GreenWolf

The shuttle was stupid. Political interference meant that they tried to get it to do everything, but instead, it ended up being able to nothing well. The only thing it did that couldn't be done better and cheaper with rockets was payload return to Earth. There's a reason the Air Force developed the EELV program to replace the shuttle as a launch vehicle. I mean, at the end of its life, the shuttle was basically nothing more than a people carrier, and a space truck for the ISS. It was planned to be able to service satellites in orbit, but launches of it were so expensive, nobody but the government could afford it. And the government decided it was cheaper and easier to just replace broken satellites, and eventually started using EELV launchers instead of the shuttle. The shuttle was also an incredibly poorly designed and operated vehicle. If you want an idea of what I'm talking about go read Appendix F of the Rogers Commission (linked here). The decision to use solid rocket boosters (and then continue using them after Challenger was lost) was incredibly stupid, and is just one of many examples of safety and reliability being sacrificed in a futile effort to try and reduce costs. The fact that only two of the shuttles were lost is almost a miracle. TL;DR: The Space Shuttle was an incredibly expensive deathtrap that failed at doing anything other than killing 14 people.

I guess. But really, a heavy-lift launcher could be useful for lots of things, if it was cheap enough. The problem is that the cost of SLS makes it prohibitive for really launching anything. Then we'll have to wait until it's more fully developed until we can really make anything other than guesses about it. But I highly doubt that SLS would ever be authorized for an unmanned probe. As Winchell Chung (of Atomic Rockets) says, "No Buck Rogers = No Bucks". True, but probes don't care how long it takes to get somewhere. Time is really only a constraint for manned spaceflight. Everything else can afford to slow boat its way wherever it's going. Launching them on the same vehicle would undermine the redundancy of having two probes. What happens if your launcher fails? Also, going off of the costs of EELV launches (around 400 million) and expected SLS launch costs (planned to be 500 million, but will probably end up being over to 1 billion), it would actually be cheaper to launch two EELVs instead of one SLS. And if you go with a Falcon 9 instead (60 million for civilian launches, 100 million for government), you could send ten small probes. You might not be able to send them all at once, but you could still send them. Basically, yeah. I mean, the MER rovers, landed on opposite sides of the planet. If we sent ten little probes to Titan, they could land all over. In lakes, on mountains, near the poles, at the equator. Sounds a lot better than sending one big probe to explore a tiny part of the moon.

Okay, that actually sounds pretty cool. But there's nothing stopping it from being launch on an EELV (unless it's exorbitantly massive, but I doubt an unmanned sub needs to be that large.) If it was already funded, there would be legislation addressing it. Large amounts of government money don't move without congressional say so, and this sounds like a lot of money. If you want to go more places, go ion. That nets you a far greater delta-v increase than increasing your mass ratio. And science isn't some nebulous, all important goal. Space probes have specific missions that they are designed for. And while increasing the mass of the probe can allow it to do more things on its mission, there comes a point where one probe can't accomplish any more mission goals on its own. Space hardware is already pretty reliable. I mean, it's not like they just go to Radio Shack or Best Buy and grab some stuff off a shelf. Lots of money is spent designing and testing equipment that can stand up to the rigors of space. Also, if you're going to send two of everything, why not just send a second probe (àla the Mars Exploration Rovers). Two probes can accomplish more things than one probe, and they give you redundancy. I like this idea. Mostly because I like the idea of using lots of tiny probes in place of one bigger probe.

I didn't say it was a Titan orbiter. I said it was a Saturn orbiter that made multiple passes (as in, flyby passes) of Titan. But I'll concede this point in the interest of avoiding a debate about semantics. The Titan lander would have been a lake-lander. Not quite a submarine, but closer. And there was talk of turning it into a boat. This doesn't actually mean anything. NASA employees don't decide what gets funded and what doesn't. Congress does. And Congress is not gong to authorize the use of SLS to launch a Europa mission, because SLS is so freaking expensive, and because Congress hates unmanned probes. True. But perhaps we should focus on getting more out of the mass we have, instead of spending billions of dollars to build a pointlessly powerful rocket to launch more massive things. Tell me, what would you do with six Cassini's worth of probe available? Sure, it could carry more science instruments, but it would probably be easier to work on making those instruments smaller and more powerful, instead of trying to build a rocket big enough to launch them all together. (I will concede that there are some experiments and pieces of equipment that can't be miniaturized, and that having more payload available for them would be nice. But is it nice enough to justify a very expensive, brand new launch vehicle?) This is my entire point.

The only one of those that I can see that would really require heavy lift is the Mars sample return. Everything else can be done with gravity assists (as is already the case) or ion drives (which I fully expect to become more prolific now that Dawn has demonstrated just how freaking useful they are). And the Mars sample return mission doesn't really require a heavy lifter. You could go with a multiple launch, Mars Orbital Rendezvous mission. But yes, I will concede that sample return from anything larger than an asteroid would be greatly helped by a heavy lifter.

Cassini was a dedicated orbiter with a lot of mass. Albeit, it was a Saturn orbiter, but it still made multiple passes of Titan. SLS is overkill for sending unmanned probes anywhere. Existing EELV hardware can send probes wherever we need. The real difficulty is getting enough funding for the probe itself. (Which is why I'm peeved that EJSM/Laplace was given priority over TSSM [although it looks like it won't matter now, since ESA is saying EJSM is unlikely with NASA's current budget. Go figure.]) Seriously though, space probes are easy to launch. They don't have life support requirements, nor do they have to come back (unless it's a sample return mission, obviously). And, since robots don't really care how long it takes to get somewhere, you can use ion drives (like Dawn) and lots of gravity assists (like every deep space probe ever). Edit: For reference, Titan Saturn System Mission, which is/was a long term Titan orbiter + lander + hot air balloon planned for launch on a Delta or an Atlas. Exactly what you wanted, with no need for the Senate Launch System.

Boil-off isn't nearly as bad once you get into space, since vacuum is a really great insulator. And if you're going to Mars, you probably want to use methane as your fuel (to take advantage of ISRU), reducing boil-off even further. Multiple launches also spreads the risk around. If one of the launches fails, you can delay the mission until the next launch window without having to relaunch everything. If a single rocket mission fails at launch, there goes your entire mission. Rockets don't scale linearly with payload. A rocket that can lift 75 metric tons is far less than half the size of one that can lift 150 metric tons. A large amount of the cost of the ISS is due to politics, and the use of the space shuttle (which had so many problems, I could dedicate twenty pages to describing how stupid it was as a launch vehicle). MIR is probably a better estimate of the costs of building an orbital station or large interplanetary ship.

Chapter 9: Groundwork Münshot 8 would use the new Safety M crew vehicle, launched atop a Liberty Heavy Advanced. It would carry a small karbonite drill and a soil sampling kit, to be attached to the Discovery lander, which would be used to confirm the karbonite levels in the Northwest Crater. Its crew would consist of Romal Kerman, Hankin Kerman, Bob Kerman, and Jebediah Kerman. Jebediah would fly the Delivery space tug, while Romal and Hankin would land on the Mün. "We all felt a little bad for Jeb. To get to go to the Mün twice, but not land on it? That has to be tough. A bunch of us went back over the mission logs, a few years after the fact, and we realized that if Nelvey hadn't been injured in Zenith 3, he would have been the commander on Münshot 5. And that would have meant that Jeb probably would have been in the lander for Münshot 7." – Cosmonaut Romal Kerman, Pilot Launch and orbital insertion went smoothly, followed by a normal rendezvous and docking with Zenith Station. With the addition of the fuel from Münshot 8's upper stage, the Prosperity module attached to the station was now completely full. However, its counterpart in Münar orbit, and the Discovery lander docked to it, was completely empty. "We didn't think it would be a problem. The Delivery would just carry some additional propellant to refuel the lander in its extra fuel tanks. The fuel margins would be tight, but we would have enough delta-v to land and return home." – Cosmonaut Hankin Kerman, Engineer After a round of musical chairs, Delivery and Münshot 8 were ready to depart. The cases of spare parts that were delivered to Zenith Station on the previous launch would be carried out to the Mün, to be left with the orbital propellant depot there. A short burn later, and the space tug and its consist of spacecraft were on their way to the Mün. They would arrive a little bit under a day later. Once at the Mün, they would perform orbital insertion, then rendezvous and dock with the orbital propellant depot. "Once we were docked to the depot, it was time for us to play some more musical chairs. First, the portable science module on the lander has to be swapped out. Then we had to move the space tug over to the other side of the station. Once this was done, we would have to perform several EVAs in order to attach the karbonite equipment to the lander." – Cosmonaut Hankin Kerman, Engineer With a new science module in place, and the karbonite equipment attached, it was time for Romal and Hankin to take the Discovery down to the surface. They would be landing in the Northwest Crater, which had been chosen as a potential site for a Münbase due to its high concentrations of karbonite, and its favorable location near the equator. "Our fuel tanks were only half full, so we didn't have the large delta-v budget that the previous mission had. This forced us to take a more aggressive descent trajectory, coming in low and fast before performing a suicide burn to kill our velocity." – Cosmonaut Romal Kerman, Pilot Once on the ground, it was time for the team to start doing science. "We started off by taking some surface samples and running the experiments in the science module. Pretty standard stuff. Then we began checking for karbonite. This was a bit more involved, since we had to move some things around before we could start. The soil analysis kit confirmed the high levels of karbonite in the crater, and the little drill that we brought along successfully extracted some from the regolith. It's a shame we didn't bring a converter along to turn it into fuel. Would have been useful." – Cosmonaut Hankin Kerman, Engineer The cosmonauts also had the chance to view Kerbin eclipse the sun. Although solar eclipses are commonplace on Kerbin, due to the low inclinations of both Kerbin and the Mün, this was the first eclipse seen from another celestial body. "Getting to see things like that – Kerbin eclipsing the sun, or Kerbinrise from Münar orbit – it makes it all worth it. All the years of training, the terrible food, the nerve-racking rocket launches – I'd do it a dozen times over to get to see the things I did." – Cosmonaut Romal Kerman, Pilot As the cosmonauts began preparing for their departure from the Mün, it was at this point that mission control called them with some alarming news. CAPCOM (Thomplin Kerman): Uh, Münshot 8, can you confirm your fuel levels as 137 units of fuel and 167 units of oxidizer? LANDCOM (Romal Kerman): That is correct, CAPCOM. CAPCOM: *censored* LANDCOM: What? What's wrong? CAPCOM: You don't have enough delta-v to get back. – Recording of Münshot 8 post-landing dialogue

(Emphasis mine.) You mean like Cassini–Huygens? It sure is a shame that we can't send a probe to Titan without SLS. Edit: Just realized that putting quoted text in italics doesn't actually work. Changed it to bold.

Deimos. Deimos is actually closer to Earth (in terms of delta-v) than the surface of the Moon. And there's a pretty good chance that there's significant quantities of water ice there. And if you have ice, you have remass. And if you have enough remass, you can go anywhere. (The incredibly informative site, Atomic Rockets, has tons more info about a potential Deimos base here: http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/appcapedread.php) On the subject of using large rockets for everything, I would argue that you really shouldn't be using large rockets at all. It's easier to build your big ship/station in orbit instead of launching it in one go. It's why Lunar Orbit Rendezvous was chosen over Direct Ascent for Apollo. Doing Earth Orbital Rendezvous instead of LOR would have allowed them to use an even smaller rocket, but would have required more launches per mission.

Check your graphics settings. If you have the setting called "Aerodynamic FX Quality" set to a low value, they won't render properly.

Definitely. I feel like Salyut doesn't get enough love when it comes to the history of space stations. And Mir was an amazing feat of engineering (first modular space station) and politics (Shuttle-Mir).

Oh man, I love procedural parts. Giving me more options, with fewer parts (and thus reducing memory usage)? That's having my cake, and eating it too! And PF is pretty easy to use, since it automatically shapes its fairings to fit the payload. Much nicer than KW rocketry fairings, where I have to try and fit my payload into the fairings I can make with the provided pieces. Also, I don't have to deal with the dozens and dozens of other parts that I don't want that KW provides. No, I'm definitely not a paid shill for Procedural Fairings. I don't know what could possibly give you that idea. Anyways.... Kerbal Broadcasting Station Poll/Questionnaire/Feedback Thingy Clever-eyed readers (or people who pay attention to captions on photos) may have noticed that recent posts haven't had captions on their pictures, unlike the earlier posts which did. Readers may also have noticed that recent posts have had more pictures and less text than earlier posts. There are reasons for this. First, captioning the photos is a time consuming (it takes between a minute to two minutes to caption each photo), tedious process. Additionally, unless I can think of something particularly clever to put on them, most of the captions end up just describing what's going on in the photo, which should already be obvious from the photo itself and the preceding text. So I've stopped captioning the photos. I'm not entirely happy with this solution, so I've decided to ask you, the readers, what I should do. Should I keep captioning all of the photos (which I would be willing to do if you guys want me to), should I caption none of the photos, or should I only caption some of the photos? This leads to the second point. Is the ratio of text to photos too high or too low? Should I add more text, or more photos? Should I try and space the photos evenly throughout, or have them in big blocks? Are the photos too large? Are they too dark? Do they cause feelings of intense despair when viewed on a CRT monitor? Basically, give me some feedback on the layout of the chapters.

I think what the OP is trying to ask is probably more along the lines of "What would you consider to be stockalike?" The definition of stock is pretty obvious. Stockalike? A bit less so. For me, stockalike describes parts that don't feel like they come from a mod. They have a certain art style that fits the KSP style, and they tend to fill gaps in the stock part line up. So something like Modular Rocket Systems would be stockalike, but something like B9 Aerospace or KW Rocketry would not.

Those are from Procedural Fairings. It's an amazingly useful mod that I can't recommend enough. I consider it essential if you're going to be playing KSP with FAR or NEAR.

Chapter 8: Preparations â€ÂThe first Münwalk was mostly a solo publicity thing. Go out, say a few words, plant the flag, then get back inside. The real science would be performed on the second walk, where we’d collect surface samples, inspect the lander for damage, and activate the experiments inside the science module.†– Cosmonaut Thomplin Kerman, Pilot Once both the scientific and publicity related goals of the mission were accomplished, it was time for the cosmonauts to leave the Münar surface, and rendezvous with the Münar propellant depot. Once docked, the lander transferred its remaining fuel over to the space tug. The crew then EVAed over to the tug with the surface samples and the experiments from the science module. With just enough fuel to make it back to Kerbin, the space tug undocked and began its journey home. â€ÂOnce we had lowered our periapsis enough through aerobraking, the Safety detached from Delivery for final reentry, while the space tug performed a small burn to raise its apoapsis out of the atmosphere.†– Cosmonaut Thomplin Kerman, Pilot The Safety command module landed safely west of KSC. Discovery, now nearly out of fuel, then rendezvoused with Zenith Station. Now, after many months in orbit, it was finally time for Zenith 6 to return home, carrying Jermin Kerman and Romal Kerman back to Kerbin. With the first Mün landing complete, it was now time to begin preparing for the next mission, which would lay the groundwork for Münstay by scouting for potential locations for the future Münbase. "Any outpost on the Mün would need to take advantage of in situ resource utilization – or ISRU, for short – if it wanted to have any hope of permanence. The resource of choice for this was karbonite, an incredibly useful chemical that can be converted into both fuel and oxidizer. But we needed to find it first, which is why we launched the Münar Orbital Surveyor." – Doctor Zeke Kerman, KSA Chemist and Karbonite Expert The Münar Orbital Surveyor would be launched atop a Liberty Advanced. The upper stage from the Liberty would rendezvous with Zenith Station to refuel it, while the probe would perform the Münar transfer and insertion burn by itself. After transferring its remaining fuel to Zenith Station, the spent upper stage would use its RCS to dock with and deorbit another Liberty upper stage floating in a nearby parking orbit. Once the Münar Orbital Surveyor was in the correct orbit and searching the Mün for karbonite, it was time for the KSA to begin setting up a proper communications network. "Up to that point, our communications network was basically nonexistent. We were mostly using spent upper stages as relays, and occasionally buying time off of commercial satellites as necessary. Obviously, this was unsustainable in the long term, but the construction of the Münbase merely made the problem more visible." – Argus Kerman, Deep Space Radar Operator The solution was the Belltower network, a set of three, long-range communications satellites, orbiting 1000 kilometers above Kerbin. These satellites would provide continuous coverage to spacecraft in Kerbin orbit, all the way out to Minmus. The only "blindspots" would be the farside of the Mün and Minmus. Just like the Münar Orbital Surveyor, the Belltower satellites would be launched using the Liberty Advanced, the upper stage of which would dock with Zenith Station while the satellites placed themselves into their final orbits. However, there was a minor problem with this plan. "Belltower 1 wasn't equipped with any low-power, short-range antenna. Its only means of communication was through its high-power, long-range antenna. This wouldn't have been a problem, if it had detached from the upper stage properly. However, when it detached, it failed to orient itself along the north/south vector, so its solar panels weren't getting enough exposure to the sun. To cut a long story short, it ran out of power and had to be rescued." – Argus Kerman, Deep Space Radar Operator Jebediah Kerman would have to fly Delivery out to the satellite and place it in the correct orbit. Once the satellite was in the proper orbit, it detached from the space tug and oriented itself along the proper vector. The remaining two satellites were equipped with short-range antenna, and were able to successfully place themselves into their proper orbits. The next launch was a resupply mission to Zenith Station, carrying more fuel, and several cases of spare parts. After transferring its fuel to the station, the upper stage was deorbited using its RCS. The Münar Orbital Surveyor had been busy looking for karbonite, and the preliminary results were very promising. "According to the data we were getting, there were places on the Mün where the regolith was over 3% karbonite by mass. In certain parts of the Northwest Crater, the regolith was almost 5% karbonite!" – Doctor Zeke Kerman, KSA Chemist The next step would be Münshot 8, which would carry a small amount of karbonite detection and extraction equipment down to the Münar surface to confirm the results from the Münar Orbital Surveyor.

Chapter 7.5: Münstay As Thomplin Kerman and Bill Kerman explored the Mün, Gene Kerman and Wernher von Kerman were unveiling their latest ambitious plan for the followup program to Project Münshot. Gene Kerman: Gentlemen, three hours ago, Thomplin Kerman and Bill Kerman landed on the Mün. As we speak, they are sitting inside the Discovery lander, preparing for another spacewalk on the Mün's surface. *Pause.* I have called you here to discuss what happens next. Yes, Mr. Nelvey? Nelvey Kerman: Isn't it obvious? I mean, you don't build a bunch of fuel depots, a space tug, and a reusable lander if you're only planning to do a few flags and footprints missions. That kind of stuff is called "infrastructure", and you only build it if you're planning to stay somewhere. Gene: You are correct, Mr. Nelvey. This agency will be committing itself to the construction of a permanent facility on the Münar surface. Linus Kerman: A Münbase? Mortimer Kerman: Do you know how much that would cost? Fitzgerald Kerman: You can't possibly be serious! Gene: I can assure you, I am very serious. And why wouldn't I be? We've already got a space station in orbit, and we have cosmonauts on the Mün at this very moment. It's not a huge leap from that to a Münbase. As Mr. Nelvey already pointed out, much of the infrastructure for it is already in place. Linus: What we have right now is fine for sending scientific missions to the Mün, but a permanent Münbase is going to need dedicated resupply vehicles. Habitation modules. A comms network. Maybe even ISRU. Gene: Yes, but we don't need all of that right now. We can start building the Münbase using the infrastructure we have at the moment, and expand it as necessary. Doctor Wernher? Wernher von Kerman: Ahem. As Linus has pointed out, we will need to expand the existing infrastructure in Kerbin and Münar orbit if we wish to build a permanent installation on the Mün. That is why the Münstay program will be broken up into three phases. Phase 1 will focus on laying the groundwork for long term habitation. Setting up proper communications networks. Looking for possible karbonite reserves on the Mün. Expanding the orbital stations. That sort of thing. Phase 2 will involve setting up basic facilities on the surface. Karbonite mining and processing. Basic crew accommodations. Specialized landers for transporting fuel and crew. You get the idea. Phase 3 will center on long term sustainability. Closed ecological systems. On site repair facilities. A science laboratory. Really, anything that will make the base more self-sufficient. Yes, you, in the back? Samson Kerman: You can't have a base without crew. Who's going to be living in this thing? Gene: Münbase personnel will be selected from the general cosmonaut application pool. The director of the base will be chosen from the existing pool of experienced cosmonauts. Samson: And who will that be? Thomplin? Jebediah? Gene: I can't say, as we haven't spoken to him about it yet. Samson: You're avoiding the question. Gene: Yes, Mr. Samson, I am. Now, does anyone have any other questions? Fitzgerald: How many launches are we looking at here? Wernher: Phase 1 will be integrated with existing Münshot missions. Phase 2 will consist of between five and ten launches. Phase 3 will have at least five launches, plus on going resupply and crew transfer missions. Fitzgerald: So we're looking at somewhere around 15 launches? Wernher: Yes, that is what I said. However, the actual number may be more or less, depending on how the mission plan changes. Gene: Right, well, it looks like there are no further questions, so let's break for lunch. When we get back, Mr. Nelvey and Mr. Fitzgerald will be giving a presentation on spaceplanes. – Archived transcript of a KSA meeting discussing the Münstay Program

Hey, sorry if this question has been asked before, but this is a 244 page thread. What exactly does this mod use KerbalStats for? Will it still work properly without it installed? What kind of functionality would I be missing if I didn't have it?

Yeah, I was already planning to use KAS for that. KAS (and probably Infernal Robotics) is also going to be an integral part of Münstay. (Hint: Cranes. Cranes everywhere.) Expect to see lots of KAS parts on future vehicles, and a KAS container of struts and other assorted bits and pieces on the next resupply mission. Also expect to see the current Münshot infrastructure being slowly mothballed as replacements with larger docking ports enter service. And be prepared for a massive influx of new cosmonauts and personnel, since Münstay is going to require huge reserves of manpower (or should that be kerbalpower?). Also, possibly, just maybe, the KSA's spaceplane program will finally get off the ground. Oh yeah, there's a lot of stuff to do before we even think of heading to Duna.

There several points where I thought the mission was going to fail. I had to revert the launch of Munshot 6 back to the VAB to add struts to the payload, because it was wobbling too much. And docking the long, wobbly spar that was the two science modules and Maxwell 2 was incredibly frustrating. And getting the whole thing out to the Mun was an exercise in abusing time warp to kill rotation. The only thing that really went well was the landing. On the subject of the landing, that rope attached to Thomplin in the photos is a KAS winch, which I'm using as a safety rope. There's no ladders along the side of the science module, and I wasn't sure that they'd be able to jump high enough to get back into the lander, so the winch is there to reel them in. Fortunately, it looks like I won't need it. On a completely different topic, the Munar propellant depot needs a proper name. Any suggestions? The next few chapters will see us doing some more Mun landings (for science!), cleaning up the spent stages in LKO (because all those probe core equipped stages are cluttering up the tracking station), setting up a proper comms network (no more relaying communications through five other craft), and laying the ground work for Munstay (I wonder what that could be?).

Chapter 7: First Steps With Münshot 5 safely returned to Kerbin, it was time to begin preparing for the Münar landing. First, Romal Kerman and Delivery would have to finish the second aerobraking pass, and then rendezvous and dock with Zenith Station. "The second aerobraking went perfectly, lowering my periapsis to about 500 kilometers. Once at periapsis, I did a small burn to bring my apoapsis up to 250 kilometers, then waited a few orbits before performing a small burn radial-in to bring my closest approach to the station within a kilometer. After that, it was just standard rendezvous and docking." – Cosmonaut Romal Kerman, Pilot With Delivery docked with Zenith Station, it was time to send up a resupply mission. Münshot 6 would be launched using the new Liberty Advanced, and would carry two portable science modules and the Maxwell 2 Münar Altimetry Probe. "The Liberty Advanced was a very minor modification to the normal Liberty that replaced the regular upper stage with one that carried RCS. This change was made to allow it to dock more easily with Zenith Station. While previous upper stages had been theoretically capable of docking, it hadn't been attempted due to the lack of RCS." – Ambrose Kerman, VAB Engineer "Maxwell 2 really should have been carried with Münshot 5 on the Münar flyby, but the timing didn't work out right, and merging the transfer of Discovery and Prosperity into the flyby mission meant that there was little room for more payload. So the Münar Altimetry Probe would be sent with Münshot 7, which would have to wait in orbit until the probe had mapped enough of the surface to make a safe landing possible." – Argus Kerman, Deep Space Radar Operator Launch and rendezvous went as planned, with Münshot 6 placing itself in a parking orbit near Zenith Station until it could be retrieved by Delivery. With Maxwell 2 and the additional science modules waiting in orbit, it was time for Münshot 7 to launch. It would be flown up to Zenith Station by Jebediah Kerman, who would disembark at the station, and carried Bill Kerman and Obdorf Kerman as additional crew, both of whom would continue on to the Mün. Thomplin Kerman, already in orbit, would be the commander of the mission, while Jermin Kerman would fly Delivery. Nelvey Kerman would once again be serving as primary CAPCOM. Rendezvous and docking went normally, and soon the Safety crew vehicle was docked to Zenith Station's port docking port. The remaining fuel from the Liberty upper stage was transferred to Delivery's extra tanks, then cut loose once it was empty and placed into a parking orbit nearby. The tug and the crew vehicle then undocked from the station and redocked to each other. Münshot 7 was ready to go. One short burn later, Münshot 7 was on its way to the Mün. Upon entering the Mün's sphere of influence, the crew of Münshot 7 had to play musical chairs with the modules docked to the front of the tug. "Maxwell 2 needed to be inserted into an approximately polar orbit, while everything else was heading for the propellant depot in an equatorial orbit. So we had to detach the probe and let it maneuver away from us, then we had to translate forwards to redock with the science modules. And the science modules have no RCS, so we had to be extra careful so as not to set them spinning." – Cosmonaut Jermin Kerman, Pilot Once Maxwell 2 had been separated from Münshot 7, Delivery performed a small braking burn to lower its periapsis to the same altitude as the propellant depot. It would then perform its insertion burn at periapsis, and begin planning the rendezvous with the depot. "Docking with the depot was complicated by the fact that we had to attach one of the science modules to the lander first. As I said before, the modules had no RCS of their own, so trying to dock them to the bottom of Discovery was a long and tedious process. Once it was done, I had to translate over to the port on the opposite side of the depot, then spin around and translate forwards into the port." – Cosmonaut Jermin Kerman, Pilot With Münshot 7 safely docked with the propellant depot, it was now a matter of waiting for Maxwell 2 to start sending back altimetry data. "The probe reached its periapsis a few hours after Münshot 7 finished docking. Once there, it performed a small burn to place itself on an elliptical orbit around the Mün. Then it swung up to apoapsis and performed a plane change maneuver to get into a polar orbit. Two more burns, and it had circularized at about 400,000 kilometers over the Mün." – Argus Kerman, Deep Space Radar Operator Nine days later, the probe had almost finished mapping the Münar surface. "There were a few spots it hadn't surveyed yet, but the equator had been fully mapped, which was all we needed to plan our landing. The important thing was to avoid landing in any craters." – Cosmonaut Thomplin Kerman, Pilot Discovery undocked from the propellant depot, carrying Thomplin Kerman and Bill Kerman down to the surface. LANDCOM (Thomplin Kerman): KSC, we are clear of the depot. Requesting a go for deorbit burn. CAPCOM (Nelvey Kerman): Copy that, Discovery. You have a go for deorbit burn. LANDCOM: Burn in 5... 4... 3... 2... 1... Ignition! And engines off! What's our trajectory looking like, Nel? CAPCOM: Looking good. You should come down over a nice flat area on the dayside. – Recording of Münshot 7 Münar deorbit dialogue "We used a lot more fuel on our descent than we needed too, but we had plenty of delta-v to spare, so we were taking things carefully. Better to land safely and inefficiently rather than not land at all." – Cosmonaut Thomplin Kerman, Pilot LANDCOM (Thomplin Kerman): Bill, give me altitude! LAND-E (Bill Kerman): 800 meters... 700 meters... 600 meters... Might want to throttle up a little bit... 500 meters... LANDCOM: Relax, I know what I'm doing. Just keep giving me altitude, and let me handle the flying. LAND-E: 400 meters... We're falling towards the Mün at 20 meters a second inside a tin can! I think I'm justified in being a little worried... 300 meters! LANDCOM: Stop panicking, you'll use up all our oxygen. There! See that flat patch? LAND-E: 250 meters... The one surrounded by the small hills? 200 meters... LANDCOM: Yeah. I'm gonna try landing there. LAND-E: 150 meters... Be careful... 100 meters! LANDCOM: Throttling up. What's our vertical speed? LAND-E: 15 meters a second and falling. 75 meters altitude! LANDCOM: Tell me when we hit 5 meters a second. LAND-E: Altitude, 50 meters. Velocity, 10 meters a second. Altitude, 25 meters. Velocity, 5 meters a second. LANDCOM: Easing up on the throttle. Keep giving me altitude! LAND-E: 20 meters... 15... 10... 5... 4... 3... 2... 1... LANDCOM: Engines off! LAND-E: Touchdown! We're on the Mün! LANDCOM: See? What did I tell you? Now be quiet for a second, I'm on the phone. *Clears throat.* KSC, this is Endeavour Base. The Discovery has landed. I repeat, the Discovery has landed. *The sound of cheering can be heard over the radio.* – Recording of Münshot 7 landing dialogue "As I say these words, I am currently standing on the ladder of the Münar lander, preparing to take the first steps on the surface of another world. And it is here, 11 million kilometers above Kerbin, as I step onto the Mün, that kerbalkind takes its first steps towards the stars." – Recording of Cosmonaut Thomplin Kerman's 'First Steps' speech

Shift (or Control) + anything is a really bad idea with default keybindings. Because those keys control something else that you really don't want to accidentally activate... Edit: Rereading your post, I realized you said that it doesn't matter what the modifiers are. While this is true to a certain extent, there's a reason why those keys are used as modifiers so much. They're large keys at the edge of the keyboard, so they're easy to press on purpose, but hard to hit accidentally. Which is probably why KSP uses them to control throttle.

Yes. Yes, so much. It should have been implemented like this to begin with. The only reason to do it the current way is if you're concerned that someone might try intentionally crashing the game to load a quicksave, but those kind of people will always exist.

Chapter 7 should be up tomorrow, Thursday at the latest. I've been pretty busy with IRL stuff, haven't had a chance to play KSP yet this week. Finally found time tonight, and will be doing the landing. In the meantime, have this teaser from Munshot 6. I wonder what's inside the fairing?

Chapter 6: GO! With all of the necessary equipment docked and waiting at Zenith Station, it was time for Münshot 5 to make its trip to the Mün. The commander of Münshot 5 would be Jebediah Kerman, while Romal Kerman would be the space tug pilot. Ronbal Kerman would be mission's engineer, while Kenbree Kerman would be the mission specialist. Nelvey Kerman would act as the primary CAPCOM, with Bill Kerman filling the role of secondary CAPCOM. "The original timetable for Project Münshot had been accelerated somewhat, with several missions ending up being merged into Münshot 5. The plan was for the Delivery to place Discovery, Safety, and Prosperity onto or close to a free return trajectory around the Mün. Once they entered the Mün's SOI, Safety would undock from Delivery and continue on its free return trajectory, while Delivery would perform an orbital insertion burn, drop off Prosperity and Discovery, then return to Kerbin orbit." – Münshot 5 CAPCOM Nelvey Kerman However, a little bit of assembly was required before they could begin. "The Münshot hardware had been docked to Zenith Station pretty haphazardly, using whatever ports were closest and available. So we had to play a little bit of musical chairs before we could head out to the Mün." – Cosmonaut Romal Kerman, Pilot Once all the pieces were in place, it was time to undock. With their Trans-Münar Insertion burn calculated, it was time for one last bit of "musical chairs". With everything finally in place, Münshot 5 was given a go to perform its TMI burn. CAPCOM (Nelvey Kerman): Everything looks good on our end. You have a go for burn in one minute. TUG (Romal Kerman): Copy that, CAPCOM. We will begin our burn in one minute. SAFECOM (Jebediah Kerman): We're cutting it a little close aren't we? TUG: The Mün's not going anywhere. If we missed this burn, we could just do it on our next orbit. CAPCOM: Romal is correct, Jeb. You wouldn't even have to recalculate your burn, that's how little difference one orbit would make. Burn in T-minus 30 seconds, by the way. TUG: Fasten your seatbelts, gentlemen. We'll be accelerating at the incredibly high rate of one meter per second per second. CAPCOM: 20 seconds. TUG: SAS on. Reaction Control System engaged. CAPCOM: 15 seconds. TUG: Flight plan loaded. Navigation computers online. CAPCOM: 10 seconds... 9... 8... TUG: Vessel viewer loaded. Displaying structural integrity. CAPCOM: 7... 6... 5... TUG: Priming ullage motors. CAPCOM: 4... 3... 2... TUG: Activating ullage motors. CAPCOM: 1... TUG: Ignition! CAPCOM: GO! TUG: Throttling up to full. We are on our way. CAPCOM: Godspeed, Münshot 5. Good luck, and fly safe. – Recording of Münshot 5 pre-TMI burn dialogue With the insertion burn complete, it was merely a matter of waiting to enter the Mün's SOI. CAPCOM (Bill Kerman): Münshot 5, telemetry indicates that you have entered the Mün's sphere of influence. You should detach the Safety vehicle before you reach periapsis. SAFECOM (Jebediah Kerman): Copy that, CAPCOM. We will detach shortly. CAPCOM: Be advised that Delivery will lose contact with KSC and Safety while it is behind the Mün. TUG (Romal Kerman): Understood, CAPCOM. – Recording of Münshot 5 pre-separation dialogue "After Safety detached, I was supposed to perform a small braking burn to lower my periapsis to 100 kilometers. Then, when I reached periapsis, I would perform another burn to insert myself into Münar orbit and circularize. I'd make another burn a few minutes after that to put myself on a return trajectory to Kerbin. However, from a little bit after the insertion burn to about five minutes before the ejection burn, I would be out of contact with both KSC and Safety." – Cosmonaut Romal Kerman, Pilot As he came around from behind the Mün, Romal was treated to one of the more spectacular views in the Kerbin system. "Kerbinrise. That's what they call the photo. And it's an accurate name. Watching Kerbin come up over the horizon, only a little bit bigger than the Mün appears from it... it was amazing. Some people say that it's the most important photo from space ever taken. I don't know about that, but I do know that it was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen." – Cosmonaut Romal Kerman, Pilot To conserve delta-v, Delivery would aerobrake at Kerbin, using the planet's upper atmosphere to slow itself down. At the same time this was happening, Safety was continuing on its near free return trajectory. Upon reaching apoapsis, it performed a small braking burn with its RCS thrusters to lower its periapsis deep within Kerbin's atmosphere. "Our reentry trajectory was actually quite shallow. This was intentional, since we were going to reenter with the orbital module and the science module still attached. Taking a shallow trajectory allowed us to do this, since we bled off most of our speed in the upper atmosphere, where the compressive heating isn't as bad." – Cosmonaut Jebediah Kerman, Pilot Münshot 5 landed safely several hundred kilometers west of KSC, somewhat off course, but otherwise unharmed. In doing so, its crew had become the first kerbals to enter the sphere of influence of another celestial body, and had demonstrated the feasibility of traveling to the Mün.