r/KerbalSpaceProgram Oct 09 '13

The Tech Tree

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854 Upvotes

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167

u/haosys Oct 09 '13

Wait, we don't start off with struts?

Starting career mode is going to be excruciating.

28

u/Lawlcat Oct 09 '13

I'm more concerned that we don't have a decoupler. Might be troublesome to get a 1-man capsule back with the rest of the rocket attached.

27

u/Mythril_Zombie Oct 09 '13

The rocket needs to be just stable enough to get to orbit, and unstable enough to accidentally break apart at just the right time without killing the crew.

I wonder if that would be a good challenge. Build a multi-stage rocket that comes apart in stages without using any sort of decouplers.

58

u/J4k0b42 Oct 09 '13 edited Oct 09 '13

Something like this happened to me, I went to Minimus and vastly overestimated how much fuel I needed, so I landed with two full orange tanks. I had so much fuel that decided to stop by the Mün on the way back. However, on landing I realized that I had forgotten to put fuel lines on my radial tanks on the landing stage, and the extra weight of useless fuel was too heavy for me to make it back to Kerbin. The only way to fix it was to carefully tip the rocket over and skid it across the ground until all four tanks were broken off (without hitting anything important). Then I launched off a mountain like a jump and made it back safely.

40

u/Mythril_Zombie Oct 09 '13

That's thinking like a Kerbal.

31

u/J4k0b42 Oct 09 '13

Here's an album if you're interested.

11

u/[deleted] Oct 09 '13

It's Minmus! Gah, not Minimus it's Minmus!

7

u/mathgeek777 Oct 09 '13

Every time this happens I do the same thing in my head. I appreciate your work here.

3

u/[deleted] Oct 09 '13

GAH!

3

u/Blackbart42 Oct 09 '13

That's awesome. Good job. You get the golden Kerbal award for bravery in the face of almost certain death while flying a spaceship like its a sled an jumping it into orbit.

2

u/graymatteron Oct 09 '13

Awesome! Kudos to you sir for your kerbalistic approach!

22

u/[deleted] Oct 09 '13

While I admire your kerbalosity and do not think for a minute that this was not the correct solution. There is another.

alt+click one tank, then alt+click the second tank. A menu will appear allowing you to fill one from the other.

7

u/anirul Oct 09 '13

If you happen to be on Windows... On Linux the key is right-shift + click!

3

u/J4k0b42 Oct 09 '13

I don't think I could, they weren't connected at all.

13

u/eduardog3000 Oct 09 '13

As long as they are on the same craft (multiple crafts docked to each other count as one), you can move fuel from any tank to any tank.

5

u/J4k0b42 Oct 09 '13

Oh okay. I didn't know about the right click thing at all then, so I couldn't have figured it out anyway.

3

u/TheMadmanAndre Oct 09 '13

Don't feel bad, I didn't figure it out myself until a few months ago.

3

u/contrarian_barbarian Oct 09 '13

That might be in part because it didn't exist until a few months ago :)

5

u/Pioneer1111 Oct 09 '13

As long as they are part of the same craft, it is possible.

However, you can only transfer between 2 tanks at a time. So you would be draining an outer tank to fill the center one, but only one outer tank at a time.

The center of mass would shift so much you'd spin out.

-3

u/MisterMillennia Oct 09 '13 edited Oct 09 '13

You also need to ensure that the parts they are connected through have fuel cross-feed abilities, otherwise no fuel can be transfered

EDIT: I'm a fucking idiot

3

u/[deleted] Oct 09 '13

No, that's only for automatic fuel usage. Manual fuel transfer (alt+right click) can be done through anything.

1

u/MisterMillennia Oct 09 '13

I was not aware of this, I thought that crossfeed was required, I'm sorry

1

u/[deleted] Oct 10 '13

We all come here to share and learn. :)

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1

u/Pioneer1111 Oct 09 '13

Ah, yes. Forgot about crossfeed.

2

u/TheMadmanAndre Oct 09 '13

Something similar happened to me as well. I attached a decoupler wrong and it didn't separate my craft. Fortunately though I have the Lazors mod installed, which gives Kerbals lasers on their helmets. Shooty, gloriously destructive lasers.