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[Glloyd]

I love Minmus. The lack of gravity makes landings so light on fuel.

[Krevsin]

It also makes a surprisingly good staging point for further expeditions into the Kerbol system.

Which reminds me. The next time I send the Long Ranger there, imma equip it with a Kethane scanner.

[da_nang]

10 docked ships

...What kind of CPU do you have? o.O
My PC nearly died at 4 docked ships.

Choices, man. I don't expect to use them all at the same time. 

[Glloyd]

Used the same design to land Jeb on Minmus. I really like this design, but I think the lander would need more fuel to return from another planet sadly.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

[Fayrik]

Heh. I've been working on a Minmus base myself. Seems Minmus is the most popular place to be right now. I can see why, it's currently my favourite place in the system! Between the small size and low gravity it makes RCS packs work really well.
I had a single Kerbal fly over 24km in a single run, just to drop of a KAS attachment, that is apparently broken in the new version. Gulp!

[Krevsin]

I have struck the highest and most economically viable density of Kethane right on Minmus. The low gravity makes orbital transport a cakewalk and it is positioned just shy of the equator. It is also a great place to launch my expeditions to the outer kerbal system from.

Also, my current nuclear manned shuttle design, the Long Ranger has proven to be incredibly versatile. If I want to change it to a long-range explorer, all I have to do is stick another tank on the front and presto, enough delta V to get basically everywhere.

Gotta say, Minmus has really turned out to be a gold mine.

[Dorsidwarf]

The 0.22 video looks cool, can't wait to play!

[Facekillz058]

Looking at the previous pages, I see these smallish rockets with like, 5 stages.
HOW DO YOU GET THAT TO OTHER PLANETS, I CAN BARELY GET TO THE MUN WITH LIKE, 10 STAGES, 4 OF WHICH HAVE MAINSAILS AND SOLID BOOSTERS.
Also, I figured out why none of my spaceplanes work.
I forget the control surfaces!

[Girlinhat]

It's not about size, it's about efficiency.  What you want is high thrust to weight ration, and high delta v - both of these come from having as small a mass as possible.  The less your rocket weighs, the better.

TWR is literally how much power your rocket has compared to house much weight it has.  You can get better TWR by having larger engines and smaller mass.  TWR mostly matters on the surface, as it determines your liftoff capacity - anything below TWR 1.0 cannot lift itself.  In space, TWR roughly measures how fast you can accelerate.

Delta Velocity is "how much total m/s change you can achieve".  You increase your Dv by lowering your weight, carrying more fuel, or using more fuel-efficient engines.  Once you get to orbit, Dv becomes your biggest concern, as it determines how far you can travel.

For working spaceships, you really want a good TWR on the get-into-orbit stage, and a high Dv on the let's-go-to-another-planet stage.  That means Mainsails on the lifting stage - they have INCREDIBLE thrust, but burn a LOT of fuel to do so, giving them poor fuel economy but the raw muscle needed to escape gravity.  Once in space, transition to LV-T30's or LV-N's - these have a lower power, but use fuel much more efficiently and will get you further, the LV-N's especially are 'nuclear engines' that get INCREDIBLE distance.

If I were to suggest a simple 3-stage orbiter, it'd be a large orange tank with mainsail, a few solid boosters around it, and a LV-T30 or LV-N with a small tank.  REMEMBER that a VERY small craft with a nuclear or ion engine can actually get ridiculous distances!

[LordSlowpoke]

did you just recommend ion engines

[Girlinhat]

For a probe, yes.  A single Xenon tank, 2 XL Solars, and a few Ions clustered around in some configuration can get GREAT TWR and Dv on very small probes.  For experimenting and learning, probes are great.

[Facekillz058]

Thanks for that explanation of why nothing good has been happening for me, Girlinhat,
I'll try out what you suggested in 10 or so minutes, after a small break from Strut Simulator 2013

[Lightningfalcon]

did you just recommend ion engines

Ions are great for small craft.  Maybe not for planet to planet, but for adjusting orbits for satellites there is nothing better. 

[Aseaheru]

And if you have the time you can go planet to planet, or go and have fighters powered by them.

[Facekillz058]

You can't open solar panels when out of electricity.
*Groaning as if in extreme pain*
Okay, second try, got a satellite to Minimus!
Which is to say, I've made 50x more progress than I have before.
Next up, either putting a lander on Minimus, or putting a Satellite around a different planet.