# Kerbal Space Program **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [August 23, 2011, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerbal-space-program/593824 "2011-08-23T22:07:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 17
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2013, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerbal-space-program/593824/321 "2013-07-29T16:44:36Z")
Babale, a further experiment to show you how much can be lifted: [![](https://i.imgur.com/dk2gKxb.jpg) ](https://i.imgur.com/dk2gKxb.jpg) [![](https://i.imgur.com/pJMxYJE.jpg) ](https://i.imgur.com/pJMxYJE.jpg) [![](https://i.imgur.com/f79V7bW.jpg) ](https://i.imgur.com/f79V7bW.jpg) That’s 348 tons that get a lot of fuel to space. I wonder how the game/computer would deal with a 1000 tons ship. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2013, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerbal-space-program/593824/322 "2013-07-29T18:51:05Z")
Rarely seen until now, and incredibly awesome, [high-res photos](http://www.seattlepi.com/news/houston-texas/article/Rare-high-res-photos-of-Apollo-11-s-mission-to-4679254.php) of the Apollo 11 mission, both training and the mission itself. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2013, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerbal-space-program/593824/323 "2013-07-29T18:57:34Z")
[Kerbal Space Program in a xkcd comic](http://xkcd.com/1244/)! ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2013, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerbal-space-program/593824/324 "2013-07-30T01:06:12Z")
I’m in love with this game! I especially like the stories it generates. Some examples: In my first mission to the Mun, I had no guidance system at all, and flew by hand. Most of my approach went pretty well. But when I got within a few tens of meters of the surface I realized I had a problem: a horizontal velocity that I couldn’t cancel (on Kerbin, air drag would have solved this for me). It was hard enough maintaining my altitude, and my ship wasn’t all that maneuverable, and I just couldn’t get rid of about 10 m/s velocity. So I set her down, and the predicable happened–the rocket tipped over and exploded. Fortunately, Kerbals are durable, as is their capsule technology. The capsule survived, but it rolled a _kilometer_ before coming to a rest. The Kerbals are fine, and hanging out waiting for a rescue mission. My second Mun mission went better. I had a navigation system (MechJeb) this time, which was able to land perfectly. After some sightseeing, I took off again, this time attempting a powered landing on Earth. It went quite swimmingly up until the end. I was about 20 meters above KSC when my fuel ran out. The rocket dropped the rest of the way, again exploding below the capsule. And again, the durable Kerbals survived the experience, and so despite the mishap they are now heroes of Kerbin. I upped my game and built a rocket that could land on Duna, drop a rover, and return. Again, the landing went without a hitch. I dropped the rover successfully, and took control, hoping to perform some exploration. I deployed the solar panels on the rover, which extended sideways like cute wings. I then drove out of my stack (my rocket had 5 separate cylinders arranged like the pips on the 5 side of a die, with the rover in the center). However, my rover was a bit too wide and both solar panels sheared off as they hit the engines! The rover had some battery power, so it wasn’t a complete loss, but I was hoping for something with a bit more staying power. At least I got my Kerbals home safely. I finally mustered up the resources to perform a Kerbal return mission for my stranded Kerbals on the Mun. I installed a remote controller so that I could leave the capsule empty. But some idiot Kerbal installed the gyros about 10 degrees off, unbeknownst to me. I noticed my rocket was flying funny, but didn’t understand why until after cratering into the Mun. At least no Kerbals were hurt here. I put one pilot in the capsule to prevent this from happening in the future. However, it will require two missions. My landing computer is precise enough to literally land on top of the stranded Kerbals, so I displaced the landing zone somewhat. I also added seats to my rover for easy shuttle service. The mission has proven more annoying than expected, however. I managed to displace my landing into a nearby crater, so that there is now a mountain between me and the Kerbonauts. No problem, I thought, I’ll just use my rover. Well, it was not to be–although the rover worked well initially, it could not navigate the high peaks of the rim mountains. The rover flipped over, and rolled down back into the crater–and then exploded. Again, no Kerbals were harmed, but it was frustrating. I managed to convince one Kerbonaut to make the arduous hike back, but the other two are waiting for the next mission. Fortunately, the ride back was uneventful–for safety’s sake, I used parachutes this time, with rescue via ship. My next steps are to rescue the remaining Kerbonauts on the Mun, as well as a crew of three in a solar orbit. These latter three were sent into interplanetary space (with no remaining fuel) after a failed planetary encounter with Duna. Rescuing them will be quite a task, requiring a precision rendezvous and EVA work, but I think I can manage it. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2013, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerbal-space-program/593824/325 "2013-07-30T01:10:05Z")
> [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > I wonder how the game/computer would deal with a 1000 tons ship. Just fine. I have a ship that’s around 2000 tons. On liftoff, it uses 8x 7500 kN engines. I’m thinking of doubling that for my next ship. ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2013, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerbal-space-program/593824/326 "2013-07-30T01:37:35Z")
Strange, What mod is that? What’s the name of the engine? It seems that weight is not as big a problem as the number of parts. When my 878 ton ship took off, it had 620 parts and each game second took 10 times as long. I’m having difficulty getting MechJeb 2 in a version that’s compatible wit 0.21. Is it out yet? I found some which promised it but the installation instructions were apparently beyond me. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2013, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerbal-space-program/593824/327 "2013-07-30T01:52:43Z")
> [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > What mod is that? What’s the name of the engine? It’s from the [NovaPunch](http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/showthread.php/3870-0-21-NovaPunch-2-02-RELEASED-July-25th-2013) pack. I forget the name of the engine, but it’s one of only a few 5 meter engines. The engine is pretty inefficient (ISP of 255, IIRC) but hey, it’s big! I don’t think I did anything special for MechJeb; I just used the 2.0.9 version [here](http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/showthread.php/12384-PART-0-21-Anatid-Robotics-MuMech-MechJeb-Autopilot-v2-0-9). ---
**Author:** ![Werekoala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7993a0/32.png) [@Werekoala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Werekoala)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2013, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerbal-space-program/593824/328 "2013-07-30T03:41:19Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > Just fine. I have a ship that’s around 2000 tons. On liftoff, it uses 8x 7500 kN engines. I’m thinking of doubling that for my next ship. Got a pic of that beast? ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2013, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerbal-space-program/593824/329 "2013-07-30T06:08:42Z")
> [@Werekoala](#): > > Got a pic of that beast? Yep! [Here’s](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXxBwHJDbso&hd=1) a short video. Sorry for the crappy frame rate; that’s an artifact of the capture program. It actually runs pretty smoothly in-game. ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2013, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerbal-space-program/593824/330 "2013-07-30T13:29:00Z")
Strangelove, MechJeb: I used to have a quite easy time installing mods but it doesn’t seem to work now. I followed your link and put the plugin folder in the KSP plugin folder and the parts folder in the KSP parts folder yet nothing. Computer slowdown: I see that the problem isn’t the weight but the number of parts. In the last ship I made, there were 620 parts so that must have been it. When I jettisoned the jets I went down to a little above 200 parts and it ran fine. ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2013, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerbal-space-program/593824/331 "2013-07-30T16:28:12Z")
Strange, I see that the MechJeb 2 is now an actual part you have to stick on your ship. I have done that but I don’t see any options windows to use it. Any idea what I’m doing wrong? ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2013, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerbal-space-program/593824/332 "2013-07-30T18:22:42Z")
> [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > I see that the MechJeb 2 is now an actual part you have to stick on your ship. I have done that but I don’t see any options windows to use it. Any idea what I’m doing wrong? Only two things I can think of right now. First–and I don’t know if this actually matters–I put the device on my capsule. Could be that it needs to “interface” with the capsule to function, and doesn’t work if you put it on a fuel tank or something. Second, note that it has a pop-up menu near the top of the right edge. It’s hidden behind the staging info when I’m in the assembly building. In flight, it’s fairly obvious, but maybe it’s hidden behind another window for you. ---
**Author:** ![Werekoala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7993a0/32.png) [@Werekoala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Werekoala)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2013, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerbal-space-program/593824/333 "2013-07-30T18:41:30Z")
I have yet to find a nose cone that will cover my probes without leaving a gap of some type in the structure - what am I missing? (and yes that sounds really REALLY bad but you know what I mean… ) ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2013, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerbal-space-program/593824/334 "2013-07-30T20:19:07Z")
Somebody just posted [this](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPRxyv3CED8&feature=youtu.be) video on another forum. I highly recommend it. ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2013, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerbal-space-program/593824/335 "2013-07-30T20:45:21Z")
> [@Grumman](#): > > Somebody just posted [this](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPRxyv3CED8&feature=youtu.be) video on another forum. I highly recommend it. Indeed. I wonder how amenable KSP would be to a multiplayer mod. They’ve said they won’t make weapons but I wonder if they’ll prevent modders from offering them. I’d certainly watch people duking it out in orbit. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2013, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerbal-space-program/593824/336 "2013-07-30T20:58:12Z")
Has there ever been a truly good space sim with combat and real orbital mechanics? ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2013, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerbal-space-program/593824/337 "2013-07-30T21:08:54Z")
> [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > Indeed. > > I wonder how amenable KSP would be to a multiplayer mod. They’ve said they won’t make weapons but I wonder if they’ll prevent modders from offering them. I’d certainly watch people duking it out in orbit. As The Kzinti Lesson from Known Space says: “The more efficient a reaction drive, the more effective a weapon it makes.” There are already weapons in KSP, if you have the inclination to use them. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2013, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerbal-space-program/593824/338 "2013-08-02T06:45:26Z")
My latest monster rocket: [https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/7568807/bigrocket.jpg](https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/7568807/bigrocket.jpg) [https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/7568807/bigrocket2.jpg](https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/7568807/bigrocket2.jpg) 4840 tons on the ground; 730 tons to a 120 km orbit. 19 5x12m tanks. Doesn’t \*quite \*fit on the launchpad :). ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2013, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerbal-space-program/593824/339 "2013-08-04T10:56:30Z")
Success! Or nearly so. The Kerbal’s most ambitious project yet: to transport 3 Kerbals safely to the surface of Eve, via precision, powered landing; deploy a kethane mining unit to refill the tanks; and return safely. The ship [has landed](https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/7568807/eve_miner.jpg) and is now refining kethane into rocket fuel and oxidizer. It will take some time to refill the fuel tanks, but the Kerbals are spending time checking their scientific instruments and playing solitaire. There had been several near disasters. Landing upright proved–difficult at first. When they finally achieved a successful landing, the Kerbals discovered something disastrous: the drills had been installed upside-down! The mistake was traced to one Murphy Kerbal, who has since been fired. Fortunately, these were only highly realistic simulations, and so no Kerbals were harmed. Still, mistakes are not acceptable. It remains to be seen if the ship can escape Eve. It has not been tried before, but nevertheless, the Kerbals are confident. ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerbal-space-program/593824/340 "2013-08-06T17:30:48Z")
> [@LawMonkey](#): > > Thanks, **Mouse**. The truth is, this thread tended to make me think that there was me, smashing rockets into the [del]earth[/del]Kerbin, and then there was Everyone Else, sending missions to everywhere, building majestic space stations, _actually getting into fucking orbit_, and so on. If I’m actually fairly normal, then it starts to look like a viable proposition again. 😃 This is the Scott Manley person you heard about, arguably one of the best KSP players and still this happens to him: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEvWsPYd4tU](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEvWsPYd4tU) And he’s got the right mindset for playing the game, failing, improving and then failing better and better. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerbal-space-program/593824.md?page=16) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kerbal-space-program/593824.md?page=18)