Mars-Bound Hokie

ANREY KERMAN'S MISSION LOG: Y65D63 - 2H10M The good news is that we made it to Jool orbit safe and sound - and years before I would have, if I had stayed in that old Hamacker. It's still drifting on Ike's surface, by the way. The bad news is that, while we were waiting for our node for a Pol refuel, our trajectory calculator found out we would get a gravity assist at our Jool periapsis from Laythe. If we didn't do anything about it soon, we would get sling-shot out of Jool orbit. Even worse, with only 1,755 m/s of delta-V in our tanks, chances are we would be stuck drifting forever if that happened. Fortunately, our tourist had an idea: "Just freaking land there." It was understandable why he would make such a statement: he did pay for an orbit of Laythe. I seconded that idea, since my original mission plan was to get there as well. Once the other crewmembers found out they could just reset their target to Laythe, they agreed with us and decided to set the approach periapsis to 40 km ASL. The plan is to aerobrake at 40 km over Laythe, saving us hundreds of meters of delta-V for the circularization burn. After that, we'll land on the sunny side of the moon to refuel and do my exploration - although, thanks to the other Neptune missions, I probably won't be able to do much. I hope we don't burn to a crisp during the re-entry, or that we don't end up on the dark side at first (since they're a pain to land in). When the Laythe part of the tour is done, we'll refuel on Pol and pick up those other kerbalnauts at Pinky Finger Station before orbiting Tylo as originally planned. The "Laythe" part of the tour was inevitable, so we might as well get it done now instead of put it off. We still have another contract to take crew reports over Jool itself, but we want to get everything else done first - aside from the final pre-Kerbin refueling. Though I was impressed by how the T-6 Cannonball performed in the Kerbin test runs, it's a shame that it didn't do so well on Duna. Even worse, that failure took the lives of Johnfrid Kerman and Enmal Kerman. Now we know to only use the Dirtblood for Duna landings; it is debatable on whether we should use the Lazybird, though. Either way, I'm confident that the Cannonball can complete the Jool-5, strengthening the bond between the Anubis and the Neptune missions. Isn't it ironic that Johnfrid avoided death in one doomed spacecraft, only to end up dying in another one years later? If all goes well, it may end up being the default tourist transport for anything involving Vall or Tylo. I don't know how (or if) we can establish permanent surface bases on Tylo, but I'm sure someone will find a way.

Or maximum absorption garments, which seems pretty gross. You know, I wonder how "Are you currently playing, or have you ever played, Kerbal Space Program?" as a job interview question for NASA/SpaceX would affect the kind of employees those companies would get. Would the company do better or worse if they got KSP veterans (as well as qualified individuals)?

Probably; I was mostly paying attention to the gauges. Once the numbers stopped changing so quickly, my KSP experience told me that those guys were in a stable orbit. Someone on Imgur commented on my album and asked "Can you imagine 19 hours without toilet breaks?"

I took screenshots of today's launch from the NASA Livestream. T-minus 16 seconds until liftoff. Pretty cool timer, isn't it? Stage 1 Separation confirmed. If only we could get a shot like the one on the left in KSP (without the use of camera mods). Bob and Doug now in a 200-km altitude orbit above Kerbin Earth, going at 27,000 km/hr (or 7,500 m/s) It will be about 19 hours before our two brave kerbalnauts astronauts dock with the ISS. Imgur Album: https://imgur.com/gallery/ogAZTHL

One would argue that it would belong in this thread, as that series is based on the new Space Force. Glad you brought it to our attention; now we have a new Netflix series to look forward to.

Working on it - along with getting my private pilot's license over the summer. After reading this story (so far), who in the Kerbal Space Program do you think causes more deaths? I just want to know your opinion/s. Misty Irpond Terrible engineers

As the title implies, this thread is to discuss and post information about the United States Space Force. I'll start us off with a recruitment video that was posted less than a week ago

SAMDARD KERMAN'S MISSION LOG: Y64D402 - 4H00M Not only did we confirm that intelligent life exists on Laythe, but we have actually interacted with it. Standing next to me is Makadum, who appears to be the chief of the Laythan settlement on not only the central crater island, but the surrounding islands as well. Me (left) and Makadum (right). Assumed to be the chief by the way the other Laythans kneeled when he approached us - as well as the other attention he received. I mean, who else could it be? Like with the other Laythans, he has brown fur, sharp teeth, and claws Fur used to keep warm to cold temperatures I was so glad to put my helmet back on after this picture was taken. They are, however, omnivorous - as seen by: Us witnessing it. Analysis of their teeth, both on live and dead specimens Their gloves were designed with holes for the retractable claws. Wear hats for: Heat preservation Eye protection from brightness Showing their tribal signs Everyone had that sign on their hats, which means some kind of unity. Apparently, the chief has a seal on his jacket that shows the tribal sign with a gold background - nobody else had it. White jacket seemingly used for camouflage against snow. Useful in combat, but why is it worn on a regular basis? Do the Laythans enjoy remaining hidden? None of us couldn't understand a word the Laythans said, but we still learned a lot about them. For starters, the green flares we saw hundreds of days ago were to signal the coming of a deity from "Green Sky World." It kind of makes sense, since our spaceplanes entering the atmosphere looks like we're coming from Jool. Due to our green skin color, and the fact that we don't need food thanks to our photosynthetic cells, we were welcomed as gods when we landed. Though we had spent most of the time inside the Neptune VII - at least one of us had to stay inside at all times, in fact - we had the chance to live among the Laythans. We had no intention to be treated as gods upon landing, but I guess that's what comes with being as green as Jool. Compared to the small towns on Kerbin, their villages seem primitive; I guess that's what comes with living on a frozen island with limited resources on a super-cold moon that's over 85% ocean. However, that doesn't mean that they're not thriving or have a steady food and water supply. They have found a way to filter all those minerals from the water, and the Laythans have extremely quick reflexes when it comes to catching fish and other animals. They use tools to do their hunting and harvesting, but the Laythans' features seemed to pay off their species well before they have started making tools. Before we left the island, we gave Makadum our Hemorrhoid camera (and some extra film) and asked him to take a picture of us. After he did, we scanned the pictures while letting him keep the originals - and the camera and film. Me with Vall and Tylo in the sky. Us looking at the sunset. A Laythan sunset over the crater islands. When the photo op was over, we waved the Laythans good-bye and took off. During our ascent, they fired some more green flares. Since MJ was having trouble with the transfer burn plotter for Pol, we had decided to refuel on Bop instead (again). I hope we're done before the next transfer window to Kerbin closes, but I'm sure the mass ore transport already stationed on that moon will help with that. Before we hit Bop's SOI, the Anubis I - the first crewed mission to Tylo - had arrived at Jool's SOI. All that's left for us to do is to refuel and we are outta here.

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE: TANK DUST On board the U.S.S. Defiant, Jeb was busy helping Bob with his science project while Bill and Val were doing a routine inspection of a docked self-mining lander. “Life support systems, check,” said Bill. “Reaction wheel, check.” “Is the testing system ready?” asked Val, then Bill activated the system that enabled the pilot to use the controls without moving the ship itself. “Ready, Val.” “Reaction wheel, all systems check,” started Val. “RCS thrusters… all online. Monoprop tanks… hang on, there’s something wrong with the left tank.” “What?” “It says, ‘Additional mass detected,’ and ‘Uneven pressure.’” Bill then took the controls and redirected the monopropellant from the lander’s tanks to the Defiant’s. “Huh, it still has a different internal mass and pressure relative to the right tank,” he noticed. “Looks like I’m going out. EVA me.” “I’ll log this,” said Val as an EVA suit assembled itself on Bill. He then jumped through the airlock and out into space before flying to the left tank. “I hope you don’t lose the bolts as you take the cap off.” “Don’t worry, the ratchet bits are magnetic – and so is the holding container,” said Bill. “Ready, Val.” “Stand by for further instructions,” ordered Val. “As long as you’re outside, we can get external checks out of the way.” “Good idea,” agreed Bill. “How’s the hunt for Misty going?” asked Val. “She’s expected to hit Kerbin’s sphere of influence in about 200 days, give or take a few,” answered Bill. “However, her current trajectory places her at a high periapsis above the planet’s surface. We have reason to believe that she’ll fine-tune her closest approach to the target soon.” “Tell me you’ve got asteroid catchers ready,” sighed Val. “They decided against using the standard asteroid catchers to rescue Jeb Senior in Kerbin’s sphere of influence,” said Bill. “What? Why?” gasped Val. “Last I heard, the plan was to launch SSTOs full of armed rescue squads to rendezvous with the incoming EAV,” explained Bill. “Oh, I guess that makes sense,” said Val. “They might want to launch a bunch of them in a Hamsterwheel configuration.” “That’s going to be costly,” reminded Bill, “especially since you’ll need to launch SIX planes and not three in case Misty goes the opposite of any of the regular Hamsterwheel planes.” “Not to mention the number of space-ready troops it will take,” added Val. “Bet arranging that will keep the centrals busy.” “If she somehow gets past that line, Mission Control is busy with increasing the precision of the landing trajectory predictor.” “Isn’t it already accurate?” wondered Val. “I mean… I haven’t heard of any recovery crew mishaps since the time I was in-transit to Laythe.” “It’s accurate up to a point. Mission Control is trying to LOWER the margin of error so that the recovery crews can get to the capsule faster.” “I’d just send some paratroopers to shoot Misty and save the capsule for later,” commented Val. “As cool a plan THAT is, we also need to get Jeb Senior to safety,” reminded Bill. “Hopefully, Misty doesn’t alter her trajectory enough to throw off the trackers before she reaches the atmosphere; but if she does… I don’t know if she can re-enter without blowing up first.” “She managed to fix a sabotaged EAV, launch it, and send it on a solar trajectory to Kerbin. What makes you think she can’t re-enter? It seems pretty straightforward.” “To YOU, maybe. Do you know how many rookies fail the capsule LKO re-entry simulations in Basic?” “I dunno, but I bet some of them fail ON PURPOSE.” “Why would a cadet INTENTIONALLY fail to splash down correctly?” “I dunno, seeing an explosion or something on fire… satisfying the need for speed,” sighed Val. “You know… something JEB would do.” “Guess I should ask whoever’s in charge to take that into account when reporting performance stats, huh,” remarked Bill. “The point is that we need to catch Misty before she reaches her Kerbin periapsis, or else there’s a chance she won’t survive re-entry – and if that capsule blows up, Jeb Senior dies too.” “BEFORE she reaches periapsis, you say,” said Val. “What about after?” “Performing an orbital rendezvous with an object in a hyperbolic trajectory AFTER it passes periapsis is next to impossible,” argued Bill. “Sure, there’s a chance you can match velocities at the closest point after periapsis, but you’re TOO LATE if you wait until then to make your transfer burn.” “Then shouldn’t Mission Control account for Misty doing a gravity assist or an aerobrake?” “Gene said that they should have a pod in solar orbit in less than a month in case Misty decides to drift instead of land or surrender. As for the aerobrake part… Mission Control needs to calculate the periapsis altitude range that would put Misty in an elliptical orbit rather than a direct re-entry OR a hyperbolic orbit.” “That’s gonna be tricky,” commented Val. “It’s not like they could just use trial and error with incoming objects from Eve.” “If Misty did a REGULAR transfer burn from Eve to Kerbin, we could calculate her orbital velocity relative to the sun when she hit Kerbin,” added Bill. “However, since she made her exit burn TOO EARLY, it’s gonna be harder to find her orbital velocity – let alone that relative to Kerbin – since she’s at an abnormal trajectory.” “Even if they could do it in two seconds now, they STILL need to work with the atmosphere to calculate that altitude range,” said Val. “Honestly, do you really think that she’ll try that?” “If it means throwing off recovery crews, yes,” Bill answered. “I’m also guessing that her velocity relative to Kerbin will be higher than that of an Eve returner coming in on a regular trajectory.” “If I remember correctly, you get more aerodynamic resistance as you go lower in the atmosphere, right?” inquired Val. “That’s right,” confirmed Bill. “Additionally, as Misty’s EAV is equipped with an ablative heat shield, she would have less surface area for the atmosphere to act on than the inflatable one.” “It’d be really cool if the lab guys made a scale model of Kerbin’s atmosphere,” sighed Val, “and fired an object at a speed that could mimic the EAV’s.” “I doubt playing Human Space Program would help either,” agreed Bill. “Our best bet to rescue Jeb Senior is to rendezvous with the EAV before it hits the atmosphere.” “Which would require building… six armed SSTOs with a whole lot of delta-V in each,” said Val. “Kinda makes you wonder who’s paying for them.” “You know, now that you mention it, the ‘Double-Direction Hamsterwheel’ would make a very effective planetary defense plan,” commented Bill. “Any bad guys going in or out of Kerbin would get intercepted quickly.” “Hang on,” said Val, “I just got the instructions.” She then told Bill how to remove the monopropellant tank cap to look inside; there was some soil from Dres in it. After she reported Bill’s findngs to Mission Control, they ordered Bob to come outside with sample containers for Bill to put the soil in. “How the heck did Dres soil end up in your monopropellant tank?” wondered Bob. “It’s not like Dres has dust storms… or weather, for that matter.” “Yeah, how DID it end up in the tanks?” concurred Bill. “Maybe it got in through the surface harvester or the ore converter or something,” suggested Val. “Someone could have also left the docking port open and let dust get inside while another lander sent it flying everywhere.” “Eh… I don’t know if the drill or ore converter are to blame,” Bob disagreed. “Though this hasn’t been tested yet, wouldn’t the heat generated from either of them vaporize the solid soil?” “That could be your next science project,” said Val, “but aren’t they cooled off by the radiators?” “Yeah, but they’re designed to prevent the drill and ISRU unit from reaching CATASTROPHIC temperatures,” reminded Bill. “That doesn’t mean they’re not hot enough to vaporize the soil.” “What’s the big problem?” interrupted Jeb as he flew to the boys in his suit. “Couldn’t you just install a dust shield on the ore converters?” “Good question,” said Bill. “You might want to ask Mission Control about it.” “Hey, Jeb,” Val spoke on the radio. “How’s it going?” There was no answer. “He can’t talk now,” explained Bob, “he’s on a different channel.” “Then I think I should ask if it’s a good time to bring up his dad,” said Val. “He’s gotta forgive him sometime,” sighed Bill. “Until Jeb marries and has kids of his own, Jeb Senior’s the only family he has left.” “Even then, they gotta meet their grandpa sometime,” added Bob. “Assuming Misty doesn’t kill him first,” said Val. “Believe it or not, Jeb’s perfectly fine with that outcome,” said Bill. “Oh, I believe it, all right,” commented Val. “Hey, maybe you can be a better help than I can,” suggested Bill. “What makes you think I’m better?” wondered Val. “You’ve been friends with him WAY longer than I have.” “But you have a brother in prison for genocide,” reminded Bill. “M… maybe you can calm Jeb down since you both have family members that you despise.” “Hey, do you guys remember doing that ‘egg parenting’ experiment in school?” asked Bob. “Nope,” said Bill. “Me neither,” Val mentioned, “Vic, on the other hand, did.” “What, you two didn’t?” questioned Bob. “Why’d they get rid of it?” “Probably because there were too many cheaters,” sighed Val. “I just thought it was due to budget cuts,” said Bill. “Really, Bill? Budget cuts?” commented Val. “How expensive do you think eggs are?” “You know how bad the administration was at handling their money, especially when it came toward the school’s STEM department,” argued Bill. “That’s why I had to fly to WOOMERANG to test my rocket boosters.” “Seriously, it should cost about… 15 minutes of overtime just to afford two dozen eggs,” Val responded. “Anyway, Bob, what’s the point?” “First off, now you know why Mission Control employs more Wolverines than Badgers; you guys are careless with your cash,” joked Bob. “Tell Jeb Senior that,” replied Bill. “Speaking of which, how does some childish parenting experiment connect with what’s going on with him now?” “Jeb Senior was so afraid of losing that egg because of what happened to the last one,” explained Bob, “especially since the first egg died at the hands of the other parent. As a result, Jeb Senior didn’t trust his child with anyone else’s hands other than his own. However, he couldn’t just tell him the truth about his mom, or else he would be devastated.” “That’s what I told Jeb,” sighed Bill, “but he didn’t listen.” “Would you rather Jeb Senior tell him as a kid, when he would have been VERY impressionable?” argued Bob. “At that age, it would have devastating consequences. As an adult… Jeb SHOULD be mature enough to understand.” “Got it, guys,” interrupted Jeb. “They said that they tried sealing up the ISRU unit, but the machine blew up even with radiators and north pole temperatures.” “Well, how about that?” said Bill. “Anyway, what are we talking about?” “Um… hey, Bob, any ideas how the dust got into the monopropellant tanks?” lied Bill. “Someone must have left the docking port open while the lander was on the surface,” guessed Bob. “I’ll have to compare the soil composition at this craft’s previous sites to the samples we collected from the tank to determine if molecular structure was affected.” “Yeah… but HOW EXACTLY did it get in through an open port?” argued Bill. “It’s not like Dres has dust storms.” “I hate to break up the scientific debate here,” interrupted Val, “but Bill needs to get back inside the Defiant. He and I are heading down to the surface for Hadgan’s court martial in two hours.” “Why does he need to get back inside, Val? You got a lander right there,” said Jeb. “Actually, Mission Control told us to leave it docked until the regular checks were completed AND you guys have answered how dust got in the monoprop tanks,” explained Val. “A fuel-and-oxidizer lander is on its way.” “Speaking of the dust issue,” said Bob, “any ideas how it got in the tanks?” “Someone probably left the docking port open while ANOTHER LANDER was blowing dust next to it,” guessed Val. “The force provided by a landing rocket may compensate for a lack of wind,” agreed Bill. “Either way, I’m taking a closer look at the dust from the tank to study how its molecular composition was affected – if at all,” said Bob. “Is this all of it?” “Yep,” said Bill. “We may also want to see how the Dres dust affected the monoprop in the tanks.” “Bob, you get started with the soil,” said Val. “I’ll send someone up here to take care of the monopropellant.” “Wait,” gasped Bill, “do you remember which tank you put the lander’s monoprop in?” “Relax, Bill. I put it in Tank Five of the Defiant,” assured Val. “And yes, it was empty; I’m not Jeb.” “Hey,” Jeb remarked. “Everyone, remember that tank number,” said Bob. “Odds are that the dust didn’t affect monopropellant performance, but I want to be sure everything is accounted for when we do this experiment.” “Speaking of experiments,” started Bill, “we’re still calculating the altitude range Misty needs to conduct an orbital aerobrake.” “Why would she do that?” asked Jeb. “Seems like a lot of hassle, if you ask me.” “To throw off recovery crews,” answered Bill. “Aside from that, I need to calculate what orbital trajectories are ships in a Double-Direction Hamsterwheel arrangement least likely to successfully rendezvous with before the target reaches periapsis.” “Could you dial that down a few notches, please?” Jeb requested, and Bill sighed. “Finding the Hamsterwheel’s weak spots.” “Weak spots? It’s pretty obvious, dude; they take forever to make a full orbit.” “First of all, when Misty hits the sphere of influence…,” started Bill. “Tchhh. What’s… that?” asked Jeb, then he made static sounds again. “You tchhh breaking u… tchhh!” “Jeb, I’m floating right next to you,” said Bill, and Jeb pointed at his own helmet. “Comm status report on Jeb.” “Jeb Kerman’s communication systems are functioning normally,” answered Bill’s suit computer. “Bill, time to get inside,” said Val. “The lander already made its intercept burn.” “Coming,” Bill responded, then he entered the station through the airlock while Jeb came in from the other side. “Man, Jeb’s being a baby today.” “How come?” “He used the old static trick on his comm, even though I was right next to him and his communication systems were fine,” explained Bill. “He did that the first time I mentioned Misty.” “Because catching Misty would also mean rescuing his dad,” Val figured out. “Wait,” gasped Bill, “we forgot to finish lander maintenance.” “I sent a replacement crew to finish up,” assured Val. “Even when that’s done, we can’t use it until we sort out the issue with the dust.” “Gives me more time to figure out Misty’s next move,” smirked Bill. “Not now, you’re not,” objected Val. “First off, we need to be at court martial soon. Second, what are YOU gonna do about Misty. Unless you got a hyperdrive hidden on this rock, you’re not gonna catch her; someone on Kerbin will.” “Then why can’t I help?” “You can at least tell them what Misty may plan to do based on your knowledge on both her and Irpond,” suggested Val. “I am,” said Bill, “see.” “That’s not what I meant,” clarified Val. “I meant figuring out what her endgame was.” “I’m an engineer, not a criminal profiler,” said Bill. “You know more about Irpond AND Misty than anyone else who’s alive AND accounted for,” argued Val. “You have access to their service records.” “So does Mission Control, but they won’t tell you everything,” reminded Val. “For instance, the incident involving your rocket and Misty’s house fire won’t show up because neither mother nor daughter were active KSP members at the time. Even if one of them was, their personal lives won’t go on record unless it either affected their job performance or that of the program’s.” “I’m pretty sure everything I got from Irpond and Misty’s emails, I forwarded to Double-I,” said Bill. “If you want to get inside Misty’s head, talk to someone in the KBI.” “Then you should focus more on what’s going on in Dres’ sphere of influence rather than in Kerbin’s,” assured Val. “By the way, your aerobrake mapper won’t work.” “How so?” “You could have bad weather where she’s re-entering,” explained Val. “Aside from that, I read on the news a year ago that someone went through three aerobraking passes after returning from Eve.” “Let me see,” sighed Bill, then he searched on Oogle for the article Val mentioned. “Hey, what do you know, someone did do three aerobraking orbits. Hang on one sec.” He carefully inspected the publication date and rewound Transfer Window Alarm Clock. “This guy said he flew to visit Gilly, and the capsule he used is for solo Gilly landers, so he must have had a high Eve parking orbital period before blasting off. Taking that into account and subtracting the average Eve-to-Kerbin transit time from the landing date, I can say he most likely left Eve’s sphere of influence at the NORMAL TRANSFER WINDOW.” “What’s that got to do with anything?” “Misty left early, remember,” said Bill, “so her incoming trajectory and velocity will be different from that of what you’d expect from a craft leaving Eve at the regular transfer window. Even if she managed to get this tourist’s initial Kerbin periapsis, there’s no guarantee it will work for her the same way it worked for him. That, and their capsules have different drag.” “Mission Control can work all that out and implement the solution faster than you can,” said Val. “You should have told them that before I noticed a discrepancy in Irpond’s service record,” countered Bill. “I figured out Irpond was the killer, I calculated that she was on Dres, I led Bob’s rescue. If anybody’s going to stop Misty, it’s…” “NOT you,” interrupted Val. “Last time you said that, nearly 200 people died in an SSTO explosion,” Bill recalled. “Because Irpond hijacked Matt’s kPad and messed with the operation code,” Val mentioned. “This time, Misty doesn’t have Irpond to help her mess up rescue craft.” “That doesn’t mean that she won’t have aces up her sleeve.” “What’s she gonna do? It’s not like she can have military spaceplanes self-destruct, not to mention that Irpond hasn’t communicated with her since she escaped the Defiant.” “Then I gotta figure out what she can do, and fast.” “Right now, you gotta be ready for court martial,” reminded Val. “Get dressed and compile your notes should the court ask for them.” “Uh, Val, I don’t have a dress uniform.” “Oh, yeah,” said Val. “Well, in that case, you’d better put on some… oh, crap.” “What?” “I don’t have my uniform either,” realized Val. “Where is it?” asked Bill. “Calculus Base,” answered Val. “Where our court martial is?” questioned Bill, and Val nodded. “Then what’s the problem?” “I can’t wear it since they’re using it as evidence,” explained Val. “I always go to court in my uniform.” “Why would they use your uniform as evidence? I thought Hadgan was on trial, not to mention that you were in the base chapel when he shot Irpond.” “Irpond got her DNA all over it when she tried to impersonate me during her second escape,” explained Val. “I’ll just keep my suit and explain why I’m not wearing my uniform right now.” “Too bad Dres doesn’t have a formalwear rental shop,” sighed Bill. “That would be cool.” “If more tourists came here, then there would be a demand for it,” added Val. “Back in Poseidon’s Palace, it was very profitable.” “And now you have a bunch of expensive clothes – along with equipment and bodies – trapped in the fallout zone,” said Bill. “Thanks to that monster, both tourist and personnel demand for Laythe has dropped to almost zero,” Val told him. “Even worse, many blamed me for causing it.” “You? Why you?” “The evidence: I was Vic’s sister,” sighed Val. “Oh,” said Bill. “Shouldn’t matter now; we know it was actually Irpond – NOT you.” “To some idiots, it doesn’t matter,” replied Val. “In fact, some are even going as far as to say I FRAMED her.” Bill looked confused as he lightly pushed himself off the ceiling. “Didn’t you read the news?” “Only the STEM section,” Bill admitted. “The rest is just irrelevant garbage and does not concern me now that I’m in space.” “I probably should do the same,” commented Val. “On the other hand, don’t you wanna know what’s going on in Baikerbanur?” “If it was of any concern or interest, either Dad or Mission Control would contact me.” “Well, after we get our notes straight, we should…,” started Val. “Bill,” Bob’s voice spoke on his kPad, “could you meet me in the lab, please? I need some help with this Dres dust thing.” “On my way,” replied Bill, “but I can’t stay long. I need to get down for a court martial, remember?” “Won’t take long.” “Later, Val,” Bill told her before leaving. 45 minutes later, Bill and Val were in a lander awaiting their de-orbit burn. “So, what’s the story about the monoprop?” asked Val. “The dust appeared to have dissolved in the monopropellant, but the process was extremely slow thanks to the cold temperatures,” said Bill. “Assuming that the dust went unnoticed, it would have taken…,” he stammered as he checked his notes, “8 days, 1 hour, and 23 minutes for that much dust to have dissolved completely.” “You didn’t need to be that precise,” sighed Val. “Couldn’t you have figured out when the dust GOT IN the lander?” “Actually, no,” answered Bill. “We don’t know how much dust got in there in the first place, nor do we know if it got in all at once or accumulated through repeated use.” “Good point,” agreed Val. “That’s probably why Mission Control ordered that lander shut down until further notice.” “Yeah, we’ll definitely have problems if dust is getting into more than just the monopropellant tanks,” remarked Bill. “I checked for similar incidents and found two; one on Duna with a spaceplane, the other on Moho with a fuel truck.” “Okay. You got your notes for the trial ready, right?” “Yes,” said Bill. “I don’t even see why we need to try Hadgan? Irpond was a mass murderer who was too dangerous to be left alive.” “They say that, if we don’t convict Hadgan, then people will start killing criminals themselves rather than go through the legal system,” explained Val. “Yeah, like we trust them one bit,” remarked Bill, and Val laughed. “I do see their point. Though Irpond was CLEARLY guilty, what’s to stop us from killing someone who’s actually INNOCENT?” “Hey, here’s an idea,” said Bill, “you call the prosecutors traitors for siding with Irpond.” “Funny, that’s the same thing Vic told me,” Val recalled. “I could try that, but we’re just witnesses in the court martial.” “I hope Mission Control doesn’t focus too much effort on this sham trial,” said Bill angrily. “We need to focus on getting Jeb Senior back.” “Why don’t we just read something to take our mind off this,” suggested Val. “Here, let’s start with… aw, man.” “What?” wondered Bill. “Our swim team lost AGAIN,” answered Val, then she showed him the headline. SCIENCE GUYS CRUSH BADGERS “I don’t think it’s THAT big a deal,” Bill disagreed. “I mean, I’d bet against us too if we were up against the Science Guys.” “Me too, if we were against a bunch of ten-year-olds,” said Val. “From Nye?” “From ANYWHERE,” clarified Val. “Uhh… is our swim team REALLY that bad?” “Yep,” sighed Val. “We’ve been sucking for the past two… hey, wait a minute. How do YOU know Nye’s that good? I thought you only read the STEM section.” “Actually, Nye’s winning streak was the main focus of an article there… and here we go.” VICTORY PROVEN NYE’S BIRTHRIGHT “What the…” gasped Val as she kept reading. “Training since birth?” “When it comes to swimming, going against the Science Guys is suicide,” explained Bill. “First thing they do with their kids when they learn to walk is get them in swim classes. It’s a part of their annual school curriculum, in fact.” “Wow,” said Val. “No wonder Matt and Scott took the submarine job.” “Scott, you mean the bald guy who Irpond convinced to frame you?” “Yes, who else?” “Huh, that makes sense,” said Bill. “Speaking of Matt, he told me that he was assigned to design a luxury ring station orbiting Laythe.” “Ring stations are the ones that generate gravity, right?” questioned Val, and Bill nodded. “I thought we already had a station in orbit.” “That’s what I said, but Mission Control wanted a new tourist attraction to replace Poseidon’s Palace until they figure out what to do about the Fallout Zone,” explained Bill. “And yes, they OFFICIALLY renamed that region of Laythe the Fallout Zone.” “It’s not just Poseidon’s Palace and those kerbals we lost,” Val lamented. “The Ryagii Tribe was wiped out, the crops were killed, and their village is now a poisonous wasteland.” “Have you ever interacted with them?” “Well… I do recall driving a sick child to our medical wing a few weeks before Sheri was killed,” said Val. “The doctors said that Laythan medical practices were inadequate to save his life, but OUR facilities were.” “That’s weird, because our medics are trained for KERBALS, not Laythans,” Bill pointed out. “I think you’d better read the report if you want further details, or ask Bob about it,” Val suggested. “Heck, I was just a driver while someone else spoke with them. If you want to talk to someone who’s ACTUALLY interacted with them, try Bob.” “I wonder if we’ve made contact with any tribes OTHER than the Clivar and Ryagii,” said Bill. “We probably have,” replied Val, “but you hear about those two more often because they were a major part of our first exploration missions… and the military’s biggest scandal.” “First the Clivar, and then the Ryagii; two tribes wiped out by kerbalkind,” Bill mentioned. “Kinda makes you wonder what we’re even doing on that rock.” “Yeah, kinda does,” agreed Val. “It also makes me wonder if it’s even worth it to colonize Laythe anymore.” “Why, because of Irpond?” shrugged Bill. “More like Irpond AND Vic,” said Val. “I’m not sure the other Laythans will be too happy with us killing two tribes that were total opposites of each other. Besides, it’s not like we can extradite Irpond to Laythe to face justice… even if we struck a deal with them.” “Another reason why I picked Duna as a ret…,” said Bill. “T-minus ten minutes to de-orbit burn,” the autopilot interrupted. “You do realize the air isn’t breathable, right?” reminded Val. “Well, I wouldn’t exactly remove my helmet on Laythe either,” argued Bill. “At least we get to use air-breathing engines when we fly,” said Val, “whereas on DUNA, you have to use closed-cycle engines.” “True,” said Bill, then his kPad pinged. “Ooh, Spaceplane Monthly.” “What are they rolling out of the hangar now?” wondered Val. “Huh,” said Bill as he downloaded the PDF. “They’re building a new spaceplane airport in Woomerang.” “Let me guess,” sighed Val, “Jeb’s Junkyard is building it.” “No, it’s Dinklestein Kerman’s Construction Emporium,” corrected Bill. “Wait a second, I thought Woomerang ALREADY had an airport,” recalled Val. “Well, according to this, it ‘didn’t have the proper facilities,’ to maintain and operate spaceplanes,” said Bill. “Then why not just upgrade the airport for spaceplanes?” questioned Val. “Wouldn’t that cost less money than building a whole new airport?” “It says that upgrading Woomerang Airport would require shutting down about half of it for construction space,” explained Bill. “Besides that, a bunch of environmentalists were protesting that adding spaceplanes to the air traffic would increase the sound pollution concentration.” “Yeah, that would do it,” agreed Val. “So, where in Woomerang is the new airport located?” “A few kilometers southeast of the city.” “Wait a second,” said Val, scratching her chin. “Baikerbanur’s closer to the equator than Woomerang, so why build a spaceport in Woomerang at all?” “Hey, you’re right,” gasped Bill. “Whatever planes they’ll use are going to need a lot of LKO delta-V for inclination changes… hang on.” “What is it?” “In a few days, their CEO is flying in a docking-capable spaceplane to the Gaia Hotel; located in 45-degree orbit 250 kilometers above sea level,” said Bill. “Aw, kraken, Dinklestein’s building the airport just for his new hotel.” “What’s wrong with that?” questioned Val. “The airport is being used to get people on and off his new space station, not for anything more,” complained Bill. “It’s his own money being spent here, and we have plenty of high delta-V planes in commission,” argued Val. “Relax.” “I can’t relax,” said Bill. “I just learned that not only is the new spaceplane airport being built in WOOMERANG, but its sole purpose was an LKO luxury vacation starting point.” “What’s the problem with the airport’s location?” “Hello, it’s at Woomerang, home of Team Misty and Irpond,” reminded Bill. “Misty could steal a plane and make her getaway.” “Hmm,” said Val. “I doubt it.” “How so?” “If I were Misty, I’d get this,” said Val, showing Bill a headline on her kPad. ALL-TOURIST JOOL-5 PLANE LANDED “JOOL-5?” gasped Bill. “Let me see that.” Val then gave Bill her kPad and he read. “Four tourists use a mining-capable SSTO to land on ALL FIVE of Jool’s moons? They even brought back samples to give to the KSC when they were all done. Everything was fully recovered. Wow, whoever designed this was awesome.” “Yeah, I’m pretty sure that, if I was on the run with a hostage, I’d go for something with a whole lot of range and able to refuel itself,” Val pointed out. “Since the name of the plane model is also on the news, Misty would be able to know what to steal.” “Wait a minute,” interrupted Bill. “It says here that, for the Tylo landings, open-cockpit landers were deployed from the main craft. Both she and Jeb Senior are EVA-certified, so she may use them to land on larger bodies while the plane is in orbit.” “Or she could use the lander as a decoy,” said Val. “If she tried to return to the ship with the lander, odds are that someone would have intercepted her.” “Oh, yeah, like we did,” smirked Bill. “Now that you bring up the Jool-5 plane, there’s no guarantee that she’ll end up anywhere near Woomerang. I mean, assuming she doesn’t miss the atmosphere or blow up during re-entry, for all I know she could end up in the middle of Squaddon.” “That’s what Mission Control is doing, predicting where she would land based on her trajectory.” “Then what’s she going to do after that, huh?” asked Bill. “To be safe, we should put a full lockdown on Kerbin. Nobody gets on the ground, nobody gets off.” “Easier said than done,” disagreed Val. “Sure, Prime Minister Ryan is hard on crime – probably even more than Trunton was – but implementing a full lockdown on KERBIN to catch ONE CRIMINAL would cause massive outrage. Worst-case scenario, we have a thermonuclear war on our hands.” “Yeah, like you didn’t anger every kerbal on every other planet or moon you did that on,” countered Bill. “Oh, if I thought the crap I got for the Dres lockdown was bad, wait until I tick off 99 percent of the Kerbal population – and on their home planet,” warned Val. “Someone may even give Misty an Ultimate Challenge rocket out of spite for me.” “Hedge Kerman implemented such a lockdown on Kerbin when he was prime minister, yet I don’t remember much public outrage then,” said Bill. “So your parents say,” reminded Val, “we were starting preschool when the Krakenites attacked our cities on 297. Also, the Krakenites were ORGANIZED GLOBAL TERRORISTS while Misty is just a lovesick maniac with a captive boyfriend. Even I think a full lockdown is too much, and I’m sure a good part of the central government would too.” “Says she who implemented one on Dres when the lovesick maniac’s DAUGHTER escaped.” “Because we had limited alternatives and resources to track her,” explained Val. “Besides, things are run on other planets differently than on Kerbin.” “Well, do YOU have any ideas to catch Misty?” “I do like your idea of a lockdown, but NOT on all flights,” started Val. “Flights with three or less occupants should be grounded, sure, but that won’t cause too many problems since they’re only small exploration crews and private spacecraft owners.” “What about cadet training flights?” questioned Bill. “If you were so concerned about the lockdown backfiring, then you should consider the possibility that Mission Control will demand they continue – especially if Misty ends up NOWHERE NEAR Krakopolis.” “I thought of that, said Val. “If you read the performance stats for the spaceplane they use – which is the… Lovebird, I think – then you’ll know that it can’t go any further than LKO before making a safe de-orbit burn.” “They use the JL-4 Lovebird for cadet training?” gasped Bill, then he started looking through his kPad. “I thought those were for customers who paid for a couple’s trip to LKO.” “I heard that they’re good for early-level cadets who signed up for the spaceplane track,” said Val. “If Misty gets her hands on one of them, she won’t get far since they don’t have much fuel and oxidizer.” “And they have a Mission Control override system in case something goes wrong,” added Bill after accessing the design specs for the JL-4 Lovebird spaceplane. “Even if Jeb Senior tries to escape, and Misty uses the instructor override, we could just bring her back. Furthermore… even if she cuts off all communications with the ground so that Mission Control can’t transmit the override command, she won’t go anywhere without… ooh, a docking port.” “Docking port?” wondered Val. “Let me see that.” Val then spun the model of the plane on the screen and looked underneath the fuselage. “How about that, an underside docking port. ‘To be used for rendezvous drills or orbital refueling.’ If Misty needs any more fuel, she’s gonna get a death squad along with it.” “Okay… but she still has Jeb Senior hostage. She could just hole herself in the plane and threaten to kill Jeb Senior if anyone gets near that plane. Apart from that, she snuck in the space center.” “Yes, but she was alone and waited for her target to land,” Val recalled. “Ever wonder why she didn’t just hijack Sally’s plane and kill her before crashing it? Security was tight in the boarding areas, but NOT TIGHT ENOUGH around where Sally was shot. Misty would know that sneaking aboard a low-capacity spacecraft that’s scheduled to launch is too risky, so she backed out; even if she took a Lovebird, we have a fail-safe option.” “Okay, but we should keep planes like the Mun Hopper and Dirtblood on lockdown,” reminded Bill. “They’re designed for interplanetary flights – the Dirtblood after a refueling stop – and they fit your three-or-less criteria. Speaking of which, why let flights with four or more occupants go?” “The public’s not going to be too happy with stopping commercial flights on Misty’s account, so the government will HAVE to let them go,” said Val. “HOWEVER, that doesn’t mean we can’t watch who gets on and off.” “Don’t we ALREADY do that?” “Yes, but recent KAA regulations mandate that all occupants are checked one-by-one to see if they’re designated passengers and crew,” Val elaborated. “Moreover, they also greenlit using facial recognition software and well as fingerprint scans.” “Okay, but… what about stowing away?” questioned Bill. “Dude, do you really think that she’s going to stash herself and her captive in an airliner after what happened in Woomerang?” sighed Val. “I’m just considering every possibility, that’s all,” said Bill. “We have entire bureaus dedicated to tracking criminals like her,” reminded Val. “None of which have seen the likes of Misty OR Irpond,” argued Bill. “Name one criminal other than them who killed hundreds of people on two or more planets.” “Victor Kerman and his Laythe commandos,” answered Val. “But they technically weren’t fugitives; ALL of them were accounted for before their arrests. By the way, the Clivar Scandal got blown wide open thanks to Irpond.” “YOU’RE MISSING THE POINT!” shouted Val. “Just like with Irpond, Misty will slip up and then KERBIN’S law enforcement will catch her. When they do, she won’t get away with it THIS time. YOU just need to relax and do your job.” “But what if they don’t save Jeb Senior?” “Unless you were in the same sphere of influence, there was nothing you could do except offer some clues. Now, either you flirt with me or get back to reading Spaceplane Monthly.” “But…,” stammered Bill. “THAT’S AN ORDER, engineer.” “Yes… Admiral,” sighed Bill, then he got back to reading his kPad. “Oh, no.” “What?” “WinterOwl and C7 are teaming up to REPLACE the interplanetary travel pod,” Bill complained. “Who would dare dethrone MY pod?” THY TIME HATH COME, TRAVEL POD “You knew this day was coming, dude,” said Val. “Your pod had a great run, but EVERY king must lose his crown SOMETIME. How do you think the ones who designed the craft YOU replaced felt?” “But… but… I shaped space travel for our species.” “And it’s time for it to evolve. I’m actually surprised your pod didn’t get replaced SOONER, in fact.” “Which would you rather take, Val? My creation that has worked for almost two decades already, or some new spaceplane fresh out of the hangar.” “Honestly, assuming BOTH prototypes work, I’d take the spaceplane,” answered Val. “I mean, you gotta admit, we are leaving debris everywhere whenever we launch a pod.” “At what cost?” “You don’t know that.” “The interplanetary travel pod has boasted the highest delta-V capacity of any spacecraft that can carry more than five people in a closed capsule AND has a thrust of over 60 kilonewtons. Consider what you’ll be giving up when you get on one of those planes.” “Look, Bill, let’s face it. You cannot stop them from trying to replace you… I mean, your pod. All you can do is offer your advice on their design trade-offs, but they won’t let you on the design team unless they accept you.” “Good luck with that,” said Bill sarcastically. “I’d rather be in a craft that can get me anywhere.” He said before he started reading. “Wynter Kerman the Fourth has stated that she intends for one of the ‘Throne Planes’ to be able to land on… Tylo. This lady’s getting pretty ambitious.” “Whoa,” gasped Val. “Reusable Tylo ascent and descent vehicles are pretty hard to design, let alone operate. If she can do that, then she can do the Jool-5.” “That’s… her goal,” said Bill, pointing at the article. “I hope she has enough delta-V for her next stop after the orbital ascent.”

It's been done before. You can also build something as absurd as a toilet, like one that @vyznev built last year. I also build some absurd stuff myself, like: An asymmetrical aircraft Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated Replica of a building from the animated TV series Phineas and Ferb You don't necessarily need a rocket to build a base (unless you want to take it somewhere). If you just want to show it off, that's fine. 21-Rocket Salute Vehicle @徐俊睿, I think you would be interested in the Chinese-speaking part of the KSP Forums. The "International" category is specially devoted to non-English speakers who would rather use their own language when asking for help. Of course, the English-speaking players would be more than happy to assist you as well. https://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/index.php?/forum/90-chinese-中文/ Rocket-building can vary in difficulty, depending on your mission purpose. If you're just starting out, there are numerous YouTube tutorials that guide you through starting KSP. I made a couple of them last year for building your first rockets and planes (but I never got past #2). If you can't understand what I'm saying, then you can at least follow what's going on in the video. Wishing you all the best.

FROM THE OFFICE OF WERNHER VON KERMAN It has been officially confirmed that life exists on Laythe. Not only that, it has apparently evolved to the point where it can form seafaring civilizations. The Neptune VII's had logged its last refueling stop on Laythe's southern ice caps and reported no problems landing in the (relative) darkness. Before they landed, they transmitted this photograph with a stunning view of Jool from the sky. After what seems like months of refueling in that frozen biome, the crew took off again and headed north towards the DeGrasse Sea. They made sure to launch when it would be daytime where they were heading. During the ascent, they sent home another postcard-worthy photograph of Jool. After seeing the beauty of the green gas giant (or, what some of the younger employees like to call, the Triple-G), I think we can benefit from selling postcards with these pictures. Perhaps we should put them in our tourist vessels. Then again, how are they going to be sent across the solar system? Electronic transmission? On their way to the sea, the crew saw the island where the Neptune IV was before it made its exit ascent from Laythe. When the crew had arrived in the specified airspace, mission pilot Gusbles Kerman noticed something odd out his cockpit window. While his plane was still ablaze from the supersonic speeds (which, I assure you, pose no threat if he flies it correctly), he leaned over and took a picture from his seat. Those brown dots look like ships, which we certainly DID NOT send to Laythe. The only logical conclusion is that they originated from Laythe. Gusbles then descended over the DeGrasse Sea to get some scientific data from closer to the ocean. During his descent, his sensors picked up what appeared to be a signal flare coming from the water. Samdard had logged that he guessed that the fleet of ships Gusbles saw noticed the plane and used the flares as a means of communicating to other ships about our presence. Green signal flare seen over the horizon. Those Laythan sailors must have some powerful telescopes if they can see the flare from that far. Fortunately, it didn't go high enough to cause any damage to the Neptune VII. Detected to have gone up to 5 km altitude before its vertical velocity turned negative. The plane was 15 km high at the time this picture was taken. Gusbles then changed his heading to avoid the Laythan ships before flying less than 1 km above the DeGrasse Sea. The crew didn't get much data, though (except for goo) since the Neptune V girls had already did a lot of science-harvesting while mapping out potential landing spots. After that, Gusbles turned his plane slightly northwest and flew towards Crater Island in an attempt for obtaining more data. When the Neptune VII had reached the surrounding islands, they detected more flares rising from the surface. It was morning in the area, so one would think that it was a Laythan tradition to fire a wake-up flare or something like that. However, if we connect that with what the kerbals observed with the ships several minutes prior, it seems like that it's a warning signal whenever someone sees our planes. Since no Neptune kerbalnauts reported any attempts to shoot down their spacecraft - except for some whackjob on Kerbin who aimed a laser pointer at the Neptune IV when it was landing - we can reasonably assume that either the Laythans don't perceive the kerbalnauts as a threat or they're just not capable of high-range anti-aircraft combat (or both). We can also assume that they are not capable of long-range communications, as seen by the need to use signal flares to communicate our presence. Since we had not detected satellites orbiting Laythe other than our own, they're probably incapable of space travel. Whether or not they can fly through the air is still a mystery. If they were, how come they didn't show up on our scanners? Better yet, how come the Neptune V kerbalnauts didn't report the Crater Island civilizations when they visited it the first time? Are the Laythans experts in hiding themselves from us, or do Lisa and Givan have something to hide? Meanwhile, the Eelootian story has seemed to repeat itself. Some rookie engineer named Dacan Kerman got herself stranded in the northeastern hemisphere - in an old lander can, no less - and we sent a recently-developed ISRU-capable spacecraft to rescue her. Now the question remains: do we send her straight to Kerbin, or have her stop at Ike first? With these photos as proof, we can tell the public that we know for sure that civilizations exist outside of Kerbin. Internal Investigations will begin questioning Lisa and Givan about their possible encounter with the Crater Island Laythans, but it seems like the Laythans just hid themselves so well that not even they - let alone all our probes - spotted them. Though it's way better than the natives trying to kill us, I would prefer that we establish a friendly relationship with them. After all, if we're going to send kerbalkind to Laythe on a regular basis, we might as well get to know our neighbors. Wernher Von Kerman Year 64, Day 275 0H00M

Thanks to the combined efforts of my Lazybird and the Mass Ore Transport stationed on Eeloo, I rescued a stranded engineer named Dacan Kerman. Making my de-orbit burn while approaching the target. You can see the Ice Canyon in the background here. It took a couple of refueling runs - one with the mass ore transport, and one with an older model with a lower ore capacity - to fill this baby up. Good thing that I put a docking port on the top of the plane, so it can do more than just hang on to the carrier plane. Dacan Kerman in front of a flag after the plane landed 100 meters from the can. I was actually surprised it was the older can model, seeing how it changed after 1.6. Now I just need to refuel this thing on Eeloo's surface before launching into orbit - and having the ore transport refuel it again. After that, the question is: should I go straight to Kerbin, or do I stop at Duna first? KERBIN Pros Get home quicker May save fuel via aerobraking ALSO RISKY Cons Chance of blowing up during aerobraking And I have scientific data in that plane's probe core. May not have enough delta-V for a safe ejection+insertion+landing Aerobraking may also be insufficient, too. DUNA Pros Will require less delta-V Mass ore transport on standby on Ike Cons Take longer to get home What do you think I should do?

GUSBLES KERMAN'S MISSION LOG: Y64D176 - 0H00M Even with the tanks (mostly) full, the controls on this plane are very sensitive. So sensitive, in fact, that I almost crashed my plane 30 seconds after takeoff while turning toward my desired heading. I then gained up to 2 km altitude and flew away, heading towards Sector RT-F. Us at 2.8 km altitude, breaking the sound barrier. For the most part, I should avoid turns. Several minutes later, we flew over the island holding Trident Base. The picture below shows us at ~22 km altitude, flying at 915 m/s. While we were flying there, we just realized: Samdard forgot to repack the drag chutes. On the bright side, the sensitive controls made it easier for us to lose speed mid-air (aside from the airbrakes). As soon as we saw our target island, we slowed down and began our descent. Notice the tiny spot of water in the middle of the island (not the one above engine three). We ended up landing almost ten kilometers away. After we landed, Samdard repacked the chutes and started running towards that lake. I gotta admit the guy's dedication to getting us a lake sample; he ran all the way there all by himself, dove in the pond, got a sample, and ran it back to the plane. He reported feeling cold in that suit. We plan to fly around the moon a little more, but it seems like we won't be getting anything new since the previous missions already had - especially the all-girl mission that jotted down the good landing spots. At best, we could get some goo data that the Neptune IV missed during its tourist run. We could also relay back some advice on how to use the private spaceplane on Laythe. The Neptune VII (our plane) is basically a private spaceplane modified to be carried on another spaceplane - and with its docking capabilities removed. Meanwhile, we had heard that a surface outpost on its way to Eeloo had finally landed somewhere in one of that snowball's canyons. Immediately after Mission Control got confirmation, they accepted an expansion contract and started working on the new module. Inner Canyon base on Eeloo. Yes, I know the ground in this shot is brown and not white. That's just because of the local terrain. Besides, the only other place with medium-dark brown terrain (that I know of) is Moho - which makes it more impressive (unless you account for the temperature regulation design) Notice the docking ports on the sides. That's because whoever paid for this knew that it would be expanded soon after landing. Base prototype with the new module being tested at the KSC. New module also has a large docking port in case we need to attach something there. I don't know how we're going to send bases like this one to Laythe, but I'm sure the engineers back home would figure it out. At least we can send these bases to three of the other Jool moons (no way we're sending them to Tylo), then we can expand our hold on Jool and the celestial bodies orbiting it. I just hope Bop and Pol aren't too bouncy.

Okay, @DRAG0Nmon. Here's my OFFICIAL entry for this challenge. Bedsheetz Further Details And now, for the transport SSTO P-5 Olympian And together, you get a safe flight to a nice hotel high above Kerbin. Complete with nice views of the planet and the night sky, as well as a Minmus-ready mining-capable SSTO.

Sorry, but yes you do. Aw, man. I was going to show off my Jool Ring. Crew capacity: 91 Including 4 science labs (with scientific instruments) ISRU capabilities Six docking ports ~400G relays Kerbnet action group Specifically, the probe core. Has enough delta-V to make it to any of the five moons A docking-capable variant of the Poseidon SSTO connected with the ring station over Laythe. SSTO is mining-capable (regardless of variant) and holds 20 people. Has proven to have landed on Kerbin safely. Though this may not qualify as an entry, I thought I might want to show off what I can do.

Johnknee Kerman was a scientist exploring Laythe's Crater Island (15* 20' 30" N, 65* 22' 24" W), where several animals were photographed in a recon flight. One small dog-like animal in particular caught his attention, then he went over to pet it. Little did he know that it was not only a baby, but its vicious mother was nearby. Johnknee was mauled in seconds, dying after the mother's 20-centimeter claws pierced his heart through his EVA suit. Dr. Kendall Kerman will die from koronavirus.

Hey, @Lewie, I made my own SR-71 Blackbird replica and took it to space. As a bonus, I took some pictures. Spacebird Mk. I The next variant/s will be mining and/or docking-capable. Craft file - https://kerbalx.com/Mars-Bound_Hokie/Spacebird-Mk-I

SAMDARD KERMAN'S MISSION LOG: Y64D147 - 5H00M As expected, we have made it to Laythe in almost half the time as the other spaceplanes before us. Though Bop refueling took way longer than expected, we converted enough fuel for a safe landing. In fact, since we had set our Laythe periapsis to 42 km on approach, we aerobraked through the atmosphere and was lucky enough to land on the sunny side of the moon with some nearby islands. Getting kind of hot in here. Gusbles remembered the hard way that the controls to the plane were very sensitive. That's probably one reason why the spaceplane was carried through Kerbin in the first place. Immediately after we stopped, we went outside and planted a flag before starting to refuel. We still had plenty of Lf in the tank when we landed, thanks to our aerobrake. Before we took off from Bop, we heard about what happened on Duna with Johnfrid and Enmal. Since there have been no signs of them since Mission Control lost contact with the T-6 Cannonball prototype, we'll have to assume the worst. Back on Kerbin, there was a 21-Rocket Salute performed in their honor. I don't know why anyone would accuse Bill of murder-by-notebook; it just sounds ridiculous. After examining the design for the T-6 Cannonball, I will say this: if Bill wanted to kill them, all he had to do was sit back and watch the show. As a general rule, it's not a good idea to send any spaceplanes not specifically designed for Duna through its atmosphere.

Nothing happened; "H Kerman" was an alias. Yuri Kerman will freeze to death on Eeloo.

A 333-part spaceplane-carried spaceplane is NOTHING compared to a 1202-part Jool ring station. If you want to overwork your CPU, you should try that. And if you think my ring's bad for your computer's health, wait until you see @HolidayTheLeek's Aqua-Sama. That craft currently holds the KerbalX record for highest part count (8,450). On an unrelated note, I accepted a contract to expand one of my surface bases. But first, I had to test the expansion module on Kerbin to ensure that docking is possible.

Nice job, and I certainly see the appeal (except for the lack of safety railings). Now, here's MY efficient spacecraft launcher: A spaceplane that carries a spaceplane Just return the large plane when you're done. The main spaceplane (the one that's being carried) has 4,975 m/s of delta-V once detached. Craft file: https://kerbalx.com/Mars-Bound_Hokie/Lazybird

Finally, after seven (in-game) years, I completed my Eeloo outpost contract. Landed inside one of Eeloo's canyons, explaining why the ground underneath is brown. Craft file: https://kerbalx.com/Mars-Bound_Hokie/Eeloo-Outpost

Have you tried this:

Welcome to the KSP Forums, @SpaceDave1337. When you start a thread in the Spacecraft Exchange, it is best to take pictures/video of your craft in action.