Cmdr. Arn1e

I think he probably built it from the fuselage out - this would allow placement in the way you want, but becomes trickier in other ways... this way he could place the docking port on the side of the fuselage, then build the rover to move it underneath...

That's correct - but Ziv, in the spirit of the challenge, has allowed ref-fuel and replacement missions if we found we have stuffed up in the planning stages (I certainly have, and it's a right pain!) If it weren't for my deficiencies in planning my Tylo visit, and how much fuel the Skipper engines turn out to eat through, I'm sure I'd have this finished by now!

Quick update from me; Testing is continuing on the Tylo lander, think I might have cracked it this time with a totally different design! Fingers Crossed

It would seem to make sense to have a space station in orbit around one of the Joolian Moons - Tylo is prime, as it requires the least dV to travel to the other moons from, and is not too difficult to get an intercept for (being about the same mass and gravity as Kerbin). A space station would also double as refuel depot, meaning you can make even more beautiful looking planes... and have smaller excursion vessels to visit particular moons, or maybe even to dip into Jool's atmosphere... could be the next step up of the challenge though! Surprised there hasn't been an intermediate challenge to say, Duna or somewhere... you have jumped from Mun/Minmus to Laythe, which is a pretty big step up in difficulty! Might give this a go once I've finished my Jool-5 challenge and done your SSTMaB challenge...

Yep, and that's why I said about 0 reproductive ability - if you are engineering a microbe or virus, then it's easiest to strip out the entire reproductive sequence to be sure! And as mutation is most likely to occur during reproduction, it cuts down on chances of mutation as a result... but nature is finicky, and sometimes the unexpected can happen even when the odds are billion-to-one, heh...

Then I guess it might be probable to engineer it/mutate it in some way that it has a short life and virtually 0 reproductive ability and release it... stopping it spreading to land is a high priority...

I think it would probably work better if you had some sort of garbage disposal ship come along and scoop up the plastic in the garbage patch, and transfer it to a big vat of this bacteria... more contained, less risk of it making it way back to the mainland, and then can be used again when needed... The problem with any bacteria 'discovery' or 'creation' is that usually when 1st discovered, the bacteria is very weak - it takes a long time of slective breeding in a lab to have a bacteria reach its maximum usefulness, and this can sometimes take years! For example, scientist found bacteria in the soil around Coca plants (The plant Cocaine is made from) that actually eat the drug... great-sounding, right? Not until recently - the original bacteria did not eat very much, and could only survive in the soil around these plants due to the temperature and other conditions. So how to make it useful? They bred lots and lots of strains, and only recently have they discovered a super-mutant strain of the bacteria that A) can survive for long(ish) periods in the human body and can eat enough of the drug to make some difference - this new mutnt strain can eat something like 500x the amount the original strain of the bacteria could, so it could be administered in extreme overdose cases or used to help treat Addiction and Withdrawal Symptoms... (Ref: http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/microbial-enzymes-eat-cocaine-could-be-novel-treatment-abuse)

Good direction to take on this I think... After all, even Nuclear Reactors can form naturally (Only one here on earth, go google, it's very interesting!) so why not other inorganic biological phenomena? O.k, it would be extremely rare, even in a universe as vast as ours, but the possibility is out there... some sort of planet or other space object, riddled with caves, the veins of ores forming a rouch neural network that could possibly hold the ability of self-awareness, if nothing else (after all, even plants rect to their surroundings, even if in a very limited way...) I think, also, that this could devolve into more of a Sci-Fi Theory thread, than a 'proper' discussion about Biology/Inorganic or not

Again, check the original post date, and how many posts that user (Scorptrio) has - this is his one and only post ever, over a year ago! I doubt you will get an answer... - - - NOT Updated - Stupid mobile 'net - - -

Well, that's a new way my mobile 'net messes up... But anyway, yeah, I know some people dislike computer games, but that doesn't mean I go to a football forum and start talking about KSP to anyone who would listen! I know the Dev's like a bit of football, and so do many users of the forums, so I don't mind the football stuff going on, but I can ignore it pretty easily by concentrating on the Jool-5 mission (until I finish it) or another challenge... /offtopic I have certainly got my moneys worth out of this game, and although I think it would be nice to get a few more screenshots (teasers, WIP's) from the dev team, I'm not too bothered about geting hyped over the next release - it will be here whenever, and I still have this lovely, sometimes breathtaking, game to play that I know will just continue to get better and better

I'm currently very deep into the Jool-5 mission/challenge at the moment, should be done soonâ„¢ though, and will try to set up the replacement challenge then...

I think you need to upload a picture before you can link to it, unless you are running your own server! Lots of people use Imgur or Photobucket or something, then use the [ img ] tags

not at all, that's why I said it had only been suggested or hinted at to maybeâ„¢ be in the game somewhere in the far distant future... and I'd imagine it would be another large undertaking for the Dev team, so as you say, scope completion comes 1st...

Norcalplanner, nice finishing report It seems to be o.k for now, not entirely sure what exactly went wrong, apart from just getting far too hot! got the extra fan on standby, just in case...

mmmm, like the idea... there have been lots of suggestions (and hints from devs) in the past about adding some sort of discovery mechanic, so you have to use a telescope or something to discover planets, and probe them first to find out things about them... Someone (can't remember who, sorry!) started an ESA thread about partnering, and salvager joined in and said about how cool some of their tech is, including the various satellites... I think that these elements would make it more 'space-programey' - you have to do some work to find all the planets and their moons, then do a bit more work finding things out, before you can send a kerbal! But that would require a science restructure, and who knows (execept the devs and teseters) if that's been done already to fit with the contracts and funds?

Hehe, far from winning, I just tried to show that the idea was good, if a little uninformed to begin with! Think this should be remade with new objective and scoring system... will do it myself if you don't want the hassle

You are right, quicksave/loading is fine... otherwise a LOT of people would be finding this a lot harder than it is!

Thankfully it *seems* to be o.k now... got a big fan pointing at one side with the case side off, it had some sort of wierd BIOS issue... reset to optimum, tested, reset and changed necessary settings like Legacy USB KB support... and the mission to put a new Tylo lander in Tylo orbit continues!

Disaster!!!! My PC has folded due to the excessive heat both externally and internally... got my fingers crossed that it will work again when cool enough, but looks like I might be on an unintended break too... luckily I have spare PC's, but none as good as my main gaming rig Update: I'm back into windows...

Should be 200 - as you have highlighted yourself, the points are only for full year you have been a member, I don't think anyone else has calculated the part year as you seem to have done!

Re-designed and seemingly much better Tylo lander on its way to Jool... finers crossed! Congrats to those who have completed, well done Sneak preview from my next update, which I will get round to doing soon: Bob on Vall

A similar challenge was done in the past... with as flimsy rules! You haven't barred the use of infinite fuel, or anything in the dev console, for starters, and you will have a whole load of people along soon to mention various mods and other bizarre craft designs...

Thanks, will keep that in mind... got something already on its way to jool for testing, if the test goes well in 'simulation' then Bill and the science package will get transferred over and the old lander destructively disposed of

Kouston, we have a problem... turns out that I have designed my Tylo lander to have plenty of fuel to get off Tylo, but not enough fuel and TWR to land with any hope of Bill surviving... so have had to go back to the drawing board on that one too, considering Fendleton's suggestion of using SRB's...

I think I said in a previous post, but basically purely for fuel conservation... I've kinda moved ahead already, but think that the fuel tanker can catch up (it had some fuel left over, so left it in Vall orbit in the eventuality you would approve my request!) Thanks, burns may be longer but with 4 banks of 4 nukes, they really do keep the fuel usage within acceptable amounts and the burns aren't too long! I don't think I would have found out a lot of the stuff I've learned doing this challenge on my own, it's a great learning experience May I suggest maybe some kind of 'hardcore' mode? It's been proven that the Jebediah's level is well within reach of most if they really put their minds to it, and some people have done it multiple times with different mods... I'd leave it up to you of course, but basically no refuelling after departure from Kerbin Orbit, as well as whatever limitations on mods you deem fair