Jeb!

That's probably an understatement.

Not sure what that is but okay with me! Not trying to bash anyone, just pointing it out.

@Just Jim, Yeah, that would make it realistic.

I also noticed that this huge explosion is not even over KSC, (from bottom center) but I bet that was to get the effect that it was bigger than it really is. Smart idea! If you had put it over KSC, it would seem relatively too small to cover the whole thing.

Hmmm... I'm thinking too much... hahahaha, @Just Jim, your asteroid in the pictures looks like it bounced off the VAB and rolled to the side, it's not in the same place in the two pictures!!! Don't think that would happen in real life, LOL! But hey its KSP!!!! Everything is just cool!

Yeahhhh... well technically it's still an SSTO 'cause the other stage is only used on the ground... that's really weak... kinda... I'll work on it. Ok really I'll just keep to Jim's story related stuff now. sorry.

True, but it's also because I was eating dinner. @max_creative, you caught me! I added 50 or so Sepratrons to give it a boost. @Just Jim, you're picture kind of gives it away...

Got pictures to work now. Imgur is such a pain. This is an SSTO inspired by the Diamondback. Same bicoupler use but much smaller and different intakes. It still needs to have engines changed though... Noobs feel free to copy any design stuff you like... even though its not that great!

1:00pm here, I'm in Eastern Standard Time (U.S.) too like Just Jim. A lot of people are in different time zones so it seems like there's constant talking!

Uh oh... now I'm scared for Kerrena.

Actually, there's 4 whiplashes on mine. That's probably part of the problem! You're right on the Thuds. Thanks for the critique! I'll stop diverging from the thread topic now.

Ok, no hurry, we're just excited about the next chapter!

This is a SSTO I made inspired by the Diamondback. I made it smaller to make it easier [sic] [lol] to control and not crash my PC. http://imgur.com/FKBrOgc http://imgur.com/CsvB6uU http://imgur.com/2TFvoZm Phooey, pictures still don't work for me... never mind. Sorry only links...

@Mad Rocket Scientist, Thanks!

That's better than mine! I neglected to add that my Mini Diamondback can't get into orbit at all! Well, it probably could, it just needs MOAR testing!

hahahahahahahaha

Me! As soon as I saw the Diamondback and saw how awesome it was, I made a mini version as a SSTO personnel shuttle. I wish I could figure out how to show a picture of it. The option says "not available for your account". Mine uses 4 Whiplashes and 4 Thuds instead of the Diamondback's 4 Whiplashes plus 4 Rapiers. The bicouplers only have to be 4 wide instead of 6, so it makes for a narrower design. It also uses structural bicouplers to allow for Ram intakes above and below the delta wings, which I think look really cool. The vertical stabilizers use Big-S wing strakes (long ways) so they can also contain fuel. What I don't understand is how Just Jim can keep the Diamondback in one piece. I'm doing all I can just to keep my SSTO from bending and breaking apart. He must have used a lot of hidden strut connectors.

@Just Jim, What time zone are you? I must read the next chapter TODAY!!!

Interesting. Thank you for this information! I must ask though, how do you "tweak scale"? Does it require mods or "cheats"? I am debating whether or not to get involved with mods. While there are obviously many benefits, I must decide whether it is worth the huge amount of time I would have to spend... :/

@Rabada, Thanks! Cool ideas. For the early stages of mining, your robotic landers seem to be easier than building an entire base, and refueling from there. An orbital refinery is something I never thought of before, always thought a base was the only way. I was going to say I didn't want to get into mods since it's so time consuming, but... Autonomous spacecraft? That could really help a lot of refueling missions. Can anyone tell me about how you actually enable mods, and the effect they have on your KSP install? I fiddled around with Kopernicus a little, but I didn't really understand how it worked, and it seemed to slow down my install a bit. In IL-2 1946 SAS 5.3, (a combat flight simulator) there is a generic mod enabler that allows you to enable and disable mods individually hassle-free. Can you do this in KSP?

@juanml82, I don't have KSP in my Steam library, that's what the problem was. Steam is great when it works like you want it to, but when occasionally something goes wrong, it's just too bad for you. I've had a lot of trouble with Steam over the years, with other games and simulators in addition to KSP. I already posted in Technical Support on this if anyone wants to see the details: Lol, I guess this thread will go on forever, can't get "Best Answer" to work anymore... If anyone has any more tips on ore mining, feel free to post them here! I'm still getting up to speed. -Jeb!

@Terwin, Thanks! I was a bit confused about the finer points of mining. @Nich and @5thHorseman, yeah, I SHOULD, but when I when I took KSP off of Steam, (I don't like Steam) and put it back again, (don't ask) I couldn't get Steam to recognize KSP to get the updates. "Humble Store", where I bought KSP, won't give me the Steam Key back, and when I contact their support, a week later they email me: "All our support ninjas are busy right now." Steam didn't feel like giving me the Key back either, even though I paid for it. I can't even log in to Steam Support, and wasted a whole day trying to figure out how to contact them. But no matter, I bought KSP again from the KSP website, so now I can re-download and fix any problems I might have. I should have done that in the first place. (Don't buy from third party websites, duh!) What does this have to do with Minmus Ore? lol

@Just Jim, Excellent job on this story! Not gonna go back to quote you, but you said [much] earlier on this thread that no one could reproduce this story because Squad owns KSP. I say you should have SQUAD publish it and pay you royalties! Can't wait for the next chapter! -Jeb!

Hahahahahahahahaha