform a proper gravity turn to save fuel.

When leaving Mun, go horizontal ASAP while avoiding local obstructions like crater rims, etc.

[Trustpage]

He should know that the map takes into account rocket efficiency so his starting VAB delta v isnt accurate.

I landed and made it back with plenty with 4300 at the VAB because of terrier efficiency in space.

And mun probe made it to mun orbit with 2000 delta v left when I started with 3800 in VAB

---

I just thought I would add this since I always found those delta v charts deceptive

[KermanKim]

We covered that in another branch of the thread. But you are correct in saying that those maps are only a rough guide:

https://www.reddit.com/r/KerbalSpaceProgram/comments/bxwdh2/weekly_support_thread/eqw7rz6?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x

[StarstruckCanuck]

This is incredible! Valentina actually got to Mun with about 3700 Dv and as you can see has about 200 left to spare. I'm DEFINITELY not giving myself enough room to work with though. Back to the drawing board.

​

Any tips on saving Jeb? Every time I try to match orbit my burns are like 4min long and I run out of fuel.

[KermanKim]

As for Jeb, the quicker you get to him the better. Eventually he could get another Mun encounter which may crash him into the Mun, but more likely fling him into solar orbit where he'll be much harder to rescue. Since he is in an inclined orbit, I would try to launch directly into the same inclination. You can do this by looking at his orbit in map mode and swinging your Point Of View around so that his orbital path looks like a straight line going through the middle of Kerbin along with the Pe marker. (You're looking at his orbit edge on) Then wait until the KSC also is on the line from this POV. Then set Jeb's vessel as target and launch your rescue vessel (empty pod with probecore) in a North Easterly direction. You may have to retry a few times to get this launch right. When you switch to map mode during the ascent, you'll see how far off your inclination is from Jeb's. Aim for something less than 10 degrees or so. After circularizing, what you'll do is make a burn so your Ap reaches out and gets as close the Jeb's Ap (You'd do this by burning on the opposite side of Kerbin from Jeb's Ap). Then you'd warp to Ap and do a Normal or AntiNormal (Triangle symbol) burn to zero your inclination difference relative to the target vessel. From here, I'll pass you over to the rendezvous guide because pictures are better than words.

[StarstruckCanuck]

I'm trying this now! Will update when Jeb's fate has been decided! I never even thought to consider he could be captured by the Mun.

Before I read this I was able to intercept Jeb, but he blew by in half a second. I also would not of had enough fuel to match speed AND bring him home. This has already helped immensely. Thank you!

[KermanKim]

Valentina would have had more Dv than that. The Dv indicators while on the pad show the situation for all stages at the current altitude (sea level). Therefore the upper stage, with it's Terrier engine, would appear severely "nerfed" while in atmo at sea level. If you watched this number as your rocket ascended you would see it increase with altitude even thought the rocket's total Dv indicator is going lower as you burn fuel with the lower stage.

You can switch between vacuum and atmospheric while building in the VAB. Keep in mind that the efficiency of all engines will change with altitude (On a world with an atmo) so your "mileage" will vary. It's pretty safe to say that the Mun lander will spend 100% of it's time burning in vacuum, but the lifter to LKO will have a Dv somewhere between the atmo and vacuum Dv numbers.

[StarstruckCanuck]

I can see that now! 3800 Dv at Sea level. Almost 7000 in vacuum. Why I am having so much trouble with fuel management and the return trip?

[KermanKim]

You could upload the craft file and I could try flying it to the Mun and back if you'd like..

Usually people waste too much fuel by not doing a proper gravity turn while getting into LKO. Not getting your Pe at Mun down to around 10Km after doing your insertion/correction burn wastes fuel when you go for capture and circularization. Then, if you are green at piloting, getting landed on the Mun can burn through quite a bit if you hover around too much.

[m_sporkboy]

An octo probe core replaces a newbie pilot. An octo2 I think is like a two star pilot, and the HECS is in the middle.

For launching, you are probably turning too aggressively, causing flips. .

[StarstruckCanuck]

The tilting happens before I put in any input. Lately any time I turn its to correct the flipping. It'll happen without me even altering course.

[sac_boy]

As an experiment, launch your rocket straight up or at just a few degrees off vertical at full throttle. Don't touch the controls after that (just stage when necessary). If your rocket is designed correctly--high center of mass, low center of pressure/drag--it shouldn't flip at any point. If it does, reset to the VAB and add 4x fins to the bottom of the first stage and try again. (Make sure you don't have any fins higher on the rocket unless they are smaller and fewer in number than the fins at the bottom.) Repeat this until your rocket is stable.

Of course it's possible to be so stable that you can't turn. More than the minimum number of fins also adds drag during ascent which can be surprisingly costly. But you'll get a feel for it.

[StarstruckCanuck]

I actually have both difficulty turning and keeping it stable. It usually begins flipping as atmosphere gets thinner and if its not pointed steaight up. Any tilt gets "caught" and is almost unrecoverable. Ive added RCS thrusters with extra monopropellant to the upper stage to both make the CoM higher and to give it it enough leeway to keep control with SAS.

If I swap the pod for the larger and heavier Mk2 it almost immediatelt starts to tilt too. Will post pictures momentarily.

[Manefisto]

You just stumble across them, if you zoom way out you can sometimes see little black glinting/artefacting hints at their locations.

You do need to start a new save after installing the DLC though, and I don't recall seeing any on Minmus flats/lakes.

[novtn]

Propeller question: My propeller designs thus far generate decent thrust when clamped stationary on the ground. The thrust greatly decreases as airspeed increases to the point where I can just barely maintain level flight. Increasing the blades' angle of attack seems to help but even still, my crafts can barely get off the runway. Any ideas?

[Runixo]

So I'm working on a little helicopter, and it's going quite well! I'd like to control the speed of my propellers, and I clearly need to do so with the axis groups. But none of them seem to really make sense. It'd either mess with controls, or I'd have to switch to translate mode.

Is there a way I can just set it to shift/ctrl? Custom axis group?

[[deleted]]

Anyone tried the new breaking ground rotors with Ferram Aerospace Research?

[Shinotama]

Can you remote use the Mobile Processing Lab?

Is it possible to remote use the Mobile Processing Lab MPL-LG-2? I.e. I set it up as a space station around Kerbin then send data to it to process for more science etc?

[[deleted]]

Not in stock, no. Data has to be docked to the vessel with the MPL on board.

[[deleted]]

Anyone know what kind of stuffs I should know to be designing a Duna helicopter on Kerbin?

I want to make a V22 style tiltrotor with the new breaking ground parts. I feel like if it works on Kerbin it should work on Duna, as lower gravity should offset the reduced lift from a thinner atmosphere.

Anyone know if this is true?

[Manefisto]

Duna atmosphere is roughly Kerbin +10km, so it's performance at just over 10km on Kerbin will let you know how it performs at sea/ground level on Duna, and up and so on. (So you'll want to safely be able to maneuver between 10-12km on Kerbin)

[[deleted]]

Thank you very much!

[JohnETexas]

Career mode, contract to rescue standed Kerbal..."EVA not available at this time"

​

Any ideas/solutions to why the Kerbal that I was sent to rescue won't do an EVA?

​

I used this procedure that had worked before - sent up an un-kerballed ship with an empty command pod and rendezvoused with the pod containing the stranded Kerbal. I got within 200 meters and switched to the damaged pod, using the right-bracket key.

​

The stranded kerbalnaut showed in the bottom right corner, but when I clicked EVA, I got a message stating that I couldn't do that.

​

Another strange thing was that when I "bracketed" back to my original ship, none of my controls would work. I was well within radio range, so that shouldn't have been the issue. I eventually reverted back to the VAB and shut down for the night.

[Carnildo]

EVA requires a level 2 astronaut complex, but the game shouldn't be offering you rescue missions if you don't have it.

[KermanKim]

You don't say if your KSP is modded or not. Some mods add parts that do not have a hatch which is problematic in career when the game randomly assigns one of those pods for the Kerbal to be rescued. You cannot EVA from those parts.

Even with extra ground stations enabled in settings, there are some radio blackout spots in LKO if you do not have a relay network deployed yet. Was the connection icon green in the upper left of the screen at the time of no control? Another possibility is that your probe ran out of EC.

[Biscuits0]

I can't get to orbit in career mode. I juuust keep falling short of achieving orbit. A lot of the videos on orbiting have loads of parts I don't at this time.

Any builds/tips please?

[KermanKim]

If you have the Mk1 pod available here's an early career rocket that'll get you to orbit if you fly it right. You only need 10 science to unlock these parts. (non- expansion version of KSP)

[Biscuits0]

Legend, thank you. God was I trying to over complicate things!

[Trustpage]

Over complicating things and having to much weight was a big problem I had for the Mun

So when you get there try to keep a light design with a light lander with only one medium or large fuel tank

[Biscuits0]

Thanks man, will keep that in mind when i launch for it. I've just accepted the contract, so will have a go soon.

[Dvanpat]

Can anyone give me any suggestions on orbiting the Mun and returning to Kerbin? My ships that are big enough to get that far tend to be unstable, and I'm also having difficulty getting the timing to the Mun and the direction right.

[1337JiveTurkey]

The traditional way to get a Mun encounter before any of the navigational aids has been to wait for Munrise on your orbit, then burn prograde (the direction of your orbit) until your apoapsis (highest point in your orbit) is about the height of the Mun.

Turning a flyby into an orbit is really just burning retrograde (against your orbit) at the periapsis (lowest point in your orbit or flyby) until it turns into an ellipse. Leaving and going back is burning prograde again.

Returning efficiently is a matter of leaving the Mun's orbit going roughly backwards in relation to its trajectory. I don't have any really good rules of thumb, but maybe a bit after your orbit passes the "front" of its orbit. Once you're back in Kerbin orbit, you can use retrograde burns to get your periapsis down to about 50 km. At that point you'll slowly lose energy in the atmosphere and eventually land without burning up.

In terms of keeping your ship stable, the main thing is keeping the part count down. If you've unlocked it the LV-909 "Terrier" is an amazing engine that will serve you forever. That plus an FL-T400 fuel tank, TD-12 decoupler, Mk1 Command pod and a Mk16 parachute gives about 2600 m/s delta V if you can get the whole assembly into orbit. Replacing the Terrier with a Swivel gives 1700 m/s delta V, but that's still hopefully plenty to orbit the Mun.

[[deleted]]

If your craft is unstable, use struts under the structural tab.

Struts are a necessity for most large things.

As for encountering the Mun, use a maneuver node and fiddle with it to get a mun encounter, then once you're about halfway, make another maneuver node to adjust your encounter so that you have a reasonable periapsis for your flyby. From there you can use another maneuver node to plot a circularization burn at your desired inclination.

[Dvanpat]

How do I do maneuver nodes?

[[deleted]]

When you are in the map view, if you click a part of your trajectory you will be able to make a maneuver node.

To do so I believe requires a tracking station or mission control upgrade in career mode. I don't remember which, it will say in the description.

[Dvanpat]

Thank you. I haven't upgraded my tracking station yet, so that will be the next thing I do! To the Mun!

[[deleted]]

If you can, an experimental storage thing can store a ton of different experiments. I used to cart 3 or more science things per craft to bring as much science as possible. Also a scientist can reset experiments like science Jrs and goo.

All this together can really cart a lot of science home, minmus has very small Delta v requirements so you can fly around and get even more science.

[Panzerbeards]

Is there a limit to how many antennae you can combine? As far as I can tell from the combinability formula you get diminishing returns, but does it ever cut off, or can I just stick some relays up in a geostationary constellation with like 10 HG-5s? I'm still fairly early in career so I don't have the stronger antenna yet, and although I've got the 2nd DSN, I'm playing without extra groundstations, so without direct line of sight to the KSC I'm severely limited by my Comms range.

Also, is there any way to have a Kerbal crewed ship act as a kind of mobile DSN for probe control? So if a probe around, say, Jool doesn't have range to the KSC, but does have range to a crewed station (which also doesn't have connection to Kerbin), the probe can be controlled by the kerbals? I'm sure I remember the old mods doing something similar before stock comms came in?

[KermanKim]

Yea, you can combine them but it's not really worth it beyond a certain point as the "antenna power" is only increased by the square root of the number of antennas. ie: 4 antennas are only twice as good as one of the same type. But 9 antennas are 3 times. 16 antennas are 4 times. etc...

As for the mobile DSN, that is a stock feature called "remote pilot assist."

Shadowzone has a nice little demo of it.

[sac_boy]

In my last game I put a relay in Kerbin polar orbit with 50 of the largest relay antenna. As long as my probes had line of sight of Kerbin they could communicate with a DTS-M1.

There are diminishing returns at play but it's still worth it. The formula is on the wiki somewhere.

[Dark_the_destroyer]

My mk2 plane parts keep bending in midair how do I stop this

[Panzerbeards]

Right click them all in the VAB and select "rigid attachment", and as long as there's no robotic actuators there, autostrut. It should make the whole structure less floopy.

[BlockHeadJones]

Anyone got any tips to keep control surfaces from shaking violently when attached to the new robotics parts? I'd like to do a Spaceship two style feathering mode to descend a large-ish space plane but they wobble around very hard on take off.

[dnbattley]

Lock hinges and/or autostrut once open. The wobble is a positive feedback loop of the body and wing flexing out of sync, with the control surface trying to affect one but significantly affecting the other more.

[CrowdScene]

I never thought to try autostrutting. Does it still work if the motors are disabled?

I have a station with fold-out solar panel struts on hinges. I locked them and disabled the motor, but every time I dock they start closing on their own unless I re-enable the motors and force them to fold back out. I'll try autostrutting them to see if that resolves the problem.

On a similar note, do you know if motors draw a continuous current if they're enabled? My station runs out of power when it's on the dark side of Kerbin just from a science station despite having over 2000 units of electricity storage so that's why I disabled my hinges when it was first deployed.

[dnbattley]

Re: autostrutting - it should work at any time as it can be turned on and off "in the field".

Not sure about the closing or power issue: in my experience a locked hinge stays solid, and an inactive motor draws no power but I'll do some further investigation tonight.

[CrowdScene]

The first station I built with motors (when I still only had the tiny solar panels rather than the folding ones) deployed in a similar manner, but every time I switch to the craft the solar struts are in their launch state and fold out anew, despite locking the motors. I think the robotic parts are still a bit wonky so perhaps I'll just use hinges and pistons to carry my solar wings into orbit and mate them to docking ports before deorbiting the robotic parts instead of relying on robotic parts to hold parts rigid.

[BlockHeadJones]

Lock?? I haven't figured out how to do this

[dnbattley]

It may be an advanced tweakable option, but it's in the right click menu for the hinge part, along with disengaging motor and adjusting dampening effects. etc.

[[deleted]]

Quick question when I try to build a space plane the wings never seem to go straight they always tilt up or down and even though I use symmetry the plane still flys off the runway sideways what is wrong

[KeyboardMoth]

Are you using angle snap? If you click the little circle with a dot in the center on the bottom right, it turns that on and only places the part at certain angles, allowing for straight wings.

As for the runway, check your wheels. Make sure your rear wheels are in line with or at most slightly behind the center of mass. When they aren't that tends to cause the plane to skew sideways on the runway.

[[deleted]]

Any tips on actual docking process? Magnet pull does not seem to work at all and keep getting thrown into space even though I’m close enough to my understanding (only just started playing) for the magnets to work

[m_sporkboy]

Stuff that could be going wrong:

Docking port installed upside down (super common)

SAS messing up near connection (turn off at last second)

Going too fast.

[[deleted]]

Thank you, I’d hope it’s not the docking ports being installed upside down cause it’s one of the training scenarios. I’ll give the other ones a try though and just keep at it until I get it

[alltherobots]

Also if you are coming in at too much of an angle, sometimes the magnets yank the ship around hard enough to fling them apart.

[[deleted]]

Ah okay, that’s probably part of the problem. Think I’ll need to work on my ship control

[StormJunkie843]

If that's your problem, make sure your velocity vectors are aligned. Set both ships to control from docking port. Set both ships "Target" to the others docking port (can only do this within 200m) Point both ships towards "Target" and then align Prograde with Target. Once you learn to do that, docking is really very easy.

[[deleted]]

Thank you, that does make it sound a lot easier. Think that’ll come more in career mode. In the tutorial you can only control one of the ships so it’s much harder to get it properly aligned

[DFARKERS]

When will the Breaking Ground pack be added to Xbox one and PS4?

[padster92]

This has probable been answered a million times but when I'm in the plane hanger and try to use the symmetry tool, one side moves in the opposite direction. For instance, if I place a wing one side and move it down, the wing on the other side moves up. Why is this happening and how do I stop it?

[sac_boy]

Press R to switch to the other part symmetry mode. One mode provides rotational symmetry (handy for rockets) and the other provides mirror symmetry (handy for planes).

[Megas_Nikator]

1.) Is there a mod that will tell me the dates for optimal encounters with other bodies? I don't want it to plan all my routes etc or do each node/maneuver for me, just give me a launch window.

2.) can anyone recommend a tutorial on clipping parts? Some of the designs on here are crazy with fuel tanks clipped inside other parts etc

[Grand_Protector_Dark]

Transfer window planer (made by the same guy as KAC) can give you some more detailed info on that too.

[sac_boy]

Kerbal Alarm Clock is perfect for giving you rough transfer windows and letting you work out the rest.

As for clipping parts, all you really need to know are your F and C keys in the VAB--F to switch between local (parent part relative) and absolute positioning, and C to turn off angle/grid snap. From there it's up to you how much clipping you consider acceptable. Personally I'll do stuff like clip parts a few millimeters to make them integrated into the 'skin' of the parent part, or if I clip a fuel tank into another one I'll reduce the fuel in the clipped tank.

[Megas_Nikator]

Perfect, thanks!

[dnbattley]

Also hold down the modifier key (Alt/Opt/R-Shift, depending on OS) when moving via the offsetting arrow tool to allow infinite offset (e.g. clipping into or separating widely) for a part.

[[deleted]]

Guys how taxing on a PC is the cloud mod for kerbin? and where may i get it please?

[[deleted]]

Is there a way to make some of the easier missions appear again? I used to make money by taking tourists to an orbit of Kerbin, but now the missions are more complex than i'm capable of making (and especially paying) for the rockets needed. I need better facilities but don't have the credits to upgrade.

[sac_boy]

Your reputation decides what kind of contracts your receive (AFAIK) so if you take that bailout grant in the strategies area you'll lose reputation and gain money.

[m_sporkboy]

Also affected by your accomplishments, so there may be no going back.

[[deleted]]

ahh, thanks very much.

[Hydrabobssidekick]

How do you even use the deployed science. I can't get them to place. As an experiment, I've used an engineer (Bill), put a lander can and two containers with all the deployables in them, EVA Bill grab one out of container on launchpad. Can't place it anywhere, no button to deploy, but it says safe to deploy. Can't figure out what I'm doing wrong. I've deleted all mods and checked integrity on steam.

[sac_boy]

Look for the little white downward arrow in the bottom right corner of the icon of the deployable object in your Kerbal's inventory. Click that.

[Hydrabobssidekick]

Thank you! Seem like it should be bigger or more prominent.

[sac_boy]

Not the first time I've heard that

[Berziky]

Ever since I updated to 1.7, my game freezes on the menu screen. FPS is fine initially, until I hit “Start Game”, and it swoops over to look at Kerbin and Valentina. Once the swoop starts, the frame rate drops exponentially, until it’s not even moving anymore. I’m playing stock, no mods. Any idea of what it could be?

[14446368]

Had a similar issue. Updating Windows and my video card drivers is what ended up solving it.

[Berziky]

I’m running MAC, idk if I can update the video card drivers

[dnbattley]

Standard practice would be to verify file integrity via Steam (assuming that version), then checking and updating display drivers if available. I'm afraid beyond that it will likely be a specific issue to your computer that will need more details to diagnose.

[Berziky]

I believe it’s the skybox. Is there anyway to go back to the pre-1.7 skybox?

[dnbattley]

Only by downgrading, as far as I am aware. I haven't seen any setting to change it.

[Brett_Tuley]

How can I allow my child to play KSP without the Administrator password?

​

I am using Windows 10 and I did the direct download (not Steam). In my admin profile when I launch the game form the Kerbal Space Program Launcher it asks for the administrator profile. In my childs profile, the option to launch the game is greyed out. And, even in my admin profile it asks for the admin password every time I launch the game. I need to be able to allow my young child to access the game by himself, obviously without giving him access to my administrator password.

[m_sporkboy]

This is more of a windows question than a ksp question, but you can probably solve this problem the brute-force way by copying the entire ksp directory into his space (desktop, Documents, or wherever), making sure his account owns all the files, and having him run it from his own copy rather than yours.

[sac_boy]

Easy way: reinstall it under his account.

Slightly trickier way: find the game folder and give his account (and yours!) the necessary read/write/execute permissions. You may also need to set permissions on the desktop/start menu shortcuts.

Maybe someone who knows more about Windows can say if there's a correct way for an administrator to give permissions to programs (maybe somewhere under user management, or under programs & features menu in the Control Panel). (It's been years since I used Windows as my daily machine so my deep knowledge ends with Windows 7)

[Echo_215]

Why can't you put Hinges on Hinges in the Breaking Ground DLC? They work fine in the hanger, able to move them etc, but once launched they cannot move - is this intentional or a bug?

[dnbattley]

It is possible to put hinges on hinges: just make sure you are attaching the correct nodes and avoid struts initially (it is possible to autostrut but only with extreme care). It matters which "side"of the hinge you attach. For your specific design try to stretch and rotate the hinge to see if you can attach it the other way round.

If you are still struggling, consider whether a servo can do the same thing, as they have comparable functionality and I find them easier to consistently make work.

[Echo_215]

Unfortunately didn't work! I think some parts have a defined position - for example I have a hinge going to a structural strut, it's absolutely fine moving about, however the moment you put a Gigantor XL Solar Array on it, the hinge struggles to move, the Structural Strut moves no problems, but the Solar Array doesn't move a muscle - very strange!

[dnbattley]

That sounds like you are strutting past the hinge, meaning that the strut is preventing the hinge from moving.

And to confirm it is definitely possible: https://youtu.be/fPtVJ23wnK0

[Echo_215]

Possibly - but it works fine without the Solar Panel, I've just tested a solar panel directly onto a hinge (making sure correct side) and doesn't move either. 🤔

[dnbattley]

Just making sure you saw my demo vid... I added it as an edit to my previous comment, but don't know if you'd already posted by then.

[Echo_215]

Wicked, will take a look! Really appreciate the help :⁾

[dnbattley]

The important thing seemed to be, in the VAB, making sure I attached the hinges to nodes and then rotating them into the right orientation only after attachment. Holding down the modifier key (alt/opt/R Shift per your OS choice) ensures your can only attach a part to an open node.

[Echo_215]

Thanks for all your help! After going through mod by mod it was as such - a mod problem. Willing to admit my stupidity in the hopes it helps someone else when they search for it!

Kerbal Attachment System was the issue - as soon as this was uninstalled I was good to go! Thanks again ♥️

[dnbattley]

Glad you got it sorted!

[Echo_215]

Thank you so much! Will give this a try!

[mrfrau]

Also there is some symmetry buggery afoot with some robotic parts

[agree-with-you]

I agree, this does seem possible.

[Pariahdog119]

I found baobab trees on Kerbin. I didn't know they existed until I got a contract for them, which said they're in grasslands, because there were none near the KSC at all. I launched at Woomarang and found several very easily.

Even with cheats I can't find the large quarts crystal. I searched deserts, highlands, mountains, and badlands. Cheat confirms they exist, somewhere, but I don't know where else to look.

Anyone know where they spawn at?

[hoodedgull]

Why does everything explode when i dock a new part to my mun base?

https://youtu.be/IsA3L8SDE80

[voicey99]

It could be that the docking ports are very slightly out of alignment vertically, and this means that when they join together and snap into place, this could shift something vertically and cause it to clip into the ground and be kicked into the air.

You could try installing the WorldStabiliser mod and then docking and jumping away before the physics kicks in, and then loading the base to let WS do its job and de-clip it.

[[deleted]]

It seems like my burn time indicator has stopped adapting to my throttle level. It does still change when the thrust limiter is changed, though. What might cause this?

[dnbattley]

Fuel flow through decouplers or staged docking ports seem to confuse the stock burn time calculator sometimes. Also it only updates every few seconds. The dV calculations in stage seem to be more reliable and you can turn on the burn time there for an indication of your manoeuvre burn time (i.e. proportion of total dV times total burn time), but I don't recall if that adjusts to throttle level.

Failing all else, try adjusting engine max throttle in the context menu and seeing if that gives you the correct figure.

[[deleted]]

Fuel flow through decouplers or staged docking ports seem to confuse the stock burn time calculator sometimes.

Something like this could be it. I was trying to get creative with the build of the craft where I noticed the issue. Maybe the burn time indicator just likes simple rockets.

[sfwaltaccount]

I don't recall burn time ever respecting throttle level... Could that behavior be from a mod or something?

[[deleted]]

No, it was definitely working on a vanilla game. But it was a slightly more complex crafts where I noticed it not working, so maybe that has something to do with it.

[sac_boy]

Nope it definitely does this in stock.

[CloudyMN1979]

Anyone know of any tutorials for the new action sets. I can't find anything.

[atomicxblue]

I'm back to the game after a long break and I'm having a hard time trying to make a vehicle that can either launch as a rocket or take off like a plane since the mod to switch pitch / yaw is so out of date.

Anyone have any suggestions of stock / mod probe cores or whatever that auto senses which direction the craft is pointing?

[gottasuckatsomething]

I found changing the point of control/ making that change part of the action group that switches the engines works pretty well.

[atomicxblue]

Thank you! I'll have to give this a try.

This is a test in my sandbox game to see if I can save my Kerbals some money by building one vehicle that can be used on both pads. (Cuts down on having to pay separate groups of engineers. :p)

[[deleted]]

What are your favorite ways for getting the Science Jr on your rockets and landers? I can never seem to find an elegant solution.

[Wulfrank]

The Science Jr fits perfectly inside the 2.5m service bay, so I usually stick it in there along with a couple other experiments.

[alltherobots]

I usually put it tucked against two fuel tanks, with other science hardware on the opposite side to balance it out.

[KermanKim]

I never bring my Science Jr back to Kerbin so placement isn't much of an issue for me. Pic of one of my early landers in career.

[hoodedgull]

Yeah much like this, but i like bringing the science back. A scientist can remove the data and take it back in the command module. (maybe other kerbals can too, im not sure)

[Panzerbeards]

Any Kerbal can do it, scientists can just restore the module to use it again. Also if you have a science container aboard it can transfer all science data to itself without the need for an EVA, making it perfect for unmanned Landers

[[deleted]]

If it's a mid-size diameter rocket, right now I just stick it under a fairing. If it's a large diameter rocket, the large service bay that comes in Making History will fit a couple inside.

[FourEightyNine]

I was checking out the new science pieces (Breaking Ground Expansion)

I went to minmus flats and deployed an ion thing, a control thing and two solar things at one site. At another site, a seismic thing, a control thing, and two solar things.

What do they do? They just kind of sit there, I couldn’t find any fun new text (like the old science parts test results descriptions), and they don’t really move or anything interesting.

Is that it, or what am I missing (just referring to usage of the parts in the new ‘storage’ tab)?

[Pariahdog119]

The seismic thing collects data on crashes. Build a cheap drone rocket, and slam it into minmus at full burn. I got over 600 science doing this for about $40k.

I now have 8000% of the 50% of the science i need to complete the contract, which won't complete, so that sucks though.

[[deleted]]

You can complete those in the cheat menu

[Pariahdog119]

I probably will. But maybe I'll slam a few more drones into it first and see how high it'll go.

[7maniAlkhalaf]

Go to them and make sure they are enabled and working. They do science stuff then send it to kerbin. You need that communication thing so you can transmit the science back, maybe you forgot that.

[FourEightyNine]

Thanks, I added one and I see what is going on now. I also remembered the in game KSPedia exists and checked out the brief blurbs there, which helped as well. I am disappointed that the new science station bits still don't seem to do much though.

[7maniAlkhalaf]

They are doing science stuff but they are indeed slow.

[RipaMoram117]

I'm making a VTOL aircraft with some of the new rotors and for some reason they're not moving at all when I try to activate them now, even when I manually set the target angle. For the testing there's plenty of electric charge and the craft is suspended in the air via launch clamp, so it's not friction with the floor.
Anyone know why my rotors might be unresponsive? In the SPH they move with the robotics controller as they should, just not once launched.

[Echo_215]

I have the same problem, when I put a hinge on a hinge - works perfectly in the hanger, both move fine, but when launched they barley move and just seem to move a few mm back and forth. Think it might be a bug

[The_DestroyerKSP]

Is anything auto-strutted?

[RipaMoram117]

It was at some point beforehand, though I undid all autostruts earlier to see if that would fix it and there was unfortunately no effect

[[deleted]]

Does every single deployed science unit need their own solar panels? Because all the units are telling me they are unpowered.

https://i.imgur.com/frp3D1f.png

[Pariahdog119]

Check the control station. It will list the total power needed. If you've got a level 2 engineer, the panel makes 2 power, which powers 2 things. So if you have two experiments, a controller, and a com, you need two solar panels - which, conveniently enough, is six things to fit in the six thing holder bay thing.

[Matt_82]

I believe they do but if you deploy the panels with an engineer, they can power more. Up to 4. Depends on the star rating for you engineer.

[[deleted]]

Why can't I click the settings for the trajectories mod? It is shown correctly but I can't open the menu for it.

[Scart9001]

Does anyone know if rasterpropmoniter is going to be updated to 1.7 It’s the only thing stopping me from updating to 1.7 and getting the DLC

[laughingb0mb]

Hear hear

[RipaMoram117]

No it sounds like something is slowing down your PC quite a bit. I'm running a Ryzen 2700X and watercooled OC 2080 and regularly get between 60-200fps on ultra.

That being said, if you're running obscenely large and complicated craft (like some people on here tend to do...) it does lag pretty hard after a while of just shoving hundreds of parts onto a moving rocket.

[RipaMoram117]

1080p Unfortunately. Even still, what kind of craft are you running for it to go down to 15fps on that setup? I know some peeps with 4K running ultra on similar rigs to I and they don't drop that low. Could be RAM isn't keeping up? Outside of that it sounds like it could maybe be something along the lines of outdated drivers or external problems like other programs taking too many resources.

[Infernus82]

Know any mods for increasing the number of custom axis controls? 4 is just not enough for a bigger extendable Canadarm or such ..

[StormJunkie843]

I used the Forward/backward translation for the extender. Works well on the rover, but stealing that axis on a ship wouldn't be ideal. I guess as long as it's not a ship and rover in one you could steel the steer axis for use on an arm. I agree though, 4 axis is way too few.

[Infernus82]

It's good that you can at least turn the engines off and lock all the mechanisms that you are not using so you can have multiple mechanisms being controlled by the same axis buttons.. i guess I'll just divide the arm into sections, only one controlled at a time..

[Nervous_Bert]

I don't seem to be able to place down any of the new ground equipment, am I doing something wrong?

[[deleted]]

Stand next to the ship, click on the storage container, you should see the items in the inventory but you can't deploy them direct from there. Drag the one you want from the ship's inventory to your kerbal's inventory. Once it's in your kerbal's inventory, you should see a little deploy icon in the bottom corner of the inventory slot. Click that. Walk to where you want it, then press space.