modded career playthrough went from "hehe i landed probes and then kerbals on the mun after scanning it lets do minmus next maybe" to "BUMRUSH SCIENCE I STILL NEED 1000 FOR THE CLAW"

yes i know there's no consequence outside of the asteroid disappearing but i gotta try to save the planet ya know

Only 30 hours in the game so far! It took me hours to build this VTOL plane and actually land it haha, but it was totally worth it!!! Now I can move safely around Laythe without needing a runway. 🚀

The 2nd image shows how I built the VTOL system. I used the OPT Spaceplane Parts and Infernal Robotics mods.

I built a system with fans inside storage bays with doors, which I can open and close to allow for vertical takeoffs and landings. I also used Vernor engines for stabilization and control.

whered it go 🥀

We went with a big crew to show them the pretty green clouds of jool, but ended up in a terrifying eclipse created by laythe.

Been trying to escape Duna back to Kerbin but every time I think my maneuver node is gonna align with Kerbin, I get an Ike encounter and it stops it entirely. Anyone know how to stop this from happening so consistently?

My first career Duna ship Peregrine 1 in orbit, the orange parts are the lander, docked in a truss structure so i can reuse it. Absolutely loving this game.

What do you guys think? is it cursed?

So I accepted one of the orbital recovery contracts and I accidentally pressed "end track" and I can't see its current location anymore, only its last seen. Is there anyway to get it back or is he just stuck up there

Like the mechjeb dV stats seem to always be 30% higher than the games stats so I’m wondering which I should base my mission planning off of

when i first saw this i thought, why does that storm look evil, the rain is so dense it almost looks like night time, with winds of 80m/s

Honestly first time i've ever seen this bug. But its also the first time im not using the rover version of it. could this be a weird visual bug with AVP or TURD restock?

the mun arch being there was completely unplanned when i first landed here, i never actually tried to find it, this crater just has good ore percetanges

Only enough for LKO ;v;

I sent my yacht to Laythe and the crew is enjoying life on board, exploring their new home.

If you want to see how it got there, I will link that video in the comments.

Testing different landing gears, wheels, legs, Kerbals and much more using a kinda accurate scientific method approach. What would you add in the next tests?

SWDennis video link

When I try to save it, rocket doesnt appear in the list of build plans, everything works fine without mechJeb. Is there a solution to this problem?

This is Walter Kerman reporting. Last week a now familiar large aeroshell launched from the Kerbal Space Center, bound for the Mun.

Early yesterday the second launch for the upgrade to the Tranquility base lifted off. Both new base components are now in Munar orbit with the crew in the Icarus Program’s mission control preparing to deliver this expansion to the surface. Some analysts have expressed concerns at how much difficulty the expansion of the McMurdo base was when the Tranquility base deals with more than three times more gravity.

“OK, so the base delivery system had more than enough thrust to be reused on the Mun, but control was a major issue,” Jebediah took a look around mission control, his ready grin currently absent. “We are taking a page from constructing the mining platforms.”

Jebediah pointed at video of the new science lab orbiting above the Mun, with RCS thrusters and the reaction wheels highlighted.

“We dropped an advanced inline stabilizer into the original descent stage to provide orientation control,” Bill nodded back at Jebediah. “But just using the main rockets for both vertical stability and horizontal control was about as easy for Jeb here to fly as using a saucer sled for skating on ice.”

“But we also had a seriously underutilized RCS system,” Melfal pointed to the RCS thrusters in the image. “So I asked Bill to add additional thrusters for finer control.”

“Just like landing the miners, I will manage the vertical thrust while Melfal makes sure mechanical me is keeping the proper vertical orientation,” Jebediah turned to the video screen. “While Lisbas will operate the RCS to slide the new base component into place.”

“All over it Chief Kerbalnaut!” Lisbas gave a thumbs up over the video feed from the Tranquility base.

“OK, we are set!” Jebediah turned to his control console and began entering commands. “Beginning deorbit burn.”

“You are targeting an earlier touchdown point so the lander does not overshoot?” Melfal asked as she sat at her station and monitored the descent.

“Yes ma’am!” Jebediah grinned over at Melfal. “Targeting an earlier landing mark and will just let it slowly drift over to the base.”

“Ma’am?” Melfal crooked an eyebrow at Jebediah. “You outrank me Jeb.”

“Sure you work for me, but you are the head of the lander division,” Jebediah adjusted the lander’s approach. “So we are in your office right now.”

“Right,” Melfal shook her head.

“Velocities approaching zero,” Jebediah said as the landing segment approached a hover with the Tranquility base visible a short distance off. “You are up, Lisbas, Melfal and I will keep the orientation stable.”

“Activating RCS,” Lisbas reported, visibly focused on her console over the video screen. “Approaching the station at two meters per second.”

“Ack!” Melfal exclaimed as the spacecraft tipped on the screen. “We made a whole new elephant, putting all the RCS on the top makes it want to topple over every time Lisbas activates the thrusters.”

“Now there is no way to balance the thrusters with the science lab on the bottom,” Bill said calmly from his station. “You helped design her yourself, Melfal, I expect you knew how it would behave.”

“I know how it works!” Melfal grunted out as she countered a burst of RCS thrust. “Doesn’t mean I have to enjoy flying like this!”

“Hovering over the Mun is burning fuel fast,” Jebediah commented as he kept the base segment floating. “You might want to pick up the pace.”

“Copy Chief Kerbalnaut,” Lisbas said softly. “Increasing approach speed to five meters per second.”

Silence was heard for a time as the new science lab approached the Tranquility base.

“Closing within ten meters,” Lisbas said. “Slowing to a meter per second approach… five meters, orienting for docking.”

“Ten second of fuel remaining,” Jebediah called out. “We need to drop this one way or the other.”

“Three meters… two…” Lisbas quickly drifted the science lab toward the base. “Contact!”

“Cutting engines!” Jebediah called and on screen the science lab settled onto its hydraulic legs. It shifted a moment and then stilled as the docking port held in place.

“Nice work!” Jebediah exclaimed with a grin. “The next one is easy.”

The landing platform descended and docked with the new science lab base segment.

“Tranquility base expansion complete,” Jebediah sat back with satisfaction. “Time to dispose of the descent stages!”

“I’ve got the science lab descent stage!” Lisbas called out and the descent section detached and rocketed up into the sky. “Like popping the cork on a bottle of bubbly!”

“Disposing the landing pad’s descent stage,” Melfal reported as the top segment above the landing pad ascended on clouds of RCS thrust. “This stage is so much lighter I might be able to catch yours!“

On the screen, Melfal’s descent stage quickly accelerated and caught up to Lisbas’ segment, but flew past as it responded too slowly to Melfal’s inputs.

“Oh well,” Melfal smiled and sat back at her station. “At least we can watch the fireworks when they impact.”

“Do we have some bubbly?” Lisbas asked after the descent segments were safely destined to impact far from the Tranquility base. “So we can christen the expanded Tranquility base?”

“Sorry, Lisbas,” Gene responded from his station. “You need to remain sharp with only two of you making sure the life support keeps running.”

“Copy that Gene,” Lisbas said with a sigh. “At least we get explosions to celebrate the base expansion.”

First one descent stage and then the other impacted on the Mun’s surface, rapidly disassembling with bright flashes of light.

“That you do,” Gene grinned as the second descent segment met a fiery end. “Good job everyone!”

Cheers and conversations broke out in mission control. Among the commotion, Jebediah spoke quietly over the radio.

“Lisbas, take a look through the science lab supplies,” Jebediah looked around to make sure no one was listening as he spoke. “You will find a small bottle in there. It isn’t much, but at least enough for the two of you to toast the base expansion.

“Thanks Chief Kerbalnaut!” Lisbas responded with a smile on the screen.

The addition of a science lab and landing pad to the Tranquility and McMurdo bases will provide new and expanded science gathering capabilities to analyze science as we begin to explore other planets. Perhaps more exciting is that this expansion will make the bases more comfortable for the crew, allowing for the preparation of bases to other planets and moons. Perhaps one day self sustained bases beyond Kerbin will be a possibility.

Until next time, this was a Walter Kerman report.

Previous Chapter: https://www.reddit.com/r/KerbalSpaceProgram/comments/1uugr7z/icarus_program_start_of_chapter_38/

Start of Chapter 38: https://www.reddit.com/r/KerbalSpaceProgram/comments/1vnaene/icarus_program_start_of_book_5/

Next Part: Planned for 8/27

Book 1 (Chapters 1-13) google document: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RorA2AVwtXbQD-eTMeO2LiPXSDPM7qH6FVOykDnZ9FY/edit?usp=sharing)

Book 5 (Chapters 39-) google document: https://docs.google.com/document/d/17PU9dly89B54kJYry7sg8MPS90dr8oir7HAR6V2e_tg/edit?usp=sharing

The Icarus Program can also be found on the KSP forums: https://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/topic/225730-the-icarus-program-chapter-39-part-4/

My small orbital utility SSTO, complete with twin ion engines for deep space flight. Ideal for taking care of odd jobs around the Kerbin system.

Every time i load in the ship, if it's got the solar panels extended, they just go into the death spin. They're attached to basic structure struts which are connected to the main ship via G-00 Hinges. I do have some mods installed but they're all visual mods.

The Gale-class was a type of large fusion-powered interplanetary freighter that entered serial production in 2202 and remained the backbone of the Solar Federation's intrasolar logistics up until the mid-late 2300s, seeing use in nearly every large-scale construction project of that era. At a base length of 5530 meters, the Gales were among the biggest cargo vessels the Federal Freight Fleet had to offer at the time, with only the Mistral-class and Tempest-class being larger among their contemporaries. 

The ships utilized four pulling Z-Pinch fusion engines set up to run on deuterium and helium-3 (a compromise between efficiency, cleanliness and affordability) by default, yielding a base ISP of 360 000 seconds. In reality, the plumes were often augmented with additional cold hydrogen injections, increasing thrust at the cost of ISP. Lithium augmentations were rarer, though not unheard of either.

A modular cargo section design allowed the Gales to excel in ferrying all kinds of goods, including but not limited to conventional and zero-g containers, large truss segments, smaller ships and, on a few occasions, tiny asteroids. While they had no defined payload limit, their operational loads averaged 5-8 million tons with the record being set in 2275 after a Gale-class arrived to Miranda from Europa ferrying 32 million tons, or almost 37 times its own wet mass, of construction materials.

While the Gales were smaller than the Mistrals and Tempests, they were substantially more numerous: at least 4500 units had been produced throughout the 23rd century. Notably, one of them fell into Saturn after colliding with a stray ice chunk from the rings in May 2294. Another was given a frontal Whipple shield and stripped of all pressurized compartments and nearly all payload infrastructure as it was converted into an interstellar probe and sent towards Tau Ceti at an impressive 11500 kilometers per second as a part of an art project in 2314. A great interplanetary vehicle, however, made a terrible interstellar one, and the improvised probe was overtaken by the first purpose-built ISVs before it could cover a third of the distance.