purpleivan

Almost exclusively Sandbox for me. For a while after Career was introduced I'd play it until I unlocked the full tech tree, each time a new major version came out, but that ended after 3 or 4 versions. Since then my only Career game game has been the one that was an entry for the No Contracts challenge.

A long time ago I put together a large station in Mun orbit for the Grand orbital space station challenge and the thing has four of these flying lawn chairs, that could just about take a kerbal to the Mun surface and back to the station. As I remember circularising the orbit and rendevous with the station was done using RCS. So something like this docked on top of a minimal CSM type configuration vehicle to go do the travelling between Kerbin and Mun orbits would be pretty light. Back in the day before the Dawn drive got nerfed, I sent this from Kerbin orbit to the Mun surface and back. These days you'd need to travel in chair, rather than in a pod, if you want to fly electric.

Took the "Stopo Starto" off to a small clifftop landing spot in the Kayak Club, or a Sepratron assisted landing and takeoff Early morning start. Mind that bump while spotting the landing spot down below. Swung around for a nice long run in at the landing site. Not much space there, but this thing's pretty good at low speed, plus... Sepratrons. Unfortunately I forgot to take pics of the landing. But Jeb made it down, then revealed he's swapped the default for his own, in a sneak bit of small business promotion. Then it was time to get back in the air once more, again with the help of some Sepratrons to get up to speed quickly. Then head home in time for lunch.

Just took a trip out to @Chequers Kamp David as well as a landing at the "luncheon spot". Jeb was so eager to get going, he was up at the break of dawn to take to the air in Stopo Starto, the SRB assisted quick takeoff and landing thingamabob. As usual Jeb couldn't resist hitting the afterburners for a quick getaway. Nice morning for it. Going to lose sight of that coast soon, then it's just grass and more grass for some time. Meanwhile Jeb busies himself with the morning's crossword puzzle. Ahah... the Molar mountains dead ahead. Now time for some needle threadering. Oops... nearly a dropped stitch there, Jeb saves the day with a quick bank to the left. And there she is... in the rearview mirror. Today's landing spot. Jeb has to think now about how to approach the landing and not what's a 5 letter word for someone who flys planes. First thing turn round to point the right way. Jeb cut the engines a little way out and glided in and by the time he crossed the edge of the plateau the Stopo Starto was down to about 55m/s. The forward facing Sepratrons were fired to quickly arrest the forward velocity, but I forgot to grab a pic. But land she did, if a bit bumpily, but nothing fell off. Jeb exited the plane to jab a flag in the ground. Hmmm... since when did I change the flag from the default KSP one. I'm looking at you Jeb. Ok, time to get out of here, so just need to get back in the cockpit and... Hmmm... doesn't seem to be a way to climb back in. Never mind F9 to the rescue. Ok, so there it is, a short downward slope then a very long, very steep one. How to approach this. Answer... light up the rearward facing Sepratrons and go for it! Once again Jeb experiences the joys of flight, as opposed to the not so joys of falling down a cliff in an exploding aircraft. Now it's time to head home. As a little bonus I can claim a much earlier visit to Kamp David, back in the heady days of November 2014, when I visited there as part of the "visit all the anomalies" mission that I'd set myself. It was a crazy time, a time of "I don't do no fancy planes to get places" (ok... I sucked at flying them), so a rover was despatched the natural way... by rocket. Then dropped in on chutes. Ah yes, the days of chutes being able to survive the fires of re-entry. Once on the ground I saw that luncheon spot in the distance and thought "that would make a fine place to send Jeb in some strange winged flying machine one day." But not this day, we have work to do. Like finding that monolith, or at least what little of it was visible.

I find that I always have two launches for any vehicle that uses Vectors on the 1st stage. A first... then an inevitable 2nd one, after reverting to thee VAB and turn the gimbal down on those crazy things down to 30% or so.

Just finished putting a Dawn engine'd little speed demon out into the universe, lofted into orbit by a mini spaceplane, for the "Fastest Rocket in KSP available" challenge. 11952m/s from a standing start, for a 5 ton vehicle. If I trimed off some of the liquid fuel and replaced it with Xenon, I could probably get an extra couple thousand dv out of this thing.

To kick things off here's my entry with the 5 Ton Speedster, which uses a Rapier based spaceplane to loft a Dawn ion engine'd upper stage into orbit. It managed a top speed of 11141m/s orbital and 11952 ground. Not certain which is being used for the challenge. Mission report with more pics is here.

I put this cute little thing together for @Hanna's Fastest Rocket in KSP available challenge, in which the goal is to get the highest speed possible within a launch weight of no more than 5 tons. The 5 Ton Speedster weighs in at 4,990kg Heading into the rising sun at takeoff. She's away and this thing accelerates really fast. Not long before everything's on fire. Just need 735m/s to finish off the orbit and most of that is going to come from the Rapier engine. Burn, burn, burn. Saying goodbye to the Spaceplane stage and over to the Dawn one. After a few dozen seconds the vehicle's in orbit. At sunrise it's time to start the first of two periapsis kicks. That's number one done. That's number two... next time round we are outa here. Hello there Kerbin, don't mind if I swing round the backside and picky a little boost. Into the big bun now with about 90% of the xenon fuel remaining. So long Kerbin. That's 6km/s. That's 10km/s. Finally it's out of fuel, with a speed of 11141m/s on the clock. 11952 surface speed.

I've got a lot of pretty pointless acts of craziness to choose from, but the one I'm posting is the good ship Kitchen Sink. Which was made as a possible replacement of the Coastal Cruise that I was using in my Kerbin Sorta-Circumnavigation. In the end it showed up as just a cheese induced fever dream of Bob and wasn't used to sail around the planet. So here she is. It carried a rover. A minisub (a part mod was used to control buoyancy on something this small). Plus a pair of mini jets. All vehicles could be detached, dived/driven/flown, then docked again to sail on to the next action packed location.

My Jeb was convinced of his indominatable spirit and guts made of iron, in the face of any situation. That was until I introduced him to... The Jebernator There he is... happy as can be, excited to put this machine to the test and proved all the doubters wron... Oh dear... is that fear Jeb. I think it is. Guts made iron... jelly more like. I mean it's only an inferno of exploding machinery that you're sitting in the middle of. Ok, I have to admit that his fear is now falling to mear shock at his current situation. That situation being that his vehicle is now completely engulfed in flames, with no part of it to be seen. Jeb's still looking worried, even with the smoke and flames rapidly disappearing. Oh Jeb... you disappointed me. With the flames and noise at an end, Jeb's state returns to normal, but possibly this experience has shattered him somehow beneath the surface. Jeb tried to assure me that "Jeb don't scare", but we've seen the truth and there's no going back now. Oh Jeb.. you're just like the rest of us. SAFETY ADVISORY: USE OF THE JEBERNATOR MAY RESULT IN DEATH

As soon as I saw the thread title I thought... "this is about parachutes isn't it".

This feels like it should maybe be in the Suggestions and Development forum, especially if you're looking for constructive suggestions for improvement.

Chapter 17 – Guess who’s coming to dinner “Hey it’s pink, never seen a pink one before” – Bob Kerman (KSC Chief Scientist) Bob held on to Voyler’s legs, while she dangled through the open hatch. The kerbal Jeb had encountered inside grabbed hold of Voyler’s outstretched glove and between them he was hauled to the surface, closely followed by Jeb. “Huwfff... I deedn’t know you was so heavy Jeeeb” puffed Voyler, exhausted from the effort. Jeb didn’t respond, but felt that his weight was sufficiently close to the KSP’s guideline of “comfortably rounded” that he didn’t need to feel self conscious about it, let alone... go on a diet. Bob and Voyler seemed strangely calm about this new addition to their colony and Voyler only seemed interested in what to call him. “Can we call him Yubble, or Pensley, or I know, I know... Fluffy” yelled Voyler excitedly. Jeb shook his head and asked the strange kerbal “So what’s your name, you do have one right?” he asked. “Erm..., er... Malon, Malon Kerman” the stranger replied a little unsurely. “THE MAL...” Jeb began, before being cut off by a loud whine from Voyler. “Awwww... but Fluffy be sooooo much better” complained the engineer “you know, cos of dat fluffy thing on his face”. Jeb had to agree it was a fine lip rug that the kerbal was sporting, the kind he’d occasionally thought about growing himself, but never had the time to. However it was no reason to replace his name, especially a name that was synonymous with the early days of the space programme. “Pleased to meet you Malon, but how... I mean how on Kerbin did you get here” asked Jeb more than a little curious to know how a kerbal, last known to be leaving Duna for Kerbin ended up on a moon of Jool. Malon looked between the three members of the LOST team, Jeb open mouthed in anticipation of his answer, Bob attentive, but a little glum and Voyler repeatedly mouthing the name “Fluffy”. “It was a long time ago, I... I don’t remember everything, I left Duna for orbit, but overshot the AP and got into an orbit high enough to get snagged by Ike” answered Malon. “Ah... the Mini Magnet” replied Jeb, well aware of the small moon’s reputation as a wrecker of orbits. Malon nodded then continued “I tried to turn the Ike slingshot into an orbit around Kerbol that might get me back home after a couple of orbits, but the engine valve stuck open until it drained the main tank... sent me off towards Jool instead. Once I got there and was into that pinball game around Jool. I ended up close enough to this place to adjust course for a landing.” “Wow” Jeb responded very impressed, although a little envious of this old timer’s navigation skills. “Jeb” said Bob, leaping into the conversation like some kind of sullen tiger “head back to the colony?” Jeb turned to the scientist and gave a quick nod before saying "yup, better be getting back" followed by all four climbing into the rover and heading for home. As the rover came to a halt near the Hab, Gelsey and Cosley wandered over towards it, to discover if the team had found the source of Bob’s mysterious flashes. The rover's hatch opened, then the first set of boots stepped out of it and hit the ground, then a second, a third, then... a fourth. Gelsey stood mouth wide open, she would have screamed but felt too dozey to be bothered with that part of her reaction. Meanwhile Coslin, instantly recognising the new addition to the group, from his picture on the "Wall of Lost Heros" (actually 3 walls plus some air conditioning pipes) checked her air mix setting, as she was clearly hallucinating. “M... Malon Kerman” Gelsey stammered, still fiddling with the valves on her suit “how... I mean, it is him right” she continued, darting her gaze towards Jeb. “It is indeed, been here a long time too, so we should get him inside and into a fresh suit” Jeb answered, eager to have the new addition to the colony be in standardized attire. “Oh no you don’t, this suit’s been with me through thick and thin for 17 years, I ain’t getting into one of those fancy looking things you lot are wearing” Malon responded, panicking at the thought of losing the only thing he’d worn in nearly two decades. “Ok, ok, can we... well they, at least give it a clean, just on the outside” Jeb countered, with a compromise that didn’t involve anyone (especially him) touching the interior of what must be the most disgusting space suit in existence. Malon nodded and the group headed for the hatch of the Hab. Some elbow grease and industrial strength cleaning solvents later, Malon’s suit was sufficiently clean for Jeb to authorise it for “temporary use” until the lost pilot could be convinced to swap it for standard LOST gear. With Tiddles just one day away from Kerbin, Jeb had to focus on making sure that all was ready for his team to be the lone remnants of kerbalkind. So he tasked the LOST team with cleaning the colony vehicle interiors, while he checked anything that could be fermented or distilled were put under lock and key. There would be no apocalypse parties in his colony like those back at the KSC, not on his watch. With the essential work of making the colony spotless and safe from any last minutes alcohol fuelled shenanigans, Jeb, Bob, Coslin and Malon headed outside for some fresh... suit air. “So I know what brought me to Laythe, but what brings you here, or do you have half the planet colonised by now” asked Malon, assuming that there must have been remarkable advances in astronautical engineering in his absence. “No, we’re the first to land here... well, we thought we were” replied Jeb, sounding a little disappointed. “Ok, so exploratory mission then, boots and flag kind of thing?” said Malon. “Weeeell... long story about that, actually pretty short story” responded Jeb, knowing he was about to pass on a very uncomfortable truth to the new member of the team. “Uh huh” replied Malon, now expecting a short tale of a list of unvisited planets, some shot glasses and some dice. “Ok” started Jeb, not quite knowing how to break the imminent doom for Kerbin to this long lost traveller. “You remember Kerbin... the crystal clear blue seas, the vast expanses of grassland, the snow capped mountain peaks”. “Oh yeah, I can picture it now, there were days when I thought I’d never see it again, but now that you’re here, I can almost smell the ocean”. “Weeeell... only for another 21 hours” said Jeb, suddenly cutting off Malon’s reverie. “What do you mean, only for another 21 hours” said Malon, a distinct tremble in his voice. “Actually, it’s closer to 20 now, what with all the cleaning and locking away the fruit snacks I just didn’t get round to checking the tim...” began Jeb before Malon’s chopped him off. “WHAT... what happens in 21 hours?” shrieked the lost adventurer. “I think you mean 20 hours, well, how do I put this nicely... in 20 hours comet Tiddles...” began Jeb, before being interrupted by Malon’s sniggering. “Tiddles... someone named a comet Tiddles, really, ah well, I guess there’s a few of them and all the good names got used up” commented Malon, stifling his snigger. “Well in 20 hours and... 23 minutes, Tiddles is going to hit Kerbin and wipe out all life on it” continued Jeb. Malon stopped sniggering. “Nooooo, it can’t be true, not now, not now I get to go ho...” began Malon before a look of anger erupted on his face. “You stopped me, you stopped me from pushing that button, I told you you’d doom us all” shouted Malon, leaping at Jeb and knocking him to the ground. “But wait... found out... weeks ago... you... stopped... couple hours... ago” Jeb tried to explain, while Malon had him pinned down, slapping at his helmet. Bob and Coslin dragged Malon off of Jeb, who climbed back to his feet and started brushing the dust from his suit. “Huu ahh huu ahh huu” panted Jeb, getting his breath back “we found out about Tiddles weeks ago”. Malon then started touching the fingers of one glove to the thumb of the other in a very deliberate fashion, while muttering numbers under his breath. “Ok, I believe ya” repluied Malon, satisfied with his fingertips calculation “but I thought none of the comets came close to Kerbin, asteroids sure, they hit all the time without the place getting a scratch, but comets?”. Bob who’d been silent the whole time, not that it was much of a change for him, gave him an answer. “It was me” blurted Bob, who then for a moment felt like he’d just fallen into free fall, his whole body numb. It was followed by fear, hunger, then some other kind of sensation a bit like sitting in a warm bath ... then relief. “WHAT?” screamed Coslin. Bob stared towards the Hab, unable to look any of those around him in the eye, swallowed then spoke. “I caused, I... I errr, changed Tiddles path towards Kerbin” he said, his voice shaky and low. “No, no, doesn’t make sense, you couldn’t have done that, how would you move a comet” stated Jeb, sure that it wasn’t a physical possibility and even if it was, the scientist he’d known for most of his career would have had a very good reason to do it. Not moving his gaze from the Hab, Bob explained. “Remember project MOROS?” he began. “Uh huh, that Massive Ordinance... something, something” replied Jeb. “Massive Ordinance Rocket On Standby, it was a plan to redirect a comet towards Laythe” Bob explained. “Er... why” Malon asked, curious why you wouldn’t let sleeping comets lie. “We didn’t know what they were made of, or what they would do if they hit a planet. We knew that asteroids just poofed out of existence as soon as they hit the atmosphere, but comets... we were worried about those.” Bob continued. “But they don’t come anywhere near Kerbin, so why would we care, besides it sounds like a waste of some perfectly good space hardware” enquired Jeb, suddenly remembering that the programme had a pretty big budget. “But if one did come our way, we’d want to know what to do... ignore it like those paper mache asteroids, or start some kind of evacuation plan.” Bob answered. Malon started to laugh, at first a light jovial chuckle that turned in a deep belly laugh that had him falling on the ground clutching his stomach. “And I thought I... and all the time you...” said Malon struggling through his laughter. “All that button pushing... the sleepless nights... the aching finger” he continued. “But we didn’t know” Bob started, clearly more than a little distraught “it looked good after the explosion we set off, it headed straight for an intercept with Laythe, but then it got in amongst all those moons and...” he trailed off, completing his description of the failure of the project, with an expletive filled rant at Tylo. “So what happened, after it passed Tylo” asked Coslin, her initial anger having passed, replaced by curiosity about the mechanics of how it got to Kerbin. “We lost track of it... it was a long way off the main plane, the orbit was even more hinky than Dres’. Then 9 years later we picked it up again, headed for a collision with Kerbin” Bob replied, glad to get to the end of his tale orbital mechanics and large explosions. “Oh” Coslin said, rather disappointed by the rather uninformative answer, “but if you lost track of it, how do you know it was the comet that you diverted” she asked, offering Bob a way out of his rather sticky, species destroying situation. “It was pink, you have any idea how rare pink comets are?” Bob snapped, not going to be tricked out of the blame that easily. “Errr...” began Coslin. “It’s the only one we’ve ever seen, that’s how rare” continued Bob. “Ah... ok, but how were you to know that Tylo...” began Coslin. “Because I’m a scientist, it’s my job to know" Bob retorted. Bob wasn’t wrong. KSP - Contract of Employment: Section2b (Responsibilities of Chief Scientist) 1. Knowing stuff... lots of stuff, preferably stuff involving long names and even longer equations spread over multiple blackboards. Alternatively equiations can be on table napkins, but only if space on nearby blackboards is unavailable and the employee has neat handwriting. 2. Walking the Mission Director’s dog (Mondays and Thursdays). Bob, Jeb and Coslin stood silently, looking at the ground, processing this shocking news. Meanwhile Malon had a wide smile on his face, knowing it wouldn’t be he who’d be the bringer of doom to his species. He stretched his arms out above him, arching his back as he did so, then asked the question foremost in his mind. “So... what’s for dinner?”

I think it's just the "gold, silver and bronze" of the badges that confused me, as it suggests quantitative order of merit. I agree that a single badge design (shape) would be best, with colour being the differentiator between what the badges represent, just threw the "2 shapes in 3 colours" out there as an option. I'm happy if we go with what @Hotel26 proposed.

I'm a bit confused, is the bronze badge for visiting a landmark, while the silver and gold for those who have posted landmarks for others to visit? If so, is it a bit strange to be splitting up the badges like that, between those who post landmarks and others who visit them. it feels like they should have separate types of badges rather than ones in a range of the same type. An option could be to have a set of badges that covers both visits and posting of landmarks as achievements. I've put together an example of how we could integrate landmark visting and and landmark posting into one design. The colour is for visiting landmarks, bronze 1, silver 5, gold 10 (those below are all for someone who's only visited one location) and the triangle symbol and number for the posters of landmarks. So from left to right these would be for 1st visit, 1st visit and posting a single confirmed landmark and finally 1st visit plus a landmark with 5 visitations. I might be over thinking this though and overcomplicating in the process

Chapter 16 - The Hatch “11b: All components containing high speed combustion materials must be identified as such with warning labels of a good size, in a clearly readable position and in a nice font.” Commission on Spacecraft Safety labelling guidelines: With the temporary deafness from the day before finally out of their ears, thoughts turned to exploration of their new home. Having something exciting to report back to Kerbin might pick up the spirits of those about to have a fiery assignation with comet Tiddles. Some wanted to head for the nearest shoreline, if only to make sure it was a great expanse of the wet stuff and not some kind of weird shiny blue dirt. But Jeb agreed with Bob, that the strange flash he’d seen when returning from the journey to the Lifter was a higher priority. But who should be making the trip, well himself of course. If there was anything strange, or of historic importance to find out there, then the colony leader needed to be there. Then there was Bob. He’d been the one to catch sight of the thing and he was the senior scientist, but ever since his project Moros has been cancelled last year, he’d been become far too depressing to be around. Even when comet Tiddles was found to be on a collision course with Kerbin, (to the joy of all the conspiracy theorists, who’d been prophesying doom for decades) it seemed like it just business as usual. Ok... Mr Doom and Gloom would have to go, but how about the third seat. The rover had three of them after all, and it would be a pity to waste one on their first exploration trip. Well, to keep everyone happy, it would probably need to be an engineer. Bill had been far too picky about the exact shade of green, the detailing on his new suit should be. No standard Engineer green for him, he needed something that said “I’ve been an engineer since the VAB was just some farmer’s barn”. That left either Coslin or Voyler, and Coslin was busy fixing the landing legs of the Mining Vehicle, after its heavy landing, something he trusted her to do, far more than Voyler. Nothing wrong with Voyler as a person; good table manners, a fine taste in socks and didn’t cheat on games night, but he wasn’t entirely convinced about her as an Engineer. Anyway... maybe she’d enjoy the trip. With his crew list decided, he announced his decision over the colony comms. “Ok everyone... except Bill, Val, Sindley, Elson, Gelsey and Coslin... gather round”. With his team gathered, loaded and safely strapped in for the trip to Bob’s mystery sparkle, Jeb pointed the rover in the direction Bob had marked on the map. With the scientist being his usual reclusive self, Voyler was left as his only source of conversation on the trip. It was going to be a long one. As the rover headed toward the location Bob had identified as the source of the strange flashes, the scientist wondered what mysterious object, plant or creature might be in store for them. Evidence of an alien civilisation, a new element or a crystalline growth of some kind. “We’re here” yelled Jeb suddenly over the intercom, snapping Bob from his thoughts and scrambling for the hatch. On stepping out of the rover Bob turned towards the front end, to see Jeb climbing down from the cockpit, then beyond to something that was clearly out of place, but also strangely familiar. “What be dat” enquired Voyler, just a couple of steps behind Bob, while Jeb led the trio towards something buried in the dirt. “Well it kind of looks like...” began Jeb. “It’s got a hatch” shouted an excited Voyler “can we goes inside Jeeeb... pleeeease”. “We need to find out what this thing is before we even think about anyone going inside” replied Jeb “besides, we don’t even know how to yet”. Voyler gave Jeb a frowning that reminded him of a child being told they couldn’t go out and play in a rain storm. The trio stood and stared at the strange hatch, each with their own thoughts on what maybe inside and the advisability of entering. Jeb: If there was a protocol (there wasn’t) for whether to enter a strange hatch on an alien world, it would be long, highly detailed and he would follow it to the letter. Bob: Nothing good... probably something deadly, so I should go first. Voyler: Let me in, let me in, let me in. Jeb walked cautiously over to the strange object that was covered in dirt, except for some very clean windows. “Flight ready shine” Jeb muttered, admiring the meticulous polishing that this must have required. “This must have been what you saw the flashes from Bob”. Bob stepped forward to stand alongside Jeb to get a closer look, then noticed something very familiar on the side of the object. “ger explo... olts” Bob read out loud, before reaching out and wiping some of the dirt away. “Danger Explosive Bolts” was emblazoned on the side of the object in a clear crisp font. Possibly Kalibri. “What” Jeb exclaimed “what is that doing there?” “It’s an explosive bolts warning, you know, for things like emergency hatch release.” Jeb turned and gave his chief scientist an annoyed frown. “I know what the warning is for, but what is it doing here.” “Well, it’s for the hat..” started Bob. “I know it’s for the hatch, but what is a hatch doing here, a kerbal hatch, with CSC 11b compliant warning labels.” Jeb exclaimed. “I dunno” replied Bob. None of them knew, no kerbal had ever been launched towards Jool and its moons. “Ok, we need to get this thing open” announced Jeb, with a note of urgency in his voice, not that there was any real reason to rush this, but he was now incredibly curious about what was inside. “So how do we get inside” asked Bob. “Ooo... we could blow it open” shouted Voyler excitedly “do we got any mining chargers... for charging in mines with?” “No Voyler, we don’t have mining charges” replied Jeb, unsurprised that Voyler’s go to solution involved something noisy and impractical. “A stick... do we got a stick we can push it open with” Voyler enquired. “A stick” Jeb asked dryly, as he twisted his head, scanning the arid, featureless landscape for the remains of a tree. “Nope... no sticks”. Bob, who’d been studying the object in detail had found something of great interest. Part of the grey outer skin of the object had pealed back, revealing a rusty surface beneath it, with grooves running across it. “Hey Jeb... it’s a Red Tub” he exclaimed, chuckling to himself for the first time in months. “It’s what” Jeb replied, more than a little surprised at hearing the nickname for a KSC capsule that had been out of use for almost 20 years. “Old Rusty Red... well hello old girl” Bob responded “it’s a Mk 2 alright, I can see the bonding grooves for the thermal layer and nothing rusts like that old cheap steel.” Jeb then realised how to get that hatch open. “Ok you two, stand back on the other side of the rover.” “Aww... but why” whined Voyler. “Yeah why, what are...” began Bob. “Just get back behind that rover, this might be... dangerous.” ordered Jeb. The pair wandered round to the far side of the rover, then dropped down on the ground to look though the large gap beneath it. “Ok, ok... where are you” muttered Jeb as he brushed dirt from the around the hatch, revealing a slight bump in the surface of the skin of the hull. “Ah there you are, thought you could hide did you” Jeb continued with some satisfaction. The Mk2 (aka the Red Tub) had a number of flaws, some in its design, some in its manufacture and others, a special combination of the two. Jeb had remembered one of these KSC specials, which was that the emergency hatch release had been designed to be used by the kerbal inside the vehicle, by punching through a thin glass plate, breaking a circuit in the process and triggering the explosive bolts that would wrench the hatch from the capsule. Unfortunately the design drawings showed the trigger module the wrong way round, pointing towards the outer skin of the vehicle, instead of towards the neatly cut hole in the cabin interior wall. Unfortunately in case of any docking mishaps, or meteor impacts, the Mk2 skin in that area was exceptionally thin, meaning that a hard knock in the area to the bottom left of the hatch, would often send the thing flying off. Jeb ducked down behind the base end of the capsule, reached up and gave the hull a good thump. Nothing. “Uhhh... ok, a little to the left” Jeb muttered. Thump... nothing. “Awww... come on, where are ya” Jeb grumbled. “Third try’s the char...” Jeb began, before his fist made contact with the bump in the hull, followed by an almighty bang and a “fine” piece of kerbal engineering went flying into the air. “Wooooo” shouted Voyler “do again, do again”. Bob, after clearing away the dust that now covered his faceplate, made his way over to join Jeb, who was already looking down into the hatch. “See anything Jeb” he enquired, as Voyler bounded past him, headed towards the capsule. The engineer, not for the first time, misjudged her movement in Laythe’s low gravity and instead of coming to a halt neatly at the edge of the open hatch, slammed into the back of Jeb, sending him tumbling into the capsule. “You ok Jeb” Bob screamed over the radio and for a moment received no reply. “Jeb, you...” Bob started. “Aaa, yer, ah, yes... ok” responded Jeb a little weakly. Bob arrived at the edge of the hatch and looked inside. In the darkness he could just about make out Jeb, his shiny suit contrasting with the grimy interior of the pod, even in the poor lighting in it. Jeb meanwhile got to his feet, standing on what looked like the wall of a Hitchhicker can, or at least some early version of it, that was somehow connected to the interior of the Mk2 pod above. Over on what he assumed was the base of the can, was a small hole cut through into another space below the surface, which he cautiously moved towards. “Does you wan me ta come down Jeeeb” asked Voyler, already throwing one leg over the edge of the open hatch. “Nooo, no... just stay up there and be ready to help me back up” snapped Jeb, preferring to face the dangers of this mysterious craft alone, than with Voyler’s “help”. Jeb poked his head through into the hole in the base of the can and stared into the dark void. As his eyes grew accustomed to the gloom, he started to make out pieces of equipment, some of it complete with panels intact, others ripped apart, with wires and tubes hanging out of them. It reminded him of his college dorm room, a thought which sent a shiver up his spine. On one side of the space was a crudely fashioned exercise bike, with flattened food cans for pedals and what looked like a bent fuel line as handlebars. On the other was the pile of panels and craft internals that looked like something from a Krankenstein movie. In the center of the pile was something emitting a dim light and a low, buzzing hum. At the far end of the space Jeb noticed something move, something that looked like a pair of gloves pulling at a goldfish bowl. A moment later there was a soft pop sound and the goldfish bowl rose up out of what looked like a pile of old laundry. Some of the old laundry then stood up and shuffled over to the pile of panels. “Noo, nooo” a muffled cry carried through the thin Laythe atmosphere. The pile of laundry stuck out a glove and punched at buttons next to the dim glow. “Phewww” the muffled voice said. Jeb quickly accessed the communications controls of his suit, adjusting its setting from “L.O.S.T Local Comms” to “Did they have radio back then”. The speaker in his helmet crackled and he began to speak. “Hello... can you hear me” he enquired, at which point the pile of laundry dropped to the floor. “My name’s Jeb, It’s ok, I’m from the KSC” Jeb stated proudly “who are you?” “KFC!” the laundry replied excitedly. “Er... no, the KSC” Jeb replied. “Awww...” replied the laundry, clearly disappointed. “KSC?” the laundry enquired “why are you here, did they lose you too”. Jeb realised that this conversation was not progressing as quickly as he’d like. “I’m coming in, it’s ok, I’m not going to harm you” he said to calm the laundry. Jeb ducked down and stepped through into the space, there was a smell in there, something indescribable and strong enough to permeate his airtight suit. “Urgh... I think I gonna... no, I’m ok... I think” mumbled Jeb as he fought the urge to empty his breakfast into his helmet. “Not harm me" the laundry exclaimed "did you blow the hatch, I didn’t have a helmet on down here”, clearly annoyed at having their abode suddenly evacuated of air. “I didn’t think that...” Jeb started. “No, you didn’t think did ya... you just got straight to blowing that hatch without a care in the world, like it’s something ya do every day” the laundry replied cutting across Jeb’s explanation. “Hey... that’s unfair; I had no way of knowing anyone was down here.” Jeb retorted, more than a little annoyed that anyone would suggest he’d carry out such an extreme action without carefully thinking it through first. “And now what am I gonna do, I can’t keep this helmet on all the time” the laundry complained. “You can come with use, we’ve got space at the colony, with food... and soap” suggested Jeb, more than a little reviled at the state of the place. “But I have to stay here so it won’t go ding” was the reply, one which didn’t make much sense to Jeb. “The ding... what ding?” asked Jeb. “THE DING” the laundry shouted “the one that must never be heard, the ding that is the death knell of all kerbalkind.” “The what?” Jeb replied utterly confused. The laundry pointed towards the dim glow, with its slightly annoying hum, that for some reason was making Jeb hungry. “I have to reset this countdown every 6 hours or a terrible fate will fall on Kerbin”. A bit late for that thought Jeb, but replied “countdown of what, what’s going to happen”. The laundry turned its head looked at Jeb, who saw its face for the first time and they appeared to be another kerbal. A poorly shaven and generally scruffy one, but a kerbal nonetheless. “The end, of everything, I have to press this button before the countdown ends or all Kerbin will be destroyed” replied the scruffy kerbal. “Yes, you just told me that, just in a slightly different way... it’s not helping” replied Jeb who was getting a distinct craving for some leftovers. “This countdown” the kerbal responded, pulling back a piece of panel to reveal a green illuminated four digit display that was ticking down. “I was about to reset it when you blew the hatch and I had to grab a helmet” Jeb stared at the clock, the kerbal stared at Jeb, waiting for some kind of response from him. 00:03 00:02 00:01 Beep, beep... beep, beep... beep, beep. “Nooooo” the kerbal screamed “you’ve doomed us all” then started desperately stabbing at a small console below the clock, as the beeping continued. Jeb stepped forward and shoved his glove into the pile of panels and pipes and gave them a good shove, causing many to fall on the floor. This revealed what at some point in the past would have been a shiny metal box. He then reached towards a small chrome plated handle on the box, pulled on it, opening a small hatch on the front and the beeping ceased. “It’s a microwave oven” explained Jeb “just a microwave. How long have you been here?” The kerbal’s head drooped, staring at the floor “I don’t know, I lost track after six years”. Jeb stepped closer to him and put a hand his shoulder and said “it’s ok, come with me”. “But the countdown, Kerbin... the doom!” exclaimed the kerbal, on the verge of tears. “I think it’s done” replied Jeb, looking into the interior of the oven at the very charred remains of what might have once been a pizza, possibly with pineapple. “Let’s get you up to the surface”.

Photoshop.

Here's a quick alternative to the black and spot colour design, making use of a gradient of a single colour.

I'm going to guess that a trip to a single location is too low a bar for a badge. If that's the case, then how about visiting a specific number of them (e.g. 5) warrants receiving one. Alternatively we could have a set of different coloured badges (2 or 3), with the first being awards for a visit to a first location, then the other(s) for a specific number of them visited. Possibly bronze, silver and gold system, for 1, 5 and 10 visits respectively.

Probably KER for me, then most likely Planetshine after that.

Went island hopping and mountain hunting in the Kayak Club.

Ok @Hotel26 here's a couple more entries for you, this time they're both locations submitted by @Pds314 Standrews Island and Madness Meadow. As they're both quite some distance from the KSC a night takeoff was necessary. Once over the target another thrillseeker (Val this time) was ejected at low level (about 500m) over Standrews Island. Happy landings Val. Sure looks like Standrews to me. Now to put this thing down. Time to catch up with Val. On leaving her seat, Val seemd to want to use the LAUGH she'd decended in as a helmet. It's not a good look for Val. Lets try nudging with the plane to set things right. Nope... just got her to change her mind to wearing it as a suit. Finally she escaped after attempt number 3. Jeb swung the Snazzy Name round to get ready to set off towards Madness Meadow. That's right Val... wave them off. Confirmation shot of Standrews. Ok... let's cut to the chase, I think this is Madness Meadow. My mods give a very different (and very streaky) look to the mountainside, but I think this is it. This look right to you @Pds314?

Yes to pretty much all vegetables, although I I'm not keen on aubergines. Red, green, yellow, orange stuff... doesn't matter much, I'll stuff em' in That doesn't mean that I don't like meat though, although I often make vegetarian meals (about 40-50% of my dinners don't contain meat).

Bob got dropped off at the "Unnamed Peak" in the Kayak Club. The brave scientist departing on Runway 1 might not be a volunteer. But he's going to get to the drop site in no time at all. Ok... now where's that mountain. "Over the target, drop the payload Bill" "Payload away Jeb" Looks like he's headed for a soft landing. "Whad'ya mean payload, I'm a thrill seeking, scientific pioneer." Bob Kerman (In My Own Words).

Not been around here for a while but here's a trip to @Koolkei's Unnamed Peak. To save time getting to the peak, the team decide that speed would be way to go, so something speed was quickly thrown together and lept down the runway. Officially called the "Snazzy Name". Well... laziness decided on this in lieu of a proper name. Soon the Snazzy Name was in the skies and heading... well... in a direction. At 1430m/s the view most of the way was mainly of fire. Having reached the vicinity of Unnamed Peak Jeb throttled back and the team began the hunt. It's got to be around here somewhere. Ok Jeb... I think I see it, just hang a right. This certainly looks like it. Thi But Snazzy Name has a secret inside, an undisclosed cargo, that cargo being a Low Altitude Underslung Ground Hunter. I mean for a mission like this, you've got to have a LAUGH. "LAUGH's away." "Chute deployed". "Chute fully open". Jeb then turned hard to swing back towards the peak to check the wreckage... er, I mean landing site. Well something's down there and looks to be in one piece, if that little dark blob in the snow is anything to go by. Jeb put the Snazzy Name down on the grassland towards the shore. Meanwhile... up on the mountain. There he is, seems to be in one piece and conscious after his high speed deployment. Conscious indeed and happy to be here up on Unnamed Peak. Just needs a way to get home.