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A lot of games let you fly planes, but when was the last time one let you fly a rocket? While if that has been what you've been looking for in your time-wasting pursuits, wait no longer, for Kerbal Space Program lets you do just that. As the director/god of the aptly named Kerbal Space Program, you have the ability to launch probes, satellites, landers, space planes, and a whole plethora of fancy little stuff. But behind all of this glamour comes (simplified) rocket science. Much like real rocket scientists, you have to design a craft with fuel and power constraints in mind. Going to the Mun may not be as trivial a task as some may hope. If you prefer fast paced action, this game probably isn't for you. But if you're willing to think a bit, ponder questions about choosing an engine with a larger thrust to weight ratio versus one with a higher specific impulse, or how you should stage your creation to successfully land on Minmus and return home safely, this might just be your cup of tea. I recommend checking it out.

Okay, so for the last few months in physics we've worked on the kerbal space program, and although my group didn't really accomplish much, i kinda just wanted to finalize a few things that i learned. So there is my top 5 1) Kerbals are easily startled. meaning, these kerbals are astronauts that should have been previously trained and have experienced the forces existing in a spacecraft or spaceplane in the game. clearly this was bypassed as much as the safety measures on my rockets 2) Orbit CAN be achieved, around anything. if you think that you will randomly drift out to space when you launch a rocket, that turned out to be a rare occurrence for me. I often would randomly test out a rocket to see if it was too heavy or light to do anything, and it would drift off, past orbit, and then into orbit of the sun, right near kerbin. 3)Air intake does not work in a vaccuum. and for those of you that think its a no brainer, i went into this with no previous rocket science training besides the universal F=ma and g=9.81m/s2 Therefore, i had no idea that on the alpha version of a game that they could differentiate atmospheres from space, but CLEARLY by the plummeting altitude and increasing velocity of my ship, that would be a 'NO' 4) Kerbal's Mun is really hard to get to if you have no idea what you're doing, but look up a single video and orbit 'slingshots' make a heck of a lot more sense. 5)if all else fails, every physics class can be the fourth of july (with satellites, not kerbals PLEASE)

Now, this took some research, some planning, and a number of tries, but matching up orbits for docking IS possible… But certainly not easy. Took a bit of practice (and perhaps a minor bounce off the station…) But in the end, the Kerbals prevailed. Once docked, a fuel transfer was initiated to verify the process. After that, it was party time. The Kerbal who’d been manning the space station decided he needed to get out after going a bit stir crazy. Time to ride the rocket for a spell. This, of course, left the space station unmanned, so one of our newly arrived Kerbonauts transferred himself over to the space station to take the helm. So, it’s doable. Who’s next?