N_Danger

I had a Kerbal Motion contract for Minmus and tested the next Mun lander at the same time.

True enough. I always have to use a rocket assisted landing. But being able to slow down to about 25 m/s at 200-300 meters altitude means you don't use up a lot of fuel while landing.

Duna is my go to for the first interplanetary mission. A mun lander with added parachutes will work there easily enough. Ike is nearby also. With a good launch window, it is not that much more d/v required for the mission over going to the Mun.

Maxo Corporation want a small space station in orbit. Coasting up to the 150 KM orbit. And at the selected orbit with plenty of fuel left for future operations. And I like the new flags/decals!

One advantage of Minmus first is that, as long as you land on the flats, a tall and skinny lander will work better there than trying the same lander on the Mun. When building a lander for Minmus you don't have to take into account the CG as much as you do the Mun. But I'll admit it is only a slight advantage.

Time for the first mission to Eve in this play through. Since it was built before 1.10 dropped no new stuff used. Good haul on the science and I have enough D/V for Gilly after the contract. And 1.10 didn't break any of my mods!

After changing out science experiments I went and completed a Mun contract that was due soon.

If SAS is active wsad will have the reaction wheels try to pitch or yaw at the same time as you move. I always re-map the rover movement keys to 1,2,3 and 5 on my num pad for that reason. You can turn off SAS if you comfortable with that.

I built a satellite to got Eve. Checked the transfer angle in the tacking station to find out I had almost 2 years to wait for it. Normally not a problem as I shamelessly time warp. And then I discovered I had a contact for the Mun due in 2 years. So I did that instead. And then I discovered I didn't have quite enough power to transmit the required science. So I'm launching another Mun probe tomorrow instead of going to Eve. Nothing like being your own worst enemy.

Just answering the question of what is ISRU?

In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) https://www.nasa.gov/isru Mining ore and converting it to fuel. https://wiki.kerbalspaceprogram.com/wiki/Ore

I had several 'launch a satellite' contacts.One contract was with a retro-grade orbit such that I had to wait out a encounter with both Minmus and the Mun. What a pain it was trying to keep my orbit from getting too out out whack with each encounter. And finally a bunch of easy ones that didn't require science instruments. I did put relay antennas on them because I built them so cheap and would still make plenty of profit on each launch.

2 tourists went on a rescue mission to Minmus orbit and the Marketing department notes that being able to participate in this historical event was at "no extra charge!" 3 tourists went on a tour of the moons And there were a bunch of move satellite contracts including the Duna Sink.

Rocket Rescue went after a Kerbal in LKO. And then we went to Minmus to rescue another Kerbal on the surface. A VIP wanted to go along to "supervise" but Val thinks he was just playing tourist. Val says "Don't bump it too hard climbing in or there will have to be another rescue mission for all of us" But all is well that ends well.

And if you use Scatterer with it, things look even better.

I sent my first interplanetary probe to Duna on this play through. The journey there And now on station as a relay after getting the science. There is plenty of D/V for any contracts that come up.

For me the story isn't why I'm finally doing career mode after playing close to a 1000 hours in sand box and science sandbox. It is for the challenges it has thrown at me. I have pretty much exhausted the all the challenges I can think of to throw at myself. I look at at it as an important and fun(if flawed) difficulty setting. And a story generator second.

Sent the first Kerbals to the Mun in this play through. Val, Milfrod and Gergar. pose for a picture. And they have a nice view of Kerbin while going into orbit. Some more shots of the mission. And I will be launching my first interplanetary mission to Duna later.

I tested a Twitch while fulfilling a satellite contract. Have you ever moved a satellite for a contact and then found you didn't have enough fuel to move it back to finish the old one? Yeah me too. I had to launch a new one (with better tech though) And finally I rescued Roport

It was time for Kebals to head for the first landing on Minmus. Jeb, Bill and Bob pose for the camera Then Bob went looking for Green Sandstone. And here we are almost home. This got enough science to get the next level data relay antenna so we are sending out interplanetary probes soon.

Tested and tweaked a new booster for smaller satellite contracts. And I finally got one that will get to the Mun and Minmus with the required payload without being overly expensive. The Mun was pretty easy. It was an equatorial orbit contract and I got a launch to a trans Munner burn instead of having to circularize first. And i got to the required Minmus orbit with 200 M/S DV to spare.

Time for a empty Tourist Class launch to rescue 3 kerbals in 3 different vessels. And there were no happier kerbals than these after hearing nominal re-entry trajectory announced after the burn. And my closest touchdown to KSC so far with 3 tourists.

More tourist trips. This one at dawn

I started out using Mech Jeb for everything. It was great to be able to focus on the build rockets, go places and do things part of the game. I did it because my reflexes are bad and I couldn't fly for anything. In the end I, by watching how Mech Jeb did things, learned how to match orbits, rendezvous and dock without it.(it would use a ton of fuel or RCS propellant to get things done) Now I only need an autopilot to fly up to orbit and have switched to Gravity Turn for a smaller RAM foot print. And the game has added lots of QOL improvements that I had used Mech Jeb for. But play your game the way you want and don't listen to the haters.

I had a 3 star rescue contact that required a beefier booster. Jeb asks "How did you get way out here in a MK I cockpit?" And more tourist contracts. Only 500,000 more funds to upgrade R & D.