Zyffyr

Also can't vote because my answer to part 2 is None of The Above - while I chose to use some item f this nature, I wouldn't make them stock. For part 1, KAC is definite and some form of build aids (RCS and KER) are highly desirable.

The last time it happened to me, I was able to slide along the ground with my engine on absolute minimum throttle until I was pointing up the incline. At that point, I boosted the thrust and made sure to vector it down to get me airborne. It was very ugly but thank Jeb for engine gimbals. I did lose a solar panel and 2 of 4 landing gear to the damage from sliding.

I prefer the older look. This would be ideal.

12gb.

In the future when doing such contracts, before exiting the pod use the Rename function and change the type to debris.

They all level the same way, see http://wiki.kerbalspaceprogram.com/wiki/Experience for details.

In my current game, my rescue totals are : 14 pilots, 10 Engineers, 14 Scientists. 18M/20F (didn't bother to count that by-class). I never reject a rescue contract.

As quite a few others have said already - FitH for my in-atmo staging and separated for in space.

Normal.

You just need to build a cheap ship that can handle them =) This ship is what I use : Total cost to launch : 26914 Passenger compliment : 2 (if I were to add a probe core for control, I could stuff a passenger in the command module to make it 3) Payment from a single "Take me suborbital then to orbit" kerbal : 26000 (19500 completion + 3250 suborbital + 3250 orbital) Revenue from 2 passengers : 52000 Profit : 25086 + recovery on the final stage The same ship has enough fuel to fly out to Mun or Minmus and make 2 pickups for "Rescue the stranded kerbal" contracts. So long as nobody is asking you to land anywhere other than back safely at the end of the contract, it will handle all your needs in the Kerbin SOI - unless the two pickups are in opposite orbital directions, then all bets are off. There are plenty of ways to improve the design of course, but it works for what it was designed to do.

That just means more light and therefore more power for our solar panels.

We still need somewhere to land, so I think a better option would be to replace them with giant glass spheres. That way we get the best of both worlds - somewhere to land but no pesky occlusion messing up our solar panels.

KAC and either KER or MechJeb for the additional info. Anything else falls into "Nice to have, but I can do without".

Ive lost a few, mostly to bugs - just lost Jeb a couple days ago to a ship near Mun somehow crashing into the VAB.

Curses definitely happen. I built a ship to do SAR and tourist work in the Kerbin SOI - it can fly out to Mun or Minimus do two rescue missions and return. The first 7 times I launched it, it flew perfectly. Mission #8? It insisted on flipping over during boost. Nothing had changed - I hadn't even loaded it in the VAB for any reason since the first successful launch. Absolutely nothing I could do would save that launch. I tried slowing down my gravity turn, different throttle settings, SAS on or off, etc. Even just trying to go straight up would flip. After 12 reverts I decided that it was destined to fail so I did a launch, ejected the crew compartment, recovered it and started anew. It hasn't had a problem since then.