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[Sordid]

The thing is, I don't have the equipment for even getting into low earth orbit yet <_<

Please. 

[BigD145]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNXTFj3ozNY
Basic parts only going to Minmus and the Mun.

sniped

[sluissa]

Even if you don't have scott manley skills, you can do space science when suborbital, as long as you can crawl across that 70km limit for even a few seconds, you can get some decent science to start off with.

[Girlinhat]

Even if you don't have scott manley skills, you can do space science when suborbital, as long as you can crawl across that 70km limit for even a few seconds, you can get some decent science to start off with.

Strictly speaking, I believe that's a ballistic trajectory, which can net you surprisingly lot of science.

[Graknorke]

In early game I found it pretty good to do flybys of the moons and using their gravity to put myself into aerobraking with Kerbin.

[TheBronzePickle]

Even if you really don't want to actually put forth much effort, you can strap a single SRB to a crew pod and parachute and fly straight up and do a crew report at the top and you'll get more than enough to get the first research. From there you should be perfectly capable of getting to orbit.

[GlyphGryph]

I have a problem.

I don't know how to use the goddamn parachutes.

I need to get the speed for the pods to (I think) 80 for the parachutes to deploy without breaking off, but I can't seem to get it to drop below 90 m/s no matter what I do.

Help!

I'm losing so many crewmembers and so much science in the last few seconds of an otherwise awesome trip. T_T

[Graknorke]

I have a problem.

I don't know how to use the goddamn parachutes.

I need to get the speed for the pods to (I think) 80 for the parachutes to deploy without breaking off, but I can't seem to get it to drop below 90 m/s no matter what I do.

Help!

I'm losing so many crewmembers and so much science in the last few seconds of an otherwise awesome trip. T_T

Use more/bigger chutes.

[TheBronzePickle]

Parachutes can deploy at over 100 m/s safely, unless you're trying to stop an entire space station. Or are using time warp.

[LordSlowpoke]

I have a problem.

I don't know how to use the goddamn parachutes.

I need to get the speed for the pods to (I think) 80 for the parachutes to deploy without breaking off, but I can't seem to get it to drop below 90 m/s no matter what I do.

Help!

I'm losing so many crewmembers and so much science in the last few seconds of an otherwise awesome trip. T_T

you need a radial parachute per ton of mass you want to bring down to a half-decent terminal velocity, if you need to land more than 10 tons bring a small engine with a bit of fuel to do a hybrid landing or just toss more radials on it and some drogue chutes

this assumes kerbin

space kraken help you if you're trying to use chutes on duna

[Girlinhat]

If it's just a pod, you can do a solar orbit slamming into the atmosphere at 6km/s - deploy the single top chute EARLY so it'll drag for a long time.  You'll bleed a lot of speed in upper atmos, the thin chute will slow you down, and at 500m it'll open.

If using more, it still helps to deploy the chutes early, as they work some even at high altitude.  If you're smart, you can also line up some hardware assisted landings, including such safety measures as a single decoupler on the bottom of your craft to explode when you touchdown.  If you have a small engine and small fuel tank, you can bleed a lot of speed at ~250m and keep it attached, as it'll provide a HAL and the science should survive.

[GlyphGryph]

Parachutes can deploy at over 100 m/s safely, unless you're trying to stop an entire space station. Or are using time warp.

Single pod, three parachutes, 90 m/s. Parachutes fail the moment they fully open, result: death. So... not true, as far as I can tell.

Wait... time warp... time warp? What result would time warp have on this? Why would that matter?

If it's just a pod, you can do a solar orbit slamming into the atmosphere at 6km/s - deploy the single top chute EARLY so it'll drag for a long time.  You'll bleed a lot of speed in upper atmos, the thin chute will slow you down, and at 500m it'll open.

How early should I open it? As soon as the fire stops? After the "air effect" bit?

[LoSboccacc]

ok, here some ugly stuff, consider that I previously used a 100t lander so it is a huge improvement for me, even if not as minimal or pretty as the Manley stuff.

mechjeb is just to show stats

Spoiler: 1t rover, I'm using this as heavy duty crawler for base component, design actually stolen (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: 0.5t probe, 2.5kdv, has the 4 small experiments (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: same with a chute on top (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: larger at 1t, 2.7kdv and legs and some actual power to do things (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: 13.6t lander, 5kdv - can orbit kerbin on its own! - contains all experiments (click to show/hide)

on a 1t payload, getting things in space is really easy

Spoiler: 30.5t ship to pretty much anywhere (click to show/hide)

that ship weight as much as most of my previous style payloads. I still have a lifter around that can ship 100t to orbit, imagine combining those two. would probably be able to do a grand tour with ease.
change cones for a chute and legs and can almost return from eve 

[Girlinhat]

Parachutes can deploy at over 100 m/s safely, unless you're trying to stop an entire space station. Or are using time warp.

Single pod, three parachutes, 90 m/s. Parachutes fail the moment they fully open, result: death. So... not true, as far as I can tell.

Wait... time warp... time warp? What result would time warp have on this? Why would that matter?

If it's just a pod, you can do a solar orbit slamming into the atmosphere at 6km/s - deploy the single top chute EARLY so it'll drag for a long time.  You'll bleed a lot of speed in upper atmos, the thin chute will slow you down, and at 500m it'll open.

How early should I open it? As soon as the fire stops? After the "air effect" bit?

Time warp just guestimates physics.  It will EASILY rip apart very stable crafts, especially in atmos.  Like, really.  There's two types of time warp, regular for in space, and physwarp, where it tries to enforce physics, while in atmosphere or accelerating.  Physwarp should ONLY be used for hour long burns on tiny ion probes.  If you EVER use it on a real craft, it'll pretty much destroy it.

Deploy your chutes in deep space.  With the current deal with re-entry not causing damage, I've never seen a single pod and chute take damage at any speed.  Or a single pod, chute, and science jr.  Deploy them WAY before you get into atmos.  The whole idea, is that you want as many forces as possible decelerating you for as long as possible.  So those chutes stay open.

[Canisaur]

Parachutes can deploy at over 100 m/s safely, unless you're trying to stop an entire space station. Or are using time warp.

Single pod, three parachutes, 90 m/s. Parachutes fail the moment they fully open, result: death. So... not true, as far as I can tell.

Wait... time warp... time warp? What result would time warp have on this? Why would that matter?

If it's just a pod, you can do a solar orbit slamming into the atmosphere at 6km/s - deploy the single top chute EARLY so it'll drag for a long time.  You'll bleed a lot of speed in upper atmos, the thin chute will slow you down, and at 500m it'll open.

How early should I open it? As soon as the fire stops? After the "air effect" bit?

Time warp just guestimates physics.  It will EASILY rip apart very stable crafts, especially in atmos.  Like, really.  There's two types of time warp, regular for in space, and physwarp, where it tries to enforce physics, while in atmosphere or accelerating.  Physwarp should ONLY be used for hour long burns on tiny ion probes.  If you EVER use it on a real craft, it'll pretty much destroy it.

Deploy your chutes in deep space.  With the current deal with re-entry not causing damage, I've never seen a single pod and chute take damage at any speed.  Or a single pod, chute, and science jr.  Deploy them WAY before you get into atmos.  The whole idea, is that you want as many forces as possible decelerating you for as long as possible.  So those chutes stay open.

And for that matter, even if you're not warping, KSP might still be doing less accurate physics calcs if it's lagging for other reasons.  If your mission timer is yellow or red, it's doing less accurate physics calcs.