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The Kerbal Star System Challenge


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So, I've started this thing that's similar to Scott Manley's Galileo Conquest series, where you try to expand to the very edges of an unfamiliar modded system, made even less familiar by mods such as Research Bodies. The modlist is slightly different, and instead of Galileo's Planet Pack as the modded system, we have Kerbal Star Systems by @StarCrusher96 as the main focus of the challenge, a system which, if you include the stock bodies, contains a total of 125 carefully designed bodies!

The challenge? Construct a base as self-sufficient as possible on each land-able body with specific mods and gameplay settings (I shall provide the specifics soon).

As for me, I will record each day with anything worth noting in the spoiler below, including mission launches, mission endings, mission failures, etc.

Spoiler

Year 1, Day 1

  • Mission: Get something off the ground, and maybe collect some science.
    • Mission Outcome: A probe, dubbed "Up", was placed on the launch pad, where it then lifted off, tipped over, and crashed into Kerbin's shores. Before its unfortunate demise, the probe did manage to transmit temperature and atmospheric pressure data from the launch pad and Kerbin's lower atmosphere back to the space center, allowing for new technologies to be unlocked.
  • Mission: Take a rover out for a spin
    • Mission Outcome: Bob and Valentina Kerman boarded a small rover which was simply called "Local Explorer", which Bob insisted should have been called something cooler, but eventually gave in and went on the mission. Atmospheric pressure, seismic and temperature scans were collected from the runway, spaceplane hangar, and the general area of the KSC, and the rover was then recovered as it did not have enough electric charge remaining for further exploration. The mission was deemed a success, and the rover and kerbals were recovered.
  • Kerbal: Bob Kerman
    • Ribbons Earned:
      • First Kerbin Rover Drive
      • First Landing on Kerbin
      • Research I
      • Scientific Service
    • EXP Gained: 0
  • Kerbal: Valentina Kerman
    • Ribbons Earned:
      • First Kerbin Surface EVA
      • First Kerbin Rover Drive
      • First Landing on Kerbin
      • Research I
      • Operational Service
    • EXP Gained: 0

Year 1, Day 2

  • Mission: Get into space, and maybe even orbit, around Kerbin
    • Mission Outcome: A similar probe to Up, "Pheonix" rests on a much beefier rocket which proved to be able to get it out of Kerbin's atmosphere. While Pheonix failed to achieve orbit, it did collect significant data both from Kerbin's upper atmosphere and from space near Kerbin. It then fell back to Kerbin in a much more spectacular fashion than its predecessor, surviving reentry and then smashing into multiple pieces that all exploded on the ground on their own time. The mission was deemed a success.
  • Mission: Achieve a stable orbit around Kerbin
    • Mission Outcome: Similar to Pheonix, but with an additional stage, "Pheonix II" achieved new heights, with a roughly 470 km orbit around Kerbin. And there it will stay, until the space program eventually decides that it is in the way, or should have something done with it. Whatever its fate, the Pheonix II probe shall always be known as the first vessel to enter orbit around Kerbin, which makes the mission a success.

Year 1, Day 3

  • Mission: Get to orbit, and then land safely back on Kerbin
    • Mission Outcome: "Raven" has a similar design to the Pheonix Rockets, but did not have a large liquid fuel stage, and was equipped with a parachute and a heatshield. It achieved an eccentric, yet still stable, orbit around kerbin, swung around once, then fell back down, landed softly in the grass, and was recovered. Mission success!

Year 1, Day 4

  • Mission: Complete observational survey contracts
    • Mission Outcome: Jebediah Kerman boarded a Scout Plane on his first mission. The waypoint, unfortunately, was backwards from the direction that he took off. Now, any reasonable kerbal would have simply turned the plane around in midair. Jeb, being the stuntman he is, decided to flip the plane over and do a barrel roll back into an upright position, and mind you, this plane was not designed for barrel rolls. So, in the middle of this stunt, the plane ran out of ground and tumbled into the ground. Jebediah Kerman survived the crash, but he won't be doing any missions for a while after that dangerous stunt. Does he even know how much that plane cost?
  • Mission: Complete observational survey contracts
    • Mission Outcome: Valentina Kerman boarded yet another scout plane, and made it to Lenmy's Glory, where she performed an observational survey. As for the return trip... well, she survived, and was somehow unfazed. As for the plane? Well, that's another story. Nevertheless, I'm calling the mission a success.
  • Mission: Mun flyby
    • Mission beginning: Valentina, though seemingly unfazed, was required to stay in the hospital for at least one day. Therefore, we reluctantly released Jebediah from his suspension and allowed him to go on this dangerous mission, in a craft simply known as "Fork" (yeah, I'm not sure what I was thinking with that name at all). We warned him not to do any stunts, and hopefully he will listen this time.
  • Kerbal: Bob Kerman
    • Ribbons Earned:
      • Research II
  • Kerbal: Jebediah Kerman
    • Ribbons Earned:
      • Landing on Kerbin
      • Research I
      • G-Force IV
      • Operational Service
      • Collision
      • Kerbin Rover Drive
    • EXP Gained: 1
  • Kerbal: Valentina Kerman
    • Ribbons Earned:
      • G-Force VIII
    • EXP Gained: 1

Year 1, Day 34

  • Mission: Mun flyby
    • Mission end: Well, Jeb didn't screw up this time, and he collected countless experiments from in space above the Mun. We have decided to completely overlook his suspension due to this. Mission success!
  • Mission: Mun orbit
    • Mission Outcome: After doctors decided that nothing was wrong with Valentina, she was allowed to go on this next mission. She's not as skilled as Jeb at the moment, as he already has space exploration experience, but she's definitely more trustworthy. Unfortunately, while orbiting the Mun, she was attacked and killed by the Kraken. She will be deeply remembered.
  • Kerbal: Jebediah Kerman
    • Ribbons Earned:
      • Research IV
      • First Flag on Kerbin
      • Mach II
      • Significant Contract
      • First Kerbin EVA
      • First Kerbin Orbital EVA
      • First Mun EVA
      • First EVA in Space
      • Dangerous EVA
      • First Kerbin Orbit
      • First Kerbal in Space
      • 20% Solid Fuel Booster
    • EXP Gained: 3

Year 1, Day 41

  • Mission: Mun landing and return
    • Mission Outcome: Bob is no pilot. Fortunately, he doesn't need to be, as "Thumper" can be controlled remotely. With Bob Kerman's expertise as a scientist, we can collect many more experiments than before. However, due to a design flaw in Thumper, we had to make an emergency splashdown before we even got into space. Mission failure.
  • Kerbal: Bob Kerman
    • Ribbons Earned:
      • EVA in Kerbin's Waters
      • Splashdown
      • 20% Solid Fuel Booster
    • EXP Gained: 0

Year 1, Day 42

  • Mission: Mun landing and return
    • Mission beginning: Once again, Bob set off in a new and revised "Thumper II", and made a burn for the Mun. This time we shall hope for success.

Year 1, Day 48

  • Mission: Mun landing and return
    • Mission end: Bob miscalculated and began his suicide burn a bit too late. When he saw that he was going to crash, he tried to escape via EVA, but this only brought about his demise. Mission failure.
  • Kerbal: Grasey Kerman
    • Status: Hired
    • Specialty: Scientist

Year 3, Day 39

  • Mission: Mun landing and return
    • Mission beginning: After 2 years of nothing but observing the skies, the KSC mustered up the courage to explore the Mun once more, sending Grasey Kerman up on another Thumper II rocket. With what we have learned over the years, Grasey will hopefully meet a better fate than Bob.

Year 3, Day 60

  • Mission: Mun Landing and return
    • Mission end: Gracey successfully landed on the Mun, did many experiments, and used her jetpack to push the command module home. Note to self: equip future Mun missions with more Delta-v. Mission success!
  • Kerbal: Grasey Kerman
    • Ribbons Earned:
      • Mach III
      • Mun Orbit
      • Research V
      • First Flag on Mun
      • Significant Contract
      • First Mun Surface EVA
      • 5% Fuel Landing
      • First Landing on Mun
      • Mun Atmosphere
      • Mun EVA
      • Dangerous EVA
      • Kerbin EVA
      • Kerbin Orbital EVA
      • 20% Solid Fuel Booster
    • EXP Gained: 6

 

Edited by Scotskerb
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Once I upload the modlist, you will notice that there are some things I described (such as the hospital) that are not in any mods. Just to clear things up, I did take a few liberties in describing things for role-playing purposes.

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Okay, so here is my modlist:

Spoiler
  • [x] Science!
  • 6 Crew Science Lab
  • AT Utils
  • B9 Part Switch
  • Chatterer
  • Chatterer Extended
  • Community Category Kit
  • Community Resource Pack
  • Community Tech Tree
  • Configurable Containers Core
  • Contract Configurator
  • Contract Packs:
    • Bases and Stations
    • Clever Sats
    • Field Research
    • Kerbal Academy
    • Tourism Plus
  • Distant Object Enhancement
  • Dynamic Battery Storage
  • Easy Vessel Switch
  • Engine Lighting
  • Explodium Breathing Engines
  • Extraplanetary Launchpads
  • Final Frontier
  • Final Frontier Ribbon Packs:
    • Engineering Roles
    • Operations Roles
    • Science Roles
  • Firespitter Core
  • Ground Construction Core
  • Hangar Extender
  • Hide Empty Tech Tree Nodes
  • Ion RCS
  • Kerbal Alarm Clock
  • Kerbal Attachment System
  • Kerbal Engineer Redux
  • Kerbal Inventory System
  • Kerbal Inventory System - No Fun
  • Kerbal Joint Reinforcement
  • Kerbal Star Systems
  • Konstruction
  • Kopernicus Planetary System Modifier
  • KSP AVC
  • ModularFlightIntegrator
  • Module Manager
  • Navball Docking Alignment Indicator CE-2
  • Near Future Construction
  • Near Future Electrical
  • Near Future Electrical Core
  • Near Future Electrical Extras: Decaying RTGs Patch
  • Near Future Launch Vehicles
  • Near Future Propulsion
  • Near Future Propulsion Extras: Reduced Thrust Configs
  • Near Future Solar
  • Near Future Solar Core
  • Pheonix Industries EVA Survival Suit
  • Planetary Domes
  • Real Plume
  • Recovery Controller
  • Reentry Particle Effect
  • REPOSoftTech-Agencies
  • Research Bodies
  • Semi-Saturatable Reaction Wheels
  • SETI-ProbeParts
  • SmokeScreen - Extended FX Plugin
  • Supply Backpack for USI Life Support
  • Take Command Continued
  • Texture Replacer Replaced
  • Trajectories
  • Transfer Window Planner
  • Unmanned Before Manned
  • Unmanned Before Manned Challenge
  • USI Core
  • USI Exploration Pack
  • USI Kolonization Systems
  • USI Life Support
  • USI Tools
  • Waypoint Manager
  • Xenon ISRU

Also, I'm working on KSP 1.3.1.

Edited by Scotskerb
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18 hours ago, TheSpacePotato said:

This is a great idea! Could you provide screenshots of future missions so we can see what you use in your missions?

I am having trouble figuring out how to post images on the KSP forums, but I plan to upload images as soon as I figure it out. Also, once I do that, I will begin making a post for each day, in addition to them all being listed in the master post.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Year 3, Day 278

  • Mission: Mun landing and return
    • Mission beginning: After some reconditioning, Grasey set off on a new rocket: "Thumper III", which has a bit more delta-v, hopefully enough to get home without Grasey's jetpack (no promises, though, especially since the gravity turn on the way into Kerbin orbit wasn't very good).

Here we have Thumper III ready to head into orbit:

screenshot4.png?dl=1

Edited by Scotskerb
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Year 3, Day 289

  • Mission: Mun landing and return
    • Mission end: Well, as hoped, Thumper III did have enough fuel to return to Kerbin without Grasey's jetpack. While Grasey did not plant another flag on the Mun, she did collect many experiments. Mission success!
  • Mission: Orbit Kerbin with a tourist
    • Mission outcome: Jebediah and Tito boarded a rocket known as "Blip." Unfortunately, due to a badly done gravity turn, Blip did not make it to orbit, instead going into a wide suborbital trajectory. Tito did not survive reentry, as it turned out that his cockpit was not built for such a thing. Jebediah, on the other hand, somehow managed to survive without a heatshield.
  • Kerbal: Grasey Kerman
    • Ribbons Earned
      • Research VII
    • EXP Gained: 0
  • Kerbal: Jebediah Kerman
    • Ribbons Earned
      • Research V
      • Mach III
      • Passenger Transport I
    • EXP Gained: 0
  • Kerbal: Tito Kerman
    • KIA
      • Cause of death: pod burned up in the atmosphere

Here is Blip. It should have been fully capable of doing its job, but again, the gravity turn was badly done:

screenshot5.png?dl=1

 

Edited by Scotskerb
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Year 3, Day 304

  • Mission: Mun polar landing and return
    • Mission beginning: Once again, Grasey set out to explore the Mun, this time in a new rocket dubbed "Thumper IV". This rocket is much like its predecessor, except that it is equipped with mystery goo canisters, and was lifted into orbit with more efficient boosters, leaving more delta-v available for the trip.

Here we have Thumper IV ready for liftoff:

screenshot6.png?dl=1

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Year 3, Day 318

  • Mission: Mun polar landing and return
    • Mission end: Well, Grasey forgot to plant the flag. Again! But at least she collected loads of science from the Mun's South Pole (which, for some reason, was labeled as the North Pole, but whatever). Mission success!
  • Kerbal: Grasey Kerman
    • Ribbons Earned
      • Research VIII
      • EVA in Kerbin's Waters
      • Splashdown
      • Mun Orbital EVA
      • 30% Solid Fuel Booster
    • EXP Gained: 0
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Year 3, Day 414

  • Mission: Orbit Kerbin with a tourist
    • Mission outcome: Unfortunately, Jebediah forgot to light the engines upon release, and "Blip II" crashed unceremoniously to the ground. The passengers - Jebediah, Bill and a clone of the late Tito Kerman - all survived. I cannot say the same about the rocket, or the launchpad.
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Year 3, Day 416

  • Mission: Orbit Kerbin with a tourist
    • Mission outcome: This was much better. Jeb remembered to light the engines, and he, Bill and Tito orbited Kerbin for four hours, as requested by the contract.

 

*There are some Kraken attacks that I will accept as part of the hardships of this challenge; others I will desperately hack in order to undo, based on the level of absurdity and how drastic the effects are. Here, there was a Kraken attack of the second kind, and due to the errors I made in fixing it, I cannot accurately list the ribbons and EXP earned by my Kerbals today, though the game does have them all saved accurately. I deeply apologize for the error, and I promise that I am trying to play as fairly as possible when it comes to tragic accidents.

Edited by Scotskerb
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Year 6, Day 66

  • Mission: Send a probe to orbit Duna
    • Mission beginning: The kerbonauts all took a few years off while Mission Control prepared "Hop" for the Duna transfer window. Now, Hop has escaped Kerbin's gravity and is headed for the small red planet with various scientific instruments.
Edited by Scotskerb
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On 11/22/2017 at 5:18 PM, Krastynio said:

I really wanna try this challenge but i need to figure out first why the plasma flux and antennas disappears from the VAB.
Never tried MKS, only the other packs from RoverDude... Sounds interesting toh.. but i still wanna try this one with kerbalism and KPBS..
XP

There is a fix on the KSS forum. Kerbalism doesn’t support star system mods at the moment so i can’t tell when it’s going to be compatible.

Edited by StarCrusher96
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On 11/22/2017 at 11:18 AM, Krastynio said:

I really wanna try this challenge but i need to figure out first why the plasma flux and antennas disappears from the VAB.
Never tried MKS, only the other packs from RoverDude... Sounds interesting toh.. but i still wanna try this one with kerbalism and KPBS..
XP

 

On 11/28/2017 at 5:50 PM, StarCrusher96 said:

There is a fix on the KSS forum. Kerbalism doesn’t support star system mods at the moment so i can’t tell when it’s going to be compatible.

Yeah. I was going to do this with Kerbalism, but, as StarCrusher96 said, it's not currently compatible with multiple star systems.

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  • 1 month later...
18 hours ago, Scotskerb said:

Unfortunately, I seem to be having a bit of trouble running the new version of KSS, and I don't currently have the available time to locate the problem, so it could be a while before I post further updates on this thread. Sorry.

If you need to try consulting the installation guide for KSS. An installation problem might be the issue.

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