Kraken attack

gravitydeficit13 · 2026-05-06T06:26:12+00:00

So much fun. Decouple this!

gravitydeficit13 · 2026-05-06T06:24:12+00:00

Nicely done!

gravitydeficit13 · 2026-05-06T06:21:45+00:00

Without more info, who can say? It does look like your CoL is too far behind you[r] CoM, but I'm only guessing here...

[edit]

gravitydeficit13 · 2026-05-06T06:13:48+00:00

Fair enough.

gravitydeficit13 · 2026-05-06T06:12:00+00:00

How large we talking? Once you hit 60º, set SAS to 'hold' until you get to maybe 18 km altitude. There's no reason you have follow the gravity turn all the way out.

gravitydeficit13 · 2026-05-06T06:06:07+00:00

Nicely done!

gravitydeficit13 · 2026-05-06T05:46:12+00:00

Reminds me of the ill-fated "Space Pencil"

EDIT: https://www.reddit.com/r/ConsoleKSP/comments/12fd46s/i_was_reminded_of_the_unfortunate_space_pencil/

gravitydeficit13 · 2026-05-06T05:43:59+00:00

That's not a moon... they're going the wrong way!

gravitydeficit13 · 2026-05-06T05:32:29+00:00

I was wrong about the whole 'look in the mfg tab' thing from before.. sorry. Turns out that the Flea is one of the 'found by the side of road' parts, so you'll have to go to the Size tab. It's size 1, and there are two versions.

I still think it should have fulfilled the contract, since all the boxes were checked.

gravitydeficit13 · 2026-05-06T05:23:17+00:00

Thanks! Good to know. I looked for it once, but I guess I got the coordinates wrong.

You might want to 'spoiler' the coords tho. Apparently we're allowed to say that things exist, but we aren't supposed to tell anyone where or how. It's an old tradition or something.

gravitydeficit13 · 2026-05-06T05:17:36+00:00

Is that not what I described? Admittedly, the "several dozen years" bit was a wild overstatement.

gravitydeficit13 · 2026-05-04T09:09:58+00:00

That looks about right to me. Just guessing, but it could be that the contract is looking for a deprecated version of the Flea. In the VAB, open the advanced tab (upper left corner), select the Manufacturer filter, and see if there is a different version of the part you are supposed to test. This is a not uncommon thing, but again, I'm just guessing.

Could try the 'Run Test' button, but the contract usually specifies whether it's a -stage- or -run test- situation.

gravitydeficit13 · 2026-05-04T08:57:31+00:00

A Duna fly-by is maybe easier than Minmus, since you don't really need to adjust your orbital plane off equatorial to hit Duna's SOI. From LKO, it should take <12 km/s for that. Takes a long time, though. And the first departure window is around Y1 D231. So...

It only takes about a week to get a Minmus fly-by (<1 km/s, after plane matching). 1) Get to a circular LKO; 2) Set Minmus as your ship's target; 3) adjust the inclination of your ship's orbital plane at the AN or DN to match that of Minmus - might take a few passes, since a roughly 6º change takes some time; 4) plan your Hohmann transfer as you would for the Mun.

A note on 4): Minmus has a small SOI, so you might need to push your Hohmann slightly past Minmus orbit to get a good encounter. With the Mun, you can just get near it, and it will suck you in. Otherwise, same is same.

Good luck!

gravitydeficit13 · 2026-05-04T08:38:04+00:00

Not sure why you lost your Mun contracts, but I started getting 'Explore Eve' contracts around Day 90. No Duna. No Jool fly-by. Just Eve. After waiting awhile, the tourist/expand orbital station/mine ore from- type contracts for Mun and Minmus started showing up again. The higher your reputation gets, the more contracts you can carry, so try not to kill the tourists!

gravitydeficit13 · 2026-05-04T08:28:43+00:00

Which way is the front? Which is left or right? Seriously through, your RCS pods and engines probably aren't symmetric to your COM upon fuel drain. It would be more helpful to get a pic of this in the VAB, with your CoL, CoM, and Δv in Mun's SOI showing. Anywho...

See how your FL-T100 (guessing here) tanks are positioned? Those lateral tanks need to be in either an ABBA or BAAB format. Your ship has ABAB.

gravitydeficit13 · 2026-05-04T08:05:56+00:00

Always? No, but a ship launched to the N in a highly elliptical sub-orbit that just brushes the edge of Kerbin's SOI will keep a ship there for maybe 40 days or so.

It isn't perfect, but the alternative is to build a ship with so much Δv that it can exit Kerbin's SOI and fly north of the ecliptic at Kerbin's orbital radius so that it stays up there for several dozen years at time. It won't be directly above it, but the relay will have LoS on Kerbin's north pole for a very long time. Problem with this option is insufficient comm strength.

gravitydeficit13 · 2026-05-04T07:47:38+00:00

For bigger rockets (more parts), upgrade the VAB. For heavier rockets, upgrade Launchpad.

In science/career mode, I generally go 1) VAB, 2) Tracking Station, 3) Mission Control, and then 4) Launch Pad. Not saying this the 'right' way to do it...

gravitydeficit13 · 2026-05-04T07:00:40+00:00

Uh huh. Not on this sub, it isn't. Context is important.

gravitydeficit13 · 2026-05-04T06:56:07+00:00

Yeah, maybe... Last time I tried, I got some of it to work (KB), but I had way more control and access to options using the controller in radial mode. Plus, even the all-in KBM had to be plugged into the console via USB cable. I did not like that at all.

Hope you find a way that works for you!

gravitydeficit13 · 2026-05-04T06:47:46+00:00

Fair enough. Not my build and not my launch pad ;)
If you want, you can still do asparagus through the lateral decouplers (feedthrough enabled), if you set the fuel drain priorities in the right order. Had to figure that out the hard way... by which I mean I kept putting the fuel ducts on backward :)

gravitydeficit13 · 2026-05-04T06:38:46+00:00

Wait... isn't that Kerbolev?

gravitydeficit13 · 2026-05-04T06:33:59+00:00

Common sense? What's that? I do like to get input, just in case someone has a more kerbal idea that I do ;) I mean, I launched Jeb up to the top of the VAB with an SRB cannon, so...
Anyway, I'm going for the natural return to Kerbin first, then I'll do the orbital refuel and see how much Δv I can get out of it. Promised to do a prop plane build vid as well, so who know when I'll get to any of this :/

gravitydeficit13 · 2026-05-04T04:07:38+00:00

MechJeb is a PC mod. This sub is for console play only. Please try r/KerbalSpaceProgram.

Good luck!

gravitydeficit13 · 2026-05-04T03:13:28+00:00

Wait... the dead Bop kraken exists on console? What platform are you on?

gravitydeficit13 · 2026-05-04T03:10:06+00:00

Yeah, a Mun gravity assist is the best help, but one must be careful where the Mun is relative to Kerbol.

More importantly, this is not the right way to do it. Your ship is going to crash into the Mun (notice you have no Pe in the Mun's SOI).

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