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Alright - so you're in career; from the sound of it, you've unlocked Survivability and General Rocketry on Tier 2, but not necessarily Stability. I'm assuming you've gotten no farther than that. First off - forget asparagus. You need fuel lines for that, and those won't become available until Fuel Systems on Tier 4. It's serial or nothing. Let's talk design first: CSM/LANDER Mk1 Command Pod x1 Mk2-R Radial Parachute x2 (set these port and starboard on the command pod) Mystery Goo Containment Unit x2 (around the bast of the command pod) TR-18A Stack Decoupler x1 FL-T400 Fuel Tank x1 LV-909 Liquid Fuel Engine x1 Modular Girder Segment x4 (set these radially as close to the bottom of your craft as you can get them) LT-1 Landing Struts x4 (set these on the ends of the girders - we're trying to widen the base of the ship when you go to land). This is what I crudely call a "Phallus 7" design; it's about as basic of a direct ascent lander as you can get. 5.1 tonnes, 1904.68 m/s of delta-V - which is just enough to get down, up and back to Kerbin. A transfer stage to go from Kerbin to the Mün needs 1070 m/s give or take. So that piece looks like this: TR-18A x1 FL-T400 Fuel Tank x1 LV-909 x1 That'll actually give you 1116.82 m/s of delta-V. It just remains then to get that into orbit. Try this: TR-18A x1 9 stacks of: =FL-T400x6 =FL-T200x1 (Set one centerline, eight radially - use Modular Girder Segments to attach). LV-T45 x1 (center stack) LV-T30 x8 (outboard stacks) That'll get you 4577.49 m/s of delta-V and a 1.32 launch TWR. You might have to turn on parts clipping (ALT-F12) to get it to work. This single stage rocket is the least efficient means of getting your payload up, but at least it will be relatively simple to build. Okay. So launch - straight up to 10k, then 090 at 45 degrees elevation until you're at T-35 seconds to apoapsis. Then follow your prograde vector. If you fall below T-30 to apoapsis at any time, return to 45 degrees elevation. Above T-60 to apoapsis, begin burning along the horizon. Burn until your apoapsis is up around 110,000 meters or so. All the while, watch your gee meter - you want to throttle back occasionally such that the needle stays right at the top of the green section of the gauge (not above it). Once you're out of atmosphere, set up your maneuver node and burn for orbit when you're ready. You'll probably want to do that at about 1/3 thrust. Dump the booster once you're in orbit. Next, align your map view so that you're looking at it top down, and target the Mün. Set it up so that if the top of the screen is 12:00, the Mün is somewhere around 3:30 or so (about 100 degrees from the top going clockwise). Set up a node at the 6:00 position and pull prograde until you get an encounter. Use the data from the maneuver node to time it - you want roughly half your burn to occur both before and after the node. You might want to light your transfer stage engine and fire it up for a few seconds before you get there; it won't throw things off too far and it'll give you a better time estimate. Burn when the time comes and adjust as necessary. When you get to the Mün's SOI, burn retrograde at periapsis to establish orbit. You want to get it relatively close - 14k is good. Pick a landing site, burn to deorbit, and dump the transfer stage. Here's the tricky bit - quicksave (F5) before you begin (and F9 to quickload after a foul-up). Go IVA and find your radar altimeter - the gauge that looks like this: Keep an eye on it until the needle starts twitching. Then burn retrograde. Make sure your speedometer is set to "Surface" mode (click on the word portion of the speedometer if it isn't. Lower your lander legs if you haven't already. You want to burn off most of your velocity at this point. When it gets to 50 m/s, back off the throttle to 2/3, then 1/3 at 20 m/s. The retrograde marker should approach the center of the blue portion of the nav ball. Kill your burn at that point and go back to your radar altimeter. Watch it until you're 500 meters over the deck, then burn hard again - use the radar altimeter to get an estimate on where the ground is. Get your speed below 10 m/s and keep it there once you're within 100 meters. Throttle down when you hit the surface. Watch your fuel during this process - if you go below 80 liquid fuel units at any time, abort the landing and head back to Kerbin; you should have just enough fuel to make it back. Hopefully one of these suggestions covers your needs; let us know how it turns out.

Yep, forgot to talk about that.

I do recall, that I did have a KSP dream-no, it was a nightmare. So, basically, I was the Administrator of the KSP Space Agency. I have this office in the Mission Control Center and have his really neat and accurate model of my Munshot rocket sitting on my desk. So, I'm at this presentation by some Kerbal who I suppose is in charge of the budgets, and he shows that my agencies next annual budget is on a downward track (And have you ever heard Kerbal groan? It sounds so human), and we won't have enough funds to do our Vall driller probe thingy. Oh, and we'll be having to cut our next proposed Duna orbiter mission. And our next proposed space telescope. But hey, we still have manned spaceflight capability to our spacestation, right? Wrong. Apparently, we'll have to abandon our plans for a Munar base and an extra module to our station. Some Kerbal in the back is apparently enraged by this, and storms out of the room. I follow. I then leave the room, and this Kerbal walks up to me and offers me a contract. I'm wondering "Huh?", and he says he wants to send a Kerbal on a Duna flyby mission soon. I say yes, and then talk with Wehner (My deputy) and some other people. They say (rather sadly) that I won't have money. And then I suddenly realize the budget cut had destroyed our efforts for beyond Kerbin orbit exploration and will likely delay our Mars ship lander mission. I wake up, and look at NASA news. Inspiration Mars just got its funding denied by NASA. Freaky.

Dug up this post from yesterday, when the Terra Nova, the first Kerbal starship, returned from her 3-year expedition in interstellar space. Do you know why interstellar travel is a subject that Squad refuses to talk about? I think I've just figured out. And yes, Kerbin, Eve, and Duna orbited in a straight line.

I usually put 8-10 because you're going to be launching more stuff. (sats, ships, probes,) and you're going to want them ALL to talk to each other. So the more, the better.

Antarctica gain ice then moist air reach the antarctic highland. Note that most of Antarctica is dry as Sahara, just millimeters with snow each year. Antarctica loose ice as its pushed into the sea. Increasing the temperature around Antarctica should increase the ice thickness as you get more humidity, lots of sea ice around it and the snow will fall on it. How much ice fall into the sea depend on the ice thickness as thicker ice will move faster. Yes you also have ice going directly into vapor this increases with higher temperature, dryer air and more sunlight, however its an decent chance that this will fall down on the highlands again. In short, its very plausible that Antarctica will gain more ice if it become warmer, this ice will go back to the sea 50-1000 years from now. Where is the sea rising? Note I talk about sea rising, not land getting lower as you pump out the ground water, Note that IPCC talked about an 20 cm sea level increase in 2100. An raising sea level will show up pretty equal all over.

Bill and Jeb's Awesome Trip (The Kerbalizer includes bowler hats, which gave me what is probably a terrible idea.... And this preface is something I've had planned since I first put the rover on the Dunan-X mission. With apologies to Samuel Beckett.) Dosby, sitting on a low dune, is trying to take off his boot. He pulls at it with both hands, panting. He gives up, exhausted, rests, tries again. As before. Dosby: "Nothing to be done." Luton: "I'm starting to agree with you. All my life I've been chasing something, and yet here we land, surrounded by nothing." Luton removes his helmet, looks about the inside of it quizzically, then returns it to his head. "What are you doing?" Dosby: "Taking off my boot. Did that never happen to you?" Luton: "To me? Absurd. Boots must always be taken off, just never when there's so much dust about." Luton takes off his helmet again, turns it upside down and shakes. "Funny." He taps on the crown of it as though to dislodge something, looks at the inside of it, feels around for a bit, then gives up and puts it back on. "How's your foot?" Dosby: "Swelling visibly." Luton: "Well that's bound to happen with the thin air." Dosby: "Let's go." Luton: "We can't." Dosby: "Why not?" Luton: "We're waiting for Bob." Dosby: "Oh." (Pause) "You sure it was here?" Luton: "He said by the rock." They both look at the rock. "Do you see any other?" Dosby: "Well, yes. Everywhere I look. All I see are rocks!" (Pause) "Wait, what did we ask him for?" Luton: "Who?" Dosby: "Bob." Luton: "Oh.... Nothing very definite." Luton paces about, glancing at the rock in a hostile fashion, pauses, and then points down the hill. "Wait, what's that?" Dosby: "Is it him?" Luton: "Are we saved?" (Enter Jeb and Lucky. Jeb drives Lucky from his seat on the front left of the rover. He stops short, causing a great deal of clatter and noise from the soft ground and loose bits of kit on the rover.) Jeb: "Hey, you two want to go for a ride?" Dosby: (To Luton) "Is that him?" Luton: "Who?" Dosby: "Bob?" Jeb: "No, I'm Jeb." (Silence) "Jebediah?" (More silence.) "Does that name mean nothing to you?" Dosby and Luton look at each other questioningly. Dosby: "We are not from these parts, sir." Jeb: "You are Kerbals, none the less. Look, me and Bill were going to take Lucky here down to that big impact crater, and wanted to know if you'd like to ride along. On Lucky's back, perhaps?" Dosby walks up to Lucky and kicks a tire with his bare foot, bruising it badly. "Ouch!" Luton: "Well what did you expect, you old fool? Get up." Luton looks at Dosby. Looks to Jeb. Looks back to Dosby and shakes his head disapprovingly. He looks around at the landscape. "Will night never come?" All three look up at the sky. Dosby, having got back up after hurting his foot: "Nothing happens, nobody comes, nobody goes, it's awful!" Jeb: "Look, I don't know what the two of you are up to, but I need to be off. If you need anything, let Shepson know. Ok?" (Exit Jeb and Lucky. While leaving, a spare helmet falls off Lucky and is deposited in the nearby dirt.) Dosby: "What do we do now?" Luton: "I don't know." Dosby: "Let's go." Luton: "We can't. We're waiting for Bob." Dosby: "Oh." -- "I'm just not sure, Shepson. Those two are crazier than me!" Jebediah hadn't bothered to climb down from the rover, and just watched as Bill loaded up snacks for their trip. "Make any progress on the engine repairs?" "Yes and no. No throttle control yet, but we've got on/off working. It would probably be enough to get us to the transfer tug in orbit, assuming Melke and Mattlock are still there. Or alive." "Ok, good. The next return window opens in a few Munths. Hopefully we can get the comms working by then." Jeb helped Bill up into the seat (quite a climb for a small Kerbal) then released the rover's brakes. "Shepson, just keep an eye on those two. We'll be back in a few days." Bill was barely buckled in when Jeb pulled away. "I packed a bunch of extra flags, just in case we want to mark our path. Breadcrumbs and such." "Nifty! Let's rock!" This was the first long trip they'd taken since Jeb and Shepson repaired the rover. Whatever had knocked out the computers aboard the Dunan-X also damaged most of the automated systems aboard Lucky. They had to salvage parts from the self-righting "legs" from the back to repair the Dunan-X, and wired the motors directly to the controls in Jeb's seat. Most of the secondary systems and remote operator controls were gone for good, but they wouldn't need those with Jeb at the helm! Their destination was the large Hellas-like impact crater, about 80km south of the Dunan-X landing site. The terrain between them and the edge of the basin was relatively flat, but then the elevation drops to about 300m in the basin, and rises back to 4km to the twin peaks in the center. The first stop was the small hill to the southwest of the lander, the furthest anyone had driven to date. “Little Red Hill†they'd been calling it. Bill let Jeb plant this flag. He looked back to the distant Dunan-X for a few moments while Jeb ran around playing in the red sands. "We've been here what, now? Five Kerbin years? Six since we left home, and this is the first time we'll be out if sight of that ship." "Exciting! Isn't it?" "Not especially. Not with you driving. Horrifying, perhaps." "Bah! C'mon, let's get rolling. We need to reach the edge of the basin by nightfall." Jeb's driving was as reckless as ever, and he would often catch air after cresting a dune. Bill was already wearing out the armrests on his chair, holding on for dear life, though occasionally he couldn't help but smile. They made it to the rim of the impact basin in no time. "We should name this place something cool!" "It's already got a name, Jeb. Red Impact something." "Something like Hellas Hole. Or maybe Twin Peaks." "Let's just stick to the books. The ancient Kerbal astronomers named most of these places centuries ago." Bill rummaged around in his bags until he found the large Rand-McKerman atlas. He opened to the pages for Duna and pointed to their location. "See, Red Impact Basin." "You're no fun at all sometimes!" -- They camped at the rim's edge, preparing themselves for the slowest and most dangerous part of the trip. With the self-righting mechanism broken they couldn't risk flipping the rover. And with the loose sands they couldn't keep traction driving downhill. So they had to zig and zag down the edge of the basin, descending 3.5km over the 20km distance. That didn't stop Jeb from occasionally being Jeb. They made one more stop a bit further down, where the slope leveled out a bit before getting much steeper. From here they could see the entire basin below them, and most of the climb up the peaks at the middle. They planted flag and named it "Red Basin View." A long, even slower descent was ahead of them. The air at the basin bottom was thick enough to breathe, but neither felt like taking off their helmets. The soil itself was still mostly sand, but felt thicker and heavier. "There's a good chance there's some water ice trapped in this sand, Jeb. Pretty thick stuff." Bill was digging a hole with his boot, kicking the lighter sand aside to reveal a darker, thicker soil beneath. “Might even be able to plant something here. There's probably enough CO2 in the air.†"Ok. Go ahead and grab a sample. We'll have to drive through the basin again when we head back to the ship, but I expect that'll be further east and higher up." "We aren't camping here tonight?" "Nope! I wanna make summit by sunrise. Driving uphill is easy!" Night was on them before Bill could plant the flag. Twilight wasn't as short as at higher elevations, but the thin atmosphere did nothing to refract light down to them. Jeb pushed on through the dark, the sands in front of them illuminated by the rover's headlights and their helmet lights. The driving along the basin bottom and up into the hills wasn't bad at all. At first. "Look, Bill, I said I'm sorry! What more do you want?" "Just get this thing upright again so I can get out of this seat! How did you manage to plant it straight up and down like this anyway?" "Talent! Just hold on while I smack into it with my jetpack." The rover crashed over after one hit, landing with a dull crash. They recomposed themselves, repacked all the junk that was scattered about, and took a few minutes to rest. For some reason Jeb decided to name the place "Camp 27." It was only their second campsite. They set out in plenty of time to make summit by sunrise. They stopped at the highest peak first, West Peak at 4km, and made it to the East Peak just in time to catch a unique sunrise / eclipse combination. (Both Bill and Jeb) "Wow." Perfect spot for a long nap, so they made camp at summit. Bill tried to reach Shepson on his suit radio to tease him, but 80km without line of sight was a bit much to ask. Especially with the ship's comms still down and a limited ionosphere to bounce radio signals back down. A few minutes later something crackled back on the radio. Bill was drifintg off to sleep, and wasn't sure if he'd really heard it. "Orbiter calling Dunan-X Lander. We received your earlier transmission. Please respond." "Matlock?!" Bill kicked Jeb to wale him up. "Jeb! Get up! It's Matlock!" "Ghrunh??" Jeb rolled over and went back to sleep. "Read you loud and clear, Billy boy. We've just now got the radios working, and hadn't heard a peep from anyone yet. How'd the two of you get yourselves all the way down to that crater?" "We drove! Had to fix up the rover, but Shepson took care of that." Bill kicked Jeb again, this time eliciting an angry response. "I'm up already!" "Where are you? Still in the same orbit?" Bill motioned to get Jeb's attention, then pointed upwards and mouthed out "Matlock." Jeb just looked back, sleepy, angry and confused. "More or less. We'll be passing over the horizon here in a bit. We're hoping to get at least one of the satellites back online soon, which should allow us to stay in contact more consistently. Concensus is they're probably just safed. No word from Kerbin yet. We'll call you back in a (static)..." Jeb, still sleepy, yawned and sat up. "Which ghost was that?" "You're hopeless, Jeb. Go back to sleep." -- The Orbiter crew called back next orbit, and filled Bill and Jeb in on their status. So far they hadn't been able to get the engines online, and their computers were still down. Life support aboard the orbiter was run directly from an RTG, but nothing else. Including the lights. They had spent the last several years with only intermittent sunlight and their helmet lights to work from. They also mentioned another signal they'd been picking up. A faint beeping noise, coming from somewhere a few kilometers south of Bill and Jeb on the peak. That's where Bill and Jeb found the rover. "It's not the first time I've seen something like this." Jeb poked around under the little robot's solar panels, looking for signs of life. Nothing. Just enough power to keep it faintly beeping. "They asked me not to talk about it." "About what? This rover?" "No. About what I found on the Mun. The other flags. The other probes. The other landers. All left there by another me. Said if I talked, they'd label me as space crazed and lock me up." "Wow." Bill thought it was a stretch to imply Jeb wasn't crazy, but.... "OK, so what do we do about this one?" "Nothing. Plant a flag and go back to the ship. We'll report it if we ever get the comms to Kerbin working again." "Ooh! Look at the skycrane wreckage!" Jeb wasted no time, and ran straight for the pile of crushed and twisted metal. In no time he was jumping up and down on the wreckage. "Sounds like there's still a bit of fuel!" "Didn't seem to make it very far. Wonder why we'd send a rover to a spot halfway up the side of a mountain?" "Who knows. Probably some important rock nearby.†They both glanced over to the large stone they'd parked Lucky next to, then shrugged their shoulders. “Let's get back to the ship and help Shepson with repairs. I wanna go home!" The trip back was completely uneventful. They worked around the East Peak, dropping down to the basin bottom before heading straight up to the rim elevation. Easy driving from there back to the Dunan-X. total distance covered? No idea. But the rover was a bit more than 90km form the ship. Probably drove a total of 250km just to get there, with all the zig-zagging. -- (Back at the rock with Dosby and Luton.) Luton: “How they've changed.†Dosby, still on the ground wrestling with the boot on his other foot. “Who?†Luton: “Those two.†Dosby: “I suppose, but I don't know them.†Luton: “Yes you do know them. We know them. You forget everything.†(Pauses. To himself.) “Unless they're not the same....†Dosby: “Why didn't they recognize us then?†Continues wrestling with his other boot. “Ow! Ow!†He hobbles off towards the rock, but collapses and falls over, still trying to remove his boot. Shepson (offstage): “Dosby?†Dosby halts. Both look to the voice. Luton: “Approach, my child.†(Enter Shepson, boldly. He stops before the two.) Shepson: “I'm not your child, you loon.†Luton: “What is it? You have a message from Mr Bob?†Shepson: “No, why would I? Look, Jeb called on the radio a little while ago and said he and Bill would make it back sometime in the morning. Also, Matlock and Melke got their radios working in orbit, and seem to be ok. They all wanted me to check in on you.†Luton: “Haven't I seen you before?†Shepson: “Of course. We flew here together.†Luton: “It wasn't you that came yesterday?†Shepson: (To himself.) “Hopeless.†Dosby: “Speak up, boy!†Shepson: “Look, Jeb was right about you two. You're both completely nutters. Bob hasn't called, hasn't sent any notes, and as far as I know isn't coming. If you two won't come back to the ship, at least put your boots back on. I'm going back now.†(Exit Shepson.) Dosby: “At last!†Dosby finally removes his other boot. He gets up and goes toward Luton, a boot in each hand. He puts them down at the edge of the rock, and contemplates the stars in the sky. Luton: “What are you doing?†Dosby: “Thinking on the lack of a moon. I thought it would have risen by now.†Luton: “Your boots, what are you doing with your boots?†Dosby, turning to look at his boots. “I'm leaving them there. Another will come, just as me, but with smaller feet, and they'll make him happy.†Luton: “But you can't go barefoot!†Dosby: “Bob did. All my life I've compared myself to him.†Luton: “But where he lived it was warm, it had air!†Dosby: “Yes, and they crucified him quick.†Luton: “Huh?†(Pauses.) “We have nothing more to do here.†Dosby: “Nor anywhere else.†Luton: “Let's go.†They do not move. Night falls, casting the pair and the rock and Dosby's boots in total darkness.

Hi Sumghai, thanks for giving us such a well-designed set of station parts! I'm especially a fan of the IACBM ports and their artistic details. I don't think I'll ever go back to the welded-beer-keg stock stations! Looks like there's some talk about the collision mesh of the IACBM's - I had a slightly different question about them. I understand that eventually the wings on the ports will serve to automatically align them during docking. As currently designed, they can be toggled between two different angles to provide complementary interlocking shapes. Instead of toggling the wings between 0-degree and 45-degree angles, however, would it be easier to fix them at 22.5-degrees? This would still allow for docking ships at 0, 90, 180, and 270-degree orientations, but use a static collision mesh. Cheers again for a great mod!

Since I usually go way overkill on the control wheels, my ASAS doesn't actually talk. Instead, it makes a sound when I engage it. Something like:

Yes, a brochure from a website whose name, "climatechange2013," suggests no bias whatsoever is certainly the definitive proof of consensus within scientific community. How about something that, at least, cites sources, so we can talk about where the numbers are coming from and whether they are reliable?

This kinda went down another branch from the same tree slightly with all the talk of pressure and material strengths, when the core of the debate is, would a vacuum balloon work? After reading many of your posts I think it just might, might not be cost effective or very useful, but it would work. I really like that mesh idea. What if we take it a bit further? Surround this mesh with a very light, extremely elastic, material that is airtight. In a vacuum the "Vacballoon" is fully inflated due to the mesh pushing against the inside of the elastic material, but when the "Vacballoon" is brought down into the atmosphere the elastic material collapses and compresses the mesh until it is so compressed it is also airtight and extremely strong, attach the "Vacballoon" to a payload of some type, release, and it would work in the opposite direction until the buoyancy vs weight equalized, then the payload would have to get to orbital velocity from there under its own power, likely a rocket. @The submarine vacuum ballast thing, I understand that it is a pressure issue with the current design and a vacuum would cause the current design to collapse, but I was wondering why they designed it with air instead of vacuum. If the sub is designed with vacuum in mind instead of air, you would probably save space, the ballast tanks would not need to be so big due to the extra buoyancy, you wouldn't have to worry about the deeper you go the more pressure needed inside the ballast to counter thing, and the ballast tanks would probably be denser and therefor stronger than current tank types. I'm not sure if that extra density would counteract the gain in buoyancy. But there were two things that make air a better choice that I can't really counter with vacuum, the ability to provide breathing air for the submariners, and a powerless ascent method. Just some more food for thought, and it makes me wonder if they actually tested some of these ideas somewhere, maybe just in a computer simulation, but actually tested them and found one better for the current situation than another and never looked back.

Our agriculture is dependent upon farming machines. We have neither land nor human resources to produce sufficient food for the population without burning fossil fuels. Ditto the distribution networks. In large cities, the cost of food is directly tied to energy costs. As gasoline prices increase, so do the prices at the store by almost the same fraction. So the costs of completely taking out fossil fuels right now? Complete and total devastation. Just petroleum? That would account for roughly a third of emissions, and we would end up without sustainable agriculture or transportation. Transportation accounts for over 70% of petroleum consumption in U.S. We can talk efficiency. US is really bad in that regard. Liberally, energy consumption percapita in the US can be roughly halved. This requires a total rehaul of the infrastructure, however. If we start now, we can roughly balance off the consumption growth rate with improvements in efficiency. It will cost a lot of money, however. So yeah, halting growth of CO2 output would cost a lot to the economy, making it more difficult to spend money on research we need to switch to other energy sources. Trying to reduce CO2 output would result in food cost inflation and starvation even in the U.S. I'm not even going to bring up third world where food is already a problem. But then again, they don't contribute as much to the total output, so we really can limit discussion to U.S., Europe, and China. No, we do not have consensus. Criteria for consensus require an established model, which we do not have. The fact that there is still a significant percentage of publications being made in peer-reviewed journals that show lack of anthropogenic cause to global climate change is a direct reflection of the lack of consensus. Try to understand, scientific community doesn't work by majority vote.

Sorry, but why is that¿ It's not the farming and its backing chemical industry that causes it (apart from some effecty by cattle, which are not giving that much food anyway). It's mainly (post)industrial lifestyle causing it. And a lot of the suggested things are not even prohibiting those to continue. And I understand very well what I talk about there. I also don't see how those scientists are doing this for the scare at all (are you seriously claiming that a very relevant amount of those scientists does that¿ And that even back when it was essentially unpolitical they did just because... they can¿). You have not debunked my argument in any way: what do we have experts for if not exactly to be able to tell us what will happen¿ How does it make sense to have experts, but then as soon as it is against your believes suddenly requireing almost everyone to be well educated in it first¿ It's just a huge waste of ressources to educate everyone properly of this (and of any other matter that requires some level of expertise), as the same results can always be found by a minority of experts. And honestly, are you requiring the same amount of evidence for things you want to believe; and are you ready to require similiar amounts of effort in other important matters (medical research, for example)¿ So please stop just iterating a claim that I blindly follow what some people say; those people are exactly those that spent decades on researching this, and a huge majority of those that did are in agreement. It is their damn job to know this and it is my job to know my area of research.

I've read it somewhere that Kerbal Space Program is a persistent world game, like Simcity and other similar games. I'm not here to talk about what persistent world means, but the games referenced gives me an idea of how career mode can be structured. Kerbal Space Program, in my opinion, is a construction and management simulation at its core. Other games of similar nature (which are not quite Simcity but screw it, I'm using them as examples) include Tropico, Zoo Tycoon, Theme Park, Age of Empires etc., and in them, most new missions in campaign/story mode basically goes like this: -You start off in a mostly empty world, devoid of any sign of the previous world you played in. -Most of the tech/building/perks are locked, even if you've unlocked them in a previous scenario. -Similar to above, you start with very little resources, no matter how much you amass previously. -You're free to build however you want, use any strategy you like, but there's a specific requirement (and sometimes restriction) for finishing that mission. KSP's career mode could work like that; you start off every mission in a clean solar system, lowest tech, no science nor reputation/prestige, very little money, and you basically build your space program from the ground up every time. Every mission is basically a chapter of the overall story; from the humble beginning of Kerbal Space Program, to its growth, the turmoil, the rise, whatever, and culminating in the final chapters requiring your full knowledge and skill of rocket science to finish. Of course, re-earning science to unlock things you have previously unlocked may sound ridiculous, but so does amassing 500 citizen/visitors to unlock a large toilet or something every time, and it worked just fine for those kind of games. It won't be 'career' per se (maybe another mode?), and it may have to remove or limit some add-on functionality to work, but I think it fits very good with the game. Any thoughts?

Yeah, but I don't see the point of scaring population with a dubious global problem when there are very real local problems that can be identified and fixed directly. Effects of human population on local pollution are easy to test. Which means that not only do we know for sure that these problems exist, but we know which actions are causing them, and how bad the impact is. So we know what we should do differently to have a much better local environment at minimal impact to economy. With global effects, even if I fiat you that we are causing significant damage to global environment, how do you decide what reasonable limitations to our activities are? No two models agree on how much is too much, and as I've pointed out, many models suggest that we aren't even close to doing significant damage. These are the models that I find more believable. So how do we decide on the plan of action? Environmental movement should have stuck with local climate. That's where they have done a lot of good, and where a lot of good can still be done. Not even close. Evolution was predicted based on general taxonomy, then confirmed with archaeological findings, and beyond doubt confirmed with genetics. Moreover, there are controlled experiments in the field of genetics that test evolution. You will not find a serious biologist, who is not a complete crackpot, that has doubts of evolution. Environmental community is split. Yes, over 90% of publications are saying that humans are causing global climate change. Unfortunately, very few of these are in agreement on exactly how this effect works. Most of these papers are just total tripe. Lets do it this way. You point me to a specific paper, and we talk about the specific claims of the paper. That's how scientific debate works. Saying, "97% of scientists agree..." sounds like a toothpaste commercial. I've looked for good papers on climate. I have not found a single analysis that holds water both computationally and in terms of its assumptions that suggests that we can currently cause significant change to global temperatures. If you find me such a paper, I will do a 180° turn on the spot. I am a scientist, and as a scientist, I'll only change my position based on evidence. Not peer or political pressure. Unfortunately, this is a dying trend among scientists these days.

Chapters Chapter One Chapter Two Prologue United Pronvincal Ballistic Rocket Research Center The sun rose over the mountains as the launch preparations for the new rocket began. A mass of fuel tanks and engines thrown together at a moments notice, the rocket still represented the best that Kerbin-or, atleast, the United Provinces could offer. Wehner looked at the pad, at the small rocket standing glistening in the sun. The words UPDF were scrambled on the side, and a engineer was securing two fuel tanks together. The LV-909 engine stood on the bottom of the spacecraft, the newest breakthrough in engine propulsion-well, that is, until his team on the LV-45 would report in. A truck arrived, bearing fuel, and the engineer and another Kerbal ran out and began to fuel the rocket. "The Kraken-8 represents the best in rocket technology... Actually, other than modified Q-4 rockets we got during the Big War, we have no rocket technology." The scientist kept silent, fingering the medal the Great Leader had given him during the war. Bobfred approached him with a stack of papers, and set them on his desk, and went out to grab a cup of coffee. Wehner looked down at the papers. He looked back up. The first rays of sunlight where peeking over the mountaintops now. Hopefully the test payload was secured along with the control unit, and the rocket won't fall apart and lose control in mid-air. The Rocketry Research Division needed a success to get their funding, after all- the Parliament kept threatening budget cuts if the Kraken-8 wasn't completed in time for action in the Bali Insurrection or something...it didn't matter. He'll show them. Bobfred entered the room. "Bobfred." "Sir?" "Please go perform a full system and structural check on the rocket." "Yes sir." "And once you're done, head over to the local Kerbucks and get me a kappuccino. Extra sugar, not decaf. Frozen, with whipped cream. Oh, plus twenty of their glazed doughnuts. Large. I need to restock the Employee lounge." "Yes sir. I'll get it. Back onto the launch pad, Gene was securing the last of the bolts. He had heard about the first Kraken-8 test flight, and he didn't want it to happen again. After all, the last one did almost get him laid off before he even started his job, until Wehner intervened and managed to cajole/beg/bribe Parliament into approving another million for the Airforce Rocket Division....that was enough for another month-and that was if this flight was successful. A 23-million annual budget gets you nowhere, after all. The screwdriver stopped shaking, and he took it out and patted the bolt. "Keep in there, little piece o'metal, and I'll get to support my family another year." "Gene!" "Huh?" Bobfred ran up to him, panting and gasping for breath. The rocket was shining in the early morning now. "What's with Wehner? He hasn't left the main Headquarters for a while." "There's air conditioning there..." "Oh." "Gene, can you check over everything? Wehner wants to be sure." "Ok." Bobfred then ran off toward the employee parking lot mumuring something about frozen coffee with extra sugar and twenty glazed donuts. Gene bent down, making sure the bolts where secure. He opened a small panel, and stuck in a metal rod. It came out wet, stick with some black substance. "That's good. Fuel full." He closed the panel, and secured the bolts one last time. Bending down, he felt the engine, and checked it over for cracks and dents in the bell. Nothing. This rocket was ready for launch. Another truck arrived, and several workers exited, and started carrying large red supports. "Hello, I've managed to deliver your order from Jebediah's Metalworks. Nice day today, isn't it? Now, where should be put them?" "Uh, arrange them around the rocket, activate them, and attach them to the fuselage." "Got it!" The workers put the launch clamps around the rocket and fastened them to the pad, before activating them and driving off into the distance. Jebediah...had he heard that name before? Wasn't he that cheery (And slightly insane) young airforce officer who came here one day and asked them if they had a space program, and if he could be a astronaut? No matter, there was work to be done. Gene climbed a clamp, and started to secure it to the rocket. After aligning the suction cups and structural parts, he sighed. One down, three more to go. He clambered down, and went to work on another clamp. After this, he had to touch up the paint job. It was still morning. Back at the building, Wehner worked on his plans. Well, plans that would come to fruition if Parliament ever made a space agency. Even the current Missile research agency was criminally underfunded. And their funding was on a downwards spiral. He needed a success. "Sir! The Kraken-8 is ready for launch! And I got your coffee! They ran out of donuts, though, so I got fifteen." Bobfred stood there, grinning. Wehner motioned for him to come in. "We'll launch right now. Tell Gene to hurry up, and set the engine ignition timer to Five Minutes." "Got it. Can we get one of those little devices that you talk in and other people can hear you? Like the ones we see in old war movies of the Big War?" "They cost money. We don't have money. Besides, you have to exercise. Now get out there and tell him!" "Yes sir!" Bobfred ran out, and rushed outside, cursing the Parliament under his breath. The budget was a issue. Wehner looked at the watch. He had a appointment with the Secretary of Defense in a couple hours. Outside, two Kerbals scurried off the launch pad. The timer was set. It was almost noon. The few engineers in the building would be at their posts now, watching and waiting for the launch. Over the only radio in the entire center, he could hear excited chatter amongst the scientists in the control room as the timer slowly counted down. Picking up his papers and a pen, he opened the door and went down the stairwell to join in the excitement. Five minutes later, the little rocket hurled toward the sky, blazing fire and smoke out of its engine. Wehner went to the telemetry station, and immediately began to observe the information coming from the craft. The altitude started to rise, and the speed picked up as the little rocket soared towards the sky. Several engineers looked out the window, watching as the glowing streak of light slowly disappeared as the rocket soared above the clouds, leaving a trail of smoke. "So, I think the gasoline and sulfur combination worked." "Sulfur?" "Yes. Gasoline as main fuel, sulfuric acid as oxidizer. By the way, what's the odd smell in this room?" "Uh....." Gene got up and left, and so did the smell. A second later, he poked his head into the room. "I'm going to take a shower. Be right back." "Smells so much better now." "Engine burnout in five secon-now." "Apogee?" "105 Kilometers. It'll land several hundred kilometers away." "105KM?" "Yes." The control room cheered as rocket neared its Apogee. In space. But that wasn't the only reason they cheered. This would secure funding for some time, and they had families to support with a hefty paycheck, after all. Telemetry ceased from the first stage-the decoupler had fired, and the test payload was now plummeting back to Kerbin. Wehner was tense, slowly chewing on the ice cubes in his finished coffee. The heat shield was the only part they had not tested. "Reentry in five..four...three...two..one!" All telemetry ceased from the payload as it dove through the atmosphere. Some numbers came in, but they where scrambled. Suddenly, the temperature dropped, and the craft fell through the clouds, toward the small recovery ships below. Telemetry resumed. Loud cheering could be heard in the control room, and the parachutes opened, readying the Kraken-8's payload for a splashdown. Wehner looked at the readouts joyfully, and back at the smoke plume that the first stage had left, growing fainter and fainter by the second. Gene returned from his shower. "I'm back! What happened?" "Mission Accomplished, Gene. Mission Accomplished." A thousand kilometers away, the test payload bobbled in the waves as a recovery ship secured it with ropes and nets. The captain of the vessel watched as his sailor hoisted the small craft out of the water, then looked above toward the stars. This was only the beginning.

Talk about threading the needle! I thought the mun arch was hard and it is easily 100% larger and oh my lord that 1:1 orbit mmmmhhhhhhmmmmmm

DMagic, that's a great report, thanks for that. To confirm, you talk about landing an unmanned unit. With a seat on top, do you see that managing to circularise an orbit and make a return?

Well, this is embarrassing. Somehow I managed to duplicate the post before this. Since I don't know how to delete it, I guess I'll just make use of it with a little more storytelling... Meanwhile, Mission Control was in a raucous. "They did WHAT?!" the mission control head, Northstar Kerman, asked. "You mean to tell me that they headed all the way out to EIGHTY-TWO THOUSAND KILOMETERS before they made their transfer burn?!" "That's what they did sir" replied one of his subordinates. "That's UNBELIEVABLE. Do you have ANY idea how much fuel they wasted?" "We're more than aware sir" came the reply. Northstar Kerman was angrier than he had been in as long as anyone at Mission Control could remember. Fortunately for the Kerbals of the Duna Crew Module, he was also well-known for being quick to calm down... "Alright," said Northstar, rubbing his temples "How much fuel do they have left- and what's their trajectory? Patch me through to the Duna Crew Module on the double." Northstar had worked long and hard to oversee the design and construction of the Duna Colonization Flotilla. It was supposed to be Kerbalkind's finest hour- not only their first putting boots on the ground of, but also their first settlement of another planet or moon outside the Kerbin system. The last thing he wanted to see was this effort go up in smoke, after all the effort he and so many others had invested in it. He also wasn't sure the Kerbal Space Program could ever afford another set of missions like this if this effort ended badly. Everything was riding on the mission's success. Fortunately, after a long talk with the Kerbals on the Duna Crew Module, it was clear both to them and to Mission Control that the mission still had a robust chance at success- and that no more of the kind of the foolish impatience that had led to this mess would be tolerated...

Slight correction. First post of the thread, fairly easy to miss if you're not paying attention, I had to hunt for it a bit to find this quote: [edit] for those looking to change that, there was talk of it a page or two back.

Not rocket scientists, engineers! In my experience scientists can and do read(talk to any about peer review work), on the other hand an attitude I found common among engineers was that manuals got thrown out with the packaging and wrapping - and anything that they couldn't figure out how to work, coax or kick into working was either "designed wrong" or "came broken".

Thank you for clarifying. I had thought that the earlier talk of energy networks was theoretical. It would be nice but I believe you're right in that the current transmission is p2p and will not relay. I'll be testing this to be sure once I unlock them in my career mode play.

You see, you guys keep saying NEWTONIAN physics. Not everything obeys these laws. Go on google and look up "superconductor", find the Ted talk on it. Here's some quick facts about them: They have ZERO electrical resistance. They can lock themselves in 3-DIMENSIONAL SPACE around a magnetic field. They can carry over 70,000 times their weight. They, most importantly, have ZERO ENERGY LOSS. We are dealing with QUANTUM physics here, not Newtonian. With more research in this field we could find a way to make a FTL spacecraft.

@Seanner I've made a replay to your post earlier, but deleted it because it wasn't any good, but now seeing your "nvm" I'm super curious what was that about Oh and one small thing i wanted to point out, is that fuel itself (unless its antimater) is generally much cheaper than engines. So it would take a lot of launches to net a profit on efficient engine. Right now fuel goes for around 200 for most tanks (with a 162,5 minimum on the 16t one). Aerospike costs 2566c per ton and LV-T30 costs measly 680c per ton. Yes the numbers aren't balanced but i do believe that when we have "credits" implemented in career mode engines will be at least 5x more expensive than fuel tanks (that's when the second TWR revolution will come and things like 1,2-1,3 TWR will be the optimal for standard rockets ) And if we wanted to talk about real engines, i think even thou we could retrieve the engines they won't be able to do much launches before scrapping or total overhaul (maybe 5 or 10) so the benefit's of lower fuel usage would be minimal.

I haven't personally tested this, but as far as I know, there is a relay value on either the receiver, transmitter (I can't remember), so I am like...90% sure that you can relay power as long as the transmitter sats have both receivers and transmitters on them. There was talk a while back on how to best set up a low Kerbol power network and I believe that using relays was key to getting the most out of that set up.