michal.don

In these particular missions (STS-1a and STS-2b), I chose to allow their completion in the same flight with other missions. In most cases, it was the 1a+1b combination, since it's test flight + cargo, which sounds reasonable to me. Most folks completed the 2b mission solo, since pretty much all the following missions require some sort of cargo bay modification which would interfere with the cargo pod. But if somebody, let's say, recovered the pod after releasing the CommSats for STS-2a, I woudln't object. Since you're the one running the challenge now, I'm not going to tell you how to decide in these cases, I just thought I'd share how I decided if such a thing occured. Nevertheless, I think your decision in this particular case was the best one you could take - point out the rules, but allow the attempt, since this particular shuttle is a nice piece of engineering and surely is capable to do both thing solo... Michal.don

Yeah, that could be confusing to newcomers... I deleted the "minor thread announcement" thing, and rather mentioned you in the OP as the boss for now Carry on, nothing to see here

Welcome back, it's really nice to see you around again I haven't been very involved on the forums (and in KSP, in general ) lately either, but I'm always watching what's going on here. For the time being, @4x4cheesecake has agreed to take care of the challenge (and he's doing a wonderful job). But worry not, the challenge is still going, even if the number of new entries is a bit low at the moment. I guess everybody is playing with the new robotics stuff, it looks pretty awesome Great to see you shuttling again, Michal.don

I don't have the solution for the missing contracts, but for getting new kerbals I use the "create kerbal" option in the cheat menu, without feeling like cheating at all. I also like the random name generator and always shuffle through the names until I get one that's funny/cool/whatever... Yes, the new kerbals come for free that way, but I always disliked the stock approach, where you need to decide if you want to upgrade two KSC facilities or hire one lvl 0 kerbal for the same amount of funds... Michal.don

I'll give it a shot, when I have a bit of time, I always had a soft spot in my heart for shuttle stuff.... Michal.don

Found one on my first Minmus crewed landing in the playthrough. Went looking for it on the greater flats, since there are no scatters, and got it about two kilometres from my lander (noticed it from about 700 m distance). Maybe I just got terribly lucky, but they do indeed exist... Michal.don

Well, I'm on sort of a "KSP holiday" at the moment, haven't started the game for a few months to be honest, but I'm really looking forward to this - finally my shuttles will have proper robotic arms... And I have to say - I'm a bit surprised by the amount of negative reactions here. There have been more free updates (and substatntial ones, too!) in the last few months than most of us expected, and a lot of people are very angry about a DLC that adds a lot of additional content and possibilities to the game, for what I feel is a very reasonable price (even in my part of the world, there's not much you can buy for 15 dollars). What does it take to make people happy nowadays? Michal.don

Alright guys, a small announcement regarding this thread. Since my time has really become a problem for the challenge, I'll take a bit of a break. Don't worry, the challenge will continue, It just won't be me doing the reviewing for the time being. I asked @4x4cheesecake (if you've been here for a while you surely know him ), if he would be willing to take over the thread for a while and I'm very glad that he accepted - the challenge will be in very good hands. It's not a reboot just yet - I intend to come back in a while, when (and if) my time issues get sorted out a bit. So, be nice to @4x4cheesecake, keep building and flying awesome stuff, I'll be watching Michal.don

Alright, the "day-or-two" took me a week again... I should really reevaluate my time estimates This mission was a bit for you - I guess the aerospike-vector combination is not the easiest to handle in different atmospheric conditions. And watching the munar surface ballet with the external tank was really amusing Other that that, I'd like to say I like the base design and the compact cargo-packing as well. Very nice mission, and a well earned badge for you: Sure, your shuttles are always very welcome here no worries, take all the time you need Hey there I must admit, I do not have as much time as I would like, so I can't promise anything about creating this new mission any time soon. But don't wory, I have not forgotten your robo-arm design! Michal.don

As usually, the definition is quite vague, to not limit creativity - so a rocket-powered rover is fine by me Yes, any means of transportation to Kerbin is fine, including a mini shuttle. I don't have the time to check your entry right now, I should be able to get to it in a day or two. Looking forward to seeing the next one too, though! Michal.don

Well, it's a bit against the whole "reusability" thing, but let's call them a part of the LV instead of the orbiter then

Ok, time for another round of reviews. The delays are becoming quite customary, and I'm sorry about that. Good job on finishing the last "Kerbin" mission! The "nuke pod" idea is really neat, nice piece of engineering on your part. And by upsizing the LV a bit you got a really powerful machine with a lot of potential, and still room for more upgrades. I'm getting curious how you will perform in the next missions. Here's your badge, congratulations! One scheduled Hubble mission, and one to cover up for serious mess-up, where have I seen this? The MMUs are really cute, and the missions are both very well flown, so another bagde, for you, too: We have another newcomer here, welcome to the challenge! Great demonstration mission for your shuttle concept, and a pinpoint landing as well - not an easy feat. I suspect a redesign will come soon to add significant cargo capacity, so here is your badge, and I'm looking forward to seeing more soon! Michal.don

I'd love to see the repair mission, as @hoioh said, that would be so Hubble....

I'm sorry to hear that, but I understand not everybody has fun doing this thing, and when your script works so well, it takes a bit of the fun from flying the missions. Nevertheless, if you do any more missions with your shuttle, even if they are not related to the challenge, let us know here - I'd love to see the script working in yet another circumstances Michal.don

Nice one again - I love the idea of an on-orbit attached docking port and the following assembly One issue I have with the bideo report though - could you please include liftoff and ascent next time? Or, at least, a few short clips of the significant parts of them? I won't make you re-fly this mission, but I'd like to see them the next one. Thanks! And, regarding the reentry/descent - the script makes it look soooo easy Especially the second one, the map view shows really well how the script beutifully gets the shuttle home - I think this is approaching the Skunkworks territory quite fast - I am truly impressed Anyway, a badge for you and I am indeed looking forward for more! Michal.don