How about kerbals can gain admiration for another kerbal even if they aren't on the mission, But only if they reached some milestone. E.G. Jeb landed on the mun, now he goes on a mission with Rodney Kerman for the first time but Rodney Kerman already admires him
Anything involving tourists. I have a load of rockets called touristMinumus, touristorbit, touristorbitsuper, basically a tourist rocket for anything up to solar orbit and a "super" version with five crew spots.
Seveneves is by Neal Stephenson and is one of the only sci-if books that I know of that respects orbital mechanics and is not a textbook. But, it's by Neal Stephenson(cryptonomicon guy) meaning that it's roughly the length of three regular novels. Oh and half of it is depressing.