Alpha 360

In Orbit - Preparing for Departure! All the pieces are in place. The mothership, Endurance, waits in orbit of Kerbin. Tomorrow, it will set out for the Mun, and then the asteroid which will be captured! The three parts are all here. The transfer stage, the Shackleton with two thousand m/s in it when everything is fully fueled up and with the cargo. The cargo consists of the Cooper primary lander, with its ability to land on every single planetary body except Eve, with ISRU. The other cargo, placed underneath the transfer-stage, is the Eve Lander, Excalibur. The only reason I'm calling it that, is because I couldn't find another ship of some sort named Endurance with a captain to name it by. (If you know such a captain who commands a ship called, Endurance, please tell me ) The Excalibur is small for some Eve Landers. I still don't understand the use of 3.75 meter parts on Eve, especially if I can land all three crew members on Eve with a 2.5 meter stage. At least that is what I hope, because I haven't fully tested out the lander. I do know it has 3,500 m/s in the vector stage at 2 TWR to 3 TWR, and the second poodle stage with 1.5 TWR and 2,500 m/s. Will this work? Anyway, that is all! The only other news is that I will send up a utility rack before it heads off. Also, a brief introduction to the planned course. Step 1 would be the Mun. After that, the Endurance returned to Kerbin's SOI before kicking off into deep space to rendezvous with the asteroid. Step 2 would be Eve's orbit, and a quick landing on Gilly. Step 3 would be Eve's surface. Step 4 would be a gravity assist from Kerbin to reach Duna, and land briefly on Ike. After that, Stop 5 would be Duna itself. After Duna, the Endurance will discard the asteroid and then head to Dres. Step 6 would be Dres's surface after grabbing an asteroid from the Desteroids. Step 7 would be Jool orbit, and landings on Pol and Bop. The plan is to put the Endurance into Laythe's orbit, and explore using the lander until after Step 8, which would be landing on Laythe itself. Then the mothership would move to Tylo for step 9, and land the Cooper. Step 10 would be Eeloo. Step 11 will then be a series of gravity assists back down to Moho, as well as a swing by Kerbin to pick up a third asteroid and landing on Minmus. Step 12 would finally be Moho, and then the Endurance would leave for Kerbin. After reaching Kerbin, a crew transport would pick up the crew, Jeb, Val, and Bill, and head down to the planet for a hero's welcome. Happy Explosions!

I didn't try too hard to make circular orbits, all I did was just to make my orbit mesh with the Mun's as close as possible once in position. Not too hard. Happy Explosions!

@IncongruousGoat, just so you know, my entry for this challenge is linked just below. Will this count? Happy Explosions!

Second Update! The Eve lander has been sorted out! After being completely redesigned, it now works pretty well, granted it needs to wipe off most of its orbital velocity before entering Eve's atmosphere. Also, the transfer stage has been radically redesigned so that it has two docking ports, one above and one below. It's 30 nukes can push the whole assembly at 0.5 gs. Here is the launch of the revised Transfer-stage - The Shackleton II. Here is the launch of the Lander - The Cooper I - as well as the rendezvous and docking with the Shackleton II. Tomorrow I will launch the Eve lander, and accessories like ore tanks, solar panels, and klaws, then the tour for more funds will begin! Happy Explosions!

Looks like you are about to receive the first Tier 5 medal! Congratulations! Yep, that way its much easier to tell who gets which medal for completing what. Also it keeps the ball rolling pretty nicely. I will announce that this is the next-to-last day of the Mun Relay Sat challenge! Hurry up to submit your entries before the challenge expires! Happy Explosions!

Alright! I'll send you a tier 4 medal. I'm sorry for the complications, but since I was away, things got messed up a bit. Yes, the tiers go with how many challenges you complete. That way people have motivation to keep doing these things. Happy Explosions!

Ohh.....right. I completely forgot about that. Well, scratch Jeb, looks like Bill is coming along on this voyage! I'll try to write that into the plot....somehow. Anyway, I have launched the transfer stage into orbit and I have also found a candidate for the first asteroid to be mined! It is a C class asteroid which will enter Kerbin's SOI in 170 days. A transfer window will open in 15 days, plenty of time to send up the Eve lander and the Everything-Else Lander. Still coming up for special names for the two mentioned above. Here are the pictures. I don't have a picture of the separation of the boosters, unfortunately, but it reached orbit safe and sound! Also, the name for the transfer-stage is the Shackleton, after an Antarctic Explorer whose ship, the Endurance, was crushed by ice flows and somehow reached an island in the middle of the world's most dangerous sea, and was picked up several months later with NO causalities. The is a book by the same name which I would recommend, Endurance, but that is all I have to say for now. Happy Explosions!

I want to see a complete water-world, like laythe except bigger! Happy Explosions!

No, those were the medals for the fifth challenge, @Scarecrow. You will receive your medal by the end of the challenge. I was impressed by it as well, and that might go into what medal you get . Happy Explosions!

Congratulations! Your orbit looks great, and this qualifies for a medal! Happy Explosions!

A Little Bit More Back-story before Launch........ The Big Four sat around a dusty table. The big three consisted of Gus, Werhner, Gene, and Mortimer. "What's the progress on the designs of the ship?" Mortimer asked Werhner. There was only one ship worth talking about, the Endurance. It was fittingly name, as it would have to land on 14 different planets before completing its mission. "We have made leaps and bounds." Werhner replied. He turned on the projector and connected it up to his computer. "This is an image of the main lander and the transfer stage. The lander contains 3,000 m/s when fully fueled, so it will land on every single planetary body except Eve. Understandably, the Eve lander has been the main source of problems. The transfer-stage has 2,000 m/s of delta-v, meaning it will be able to carry the mission to where ever concerned." "Werhner? How will the transfer stage be refueled?" Gene asked, concerned. "Ah, I have thought of that!" Werhner smiled widely. "Do you see those klaws attached to the transfer stage?" He pointed at the picture. "Ah.." The three took a breath. "I have designed two pairs of klaws. One will go on the docking port on the lander, and the other would go on the transfer-stage. The lander would find an asteroid, and then carry it back to the mothership. Then it would dock the asteroid onto the other klaw. The lander would be able to mine the asteroid and fully refill the mothership easily. Fuel will not be an issue." The other Big Four applauded. Werhner bowed, and then flicked to the next image. "This is the design for the Eve lander we have decided on for now. It has plenty of power, so it will be used to move the mothership after the asteroid has been captured. The unfortunate problem is that we haven't discovered how to enter Eve's atmosphere safely, but we hope to fix this problem in the near future." "Finally, we have selected a crew of three to go on this expedition. The kerbals nominated are Jeb, Bob, and Val." Werhner announced. Gene punched the air, silently. They were his favorite kerbals, and he knew they could complete this mission better than anyone else. "Also, here is what the mothership would look like when it's all docked to each other." "That is all." Werhner shut off the projector. ************ Happy Explosions!

Whew, finished designing the ship(s) which will carry out the mission! The total mothership consists of a transfer-stage, an Eve lander, and an 'everything else' lander which I have test landed on Tylo, and reached orbit of Kerbin. This SSTO, while not pretty, is necessary. That's the report for now! Happy Explosions!

This is a challenge documentation of the Ultimate Challenge - Rebooted. The link is down below. Anyway, so let the story begin! It started when Mortimer Kerman decided to come up with a fund-raiser for KASA. The problem was that KASA was running out of steam, so they needed something to boost public interest. So he decided that they would bargain to fly a 100 kilometers per 1 credit given. So when this was announced, it created quite the public stir. Then a billionaire arrived at the KSC. Everything from the Limousine he pulled up in outside of the administration building, from his conservative black suit and Ray-ban glasses screamed VIP. Mortimer watched in fascination as the kerbal strode carefully down the hastily thrown together red carpet. The kerbal stepped so lightly as to not dust his shining shoes. His immaculate face wore a smirk which impressed his superiority on the observers. Mortimer stood at the other end of the red carpet, smiling nervously. "Ah, you must be Hajo Black." Mortimer said in an awed tone. "Yes. You are Mortimer Kerman. I want to fund your fund-raiser." "Thank you," Mortimer suddenly came to himself, "Come in, Come in. We can discuss the details inside." They entered the building. Mortimer felt so nervous, showing off this dingy building to the man who owned mansions. "Oh, I thought it would be less dusty." Black commented bluntly. "Oh... that's just because the funds have been low." Mortimer blushed. "Don't worry. I'm about to end that." He stated matter-a-factly. They reached Mortimer's office. After ushering Black into one of the seats, Mortimer sat down. A cloud of dust lifted off his chair, and settled on the floor. He blushed further, and cussed the cleaning-lady under his breath. "What was that?" Black questioned the mutterings under his breath. "Nothing." Mortimer quickly covered up his annoyance. "How much money would you like to invest into KASA?" "How much would it cost for an Ultimate Challenge?" He asked abruptly. Mortimer almost fainted, "An....Ultimate......Challenge?" He gasped. "Yep. How much?" He looked seriously at Mortimer. "Millions..... tens of millions." Mortimer whispered. "I can afford it. You'll get your money by the end of the mission to all the planetary bodies. Is that all?" Black looked at Mortimer. Mortimer nodded, deathly pale. "Alright. I'll just let myself out." Black stood up and then left the Administration Building. ************* Table of Contents : 1. First Update 2. Second Update 3. In Orbit / Preparing for Departure! I'll hopefully will be doing weekly posts, one to each planetary body for the next fourteen weeks. There might be a week or two of break, but trust me. THIS TIME, I will not forget about a thread and leave it unfinished! Happy Explosions!

You know what, I think I will take up this challenge. It looks interesting, and I have tons of spare time. I think I will also do a fan-fiction of it as well. To put it simply, CHALLENGE ACCEPTED Happy Explosions!

Congratulations, @Scarecrow! You will get a tier III medal for your efforts! Happy Explosions!

It isn't, really. All you have to do is match orbits with the Mun, but have the satellites not intercept the Mun within 100 days. That's simple enough for me, but I have been playing for the last two years.....I never said it had to be precise. In fact, I flew the satellites up there by the seat of my pants. I did no calculations beforehand, and just messed around with maneuver nodes three times per sat. I hope this helps. The rules aren't strict on what the end results, just do what you can. Happy Explosions!

Yep. The goal of these challenges is to be completable within two hours max. Anyway, you may add as much as you like to the com' system you eventually come up with. Happy Explosions!

You may still submit, as long as @doggonemess hasn't posted the medals . As soon as he does though, the submission will be rendered null and void. Happy Explosions!

They can be launched separately, or in a single package, depending on your taste. I personally decided to launch each one individually, but if you want, you could do it in one launch. I'm going to give each participant plenty of leeway in their decisions, so that there will be a little bit more variety in the submissions. Happy Explosions!

Breaking News - Challenge number 6 KASA desires to set up a communication network around the Mun when their lander with Jebediah Kerman landed on the farside of the Mun, and promptly crashed. Jebediah winged it for a munth until communications finally reconnected, and rescued. The goal is to set up two communication satellites outside of the Mun's SOI, one on either side of the Mun. Extra satellites may be added for more challenge. After setting up the satellites, it is vital that the satellites DO NOT enter the Mun's SOI after 100 days. If one or more of the satellites enter the Mun's SOI before 100 days have passed, the entry is declared null. Just to prove that this is possible within an hour, here are some pics of my small satellite network. Happy Explosions!

Oh....Right. Well anyway, I will be posting the next challenge shortly. Give or take a couple hours and it'll be up. Happy Explosions!

Then you may submit your challenge, @The Minmus Derp, and receive a new medal!

I would like to announce that I have returned and am ready to take a renewed and active role in this thread. I would like to tell all involved in this challenge that fancy new medals are in store for you, when you complete this challenge! Also, I will endorse @The Minmus Derp's mission to do this in GPO, for that is one of my favorite planet overhauls! As long as you are positive that the mod you are using does not change Kerbin's specifics, then you may submit a challenge from there for a medal! Happy Explosions!

Another public announcement, @doggonemess is now apart of the sub-author team keeping this thread operational! He is an experienced hand at medal production, so expect a whopper of a medal at the end of this challenge! Happy Explosions!

@The Minmus Derp, in the tag it says below 750 reputation. When my reputation goes above 750 rep I'll bequeath this thread to @kerbalstar, who is doing most of the organizing behind this thread. So, please DON'T like this post, because then I'll be thrown out sooner.