Zedwardson

Nice rocket, and I learned quickly that with testflight it best to plan for backup launches and so on. The first few times I played it killed my programs when I had failure after failure. I would play it all the time except that my potato computer runs it fine, but it takes about 20 minutes to load KSP with all the mods.

' Whitestar 3 launches. I will use this as a aside to explain the launcher name code. This is a Altair-A-3, the main rocket is the Altair, which consists of the Altair main stage and the Zulu as the secondary stage (you can see that the 2nd stage is from the Zulu-4 mission) , the A means that it is boosterless or that it is using the Thumper booster, and the 3 indicates that there are three SRBs. The codes are A - No booster (if A-0) or Thumper B- Shrimp C- Kickback D - Hammer E - Mite F - Flea G - Pollux H- Thoroughbred I - Clydesdale L- Liquid fueled ------------------------------ KSC is being developed, though I am really bad at planes so there been little investment on that side. Showing off the southern poles and icecaps. Then a bit of a unexpected landing, as someone at the factory forgot to put in the parts to seperate the whitestar capsule with the Zulu upper stage, luckily, there is much in the way of canvas and it was slowed down. Whitestar 4 took off at dusk (Altair-A-3 as usual) Rising from the darkness into the light. Then after a orbit or two, retrofire and releasing the whitestar for reentry. It was a bumpy ride as there was some uneven heating going on. However Jeb kept his head cool, and the landing did not have a issue. The large Rigel Block 0 is rolled onto the pad (Block 0 means that there is no second stage in KCSS terminology) Launch is a go, and it rises up, And gimbils itself to its correct rise, a most painless launch. Releasing Kerbhab-1, the first attmpt to make a space Station, It is not much, very low tech but can house a number of Kerbals and has fuel reserves. It is placed in a 120km orbit with a 5 degree inclination to avoid the heavy traffic of the 80-105 area, and the inclination is to avoid future comsats who might want the 120km band for a parking orbit before transfering to higher orbit.

In a press conference today, there was some major news on the KCSS space program. Project Altair is being wrapped up, there will be two more missions in the Altair program proper, (giving all the kerbals who started orbital experience) however the Altair rocket will most likely be used for some time. The KCSS will be also presenting some new launchers as scientific development has progressed and new tanks and engines are available. The Vega launcher will be used in the Vega program, which will allow more then one Kerbal to orbit. The plan is to make the Vega capsules as they are upgraded for some time. they consist of three parts, the orbital module, a sphere that can be customized for various missions, the decent module used for landing, and general services module for power and propulsion. (Editor note: Hint, its a Soyuz-based design). The Conquistador probes will be launched to take a wide range of science experiments. Conquistador-1 will be the flight test of the Vega rocket to confirm its kerbal rating, and do high orbit experiments. Conquistador-2 will do a flight around the mun. Conquistador-3 will do a flight around Minimus Conquistador-4 will be modified and attempt to orbit the mun, and then return with the sat bus. (Contracts being contracts) Kerbhab-1 is a space station that will be launched using the first stage of the large Rigel booster, who testing indicates can launch 10 tons to LKO from its first stage only. There will be two more rescue missions to rescue stranded kerbals. Whitestar tourism shots will continue to be launched, but many will be giving polar orbits due to the ease of manually landing on water in that orbit. Jeb remains the primary pilot on Whitestar tourism flights. Upcoming Flight manifest Mission Launcher Notes Whitestar-4 Altair-A-3 2 tourist to orbit Whitestar-5 Altair-A-3 2 tourist to orbit Altair-5 Altair-A-3 High orbit mission Altair-6 Altair-A-3 endurance mission Kerbhab-1 Rigel Block 0 Space Station Conquistador-1 Vega-A-2 Flight testing of the Vega-A Vega-001 Vega-A-0 or Vega-A-2 Flight testing of the Vega spacecraft Rescue-Tub III and IV Altair-A-3 or Vega-A-2 launched as needed

Built my first station in a while, very low tech, and I have a SSTO rocket that just lifted 10 tons to orbit without staging. Kerhab-1 is in a 120km orbit at 5degree inclination to keep it close enough but not in the way of normal operations. Might send kerbals up to habitat it. Also earned some $$$ by doing some tourism missions. Now I have to decide if I am going to do my last two planned altair missions or start moving foward to bigger things.

glad you had a backup save that works. I have been enjoying following your campaign.

As a aside, glad so many people like my little 'tourist" trap.

Launch did not go as planned...

Carried out two pure science missions in my main mostly stock game, Need about 90 more science before being able to start launching big stuff in orbit.

Minimus, Mun, all lined up and It never gets old to see a sunrise.

Altair-3 and Altair-4 Altair-3 was a simple science mission. 10 orbits (a new record) the goal of getting science was met, unlocking new technologies. The hope was the land on the desert or in the water after it. And Nelfall landed it in the water for a huge science haul. (about 100 points of science which is nice for early game small rocket missions) While the Altair missions might seem routine, altair-4 was able to get the press attention back on the space program. It used the new Desert launch site.. In addition, it has a slightly reworked Altair module, that has been cleaned up and parts reduced. And while the normal launch measures went on.... The media noticed that Altair-4 was not going into the normal Altair orbit (normally altairs launch to 0 degrees on a orbit that aims for being 100km above the planet.) Altair-4 was going to a polar orbit! Taking data from the north pole And the south And taking photos of notable sites Final mission goal is to land on the northern ice cap. Notable for Mun and Minimus being in the same frame. and all lined up. Flags were planted and data on the north was collected.. And the new data unlocked new technologies, and the first orbital station, Pioneer station, starts to be on the drafting board. Even if there is no way to lift it at this time.

The Delta Epee Mark 1 which is a modified Epee Mark 1 to take bio samples is a full success. And now we try a 2 stage design.... Noooooooooooooo No Christmas this year as the rocket fails spectacularly. End of year one report. Launch attempts: 8 Orbital: 0 Suborbital: 8 Mission successes: 4 Partial success: 1 Failures: 3 Notable issue: Still not carried out a true two stage launch. Upcoming goals: building a "X-1A" manned rocket for science and contracts. Keep it in the black" (Money is tight but not had to bail myself out yet.)

First Sounding rocket... First sounding rocket, quick, dirty, and gets a contract out of the way. Gets about 7,000 meters up. Which then leads to the Epee Series... Epee Mark Ia is a simple design but works very well, It burns it engines till it hits about 50,000 meters Rises to 176-177kms Then returns to earth in a fire and impact I carried out several of these shots to collect science data. Also tried one without fins on the sustain module to try to reduce drag, however the spin didn't work well and it more osculated upwards Still reached 80km even with the poor launch. However it was time to do more complicated rockets... The first attempt at a two stage sounding rocket.... Suffers a first stage engine failure Note, might of gotten the shots confused - historian corrects me. The 2nd attempt has a failure within seconds of launch, a complete failure. After these failures, it was time to do some launches with biological samples.

We were all there at some point. The first time I was trying to orbit and didn't understand how to do it well, and was failing at suborbitals. So I make a 7-8 stage solid rocket and lauched bill into a escape velocity. So I launched something around the sun before making orbit.

The main stage uses a engine from the Tentares part pack. (Which really adds some nice Russian gear, that not overpowered. I have plans to make a "K-7" booster at some point. Project Orion will be a Apollo style stuff for Mun/Minmus missions, and some orbital stuff. Vega will be Soyuz inspired and intended for LKO orbital work and manning space stations.

just wanted to say I love your ship names.