Cavscout74

I reached the next milestone in my career, with probes in orbit & landed on Eve - although Gilly got no love this time around. Full report here Vorona-Eve in orbit after dropping the lander Vorona lander Eve Pancake Lander splashed down in explodium sea And in other news, Jeb "borrowed" some engines we had for a test contract and managed to create a loophole in his punishment that he can only test fly new aircraft:

Update 02:285 A one-eyed, one-horned, flyin' purple people eater Ongoing Missions: MOLE Station - Deorbited on 02:275, slammed into the desert just north of DSC. Mun Outpost A - Mothballed Minmus Outpast A - Rover arrived on 02:275 , second crew arrived on 02:278 and commenced searching for an Olivine formation to scan with the new rover arm. It turned out to be pretty easy, as a formation was found just 1800m from the outpost. Dres Sojourner - Should arrive at Dres' SoI on 03:025 Vorona-Eve - Arrived in Eve's SoI on 02:280, entered orbit on 02:283. Decoupled the Formalhaut-Eve lander on 02:284, which made 3 aerobraking passes before finally landing on 02:285 in the highlands. Pioneer-Eve - Arrived in Eve's SoI on 02:280 and entered a highly inclined polar orbit to provide comm relay functions on 02:283. EDSR-1 - Arrived in Eve's SoI on 02:279, entered orbit on 02:282 and collected a dust sample in low Eve orbit. The actual capture was tricky as signal was lost before the orbital insertion maneuver, and the probe was well past Pe when it reacquired signal. Return flight not yet plotted. No images taken EPL-1 - Arrived in Eve's SoI on 02:279, entered orbit on 02:282 and landed on 02:283, splashing down in the explodium sea Pioneer-Jool - Course correction planned for 03:018. MiUR2-1 - Arrived at Minmus & landed at the outpost on 02:275 Manned Launches: KSC Dawngrazer MiL3-4 02:269 - Second crew for the Minmus outpost. First test of the automated ascent control system recently developed by our scientists. Arrived at Minmus & landed at the outpost on 02:278 Unmanned Launches: None Aircraft: KSC - CS-01A-02264 Falcon 02:266 - Due to disappointing performance on the original flight, some changes were made to the basic Falcon design, as well as removing a nose fuel tank. After the mods were done, a second flight resulted both in completion of the contract to fly an aircraft above 60km and in Jeb finally getting back to orbit - about 75km with just over 1000 m/s remaining. Even banning Jeb from flying rockets apparently can't keep him out of space. Once landed, Jeb parked by the spaceplane hangar at KSC so that we will have a working spaceplane available even if we complete the NERV test contract and can't build more. Debris: Pioneer-Jool 2nd Stage - 02:234 - 142x392km, 6.5* inclination Other: Our reputation has advanced to the point that we get another build time reduction as more governments & corporations recognize the important work we are doing & chip in assistance.

Glad you are enjoying it, that was exactly where my head was when I started it And it is definitely more beautiful when it works like its supposed to instead of smashing into your own LES tower

@Lisias I always thought that was one of the strangest aircraft I ever saw, glad to see it make an appearance in KSP!!!

The high point of my career today was my Moho probe finally arriving. The low point was the jettisoned LES tower destroying a launch vehicle in probably the most ironic failure to reach space ever. Details in mission reports Debris plus the surprisingly intact Mk2 pod after the LES tower rapidly disassembled the rest of the launch vehicle. I'm not 100% certain, but I believe the object in the distance above the Mk2 pod is the still-intact LES tower Also had an early attempt at a spaceplane - which USED TO make orbit since at least KSP 1.5 but suddenly isn't wanting to in 1.8.1. EDIT: I found the issue - an extra fuel tank in the nose and the short structural fuselage & aerodynamic nose cone on the back of the NERV's. The Whiplash-powered version was the only one tested with those two changes, and had no problem. But the Panther-powered version doesn't have enough thrust for the extra mass. Without the extras, it can make orbit just like it used to, with around 1000 m/s remaining in a 75km orbit.

Update 02:266 The Heat is On Ongoing Missions: MOLE Station - Mothballed Mun Outpost A - Mothballed Minmus Outpast A - First crew completed 30 days on 02:243 & returned home, leaving the surface experiments running. Current plans call for a second crew to be sent later this year, while a rover is currently en route. Dres Sojourner - Should arrive at Dres' SoI on 03:025 Vorona-Eve - Will arrive in Eve's SoI on 02:280 Pioneer-Eve - Will arrive in Eve's SoI on 02:280 EDSR-1 - Will arrive in Eve's SoI on 02:279 EPL-1 - Will arrive in Eve's SoI on 02:279 Pioneer-Moho - Arrived around Moho and entered orbit on 02:256, establishing a highly inclined 45x5000km orbit and sending back loads of data. Mission was a complete success and Pioneer-Moho remains in orbit as a comm relay for future missions. Manned Launches: KSC Dawngrazer MPV-5 02:227 - The decision has been made to finally deorbit MOLE Station. Prior to that, Kelrik & Val are being sent up to strip off any valuable equipment they can rather than allowing everything to burn up. At least that was the intent. In the most ironic accident ever to befall a space program, seconds after LES jettison, the expended LES tower crashed back into the Dawngrazer & struck somewhere around the upper fuel tank/decoupler/orbital engine area, breaking up the entire launch vehicle. Despite the lack of a LES, the abort sequence still separated the capsule from what remained of the lower stages and the crew splashed down safely 279km downrange. After this incident, the salvage plan was cancelled due to cost - each Dawngrazer MPV costs nearly 22000 funds with only (at most) 9300 being recoverable, and launching a second MPV just could not be justified with the equipment known to be on the station. Unmanned Launches: WSC Girrok KSM-1 02:229 - The Kerbol Stellar Monitor launched into a polar orbit from Woomerang. After attaining orbit, the Ap was boosted to 60000 km over the south pole to provide a clear view of the sun for long periods of time and also to provide improved comm relay functions to the southern hemisphere. The automated solar monitoring experiment was completed on 02:246 and transferred to the reentry probe, which decoupled & fired its retro rocket to drop Pe into the atmosphere. Reentry occured 10 days later, on 02:257, landing just over 200km from DSC. DSC Dawngrazer Pioneer-Jool 02:234 - With the development of RTG's, the decision was made to modify the existing Pioneer science probe by replacing the twin solar panels with a pair of RTG's on extendable booms for use in outer system areas where solar is less viable. Since the dV requirements are quite a bit less than Moho, the NERV engine was kept, but the drop tanks that were fitted to the Mk1S-ER were dropped. Due to the tight schedule, Pioneer-Jool spent just a single orbit around Kerbin before performing its transfer, leaving Kerbin's SoI on 02:235. Course correction plotted for 03:018. Too late to correct, it was discovered that the Girrok second stage was not equipped with self-destruct charges, leaving a large piece of space debris in a 142x392km 6.5 degree orbit, which will need to be dealt with at some point. DSC Girrok MiUR2-1 02:265 - Launched a Minmus Utility Rover to Minmus, currently enroute to Minmus. Aircraft: DSC - CSX-01A Falcon 02:264 - After borrowing some more experimental NERV engines, Jeb has come up with a way to break his punishment of only testing aircraft: build an aircraft that can fly to space! The first test was only a high speed test, taking off from DSC & cruising to KSC, breaking mach 3 along the way. Frustratingly, it nearly ran out of fuel just barely breaking mach 3 & 30km flying from DSC to KSC. I landed with about 7 units of LF remaining. This is a design that goes back multiple KSP versions, and I never had a problem reaching orbit before but now it barely breaks 30km & mach 3. EDIT: I figured out the issue - I added the short structural fuselage & aerodynamic nose cones to the back of the NERV's for drag reduction & looks, and added a short LF tank to the nose behind the NCS adapter. Both of which are fine with the Whiplash version, but I never tested the Panther version after those changes. Stay tuned to see Jeb jump for joy next episode. Debris: Pioneer-Jool 2nd Stage - 02:234 - 142x392km, 6.5* inclination Other: On 02:251, Kelrik & Ambera took out an experimental MiUR-2 (Minmus Utility Rover-2 seat) to test at DSC. Fitted with the best technology currently available, a mix of Monoprop fuel cell & solar power and emergency RCS braking & downforce thrusters, it promises to be a great addition to the Minmus Outpost.

Well, I just found a new way to destroy a manned rocket - with the (jettisoned) LES tower!!!! Talk about irony..... I don't have screenshots yet (different computer) but while launching a Gemini-ish rocket (but with a mod LES tower), everything was going smooth, and passing 35km I jettisoned LES tower - which fires its rockets while decoupling, boosting the LES tower quickly ahead of the rocket. But it keeps a nearly identical flight path and this time, it was a little too identical - it slammed into the rocket somewhere around the coupling between first & second stages, destroying the second stage engine, decoupler & some of the first stage fuel tank. The only saving grace was it killed all thrust, so the pod was able to just decouple from the wreckage & splashdown "normally" less than 300km from KSC. I'm pretty sure the small object in the distance above the capsule is the LES tower, still intact after destroying the rocket

Made some more progress in career, with one impressive failure and one rather annoying semi-failure. Report here But at least some things went right

Update 02:215 I've Got to Break Free Ongoing Missions: MOLE Station - Mothballed Mun Outpost A - Mothballed Dres Sojourner - Should arrive at Dres' SoI on 03:025 Vorona-Eve - Transfer on 02:166 completed and departed Kerbin's SoI, followed by a course correction a few days later. Will arrive in Eve's SoI on 02:280 Pioneer-Moho - Course corretion scheduled on 02:227 Manned Launches: DSC Dawngrazer MTV-4-1 - 02:184 - New Mun Tourist Vehicle launched with one of the new kerbonauts (Magas Kerman) and 3 tourists to Mun orbit & back. Mission was successful, but some adjustments are needed on the MTV-4 design. In particular, dV is somewhat tight and TWR lower than desirable after radial booster separation and after first stage separation. KSC Girrok MMV-LT-1 - 02:201 - To satisfy a wealthy tourist - and gain some extra experience for other crew members - the MMV-LD (Multi-Mission Vehicle-Long Duration) was built and launched to push past Kerbin's SoI & return. On purpose this time. Basically an MMV-ER that's been stretched to accomodate a Hitchhiker module and re-engined with a Poodle in the orbital stage for extra thrust. They escaped Kerbin's SoI on 02:208, performed a brief EVA and ran several experiments, including a new GORESat Irradiance scan, then fired then Poodle a second time to return home. Splashed down just west of Crater Rim. KSC Dawngrazer MiL3-3 - 02:204 - Launch of the first crew to the Minmus Outpost, consisting of Lodron, Barnie & Kathberry, for a planned 30-day stay on Minmus as well as setting up surface experiments. Landed at the outpost on 02:212, planted a flag, setup the surface experiments then stretched out in the spacious new outpost to enjoy some well deserved snacks. Unmanned Launches: KSC Girrok EPL-1 02:144 - Full version of the Eve Pancake Lander was launched from KSC into a 135km orbit to wait for the Eve transfer on 02:174, which was was performed safely. Several days after leaving Kerbin's SoI, a course correction was performed, and it will encounter Eve on 02:279. KSC Dawngrazer Pioneer-Eve 02:154 - Another Pioneer probe was launched from KSC, this one bound for Eve It's primary mission is to provide comm relay functions as well as gathering additional science from low & high orbit. Unfortunately, a radial decoupler failure shortly after launch allowed the left radial booster to separate while still running. Although the booster missed inflicting damage on the launch vehicle, the thrust imbalance with the still-operating right booster caused it to veer out of control. The RSO triggered the shut down & self-destruct commands, terminating the launch DSC Girrok Minmus Outpost 02:162 - After over a month of construction, the Minmus Outpost A was rolled out & launched from DSC. It is the largest launch to date, just under 279 tons on the pad. Arrived at Minmus without incident & landed in the Lesser Flats on 02:171. Next step will be to launch the first crew to live on Minmus - and also bring some fuel, as the base construction contract stipulated 2000 units of fuel, and despite landing too fast & breaking two of the four landing legs, only 1998 units of fuel remain on the outpost. KSC Dawngrazer Pioneer-Eve 2 02:165 - Replacement for Pioneer-Eve, hurredly assembled & launched a few days before the Eve transfer window. The second launch went smoothly & parked in a 130km orbit waiting for its transfer. The transfer was performed flawlessly, and the course correction only a week after leaving Kerbin. It should encounter Eve on 02:280. KSC Girrok Eve Dust Return 02:178 - After realized - barely in time - that the Eve exploration contract stipulated a return to kerbin after Eve fly-by, a return craft was hastily assembled, using another "misappropriated" LV-N nuclear engine to ensure sufficient dV for the round trip. After launch, it immediately performed its Eve transfer, then a course correction a few days later. Eve encounter will be on 02:279 Aircraft: Some work was performed on a larger airliner to replace the Jetlanders currently in use, but work stalled due to the needs of the space program. Other: Launch pad level 3 upgrade completed on 02:125.

Finished another update to my career after taking a few days to get anything done in it. Full report here Performed everything from minor but necessary tasks like setting up a comnet around Minmus and tourist landings then on to more important tasks like probes to Eve and stealing an experiment engine to use for a trip to Moho instead of the intended "test LV-N in orbit of Mun"

Update 02:135 Are you ready for that great atomic power? Ongoing Missions: MOLE Station - Mothballed Mun Outpost A - Mothballed Dres Sojourner - Course correction completed successfully. Should arrive at Dres' SoI on 03:025 Manned Launches: DSC Girrok MiL-4 - 02:116 - Adburry & 3 tourists were launched to Minmus in a new 4-seat pilot-less lander. All systems operated normally, and they landed on Minmus without problems. There was a loss of signal while transmitting the back side of Minmus, but signal was reestablished before their return to Kerbin maneuver. Splashed down safely. Unmanned Launches: WSC A5A EP-T1 - 02:071 - Test of an Eve Entry Probe, launched on an old A5A launcher. The entire assembly was transported to Woomerang inside a closed cannister, which is simply set up on the pad, electrical connections attached and the A5A launches from the canister. Total dV was too low to test an orbital reentry - let alone trying to gather data for an Eve entry - but the probe remained stable during reentry even after loss of battery power, indicating the proper mass distribution in the design. Carrying 2 experiments - a barometer & thermometer - was too much for the small battery carried, and power was exhausted trying to transmit the barometric data. The probe was tracked until it impacted in the grasslands southeast of WSC. Due to the limited nature of the experiments that can be carried and the limitations to KSP biomes, the proposed Eve Multi-Probe design is cancelled at this time. (Note: It was going to be based on the NASA Venus Multiprobe/Pioneer-Venus 2/Pioneer 13) DSC Dawngrazer Vorona-Eve - 02:077 - Launch of the first probe destined for Eve. Vorona-Eve is a combined orbital science probe and relay with an attached lander It is early - 3 months till the transfer window - but with the KSC pad closed for upgrades, it was decided to start launching Eve probes well in advance. In addition, by plotting the transfer in orbit, it provides validation of the exact transfer window - or in this case, showed that our scientists had it wrong by nearly a month. Launch went smoothly and Vorona-Eve was inserted into a 130km, 7 degree orbit while waiting for its transfer, scheduled for 02:166. DSC Girrok Pioneer-Moho - 02:094 - Launched from DSC, using an experimental nuclear engine for the Moho transfer. Despite estimates putting the transfer several weeks out, a viable transfer was available immediately upon attaining orbit. Transfer performed successfully, and departed Kerbin's SoI on 02:095. Course correction planned for 02:227 WSC Girrok PL-EDL-T1 - 02:096 - Test launch of the Eve Pancake Lander design. Once again, Kerbin's atmosphere is nowhere close to what is estimated to be found at Eve, but we can at least test basic flight & entry characteristics of the lander design. The mission will push the Ap out near the edge of Kerbin's SoI, then lower Pe into the atmosphere to test a high velocity entry. Launch from Woomerang went smoothly and after attaining orbit, Ap was raised to 65000km. Two weeks later, it arrived at Ap, performed an inclination change to establish an equatorial orbit then lowered Pe to 25km. Reentry went perfectly, and the lander splashed down in the ocean between DSC & KSC. The floats deployed & it gathered a a little science while waiting for recovery. DSC Dawngrazer Minmus Triple Comm - 02:123 - Now that the Duna & Dres Sojourner craft are far beyond Kerbin, it was decided to launch a 3-satellite comm net to Minmus to ensure communications integrity for future orbital & surface operations. Carried to orbit on a Dawngrazer, the each of the 3 relay satellites mounts a small monoprop thruster, RA-2 antenna & solar panels and will be deployed in equatorial orbits 120 degress apart. Upon arrival in Minmus, the three relays were deployed in 200km orbits before setting the carrier to crash into Minmus. MIROR-1 relay was also deorbited as its relay abilities were no longer required. Aircraft: None Other: Launch pad level 3 upgrade completed on 02:125.

Just been working on my career - a Duna probe just arrived, and I finished testing the nearly acquired 2.5m launch vehicles. Full report here In-flight abort test of 2.5m pod Flight test of full Girrok launch vehicle with empty pod

Update 02:070 Here we go, marching to Mars Ongoing Missions: MOLE Station - Mothballed Mun Outpost A - Mothballed Duna Sojourner - Entered Duna's SoI on 02:062 and started transmitting science back to Kerbin. Performed a high altitude fly-by of Ike, completing a secon contract, then entered a 50 degree inclined orbit 85x2500km on 02:065, completing a third contract and sending a load of science back to Kerbin. It remains in Duna orbit to act as a relay for future missions, but the primary mission is complete. Dres Sojourner - Course correction planned for 02:124. Manned Launches: KSC Dawngrazer ML3-2 - 02:014 - Last of the 2nd class of Kerbonauts launched to the Mun, landing at the last rock arch to gather more science & perform a flag planting. Feeling the need to show off a bit, they flew through the arch as they departed. The dV budget was barely sufficient - there were only 28 m/s remaining as they started reentry. Regardless, the reentry & landing went smoothly. DSC Dawngrazer MiL3-2 - 02:022 - Phoebe, Barnie & Sivan launched to Minmus to gather more science & another flag planting. They safely landed in the Minmus Lowlands, then returned to Kerbin without incident. WSC MMV-AT1 - 02:023 - Pad abort test of the new Girrok MMV (Multi-Mission Vehicle). The MMV promises to replace the MPV as the new standard in orbital craft, but it needs some testing first. The pad abort test went off smoothly, lifting the capsule & 3 crew up to a max altitude of 1050m and 1.6 km downrange from the pad where they were recovered safely. WSC MMV-AT2 - 02:029 - After the pad abort test was successful, then it was time for an in-flight abort test. Rather than a full Girrok launcher, a quartet of Hammer SRB's was used to boost the capsule up to 5 km before triggering the LES. All systems worked normally, and the crew landed safely on the edge of the mountains. DSC Dawngrazer MPV2-ER-3 - 02:040 - Another Minmus rescue, this time Kelrik was launched to retrieve pilot Magas Kerman from a high retrograde Minmus orbit. Kelrik was annoyed by the whole mess, since this caused him to miss the test launch of the Girrok MMV, which launched just over a day after his rescue mission. Upon entering Minmus' SoI, Kelrik realized that Magas' orbit was almost perfectly aligned with his flight path & he would pass Magas' wreck reasonably close to an intercept. Just a quick 17 m/s course correction brought him to a closest approach of <300m to Magas. Closure rate was over 200 m/s for the direct intercept, but everything went well & Kelrik brought them within 30m with RCS before performing an EVA to set the destruct charge on the wrecked cockpit. Magas EVA'd over & they headed for home. They splashed down west of KSC on 02:59 DSC Dawngrazer MPV2-ER-4 - 02:067 - Another high orbit rescue, Kelrik launched from DSC. Rendezvoused with and rescued engineer Catdon Kerman & brought her back safely, landing in desert 145km west of KSC. Unmanned Launches: KSC Girrok MMV-FT-1 - 02:041 - After the successful abort tests, it was time to launch an unmanned MMV to ensure it performs as designed. The launch went well, and the MMV-FT-1 entered a 127km circular orbit with 1083m/s dV remaining, then performed its deorbit burn passing the DSC and splashed down 168km east of KSC. KSC Girrok MMV-ER-FT-1 - 02:056 - Once the "normal" Girrok MMV passed its flight test, it was time to test an extended range version for Mun/Minmus missions. It replaced the Boar first stage engine with a Mainsail, stretched the fuel tanks for both the Girrok launcher and the MMV, then added a pair of 1.25m Reliant-powered radial boosters that also fed the main engine. Launch went smoothly, and the MMV enetered a 133x127km orbit with 2520 m/s dV remaining. Once again, it deorbited after a single orbit & splashed down just 18.6 km east of KSC. Aircraft: None Other: Launch pad upgrade started on 02:059 - we have a contract to place a surface outpost on Minmus with room for 5 crew & at least 2000 units of Liquid Fuel. The base & transfer stage alone mass over 100 tons, so another pad upgrade is mandatory if we expect to complete this contract.

I'm pretty sure the only reason I did was the initial rendezvous was over the flats, and I was just getting into the hills as I was finishing up. I didn't actually look at the target's orbit altitude other than thinking "wow, that's really close to the surface" until I was matching his velocity and actually saw how low we were. I'm not certain what my exact altitude was - I had the altimeter set to AGL, and it was running from 5000-something over the flats (probably about what you've had) to under 1000m getting into the hills. The lowest I saw was between 500 & 600 meters as the rescuee was boarding the rescue pod, and as soon as he was in, I was boosting Ap to something saner.

My career made it to the end of the first year, and rolled out two new launch vehicles in the latest update as well as performing two rescues far beyond low orbit and getting a probe launched to Dres. Details here New 1.875m Steamglider light satellite launcher Early version of the 2.5m Girrok launcher, lofting a Dres probe into orbit Rescue at over 5 million meters Rescue at less than 5000 meters around Minmus - Edit: Upon further thought, it must have been just above 5000 - I was able to time warp right up to my closest approach. It just got really scary once I got over some hills

Update 02:001 I get by with a little help from my friends Ongoing Missions: MOLE Station - Mothballed Mun Outpost A - Mothballed Duna Sojourner - Course correction performed on 01:336, Duna's SoI should be encountered on 02:062 and will include a fly-by of Ike as well. Manned Launches: KSC Dawngrazer MPV2-ER-1 - 01:390 - A new contract was picked up for the longest range rescue to date - Minmus orbit. Kelrik was again tasked with this mission, but due to the range of the rescue, the KRV wasn't an option. The regular MPV wasn't either since it required a pilot, so the solution was to combine the best of both craft - attaching the guidance core from the KRV to the bottom of the MPV pod before attaching the service bay. The result was the MPV2. Also changed were the replacement of the engine plate-mounted antenna with a new DTS-M1 antenna and the three fixed solar panels were replaced by a pair of larger folding panels. The basic -ER launch configuration remained unchanged. Upon arrival around Minmus, Kelrik took up a 50km orbit, then with assistance from the Titan Instrument Unit, plotted the rendezvous. The rescue was textbook except for the extremely low altitude - at one point, the radar altimeter was indicating less the 1000m to the surface and some of the hills north of the orbital path looked even higher. Regardless, the rescue was completed and they headed for home. Johnny Kerman, engineer, was immediately brought into the space program as part of the 2nd kerbonaut class. In addition to the rescue, the MPV2 was carrying a new Multi-Spectral Imager, which gathered loads of science around low & high kerbin orbit, low & high Minmus orbit & high Mun orbit, allowing scientists in the R&D center to unlock improved 2.5m engines, including the 1000kN Boar & 1500kN Mainsail. DSC Dawngrazer MPV2-ER-2 - 01:416 - A second rescue contract, for the highest Kerbin orbit rescue to date - 3417 x 5527 km with an 18.6 degree inclination - was received to recover Sivan Kerman, another scientist. When it was discovered what the orbit was, the decision was made to wait for Kelrik's return from Minmus & send him up on another MPV2 for this rescue rather than using one of the less experienced engineers. The launch from DSC was timed to allow the target orbit to be easily matched. Unfortunately, one of the second pair of SRB's slammed into the first stage during decoupling, destroying the lower fuel tank & requiring Kelrik to fire the LES. The escape sequence went smoothly & the capsule landed in the desert 41km downrange from the pad. To prevent this in the future, sepratrons have been added to ensure clean decoupling of the SRB's. DSC Dawngrazer MPV2-ER-2b - 01:424 - Second attempt to rescue Sivan Kerman. Kelrik launched again from DSC, entered an 18 degree inclined orbit then maneuvered to rendezvous. The actual rescue was completed smoothly - much easier than the low altitude rescue over Minmus. Reentry was broken into two steps, the first aerobraking pass dropped Ap down to 500 km, then the second pass was made for reentry. Unmanned Launches: DSC Girrok Dres Sojourner - 01:389 - With a Dres transfer window approaching, it was decided to launch an improved version of the Duna Sojourner to Dres. The increased dV requirements were met by stretching the transfer stage fuel tanks and replacing the Dawngrazer launch vehicle with an experimental 2.5m Girrok launcher. Powered by a single 650kN "Skipper" engine and course control aided by a pair of 24-77 "Twitch" engines, a quartet of Thumper SRB's are required to help the first stage off the pad. Once the Skipper runs out of fuel, the second stage kicks in with a 250kN "Poodle" and a pair of Flingatron SRB's for ullage & to boost acceleration for the first few seconds. The night launch went perfectly & once in a stable parking orbit, the transfer was plotted but won't occur for just over a month - Dres Sojourner was launched early in case of problems with the launch. Total dV for the transfer, course correction & capture should be around 4300 m/s. Between the remainder of the 2nd stage & the transfer stage, Sojourner has just under 5000 m/s available, plus a small amount of dV in the actual Sojourner craft for RCS & orbit corrections. On 01:424, the Dres transfer was completed without issue, and the Dres Sojourner is now on its way out of Kerbin's SoI. There are some concerns regarding power production at Dres' distance from Kerbol, but the four folding solar panels should be sufficient and as a precaution, the probe will be put into hibernation once the course correction maneuver is performed in about 3 months (02:124) WSC Steamglider PolarComm 2A - 01:414 - The new Steamglider two stage light satellite launcher was tested from Woomerang, and placed PolarComm 2A into polar orbit to replace the older POLO satellite, which was deorbited once PolarComm 2A was up & operational. Aircraft: CF-03A Viper - Although still on punishment, Jeb is keeping busy. A new jet design was due for some testing & Jeb took it up for a night flight out of the Desert Space Center. Fast and powerful, it needs some tweaks - especially in pitch authority but overall performed well. It hit mach 2.85 at 10km and flamed out passing 20km. Controls are very sluggish at altitudes above 15km. The second flight saw the aft fuel tank replaced by a structural fuselage to reduce overall mass and as well as adjustments to the elevator position. Handling was slightly better but top speed was unchanged. Other: SPH upgrade completed on 01:379. On 01:373, Kelrik & Ambera took a UR-2 rover to test the new scanning arm being developed. Just over 2km from Woomerang, they spotted a strange looking tree, which seemed just the thing to test the scanner on. Once that was complete, they headed back to the launch pad for recovery. Just before the end of the year, we were offered a contract to test an LV-N NERV engine in orbit of Mun. We can use the test contract to get a probe to Moho much easier, then worry about the contract later. There are also plans for a Panther/NERV spaceplane that may be worth testing before completing the contract as well. This rounds out the first year. Everything but the administration building has been upgraded to level 2. We've had 45 manned launches with 2 failures and 34 unmanned launches with a single failure, plus numerous sounding rockets. There is a small space station in LKO and an outpost on Mun, both currently unmanned. Probes are headed for Duna & Dres to begin gathering science from worlds beyond Kerbin.

It looks like its classifying the rescue target as an asteroid - that's the only time I've seen the "Last seen ...." tag, on asteroids that aren't being tracked. Also, it lists her as a "Size class: A (tiny)" which is also only listed for asteroids. Kinda seems like something is glitched with the contract and/or the target.

My career continued with some big milestones - first & second manned Minmus landings, finished a month-long stay by a crew on Mun and broke two aircraft altitude contracts - 20 & 35km, heading towards the dream of a spaceplane. Full report here Highlights: Also did some sandbox testing with Jeb. The escape system works but not really any better than just bailing out after triggering the landing chute.

Update 01:374 Can you take me Higher? Ongoing Missions: MOLE Station - Mothballed Duna Sojourner - Course correction performed on 01:336, Duna's SoI should be encountered on 02:062 and will include a fly-by of Ike as well. Mun Outpost A - Barnie & Kathberry finished their month on Mun on 01:353 and returned home safely, leaving the surface experiments running to gather further data on the Mun. MiL2-1 - Landed on Minmus' Greater Flats, performed a flag planting, gathered science then headed for home. Reentered & recovered on 01:341 Manned Launches: KSC - DG KRV-2 - 01:341 - Kelrik was launched on another orbital rescue, to retrieve Phoebe Kerman (Pilot). The KRV was ready to launch less than two hours before MiL2-1's reentry and it was decided to wait for them to land before launching the rescue mission. Launch, rendezvous & reentry went normally. DSC - DG MiL3-1 - 01:355 - New 3-seat Minmus lander. Launched with Kelrik, Lodzon & Kathberry to Minmus to investigate an anomaly & try to gather a rock sample to bring home. There were no small rock samples to collect near the anomaly - another strange monolith - so they performed a short hop to the lesser flats, gathered more scientific data & Kathberry finally found a rock sample to bring home. Safely returned to Kerbin KSC - DG - ML3-1 - 01:369 - 3-seat Mun lander based on the MiL-3. Phoebe, Adburry & Samdas were launched to investigate another suspected rock arch on the far side of Mun. They were able to find the arch, landed to investigate & returned home safely. Unmanned Launches: None - we were slacking this month apparently. Aircraft: CX-03 Arrow - 01:345 - New experimental aircraft, testing the afterburning Panther engine. First flight - by Jeb - was an attempt to break the 20km altitude mark. Not only did he pass 20km, he broke 30km and felt he might have even hit 40km but he cut the throttle before flameout which limited his Ap to "just" 33km. Coming back to KSC, he was able to get it almost to mach 3 at 5500-6000m. Specifically, mach 2.93. A second test flight was conducted on 01:358 with a contract to break 35km. Val was given this flight, and managed an Ap of 42km, exceeding the contract requirement and confirming Jeb's belief that the Arrow could break 40km. Other: R&D upgrade completed on 01:334. SPH upgrade ongoing

The pod settles that way naturally with SAS off, but it was so fitting this time - they were waiting to find out how much trouble they were going to be in.

Jeb & Kelrik made it home from Jeb's unauthorized trip into interplanetary space, the second space station crew returned home & I got a 2-kerbal crew out to the Mun outpost finally and the first thing they did was take the rover for 12km joy ride. Full report available here

Update 01:325 - Baby, we were born to run Ongoing Misisons: MOLE Station - The second crew was up for 90 days for a contract, finishing up on 01:310 and returning home for some much needed R&R. The station will remain in orbit, but there are currently no plans to send an additional crew to the station, although there is a contract out there for at least two kerbals to spend 180 days in space. Duna Sojourner - Course correction planned for 01:336 MPV-ER-1 - Jeb & Kel's rogue adventure finally came to a close, reentering Kerbin's atmoshpere on 01:313. Jeb was grounded from space flights until further notice and Kelrik was put on probation. There was somne talk of assigning them the 180 days in space contract & shipping them up to the MOLE station, but there are tools on board and the administration was concerned about what those two might make out of the station - not to mention it would mean putting ANOTHER MPV in Jeb's hands. For the present, Jeb will be assigned to aircraft test flights only while Kelrik will be stuck with LKO rescue missions if any more come along. RSR-Min-1 - After landing on Minmus Flats, the sample return stage gathered a dust sample & launched back into orbit, parachuting safely into Kerbin's oceans on 01:305. The lander stage remained behind, able to transmit temperature & pressure data back to KSC as needed to monitor conditions on Minmus Manned Launches: KSC - Dawngrazer ML2-3 - 01:321 - Barnie & Kathberry launch to Mun Outpost A for an extended stay - 30 days. Due to the lander having a probe core, the decision was made to dispense with a pilot for the time being. Launch & transfer to Mun went smoothly and once on the surface, Barnie & Kathberry jumped in the rover to go check out the nearby rock arch. The crater walls turned out to be too steep to drive the last kilometer or so - so steep, then ended up sliding backwards at 15-16 m/s with the brakes on, but they (barely) managed to keep it under control & stopped safely. At that point, Kathberry used her EVA pack to jet up to the arch, poke around for a bit & plant a flag before heading back. Some of the drive back to the outpost was also pretty wild - several times, they were driving on two wheels at 20+ m/s but again managed to keep it in one piece. Mostly by luck. Before wrapping up for the day, they also placed the first surface experiments. DSC - Dawngrazer MiL2-1 - 01:323 - An ML2 lander modified with extra snacks and additional science gear, with Val & Ambera on board for the trip to Minmus. Launch, transfer & course correction all went well & they are currently enroute, with a Minmus ETA of 01:332. Val was given strict instructions to ONLY orbit & land on Minmus, then return straight home with no unplanned detours. Unmanned Launches: KSC - Dawngrazer URM-1 - 01:307 - A Mun rover (Utility Rover, Mun) was launched to the previously placed Mun Outpost A. Mission was uneventful. KSC - Jabbit 2 SSC-1 - 01:311 - Station Service Capsule-1, launched to MOLE station to retrieve the last two completed experiments before bringing the crew home & mothballing the station for the foreseeable future. Aircraft: CR-04 "Redeye" reconaissance aircraft built & tested by Val. It can't reach its hoped for 20km max altitude, but it can get to 18km in a zoom climb & maintain close to 14km in cruise, with plenty of fuel for the twin Wheesly turbofans. Also looking into an armed variant, replacing the center fuel tank with a bomb bay, but ran into part count limits on that. Other: R&D Upgrade nearing completion, SPH upgrade started.

Is anyone else seeing flickering yellow lines in the US2 fairings? The 1.25 & 0.625 cylinders are ok, but the 2.5m cylinder & the 1.25 to 0.625 tapered fairing both have it. I haven't checked the other tapered fairings, but I feel like its related to the solar panel option on the fairing doors. This was in both RC5 & RC6 with KSP 1.8.1, not sure of any other build & I did not see this in 1.7.3. The lines are visible in both VAB & on an active craft. I'm going to try it in a fresh save with just US2 & dependencies, hopefully tomorrow & I'll post a log from that if it continues in the fresh save. Probe landed on Minmus at night, with the 1.25 to 0.625 taper fairing opened - it had the solar panels option on. The red lines are also new - I haven't seen them anywhere else before this. VAB with solar panel option turned on - yellow lines follow the doors VAB with solar panel option turned off - yellow lines still present, but stay pointing inward 2.5m fairing in the VAB. I only took one image, but IIRC it follows the same behavior as the taper fairing.

My career continued with a Mun base, Minmus landing, & manned orbit of Minmus - details in the mission reports

Update 01:296 Some people call me the space cowboy Ongoing Missions: MOLE Station - Ambera continued research on several experiments before STV-4-1 arrived with a fresh crew. Once they transferred over, Val & Amberra undocked MPV-4 & returned home safely while the new crew took over for an extended stay to satisfy a contract. Duna Sojourner - Course correction planned for 01:336 Minmus Surveyor 1 - Landed on Minmus 01:267 & transmitted data back to KSC from the Minmus polar region Manned Launches: KSC - Dawngrazer STV-4-1 - 01:267 - Launch of the STV-4-1 (Station Transfer Vehicle - 4 seat), a new design to take crews to & from space stations. Carried Lodzon, Barnie, Adburry & Samdas to dock with MOLE station. Due to design limitations, MOLE Station only had a single docking port, so STV-4-1 carried an extra docking port in its cargo compartment, and Barnie's first task once the STV was close enough was to attach the docking port to MOLE station to allow for docking. DSC - Dawngrazer MPV-ER-1 - 01:276 - Jeb & Kelrik launch in an extended range variant of the Dawngrazer MPV to be the first kerbals in orbit of Minmus. Knowing that this meant Val would be getting the first landing on Minmus, Jeb convinced planners to launch from the Desert Space Center because he had his own plan to ensure he was also the first kerbal to escape Kerbin's SoI, even if just for a few minutes. Upon entering orbit, while running checks prior to the Minmus transfer, they made the astonishing discovery that up to this point, no one had actually confirmed that space was in fact a vacuum!!! Kelrik retrieved the test data & stored it in the command pod, one more small bit of priceless science. They entered Minmus orbit without incident, gathered some low & high orbit science, but then Jeb launched his plan - rather than perform a maneuver to return to Kerbin, he instead burned over half an orbit early & sent the MPV hurtling out of Kerbin's SoI - at least in a few days. After telling mission control they needed to troubleshoot the problem, Jeb shut down the comm's, leaving himself & Kelrik alone as they flew into the vast unknown. Once clear of Kerbin's SoI, the duo performed an EVA, gathered what science they could & plotted a return course. Only about half an hour was spent beyond the limit of Kerbin's influence and they are currently heading back to an uncertain welcome. To be continued..... KSC - Dawngrazer ML2-2 - 01:278 - Val & Ambera got their chance to land on the Mun finally, launching on ML2-2 from KSC & landing first in the east farside crater (again) then hopped to the canyons for additional samples. Mission was completed flawlessly & they landed safely. Unmanned Launches: DSC - Dawngrazer RSR-Min-1 - 01:290 - Automated sample return (Robotic Sample Return) to Minmus for contract. Currently enroute, ETA 01:298 KSC - Dawngrazer-3 Mun Outpost A - 01:295 - Launched to the Mun to provide a 2-kerbal habitat for a planned a long term stay on Mun. Landed near (~6km) the strange arch spotted by the first Mun sample & return mission. Aircraft: CW-01 Loadmaster - 01:273 - Experimented with a seaplane version of the CC-01 Loadmaster. Not currently able to launch from the runway due to part limitations, so I launched it from the VAB, taxied off the pad & took off from the grass then attempted a water landing. All there is to say is it needs bigger floats. Other: Runway upgrade to level 2 completed on 01:274, R&D still in work