Cavscout74

Manned Venus Fly-By (Edit: Darn, somebody beat me to it...)

Got a probe to Jool launched in my JNSQ career, only to discover the launch window planner built into Kerbal Alarm Clock had let me down - the actual window isn't for another 103 days. I guess its better to get the probe launched early and wait My second manned Mun mission also got underway. Rendezvous with the lander Descending to land Returning to orbit Also made a second attempt at my remote Mun rover. All was going well till I lost signal during descent - but at least I fixed the problem with the transfer stage not separating cleanly

The "transfer window" is basically the darker blue area of the plot: This is a plot for Kerbin to Duna, the dV listed is for both the transfer & the capture at destination. During the window the dV cost is as low as 1678 but increases quickly as you go further outside the window - as high as 24000 in the bounds of this plot

Got off a few launches this morning - a trio of comm relays into an orbit just past Minmus (175000 km Ap). Only took 12 days to get there, then the transfer stage burned to a 91000km Pe to give a 120* resonant orbit, then ejected the first relay Also got my Minmus Surveyor landed safely A few aircraft tests - some great landings, some just "good" - ie the pilot survived And finally, a rover launched to Mun ended in failure as the transfer stage failed to decouple from the rover + skycrane. I was using a clamp-o-tron jr as a decoupler and apparently the failure to decouple bug that has existed since before I started playing KSP is still lurking around. The entire transfer stage with rover was left to impact the Mun. I couldn't watch - my game is setup as no quickload/no revert but I am perfectly willing to temporarily switch that rule off for game glitches. Unfortunately, I hadn't saved in quite a while, so I just when back to KSC to redesign the decoupling mechanism and try again.

Chapter 2, Part 2: I'm on the top of the world lookin' down on creation All was far from quiet on the home front. After the discovery of two strange monoliths on Kerbin, scattered reports were trickling in to USEA of additional monoliths around the world. Jeb & Val were tasked with investigating the most credible reports. With the new Juno jet engines entering full production, the CF-01 Star fighter became available to check out these far flung sites. The next monolith found - by Jeb on 01:232 - was located several hundred kilometers north of DSC and provided not one but two surprises. On approach to the small island, Jeb spotted a structure which turned out to be a launch complex, apparently built then abandoned during the war. The actual monolith was found about 800m offshore of the island. USEA finally consented to the launch of tourists into orbit, with OTV3-1 being the first tourist flight, departing DSC on 01:238. Jeb brought the load of 3 tourists to orbit then returned safely, followed two days later by Val with OTV3-2. The third flight was just a few days later. It was hoped to be rendered obsolete by an automated tourist vehicle that held 4 tourists, which launched on a test flight on 01:245. That flight went fairly well, but the small grid fins that were recently developed don't provide sufficient drag to keep the reentry vehicle oriented perfectly, making it too risky to use for live passengers at this time. One of the small fins even failed due to overheating. With larger grid fins, the design should be viable. This was followed by several more tourist flights to raise funds for a manned Mun landing. OTV4D-T preparing for reentry With the Mun Crew Lander in orbit of Mun, it was long past time to send a crew - first to rendezvous & dock, with a later mission to actually land a crew on the Mun. The first step was a launch abort test of the full capsule. The launch abort was successful, and the next test was an orbital flight of the Dawn-MPV (Multi-Purpose Vehicle). For the test, Jeb & Kelrik were placed in high orbit to see how the Dawn's habitability was for Mun-length missions. Unfortunately, a leak* in the hydrogen tank for the PEM fuel cell resulted in aborting the mission less than a day after establishing orbit and an emergency reentry, which went well and the crew landed safely. Rather than repeat the test flight, the Dawn-MPV design was retrofitted with a pair of small fixed solar panels on the capsule sides and a pair of recently developed folding solar panels to the upper stage to provide primary power, with the fuel cell becoming a secondary power source. LES test using Thumper SRB. The LES tower was actually somewhat under-powered and was replaced by the PEBKAC tower already in use. Dawn-MPV-T in LKO pending transfer to high orbit. In between tourist and Mun preparations, USEA also finally launched the MOCON (Medium Orbit COmmunications Network), carrying 3 relays to a 750km circular orbit, spaced 120* apart to provide continuous communications around Kerbin and finally allowing the retirement of the vehicle based relays near DSC and the island airfield, plus the CRX-1 experimental comm relay. MOCON aeroshell deploying In an unexpected move, USEA also launched the first probe to another planet, with Argo-Duna-1 departing on 01:266 and becoming the first object to leave Kerbin's SoI on 01:269. It has a course correction planned for two weeks after the new year and an expected arrival at Duna's SoI around 02:165. The Argo probe bus mounts the strongest antenna currently available to USEA, and although it cannot function as a relay it should ensure good communications back to mission control for the entire mission. On 01:271 Val & Ambera launched in the first operational Dawn-MPV, headed to become the first kerbals to orbit the Mun (on 01:275). After entering a 200km orbit, they rendezvoused with the MCL-1 lander already in orbit and docked with it. After performing system tests on the lander, the crew undocked and headed for home. The dV budget was tighter than expected, with just 48 m/s dV remaining after departing the Mun. Splashed down safely on 01:280. To improve the margin of error for dV, the asparagus boosters of the Cryo-Dawngrazer launch vehicle will be stretched slightly on future launches and the waste storage containers in the upper stage are being replaced by a disposal system that will dump excess waste products as they collect. Trans-Munar Injection burn was split between the Vesuvius upper stage and the non-cryogenic Terrier of the Dawn-MPV Entering Mun orbit Ambera conducting first EVA in Mun orbit after Val docked with the MCL-1 Undocking from MCL-1 to prepare for their return to Kerbin Nothing like hitting the atmosphere at over 5200 m/s Splashed down safely back at home While waiting for Dawn-MPV-2 to be built up at KSC, Val received the mission to investigate yet another magnetic anomaly report, located well to the southeaat of the island airfield. Over 1700km to the southeast to be precise. Jumping in another CF-01 Star with a pair of drop tanks, Val headed out to investigate. The drop tanks were extremely draggy, reducing cruise speeed to just 235 m/s but adding nearly 80% more fuel capacity to the jet. Quite surprisingly one of the drop tanks survived being jettisoned from 5000m and was picked up by a passing fishing vessel and returned to USEA several days later. After nearly two hours, Val spotted a small island. Amongst a few scattered trees was another black monolith. After returning from that mission, Val was next tasked with a contract to break mach 2 in an aircraft. Although somewhat anti-climatic after her Munar orbit mission, she did set a speed record for a kerbal in level flight in the new CX-02 experimental aircraft. Cruising at 5000m Another monolith. They seem to be located on or just offsshore of scattered small islands, almost like they are formed into some kind of network..... CX-02 hybrid jet-rocket plane taking off for mach 2 flight. This is also the first aircraft to feature an escape pod, although it wasn't needed. * Actually the hydrogen tank was substantially smaller capacity in 1.11 than it was when I last played in 1.8. The PEM fuel cell used to be good for a trip to Minmus & back. This time, it couldn't even last a single day.

I really need to post an update to my career report but I don't have time right now. My career is marching along with the first manned Mun landing plus a few Kerbin-side contracts (finding a monolith & breaking mach 2 in an aircraft). EDIT: Got the career update posted here Val on her way to hunt down a monolith. Took at >1700km flight to reach it, so my little CF-01 Star needed some drop tanks to reach it. CX-02 rocket plane taking off for the mach 2 contract, also flown by Val since Jeb was prepping for his Mun landing mission. Launch of Dawn-MPV-2, with Jeb & Kelrik bound for the first Mun landing Finally researched the EVA pack, so my crews don't have to cling to the ladder for dear life Descending to land Jeb & Kelrik on the Mun, gathering samples & planting a flag Once finished, it was time to return to orbit:

There was a mod called Ground Effect that added ground effect into stock aero. Seemed to work fairly good - both for WIG's and it seemed to smooth take-off & landing for regular aircraft. I even built a somewhat functional WIG like the Orlyonok. Then I tried to rebuild it with robotics so the nose opened to allow cargo in & out. Two days later, I quit playing KSP for 6+ months. Thought I still had some pics of the semi-functional one:

I hit two major milestones in my JNSQ career today - first crewed flight to the Mun and first probe launched to another planet. Plus a few test flights and some pesky tourists Launch abort test of the Dawn MPV (Multi-Purpose Vehicle) First launch of the full Dawn MPV - this was supposed to be a 5-day test in HKO, but problems with the fuel cell (or more specifically, the hydrogen supply) caused this to be about a 9 hour test ending in an emergency reentry probably less than 10 minutes of fuel remaining for the fuel cell After the mishap with the fuel cell, a pair of small fixed solar panels are fitted to future Dawn MPV's and a pair of larger folding panels are added to the upper stage, with the fuel cell being relegated to backup power. I also managed to get a trio of relays into ~120 degree orbits around Kerbin at 750km so I can hopefully stop losing signal with my unmanned craft in LKO Argo-Duna-1 coasting towards interplanetary space. It won't arrive at Duna till some time next year. I haven't made it to JNSQ Duna yet, so I'm looking forward to seeing it up close Meanwhile, Val & Ambera became the first kerbals to orbit the Mun, then performed a rendezvous & docking with the previously launched crew lander before returning home. Jeb & Kelrik will get the honors for first landing They made it home safe, but there wasn't much margin of error - just 48 m/s remaining after leaving the Mun. Future launch vehicles will have the boosters stretched slightly and a few other minor changes that should give slightly more dV for Mun missions.

Glad to see you around, I was wondering how you were doing!!

A few people complained about this when 1.11 first dropped, and I think there was a bug report opened, but several others chimed in with basically "suck it up & deal with it" I did a MM patch to change volume of the EVA pack, but I haven't tested it because my current career hasn't advanced far enough to have EVA packs yet. Bug report: https://bugs.kerbalspaceprogram.com/issues/27096

I did a little exploring on Kerbin between tourist flights Hmmm, I wonder what that speck is on that island..... My current JNSQ tourist launcher hauls 3 tourists and a pilot to LKO and back, but it hardly cheap - which leaves my tourist flights barely making a profit. I also tinkered with an automated craft with 4 passengers, costs almost 10k less than the piloted version. The only gridfins I have unlocked aren't big enough to stabilize reentry when I lose signal. It did survive (except one grid fin) but I don't yet trust it to put tourists in

Chapter 2, Part 1: I'm stepping through the door And I'm floating in a most peculiar way And the stars look very different today After the rapid tempo of the first few months, the launch schedule rapidly slowed - efforts focused on research and upgrading the launch facilities. The first launch in the new series - weeks after Surveyor-1 - was on improved version of the Cryo-Jabbit. Dubbed the "Fat Cryo-Jabbit," it uses 1.875m fuel tanks for most of the first stage, with a pair of Shrimp SRB's to help it off the pad and just a single Vesuvius engine for the duration of the first stage burn. And a long burn it is - with the larger fuel tanks supplying over 4200 m/s of dV in the first stage it is very close to a SSTO. The payload was a much-improved comsat, destined for another geosynchronous orbit. Dubbed GeoComm-2A, it launched on 01:173. All systems operated normally and the second and third stages were able to push the satellite to a 8986km Ap and begin to circularize. After the third stage was jettisoned, GeoComm-2A was allowed to go two full orbits before returning to Ap for its final circularization burn. This resulted in GeoComm-2A roughly 60* ahead of GeoComm-1, positioned between KSC & the island airfield. Fat Cryo-Jabbit launching geosynchronous relay The next two launches were to test a small multi-passenger craft. First, on 01:178 was an abort system test from KSC followed by an unmanned test on 01:180. The OTV-2 reached orbit easily, then immediately performed a deorbit burn. Reentry got a little hotter than desired during plasma blackout as the craft couldn't maintain an exact retrograde attitude, but it survied and splashed down safely. With minor changes, the OTV-2's next flight was a multiple first - first launch with more than one kerbal and first launch of a VIP tourist to space. Launch from KSC on 01:183 was smooth and Jeb, Kelrik & Dudlo entered orbit safely. After a single orbit, Jeb performed the deorbit burn and the trio splashed down safely in the Krenwich Sea. With a more spacious crewed vehicle now available, USEA was challenged to place a kerbal in orbit for a full week. Using another OTV-2 with just Kelrik on board, the orbital endurance mission launched on 01:186. After safely reaching orbit, Kelrik fired the orbital engine a second time to establish a 1050x110km elliptical orbit, becoming the first kerbal to reach high orbit. After that, the timer started on his endurance flight. About six hours after Kelrik launched on his endurance mission, another even more significant launch took place from KSC - an attempt at an automated sample return mission to the Mun. All systems operated perfectly, and on 01:191, MuSR-1 landed on the Mun, collected soil & seismic samples and launched back to orbit. The dV budget was extremely tight - after the return to Kerbin burn, placing a Pe at Kerbin of 45km only 22 m/s of dV remained. This mission was also responsible for leaving a spent rocket stage in orbit. MuSR-1 reentered Kerbin's atmosphere on 01:196 and splashed down in the Krenwich Sea. With strict limits due to the un-upgraded VAB, the best we could do was a trio of SRB's to boost the launcher off the pad. MuSR-1 descending to land on Mun Gathering the first soil samples from Mun. The sample return module will gather the samples and protect them during reentry Returning to Mun orbit While MuSR-1 was heading back to Kerbin, Kelrik finished his week in orbit. Initially, he lowered Pe to 75km and fired the engine again to drop Ap to 500km, then lowered Pe to 40km and burned off the rest of his fuel as he entered the upper atmosphere the next time around. Reentry was smoother than expected, and he splashed down safely in the Inland Sea on 01:193. Being a bit of a daredevil after spending too much time with Jeb, Kelrik bailed out of the pod during descent and landed a few meters away, then swam back & re-boarded to await pickup. It was decided by USEA administrators that the next step was to attempt to rendezvous & dock two vessels in orbit. First up was the launch of a new vehicle, the KTV-1 (Kerbal Target Vehicle) to be used as a rendezvous & docking target. Unfortunately, the launch was cut short by the catastrophic failure of the Vesuvius rocket engine passing 18km. A new KTV was built up and launched a few days later, successfully reaching a 125km orbit to await another craft to dock. With the target vehicle in orbit, it was time to send up a manned mission to rendezvous. Val was tapped for this mission, marking her second orbital flight. Launching on 01:204 to a 175km orbit, Val then performed a maneuver to rendezvous with KTV-1b. With both being in the same plane and near-perfect circular orbits, rendezvous was fairly simple and Val quickly spotted the blinking marker lights on the KTV. Val closed to within 4m of the KTV, and maneuvered around the target before moving away and several minutes later firing her retroburn, splashing down east of the island airfield. KTV-1 in orbit Val approaching the KTV View of the KTV from her tiny viewing port While readying the next Moho-OMV for a docking attempt, DSC launched a fly-by/impactor probe towards Minmus. Launched on 01:206, it was able to perform its trans-Minmus injection just 4 minutes after entering orbit, and will reach Minmus at its ascending node. It required a small course correction to fine-tune the periapsis around Minmus. MinBOT-1 finally reached Minmus' SoI on 01:215, transmitting the first data from the tiny moon, then was redirected to perform an impact on the Minmus surface. Engine explosion during launch of MinBOT-1 Second attempt went better Last view towards home Passing low over Minmus before impact With MinBOT-1 enroute to Minmus, Jeb climbed into his seat aboard Moho-OMV-2 and prepared for launch. This would be the first docking in orbit between two craft. After a smooth launch, Jeb performed the rendezvous maneuver after two orbits and successfully rendezvoused with the KTV. After that, docking was anti-climactic. Using the KTV's engine, Jeb boosted the orbit up to 150km, then undocked and reentered safely. The next launch - also to Minmus - was planned to be the first satellite to orbit Minmus. Based on the successful GeoComm-2 bus, it received larger SRB's for launch, a thermometer for additional readings around Minmus and a small camera to send back images of the surface. Launched and transfer were flawless and MinComm-1 arrived in Minmus' SoI on 01:229 and established a highly elliptical polar orbit to maximize relay coverage. As the next Minmus satellite streaked through space to its destination, Jeb & Kelrik were working at Woomerang to test a Mun lander. The lower section is designed to provide fuel for landing, then stay behind with scientific instruments to provide a remote observatory while the crew module launches back to orbit. Due to limitations on launch vehicle size, the Mun Crew Lander will launch autonomously and travel to Mun orbit where a later crew vehicle will rendezvous for the landing mission. After completing their testing on Kerbin and making a few changes to the design, it was time to launch one to Mun. That launch - unmanned - departed on 01:231 and entered Mun orbit on 01:234 With a partial fuel load and stripped of non-essential equipment, the MCL1 has just enough thrust to take off on Kerbin Lower stage with solar panels & antennas deployed after crew pod separation. Launch of the complete MCL1 to the Mun on the newly developed Cryo-Dawngrazer launch vehicle The next in line of new, larger launch vehicles was a 3-passenger tourist craft, dubbed OTV3. Val drew the honors of the first flight with Ambera, and due to recent upgrades to the astronaut complex and the improved training, the first spacewalk is scheduled for this flight as well. Launch went well and the OTV3-T reached orbit with just over 200 m/s of dV remaining. After sunrise, Ambera performed the world's first EVA then Val performed a quick EVA as well before deorbiting the OTV, with splashdown west of the island airfield. OTV3-T test flight launching on another Cryo-Dawngrazer with 8 Shrimp SRB's to boost it off the pad. The service bay doors function as solar panels and airbrakes to stabilize the craft during reentry. Ambera's brief EVA shortly after sunrise. With no means of self-propulsion, she stayed on the ladder for just a few minutes before re-boarding.

Wrapped up the next update to my career, with a Minmus fly-by/impactor followed by a satellite in Minmus orbit. The biggest news was the world's first orbital EVA, during a test flight of an orbital tourist vehicle. Mun lander testing on Kerbin - the lower stage has fuel tanks for the landing plus probe core, solar, antennas & science experiments. Once the crewed mission departs (using the upper stage) the lower stage remains behind as a remote science station. After a few changes (the antennas really didn't want to cooperate with the fairing of the launcher), it was ready to head for the Mun to await a crew. Minmus fly-by/impactor doing its thing... Then a relay for Minmus, based on my existing geosynchronous relay with a slightly larger launcher. I placed it in a highly elliptical polar orbit to maximize its up-time until more relays can be sent. The Mun lander launched atop the largest launch vehicle built to date Test flight of the new orbital tourist vehicle, with Val piloting and Ambera riding along and performing the first EVA Since the EVA pack isn't unlocked yet, Ambera had to be careful on her brief EVA The service bay doors also function as airbrakes, stabilizing the vehicle during reentry

Got a few more launches in on my JNSQ career - first rendezvous, first docking and launched the first probe to Minmus. The Minmus probe actually took two attempts - first one had a first stage engine explosion passing 18km. Second launch went well and the probe is on its way. A modified version of my Moho manned capsule - adding full RCS & a docking port - was built. First I sent up the Kerbal Target Vehicle (KTV-1). Then Val went up to perform a rendezvous with the KTV, and see how the Moho-OMV pod handled maneuvering around the KTV. Val was easily able to close within 4m of the KTV, even capturing a photo from within her pod The next flight by Jeb was for the first ever orbital docking. It was almost anti-climatic - the rendezvous placed the two craft <30m apart and a few puffs of monoprop later and they were connected. The combined craft used the KTV's engine to boost the orbit to 150km, then Jeb undocked and reentered

While I'm waiting for the VAB to upgrade in my JNSQ career, I've found that the 1.25m hydrolox engine with 1.875m fuel tanks can really boost your dV. Slap on a pair of Thumpers to help get off the pad and depending on payload I've been getting 4000-4800 m/s out of the first stage plus boosters while still leaving a good number of parts for the upper stage and payload. This basic design has given me: First multi-kerbal vessel - first was abort testing, then a full test flight, then a manned mission with our first space tourist, and finally a week long endurance mission that also saw our first kerbal in HKO In addition to the manned flights, I also managed an automated Mun sample return. Even with the hydrolox first stage, I barely had the dV for the mission - after my return to Kerbin burn, I had just 22 m/s left in the lander

I do like the MH suit variant for early career. And the Mk 2 Pod. Not sure that I like them enough to counter the rest though. I haven't actually used KK before, but if it has its own version of launch site selection I'm sure it will be fine. Thanks for the quick reply. Edit: Except for some reason, deleting MH caused BG to fail to load. Glad I made a copy before trying that

I would like to verify something before I do a lot of changes to my JNSQ install: The Kerbal Konstructs bases for JNSQ add replacements for the Desert & Woomerang space centers. And (unrelated to JNSQ) Restock/Restock Plus mods have their own versions of the MH parts. So my question: Is there any reason to keep Making History installed other than the mission builder?

Interesting idea. I usually keep backup copies of craft like that as a precaution because I've learned that the hard way. But being able to lock the design in-game would be a nice feature

Made a small amount of progress in my career - 2nd geosynchronous comm relay and a little exploring with aircraft, nothing too exciting - the new launcher developed for the relay is going to make a big difference to my career - with the 1.875m tanks unlocked, the 1.25m LH2 engine (and a pair of Shrimp SRB's to give it a little push off the pad) gives me over 4200 m/s in the first stage, the most of anything I've made so far in this career. Val exploring in the PropStar - the jet engines are just around the corner, but the PropStar is still the best for now. Everything was fine until her compass started acting erratic..... Since my hyrdolox 1.25m launcher was the Cryo-Jabbit, I guess the 1.875m hydrolox will be the Fat Cryo-Jabbit. The orbital stage pushed the Ap to 8986 km and then the Pe to about half that before running out of fuel and leaving the monoprop thrusters on the satellite to finish the job. GeoComm-2A was allowed to orbit twice in its 8986x4000km orbit to allow better spacing with the existing GeoComm-1. I actually ran out of time before I could finish circularizing

Pathfinder by @Angel-125along with the rest of the Wild Blue mods. There was at least one other with inflatable base structures...... Found it:

Still loving this mod - Surveyor on the Mun in JNSQ:

My JNSQ career managed to get a probe landed on the Mun and a geosynchronous relay in place: Surveyor-1 after sunrise, gathering photo & soil samples GeoComm-1b in geosynchronous orbit of Kerbin

Part 4: Daylight still a long time coming, But I know it will The USEA program advanced by leaps and bounds over the next few months. With every success, more funding came in from both existing donors while steadily drawing in other countries who wanted to join in on the exploration of the final frontier. The first and biggest success, less than a month after Jeb's suborbital flight, was the successful launch to orbit on 01:109 of Pilot Lt Valentina Kerman atop a stretched Jabbit 1 augmented with a pair of Thumper SRB's. The Jabbit-Plus included a second stage powered by a Valiant engine, which almost ended the mission with an overtemp shortly before SECO. Luckily, the Valiant finished its burn prior to failing and the orbital stage pushed Val into a 90x88km orbit. Relying solely on batteries, Val had to deorbit after just two orbits, landing safely in the foothills west of where KSC was still undergoing construction. Val launching from DSC for her historic orbital mission Last sunrise from Val's second orbit On the unmaned side of the program, less than a week after Val's launch, a probe was successfully launched to be placed in Mun orbit - using the same Jabbit-Plus launch vehicle. The MRO-1 probe entered Mun orbit on 01:123 and sent back observations of the Mun's magnetic field and the first pictures from orbit. Another comm relay was also placed in orbit. With improvements to launch vehicles, this one was able to reach a 600km circular orbit. The OCR design is to be the new standard comm satellite, with this one being designated OCR-E-1. MRO-1 entering Mun orbit OCR-E-1 in orbit, it shares it basic design with the MRO-1 probe The long awaited opening of KSC heralded an increase in op tempo and development of new launch vehicles. The first launch from KSC was the new Jabbit-2 design, featuring a "stage and a half" design that used a pair of Thud booster engines and central Valiant sustainer. Unfortunately, the Valiant proved insufficient for the task of placing an unmanned Moho pod in orbit and a redesign was required. The second attempt, just 4 days later, featured stretched tanks and a Swivel sustainer engine. The improved Jabbit 2 placed the Moho test pod in a 145x103km orbit with 150m/s dV remaining. This also marked the first launch into a nearly perfect equatorial orbit, with a final inclination of just 0.071*. With KSC operating, it is also now feasible to place a satellite in a geosynchronous orbit without expensive inclination changes. USEA's first attempt, a comm relay, was a failure. Although it reached orbit, it did not have sufficient dV to reach the desired orbit, ending up in a 6100x2100km orbit. It is still useful as a relay, giving this mission a "partial success" rating, but being out of fuel, it will need to be recovered at some future date. Barely a week later, GeoComm-1b, riding on an improved Jabbit 2 was successfully placed in a geosynchronous orbit, positioned just east of DSC. Jabbit 2 test launch GeoComm-1b safely in orbit over DSC While KSC was busy testing new launch vehicles, DSC launched the OCR-E-2 on 01:132. Intended to be placed 120* behind OCR-E-1, it's final orbit was closer to 90* behind. With the Jabbit 2 now operational, USEA decided to launch the next two manned flights from DSC. On 01:134, Kelrik Kerman became the second kerbal in orbit (and the first non-pilot) in the Moho-3 pod, completing two orbits before returning safely home. Several days later, the Moho-4 mission launched with Ambera Kerman on board. Her pod was fitted with a pair of small solar panels, extending her mission to a just over a full day in space, becoming the first kerbal to spend more than two orbits in space before deorbiting and splashing down safely east of the island airfield. Moho-3 descending into the midlands Kelrik Kerman jumping for joy after landing safely Moho-4 jettisoning the "half stage" booster engines Moho-4 carried a deployable electrostatic experiment above the crew hatch, pictured here deployed Much to everyone's surprise, the much neglected Woomerang launch center was selected for the final planned mission of the Moho program on 01:142. In place of either the well-tested Jabbit 1 or 2 launchers, a new, cryogenic fuel "Cryo-Jabbit" was used. The lack of flight testing was surprising to many, but since the Jabbit orbital stage, pod & LES were unchanged from previous missions, the risk was deemed acceptable. Featuring a pair of radial boosters for launch, then a core sustainer, the Cryo-Jabbit was able to place Jeb's Moho-5 pod into a 250x113km, 45* inclined orbit with over 400m/s of dV remaining in the standard Jabbit orbital stage. Also featuring the solar panels like Moho-4, Jeb spent just over a day in orbit before landing in the arid midlands southeast of DSC. Moho-5 climbing out of Woomerang on the first Cyro-Jabbit launch vehicle Descending through the clouds to a safe landing The final launch during this time frame was the Surveyor-1 to the Mun, launched atop the Cryo-Jabbit. Due to space & mass constraints, the Surveyor-1 lander only carried a soil scoop & panoramic camera to scan the landing area. After a successful launch, it performed its TMI burn on the next orbit and entered Mun's SoI on 01:155, followed by a soft landing at 05:50 hours, 01:156. Unfortunately, the landing occurred in the middle of the long Munar night and the probe was placed on standby until the first sunrise, which finally occurred on 01:166. Surveyor-1 launching on a Cryo-Jabbit Drifting to periapsis around the Mun Sunrise fast approaching the hibernating Surveyor-1 With the solar panel recharging the batteries, time to send back data to KSC... In between the numerous rocket launches, additional aircraft testing was performed - flights to 10km, tests of a prototype "Juno" turbojet engine, and airframe testing of the CF-01 "Star" fighter that is being designed to use the Juno. The "PropStar" - a CF-01 refitted with a Kraken piston engine for testing when Juno prototypes aren't available - performed numerous test flights. One such flight ended with Jeb ditching the plane in the ocean after the compass went haywire. He managed to ditch near a small island, and while floating waiting for pickup, he spotted a strange black monolith half buried in the sea floor. Val climbing to 10km in the turboprop variant of the CFP-01, the "Turbo-Hawk" Jeb testing the prototype Star fighter with experimental Juno engines Jeb's next mission in the PropStar was a highly classified night flight to the arctic icecaps. It did mark the first time the LOCR-1 polar relay was used to relay scientific data. Whatever was found in the arctic was immediately classified at the highest levels . Arctic sunrise Cruising over the icecap

It isn't cheating but it's no longer properly an SSTO. It can be a help to reach orbit if you're struggling with a spaceplane design - I've done that before when I was new at this. I've also used drop tanks in orbit to boost my dV for interplanetary transfers. I had a nice 5-passenger SSTO that was perfect for Laythe but didn't have the dV to go to Jool on its own. I would take off from the runway with a pair or two of drop tanks (empty), refuel in orbit and the drop tanks would give it enough dV for the transfer, then get left behind after they served their purpose. You do have the space debris issue with that approach though.

I swear JNSQ got harder since yesterday, but I did manage to get another kerbal into orbit while Jeb got tasked to fly the PropStar prototype up to the northern icecaps to investigate a strange signal picked up by our polar comm relay. Jeb flying over the ice, getting his first glimpse of the sun - the whole flight had been at night Images taken in the vicinity of the signal source have been classified at the highest level..... Kelrik Kerman descending after 2 orbits, becoming the 2nd kerbal in orbit and the first non-pilot What was supposed to be a geosynchronous comm relay failing to reach the correct altitude. Ended up in a 6100x2100km orbit. It will still help with communications, but doesn't complete the contract.