Ultimate Steve

I had Tory Bruno like something I tweeted once!

That's understandable but it's still a bit sad to see for some reason.

My most upvoted thing on Reddit is 2.9k, it's a comment agreeing with a post about how we take self flushing toilets for granted.

That depends. Here is a list of things that need to be done before then: All module designs must be finished All cargo and crew designs must be finished (we have Wisp, Dreamchaser, the fuel tug, and Alienwall's thing, which is under construction, so I think we're close) Make sure everything comes in under budget Launch order (this is mostly finished) Station layout, as in what will be docked to what, which ports will be used for visiting vehicles, etc. Plan for recouping initial costs in a short time (tourism and researcher schedule) and resupplying the station. The designs are definitely more than halfway done, and the vehicle designs are getting close to complete as well. Optimization to get under budget is the next step. This will probably be the thing that takes the longest, as it involves redesigning stuff. The launch order won't take long once we know the full list of modules. The layout of the station will be pretty easy once we know the full list of modules. The tourist/resupply plan will be a bit lengthier than the previous two, but doable once we know how many tourists/researchers the station can support. If everyone could share their craft files, someone might be able to "build" the station in the VAB to check for fit and also determine layout. But that's not completely necessary. All in all, I'd say you're over halfway to the first launch. How far over halfway you are depends on how long the redesigning takes. If everything goes well, the first launch could be really soon.

I should hope not, only 1 SSTO is allowed. Also, 73k? Is that with or without the launch vehicle? With reusability it's less, but wow, I feel like that could use some optimization if that's without. I'm guessing Sky IIIA would be the launch vehicle at that mass, but Sky IIIA is not man rated and there is a fee for man rating the Sky family, I forget what exactly it is but it's like 30k I think? Don't quote me on that.

Question. What kind of performance hit am I looking at if I run all of the planet packs in IC at once?

Short version: I accidentally destroyed my space station in a no reverts career. So I have this space station. It's called Arkangel Station. It's pretty useless. It was the first ever station in this save and I pretty much never had the astronauts necessary to crew it. Occasionally I'd send a crew up to process what little science was in the lab, but there was no convenient way of getting science experiments there. The only real useful thing about the station was the fact that, docked to it, was T-01 Spectre, a nuclear powered transfer ship that could take crews to Minmus and maybe the Mun, if necessary. It was a routine crew transfer. It used a new ship called "Vau." Vau was my Dragon 2 clone. It lands propulsively and carries no parachutes, but has integrated solids for abort as well as liquids because it needs some extra kick. Vau is... A terrible design. Cosine losses mean it's not great beyond LKO, and its LKO lifter, Titanium II, has a multitude of issues. I don't think it's worked properly once. Propulsive landings are actually one of the safest parts of Vau... Fortunately, nobody has died on Vau yet. So, Arkangel was unmanned. I was going to take a crew of 12 up to the transfer ship, 2 Vau missions, 6 per Vau. I was right next to the station, but I had bounced off the docking port. I fired my engine to correct (Vau has no RCS for some stupid reason) but I accidentally hit space. The abort system activated. The station spun up and turned round and round extremely fast. I couldn't do anything to stop it, Vau slipped around to the fuel tank... No more Arkangel station. Nobody has died. Also, the nerv plumes are a glitch, don't mind them. The historic portion of the station is intact. The Spectre is intact. The science lab is not. One fuel tank is not. Vau's docking port has been destroyed, as well as one of the engines, so landing would be very risky. The historic portion of the station. Fortunately, there was a drill on the Vau, so I was able to steal a docking port and dock to the Spectre. I've got to find that fuel tank, though, the Spectre is low on fuel. And what now? I should probably still go to Minmus, but I need a new descent vehicle for the returning Minmus crew. Should I still send the other 6 crew up on the Vau or should I completely retire it? And should I clean up the debris? Should I build a new space station? There's a lot to think about! Debris:

I don't see why not, as long as it launches vertically on an existing rocket and adheres to the crew guidelines. So, if the fuel tanker thing that someone made a while back counts as a resupply ship and not a module (please clarify, I forgot who made that one) then there's one cargo and 1 crew ship left up for grabs.

I hate to be a party pooper but let's not be launching tourists until we have a station. Then you could just fly into orbit endlessly and generate unlimited revenue. The point of the budget was a constraint on the cost of the station, and the tourism was to make a profit after the station was up there. I admire your cleverness and I should have seen that coming, but the 600k will remain a limit unless I decide to extend it. There are so many participants (way more than expected!) that I may have to, but if I increase the budget there may be additional constraints. To keep things simple, I'm negating construction costs, every launch of the SSTO costs 33% of its total cost for simplicity's sake. Not realistic, but that's a lot to keep track of so I'm simplifying it. NEW RULE! The amount of return craft seats on the space station must always be equal to or greater than the current station occupancy. So, if there are enough return seats on the station, then you may return to Kerbin, but if not then you should stay up there. Hehe. It's a bit funny that the escape vehicle is the one that doesn't need an escape system! OP is now updated! Let me know if I got anything wrong!

The acceptance limit is 2 permanent modules and one crew or cargo vehicle, so I think you should be fine. There is no proposal limit, only an acceptance limit. Dedicated escape vehicles count as a permanent module BTW.

Do y'all have a second crew vehicle yet (escape pod doesn't count as it can't launch crew)? Or any cargo vehicles? I will catch up on updating the OP and answering recent questions in a little bit. I've been rather busy today. I slept in, had a friend over, and saw Apollo 11. I'll be back in a bit!

Every time I think I have my head wrapped around the pace of development of this vehicle, Elon tweets again.

Just a short question, if I install a whole lot of planet packs, what effect will it have on inflight lag (fps), RAM usage, and loading time, both at the loading screen and transitioning to an inflight state? I'm asking because I'm considering putting all of Interstellar Consortium, with visual mods, on one install and I was wondering if that would destroy my framerate. Also, in case you need to know, I have 16 gigabytes of RAM, at any given time ~4 gigabytes are being used by other stuff, at least right now, so in effect I have 12 to run KSP with.

Also, you can probably test the launch yourself, on a Sky III, as a simulation. Payload to LKO definitely varies on piloting ability and LKO altitude, which was 120km for payload capacity. So, in reality, flown efficiently, the payload for Sky III might be a bit more. Sky IIIA costs 38k, retail price 47k. Dev cost 15k if you use it. Fits into the schedule as a Sky III. Payload to 120x120 LKO is guaranteed 19 tons, 20 if you push it, maybe more if you lower the orbit or fly better, but for planning purposes 19-20. If this isn't enough an 8 booster version can be developed similarly.

Hold on a second, let me test it.

Right, I hadn't fully considered that... I guess visiting Mars without Kerbal assistance would be at least close to the amount of accomplishment attained by visiting a gas giant with a boatload of Kerbal assistance. Maybe. It's not Venus, but I have an unused image from testing: Not canon. I believe those are the 5 meter cargo bays from Near Future Launch Vehicles. Thank you!

The actual time taken doesn't matter that much, it's just so that you can make a launch schedule with tourists/scientists that will recoup the initial investment cost within 5 years, although that would preferably be sooner. That 5 years is Earth time for simplicity. It doesn't matter for the initial construction launches, although you can keep track of that if you want. And because your vehicle is the first SSTO in this fictional universe, and in order to not make it too overpowered, I'm going to say once every 2 months. You all shouldn't need to worry about testing costs, except for the first actual test flight. I'm going to handwave it as "Simulations are free because the government is reimbursing you because they are interested in their capabilities." I think you have three options: Lighten your escape pod a bit if possible. Use some of the escape pod's fuel as if it were a third stage. I haven't looked at it recently and I don't know if it has the fuel. Pay 15,000 for the development of a Sky III with 6 boosters instead of 4. The final version will also be slightly more expensive per flight than a standard Sky III. You can set it to Earth time in the settings menu from the main menu. It doesn't affect planetary positions or speed, only the mission clock.

Hmm, test vehicles... I'm going to be nice and say that any ground/atmo test hardware is free, but don't abuse it. It's only the actual orbital test flights and operational missions that cost something. Nice job on getting the cost down! I don't see any problems with also taking supplies on the crew vehicle, but be advised that it still counts as just a crew vehicle and not a cargo vehicle, in total the program will still need 2 of each.

Could they be building a second Starhopper in anticipation of the first one failing?

Depends on if it explodes or not! Yup pretty sure. Goes so fast that the control surfaces at the back let it continue a bit like a dart so I can somewhat control altitude and let drag slow me down to a speed at which a soft collision with the water is possible. I don't have any chutes so... takes a bit. That's part of the reason I added a retrorocket, at that speed chutes don't like to work.

Excellent job so far! Do you have an end goal for your campaign or nah?

Author's note: I included Jacksepticeye in the story originally as sort of a joke, but as the story went on I realized that it didn't really work well as more than a one off funny thing, especially as I haven't watched his videos in forever. And then the scope of the story exploded into much more than it was originally supposed to be, further diminishing his effect. So, if I ever do a revision of the story, which I want to do but may not have time, I will probably replace him entirely with someone with a similar personality. And I have finally admitted to myself that this whole thing isn't much more than a rough draft. There is so much that can be fixed in this story. There are plot points that I started writing towards and abandoned in favor of something better, there are formatting inconsistencies, general inconsistencies, and characters with no defined personality, like Alonya and Marie. There are also Bill, Bob, and Valentina, who almost may as well not be there at all. All of these things will be fixed in the revised version, assuming I get around to doing a revised version, which I intend to. But I must be doing something right, people seem to enjoy this! Thank you all for your continued support (and patience!), and I hope you continue to enjoy the story! Chapter 19 - Blink and You'll Miss It

To be fair, most space capsules are extremely niche as well, and most space stuff in general.

Where are you getting that number from? The budget is and always has been 600k, although I may increase that due to the amount of challenge participation. It's 600k overall and not per person, sorry.

@Johnster_Space_Program You are pretty invested in this challenge, any suggestions for the program? As in 4.2 million is what the cost is currently at? Ouch. 18 launches (14+4 vehicles) means 233k per flight... There's got to be some way that can be optimized... Maybe I was being too restrictive with 600k, as that means 33k per launch... I also didn't anticipate 14 modules, or as many large modules, though... If you can't get it down then I might help you out, but only if y'all make an effort to reduce costs and can't get it to the budget. And @Rover 6428 don't feel like you have to do everything. I'm sorry if I'm making you feel like that, that was not my intent. Best of luck on your homework!