DMSP

Oh yes, you're right. The Kerbinside one and the bridge. Someone may do it one day...

Well, I was bored tonight after 25 attempts at landing my Tylo Lander. Got it down on the 25th. After that testing ordeal, I decided to pull out and do a Mun Mission. Something nice and Classic. Be warned, this is Image Heavy! Part I-The trip there. The Ares 1-x only flew once, but it is still one of my favorite launches. I've recreated it plenty in KSP, so I thought, why not strap my latest Mun lander to a (sorta) Arex 1-x. Thus: Mun Mk1 was born. I set the 9 Kickback Solid Rocket Boosters to 70 each, and I had clipped reaction wheels into the adapter above the 8 boosters. I was really hoping the 70 would lead to a nice ascent path with an early gravity turn. It curved well and I ended up about 200 Kilometers above Kerbin. Personally, I think such an orbit is too high for a mission like this. Once I was in Orbit, I blew the fairings, showing the lander. I've used it many, many times before. This is version 6 or 7. I've used it as my standard late save lander since I updated to 1.0.5. It basically is my spin on the Altair Lander. This one comes with extra battery power in the ascent stage, two docking ports in case one is lost (somehow), and inline reaction wheels clipped inside. Works like a charm. Time to see if it will work on this mission. I was considering who to Bring on this mission, as it was the first of this "creative" save. I wanted Jeb to be on the Mun, with Val in orbit. After much consideration, I chose Bob, as I didn't have anything to construct in this version. The three of them rocketed off a few mornings later. The atmospheric sunrise was brilliant. I should have kept Scatterer installed for a little while. I use it on and off. It probably would have made this mission really cool. After a bit, I fired the escape tower and ditched the first stage. The second stage gave me a 5.3 Kilometer "flyby" of the lander. Of course, as always, my second stage didn't preform as well as I wanted it too. I think I need second stage construction classes now. It's bugging me. I used the RCS quite a lot during the docking. I didn't want to use more than 1/8 of my fuel. By the time I had pulled next to the lander, I had used most of my RCS and about 1/7 of my fuel. Dangit! I docked the two, now ready for the Mun, and watched the first solar eclipse of this save. They would move on to the Mun in the Morning. After a bit of time warping, I pressed Z and shot towards the Mun. The sunrise looked great, although it would have looked better with Scatterer. I've got that thought stuck in my head, haven't I. At about 2,600 m/s the departure stage ran out. Uh oh. I thought about what to do. I had refilled the return spacecraft, and the lander's tanks were all full. Eventually, I decided to fire the lander's engines. I was a bit late to catch the Mun on this orbit. They would have to wait 3 more to get to it. Oh well. Immortal Kerbals won't mind this. I once again decided to use the lander's engines to enter orbit. I drained 1/2 of my return capsule fuel to assist this. The lander still had half its fuel left so it was go for landing. Jeb and Bob said their goodbyes to Val, promised to get her some rocks, and then undocked and fired retrograde. With no landing target in mind, I took a random descent to the surface. The Thrust to Weight ratio of this thing is quite high, so I waited until I was relatively low to start the suicide burn. Ok, maybe a bit too low. I did use the TWR to pull up, and ended up plopping down somewhere around -6.8115 and 72.1362 (according to Kerbal Maps) in the East Crater. Not my favorite part of town, but since I played random, beggars can't be choosers... Also, you can't see Kerbin. Yipee! How fun. Soon after I landed though, I saw these two nice rocks and decided to hop between them. That's it for it today guys, thanks for reading. Part II tomorrow.

Which ones? I thought most were doable. 200 km/s is hard but someone could do it.

I have a question. If I did, let's say, 3 launches with Kickback boosters and recovered all parts from all of them, would that still count as a submission? I'm wondering as I am thinking of doing so. [Edit] To prevent a Necro from happening: @Crocket

Ok, a Mun and Minmus flight with landings on each. All 0.625 fuel and rocket parts. No Kerbal Alarm Clock? It doesn't really change gameplay that much though...

Well, I'm guessing this is what you meant, so here you go: Deathsat-1.

Yes, I think checking the Submission Guide would do well for this challenge. Maybe adding things like: How low can you go? or Smallest Craft gets more points.

Alright, go! You can do it! Well, Eve On SRB by Stratzenblitz75 completed the... well... Eve SRB ascent.

@Enceos @Mr. Me Added!

Well, I finished four challenges. They were the first four I ever finished. I'm so happy. They were: -No Shirt, No CHUTE, No Problem. -Plant a flag at the North Pole. -Suborbital Mun/Minmus Challenge. -Replicas To Orbit. I'm most proud of Replicas To Orbit. I built an Ares Ring Lander mockup and sent it, well.... On this path. Kerbin launch - Mun Landing - Minmus Landing - Mun Flyby - Mun Flyby - Kerbin Aerobreak - Kerbin Aerobreak - Kerbin Touchdown. Time: 81 Days, 3 hours and 44 minutes exact. The whole trip is in the album below. Enjoy:

@spacebrick3 Would one of the landers from the Ares in Red Mars count? If so here is a Ares Ring Lander heading to the Mun. Note: This one wouldn't be able to fit in the Ares ring, but I have Duna Based versions that could. I'm hoping to replicate the whole spacecraft in 1.1. So, my path: Kerbin launch - Mun Landing - Minmus Landing - Mun Flyby - Mun Flyby - Kerbin Aerobreak - Kerbin Aerobreak - Kerbin Touchdown. Time: 81 Days, 3 hours and 44 minutes exact. The whole trip is in the album below. Enjoy: Some rough ideas of what the lander would be in: There are no images or drawings in the whole Red Mars trilogy. Oh well.

That's what I did. Massive launcher, direct to the Mun. Not orbital once. 3 crew to the East crater! Enjoy: Oh, and all stock, only with texture revamps.

This is amazing. I love Plan Kappa. Maybe you should consider publishing it (if you can [dunno what squad would say]). Great story, I can't get enough!

Thanks! I am gonna start coming back here and updating more.

Great work! Another thing bolded.

Done! Here's the mission:

Currently Working on the Challenge. Almost there now. Just passed the Northern Ice Cap.

Well, here's my attempt: First challenge in the past year or something! So, My Attempt: Full album. Legit Mission, launch and everything. Unfortunate that I lost the booster.

Just added a Table of Contents. Should make navigating this site easier. But before we start today's chapter, let me warn you guys, Chapter 18 is the longest yet! Chapter 18-The Next Big Thing. Docking. It's what Jeb had set out to do. But he ended up hitting the atmosphere at 1600 m/s after his launch vehicle failed miserably. So Val stepped up. She hadn't been in orbit yet, so it was her turn. Her turn to make history. "Val, launch window is in 12 seconds. On my mark". 12 anxious seconds later, the mark came. With only 9 seconds in the launch window, Val got right to it. Rene-vouse-2 lifted off, leaving behind smoke, a scorched launch pad, and about 164 Kerbals looking up in awe. In only a few minutes, Val dumped the empty boosters and began her gravity turn. The Rene Target Spacecraft zipped overhead, and Val began to catch up. She soon ditched the empty (but very useful) First Stage. Then the makeshift escape tower rocketed off. What a good riddance. Val pulled into orbit. She depressurized the capsule and "stepped" outside. She was in awe. It was one good view. As the KSC Slipped below the horizon, Val settled into her capsule for a nap. It was going to be a long day... Four hours later, Val made the final retrograde slowdown burns. She was heading right towards the Rene Target Spacecraft. First it was a speck. Then a dot. Then the size of a brick. But there it was, the Rene Target Spacecraft! Val set up her docking port with the forward docking port of Rene and began the final approach. Only a few meters and history would take place. Just 3 meters for Val. 2. 1. 0.5! And then they docked. Mission control went up in celebration. Kerbals cheered at their TV screens. History had been made. Someone had finally docked. Val did another EVA. She looked down at her planet, and then towards Kerbol. She saw Eve, a small purple dot. Moho, of course, was far too close to their home star to be seen, but she imagined it there anyways. Val, after only 2 days, ran out of stuff to do. She told Mission Control she was burning to land. She undocked from Rene and fired retrograde, marking the beginning of the end of a brilliant mission. Using the standard "Spin Clearance", Val watched as the stars disappeared. "I'll be back!" She yelled as Rene-Vouse-2 entered Kerbin's atmosphere. She endured the grueling reentry, overshooting the KSC. She watched as she slowed down, hitting the parachute deploy button, and splashed down, 90.5 Kilometers from the KSC. Val transmitted her coordinators, allowing Gene to send Jeb off on another Pickup flight. Using their Velocitize (with floats strapped on the bottom), Jeb set course for Val's capsule and began his flight over. As he flew over Insular Airfield, he got in contact with Val. "Alright Val, I'm coming to pick you up! See you in a few!" He told her. "Sure, but don't crash the plane..." About 19 Minutes later, and with exactly Half the fuel he started with, Jeb cut the engines and began the descent glide. He then splashed down a kilometer from Val's capsule. "Val! You are going to need to take a swim." "Hey Jeb! You didn't crash!" "Later. We need to get back now." So Jeb took off and set course for home. Val looked out her window, remembering the view outside her capsule only an hour ago. The black background sprinkled with salt. That's what it looked like. What a view. She knew she would be back. With about 3 units of fuel, Jeb began landing procedures and touched down on the runway. The ground crews scrambled to recover the aircraft. Val walked back to the Astronaut Complex. She was greeted by an intern, some guy who she couldn't remember. She walked past the centrifuge tester, up to level 2, and into her room. Then she smiled. Another great mission done. The new age of exploration had finally begun.

Well, not if you kept boosting its orbit up. Sure, it would take lots of fuel, money and time, but who knows. I know I don't!

Thank you! Thank you!

Hey, Kraken corrupted the save, so would you mind closing: Thanks!

A note to all, I changed the title from DMSP-The Story of a Space Program to DMSP-The beginning of a Space Program. The reason is I will be continuing this, but in multiple parts. I think "The Beginning" will finish at Chapter 30-40.

I'm actually considering quitting KSP for a few months. I had made it really far, Kerlee and Val's ascent vehicle was almost done, and then the Kraken came and hit them. I had quicksaved before, and after I reloaded the quicksave, Kerlee was attached to an Inline Reaction Wheel (0.625), which must have been a KIS glitch. She went flying off. No matter how many times I reloaded, the same thing happened. This save is corrupt and unfortunatly it is time for it to go. Thank you guys for reading this. If you were just reading this and don't have another story, I do have DMSP-The story of a space program. Thanks again guys, DMSP out. The full album is below.

OK, if there would be a way to move it to a "safer" orbit, than do that and Mothball it. Who knows when we will need it again. (Like in Stephan Baxter's Titan). If there is no way to do so, unfortunately I think it has to go. We don't want to loose all that stuff we have in LEO.