Kerbal Space Program

Soldato
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Sadly no.
Rendezvous, is still one area thats kicking my ***
I have tried on many occasions, gotton close, like 2KM close, an then the orbits split! :rolleyes:
I do continue too learn, but I am not devoting 100% of my time to master this aspect of the game! Dont see the point, considering docking hasn't been implemented, yet! :)

Even then, every time i've tried docking with a previous stage it's been amazingly hard. You'd think you could just flip round and go forwards, but nope :p

It might look like you're going in at a perfect angle, then you end up going straight past because you can't see the third axis. Or rather, you hit it and you both go spiraling out of control.
 
Soldato
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Right - I did a rescue mission last night.

I managed the orbit, got within a few KM then had to use RCS to match the orbit of the orher craft. I got both craft heading to Earth, hit the chute on one craft, then went to switch to the other craft to get them safely down and the game wouldn't let me go back to the space centre to switch over, so it ended up crashing to Earth... WTF? :( :( :(

Seems like you have to leave one in orbit and let one go down as it won't let you switch when you are descending.

http://www.pianobasher.webspace.virginmedia.com/rescue1.png

For pictures wider than 1024 pixels please either resize or post links. Thank you.

I basically got the apoapsis of my orbit matching the stranded ship, but the periapsis was a fair bit closer to Kerbal. Waited a few orbits until I quite closely matched the orbit of the stranded ship and was in front of it, then got to Apoapsis and did a burn to fill out the periapsis. Did this a few times until I was about 40K or so away from it, then did retro burn before the Apoapsis until the stranded craft was about 2K away, then it was a really slow job of using RCS to match orbit and speed.

I used a load of legs as a basket, so basically it smacks into the back of you and you are then using retro RCS thrusters to slow both you and the other craft down. I'll have another go tonight, basically as soon as the orbit is decayed enough to hit kerbal, you need to let the stranded ship loose and forward thrust to get back into orbit. Once you've done that you can switch to the stranded capsule and let the chute go in the atmosphere.

Re: Docking - they need to implement a hotkey to show trajectories in the piloting view IMO.
 
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Associate
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23 Mar 2004
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Ive been experementing for a while, and ive ended off with a lot of space junk, anyone know how to clear all the junk. Its everywhere now. I put a object, not really a station in orbit to practice trying to rendezvous with it, but i have no idea wich one it is now.
 
Soldato
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Ive been experementing for a while, and ive ended off with a lot of space junk, anyone know how to clear all the junk. Its everywhere now. I put a object, not really a station in orbit to practice trying to rendezvous with it, but i have no idea wich one it is now.

There's a persistence file somewhere that you can edit or clear, apparently. Have a search on the KSP forums. Failing that I'll have a look later as I have the same issue! :D

What I want is a pew-pew laser to blow up space junk with. :p
 
Soldato
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for rescue missions you should put the craft being rescued into a reentry orbit, release it, then make the lifeboat go back into a orbit slightly. Then switch to the rescued craft land that first before going back to the lifeboat.
 
Soldato
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for rescue missions you should put the craft being rescued into a reentry orbit, release it, then make the lifeboat go back into a orbit slightly. Then switch to the rescued craft land that first before going back to the lifeboat.

Yep, that was the conclusion I came to at the end of my post. ;) Lesson learned! I was gutted losing the Kerbonauts after all that effort. :( RIP (Rest In Pieces).
 
Soldato
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doh skim reading is never good :o

I was trying to find a way of mounting the legs so that they ended up vertical but haven't sorted it yet. The "basket" works OK, but I still ended up losing and having to recapture the capsule again. :/

I wonder if that Robotics package has anything suitable... hrm.
 
Soldato
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The robotics package has a claw piece. Should do the trick perfectly!

Cool, I'll give that a try tonight!

I really can't wait until they implement orbital planning, because matching an orbit is by far the most difficult thing I've done. I sort of have the hang of it now, but it's quite easy to accidentally burn when you've not kept an eye on the HUD at the bottom, so your orbit ends up tilting completely the wrong way!

I'm still struggling to get my head around the orientation in all honesty. I know exactly how it works for launch and getting into orbit, but for changing headings while in orbit or for planning other journeys, it's still trial and error/guesswork to a degree. It's a wonder I made it to minimus and back! I have no idea whether it's constant or just relative to your current position.

I need to go watch those videos!
 
Soldato
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Ah right, I just got myself into a rough orbit that was maybe 80% of the diameter. Then changed the angle of the orbit (guide on this is somewhere in this thread over the last few days) and wait until I'm close.

Was a case of winging it, rather than guaranteed!
 
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