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[Deadweasel]

It knew how expensive Shuttle is and what for to be commercially viable, there must be a launch every 2-3 weeks (with pre-Challenger catastrophe safety requirements). So Soviets wrongly concluded that Shuttle have military purpose (steal satellites, drop bombs or place nukes in orbit) and started developing Buran to prevent too big lag in technology. When it become obvious that Shuttle have no significant military use (and due to lack of money), Buran program was scraped.

You know, I hadn't even considered the military angle, which really should've been an obvious one given the political atmosphere of the time. Thanks for the clarification!

[Deadweasel]

Minirover for Eve.

2,768 tons at launchpad. All stock + kerbal engineer.

It have extra 700 m/s left.

-snip-

That's actually pretty slick! I'm getting some inspiration from a lot of these teensy-weensy rovers! Why is it so easy to just get into the habit of building them huge and monstrous anyway?

[Bioman222]

[Commander Zoom]

Yes, the obstructed hatch is clearly the worst of your problems at that moment.

[Sir Nahme]

My newest Kerbin kethane carrier/heavy transport. This was it's final test flight before regular deployment. Cruising speed is a little low (34.6 without sas assist, 35.5 with) but it's functionally free to operate as it does not use any fuel... its "reactor" is housed in the rear fuselage pieces and counts around 90 rtgs... seriously considering one of the upscaled rtg mod's just to cut part count a little. It runs fine on it's own but around ksp where I have other craft parked it suffers some lag, and if it's carrying a payload I suspect the same will be said. Total part count for this craft is just under 400 many of which are stylistic choices, and I overly strutted it for safeties sake due to it's expectation to be used to carry heavy items and many Kerbals.

It handles fairly well for an airship with just existing torque and control surfaces, and the front engines can be abused for VERY fast turns if necessary but is generally unnecessary. Depending on your desired altitude it can easily carry over 50 tons in payload (this was tested on earlier flights and may no longer be accurate, the target was 40 tons so I haven't bothered retesting as it should still be easily able to manage it). The cupola makes a wonderful cockpit for it and it can easily be flown IVA using the lasor cam for payload operations and landing.

[KAO]

the C-1 Starlifter, designed to bring back to the KSC various spacecrafts or debris of interest

Untitled13 by moon-man1, on Flickr

screenshot201 by moon-man1, on Flickr

screenshot202 by moon-man1, on Flickr

screenshot203 by moon-man1, on Flickr

screenshot204 by moon-man1, on Flickr

screenshot205 by moon-man1, on Flickr

cargo captain Bob watching over our mun-sample probe

Untitled14 by moon-man1, on Flickr

screenshot206 by moon-man1, on Flickr

[blenderman]

I finally got the hang of SSTO space planes. this is my third working design... a flying wing.

I got it to orbit, docked to my station, refueled and did an orbit of the Mun and came back... got wheels on the ground (not at KSC) and could not brake fast enough before running into the bay! Rats.

More photos of this flight here: http://imgur.com/a/Oxfxh#0

[Deadweasel]

Today, IPEV Tailwind took to the pad to rendezvous in low orbit with her sister Excursion, just returned from the Mün with news of disaster. Tailwind brought many design improvements to the IPEV hull design, including greater RCS fuel capacity, and carrying the recently-upgraded Kea Civik rover.

A Mosquito dropship arrived on orbit soon after, and met with Excursion to egress the crew after shutdown procedures were completed (Excursion had suffered some damage during her voyage, and Kontrol ordered her parked for a follow-up assessment). Johnoly, the Mosquito pilot, ferried Jeb and Bill back to Tailwind one by one, where they would take up their duty quarters in the flank pods in preparation for the upcoming münar rescue mission.

"Those lucky jerks," Jeb commented almost bitterly on the first run back, "I can't believe one of them almost got taken out by a one-in-a-million debris strike!" Johnoly frowned and looked upward as if to will his disapproving glance through the hull at Jeb in the topside seat.

"You call that lucky? He could have been killed."

"If it had been me down there, it would have been a sure bet. In fact I could have FINALLY collected on the pool back home if it had been me!"

"You'd have been dead, Jeb."

"Pff... Mere detail. I'm working on fixing that one, too."

Johnoly was still shaking his head in disbelief as he came back to pick up Bill.

"Your kab's here," he called, "Time to get your krap and get the heck out!"

"Yeah yeah," came the dismissive response. "Just finishing up."

The distinct sound of chewing followed intermittently over the comms, and Bill appeared minutes later at the airlock.

"Bring any snacks for me?" Johnoly asked jokingly. Bill responded by waving a Kit Kat bar across the canopy as he proceeded to the topseat.

The final trip back to Tailwind was uneventful while the pair reflected on the critical task ahead: the rescue and safe return of Jenlas and Hanry, currently stranded on the Mün.

On final approach, it never occurred to Johnoly to ask Bill to hop off and head for his quarters before docking; Tailwind's new docking guidance system made the process almost completely effortless. After the docking clamps had thudded firmly in place, Johnoly signaled all-clear and began switching the Mosquito's systems over to the support umbilicals.

"Thanks for the smooth ride, see you on the flip-side," Bill called as he disconnected his harness. "With any luck the rest of this mission will go just as smoo-"*WHAM*

Bill's comm was abruptly cut off by a massive thud, followed by alarms all across the Mosquito's status boards. The lighting in Tailwind's Mosquito bay instantly flipped to an angry red, and Johnoly knew something "Very Bad" had just taken place.

"Bill?" he called, hoping beyond hope his crewmate was okay. Panicked breathing answered.

"I don't know what happened! I just took off my harness and BAM, I was crashing through the hull!"

Johnoly craned around to peer through the canopy, looking for signs of damage. In the distance, he caught a pair of light reflections, one of which looked disturbingly like a broken solar panel.

A fine mist of atomized fuel began to spread in the bay, prompting Bill to switch to the ship's primary comm channel to warn the bridge. He needn't have bothered.

"Mosquito bay, bridge!" came mission commander Shepdo's urgent voice, "What's going on back there? We've got proximity and collision alarms going off all over the place!"

"It's Bill," Johnoly called back, already reversing his ship's standby status, "he dismounted and something shoved him through the hull!"

After a moment's pause came worriedly "So, all these debris pings are... Bill?"

"No, Bill's okay, but he just went through the aft hull of the Mosquito bay! Apparently he quite literally cannonballed through it!"

"Well whatever it was just dealt us a death blow. We just lost most our maneuvering capability, and two of the main engines aren't responding. Kontrol is ordering us to ditch!"

"But we're in a parking orbit!" Johnoly objected. "We can just scrub and wait for the repair shu-"

"They're demanding de-orbit in thirty minutes; this boat's maiden flight will be her last. You are to capture the rover, retrieve the crew and make landing at soonest opportunity, understand? Prepare for emergency separation."

Johnoly's blood ran cold. They'd practiced this maneuver many times, but only in simulators. Shepdo had to repeat the order twice more before the Mosquito pilot realized he'd only been nodding while he numbly ran through the emergency startup checklist. Some detached part of him listened as Shepdo contacted Bill and made sure he was okay, then worked with second officer Dongard to initiate emergency ejection of Tailwind's payload.

"Black Shoal protocol is active," Shepdo uttered the dreaded words with a strained voice. "Initiate in...3...2...1..."

Johnoly gripped onto the handles on his canopy as the Mosquito lurched violently upward out of the bay and into open space. Directly ahead, he watched the automated rover rise with him and immediately stabilize, prompting him to follow suit.

"Mosquito clear," he called, "rover is clear and stable. Standing off 300 meters." He guided his ship away to the predetermined docking rally point, and watched his displays to be sure the rover was following as well. Shepdo came back on the comm.

"Copy clear. Bill you get yourself back to the Mosquito and settle in once he's got the rover tucked in. We'll be joining you in ten minutes.... mark." With that, Tailwind's comm channel fell silent for the last time. Johnoly looked back just in time to see her "boo" lights flicker and die, a tell-tale of just how badly her power systems had been damaged.

"So much for those damned things scaring off the Kraken," he thought to himself sadly.

Bill was making his way back to the Mosquito as ordered, offering a debris tally as he went.

"So far I've got eyes on at least six components in the local area, many more moving away at high velocity. Tailwind's legacy is going to be a constellation of junk."

"You sure you didn't bump your MMU controls when you dismounted?" Johnoly asked calmly, still trying to wrap his head around how quickly things had gone so wrong.

"Right," Bill returned hotly, "because these things routinely do 20 g's, is that it? Let's ask Jeb what kind of chicanery he's been pulling with them, why don't we?!"

"Hey," came Jeb's voice, obvious from the tone that he was already back in his suit, "I had nothing to do with this! Plus, they won't give me the green light on it anyway." Bill was stunned.

"You mean you're already working on th-"

"HEY!" Johnoly cut across the retort. "Act now, talk later. Get your butts on-board ASAP, I've got the rover locked.

"On my way," Bill sighed.

As Bill finally got back in-range, he spotted a suit already on the Mosquito's topseat. He could just make out Jeb's face behind the faceplate as he turned to grin at him.

"Dibs on the top bunk!" Jeb sang happily.

"Masochist," Bill muttered too low for the comm to pick up, and moved to take one of the rover's seats.

A few minutes later, Dongard arrived and strapped himself in next to Bill in the last open seat. Bill asked the question that had been bothering him since the commander had first called Black Shoal.

"Where's commander Shepdo going to ride?" Dongard quietly avoided Bill's gaze and became interested in watching a far-flung bit of Tailwind as it drifted by instead.

"Bill," Johnoly said on the private channel, "Dongard was supposed to assume command. Skip's been with the IPEV project since day-one, so he was making the launch of Tailwind his final mission before retirement. He was going to catch a shuttle back to Exterra station before we left."

"We can't just leave him-"

"Tailwind's dying, Bill. Kontrol has ordered us to scuttle her before she blows apart in orbit and creates a hazard to the space program. Somebody's got to fly her in."

"So? He can set the autopilot to fire and bail before it does! I've done that before! YOU'VE done it!" Bill struggled to keep the anguish out of his voice.

"Not with something as big as she is," Johnoly answered matter-of-factly, "somebody has to stay aboard and make sure she goes in over water or wilderness instead of drifting over populated areas. Black Shoal means 'ship down, crew lost'. You know this."

"But...!"

"Let it go. It's already done."

Before Bill could make another plea, Johnoly pulled the flight stick and brought the Mosquito about in preparation for emergency landing. The survivors contemplated their fate in silence from there.

Landing site chosen and marked, Johnoly keyed up the command channel.

"Mission Kontrol, this is Rescue One. Transmitting intended landing coordinates now. Be advised commander Shepdo has departed with Tailwind on final run. Repeat: Shepdo is with Tailwind on final run."

"Rescue One, Kontrol. Fortune favors the brave, and Shepdo will be remembered as one of Kerbin's most fortunate children. We'll be monitoring your beacon, see you on the... of... ckou..." The signal was lost to a storm of static as the dropship entered the blackout zone with its precious cargo.

The descent was violent and terrifying, much worse than any among the survivors had ever experienced during practice drops. Must be from the passengers on the rover, a distant corner of Johnoly's mind mused. The violent orange glow of ionized air was whipping by his canopy; he could only guess at what the rest of his crew were experiencing of it. His eyes flickered to the rover status panel, where he could verify his passengers below were still okay. Terrified and white-knuckled on the braces for sure, but still okay nonetheless. He didn't need to bother with doing the same for the topseat. Jeb was issuing his own audible lifesigns.

"WOOOHOOO!" he bellowed over the comms, "Why the heck didn't I save the marshmallows?! I could've had S'MORES!!"

"Can have my Kit Kats when we land," Bill groaned, "I'm gonna be too sick to eat anything for days."

"Gimme a break, gimme a break!" Jeb sang the commercial tune, seemingly oblivious to the danger they were all in.

Minutes later, the dropship's velocity began to fall dramatically, helped along by Johnoly's expert guidance. Slowly and carefully he leveled the craft, gradually bleeding off lateral speed and curving into a vertical descent, the Mosquito's engines rumbling confidently. Johnoly heard Dongard issue a quiet sigh of relief, certain the worst was behind them. On the monitors, Bill's heartbeat slowed and his breathing relaxed, though he'd otherwise fallen silent. Jeb was busy being Jeb, to everyone else's annoyance.

"Hey guys! I can see my house from here!"

The ground approached. Johnoly bled off speed. Jeb spotted a lark in the grass, and Johnoly bled off speed. Dongard leaned over and aimed a hand-held ground radar gun to calibrate altitude readings, and Johnoly bled off speed.

At 30 meters, the Mosquito was drifting lazily down like a dried leaf. They were going to make it!

Suddenly, the Mosquito's engines coughed and sputtered. The fuel tanks were dry!

"Hold on!" Johnoly called as he cut the throttle as much as he dared, but the engines only gasped and cut out again.

The Mosquito dropped sharply, and the rover rammed into the ground. Through his frantic attempts to recover, Johnoly heard one of the laser struts overload and explode, and the suspension underneath groan in protest. Through the chaos, Dongard issued a short yell and fell silent.

The engines sputtered and the Mosquito began to lift again. Johnoly slammed the rover deploy button, cutting the rover loose from the ship. The Mosquito lurched and angled backward sharply, taking the rover out of view just as it appeared to be toppling. The engines sputtered one last time, seemingly bent on the ship's destruction, pushing the Mosquito further backward until it was now pointing back toward the sky. Finally the tanks ran dry, and the engines died out completely. The sudden silence was immediately broken by Jeb's angry voice.

"Who the hell was drunk enough to give you a pilot's license dude?!"

Less than a second later, the ship toppled over and slammed into the ground, upside-down. Johnoly was slammed violently into his seat amidst the deafening thunder of Armageddon. Blackness enveloped all.

Johnoly awoke to a throbbing pain in his head, and silence. Though his vision was blurred, he struggled and finally found the canopy manual release. Climbing and coughing, he made his painful way out of the cockpit. When he stood, what greeted him stunned him cold. Very little remained of his ship but his cockpit module and the broken, battered remnants of the aft fuel and power core. The mid-section, the section to which the topseat had been mounted, was gone. An angry scorched patch of ground marked where it must have landed. Jebediah Kerman was no more.

Beside himself with anguish and pain, Johnoly looked around for any signs of life. Nothing moved. He wasn't sure how long he'd been out, but the wreckage wasn't even smoking anymore. It could have been days.

A gentle wind moaned across the plains.

In the distance, Johnoly spotted the rover. Though it was definitely toppled, it was, for the most part, intact! His heart soared. He'd been in countless simulated wrecks with that rover! After all, it was designed to protect the drivers if it ever went over! Running toward the rover as fast as his suit would allow, Johnoly called out breathlessly to Bill and Dongard. When no response came, he told himself that his suit comms must have been damaged in the crash. As he drew near to the rover, he knew he'd been very wrong.

In the field a short distance from the rover was a single command chair, twisted and bent. There was no body to be found. Still holding on to hope, he scrambled to the rover. By the angle at which it was laying, he knew what he'd find before he even came around destroyed wheel: the remaining rover seat, similarly deformed. Most of the rover's safety supports had been crushed, so violent had the landing been.

Despondent and alone, Johnoly made his way back to what remained of his ship to try to bring the comm systems back to life.

His grief was only mildly dampened by the fact that the radio was still intact and working. It crackled to life, screaming with static. A sharp, annoyed stab at one of the controls re-tuned the unit back to the command frequency.

"-ue One this is Mission Kontrol, do you read!"

Johnoly half-heartedly pressed the transmit button.

"Mission Kontrol, Rescue One," he intoned. Taking a careful breath, he spoke the words he'd hoped to never hear once, let alone twice in one day.

"Black Shoal."

Edited June 30, 2013 by Deadweasel

[TheThing345]

Genegun Kerman was fired as a leader of my space station, while Scott Kerman (he obviously knows things about his business) was promoted.

[RogueMason]

Some shots of the new Orion Light Cruiser in orbit over Kerbin (Orion is totally not inspired by some other real-world vehicle of the same name, like, AT all...):

Front. Duh.

Back. I like the way this section came out, with the pointless bars surrounding the nuclear engine that are purely there for aesthetics...

Raygas Kerman investigates...

The ship will be tested around Mun and Minmus before being sent out to collect samples from Duna and Ike (which, despite my strong presence in the Duna system, hasn't been done yet...). A separate lander will naturally be required.

[RogueMason]

And to think that this resulted from the landing legs being too short (the first time ever for me...):

The poor sods needed a recovery mission, naturally.

[Gargamel]

Still using 19.x, as I had too much emotional attachment to these craft to just give them up. Also sorry for the lower resolutions, as I'm using a laptop under the minimum specs. Makes docking the interplanetary craft with the space station kinda a pain.

But first, A gif!

Now the space station. Science modules in the back, Crew service module on the bottom, Older Service module on top (replaced by a refueling craft), the framework is the spaceport docking hubs.

The Minotaur, interplanetary command module, with the Daedalus atmospheric lander attached. Upon redocking with the Minotaur, the Kerbals transfer to the crew module on the minotaur, and the lander is left behind (a la Apollo). The Minotaur then redocks with the space station around Kerbal and the crew returns in service modules. The command module can reenter on its on, which I had to do using the lander when it broke off from load stresses.

Earlier build of the station, great view of an eclipse.

[mordin86]

[Rocketman1994]

Thats beautiful...

[pmc2025]

KSS Enterprise you are cleared for docking at Kerbin Spacedock

[SoldierHair]

How did you put that thing in orbit? ._.

[Sbowyer28]

*Cough* Hyper Edit *Cough*

[pmc2025]

*Cough* Hyper Edit *Cough*

Yeahhhhhh... Tried strapping rockets to it, but... well... kerbal

Still looks cool though!!!

[AustralianFries]

No need for Hyper Edit. We have boosters.

*Cough* sig this *cough*

[mordin86]

Keep it simple:

[Tanner Rawlings]

[el_coyoto]

My Munbase right now. Jeb is standing on top of a nuke powered heavy lander prototype.

Light RTG powered rover : this one scouted the location of my base.

MunBus : RTG powered, probe controlled, room for 8 Kerbals. Handles surprisingly well. This one still has its landing module attached with some fuel left in it, just in case...

Heavy rover prototype. RTG powered, probe controlled, room for 2 Kerbals. Drives like a charm on Kerbin but more delicate on in low gravity.

[KAO]

My first kethane satellite

and this my third, made for Duna

Edited July 1, 2013 by KAO

[POTKC]

KAO, what mod is that? Not Kethane, the rocket?

[Awaras]

KAO, what mod is that? Not Kethane, the rocket?

It's AIES Aerospace: http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/showthread.php/35383-0-20-2-AIES-Aerospace-v1-3