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After reading @Ultimate Steve's mission report of a science mode game with a limit of 100,000 funds, I wanted to challenge myself in a similar vein. I started a new normal-difficulty science mode save with the intention to get as far in the game as possible while having no more than 100 parts in flight at any one time. I also imposed the following secondary rules for added difficulty: Parts that are destroyed do not replenish the number of parts available; i.e. parts must be recovered on Kerbin for the number of available parts to increase No launching from the runway; that would make this challenge too easy as I could just use SSTO spaceplanes once I get the technology Any parts manipulated in EVA construction (besides items that can't be normally placed on a vessel like EVA packs and deployable science gear) must be launched outside of a storage container Stock+DLC parts only (I have other parts mods installed but am using Janitor's Closet to ensure I do not place modded parts on a vessel accidentally) Stage Recovery mod will not be used even though I have it installed; i.e. all craft landing on Kerbin must do so via manual piloting Kerbal Engineer use is limited to the HUD at the top of the screen and checking part counts in flight The first launch in the save is the Hydrogen manned by Bob Kerman, collecting science from the launchpad, lower atmosphere and ocean. A simple 4-part hopper that is fully recovered along with 58-odd science points, thanks to Bob being a level 5 scientist able to take surface samples. Next up is the Helium, a suborbital craft also piloted by Bob. The heat shield on the nose turned out to be dead weight as none of the ablator was used during the flight. I added "wings" to the fuselage in the hopes of gliding through the atmosphere to reduce speed, as near-vertical reentries from suborbital hops have been known to end badly. Althought I wasn't able to glide it as intended, by simply rolling the craft I was able to decelerate enough to open the parachutes. All parts were recovered. With some more science nodes unlocked, it's time to go for orbit. The Lithium is a two-stage craft; a booster piloted by Jeb propelled the orbital stage with Bob onboard into orbit. While I had the Stayputnik probe core unlocked, I opted to use a Mk1 pod on the booster instead due to the presence of a reaction wheel. Bob was able to gather science from high space and both components landed fully intact. After the first 3 missions, I have recovered all parts and unlocked the tech nodes shown below. In hindsight I should have probably researched Fuel Systems instead of Propulsion Systems. The next goal is to gather science from the Mun to pave the way for crewed landings on the Mun and Minmus. (Yes, I do have Community Tech Tree installed, but as mentioned above I will be only using stock and DLC parts in this save.)

I’m constructing my solar commnet, and am currently at Duna. I need precise orbital info, unfortunately, it just shows me LOCKED. I would expect this with bad signal or a weaker probe core, but i’m using the 2.5m one and my signal strength is 96% bouncing through Relay 3, 2, and my refueling/comms station before going to the KSC. It says unloaded on them which I imagine doesn’t make much of an impact, but I don’t know.