FlyingPete

I wonder if you could set a time delay on individual parts in the staging sequence. So you could stage once, then automatically eject an interstage fairing, decouple the spent stage and then fire the engines. Or in whatever order you wanted.

I 'borrowed' a contract space station to flyby both Moho and Eve in the early game. The contract involved just a science lab, living cabin, batteries and solar power. I launched a boarding party in a 3-man pod with extra fuel and a poodle engine, docked with it and commandeered the station. Remember to add some science experiments to one part or the other. It worked well! If you have fuel left on arrival at Kerbin, feel free to put the station back where you found it, otherwise just abandon it and do an aerobraking reentry.

I like the concept! I tried something similar with drop tanks (with additional jet engines) hung under the wings of my orbiter. But if you're throwing parts away anyway, it's more efficient (time and cost) to build a conventional rocket.

I tend to go to the Mun first and do a couple of landings. By that point, basically the same ship can go to Minmus which is much more interesting. Even better once you establish a base which is much simpler with earlier tech than on the Mun.

Recovering a "Materials study from Interstellar Space" would be a huge achievement, and worth the bragging points (or reputation in-game). Should technically be possible by defining an upper altitude for "space high over the sun" More biomes in Jool would be a good addition and give a reward to the engineering challenge of designing a Jooldiver. Logically some area of Jool could be defined as "equatorial cloud bands" "polar storms" or "great green spot" without much difficulty, though a texture update would be needed. We can get a "crew report while flying over Kerbin's grasslands" etc so it should work.

I reckon a tuneable thrust curve could be implemented (even with only 3 or 4 points) though I'm not sure how the VAB interface would work.

How about a background Kerb in the R&D building?

I've never had much patience for spaceplanes. They're tricky to build, hard to fly, time-consuming to launch and land, and just not very enjoyable. They only really make sense for crew shuttles to LKO. Once the crew are there, they transfer to the real spacecraft to get where they're going. Reusable spacecraft are another matter. Vertical SSTO shuttles cost only fuel and maybe some heat shield material, and I've previously set up a completely sustainable transit system between Kerbin and Minmus. Single-stage rocket goes between ground and the LKO station, nuclear bus gets to Minmus station, and reusable landers go from there to the surface. The bus and landers refuel at Minmus station using Minmal ore-based fuel. Spaceplanes might make more sense at Laythe, where the lesser gravity would increase the useful payload.

I built a colony on Eve back before the aerodynamics overhaul. It made sense to go there and stay. I had a base, planes, a rover and fuel depot on the surface. Some other crew stayed in orbit to explore Gilly and eventually return to Kerbin. Eve to Stay

I like the use of the mk2 crew cabin! Looks quite neat up there, and more compact than the hitchhiker can. Station-based landers are my preferred method of exploring the Mun- you just have to resupply the station periodically with fuel. If you get into mining later, the spare tank capacity then comes in useful.

Some time ago I sent a probe to fly oast Moho, then on for an Eve slingshot for a cheap sundive trajectory. It's now Year 1, Day 70 again in this save, so time to go more ambitious. I had an unoccupied space station already in Kerbin orbit which I built for a contract. Living quarters, science lab and power- perfect. So the crew was launched in a command ship to dock with the station and reclaim it as the Mohoship! Add fuel, and the intrepid crew of four are on their way to the inner planets. Hopefully Kerlington won't notice I stole their station. I can get an Eve intercept after flying by Moho- will have to see if the crew can get directly back to Kerbin or if they'll have to fallback on the option of entering orbit of Eve. If we have to use this option, they'll have to rendezvous with a second mission at Eve.

We have in-game evidence of the existence of aliens- a corpse on Bop, and a monument on the Mun. Plus some artificial-looking spike structures on Vall. Single-celled life forms detected in Laythe's oceans would be a good addition, as well as maybe similar life in the seas of Eve.

"Mün" using German phonetics. Because that's how some Kerbals scrawled it on the crashed ship. So not quite "Moon" and not quite "Munn"

Construction of the base has begun with the first two modules. The lab module was sent first uncrewed, followed by the first habitat module, towed there by a crewed lander. Three unsuspecting tourists were sealed within, along with a scientist hitching a ride. Once the hab was landed (and the 3-kerb lander parked alongside) the hab was rolled into contact with the science lab. One of the scientists from the lander gathered local data, then boarded the lab. Thus completed the original base contract, and the tourist's agencies transferred funds for landing their clients on Minmus. Sorry, no refunds- take it up with Mort and the legal squad. Now just need a solar array/battery bank to cope with the lab's power demands.

I've used them in-game as hiring interview results- scientists need a low stupidity, and courage isn't that important. On the other hand, high courage and above-average stupidity are desirable in a test pilot. I also sent a mission to Duna once with twin landers; christened Courage and Stupidity.