As far as adding more realism goes, I feel these features (including life support) should have been included in the "alpha". KSP has an amazing ability to teach people about the trials and tribulations of actual space flight in a simplified form. This should include communications, life support, and re-entry heat. Re-entering Kerbin should be dangerous. True, the toy solar system would, in reality, make re-entry much safer. This is a problem with Squad's insistence on a miniature scale. That shouldn't eliminate the need to teach young players the actual dangers of re-entry. Again, KSP could (and should) be a tool to teach people what space travel is actually like in a simplified form. In my opinion, Kerbals and explosions should be the way in, not the focus.