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kOS is the Kerbal Space Program mod that lets you create your own Curiosity rover

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KOS (the Kerbal Operating System) lets you write automated scripts for your creations in Kerbal Space Program. This means you can automate the launch of your rockets, run scripts to orientate your satellites, you can even program the AI for a moon rover.

It’s a simple but extremely powerful tool for enriching your time in Kerbal Space Program. It’s basically Kerbal’s equivalent of Minecraft’s Computercraft.

Want more from Kerbal? Here are the best Kerbal Space Program mods.

Installing the kOS mod adds a new piece of gear to your Kerbal workshop, the Comptronix CX-4181 Scriptable Control System (SCS). This component needs to be fitted to anything you plan to run kOS scripts. It requires a little power to run, but you can code it shut itself down when it’s not in use.

If you right-click the SCS you can select ‘Open Terminal’ which brings up a pleasantly retro-looking green terminal screen. It looks like an old Amstrad monitor to my eye. You can type directly into the terminal by clicking on it.

You can read more into the code commands in the k-OS FAQ but, basically, the terminal lets you control every major function of a ship fitted with an SCS.

Have a look at it in action in Scott Manley’s video:

With kOS you can code a program to direct a Curiosity-like rover around the surface of the Mun, instructing it to transmit information back to base, or to carry out experiments on the planet. It’s full of exciting possibilities.

You can download kOS from Kerbal’s forums. There’s a list of resources in that thread which should help get you started, too.