jost

@GRS Here you go Finished Moho, visited the volcanic ridge, Eve flyby finished science tree https://imgur.com/a/q3XaDjj Although I don't need it, I will try to get as much science as possible from Eve, Gilly and the Jool-Five

Germany aka UTC + 02:00 ( European daytime saving time)

Sorry. I was quite busy at work. Finished Mohopollo. Turned out to be quite tedious since I used ions to boost my delta-v. In the end I returned to Kerbin and had enough delta-v to transfer to mun and minmus to harvest science from the gravity sensor. After splashdown I had enough science to unlock the remaining nodes of the tech tree. Today evening I will upload the screenshots. Yesterday I was way to tired for sorting the mess in imgurl. @GRS What's your progress with Jool5?

Try setting the auto-struts of your fuel containers to root. You might need to enable advanced tweakables in the settings

Dunapollo finished with whopping 4920 Science: https://imgur.com/a/4nKJv4g It turned out to be a good idea to do atmosphere diving, not only for lowering AE for free but also for getting science. My orbiter also had a Sentinel telescope for asteroid scanning and an orbital scanner. But most important: I had way to much delta v for the mission so i changed to a polar orbit and back to maximise science All in all: A successful mission.

Dunapollo finished with whopping 4920 Science: https://imgur.com/a/4nKJv4g It turned out to be a good idea to do atmosphere diving, not only for lowering AE for free but also for getting science. My orbiter also had a Sentinel telescope for asteroid scanning and an orbital scanner. But most important: I had way to much delta v for the mission so i changed to a polar orbit and back to maximise science All in all: A successful mission

Or use a probe module to get rid of the pilot

Went to Eeloo as part of my Kerpollo run. Bob discovered some unknown surface feature on it:

Launched for Moho, went to Eeloo instead: Seriously: Even Kerbals are not that craczy to sent their kerbonauts to outer planets without working communications?!? So I thought it would be more sensible to go to Moho first. To bad: I coudn't find a good transfer window (neither for hohman nor bieleptical transfer or Eve gravity assist), so I cringed hard and went to Eeloo instead: https://imgur.com/a/jnjnwK8

Ok, I wanted to go for Moho first. Seriously: Even Kerbals are not that craczy to sent their kerbonauts to outer planets without working communications?!? However I coudn't find a good transfer window (neither for hohman nor bieleptical transfer or Eve gravity assist), so I cringed hard and went to Eeloo instead: https://imgur.com/a/jnjnwK8 @5thHorseman Please review. I was quote lazy with the screenshots (to be honest I forgot them) so not every step is clearly documented. Is this ok or should I redo the missing ones (docking after Eeloo Landing, Eeloo ascent etc)? If this is ok next mission will be Duna

SEP is abandanoed by it's authors so I expect it to cease working at some future update. And the need to attach things is quite glitchy

How did you do this? I'm not a modder but curious whether I can do it to improve my gane performance.

Dres Kerpollo finished Enough science for completion of current tier but not enough for new science parts or nukes, narf. Since it would be a waste to go for Duna and ike without new ones next mission will be Eeeloo or Moho. josts Dres Kerpollo

Dres Kerpollo finished Enough science for completion of current tier but not enough for new science parts or nukes, narf. Since it would be a waste to go for Duna and ike without new ones next mission will be Eeeloo or Moho. josts Dres Kerpollo

Yes, thank you That's exactly what I wanted. Will need to hack my safefile first though:

Just finished Minmus: For easier design and auto piloting I added AntennaHelper and MechJeb to my install. I want to install BreakingGround since I would love to expolore the new surface features. I won't use the new science parts since this is imho not allowed by the rules (no free science through mods or labs). Is this ok for the challenge?

Just finished my second Minpullo try. This time Bob survived and I didn't deleted the screenshots https://imgur.com/a/30D67M1 This will be the last mission without docking ports. Next mission will propably be Dres or Moho depending on the needed antenna power. I installed AntennaHelper mod to help me with the deisgn: I have now a question concerning Breaking ground: I plan to purchase it as soon as possible because of the surface features. I don't want to use the new science parts since I think that this would be a violation of the challenge rules (no free science through labs or mods). But I would love to explore the Moho ridge or Dres stones Is this ok @5thHorseman ?

Well the problem wasn't at the ejection but after mun insertion. I endet with a normal orbit of around 0-10 °. So i burned to get a more polar orbit. It worked somehow but afterward I could land on mun but not return to kerbin. My minmus mission today was also kind of successful failure: Everything worked fine (even a polar minmus orbit without wasting to much fuel). Then returned in a kind of polar kerbin orbit. Tried to hit icecaps biome, ended in lowlands (still ok, still need material bay science). Then landed and toasted the lander can including Bob ): Ok, should have packed more parachutes so screw this and start all over again. After deleting the screenshots I had an idea: It should work if I don't jetison the fuel tank and 909 engine during kerbin reentry so they can be used for lithobraking. It worked actually but I can't post it here, since some moron (me) already deleted all the screenshots before trying this stunt. So back to the drawing board...

The Munpollo turned out to be harder than expected for several reasons: The first try (a modified wostok) could land on the mun but not return to orbit or Kerbin. A later rocket landed on mun but coudn't return to kerbin from mun orbit, since an inclincation change for polar orbit used all fuel reserves. Thanks to quicksafe and revert I ended with a somehow working design. It still had it's flaws, e.G. the heatshield was placed above the material bay. So the bay got toasted and coudn't be used for kerbin science after splashdown. In my carreer I do most landings with MechJeb because I like designing rockets but not so much flying them At the moment MechJebs nodes are still unresearched. It was a nice challenge to do it manually again No ladders avaliable, returning to the lander via RCS proved to be tricky In the end I ended with less science than possible, because I lost the material bay during reentry and ended in a water biome (which I already mined in my Kerpollo launch), but still a lot of science. Most important: I unlocked solar panels, Minmus we come Imgur album: https://imgur.com/a/R3DQq9O

I started my own Kerpollo run now, Mission report: I'm thinking to combine my minmus mission with a quick exit from Kerbin soi to get some solar science and return afterwards. Is this ok for this challenge? Regards, Jost.

Since my newest project in career mode is paused until release of Breaking ground dlc i starts a Kerpollo run in a new science safe: Paused Career project: Link to Kerpollo challenge thread: Before starting a new game I installed a fresh KSP 1.7. to a new folder and installed some mods for convenience in mission planning and engineering: [x] Science! Continued (xScienceContinued 5.22) AntennaHelper (AntennaHelper 1.0.6) ClickThrough Blocker (ClickThroughBlocker 0.1.7.1) Kerbal Alarm Clock (KerbalAlarmClock v3.10.0.0) Kerbal Engineer Redux (KerbalEngineerRedux 1.1.6.0) MechJeb2 (MechJeb 2.8.3.0) Module Manager (ModuleManager 4.0.2) Precise Node (PreciseNode 1.2.10.2) Toolbar (Toolbar 1.7.17.15) Toolbar Controller (ToolbarController 1:0.1.6.20) Transfer Window Planner (TransferWindowPlanner v1.6.3.0) TriggerAu Flags (TriggerAu-Flags v2.9.3.0) After this preperations I started a new science game and did the usual rolling around the KSC. Finally I ended with a rocket to bring Jeb and Bob to space: https://imgur.com/a/27UPAvz Next goal: Go for mun or minmus, maybe combined with solar science

Some remarks: I always wanted to to a Eve and return. So I grabbed some contracts (put stations in Eve and gilly orbit, plant a flag on Eve etc) to help in funding. I also used HyperEdit and the help of this community to design a working EveAscentVehicle for three Kerbals: I also used HyperEdit and the help of this community to design a working EveAscentVehicle for three Kerbals: I have a heavily modded install, most important for gameplay is propably the usage of USI-Lifesupport: [x] Science! Continued (xScienceContinued 5.22) Action Group Manager Renewed (ActionGroupManager 2.2.4) ALCOR (ALCOR 0.9.7) ALCOR Advanced IVA (ALCORIVAPatch 0.9.7) Antenna Helper (AntennaHelper 1:v1.0.6) ASET Agency (ASETAgency 1.0) ASET Props (ASETProps 1.5) B9 Part Switch (B9PartSwitch v2.7.1) ClickThrough Blocker (ClickThroughBlocker 0.1.7.1) Community Category Kit (CommunityCategoryKit 4.1.0.0) Community Resource Pack (CommunityResourcePack 1.1.0.0) Community Tech Tree (CommunityTechTree 1:3.3.7) Community Terrain Texture Pack (CommunityTerrainTexturePack 1:1.0.4) Contract Configurator (ContractConfigurator 1.27.1) Contract Pack: Bases and Stations Reborn (ContractConfigurator-KerbinSpaceStation 2:3.7.1.4) Contract Pack: Clever Sats (ContractConfigurator-CleverSats 1.4) Contract Pack: Tourism Plus (ContractConfigurator-Tourism 1.5.2) Contract Parser (ContractParser 8.0) Custom Asteroids (CustomAsteroids v1.7.0) Custom Asteroids (inner stock system data) (CustomAsteroids-Pops-Stock-Inner v1.7.0) Custom Asteroids (outer stock system data) (CustomAsteroids-Pops-Stock-Outer v1.7.0) Custom Asteroids (stockalike config) (CustomAsteroids-Pops-Stock-Stockalike v1.7.0) Custom Barn Kit (CustomBarnKit 1.1.19.0) DMagic Orbital Science (DMagicOrbitalScience 1.4.2) Dynamic Battery Storage (DynamicBatteryStorage 2:1.4.2.0) Firespitter Core (FirespitterCore v7.12.0) Firespitter Resources config (FirespitterResourcesConfig v7.12.0) Hide Empty Tech Tree Nodes (HideEmptyTechNodes 1.1.1) HullcamVDS Continued (HullcamVDSContinued 0.1.12) HyperEdit (HyperEdit 1.5.8.0) JX2Antenna (JX2Antenna 2.0.5) Kerbal Alarm Clock (KerbalAlarmClock v3.10.0.0) Kerbal Attachment System (KAS 1.3) Kerbal Engineer Redux (KerbalEngineerRedux 1.1.6.0) Kerbal Inventory System (KIS 1.21) Konstruction (Konstruction 1.1.0.0) Kopernicus Planetary System Modifier (Kopernicus 2:release-1.7.0-1) KSP AVC (KSP-AVC 1.3.0.3) MechJeb 2 (MechJeb2 2.8.3.0) MechJeb and Engineer for all! (MechJebForAll 1.3.0.5) Mk1 Lander Can' IVA Replacement by ASET (Mk1LanderCanIVAReplbyASET 1.1) 'MK1-2' IVA Replacement by ASET (MK12PodIVAReplacementbyASET 1:0.3) Mk1-Cabin-Hatch (Mk1CabinHatch 0.2.0) ModularFlightIntegrator (ModularFlightIntegrator 1.2.6.0) Near Future Electrical Core (NearFutureElectrical-Core 1.0.1) PlanetShine (PlanetShine 0.2.6.1) PlanetShine - Default configuration (PlanetShine-Config-Default 0.2.6.1) Precise Node (PreciseNode 1.2.10.2) Progress Parser (ProgressParser 10.0) RasterPropMonitor Core (RasterPropMonitor-Core 1:v0.30.6) RCS Build Aid Continued (RCSBuildAidCont 1:0.9.7.6) SCANsat (SCANsat v18.10) Science Revisited Revisited (ScienceRevisitedRevisited 1.7.1) Sigma Binary (SigmaBinary-core 1:v1.7.0) Sigma Binary - Duna + Ike Binary (SigmaBinary-DunaIke 1:v1.6.11) Surface Experiment Pack (SurfaceExperimentPack v2.7.1) TAC Fuel Balancer (TacFuelBalancer v2.20) Toolbar Controller (ToolbarController 1:0.1.6.20) Trajectories (Trajectories vKSP1.4.2-v2.2.0) Transfer Window Planner (TransferWindowPlanner v1.6.3.0) TriggerAu Flags (TriggerAu-Flags v2.9.3.0) UbioZur Welding Ltd. Continued (UbioWeldContinued 2.5.3) Unmanned before Manned (SETI-UbM) (UnmannedBeforeManned 1.3.0.2) USI Core (USI-Core 1.1.0.0) USI Life Support (USI-LS 1.1.0.0) USI Tools (USITools 1.1.0.0) ) Now the actual report: Since my kerbals did already an expedition to EVE (only orbit and Gilly landing and return) the newest goal is to go to Eve, land and return. Since this is a highly risky mission engineers and scientists debated how to get maximum science in one mission (there are rumours, that funding will be cut and then only a Jool5 will safe the program). Since nobody wants cut funds because of dying kerbals ( there are so many outer planets to explore, plus Moho etc), failure is not an option. So following mission architecture is used. There is a first launch window, where the EveAscentVehicle plus two space stations (one for Eve, one for Gilly) are sent to the Eve system: Launch and transfer of EveAscentVehicle and Eve/Gilly stations (imgurl) This was successful, since the Eve station and the lander are now deployed to their place in Eve orbit and on Eve surface. The orbit insertion of the Gilly station used all fuel, so it needs a supply mission to move it‘s orbit. Originally no ISRU was included in the design. Since I got following contract for mining ore on Gilly I decided to send a fuel tanker and a miner to Eve ASAP: Gilly Mining Package (imgurl) With their help the gilly station will be moved to it‘s final Gilly orbit. The next transfer window after sending out the miner/tanker will then be used to transfer the crew transfer vehicle (I will refill and reuse the mothership of a Duna expedition still in Kerbin orbit) and the EveExpeditionRover to Eve. The idea is to land near explodium seas, deploy science packages and drive to the lander. Then transfer to Eve station. After the habitation time is out on the station, the crew will transfer to Gilly station for further exploration of Gilly and science mining. In this way it should be possible to get science for 2-3 biomes, depending on the route of the rover and the available snacks and habitation time. Finally the Duna Mothership will be used to return to Kerbin. Originally I planed to use SurfaceExperimentPack for the deployed science packages. But since this mod is deprecated the parts of the BreakingGround DLC will be used. Until the DLC is released and I purchased it my program is paused (aka I'll start a Kerpollo Challenge run in a new science safe with less mods)

Acutally this won't gonna happen. The dependency to KAC always had it's problems, aka calling the kraken. There is now a bug which disallows connecting the parts with the link cable. Since the mod developers don't want to do more work on the mod they deprecreated it and wish that nobody adopts it: So actually SurfaceExperimentPack already doesn't work like expected. I expect that this trend will continue until some newer update of KSP or KAC will make it not working any moore.

That explains a lot I will stick to the last version of SEP and purchase the DLC when it's not working any moore

Thanks that your effort although it wasn't enjoyable at the end. I understand, that it's your right to do whatever your want, but can you explain why you prefer that SEP doesn't get adopted, please? I just would like to understand, and I guess I'm not alone. Again: Thanks to you and DMagic for your work! Regards, jost