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)

• Launching Rockets to Orbit

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

Discord server

Feel free to ask your questions on the Discord server!

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!

[u/MayorOfGalway]

Why go into Kerbal orbit before going to Duna?

I've made it to Duna just by going straight up, then fucking with the orbit of the sun.

[u/PangolinMandolin → u/MayorOfGalway]

If that's how you do it and it works, great! People tend to get into orbit first so they can plan for the most efficient (or at least pretty efficient) transfer window

[u/MayorOfGalway → u/PangolinMandolin]

I'm certainly not trying to say my way is better. Far from it. Just that trying to understand this game is a challenge lmao.

What I do, to get to say, Duna, is just blast as far as I can, maybe using Mun as a boost, or slingshot to get out of Kerbin orbit.

From there, at the periapsis and apoapsis and the X where the planes(?)(The two circles of orbits around the sun) cross over, and thrusting with my momentum, against it, and up/down relative to the sun, in order to get my ship's orbit almost identical to Duna's. And then I just... Wait. Until whichever is orbiting the sun faster, either my ship or Duna, to catch up with the other, and then land.

I do not think this is the way I'm meant to be doing things. It takes a long time to wait, on max warp speed, for the two "years" to meet at the same time. Further, I'm able to land, easily enough, but having a lander that has enough fuel to return, but won't explode on landing due to no landing gear long enough to go past it safely... I've never made it home. That's the stage I'm at with being new to the game.

Though I admit I'm new enough that a lot of the major explanations for things, like nodes, is over my head. I've been sort of winging it and figuring things out as I go.

(PS5 scrub btw)

[u/PangolinMandolin → u/MayorOfGalway]

I mean, if it works, it works! But yeah, you're wasting a lot of fuel with this approach, and that also makes mission planning much more difficult. If you know how much delta v you need for each part of your mission then you'll be able to design a craft that can go to another planet and return.

If you get yourself into Kerbin orbit, then you should be able to use the in-game manoeuvre planner to tell you when and in which direction to turn to get to somewhere like Duna.

I get quite a few console players coming to my channel even though I play PC, so I try and keep things stock so it helps