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Kerbin Year 2001, Day 2 Imgur Album So, welcome back! If you don't remember me, I started a save file for about two days, then forgot about it for two months. In any case, let's get back to where we left off. Here's the Space Center as it was last time I left; looks pretty boring. As promised, there are mods for this mission; you can see a few of them at the top right. The clock is for Kerbal Alarm Clock, while the starry icon is for Distant Object Enhancement. If you want links to those mods, along with all the others, go back to the first post and open the "Mod List" spoiler. I can wait. Thanks for coming back! I hope those mods weren't too awesome for your tastes. Anyways, this is our rocket: the Time-Tested Thruster Thingy, or TTTT. Kerbals never cease to amaze with their brilliant naming ideas. Past simulations have shown that this rocket is more than capable of making it into space. However, the simulated rocket had a slightly different design (no fins, mostly), and was made in a semi-outdated simulation (0.90). Will it be able to hold up to the rigors of reality? That's what we're here to find out. And here we are on the launchpad, once again. For this mission, Jebediah Kerman's heading up into space, and hopefully into orbit. From there, it's not much of a leap to encountering Mun. At least, that's the plan. However, Jeb can't help but feel a chilling sense of deja vu getting into this rocket. Obviously, he wasn't involved in the simulations, but something seems off about this rocket. Have you ever had a premonition of something going catastrophically wrong, ending in a cataclysmic explosion as your pod flips over the wrong way mid re-entry? That's what's passing through Jeb's head right now. But I'm sure it's nothing, right? Somehow, the rocket doesn't immediately explode, and Jeb's airborne. It may have been two months since I last played, but I still really enjoy those launching effects. There's serious 'weight' behind a launch now, and it really makes it feel like this rocket is important. Of course, it's technically the second time I've seen it, so... A few kilometres off the ground, Jeb decides to take a look at the various new systems available to him. As you can tell, there's quite a list of new mods available. The clock of Kerbal Alarm Clock is still here, along with a microphone indicating the presence of Chatterer. Chatterer is just a sound mod, so it won't have any relevance to you as the viewer, but I find that the game just feels 'empty' without it. Near the top-left is an icon for PlanetShine, a mod that works to provide ambient lighting in space; primarily, obviously, through the use of planetshine. It's a little technical; I'd recommend checking out the mod page for details. We also have a satellite icon, on both the top-left and the top-right, for SCANsat. SCANsat is one of the few mods I have that introduces parts; in this case, a small collection of mapping tools to... well, map the surfaces of other planets and moons. We don't actually have any of those parts available to us right now, so that's won't be relevant to this mission either. But I do plan to send up satellites to map the surfaces in the future, as it's a great tool to have for landings and provides more purpose to unmanned craft. But that's enough analyzing for now; we have a spaceship to pilot. At about the 15km mark, Jeb starts a gravity turn. This is accomplished by slowly turning sideways as you ascend, and is necessary for achieving a stable orbit. This picture was taken at the 23km mark; my turn was a bit gradual, but the alternative is turning too much and flipping over, which rarely ends well. We'll also be staging shortly, as this stage is nearly out of fuel. Here's how our orbit is looking not long after. Our goal was to reach an apoapsis (maximum height) of 100km, then shut off the engines to conserve fuel until we get near 100km. For those unfamiliar with how this works, an orbit is, at it's most basic, a circle that the rocket travels around the planet. Though what goes up normally comes down, a rocket in orbit goes fast enough to ensure that it never​ comes down. Going just straight up won't make an orbit; that will likely make us leave Kerbin's Sphere of Influence entirely. To make an orbit, we need to also turn ourselves sideways a bit to travel in the direction we want to go. In this case, we want to travel up and east; going east moves us with Kerbin's rotation and conserves fuel. (And I owe that knowledge to this game. Thanks, Squad!) A short time later, the rocket reaches 100km above the surface, and so Jeb orients the rocket and turns the engines back on. By waiting until we're near the apoapsis, we've further conserved our fuel; it's easier to change your Periapsis (the lowest point of the orbit) when you're near your Apoapsis (the highest point of the orbit). Jeb keeps the rocket going until he runs out of fuel, then checks to see how awesome his new orbit is. ...Well, that's a problem. Yeah, either I've done something wrong during this flight, or this design just doesn't cut it anymore. Considering the changes to aerodynamics in 1.0, I assume it must be the latter. (Because I'm an awesome pilot, all the time. ) For reference, a stable orbit would be going all the way around the planet without touching it, and would have a visible Periapsis icon showing a minimum height of over 70km. This flight path is known as a suborbital flight; basically, it means we're not going fast enough for an orbit, and what went up will now come down. This means, unfortunately, that this mission was a failure. For now, Jeb will have to focus on making it down safely, and the engineers will have to return to the drawing board for this one. Since this booster is empty now too, it's safe to eject it now. We'll want to do that before we get into Kerbin's atmosphere; ejecting it now gives us ample time to get away from it, which reduces the chances of it crashing on our heads as we descend. With re-entry heating, those chances are probably very low, but better safe than sorry. One more mod to show off before we go is Distant Object Enhancement, though it's not too obvious here. See that bright green dot in the top-right, just above the words "Contract Complete"? That's Jool, the local gas giant. The Distant Object Enhancement mod shows the positions of every planet and moon, from anywhere in the solar system, as glowing dots. Not too practical, but a very nice aesthetics mod. It also allows you to see debris and other vessels from a considerable distance. A few minutes later, and Jebediah is nervously waiting in his pod while the heating effects of re-entry surround his vessel. So, I suppose it's time for a confession; this is technically the second time I attempted this mission. The first time, everything went pretty similar to how you see it now, but with one notable change. See, back in 1.0.0, there was a bug that prevented heat shields from applying their weight normally, with a side effect of making the capsules "top-heavy". At least, that's what I think the problem was, but it seems pretty likely. Either way, the capsule suddenly flipped over partway down, and the re-entry forces stopped me from flipping it back. Jebediah ended up dying mid re-entry, exactly as his premonitions earlier predicted. I don't remember ever losing a Kerbal before that point (by accident, anyways), and I had never lost Jebediah of all Kerbals before. I was pretty devastated, and ended up reverting the whole mission just to keep Jeb around. That's not the only reason why I stopped; real life got in the way, too. But I'm sure this mission would have been made much earlier if that hadn't happened. Fortunately, that bug has been fixed, and so no unexpected flipping occurs. Jebediah makes it down, safe and sound, and is shown here deploying his parachute safely. Another water landing is in the cards this time, which means there won't be any more science to do. A bit disappointing; it would have been nice to land somewhere new and get a bit of 'compensation' for this wasted mission. At least everything went to plan otherwise. Here's our recovery info. Unlike the other flights, the pilot and the ship were recovered at the same time, as there was no reason for Jebediah to leave the pod. Fortunately, our contract choices got us a decent profit, bringing our funds up to $346,743 from $258,518. I didn't realize until as I was typing this up that I made a pretty bad mistake; I picked a picture with a different money counter. How did this happen? Well, you can't see it here since I blocked the evidence, but I actually upgraded the Astronaut Complex in this picture, and copy-pasted the boxes into that picture without realizing. For the record, the count up top is more accurate, and shows the current money count after the upgrade. Upgrading the Astronaut Complex increases the number of employees we can hire, which means more potential rookies to train up in the future. More important for right now, however, is that it also improves our EVA capabilities. Now we can not only plant flags, but EVA up in deep space is now a viable option. This should help to get us more Science for our next flight, which in turn should make it easier to achieve our mission sooner. So that concludes this long-overdue mission. At this point, I think it's safer to say that new updates will come out "when they're ready". Next time, I think we'll take a quick break from our goals here to try to fulfill some more contracts, and hopefully unlock another tech tree node or two in the process. We'll also take some time to check out the new parts that have been added; besides some modded parts, we'll also check out the radiators added in 1.0.3 if I can unlock any now.

Chapter 1 - Visit the Mun Kerbin Year 2001, Day 2 Imgur Album Here we are at... the Administration Building. Why are we here? Well, there's a few strategies, new to 1.0, that I want to point out here. The two new strategies are "Research Rights Sell-Out" and "Bail-Out Grant"; though only the first one is pictured, they both have similar functions. These strategies convert science and reputation, respectively, into funds. The cool thing about these, however, is that this is an instant, one-time deal. Once you click accept, the Funds are awarded instantly. Perhaps not too exciting, but something I thought was worth sharing. Anyways, let's get ready for our second mission. This is our craft, which in no way, shape, or form resembles a nuclear warhead. For this mission, we're sending out Valentina Kerman, the new recruit to the Kerbal Space Center (even though she was already here on opening day). Like Jebediah, she's also a fearless pilot. Her courage is also a little higher, and her stupidity is a little lower. Not that it matters much. As for the craft itself, it uses an SRB for the first stage, with our first look at liquid fuel for it's second stage. Since I don't know how high it can take us, we've also packed a heat shield, just in case. You can also see the service bay, with some Goo Containers and antennas inside. One thing of note is that most 'engine' parts have new subtitles. For example, the LV-T30 is now subtitled the "Reliant" engine, while the RT-10 SRB is now the "Hammer". The Engineer Report is also warning me that I have no way of producing electric charge, because the antennas require it to transmit data. It's actually pretty clever, now that I've tested it. If you have an engine with an alternator, it'll note that when giving you the warning. It'll also warn you if you're lacking an important resource (like oxidizer for liquid fuel engines), or if you're going to jettison an engine without ever firing it (and tells you to ignore the warning if it's meant to be a missile) Finally, though I didn't show it in the picture, the decouplers now have a tweakable ejection force. (I think that's new, at least; I don't remember if that was in 0.90) Clearly, Valentina isn't interested in wasting any more time. Just look at that smile! I didn't actually notice last time, due to how fast we were off the ground, but there is some new effects following a launch. For instance, this dust cloud is now visible just after you've left the pad. Some time later, Valentina approaches the 25 kilometer mark. The Hammer was ejected some time ago, and most of the liquid fuel has already been used up. The engine is still running, by the way: I just didn't think to move the camera from this angle. You can sort of see the flame effect behind the navball. Not long after, though it was unlikely we'd actually manage to orbit Kerbin, I decided to begin a gravity turn anyways. Unfortunately, it seems Valentina passed the limits of our communications shortly after, as all contact was lost. If any pictures from space were sent, they've all been lost now. Or I may have forgotten. Either one's possible. This picture was taken shortly after communications returned. The effects of re-entry are just beginning to show here, and they don't seem much different than before. The camera was shaking more, though, which added to the ...fun of the whole thing. Will Valentina return home safely? Will our heat shield stand up to the intense heat of re-entry? What happened to Valentina's face? Find out in the next episode! ...Nah, just kidding. Valentina was moving pretty fast; normally I deploy chutes at about 10km up, but with the speed we had, and the risk of our chute burning up completely, I had to deploy at just 2km above the ocean. Perhaps not too bad, in the grand scheme of things, but it's out of my normal comfort zone. At least I can say I did something new today! As for our contracts... just look on the right. I think each 'free' contract has about 5 levels, and we got most of them done in this one mission. 12 contracts were completed today, including the one I actually selected in Mission Control: "Escape the atmosphere!". Here's the spot where we landed. For the newer players here, the little yellow landmass, just to the left of the capsule icon, is where the Space Center is located. I think this was about 30-35km away, though I didn't actually bother checking. It was, however, close enough to be able to see it inside the Space Center screen. As for what we recovered from this mission... ...I'm too lazy to write it out, so here's some pictures instead. Look closely at the left picture. That mission earned us over double the profit of the first one; we've jumped from $119,144 to $356,384. It's certainly easier to upgrade buildings, at least; I bought the Level 2 Mission Control after this, and have about $250,000 left; plenty for future missions. Here's a look at my tech tree. After this mission, I bought the rest of the Tier 3 nodes; Advanced Rocketry and Stability. This got me the LV-T45 "Swivel" engine, a radial decoupler, and a larger liquid fuel tank. This is that new node I mentioned in the last post: Aviation. It provides most of the basic parts you'd need to build an airplane, and seems to be quite a bit easier to get than it was in 0.90. We've also got some new landing gear, it seems! Looking forward into the tree, at Tier 6 it seems to separate into three parts: the top part focuses on powerful rockets, the middle part focuses on airplane and SSTOs, and the bottom part focuses more on utilities: science, mining, probes, etc. I'm really looking forward to getting into mining Ore, so that portion will probably be our focus in this playthrough. I've decided to divide this playthrough into chapters, each one focusing on a specific goal. For this first chapter, that goal is to leave Kerbin's Sphere Of Influence (SOI) and enter the Mun's SOI. After that, I'd like to land on both Mun and Minmus, and hopefully test out some new ideas on our way to interplanetary missions. Of course, that's all just wishful thinking at this point in time. Hopefully we won't have too much trouble. Expect a mission to get an orbit around Kerbin next mission, along with the addition of a few mods now that they've had the chance to update.

Prologue - Launch a Rocket Kerbin Year 2001, Day 1 Imgur album I'll put most of the important info in the posts, but I'll also link to an imgur album with more detail if you prefer that. I'm worried that putting both on the same page will break something. The imgur album will have more pictures, while the post will have more detailed information. For this inaugural mission, we'll be using our Inaugural Rocket. Basically a pod on top of an SRB, this is actually your only form of flight at the start of a new Career game. The liquid fuel parts are locked under Basic Rocketry, along with a new node. We also start with the Mystery Goo Canister, planted on the sides of the pod. It's actually a bit smaller than before, which is certainly convenient. Before we go, take a look in the bottom-right: that's the new Engineer's Report. It's like a checklist of potential problems: minor, major and catastrophic, from right to left. For this vessel, it initially reported some staging errors from the parachute and booster being on the same stage. It also warned me about some monopropellant that wasn't in use, interestingly enough. Here we are at the Launchpad interface. You'll notice that Valentina is already available, as an alternate pilot alongside Jeb. There's also a little picture of your craft in the top-right, and the button to select your mission flag has been updated. Finally, notice the small blue button next to the current time; that's the mythical "Warp until morning" button. Anyways, everything seems nominal here, so let's launch this thing! And we're ready to go! The mandatory "hop out and take Crew Reports 5 feet above the ground" took place off-camera. One thing to note is a button change: the B key is now used to re-enter the pod while in EVA, while the F key is used to let go (though I didn't actually test it to find out). Now launching in 3... 2... 1... Whoa! This thing is fast! ...Yeah, I actually had to revert the whole launch and try again to get a good picture. Anyways, a few things of note. First of all, you'll see a few messages in the right. You get a couple of free contracts that don't count to the contract limit now, though they're just simple record-breaking contracts. In this picture, I've broken the records for 150m/s and 300m/s in rapid succession, with 450m/s occurring just a few seconds later. In addition, though it's obviously not visible now, the camera shakes when the rocket's moving; quite violently in this case, due to the sheer speed involved. I was expecting some rapid unplanned disassembly from it, but fortunately it seems to be harmless. Whether that'll be the case with future launches remains to be seen. Here we are right at the top of our launch: it's not too far off the ground, actually. Though some people could make it to Mun on their first launch, this (admittedly simple) design couldn't make it past 5000m. So it's definitely harder to "sequence-break" now, though probably still possible. You can just make out the cables of the chutes in this shot, as well. On our way down, I stop to look at our contracts list, and it's rather impressive. Remember the "free" contracts I mentioned? This is how many we've claimed in just one mission. For reference, the contracts I picked out were "Launch our first vessel!" and "Gather scientific data from Kerbin." The second contract is technically new, but now too exciting. As it implies, you simply need to gather science during your flight, and recover it afterwards. Notably, this one doesn't have any biome or elevation requirements: you can complete it on the surface or in the air. It also offers a seemingly absurd amount of money, at least in my opinion. You'll see what I mean later... These pictures were taken as the parachute deploys. Keep in mind, this isn't some split-second timing on my part: the first picture was actually taken about a second after the chute began opening. The parachutes open slowly now, instead of quickly 'snapping' to maximum size, and I think it looks pretty nice. Of course, no good launch is complete without a potential wallpaper! This is how it would look to a spectator on the ground. (Or at least, that was my intention) And our landing is successful! We landed in the area between the pad and the crawlerway. Jeb gets out of the pod and decides to go plant a flag, before remembering that this is Career Mode and flags don't exist yet. Maybe someday, Jeb... Maybe someday. Here's our recovery data. Sorry about the size; I didn't want to put two massive images in a vertical row. You can get a better look at it on the imgur album. I also put links on these pictures, so you don't have to scroll all the way back up. You're welcome. Finally, just to avoid confusion, I edited all the windows together for convenience. The recovery window still has the same size and appearance ingame. Anyways, this is all the cool stuff we got from this mission. Take a quick look at our funds count: I started with $15,000, and now we have $119,144. I just got over $100,000 from the first mission. I assume this is because of all the stuff to buy (strategies, employees, part research, etc.), but it seems a bit excessive to me, especially since I'm playing on Moderate. I guess time will tell. Before we go, there's some new stuff that needs to be shown off. Let's take a quick look at the new tech tree first. This is how the tech tree looks now. As you can tell, every node is now visible at once, which I think is a big improvement. I've also selected a new node in this picture: Engineering 101. Placed in the same 'tier' as Basic Rocketry, this one focuses on... well, engineering. Our old friend the Science Bay is here, along with the stack decoupler, the first antenna and the first place cockpit. Conversely, Basic Rocketry contains the 'old' SRB, along with a liquid fuel engine and our first liquid fuel tank. Yep, liquid fuel isn't available at all until you get Basic Rocketry. Just looking at this tech tree has me interested. I see a new node in there already; it's just past Stability, and has an airplane icon on it. I'm a bit mixed about that: it's cool to see more airplane parts, but I was never any good at building stable planes before. Maybe I'll give it a try later. Finally, I also got the Survivability node, which contains a few new parts! Let's look at those too before we leave. Again, sorry about the size; the imgur album offers a clearer look. These pictures are linked as well. Now then, these are the three new parts I've seen. The first one is your starting SRB: the RT-5 "Flea" Solid Fuel Booster. It's pretty powerful if you're just pushing a pod, but as a 'downgrade' of the RT-10, it's not as good at gaining altitude. This one has 100 units of solid fuel, and as stated gets this craft up to about 4500m. The next one is an exciting one: the first heat shield! Re-entry heating is now a thing in Kerbal Space Program, and this part's here to save your kerbals from an impromptu marshmallow roast. It also comes with a new resource; "Ablator". I'm not too knowledgeable on this kind of thing, but I assume it's probably a pseudo-durability meter. With it's size, it seems like it's meant to be attached to the bottom of this pod. Finally, we have a service bay, also 1.25m in size. I haven't actually tested this out yet, so I'm not too sure what it does just yet. It's basically a hollow container that you can put parts in; for this example, I put a few Mystery Goo Containers inside. The purpose is to protect your more fragile and important parts during re-entry. Anyways, that took quite a while, so I'm calling it a day. Updates will occur ideally every day from here on out, but that'll probably change after a while. I don't want to completely exhaust myself from KSP, after all. In any case, thanks for reading this first mission, and hopefully there will be many more coming!

So now that 1.0 is finally here, I think it's time for me to finally do what I've always wanted to do, but never got around to doing: an actual, full report of my save file. Because I'm sure 11 million other people haven't had the same thought already. I first got the game in 0.21, and have tried out just about every major update since then. My main inspiration for doing this was the UKS MASEC Mission Logs, first made by Cashen back in July, 2013. He's supposedly starting again after a long break, so I'd recommend giving it a look now if you're interested. For this save file, we travel back to Kerbin year 2001, when a large group of friends established Kerbin's first space center. Recent studies have shown that aerodynamics are a real thing, and that those smudges on telescopes are actually other planets. What adventures will they have? What secrets will they discover? Why did they pick such a weird name for their space center? Nobody knows... EDIT: So it turns out I'm pretty bad at the whole "keeping to a schedule" thing. It's been about two months since the last time I played, but now I should be able to keep a more consistent schedule. I've just looked over the rules, and as far as I can tell it's alright for me to reuse this thread, so I'll be doing that for now. Prologue - Launch a rocket Mission 1: Inaugural Rocket (Post 2) Chapter 1 - Visit the Mun Mission 2: Not A Nuclear Missile (Post 3) Mission 3: Time-Tested Thruster Thingy (Post 4) Added in Mission 3 Module Manager - by sarbian, ialdabaoth Chatterer - by Athlonic, Iannic-ann-od, Crowd Sourced Science Logs - by DuoDex, madsailor, Olympic1, harryyoung, codepants Landing Height - by Diazo Distant Object Enhancement - by MOARdV, Rubber Ducky Kerbal Attachment System and Kerbal Inventory System - by KospY, Winn75 Planetshine - by Valerian SCANsat - by DMagic, technogeeky, damny Kerbal Alarm Clock - by TriggerAu Wider Contracts App - by nightingale

So after I finished watching today's Squadcast, I was looking at the tier 1 KSC buildings when I had a thought (surprising, I know ): There's no way you should be able to get enough Science to build spaceplanes from looking at those sandbags, right? In addition, a lot of people (last time I checked, anyways) hate how easy it is to get Science by just putting a pod on the launch pad. I think I might have a good solution to both problems: Basically, you get less science from a Tier 1 VAB compared to a Tier 2 VAB, which is less than a Tier 3 VAB, and so on. For example, the Tier 1 launchpad might give 0.1 Science for an EVA report on it, but a Tier 2 launchpad might give 0.4 Science. This would probably be done simply by raising the Science cap of the appropriate buildings when they're upgraded. Finally, here's why I think this is a good idea: It prevents you from getting too much science without actually flying a rocket somewhere, especially now that every building and decoration is a unique mini-biome. It encourages in-depth exploration of KSC every time you upgrade a building (see the pretty new building up close and get Science for doing so!) It makes testing your spacecraft at KSC profitable; get on/near a recently-upgraded building, grab science, recover vessel, profit. Have the Science each mini-biome at KSC gives increase as you upgrade the appropriate building.

Did something go wrong with the 1.4.3 upload, or was only ToadicusTools updated? Because there's no AntennaRange folder in the zip downloads or the source code.

Don't forget that spending money to research parts can be disabled at the start of a new save. If the option is off, then Reliable Technology will have no downside, and Cutting-Edge Research will basically be useless. The same also applies when there's no parts available to research. Those two would probably cause some balance issues unless they're changed in some way. Mass-Produced Parts, though, seems like an interesting idea. From my understanding, it reduces launch costs, but also lowers recovery value, which should make it best for building stations/bases. Personally, I'd love to see a strategy that increases the recovery value of resources only; the idea being that mods that let you extract resources from other planets (i.e. Kethane or Karbonite) provide bonus income for recovering them. Unfortunately, I don't know if that's even possible right now.

A pig attempts to break the speed of light.

Well, I think it's time for the mandatory "Still alive, Cashen?" But seriously, I just wanted to let you know that KospY has released a new, 24.2-compatible update for KAS. It's currently available here. Though I've just posted now, I'd like to say now that I've really enjoyed this series so far, and from what I can tell by reading previous posts, many other people have too. Hopefully we'll be seeing more of Project Osiris soon.

Seems to be working so far, but there is one minor problem: The VAB/SPH interface changed in 0.24, and because of that quite a few button placements are clipping through various portions of the new interface. For example, try making a career save in 0.24, entering the VAB and setting the Toolbar Position to "Bottom" with the Config Button Position on "Bottom Right". With this setup, the toolbar sits over the Center of Lift icon, and the config buttons are right on top of the new contracts and notifications buttons. There's also a border around the "reset staging" button in the bottom right that covers about half of the settings button. As far as I can tell, there's no problems with either the stock interface or the catalog buttons, beyond accidentally clicking buttons you didn't want to. I also mentioned this back when 0.24 came out in this post.

Pretty good mod so far! Here's a few unusual descriptions I found with this, after a few flights in a fresh Career save: Relevant bits are underlined. The Record Keeping Society thinks they don't look interesting enough when they watch things explode. Alright then. Maybe I'm misinterpreting this, but how could they give me this contract if they "exploded in a fiery cataclysm"? Just to clarify, the quote doesn't end there; I just didn't think the rest was interesting enough to quote. ...What does this have to do with rescues? We're testing a part at the launchpad. Maybe it's a hostage situation. "Test our part... or Jeb gets it!" I've also noticed quite a few contracts that end with no period, which you can see in some of my quotes. Minor issue, but thought I'd bring it up. Still, this mod looks great besides these occasional odd moments, and it's definitely more readable than anything in the stock game. The only quote that I think really needs fixing is the third one, which mentions rescuing a Kerbal in a part test contract. Hope this helps!

Bug report for the 0.24 update: The updated VAB/SPH interface from 0.24 means that some of the buttons now clip through various bits. Try setting the toolbar position to "Bottom", or the config button position to "Bottom Left" or "Bottom Right" and you'll see what I mean. The buttons are still usable, but clicking them from there can trigger buttons hidden behind (i.e open the contracts list every time you try to Search).

John looked up just in time to see the rocket's ascent off in the horizon. Not yet realizing that the nuclear war had never started, John mistook it for the first nuclear strike.

Really enjoyed this generator while it was up. Ever since I joined KSP in .21, I would use it to memorialize my missions. It was a big part of the game for me, and I hate to see it go with .24 so close. If you're still looking to award ribbons to your Kerbals, however, I'd recommend Final Frontier; it offers a whole bunch of ribbons, both in game and in it's files, and it's the next best thing right now.

Cameras. Which direction is up?

So 2 quick bug reports, both relating to the "First Kerbal in Space" ribbon: 1. The interface calls it the "Awarded to the first kerbal in space Ribbon". 2. It seems to be awarded to the first Kerbal to EVA at all, regardless of whether or not they actually are in space. Maybe that one's intentional, but it doesn't seem to be. Other than that, happy to say that this mod works great!

Not really a gameplay tip more as a cosmetic tip. If you're like me, you have a bunch of different mods that add new parts, like the Kethane mod; but those parts are listed first in the VAB and SPH, before the base game parts. Turns out, this is because of the name of the GameData folders. (Surprising, I know ) For this example, Kethane parts are located before Squad parts, because K comes before S. (Genius right here) Luckily, most GameData folders don't particularly mind being renamed. For example, you can rename "GameData\Squad" to "GameData\0_Squad" without any bugs (that I know of). Now, finally reaching my point, this moves the Squad folder to the top of the list, meaning it's parts are displayed first in the VAB. This also works with other folders; "NASAmission" (i.e. 1_NASAmission) and most parts packs (i.e. ZZ_KAS) can be altered this way too. The only problem to keep in mind, however, is that this can break compatibility with some mods (i.e. RasterPropMonitor). Still, If you prefer seeing the base game parts at the top of the lists, it's definitely worth it IMO. TL;DR Rename "GameData\Squad" to something like "GameData\0_Squad" to move the position of it's parts in the VAB.

No, I haven't found KAS anywhere besides the forum thread... and of course, the SpacePort page. I put it in the Crippled list because, when I had checked the thread before uploading the list, it still had a broken SpacePort link. 'Crippled', at least by my personal definition, means that one of these page links still exist, but that alternatives are also provided. That said, I have noticed that the link is no longer there, so KAS has been moved to the 'Forgotten' list. Just for clarification, this​ list, by my definition, requires that the mod was previously on the 'Crippled' list, but that the broken SpacePort link has since been deleted. Didn't know about that one, to be honest. There IS a GitHub link on the forum thread, but I didn't count it due to the fact that it's source code which, to my admittedly limited understanding, can't be used as a 'proper' mod installation. However, Kerbal Alarm Clock has been moved to the 'Crippled' list for now, and will hopefully be moved again once the download is properly updated. If that's the case, then I'm happy to say that your group of mods were the first addition to the 'Recovered' list! Hopefully we'll see many more mods there soon!

So while some of you may have hated the SpacePort, it's still been a valuable part of the KSP modding community. Many mods still have downloads on it, some even exclusively, meaning that they've effectively vanished. To honor this new milestone in the modding community, and to pay tribute to the mods that have been left behind, I've decided to compile a list of a variety of mods once available on SpacePort. My hope for this thread is that, at worst, it remains a tribute to the mods left on the SpacePort; at best, it reminds the mod makers to update and add a new download location, making those mods usable once again. Guidelines Format is [Mod Name] - [Author(s)] - [Description] - [Contributor] Bold author is the listed author on SpacePort; there's no guarantee that this is the actual mod author, but it typically is All actual mod authors (that I know of) are also listed If forum thread exists, mod will have a link to that thread (If I can find one, that is) Mod titles and descriptions are taken straight from SpacePort (or the forum thread if no description is available there), and all typos were deliberately preserved. All versions listed are those available at time of addition; as such, the version listed may be obsolete / outdated compared to the latest version Recently added mods (i.e. those not on the original list) will list the mod's known name at time of being added If I added a mod to this list, no contributor will be listed Similar mods made by the same author(s), or listed on the same forum post, will be indented Like this [*]THIS IS STILL A WORK IN PROGRESS! ​ The 'Missing' list is dedicated to mods that, to the best of my / the community's knowledge, were ONLY downloadable through the SpacePort, and are thus currently inaccessible. [KSP 0.23] Anvil Rockets [1.7.2] - Absolution - Two workhorse rockets (with 8 variations total) capable of delivering payloads in excess of 36 tonnes to LKO. [KSP 0.23] Dune Raider Rovers - The download includes craft files and a save game with a rover, lander and crew already on the Mun for your convenience. Contributed by Justin Kerbice [*]​RLA Stockalike 0.9.4 - hoojiwana - Contributed by ObsessedWithKSP; unofficial Curse mirror here [0.22] RLA Electric Engines 0.6.1 - New filetypes and Xenon tanks! New types and scales of Electric Engines for your probes and small rockets! Arcjets, half the ISP but twice the thrust of Ions, and Resistojets, quarter the ISP but four times the thrust of Ions. Don’t forget to pack your solar panels! [*]Kosmos Space Station Parts Pack [0.21+] - CardBoardBoxProcessor / Normak / Xemit / NoMrBond - The Kosmos Space Station Parts Pack is back, with higher-quality modules, better balance, and near-unlimited versitility and usefulness. [*]Original Ion Engine Sound Pack (0.235 ‘ARM’) - kahlzun - Add some sound to your standard ion engine! [*]Protractor - Enigma / mrenigma03 - This mod adds a part to KSP that provides a window for planning trips between any two bodies in the system, including between two moons, or from a moon to a different planet. [*]Vanguard Technologies Plugin - Kreuzung - A collection of different part modules. [*][v0.20.2] Ancient Launchers [sTOCK] - maro-technoir - The intention of “Ancient Launchers†ist to rebuild some historic space missions with KSP vanilla parts only. [*]KMP Client [0.23] [v0.1.5.1] - Shaun Esau, TehGimp666, Others (see link) - KMP is a mod for v0.23 of Kerbal Space Program that adds a multiplayer game option. KMP Server [0.23] [v0.1.5.1] - Server for KMP games [*][0.23] Squad Texture Reduction Pack - B9 and KW Packs also - PolecatEZ - All Stock 1mb and 4mb textures have been “debloated†by between 25 and 90%, leading to a 400mb reduction in size for your “Parts†and "Spaces" folder. ​MU4 Outrigger Frame - DailyFrankPeter? - Contributed by ZeroA4 Panda Jager Laboratories Parts Pack - Sethnizzle - I, like many of you, thought that mission control needed a way to produce crew reports from the many science rovers they have sent to the surface of other planets/moons. I also felt that the current probe cores/bodies just weren't cutting is when it came to rovers. Contributed by ZeroA4 KDEX - Kerbal Dust Experiment - masTerTorch - The objective of LADEE is to investigate the mysteries of the lunar atmosphere and the question of levitated lunar dust. It carries a scientific instrument called the Lunar Dust Experiment (LDEX). Contributed by ZeroA4 Beastly Science - Scoop-O-Matic and more! (JAN0214) - BeastOfChicken - Don't want to risk a kerbal when all you're trying to do is collect some dirt? Don't want to weigh down your rocket with life support or a capsule? Do your science with robots! Contributed by ZeroA4 ID ICE An Alternative Engine Module - InfiniteDice - I've created a mod that will support vehicle engines in a future release. Currently it only has a few ww1 radial/rotary engines, and a portable generator. Contributed by ZeroA4 [0.21.1] Docking Strut 1.0.1.0 - JDP - This plugin enables you to strutify docked vessels to make more sturdy spacebuilt space stations and spacecraft. [0.23] Final Frontier 0.3.9 - Nereid - Each kerbal will get ribbons for extraordinary merits. And the number of missions flown (i.e. vessel recovered) is recorded, too. [0.23.5] Kip Engineering: NEW! Adaptive Docking Node (29th Apr 2014) - Cpt. Kipard, Toadicus - A set of Universal Docking Ports designed for space tugs. ​Low Profile Structural Hub Set - This is intended for stations and bases allowing players to launch narrower sections into orbit. Should be helpful especially if you use FAR. [*]​[0.22] Surface Mounted Stock-Alike Lights for Self-Illumination - Why485 - I find the stock lights to be too large and clumsy to use for simple self-lighting. To solve this, I made three small lights with a simple stock-alike design. Contributed by ObsessedWithKSP; unofficial Curse mirror here [*](0.21.1) WT-51 Kerban Transport. Wayland Corp. - Devogen - The WT51 Kerban transport was designed… well.. really with no design plan in mind. Each piece frabricated after the other, many beers were consumed by many kerbals in the wake of the forum disaster, and this was the result. (Note: All mods in this sub-list can be found in the first post of this mod's forum thread) MSI Mech Pod Mk1 V.0 - A self contained escape pod 0.20 Hyper Ring Tank - made for Leonov but its just so damn versatile I decided to release it... Cheyenne UD-4 Utility Dropship - The winner of the Poll.. Freelancer FL-1 Rover Freelancer Command Pod Mk2 - This mod was built in honour of Bobcat, and the million uses I have had of the DEMV vehicles, they always perform flawlessly. Pegasus PX-2 Shuttle Pack - Deep Space Multi Purpose Shuttle Space Eagle 1999 Mk1 - A brand new version of the Space Eagle 1999 Transporter, complete with experimental Alpha Munbase Launch pad. ​Space Eagle 1999 Mk2 [*]R2-DJEB - Let your trusty R2 Unit guide you across the galaxy! [*]The Freelancer Multi-Purpose Command Pod - Transparent command pod, useful for all sorts of things [*]'The Egg' Emergency Escape Pod - The EEP-12 Emergency Escape Pod was designed to get one Kerbal home safely in the event of a disaster. [*]Station Ring Pack [*]Pegasus Modern Deep Space Shuttle [*]Experimental Parts Pack 1 [*]Science Revisited - CaptRobau - This mod attempts to correct many of the flaws found in the current implementation of the science system. The 'Crippled' list is dedicated to mods that, while still accessible through other sources (i.e. Curse), still have a now unusable link to the SpacePort. [0.23] KW Rocketry v2.5.6B - Winston / Kickasskyle - A comprehensive launch vehicle construction pack. Lazor Guided Weapons - Romfarer - Lazor Guided Weapons. [sT] SPACETECH – Escape Pod (V1.8) - Stefan S - A small single seat Escape Pod [0.22] B9 Aerospace Pack R4.0c - bac9 - This pack vastly expands a selection of parts, in particular with high-quality spaceplane components such as new engines, cockpits, wings and fuselage systems. [0.23.5] Kerbal Engineer Redux v0.6.2.4 - cybutek / Duxwing / mic_e / Keptin / MrPwner - Kerbal Engineer reveals important statistics about your ship and its orbit during building and flight. Ferram Aerospace Research v0.13.3 - ferram4 - This plugin fixes the aerodynamics for all stock parts, simulating realistic drag values for rocket parts and realistic lift values for wings, as well as granting more control over how aerodynamic control surfaces act. KerbCam v0.12 - huin - KerbCam is a basic utility to automatically move the flight camera along a given path (intended for filming videos and moving a camera somewhat smoothly), or move the camera with 6 degrees of freedom. ISA MapSat 3.3.4 - Innsewerants - Create topography maps by scanning the planets. [0.21+] Update 30.08.13 Ion Hybrid Electric Pack v.2.2 IP-15 Fix - EPD - Ion and Hybrid Engines, also new Xenon Tanks. Kerbin Shuttle Orbiter System - helldiver - I really liked the stubby shuttles several people started but it seems like they never got finished. So I decided to make one that matched the art style of KSP with a slight modern twist to accommodate the style of an orbiter. [0.23.5] Docking Port Alignment Indicator [Version 3.1] - NavyFish - The Docking Port Alignment Indicator is designed to help you dock manually, by presenting target alignment and relative position in a clean and intuitive manner. [0.23.5] EnhancedNavBall [v1.2] - Paul Newnham / kitoban - Enhanced navball with added vectors for orbital maneuvers, and pointers to hidden vectors RemoteTech 2 [NOT 0.23.5 COMPATIBLE] - Cilph - The ever so famous RemoteTech. Now with a new polish. Spy Camera - Rectus? - As the name implies, it adds spy camera as science experiment. Launch it, snap a photo and then send that photo back to Kerbin in a recoverable pod. Contributed by biohazard15 (Note: I've received warning that the site this was found on may be dangerous - unless proven otherwise, no link shall be added; search at your own risk) Kerbal Joint Reinforcement v2.3 - ferram4 - This plugin includes assorted other physics fixes / enhancements, fixing some launch clamp issues, and easing the effect of physics initializing on the rocket. [0.2x.x] Quantum Strut - Bojan / K3|Chris - This will add Quantum Struts to your game! Makes docking more stable! [0.23.5] Kerbal Alarm Clock v2.7.3.0 - David / TriggerAu - Alarm Clock System to remind you of important things and prevent Kerbal’s overflying destinations at high warp. Github download provided here by ucarion [0.23.X] KXPS - Kerbal Stock Part eXpansion mod - KaspedVld, ClairaLyrae, stupid_chris - Unofficial stock parts expansion. Contributed by ZeroA4 [0.23.5] 16-Mar | Smart Parts V0.5 NEW: Improved parts and new valve - dtobi, Duxwing - Smart Parts control action groups and some other features (light, SAS). Contributed by ZeroA4 [0.23.5] DMagic Orbital Science - DMagic - This part pack includes six new science parts. [0.23] Custom Biomes 1.5 [18 Mar] - Trueborn - Custom Biomes adds biomes to the rest of the celestial bodies in KSP. It also allows for the replacement of any biomes already in the game. On the happier side of things, this list is dedicated to mods that previously fell under the 'Missing' category, but have since added an alternative download method, making them accessible to the community once more. [0.23/0.23.5] WIP TAC Life Support 0.8 [22Dec] - TaranisElsu - Kerbals require resources to survive, whether in a vessel or on EVA: Food, Water, Oxygen, Electricity (for air quality and climate control) Contributed by kenbob5588 [0.23/0.23.5] TAC Fuel Balancer v2.3 [22Dec] - Our product allows you to transfer fuel, or other resources, between parts on the same vessel. [0.23/0.23.5] TAC Atomic Clock v1.2 [21Dec] - Know what time it is on Kerbin and some distant planet called Earth. [0.23/0.23.5] TAC Self Destruct v1.3.1 [22Dec] - Because Kerbal needs more reliably planned explosions! [0.23/0.23.5] TAC Part Lister v1.2 [22Dec] - Have you ever wanted to minimize the mass or cost of a rocket? Have you wanted to see how much each part was contributing to the total? Well now you can have the information at your fingertips, in a nice list format, showing every part along with its mass and cost. ​(Note: This group of mods is currently being re-uploaded into more official locations, and can be downloaded on Github. This note shall be removed once this transition is complete.) [0.22] Bargain Rocket Parts v1.0 - Rubber Ducky - After serious budget cuts at the Kerbal Space Agency, they turn to the one contractor they can still afford: Bargain Rocket Parts Inc. Action Groups Extended (Ver. 1.3, KSP 23.5) - Diazo - Increase the number of action groups to 250. Name Action Groups on a per vessel basis, so you can remember what is assigned where [23.5] (Apr12/14) Landing Height - Show the distance from the bottom of your vessel, not the center of mass, to the ground below you. [*]Mk2 Cockpit Internals - Sam Hall - Hey, you know this cockpit? It's got windows and instruments now. Contributed by ZeroA4 The 'Forgotten' list is dedicated to mods that previously fell under the 'Crippled' category, but have since removed their SpacePort links, leaving their SpacePort page "forgotten". [0.23.5] NovaPunch 2.03.5 for KSP 0.23.5 - SundayPunch, NovaSilisko, Captain Slug, Tiberion - The classic NovaPunch parts made functional in KSP 0.22  Contains over 100 additional rocket parts [0.23.5] MechJeb 2.2.1 - r4m0n, CardBoardBoxProcessor - Anatid Robotics and Multiversal Mechatronics proudly presents the first flight assistant autopilot: MechJeb (.23) [FASA -3.86] -Saturn-1B – LEM 3-9-14 - frizzank - This pack contains all parts for Saturn IB, Gemini and Mercury sets in their 2.5 meter versions. FusTek Station Parts Expansion (R0.03.5 Alpha) [KSP 0.21+] - Robin Chang - Expanded series of crew-capable modules for space stations and/or planetary outposts, based on the same aesthetics as the original FusTek Stations Parts pack. (Note: SpacePort version was an old stable release; this listing is a slightly newer "experimental release) [0.23.5] Firespitter propeller plane and helicopter parts v6.3 - Snjo - Propeller engines, helicopter engines, wings, cockpit, and more! [0.23] 6S Service Compartment Tubes v1.1 - Ivan Notaros - Ever wanted to have smooth rockets without putting RCS tanks, batteries, mechjeb and whatnot on the top of the hull? Here’s a solution! And it is only 2 PARTS!!! [0.23] Procedural Fairings 2.4.4 - Alexey Volynskov / e-dog - Fairings that automatically reshape for attached payload. Lazor System v33 - Romfarer - Lazor System is an advanced targeting and guidance system with a lot of functions bundled in subsystems which can be activated by placing colored lazors on your vessel. Robotic Arms Pack - This pack contains two replicas of real life robotic arms used space. Lazor Docking Cam - Standalone version of the docking cam that already comes with Lazor System. Lazor Cam - This is a camera you can place anywhere on a vessel. When activated the camera will open a gui window much similar to the camera window that already comes with Lazor System. Sunbeam - A deadly solid-state laser. [*][0.21.x] Kerbal Crew Manifest v0.5.5.0. Crew Transfers and Create/Edit a Kerbal! - vXSovereignXv / sarbian - This plugin will allow you to add or remove crew from parts while on the launch pad or transfer crew between parts in the same vessel. [*][Part] [0.2.2] TiberDyne Aerospace R&D Division - Shuttle System 3.5 Alpha - Tiberion - Contributed by Tiberion [*][0.23.5] KAS – Kerbal Attachment System 0.4.7 - KospY / Winn75 / zzz / Majiir - Winches, grab, parts attachment, ressource transfer, struts, pipes and part storage [*]Radially Attached Experimental Data Storage Container - Talisar - It's a radially attached part intended for kerbals to use to store experimental data while on EVA. Contributed by ZeroA4 The 'Uncategorized' list, as the name implies, is a list of mods that have not yet been filtered to any existing category. If you know where they belong, please post.NOTE: Due to a combination of size and general laziness , this list shall simply be a list of mod names and SpacePort authors for now. I'll update this list properly as it becomes necessary. [0.21.1] H.O.M.E. 1.0.5 - BobCat X4 Aircraft - Scoundrel The super Quad-Wing SSTO - Luke Logan Space Guppy - Leon Merts [.22] Impossible Innovations v0.3 - Jacob Mitchell [0.20.x] Pixelated Black Shades - locob Orbital Debris Remover 23.5 - starstream Kerbal Lancher beta - Xall1996 Pentathlon Challenge Pack - zarakon [sTOCK] Cheap Ion Satellite Orbiter - Eric AGNEL [0.22.x]Soviet Pack 2,0,0 - BobCat Mission Ribbons V 5.1 - Unistrut [0.19.1] Editor Part Filter (v1.5.6) - rslashphish P.T. MonoProbe 1.1S - OrbitusII [0.19.1] Planetes Corporation – Heatshield collection with deadly reentry - Yorik DRX-1 “Drake†- Kovinus Airplane Style Wing Parts - - Requirement for DRX-1 "Drake" Jool Class Frigate (modded) - ganjou234 Modular Multiwheels: Cleverbobcat Edition - - Requirement for Jool Class Frigate (modded) Really Big RCS Tank - Cory Ryan MK4 Fuselage System v1.2 - TouhouTorpedo SNAC pack - Unistrut Spaceplane Fuselage V2 Kit - Jeff Smart Isaac Kerman Helmet - locob Skyrocket Firework - JourneyIntoSpace Improved Trusses & Girders [0.19] – Robau’s Warehouse - CaptRobau Spacecraft Recovery system (alfa) - Jeff Smart Catherine Wheel Firework - JourneyIntoSpace Science Yacht - Jeff Smart [0.23] BioMass – Renewable Bio-Fuel Modules - Vincent Abate Basic APU Engine V1.1 - GwiloProductions (stock) Speed boat - Jeff Smart [sTOCK] Crossbow Series Aerospace Fighters (0.19.1) - Simon Drandoff Mk3 Stack Decoupler - Aphazael Star Citizen’s P52 Merlin - Jeff Smart (Stock) Star Citizen’s FTC-R Hornet Tracker - Jeff Smart F-35 I - Jeff Smart Stock 21-Mainsail Heavy Lifter - JonnyOThan [0.23.X] Aviation Lights v3.6 (03MAY14) - BigNose [0.22.x] American Pack 1,2.0 - BobCat GL-DOS Potato Generators - kahlzun [0.18.2] DEMV Mk 5 - BobCat STOCK 21.1 Super Bomber: SkyHawk (has great performance and cool wing design!) - Jose Aparicio MK3 Cockpit Internals RasterPropMonitor Edition v0.3 - TouhouTorpedo [0.22] DSL Pandora rover v1.4.1 - Yogui87 Pandora IV Moon Lander / Return – Hyper Rocket Series - Randy Brofield Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina (seaplane mini) - Jeff Smart Caterpillar Tracks - mikel baldock CleverBobCat [Ver. 1.3.0] [KSP 0.23] - CleverWalrus Dragon Spacecraft [0.23+] (2/14/2014) - CardBoardBoxProcessor [0.23.x] RCS Build Aid v0.4.6 - Elián Hanisch BACE 0.19 v.1.2 - ultimaterandombanana / NovaSilisko (original) - BACE parts for 0.19 Science Pod MK1 - Jeff Smart HydroTech RCS Autopilot - Michael Kim KSF Flag Decals [29MAY] - kujuman If you: Know of a SpacePort mod that you couldn't find on this post, Have information on whether a mod should be moved to a different category (i.e. 'Missing' -> 'Recovered'), Are an author of a mod who has not been credited with making said mod, Or you know of an alternative download link for a mod, Please feel free to post, and I will update the list as necessary.

So I did a quick search and found 3 irrelevant mentions, so I figured this might be a good place to ask the staff: Has the Heartbleed bug ever been a threat to this site, and if so, has it been fixed? If not, this temporary shutdown might be a perfect chance to look into fixing it. And if it's already been fixed/was never a problem and I didn't know... Well, feel free to disregard this post. But as far as I'm aware, no dev's ever said anything about the bug.

I'm not sure how to code this, but maybe using the toolbar icon to track connections would be a good 'pretty lines' solution? For example, let's add two new icons; a yellow variant and a red variant of the current green one. The current green icon symbolizes that your craft is at or below the nominal range; transmissions are as efficient, or better than, Squad's defaults. The yellow icon symbolizes that your craft isabove the nominal range; transmissions cost more power than normal, but are still possible. The red icon symbolizes that your craft is out of range entirely; transmissions are not possible at the present time. If the toolbar icon becomes visible in flight, all you'd have to do is look at the icon to determine your current connection. tl;dr Use the Toolbar icons to track how efficient your connection is.

Actually, the Medium Survey scans each hexagon faster than the Compact Survey (0.9 seconds per hex compared to the Compact's 1.5 seconds per hex, according to the files). This means that you can timewarp faster with the Medium without missing any tiles. It might only mean the difference between a perfect scan at x50 and a perfect scan at x100, but that alone can cut scanning time in half. And higher elevations, while having a longer orbital period, also open up faster timewarp speeds, which can also help reduce scanning times.

Just out of curiosity, now that the ARM pack's been out for a while, are there any plans for adding compatibility for asteroids? After all, asteroids have science values now too (look in the Resources folder of "NASAmission" for proof). Considering the wide varieties of asteroid sizes and orbits, and the grand total of 4 messages for examining them, I figure somebody besides me has to be interested in this. Transporting them places might be worth some quotes too (i.e. on the surface of Mun, orbit around Eve, low orbit around Ike).

Well, I do exist, so that title's correct. I first found out about KSP in 0.21.1. It was a classic story (probably): Seemed cool, so I tried the demo, loved it, bought the full game, and now here we are. Well, I've typed three whole sentences now, so that's good enough. Looking forward to more amazing updates!