I just had (what I consider at least) to be a major success for my space station. I managed to deliver a FULL orange tank and dock it. I then took one of the crew and she(?) became the first Kerbalite to become a permanent resident of the space station. It includes 6 solar cells, plenty of batteries and 1 storage container.
As per my requirement on all space station missions, the delivery craft decoupled and returned to Kerbin safely. I have had 5 constructions missions so far and only lost 3 total crew (not counting launch pad failures... those are just simulations right?) The first guy tried an eva but my game pad was messed up so he ended up floating into orbit, never to be seen again.
The second 2 where on my first fuel depot delivery. It was a very strange craft design that invloved a very late mission (just before return) decoupling and then flying backwards. I decoupled and flew the wrong direction. Smashed full speed into my own space junk. Curses.
I think I will do a few other deliveries and then use it as a staging point for a Mun or Minus mission (not that I need a staging point for those...)
In case anyone is interested, my strategy for getting larger loads into orbit is this. It only covers liquid engines, I'll add a note about boosters at the bottom.
1. Get MechJeb for Thrust to Weight ratio calculations. This is very important.
2. Build your payload. This will be everything you want when you dock. It includes your command pod, their return system (if required), and what you are delivering.
3. Build your upper stage. This stage is generally used at the tail end of the flight to finish getting into orbit. It is also used to push your payload into position. It is extremely important the TWR (thrust to weight ratio) on this stage and every stage is > or very close to 1.
4. You now have a stage that can push your payload until its fuel runs out. Your goal has to be to get the payload stage as close to orbit as possible. To do that you need another stage (or two). We'll call this the pusher stage. The pusher stage follows the same rule as the upper stage, TWR has to equal (or be greater than) 1. Keep in mind that the weight here includes the upper stage AND payload (MechJeb takes this into account).
Quick example. You know your upper stage is 1 LV-T45 engine and 2 TL-T800 fuel tanks. This will only burn for 250 seconds, not long enough to make it to orbit. To fix this you need a pusher stage.
First, add radial decouplers to the upper stage. Next you add 3 of the TL-T800 tanks and to each stack you add an LV-T45 engine. This, in my example craft, put me at .96 TWR. I can fix this one of two ways. First is boosters. Adding a booster to this stage will give me free thrust while some weight from liquid fuel burns off. The second way is my favorite.
Simply attach your pusher stage to your upper stage with a fuel line. If you go from the bottom each stage you will be able to fuel your upper stage with fuel from your pusher stage.
Either way, you now have a pusher stage that is self contained. The distance the pusher stage travels before it burns out is all free, it is simply postponing the time before you have to engage your upper stage.
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Topic: Kerbal Space Program: Now Hiring Optimistic Astronauts for Dangerous Munission (Read 1504823 times)