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I think I got all those points at least: The 'SpaceMordor' is a fully Low Kerbal Polar Orbit capable spy satellite, with Relay and Resource Exploitation Systems. Capable of indefinite, nuclear powered loitering around Kerbin, this is the ultimate (and completely impractical!) satellite for all your getting out of the Third Age needs. Launcher used: Itself (Yes, Fully SSTO!) Mods Used: B9 procedural wings, SpaceY Expanded, ScanSat, KJR.

Simple - you're paying for someone to go out there, find a road (on a planet with no roads), search along said road until they find something useful and bring it to you. That doesn't come cheap!

I choose to believe that she knew she was safe, and was singing because she'd be bored waiting otherwise....

Personally, I don't think that Admiral Shirley is a normal, 'live' kerbal. She only exists as long as someone says 'Surely....'. So she'll be nowhere in particular, until some poor kerbal summons her accidentally with the line. Sort of like "The Spanish Inquisition".

Not going to disagree with the analysis on the date zones, I'd had the same thought. As to the chess - that is a neat set of moves in that match. But in this story, I figured that chess/cheks was something that would be kept to, but not rigidly so. The rules of KSP/basic orbital mechanics may be strict, but there is a lot more loophole abuse there than in chess (especially when in webcomic form), which is more or less mathematically solved. I kind of figured that the Kerbals would win by subverting the game or playing it differently. Something like in "The Player of Games" by Iain M Banks, where the protagonist nearly loses playing 'The Game' (Azad) the way it's meant to be played, which is to say it does read like chess, with some sort of centralised power, and then beats it by playing like how the Culture exists (some sort of weird post scarcity anarchy communist utopia). I certainly didn't figure Kuzzter would go full on "Red Wedding" on us, and end it there too. Of course it is his story to end how he likes, and so, if this is how it ends, Thank you Kuzzter.

It's nice. Is the lack of Vertical Stabiliser and Rudder the reason you aborted?

I've never landed Kerbals in an intact craft on Eve. I tried once back in .24 or so, but the lander complex (A lab, hitchhiker container and a bunch of other stuff under a Command Pod) had some problems with landing. I had a quicksave, but every time I loaded it the parachutes immediately detached from the craft and sent it to it's doom. Eventually I left them stuck with just the Pod on the surface. Since 1.0, I've had, well, issues with the 'Send Kerbals to Eve with no return provision' concept. And computer processor restrictions have prevented Eve Ascent rockets.

Mountaineering is often called Alpinism, especially in European languages, which implies climbing with difficulty such high and often snow and ice-covered mountains as the Alps. A mountaineer with such great skill is called an Alpinist. The word alpinism was born in the 19th century to refer to climbing for the purpose of enjoying climbing itself as a sport or recreation, distinct from merely climbing while hunting or as a religious pilgrimage that had been done generally at that time

Is it just me, or did the monolith react more or less immediately, as opposed to with light lag like everything else? Kuzzter has been pretty consistent about time stamps elsewhere, but not with the monolith/locked persistence file. Or is it just because it's a picture of the KSC monolith, as opposed to say, one on Tylo?

To be fair, we could probably fill this thread with quotes from that book.

My above quote was obtained on Derek Lowe's "In the pipeline", found here. Also found there, though not a true quote, just a name: "Tetrafluorohydrazine" Just let that sink in....

Good quotes. John Drury Clark, author of 'Ignition!', on Chlorine Trifluoride.

But they don't get to bring their crew back to life.... Well, except for that one Vulcan.

I'm imagining a transmitter dish somewhere being used as a highly powerful directed energy weapon/"Reroute through main deflector" moment.

For reference, doing this in KSP is rather different to a hypothetical STS RTLS flight profile. Staging for the above flight(SRB separation) is rather low and at a low speed (~500 - 600m/s). As a result, and because even a single vector puts out a lot of power, the flight curves back above the earlier gravity turn. My understanding of the actual RTLS abort is that it should go deeper into the atmosphere as it turns around, rather than higher as mine did. Of course, the TWR is different to reality, so is the mass ratio, specific impulse, etc. So these differences are to be expected, I guess.

Anyone who has ever looked up Shuttle Abort Modes has probably found some sort of description of "RTLS is so near-suicidal, we're glad it never happened". And while I agree with this statement, KSP gives us an amazing opportunity to try it.... And so began Operation Planned SSME Shutdown! By giving a contract thicker than a phonebook*, we convinced our brave set of orange-suited kerbals to fly this mission, to boldly go up - and straight back down again.... Nah, we just told them they'd be going to space. Initial setup was to make some modifications to the Stock Dynawing - payload was drained of fuel, and the front Monoprop tank shut off: Liftoff followed shortly after, passing through MaxQ with no issues, somehow. Then came SRB jettison: At which point, someone switched off Engine #1. Some immediate quick decision making by Jeb (and urged by some not very surprised mission control) later, and a massive pitch down maneuver began, rolling the shuttle all the way back toward the KSC: As the craft began to slow down, certain irregularities began: (Not seen, kerbals' becoming sick as the shuttle rotates like a bullet from a gun) Fortunately due to the gyroscopic nature of the anomaly, Jeb was able to hold the shuttle back toward the runway, somewhat too successfully (height was still around 30km, speed around 600 m/s) until separation of the external tank, flung away by centrifugal forces: A short but harrowing descent later, and the craft was near KSC, actually flying. Jeb exceeded everyone's expectations by actually bringing the shuttle around to runway 09, despite being in control of a slightly aerodynamic brick: In short order, it even landed: Shortly thereafter, Jeb and crew got back to mission control, and the words "What do you mean, you planned it??" were detected by seismographs around Kerbin..... In conclusion, RTLS = fun. If you're not in the craft. *Phonebook - outdated technology used to store large numbers of telephone numbers. Superseded by Google.

Or Better yet, like a Spitfire with a V-1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V-1_flying_bomb#Interceptors Fly alongside, get wingtip just under it's wing, watch it destabilise. Though this was as much a guidance system exploit as it was an aerodynamic one, so whether this would work in KSP is another matter.

Kerbal Space Program - Where riding through space on a constant pillar of nuclear fire is too elegant. This is a great game.

The funny thing is, that list contains an even better, even more Kerbal way of doing things, and I'm sort of surprised it isn't in KSPIE: http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/enginelist.php#id--Nuclear_Thermal--Gas_Core--Open_Cycle--Nuclear_Salt_Water The amazing Nuclear Salt Water Rocket - Originally proposed by Robert Zubrin, with 8,000 Isp. Though there is a more insane version listed - 479,103s Isp, 3kg/s mass flow, 13MN thrust. Disadvantage: Your fuel tanks are literally one leak away from being an enormous nuclear bomb. This makes me want to learn how to mod the game....

Wait, the aircraft carrier can fly? It has landing gear...... It can land????

Oh, I know that you really want more oomph for a decent Kzinti lesson.... but it was more what you could do in the game engine's damage system I had in mind. I kind of had using a craft that would grab the enemy ship, then hold the NTR to it in mind. That being said, the description for the LV-N doesn't say it's solid core, and unless we assume it actually uses Hydrogen, which given KSP's LF doesn't conform to being H2, to get that 8km/s velocity with Kerosene*, could be a much hotter liquid/vapor core, maybe? *I realise this would need a ridiculous temperature.

Wow, with only 11 seconds between the first panel and the Mortingale getting hit - that is one close enemy, or was it aimed at that part first, just a later projectile. Shirley that should of been hit first, to leave them stranded if the rest of the strike failed? Also, I really would like to see how the kerbals will retaliate. And with plenty of NTRs on kerbfleet vessels.....

Playing around with the awesome Ktolemy mod: Thats no moon - wait, no it's just absurdly close and ignoring it's Roche limit.

Just found this mod on CKAN, started a career save with it (crazy, right?). Anyway, couple of minor issues - first and foremost, solar panels don't seem to develop any charge - solar exposure is good but not getting any charge. Only tested the smallest panels so far (like I said, career mode) so not sure whether it's just the one type of panel. Second, not really a large problem, just very funny - a stock 'build and deploy a satellite' contract asked for a 16.65Tm x 12.5Tm orbit, with 5 years to do it - quick bit of maths says the orbit will take several million years to complete once. Screenshot included for your viewing hilarity. Great Mod though, having fun.

Looking at images of the orbiter intact, I'd guess it was part of those bulbous parts behind the cargo bay, housing the OMS - those all had white tiles, the Nose was all black ones.