Cydonian Monk

I'm from deep in the heart of Appalachia, so I don't speeks them sames as youz ferners. Kerbol - "Kerbaal" Moho - "Mow" Eve - "Purple En" Gilly - "Gaaa-lee" Kerbin - "Kur-Ban" Mun - "Moon" (anybody says differently is one of them strange talking terrorist commie types) Minmus - "Mighty Mouse" Duna - "Ornge En" Ike - "President Eisenhower" Dres - "Potater" Jool - "Green En" Laythe - "Mill" Tylo - "Tyler" Vall - "Ball" Bop - "Soda" Pol - "Pull" Eeloo - "Whoo Dog" (Or something along those lines.)

Thirded. Go to Mohloo. You won't regret it.

Yes, and I'm happy to call myself a cheater. It's cheaper in the long run and I don't have to deal with the lawsuits dropping spent rocket stages on Mexico, Oklahoma or Louisiana would invariably bring.

Great news if they're using a Dragon capsule. The customer count for that is exactly 1. Wouldn't help commercial clients that are launching a normal payload.

I pronounce it Khar-on. Like "Car on fire." Or maybe just Lathe.

Thanks, as always. Kerbin is by far one of the more interesting places and one often overlooked. Even the areas within driving distance of KSC have some interesting terrain, and most everything else is a short flight away. Stay tuned. Year 4 is a bit chaotic and more than a bit busy so it might get split into a couple updates. It was also a bit of a slog in some respects. Year 5 is going much better. (Though I still haven't fully unlocked the tech tree, and probably won't have until Year 6 or maybe 7.)

I also started a thread on my various Real Solar System ramblings. First post: Building the Brazilian VLS-1 all-solid-fuel launch vehicle: http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/129215

Random Real Solar System Ramblings of a Mad Monk I've dabbled (somewhat quietly) in RSS pretty much since Nathan started posting it, though I've never been terribly serious about it. Now that things have settled down and I have a perfectly working install of RSS for KSP v1.0.4 on both my Mac and my PC it's starting to get more and more attention from me. Particularly when I'm bored and want to try something a bit different. Different, such as building a 100% solid launch vehicle. Or different as in flinging a probe out to Saturn. Y'know, different. I won't bother to list the mods I'm using (gads, what a list), though if you're curious about anything specific please ask. Mostly I'm using procedural parts, Bobcat's old Soviet engines, and AIES bits for the miscellaneous other. As much as I'd like to use the really nice looking bits, such as RadierNick's probes, I'm trying to keep the main save playable on both OS-X and Win-32. Until we get 64-bit KSP for both the really nice stuff will have to wait. Don't expect to find a space program with any set direction or sense of purpose here. This is for the crazy stuff in a crazy universe: Our own. Launching the Brazilian VLS-1 For no particular reason what-so-ever I decided to recreate the VLS-1 rocket of the Brazilian Space Agency in Kerbal Space Program Real Solar System. This is a peculiar, all-solid satellite launch vehicle created by a little-known space agency down near our planet's bulging midsection. That Brazil hasn't had more success or seen more investment in space operations is honestly a bit confusing given their primary launch site, Alcântara, is only a couple degrees removed from the Equator. More details on that in the usual places, such as Wikipedia. The point of this post is the VLS and not ruminations on a country I know next to nothing about. Anyway, the VLS-1. While I stumbled across a diagram at some point in working on this (located in this official document (large PDF warning)), my primary source of data was the (probably somewhat incorrect) Wikipedia page on the rocket. This rocket has been somewhat maligned for its all-solid approach following the explosion in 2003 that took 21 lives, but that is exactly what makes it an interesting bird form an engineering standpoint. So let's jump right in. This is a simple 1-meter rocket that consists of three stages and four strap-on boosters. All solid. The rocket has 4 RCS thrusters at the top of the third stage, and is (allegedly) capable of placing 380kg into a 200km by 2000km Earth orbit. My early versions of the VLS-1 used winglets/fins, which were unnecessary. I ditched these in the final design. Details on the real thing here. VLS-R0 My first test flight, VLS-R0, was tuned to exactly the burn durations listed on Wikipedia. Boosters for 59 seconds, first stage for 58, second stage for 56 and the third stage for 68 seconds. I tuned the ISP and thrust to as close to the real-world values as procedural SRBs would allow, and let it fly. The result was predictable: The craft overheated and exploded before the boosters had burned out. VLS-R1 My second flight of the VLS-1 was more successful. I tuned each of the stages to have a more sane level of thrust, resulting in a longer burn duration for each. This version also featured the RCS thrusters and fuel as present in the actual VLS-1, though I removed these in the third test. Much happier result this time, with my relatively dumb payload almost making it into orbit. And by relatively dumb, I mean "I forgot the RCS, and, oh, by the way, this payload's balance is way off-center." Had I been within the mass limits of the rocket (300kg) this poor dumb satellite would now be plaguing mission controllers all over the planet. Thankfully the payload was already too heavy for the rocket so it burned up over the Congo. VLS-R2 The third test was the most successful to date, and, thanks to my revised payload, was also the first to succeed in placing said payload into orbit. This was also the last flight which featured both winglets and lacked lifter-based RCS. My slightly less dumb but still imbalanced payload was still operational when it crossed the Andes on its first orbit. It was suffering from the solar power glitch that plagued RSS in recent versions, though that is now thankfully corrected. VLS-R3 With the launcher and the launch profile mostly perfected, it was time to sit down and make it accurate. This included removing the fins, reducing the size of the radial decouplers (I opted for the AIES ones instead of the fat ones from stock), and the reinclusion of the RCS system on the launch vehicle. Unfortunately, my attempts at making the booster separation somewhat cleaner resulted in a far too close to reality case of the rocket exploding on the launchpad. [You don't really need to see another picture of something blowing up, do you?] VLS-R4 Review of the issue at hand revealed that using procedural SRBs as separation motors on a procedural SRB resulted in one of two things. First, the main SRBs now had zero thrust. Second, there was a random chance of the small separation motors exploding due to a random overheating bug. So for the final design I reverted back to the "hope the atmosphere pulls them away" method of forcing the strap-on boosters to clear the rocket and conducted one final test. My final design is slightly shorter than the 19.5m of the actual rocket (though KSP thanks it's taller on account of the launch clamps), but that's all because of the fairing. The strap-on boosters and the first stage are tweaked to where their atmospheric TWR is 1.3, while the upper stages are closer to a TWR of 1.5. Still a bit on the insane side, but somewhat less so than the real thing. Without throttling the g-forces on payloads could very well reach the point where apples become applesauce. Launching from Alcântara To conduct the above tests I added Alcântara both to regex's launch sites config and to the RemoteTech ground station configuration. You're on your own for the RemoteTech config, but if you'd like to add Alcântara as a launch site to your RSS, plug the following in the various LaunchSites.cfg files in your RSS install. Please note that I've done nothing to properly orient the launch site or the runway to 90º, nor have I added any sort of description to it (aside from "Brazil"). If you'd like to do either and want me to update this little config, or have any other tweaks or adjustments, please let me know. Cheers. Site { name = br_alcantara displayName = BR - Alcantara description = Brazil. PQSCity { KEYname = KSC latitude = -2.373056 longitude = -44.396389 repositionRadiusOffset = 98 repositionToSphereSurface = false lodvisibleRangeMult = 6 } PQSMod_MapDecalTangent { radius = 20000 heightMapDeformity = 80 absoluteOffset = 45 absolute = true latitude = -2.373056 longitude = -44.396389 } }

Today I posted the Year 3 update for my Kanawha Space Program, which covers my discovery of Kerbin's "Polar Anomalies," among the other things I did in Year 3. Basically - there's no intake air / oxygen at the poles, as discovered by EdLu, who was trapped at the South Pole in his oxygen-starved aircraft:

Kanawha Space Program Year 3 - Winged Anomalies Rescue, Inc. It's a mystery that remains unsolved to this day: How do kerbals get to space? Not the normal kerbals, mind you, but the ones that get stuck there. As far as anyone can tell there is only one space agency on the planet. And while there may be two launch sites, only the one at Cape Kerbal has been active in recent memory. So how do completely random kerbals manage to get themselves trapped in orbit in varying states of distress? The representatives from MAXO Constructions Toys had no good answers for the administration of the space agency, merely a promise of funds and good will if they would kindly recover their stranded comrade. Urcella Kerman, test pilot employed by MAXO, had somehow managed to get trapped in orbit aboard a floating lab. No docking ports, no method of control, no propulsion. Stuck. The only option was to send a rescue craft. Somewhat coincidentally Wernher and the rest of the Engineering department had just developed an autonomous vehicle for sending tourists into orbit, very similar to the earlier Lewekeomi crafts. Perhaps they wouldn't mind testing it with the rescue mission? Wernher agreed. And then he snuck off to his office to call Bob. A few days later and the Lewekeomi 12 was ready to launch. It wasn't the first time they'd launched an autonomous spacecraft, but it was the first time a craft would return to Kerbin with more occupants than it had left with. (More fuel for the conspiracy theorists, too....) The launch and rendezvous went exactly according to plan, and in a few short hours Urcella Kerman was safely returned to the surface of Kerbin. She was so grateful for the rescue that she offered to join the space agency free of charge. Extra pilots are always welcome. Piquemetami 2 - A New Station for Kerbin. Advances in construction technology were making it possible to build newer, more elaborate craft. One key new technology was the development of a docking adapter large enough for a kerbal to pass through. No longer would crews be forced to EVA to move between part of the station. Now crews could have free movement inside the habitats without need of a pressure suit. The science team signed off on the new designs at once. First up was the core node of the new station, Piquemetami 2-A. Larger than the hab module for the Piquemetami 1, the new station would be able to house a maximum of 8 kerbals from day 1. (Though for reasons of comfort, the active crew count would be limited to 4.) The core node featured 3 of the new, larger-sized docking ports, two ports for the older size, and two nodes for the solar array armatures. And, as with the modules for the previous Piquemetami Station, each of the primary modules for Piquemetami 2 were fully autonomous. The laboratory module followed the core node. The laboratory was effectively identical to the one used at Piquemetami 1, excepting for the larger docking port at one end. New Piquemetami station "complete." The station was still lacking solar panels at science experiments at this point. Rescue, Inc., Cont. Unfortunately for the space agency the high-profile and very public rescue of Urcella Kerman seemed to make it "ok" for other outfits to admit their mistakes. Shortly thereafter it become known that three other kerbals, Daselle, Elley, and Ersen, had been trapped in space in various piece of equipment for an unknown length of time. No explanation was provided for how this equipment made it to orbit, only that kerbals were stranded and needed a pickup. Some wondered if these kerbals had been in orbit since the previous spage age, but such opinions were quickly shouted down as crazy talk. This time the plan for rescue was a bit different. With the new space station now assembled and ready for crews, there existed a need for a larger craft to transport said crews to the station. At the same time the pilot's union, such as it was, had persuaded the design team into keeping automation out of this new craft, and so it had yet to be tested. A rescue would provide the perfect opportunity to test and certify it. The Keninsheka 1 was sent up with only its pilot: Valentina. Two of the kerbals due for rescuing were in very similar orbits (prompting speculation they had once been part of the same craft), so it was decided to have the Keninsheka 1 rescue both of them before heading to Piquemetami 2. Needless to say both of the rescued kerbals were ecstatic to see the Keninsheka 1. Both rescues went off without a hitch and Valentina delivered Daselle and Elley to the Piquemetami 2 safely. As luck would have it both of the stranded kerbals turned out to be scientists - just what was needed at the station. They weren't exactly prisoners, but they were certainly forced to conduct research for their dinner and their eventual ride home. The third and final rescue was conducted by Svetlana and Jermin in the Keninsheka 2. Jermin, the program's second engineer, was being sent up to complete the fitting and construction of the new station. His skills would be critical during the upcoming launch of the Solar Arrays. First they needed to pick up Ersen, yet another scientist stranded in space. Solar Arrays for Piquemetami 2 With the major nodes of the Piquemetami 2 in position it was time to send up the solar arrays. As was discovered when the Piquemetami 1 went operational, the small solar panels were simply not enough to provide full power to the laboratory. An extra source of power was mandatory for them to operate the station. The arrays for Piquemetami 2 were derived from the design used on the earlier station. The four armatures were launched on two flights, the Piquemetami 2C and Piquemetami 2D, each identical and atop a Tanager-Chickadee. The launches and installations were flawless, and in short order the captives at the station were producing valuable research materials. The orbital stage of the Piquemetami 2C was retained at the station for future orbital maneuvering, while the orbital stage of the Piquemetami 2D was deorbited. And with that, the second station in orbit of Kerbin (actually) complete. (Until radiators become a thing, that is.) Tourists by the Twos Around this time the engineering department began experimenting with the Corvus 2-kerbal spacecraft for use in the Space Tourism Division. Intended for orbital operations and rendezvous, the Corvus was positioned to become the go-to vehicle for the sightseers. Unfortunately KSP v1.0.2's strange aerodynamics left it a bit less than flight-worthy, at least on reentry. Eventually after a number if tests a compromise was achieved, and the Exploration O3 program was opened. Promising breathtaking views from orbit and even rendezvous with other craft, the Exploration O3 was the new selling point for the Tourism Division. The first two flights, Exploration O3 13 and Exploration O3 14, rendezvoused and docked in orbit, providing their occupants at least a full day in microgravity. Later in the year, and following a small update to make the Corvus perform better during reentry, the Exploration O3 15 and Exploration O3 16 both launched. Exploration 15 carried a sole occupant to orbit and as such used the older, single-kerbal capsule, while the Exploration 16 was a full Corvus. The target this time was the now-retired Piquemetami 1 space station. While the tourists were unable to explore the interior of the station (because they can't EVA and are too small to fit through the small pipe-sized docking ports), they at least were able to see the birthplace of orbital science up-close. Both flights spent at least 30 days at the station before they returned to Kerbin. (Later flights typically only spent a day or two at the station.) Exploring the Nerd's Workshop Sometime during the construction of Piquemetami 2 a curious contract showed up in the contracts bin. The development of fixed-wing aircraft was a relatively new thing, and this contract presented the perfect opportunity to test the jet team's newest contraption: The R-1 Research Jet. It also presented a good test of the R-1's range, as this "Nerd's Workshop" was somewhere near the South Pole. New recruit EdLu Kerman was tasked with the test flight (as Jebediah was busy with something or other), and he set out early one morning aboard the Feather 01. The bulk of the flight passed completely without incident (and with lots and lots of views of the wide open ocean) and in no time the mountain range apparently known as the "Nerd's Workshop" came into view. EdLu set about the various observations to complete the contract and even took some time to plant a flag and take some photos. (Because nobody is going to believe he actually flew halfway around Kerbin just to visit a couple mountain peaks that are apparently named after some nerds.) With the survey complete, the mission controllers decided to push the R-1 to its limits and send it to the South Pole. They were close already, so why not? EdLu saw no reason to complain and set off South. No reason to complain until he flew over the pole and his engines cut out, that is. The engines fired back up again after a short glide. Confused, EdLu decided to bring the craft down at the pole to investigate. Worst-case scenario is the mysterious recovery van gets sent out after him and he'd picked up in a few days. Worst-case it was. Shortly after coasting into the "anomaly zone", the engines again flamed out reading zero intake air. A quick check of the thermometers and other gauges showed further weirdness: The South Pole was infinitely hot! But only on one side... walk across the seam of the planet and suddenly the outside air was at absolute zero. No wonder there was no intake air: It had either sublimated or become some super-heated form of matter. EdLu planted yet another flag and then started walking North, fearing his suit might overheat or freeze. The recovery team found him a few hours later, walking safely outside of "The Zone." Anomalous Readings To Bob the entire universe was coming unraveled. First the business with the strange kerbals stuck in orbit and now the atmosphere was misbehaving at the South Pole. Could they be connected? As the chief investigator of the Committee on Scientific Advancement it was his duty to find out. He flicked through the report they had presented the Congress of Kerbin so many years ago titled "Report on Observances of Unexplained Metallic Compound," trying to recall if there were any hints for either of these new anomalies in his past research. So far nothing. There was still a second launch site on Kerbin, that they knew. It was possible the four kerbals they had discovered in orbit were launched from there, but their orbits didn't agree. And Urcella was was less than forth-coming with information as to how she ended up in space, going so far as to claim amnesia. Bob wondered if the other three would say the same once they were rescued. No, this was something different. Something they needed to look at. And so he called Jeb. It was to be a simple mission. Officially, Jebediah was to investigate the North Pole for signs of the atmospheric anomaly EdLu has observed at the South Pole. Unofficially Jeb was to stop at two known anomaly locations and look for signs of tampering or other abnormal activity, as instructed by Bob. A second R-1 was prepared for his flight, the Feather 02, and Jeb was away as soon as possible. Jeb's first stop was in a box canyon Bob and the team referred to as "The Stadium". At some distant point in the planet's history, some enterprising kerbals had excavated a narrow valley in the northern mountains to construct a small city. This refuge was protected from the outside by the rugged terrain and kept its occupants safe for countless generations. Unfortunately it wasn't safe from the monolith that resided at the bottom of the valley. It was this very monolith scientists had first investigated, probing it and attempting to slice away parts of it for materials research. They were unsuccessful in all their probes until one day their actions brought about the destruction of the city. The walls of the canyon collapsed in on the kerbals and reduced an entire society to dust. And no one was quite sure why. Stranger still the monolith had risen to the top of the rubble and debris. The best landing site for reaching this dark valley was to the north end of it, where there remained a small bit of flat terrain. "The Pitch" Bob had called it. Nothing Jebediah couldn't land on with ease. He would need to walk quite a distance to reach the monolith site, and over rough and broken terrain at that, but Jeb was never one to complain about a long walk. It took some time for Jeb to even find the monolith. A recent landslide had buried more of it than Bob had said. Jeb nonetheless placed a flag nearby to mark its existence and made his way back to the plane. [One Easter Egg down.] He also took a somewhat crooked photo to prove he had visited the valley. (Not that Bob or anyone would ever dare question that.) "Ok Bob, I'm almost back to the plane. Nothing weird going on at the monolith, aside form some extra rocks and grass." "Extra rocks? Describe them" "I don't know, rocks, man. Looks like the hillside collapsed on it and buried it. Nothing, uh, un, uh, natural." Jeb paused to look around him. "Bob?" "Yeah?" "Do you believe in ghosts?" The line was static and dead for far longer than Jeb liked. "Bob?" "No. What are you seeing?" "Oh, just lots of little black blobs crawling across the ground." "I'm not showing anything on the feed from the cockpit camera. Are you sure? Jeb?" Jeb was at a full sprint now, racing back to his plane. "If it's quite alright with you I'm getting out of here. Now. There's lots of these black blobs around and I'm not hanging here for one of them to eat my soul." "You sure they're not just shadows?" "Oh, they're shades of some sort. And I'm outta here." Jeb didn't even bother to pull the ladder in until he was screaming up the side of the canyon. The black blobs seemed to follow him up the wall, chasing his exit. Even on the higher snows of the gorge they were there, mocking him. Chastising him for being such a coward. And then suddenly they were gone. -- An hour or so later and the Feather 02 was approaching the second anomaly site. This was the location most suspect to Bob, as it was the site where Wernher gained his other-worldly rocket building powers. Prior to their expedition to the mysterious craft, Wernher had been a simple researcher with an interest in using wool as a fuel for lanterns. And then suddenly he was the world-renowned genius rocket scientist they had all come to know. Almost overnight. If anyone else was launching rockets, it stood to reason they might have learned their trade here. Jeb brought the aircraft in low and loud. Bob had already warned him of the strange beam which burned from the craft during his first visit, and he wasn't sure how it would react if a large aircraft came barreling at it out of the Southern sky. Which is exactly what Jeb did anyway. He brought his R-1 in for a landing on the ridge to the West of the craft and waddled down to take a look. No new prints in the snow, no obvious signs that anyone had ever been here. No camp on the hillside as Bob had described, nothing. Just empty snow and a strange grey craft. He left a flag and then decided to take in the scenery. He was about to head North again when he decided to call Bob to tell him the good news. He wasn't expecting the response he received. "Where have you been! We've had search and rescue out looking for you for the last three hours." "What are you on about now? I only just left KSC two hours ago. Anyway I'm here at your little crashed saucer and I don't see any signs of entry. I don't see signs of anything for that matter. Just snow and trees. And it's cold here. Really, really cold." "Yeah, I know about the cold." Bob paused and the radio went silent. "Look, the last time I heard from you was when you were leaving The Stadium. That was six hours ago." Silence and static again. "Did you go inside the crashed vessel?" "Inside? How? I don't see any doors and I'm standing on the stupid thing. Look, you tell those S&R teams to head North. If EdLu's little anomaly is true at the North Pole too then I'll need a lift to get back South. Ok?" "Negative. You are to return to the space center at once. We're not sure what's going on, but unless you've been camping out in the tundra for the last day then we need to talk. And run some tests. And then talk some more." "No way José. Look, I've flown all this way and I'm not turning back when I'm less than an hour form the Pole. See you in a few." And who could ever tell Jeb no? -- The flight to the North Pole was endlessly confusing. At first he thought it was the horizon-spanning sea of white ice that was affecting him, but no matter what he tried he couldn't shake the feeling. He _knew_ something now, something he couldn't put his fingers on. Something wasn't right with the world, maybe even the universe. He just wasn't sure what. Before he could collect his thoughts the compass flipped out and his jet lost power. Gliding was no issue, so he banked around until his intakes were sucking oxygen again. Hmm, EdLu's Southern Anomaly. At the North Pole. Interesting. He brought the jet in to land and coasted up to the very top of the planet, his eyes glued to the intake air. It dropped to zero right at 89º 59'. He then turned to watch the temperature gauge. At first the air temperature continued to drop, starting around 241 ºK and plummeting by nearly 100 degrees before it shot off-scale high. Overheat alarms started to sound in various systems, which he quickly shut down. He brought the plane to a halt right at the North Pole and got out to take some measurements. The skin of the aircraft was boiling hot. Just as EdLu had noted, one hemisphere had an infinite temperature while the other had absolute zero. He wasn't sure he should spend much time in either, so he made quick note of the values, planted a flag, and then grabbed what he needed from the plane. One last look at the aircraft's chronometer told him all he needed to know: Elapsed mission time: 1 day, 2 hours, 45 minutes. For a three hour flight? Something most peculiar was going on. The rather befuddled recovery teams found him hiking south somewhere around the marker for "Val's Ice." Still in his pressure suit, and more than a bit dazed and confused. He had pulled the data from the aircraft before he went South and had been making periodic observations along the way. Hopefully it would be enough to exonerate him and make the trip worthwhile. After reviewing both Jeb's and EdLu's data on the poles of Kerbin, it was decided that a future research station would be constructed at the North Pole. In addition to (hopefully) answering their questions about the polar atmospheric anomalies, a facility at such a remote location would provide valuable dat on how Kerbals react to being isolated and cut off from society for a long stretch of time. (In other words, while in interplanetary spaceflight.) Probing the Void The rest of the year was mostly taken up with sending science probes out into the void. The first Duna and Eve transfer windows were coming up, and Wernher felt his craft were ready to reach their nearest neighbors. They also had reason to launch probes into heliocentric orbit to study both the Sun and the other planets in the system. First up was the Chirp 21, a probe assembled to complete a flyby of the Mün and Minmus and then return to Kerbin orbit as part of the Ultimate Kerbin 3 Challenge. (Again. Apparently the challenge sponsors didn't believe it the first time around.) The probe was left in Kerbin orbit to gather science data afterwards. Next came the Redbud 1, first probe sent to study Duna. Its launch was not without issue, and the fairing deployment destroyed its primary solar panels, forcing it to resort to using the backup panel. Wernher wasn't even certain the backup panel would be sufficient once the craft was operating as far out as Duna, so he ordered the operations team to shut down one of the probe's batteries in case all other power was exhausted by the time the probe arrived at Duna on day 140 of the following year. Despite issues with the launch the transfer burn was successful and the little probe was on its way. After the Redbud 1 came the Poplar 1. This probe went nowhere interesting, and became the first in a series of probes sent to Kerbin. From Kerbin. The previous science probes in orbit of Kerbin were also renamed into the Poplar series with this launch. This otherwise unremarkable probe was sent to Piquemetami 2 to serve as its "seed data" for the research lab. Third among the planetary probes was the Holly 1. This probe was effectively identical to the Redbud 1 (aside from the fairing issue having been fixed), and was destined for Eve, where it would arrive the following year. The Solar Probes, otherwise known as the Oak Program, had actually started flying the previous year. Oak 1 was launched on the 232nd day of the 2nd year, but only reached its target orbit inside that of Eve on the 44th day of the 3rd year. From here it set about observing the Sun and serving as a potential communications relay for craft on the opposite side of the Sun form Kerbin. Oak 2, launched on the 330th day of the year, was destined for an orbit inside that of Moho's. (And initially was attempting to reach the "Low Solar Orbit" biome... ha, ha.) This probe became the first to use the Mün as a slingshot for leaving Kerbin's orbit (a trick the kerbals picked up by completing the two Kerbin Ultimate 3 challenges...). It would reach its orbit and promptly begin overheating on the 420th day of the 3rd year. Nothing has exploded as of the last time controllers checked with the craft, but the need for some form of space radiator was becoming rapidly obvious. Oak 3, launched on the 348th day of the 3rd year, was bound for orbit beyond that of Duna. It would not reach its orbit until late in the 4th year. Oak 3 was functionally identical to the Oak 2, just launched on a much smaller launch vehicle. Sometimes it's good to be small. More Flights, More Wings Feather 2 wasn't the end of the aircraft research program, nor was it the end of the anomaly hunting/verification. Next in line came the Feather 03, which saw Jebediah again at the controls. This time he was off to visit the monolith atop K2. The flight encountered trouble shortly after takeoff when Jebediah reported a "tear in the universe." Or, as he later described it, a giant rectangular shadow on the ground. No explanation could be provided and nothing other than Jebediah observed this anomaly. (Not even the plane's cameras.) He continued on to K2 to land atop the mountain so he could mark the monolith (and verify there had been no tampering). The engineering team had set a few waypoints for him to visit on the way to his true destination, which he had to fly through in order for his flight to count as "completed." Except several of the points were well above the little R-1's operating ceiling. After several attempts (and several more spotings of the mysterious black shadows), Jebediah admitted defeat and went on to his final landing atop K2. As should have been apparent from Jeb's hallucinations, landing on K2 was not going to be an easy thing. On account of it being a rather steep mountain, there is a noted lack of flat spaces and runways atop it. Still, Jeb circled for a while and located a spot he felt would work nicely. It didn't. At the last second the aircraft bounced the wrong way, stalled, and Jeb was forced to hit the emergency eject. He crawled out of the wreckage, grabbed a flag, and then headed off for his destination. [Three anomalies accounted for.] When the recovery teams found him this time, he was babbling and mumbling about dark shadows and his aircraft being eaten by ghosts. With the previous incident and now this, the flight surgeon had no choice but to ground him indefinitely. They would have to get to the bottom of these hallucinations before he could be allowed to fly again. With Jeb grounded the door was opened to other pilots in the test program. The R-X-901 of the Feather 4, designed as a high-altitude aircraft to reach the last of those pesky contract points, blasted off the runway with Svetlana at the controls. Its rocket engine was still not sufficient for reaching the higher altitudes needed (and ultimately the craft entered into a near-fatal flat spin), so the design was scrapped and the aircraft left parked outside of the hanger. The R-X-902 for the Feather 5 was a hybrid between rocket-powered craft and jet. Urcella was given the turn in the pilot's seat this time, and this time the craft was able to reach one of the high-altitude survey points. (But only with some considerable trouble.) Urcella was not pleased. No, if they were to reach the highest altitudes, they would need something completely new. Some in the R&D division suggested a new type of Jet Engine, but Wernher was convinced they would reach higher altitudes using the hybrid design. And safely at that. The R-X-903 was the result. Larger than any aircraft yet constructed, the R-X-903 featured two standard jet engines and a single rocket engine at its core. There were two survey points left in the flight test contract, and at best the R-X-903 would require two flights to reach them. Svetlana drew the straw for the first flight in the Feather 6. The flight was a complete success, and reached an altitude well in excess of 22km. Urcella was chosen to fly the R-X-903 in its second flight to finish out the contract. Feather 7 proved to be as much of a success the Feather 6, though Urcella was not able to exceed 22km in altitude. Failure on the Tiskelwah 5 The station building fever had struck, and suddenly everyone wanted a station here or a base there. First on the list was a new station for the Mün; Pequoni 2. The administration decided that this time the setup crew for the new station would already be in orbit of the Mün when the various station modules arrived. There had been too many mistakes and communication blackout when assembling the few pieces of Pequoni 1. And so Svetlana, Mind and Roster Kerman were selected for the Tiskelwah 5. The Tiskelwah 5 used a revised version of the Keninsheka crew ferry, featuring the addition of fuel and crew supplies needed to make a trip to the orbit of the Mün and back. The launch and Trans-Munar injection burn went exactly according to plan, and everything was looking perfect as they set up for their Munar capture burn. That was when a (still unresolved) design flaw became apparent. If the solar panels are deployed at the time when the Keninsheka orbital module is detached from the final boost stage, the fairings from the lower stage will shear off the panels. Mind, Roster and Svetlana were more than a bit shocked when the power intake of the craft dropped to zero during staging on the far side of the Mün. After a few seconds of consideration the abort order was given. They would not be staying at the Mün for very long. There was some concern that the craft would run out of electricity on its way back to Kerbin, so Mind left the crew cabin to take a look at the panels. Nothing to be done - destroyed is destroyed. Yet the worry wasn't over. A gross miscalculation on the Kerbin reentry corridor meant the craft skipped off of Kerbin's atmosphere on its first pass. This was doubly concerning since the spacecraft had jettisoned its service module at the first atmospheric interface. The second pass was also insufficient to capture. The third pass worked, but obviously placed the return capsule far off from its intended recovery point. (No photos as this all took place at night.) The mission was a nearly total disaster, and major changes would be needed to prevent such issues in the future. In the end the three kerbals of the Tiskelwah 5 returned safely to the space center, but the immediate plans of building a new station in orbit of the Mün were dashed. (Also, the three kerbals were somehow awarded the "Landing on the Mün" credit by the game, despite having not even entered the Mün's orbit. Thus the 5 XP they gained for their failure.) And they had some new issues to resolve. And the program was running thin on funds. The fourth year would be a do or die year in many respects. Kanawha Space Program Year 3 In Review Launches and Missions [table=width: 100%, class: grid, align: left] [tr] [td=width: 200]Mission ID[/td] [td=width: 50]KSSTS[/td] [td=width: 100]Crew[/td] [td=width: 200]Launch Vehicle[/td] [td]Remarks[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]3.0-MPEG-01[/td] [td]3-001[/td] [td][/td] [td]Sparrow[/td][td]Contracted satellite launch.[/td][/tr] [tr][td]3.0-RD-02[/td] [td]3-002[/td] [td][/td] [td]Sparrow[/td][td]Research satellite to Kerbin.[/td][/tr] [tr][td]3.2-RD-03[/td] [td]3-003[/td] [td][/td] [td]Tanager-Chickadee[/td][td]Research satellite to Minmus.[/td][/tr] [tr][td]3.1-MPEG-02[/td] [td]3-004[/td] [td][/td] [td]Tanager-Chickadee[/td][td]Mapping satellite to Mün.[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Lewekeomi 12[/td] [td]3-006[/td] [td]Down: Urcella[/td] [td]Tanager-Chickadee[/td][td]Mission to rescue Urcella.[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Lewekeomi 13[/td] [td]3-007[/td] [td]Jermin, Mind[/td] [td]Warbler-Chickadee[/td][td]Systems test for tourist spacecraft. Issue: Reentry.[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Lewekeomi 14[/td] [td]3-008[/td] [td]Edlu, Eriemma[/td] [td]Warbler-Chickadee[/td][td]Systems test for tourist spacecraft. Issue: Reentry.[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Lewekeomi 15[/td] [td]3-009[/td] [td]Roster, Hereny[/td] [td]Warbler-Chickadee[/td][td]Systems test for tourist spacecraft. Issue: Reentry.[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Exploration 13 O3[/td] [td]3-010[/td] [td]Enwise, Kaigh[/td] [td]Warbler-Chickadee[/td][td]Tourist orbital.[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Exploration 14 O3[/td] [td]3-011[/td] [td]Roselyn, Melely[/td][td]Warbler-Chickadee[/td][td]Tourist orbital.[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Lewekeomi 16[/td] [td]3-012[/td] [td]Svetlana[/td] [td]Finch[/td][td]Systems test of tourist orbital.[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Chirp 21[/td] [td]3-013[/td] [td][/td] [td]Sparrow[/td][td]Another Ultimate Kerbin 3 Challenge.[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Piquemetami 2-A[/td] [td]3-014[/td] [td][/td] [td]Robin[/td][td]New Kerbin orbital station.[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Feather 01[/td] [td][/td] [td]Edlu[/td] [td]R-01[/td][td]Research flight to Nerd's Workshop and south pole.[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Feather 02[/td] [td][/td] [td]Jebediah[/td] [td]R-01[/td][td]Secret flight to North Pole.[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Piquemetami 2-B[/td] [td]3-015[/td] [td][/td] [td]Bluejay[/td][td]Laboratory module for station.[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Keninsheka 1[/td] [td]3-019[/td] [td]Valentina; Down: Daselle, Elly[/td][td]Robin[/td][td]Mission to rescue Daselle and Elly.[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Keninsheka 2[/td] [td]3-020[/td] [td]Svetlana, Jermin; Down: Ersen[/td][td]Robin[/td][td]Mission to rescue Ersen.[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Piquemetami 2-C[/td] [td]3-021[/td] [td][/td] [td]Tanager-Chickadee[/td][td]Solar arrays for Piq 2.[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Piquemetami 2-D[/td] [td]3-022[/td] [td][/td] [td]Tanager-Chickadee[/td][td]Solar arrays for Piq 2.[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Lewekeomi 17[/td] [td]3-023[/td] [td]Urcella, Lindra[/td][td]Finch[/td][td]Systems test of tourist orbital.[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Redbud 1[/td] [td]3-024[/td] [td][/td] [td]Sparrow[/td][td]Probe to Duna. Issue: Solar panels destroyed on launch.[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Poplar 1[/td] [td]3-025[/td] [td][/td] [td]Warbler-Wren[/td][td]Science package for new station.[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Keninsheka 3[/td] [td]3-026[/td] [td]Edlu, Ribzor, Eriemma[/td][td]Robin[/td][td]Science crew for Piq 2.[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Oak 2[/td] [td]3-027[/td] [td][/td] [td]Robin[/td][td]Solar science satellite, below Moho orbit. Issue; Overheating.[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Oak 3[/td] [td]3-028[/td] [td][/td] [td]Finch[/td][td]Solar science satellite, above Duna orbit.[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Feather 03[/td] [td][/td] [td]Jebediah[/td] [td]R-01[/td][td]Secret test flight.[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Feather 04[/td] [td][/td] [td]Svetlana[/td] [td]R-X-901[/td][td]High-altitude test flight.[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Feather 05[/td] [td][/td] [td]Urcella[/td] [td]R-X-902[/td][td]High-altitude test flight.[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Holly 1[/td] [td]3-029[/td] [td][/td] [td]Sparrow[/td][td]Probe for Eve.[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Feather 06[/td] [td][/td] [td]Svetlana[/td] [td]R-X-903[/td][td]High-altitude test flight.[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Feather 07[/td] [td][/td] [td]Urcella[/td] [td]R-X-903[/td][td]High-altitude test flight.[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Exploration 15 O3[/td] [td]3-030[/td] [td]Lodwell[/td] [td]Finch[/td][td]Tourist orbital, rendezvous with Piq 1.[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Exploration 16 O3[/td] [td]3-031[/td] [td]Tanald, Gerden[/td] [td]Finch[/td][td]Tourist orbital, rendezvous with Piq 1.[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Tiskelwah 5[/td] [td]3-032[/td] [td]Svetlana, Mind, Roster[/td][td]Robin[/td][td]Setup crew for new Mün station. Solar panels destroyed during Münar capture, by-passed Mün and returned to Kerbin.[/td][/tr] [/table] Failed Missions and Issues of Note Lewekeomi 13: Craft aerodynamically unstable on reentry. Lewekeomi 14: Craft aerodynamically unstable on reentry. Lewekeomi 15: Craft aerodynamically unstable on reentry. Redbud 1: Solar panels destroyed by fairings. Tiskelwah 5: Solar panels destroyed during fairing jettison stage of Münar capture burn, crew aborted burn and returned to Kerbin. Had further issues reentering Kerbin atmosphere, requiring three aerocapture passes. Missions In-Progress RedOak 1: Probe to Duna Holly 1: Probe to Eve Oak 3: Probe to Solar Orbit beyond Duna Crew Roster Jebediah Kerman, Pilot. 9 Flights. Valentina Kerman, Pilot. 6 Flights. Bill Kerman, Engineer. 3 Flights. Bob Kerman, Scientist. 3 Flights. Grazy Kerman, Scientist. 3 Flights. Svetlana Kerman, Pilot. 6 Flights. Lindra Kerman, Scientist. 2 Flight. Ribzor Kerman, Scientist. 2 Flights. Jermin Kerman, Engineer. 2 Flights. Rama Kerman, Engineer. 1 Flight. Urcella Kerman, Pilot. Rescue. 3 Flights. Mind Kerman, Engineer. Recruit. 2 Flights. Edlu Kerman, Pilot. Recruit. 3 Flights. Eriemma Kerman, Engineer. Recruit. 2 Flights. Roster Kerman, Scientist. Recruit. 2 Flights. Hereny Kerman, Scientist. Recruit. 1 Flight. Daselle Kerman, Scientist. Rescue. 1 Flight. Elley Kerman, Scientist. Rescue. 1 Flight. Ersen Kerman, Scientist. Rescue. 1 Flight. Active Launch Vehicles [table=class: grid, align: left] [tr] [td=width: 200]Launch Vehicle[/td] [td=width: 100]Lift-Off Payload Mass[/td] [td=width: 100]Orbital Payload Mass[/td] [td=width: 100]Attempts[/td] [td=width: 100]Successes[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]LV-02 Sparrow[/td] [td]3.8t[/td][td]770kg[/td] [td]5[/td][td]5[/td][/tr] [tr][td]LV-03B Warbler-Chickadee[/td] [td][/td][td][/td] [td]5[/td][td]5[/td][/tr] [tr][td]LV-03D Warbler-Wren[/td] [td][/td][td][/td] [td]1[/td][td]1[/td][/tr] [tr][td]LV-04 Tanager-Chickadee[/td] [td]5.6t[/td][td]5.6t[/td] [td]5[/td][td]5[/td][/tr] [tr][td]LV-05 Finch[/td] [td][/td][td][/td] [td]5[/td][td]5[/td][/tr] [tr][td]LV-21 Bluejay[/td] [td]25.5t[/td][td]5.4t[/td] [td]1[/td][td]1[/td][/tr] [tr][td]LV-22 Robin[/td] [td]47t[/td][td]17.1t[/td] [td]6[/td][td]6[/td][/tr] [/table]

With ET it was a consistency thing. My copy of the game was perfectly playable, even beatable. (I finished the game at least once.) At the same time I knew kids with copies of it that would crash the Atari if they pressed the wrong button. Some cartridges wouldn't even work. There's a chance my mom returned it for a working copy before I played it, too. Very inconsistent quality with a high failure rate. It wasn't a very good game for how much money they threw at it, but it's a decent game for how little time was allowed to make it. I still rank it as one of the three worst games I've played, but only because of the technical issues. As a casual iPhone game it'd be perfect.

ET for the Atari. Probably wasn't the first I played, but it's the first I remember.

So it's a... thing, orbiting this other..., bigger thing which has lots of other... things orbiting it. And there's these other... things that nobody can quite explain or agree upon, so we call them dwarf things. [Please insert hand waving and pauses for the ... elipses in the above thing. And a finger snap and a smile at the end.]

All of them. Ok, not all, but all of the major ones. Even IE, which I use for work purposes. Even links, on the rare occasions I'm stuck in a command-line environment. I despise the memory-and-resource-hog Chrome and have stopped using it for every site that isn't run by Google, but I do still use it nearly daily. I tend to default to Firefox or Safari, depending on what I'm doing and where I'm doing it from.

Just the nature of the Appalachian society I grew up in. Some folks are hyper-superstitious, and the superstitious are often more prone to hysteria. This was also only a decade or so after we had a general labor strike (and school firebombings) because they wanted highschoolers to read Allen Ginsburg, James Joyce and Malcom X. (See: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanawha_County_textbook_controversy for a primer on that.)

Fully ambidextrous here, along with a mild case of the whole directional dyslexia thing that usually accompanies it. I was forced to write with my right hand in school (since left-handed people are children of Satan or some BS like that), so my left-hand writing is a bit less precise (yet still legible).

I've not encountered this bug in KSP v1.0, but man was it ever annoying in 0.90. I've avoided the Klaw ever since. It's not a bad install, or user error, it's just the nature of the Klaw.

Yes. Even on normal difficulty they're too expensive. Running around 300K each for me right now... and I'm lucky if I have 800K just for operating expenses. I've had to resort to rescue missions to increase my ranks, which is a bit hit-and-miss in terms of the types of Kerbals I get. Last 4 or 5 rescues were scientists.

One more flag to add to my roster: Engineering. [TABLE=class: thin] [TR] [TD] Engineering [/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] Not exactly what I was originally going for, so I struggled with the design for a little bit. In the end the spanner works out better than a hammer or a caliper did... though it'd be a bit more humorous if the kerbal was hanging off of it. I just couldn't get that design to work in a way that it felt like the other flags. Might still have 1 or 2 other designs to fit into this little flag series, depending on a few things. I might also finish off the alternate version of this that uses a hammer. Or a caliper. Or a hammer and a caliper. We'll see. (Link to my older flags for reference.)

Northern Tundra Expedition Many Years Ago "Why's it so cold?" It wasn't the first time the obvious had been stated. The survey team had spent the last two days trudging through the snow and ice, and cold was their new normal. When they set out they had trucks and vans, but the last of those had seized up some days back. Now there were only the three of them, pushing ahead while the rest of the team stayed to fix the convoy. "Aren't you guys cold?" "Your suit has the same heater as ours Bob." The expedition leader was someone new, somebody with a strange name whom Bob had never met. Klaus? No, that's not it. Bob had known his name at the start of the trip, but the cold does funny things to your memory. "We're almost there. Just over the next hill, yes? Remember? Look for a snow covered hill with a tree, just South of the ice." "That's what you said at the last hill. Every hill has a tree on it and all I see is snow." Also not the first time Bob had snapped back at Franz. Franz? No, that wasn't it either. Following Bob's outburst they continued in silence, a long trail of tamped snow the only evidence of their existence. The going was slow and the snow grew deeper the further they travelled. Wet snow, and loose, not yet packed by gravity and time. No doubt some of the drifts were twice as deep as the three were tall. Silently their nameless leader came to a halt atop the hill. Bob and the other waddled up and stood next to him, equally motionless. Frozen in amazement of the object. The strange object down the hill. Without a word the three started towards their target. Halfway down they stopped again, awestruck by what they were witnessing. Their leader broke the silence, his voice cold and commanding across the radio. "Ok, let's get started. We'll build camp here. I will go ahead and climb down to see what I can see. Hopefully the hatch will reveal itself before the trucks arrive." He started his way towards the object again as Bob and the kid with that name that started with J set about making camp. Bob shook his head, trying to jog his memory. Why couldn't he remember their names? What happened to all the snacks? Why did it have to be so cold? Moments later and their suit radios crackled and became static. Bob glanced up at the kid just as he looked up at him. A light caught their eyes and they looked downhill to see their frightened leader looking up at them, tapping nervously on the side of his helmet. A strange green glow was emanating from the object, stretching across the snow in an unkerballike manner. A sudden fear gripped Bob. They both waved their arms and pointed, trying to warn him, trying to get him to run. In that moment of terror, as the expanding green light enveloped their leader, as it lifted him slowly into the air.... In that single moment Bob's memory was sharp and clear. Wernher. His name is Wernher. And his warning had come too late.

At least Kerty isn't eating any snacks.....

Today I haven't done anything in KSP, but I did post the Year 2 update for my current KSP v1.0 save game over in Mission Reports: Kanawha Space Program

I think we should only give reputation to people who are owned by cats. They're the real victims here, living under the oppressive regime of the common housecat, and are the most likely to need to boost provided by seeing little green blips next to their names. If anything we should just give them rep every time their overlords force them to change the kitty litter. (This is a fairly common online-psychological issue, one that many communities have tried to fix and never found an adequate solution. Here, where rep buys nothing extra it's fairly meaningless. On sites where rep counts towards participation or voting power it's something to actually be concerned about.)

Kanawha Space Program The Mün Beckons And we're back for the second year of my new KSP career. Still playing in KSP v1.0.2, still using the same mods mentioned in the first post. I encountered some minor issues this time around with craft flipping out and some strange bugs with a couple landers (bugs that become very serious issues in subsequent years), but overall a good year. Still moving forward towards the goal of unlocking the full tech tree and building out infrastructure. Let's do this! Maple 2 - Second Verse, Same as the First? Space is hard. Really hard. You just won't believe how stubbornly, frustratingly, mind-bogglingly hard it is. I mean, you may think it's just really big and empty, but that's when you smack into some hard bit of space at half the speed of light. And not just hard, but difficult too. One tiny thing goes wrong, be it a screw over-tightened by a half rotation, an oxidizer tank a fraction of a percent over-pressurized, or a flying fish smacking the side of your rocket at an altitude where fish shouldn't be flying, and all bets are off and you'll find out once more just how hard space can be. So what kind of space travelers would kerbals be if they curled up inside their caves and hid after one of the most expensive probes they'd built found some hard bit of space while moving faster than a greased space fish? Well they wouldn't be any kind of space travelers, that's what. When the question came up, how do we react to the loss of the Maple 1?, the space program's administration gave the only correct answer: Proceed as planned. The Maple 2 Mün lander was identical in every way to the Maple 1. All the same screws, all the same oxidizer tanks, all the same fish hooks. While the post-accident investigation of the Maple 1's failure might find a flaw that could be fixed in future craft, it was highly unlikely to help the Maple 2. Delaying it would serve no logical purpose so the launch went ahead as scheduled on the First Day of the Second Year of the Third Space Age. Just like Maple 1 the entire flight from launch to Münar capture burn went exactly according to plan. Just like Maple 1 the landing site was on the western, prograde face of the Mün, in a site believed to be part of the Mun's Highlands. Unlike Maple 1 the Maple 2 remained in contact with ground controllers for its entire descent. First soft landing on the Mün complete. The probe started returning data as soon as it landed, including conclusive proof that: A) The Mün is not made of cheese, and There is no detectable atmosphere on the Mün. The complete success of the Maple 2 made the disappearance of its predecessor that much more mysterious. The site of the Maple 1's disappearance became the leading candidate for the first kerb'd landing on the Mün. Piquemetami 1 - Rest Stop in the Sky Recovering materials and experiments from spacecraft to study on the ground is nice, but it could never compare to having researchers in orbit to study the experiments as they progressed. And building space stations is what the cool kids are doing these days, so why not? The construction of a research station in Low Kerbin Orbit was therefore, in Bob's opinion, the most important next step. The administration agreed. As did a certain well-connected sponsor who wished to remain anonymous. To facilitate construction their resident engineer, Bill Kerman, was sent up early in the Lewekeomi 6. This craft was a revised version of the earlier Lewekeomi, with a new docking adapter and a reaction control system. And Bill would get to be the guinea pig for testing both. This launch also saw the first inclusion of the HGR launch escape tower, a safety feature intended to rescue the capsule and its occupant in the event of a launch failure. With Bill safely in orbit the core stage of the station was rolled out to the launch pad. The heavier mass and larger girth of the station components required the use of a new launch vehicle: The LV-21 Bluejay. Developed by the local genius rocket scientist Wernher von Kerman, the LV-21 Bluejay made use of a cluster of six LV-T30 engines to provide sufficient thrust for liftoff. The larger 2.5m payload mating size allowed for the larger station modules to be safely attached. Unfortunately the kerbals had yet to learn the secrets of larger fairings, so the larger attachment size provided no help for the Piquemetami components. The launch was timed to coincide with Bill's orbit in the Lewekeomi 6, using the rendezvous skills the kerbals learned during the earlier Lewekeomi missions. Less than one orbit later and the station core began to loom large outside of Bill's window. The Lewekeomi 6 moved in to dock just as the two craft drifted over the terminator. First docking in space complete. Station building contract complete. The station contract being complete didn't mean the station itself was. Bill set about preparing the internals of the station's habitat while ground crews were busy assembling the Laboratory module for launch. Yes, this was to be a research station. A club house for the burgeoning group of kerbal scientists. Bob with his mysterious materials experiments and Grazy with her usual insanity soon have a new lab to hide away in. This new infrastructure led to the creation of the Scientific Research Division. Led by chief researcher Bob Kerman, this early subsection of the space agency had the impressive crew roster of two. Or in Bob's words: "It consists of two fifths of all active astronauts!" And Jeb's Piquemetami 1 would be their private little lab in the sky. The Laboratory itself was slightly more massive than the core node. 2 tonnes more massive, to be exact. This was pushing the upper limits of the Bluejay launch vehicle, but still well within its maximum liftoff mass. The ascent to orbit was completely and nominally nominal. Rendezvous and docking with Bill and the core node of the Piquemetami 1 was accomplished after less than one orbit. Following docking the orbital stage of the Piquemetami 1-B Lab node was used to boost the station to the apoapsis of its 130km circular orbit while bringing the periapsis down into the atmosphere. The orbital stage of the Piquemetami 1-B was then discarded at apoapsis, and the Lewekeomi 6 was used to fully circularize the station. One final maneuver was performed to get the correct end of the Lab module docked to the core node followed by Bill moving to the Lewekeomi 6 to a new docking port. And with that, construction of the first research station in orbit was complete. (Or so they thought.) Bill finished setting up the station while the next two crew taxis were prepared and launched. Grazy was sent up first in the Lewekeomi 7, with Bob following a few days later on the Lewekeomi 8. Both launches proceeded nominally, and reached orbit without issue. Rendezvous with the station was generally one orbit after launch, timed to coincide with the two craft exiting the shadow of Kerbin. With the station built using the smaller docking ports, Grazy and Bob, like Bill before them, were forced to EVA between their ships and the two modules of Piquemetami 1. This was an activity that had proven quite popular with the viewers back at home, kerbals drifting through the void with only their thin spacesuit protecting them, so mission controllers were happy to leak the footage in exchange for the free reputation points. Not everything with the Piquemetami 1 was going according to plan however. Launch crews were having considerable difficulty with preparing the science packages for delivery to the station. Chirp 16 and Chirp 17 were both lost after launch - Chirp 16 when the interstage engine shroud struck the engine bell of the upper stage resulting in a terminal loss of control and vehicle breakup due to aerodynamic forces; Chirp 17 was launched at too shallow of an angle and, being unable to pitch upwards, burned up during the ascent. Both of these losses occurred during a rash of incidents involving the Warbler-Sparrow launch vehicle. One of the chief issues - loss of all aerodynamic control - was addressed by increasing the size of the fins on the lower stage and adding small fins to the second stage. None could explain why a rocket which had worked perfectly up to this point had suddenly started to flip out, but Wernher was quick to blame Jebediah. (Who wasn't even at the controls.) The maximum thrust of the lower stage was also limited, targeting a thrust-to-weight ratio of 1.2 for liftoff. The flight procedures were changed to limit the operational thrust of the first stage to a maximum of 1.5, requiring a gradual throttle-back during ascent. Following these refinements, the Chirp 18 was successfully launched into a rendezvous orbit with the station. The onboard experiments were exposed during ascent and during flight to maximize the amount of data the research crews would have to work with. Bob let Grazy perform the EVA to retrieve the experiment data, adding yet another spacewalk to the agency's Video On-Demand offerings. Having a science lab is one thing, but being able to use it is another. It was quickly discovered that, despite assurance to the contrary, the station did bot have enough power generation to keep the laboratory operating 6 hours a day 426 days a year. Even just turning the lights on was enough to cause a power drain in full sunlight. No, they needed more power and they needed it soon. This posed something of a dilemma, as Wernher was fresh out of the magical "science points" he needed to develop new solar arrays. (Later investigations revealed Wernher had invented these so-called "science points" as a means to force the agency into launching test missions, and as a way to garner bribes in the form of snacks. Specifically pints of cookie dough ice cream.) Some Münths later (following the Maple 6 and the Chirp 19 missions) the solution was in-hand and ready for use: retractable solar arrays which could be fitted to the docking nodes already present on the Piquemetami 1. Two array assemblies were launched along with a probe to install them as the Piquemetami 1-C. Lofted atop the revised LV-03K Warbler-Sparrow, the Piquemetami 1-C performed exactly according to plan. A post-assembly test showed the arrays were working exactly as desired, allowing Bob and Grazy to finally get to work. The research projects sent up on the Chirp 18 and Chirp 19 were unpacked and installed in the proper receptacles. Piquemetami 1 was open for business. Maples 3 through 6 - A Little Bit Louder and A Little More Rehearsed Troubles seemed endemic to the space agency in the second year, with the next Mün lander being no exception. The loss of the Maple 3, later attributed to the same issue which doomed the Chirp 17, started a rumour that all odd-numbered Maple missions were destined for failure. Maple 3 rather spectacularly disintegrated moments after Stage 1 cutout and separation, and scattered yet more debris into the oceans of Kerbin. The science must go on, and thus the Maple 4 was reassigned to the Maple 3's landing site: the Farside of the Mün. Quite specifically it would land inside of a large crater observed by the mapping satellites launched in the previous year. With the issues from the previous launches resolved, the launch proceeded perfectly, as did the transfer to the Mün, the Münar capture burn, the descent, the landing, everything. The Maple 4 mission was a complete success.... ... At least until it encountered a still unexplained universe-rending bug. Ground controllers would occasionally receive a blip from it over the network, but any attempts at processing that data would cause a universe-wide computer and network failure. So the Maple 4 was blacklisted and the shutdown command was sent. It was decided a later mission would be sent to investigate and perhaps repair the small science station. Much to the chagrin of those kerbals who bet on such things, the Maple 5 was also completely successful. Landing in the ancient left eye of the Kerb in the Mün, otherwise known as the NorthWest Crater, the Maple 5 not only sent back valuable science data (Wernher's magic points), but it continues to return readings to this day. Whatever mystery glitch that affected the Maple 4 had clearly been vanquished.... ... Or so they thought until the Maple 6. From its landing site in the right eye of the Mün (the East Crater), the Maple 6 was responsible for destroying every computer that attempted to process its data. Some kerbals likened it to the infamous "Joke Warfare" of the previous century, where just being within 2.5km of the joke that was Maple 6 was enough to kill a kerbal. So much for the problem having been "solved." [i reviewed these two vessels in the persistence file for some time. Nothing, and I mean _nothing_ appeared to be obviously wrong with them. Without fail though, even when loaded in another save file, they would produce Null Reference Exceptions that caused the game to hang. I eventually just had to delete them.] And so the shutdown command was sent to the Maple 6 and the agency moved on to a more lucrative target: Minmus. Chirp 19 - Mint Green Escape With science near Kerbin near exhaustion, the Research Division decided it was time to scoop some science from ball of ice cream otherwise known as Minmus. First order of business was a flyby of Minmus by the Chirp 19, which collected science from both high and low space around the little green ball. The Chirp 19 also provided the first close-up images of the strange moon. Following its flyby of Minmus the Chirp 19 rendezvoused and docked up with the Piquemetami 1, providing yet more data for the Science Team and yet another opportunity for a high-profile EVA. Dogwood 1 With Minmus drawing more attention, the administration felt it was time to open a program dedicated to the study of the small green moon: The Dogwood Program. There wasn't much room in the budget to support it, what with plans for kerb'd Mün landings on the books. So Wernher and the engineering team threw together some parts they found laying around the Vertical Assembly Building and thus was born the Dogwood 1. Unfortunately the fairings did not separate cleanly form the payload during ascent and destroyed one of the solar arrays, restricting the Dogwood 1 to the one remaining array and its backup static solar panels. It was also quickly discovered that the probe lacked an SAS, making it difficult to keep the remaining solar arrays properly aligned. Despite these limitations, the Dogwood 1 was able to become the first kerbal-built object to orbit Minmus. Dogwood 2 Unlike its predecessor, Dogwood 2 was built from good parts and not from the scrap heap. Intended as a mapping satellite, Dogwood 2 was fitted to the gills with cameras and film and placed in a high polar orbit around Minmus. Everything went according to plan. Chirp 20 - The Ultimate Probe Warrior And then there was the Chirp 20. This mission was organized to complete a strange strange contract from Flooyd: The Ultimate Kerbin 3 Challenge. Simple challenge, really. All comes down to proper timing and brute-force application of thrust. And so the Chirp 20 was born, a very simple craft with just a few science experiments on board. This launch also provided the opportunity to test the ablative heatshield systems at near-interplanetary velocities. The Münar flyby was at a rather high altitude, well above 500km, while the Minmus flyby was used to place the craft back into a sub-orbital return trajectory and so skipped just barely above the surface. Bizarro challenge complete. Chirp 20 is the Ultimate Probe Warrior. The Tiskelwah Program - Building a Road to the Mün The next major goal set by the administration was to place a flag on the Mün. After countless meetings and design reviews, the R&D team decided it would be easier to send a kerbal up to plant the flag than a robot. Thus was born the Tiskelwah Program. Landing kerbals on the Mün was one of the many things famous rocket scientists Wernher von Kerman had intended to accomplish in his lifetime. The rock was so close, always hanging overhead, always mocking him. So naturally he had a detailed plan for how he would land a few test subjects on the Mün before relocating his secret lair to a crater on the farside. His roadmap to conquering the Mün had eight stops on it, each representing a different type of mission: Type A: Single-kerbal Direct Ascent landing using existing hardware. Type B: Three-kerbal Direct Ascent landing using a new capsule and heavier equipment. Type C: Three-kerbal Münar Orbit Rendezvous Mission, using a single-kerbal 2-stage lander. Type D: Three-kerbal Münar Orbit Rendezvous Mission, using a two-kerbal 2-stage lander. Type E: Three-kerbal Münar Orbit Rendezvous Mission, using a two-kerbal 2-stage lander with attached rover. Type F: Three-kerbal Münar Orbit Rendezvous Mission using a 100% reusable two-kerbal Lander. Lander to remain at an orbital station following mission. Type G: Three-kerbal Station-Dispatched Mission using a 100% reusable three-kerbal lander. Lander to remain at an orbital station following mission. Type H: Six-kerbal Station-Dispatched Mission using both landers from orbital station to land five kerbals. The recruiting department needed to hire a few kerbals to support the upcoming flood of missions to the Mün. Svetlana, Lindra, Ribzor, Jermin and Rama became the "Second Five" of the astronaut corps. Svetlana was a well respected test pilot picked up from an outfit on the West Continent. Lindra and Ribzor both joined the burgeoning Science Department, while Jermin and Rama were hired as the program's second and third engineers. First order of business was to get these four some flight time. Svetlana, Lindra, and Ribzor were sent up to relieve the crews aboard the Piquemetami 1, who at this point had logged more than 140 days of flight (with Bill holding the spaceflight endurance record of 160 days). The first three crews were returned safely and the three new crews settled in aboard the station, following the usual number of Extra-Vehicular Awesomeness. Tiskelwah 1 - Rehearsal Dinner The first actual Tiskelwah Mission was a dress-rehearsal for the first landing, and labeled as more of a systems test. No crews were present aboard the spacecraft, which landed in a nondescript location in the Mün's Midalnds. This mission was completely successful, if otherwise unremarkable. A vibrant debate was started when Jeb joked that he had forgotten to climb aboard the craft before they launched it, a joke which conspiracy theorists would use as proof of the landing having been faked for many generations. Pequoni 1 - More Station Building In a strange twist, it was decided to build the first Mün Station (part of a contract for White Owl) before the first kerb'd Mün landing. With plans to eventually build it into a full-featured science and staging station, Pequoni 1 would at the start serve as a mooring for ships returning from the surface of the Mün. Here crews could retrieve supplies for the return flight, drop off some Mün rocks and other samples for future research, and take a break in the more-spacious station. The two nodes of the station were launched atop the new LV-22 Robin launch vehicle. First up was the core node, Pequoni 1A, consisting of a small habitat and various docking nodes. The creation of a larger, crew-traversable, docking node meant an end to the ricky EVAs needed to move around the nodes of the Piquemetami 1. Not that the first Mün landers would use the larger docking system. The transfer stage of the Pequoni 1A was left on a sub-orbital trajectory while the station core burned back into a stable orbit using its reaction-control system. A bit inefficient, but it should cut down on dangerous debris in a station orbit. The second node, Pequoni 1B, was launched a munth or so later. This node included the solar arrays needed to supply power to the Laboratory the station would eventually include. Installation of the solar arrays occurred mostly on the dark side of the Mün (which at the time was the side facing Kerbin), so no photos of the assembly are available. Following assembly the craft which delivered the solar arrays docked to the utility node of the station and boosted it into its final, 20km circular orbit. Tiskelwah 2 - An Unexpected First In yet another surprise twist, it was decided to send the rookie Rama to the station to complete assembly and outfitting before the first surface-return crews would arrive. Meaning Rama Kerman would become the first kerbal to enter Münar orbit, or even the Mün's sphere of influence. This was a fact kept quiet by the PR department, who were busy focusing all attention on the famous Jebediah Kerman, anointed heir and most famous son of Kerbin. Or something like that. Rama remained mostly unknown until she beamed back photos of the far side of the Mün, in particular one photo of Kerbin setting behind the mountains and craters of the planet's rugged parasite. Jebediah was graceful about being "beaten to the Mün" in public, but was somewhat furious when away from the cameras. The administrators eventually had to take him aside and explain the situation. Either he accepts the fact that he won't always be the "first" kerbal to do things in the universe, or they would sent Valentina up on the Tiskelwah 3 instead of him. Jeb was happy to play along after that. Mechanically the Tiskelwah 2 was little more than a large version of the Lewekeomi, allowing the program to save considerable funds by launching it atop a Tanager-Chickadee instead of the larger Bluejay or Robin. Rama arrived at Pequoni Station on the 265th day of the year and set about preparing for Jebediah's Arrival in the Tiskelwah 3 at once. There wasn't much left to do in terms of set up and construction, though quite a few cables and hoses needed to be connected inside the core. Things that robots are incapable of doing. Münar Station Construction Complete. Tiskelwah 3 - First Steps By the time the Tiskelwah 3 had launched most on Kerbin had forgotten that Jebediah had been snubbed by not being the first Kerbal in orbit of the Mün and were excited that kerbals, any kerbals, would soon be walking on their nearest neighbor's grey surface. The launch was attended by thousands as millions more watched on televisions and holoscreens across the planet. Some estimates claimed this to be the most watched event in the history of kerbinkind, with the last KerbinCup a close second. This time the Tiskelwah Lander was launched with Jebediah on board. The rumours that Jebediah was supposed to have been aboard the Tiskelwah 1 continued to be vehemently denied by the space agency. The launch of the Tiskelwah 3, its ascent, transfer, and capture into Münar orbit went exactly according to plan. It was widely regarded as the most beautiful and perfect launch yet conducted by the agency. The landing site chosen for the Tiskelwah 3 was the last known location of the Maple 1. Seemingly everyone at the space center had bets going as to the fate of the lost Mün lander, with the "totally vaporized" crowd leading the largest pool. And so it was up to Jebediah to determine the little lost probe's ultimate fate and the winners of a few extra kerbucks. As was the plan, the Münar Transfer Stage of the Tiskelwah Type-A stack was used for both Münar Orbit Capture and the first stages of the descent to the surface. Once spent, the fairings were jettisoned and the lander's main engine took over for the remainder of the descent. Unlike the Maple 1, the Tiskelwah 3 remained in contact with ground controllers on Kerbin during its entire descent. Jeb had full control of the lander, and set it down softly on the plains to the east of the large Farside Crater. No noticeable dust was kicked up by the lander's descent, which was considered strange by many of the scientists back on Kerbin. Hudwin's Triumph, Surface of the Mün Year 2 day 276 "Ok, I'm heading down the ladder now." Jeb leaned out of the capsule and looked down at the regolith under his ship. He wasn't sure why they bothered to put a ladder on the ship when he could just as easily use his jetpack, but figured this wasn't the best time to ask questions about the ship's construction. He reached over to the science experiments near his cabin door, extracted the exposure canisters and tossed them in the capsule before he moved towards the ground. At the bottom of the ladder he stuck his foot out and brushed the surface. "It does appear the surface consists mostly of fines and other dust." He though for a few seconds, wondering if it was really powdered cheese, or perhaps like very fine snow. Would he sink through it if he stepped on it? The ship itself was resting firmly atop the fines, so it must be ok for kerbals, right? He pushed off the ladder. "Hey! This is kinda fun!" He bounded over to the goo canisters near the bottom of the ship and extracted the exposed experiments, just as he'd done with those on his capsule. He also reached down to pick up a few rocks and other fines for the surface sample container. "I'm going to return the science experiments to the capsule before I plant the flag." This time he didn't bother with the ladder. The flag planting ceremony was next on the list, so Jeb jumped down and bounded a few steps away from the lander. They had sent seven or eight flags up with him, one of which included a plaque. The site had been named after one of the famous Kerbal Explorers, Hudwin Kerman, one of the many ocean explorers of ancient Kerbin. [unbeknownst to Jebediah, Hudwin was the first kerbal to land safely on the Mün in one of the previous space ages.] By the time the typo on the plaque was noticed it was too late to send an engraver up to fix it. "Congratulations Jeb, and the flag looks good from here. Be sure to plant a few extra flags so we can hang them here in mission control and give them out as gifts." Bob's voice crackled across the radio. Jeb wasn't sure why the veteran geek had decided to volunteer as his CapCom for the landing, and wasn't entirely comfortable with his occasionally creepy suggestions. "Now if you're feeling up to it we'd like to move on to the next item on the checklist. Finding the Maple 1." "What exactly am I looking for?" "The lander itself was a greyish color." Jeb looked around the landing site, seeing nothing more than dust and rocks. "Oh, ok. I'm sure it'll be easy to find something small and grey on this endless plain of grey rocks." "Look for flashes of light. If some of its solar panels survived they should be reflecting occasional bits of light. Purplish-Blue in color." Jeb used it as an excuse to play in the dust and bound around in the low gravity of the Mün. And then suddenly several small flashes of light caught Jeb's eye. "Well, I'll be." He stopped his aimless jogging and bounded towards the source of the light. "Hey Bob, you're never going to believe this. Get ready to pay out the betting pool." "How much is left?" "Well," Jeb scanned the crash site. "A couple legs, and it looks like part of the probe core is intact." "Jeb, you're a regular bloodhound. That old hound of Mac's couldn't have done any better if we'd sent him up instead of you." Jeb could hear applause and cheering in the background over Bob's voice - mission control was largely in the "survived landing" end of the betting pool. "Operations says to recover the probe's memory core and return it to the lander. You've done well." Rendezvous with Rama A few more hours on the surface and Jeb's Tiskelwah 3 mission was largely complete. He loaded up as many samples as the capsule allowed, secured the large memory core of the Maple 1 lander behind his seat, and waited for the Pequoni 1 to pass over the horizon. The launch kicked up a small cloud, and Jeb wondered if he had placed the flag far enough away to survive the blastoff. He pitched the craft over once he was sure he would clear the rim of the Farside Crater. The rendezvous with Rama and the Pequoni 1 took a couple orbits to set up, thanks to a small miscalculation during the ascent. The station was nearly into the shadow of the Mün by the time Jeb completed the docking. The station visit was a short one. While it was comfortable and welcoming compared to the tiny capsule inside the Tiskelwah 3, Jeb was wanted back home for the celebration parade and other festivities. He spent some time chatting with Rama, sharing observations of the surface of the Mün from orbit, helping with a few tasks to finish setting up their club house at the Mün, and then set off for home. The return to Kerbin was not without its problems. Jeb somehow managed to run out of fuel and needed to complete the escape burn from the Mün using the ship's meagre monopropellant supplies. That left the craft on an intercept that would either drop it down safely in the ocean west of the impact crater, or drop it over the western continent. Unfortunately it split the difference. Several tense minutes passed as the capsule of the Tiskelwah 3 slid down the edge of one of the crater's ejecta mountains, its parachute dragging behind it and keeping it from entering into a fatal tumble. Eventually the capsule and the parachute both found purshace on the steep slope, and the mysterious recovery teams were sent out to retrieve Jebediah and his valuable cargo from the Mün. First Mün landing and safe return complete. The second year ended with a handful of tourists contracts, several more contracted satellite launches, and one final Mün landing involving Valentina. The Tiskelwah 4 landed near the Maple 7 robotic lander at a site named in honor of Ronton Kerman. These two Tiskelwah missions gave the agency's veteran pilots experience with landing near other objects on the surface of the Mün. Skills that will no doubt come in handy once the inevitable surface bases are constructed. The four tourists launched in the second year, Gralinne, Stelbie, Seansted, and Philnie each helped to spread the word, improving the public image of the space agency and promoting the tourism angle. Many of the tourists now approaching the agency were interested in more adventurous flights, specifically flybys of the Mün and orbiting Kerbin. The administration promised to have their orbital tourist program in full operation by the end of the third year, and was exploring possibilities for sending tourists to Kerbin's moons. The handful of commercial satellite launches helped finance the expansion of the space center, which now featured an industry-leading assembly building and launchpad. The research and design center and the tracking station also saw major upgrades. Kerbalkind was once more reaching for the stars. Despite the launch issues encountered in the first two quarters, the second year was a very good year. Kanawha Space Program Year 2 In Review Launches and Missions [table=width: 100%, class: grid, align: left] [tr] [td=width: 200]Mission ID[/td] [td=width: 50]KSSTS[/td] [td=width: 100]Crew[/td] [td=width: 200]Launch Vehicle[/td] [td]Remarks[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]Maple 2[/td][td]2-001[/td][td][/td][td]Warbler-Sparrow[/td][td]Landed on prograde face of Mun.[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Lewekeomi 6[/td][td]2-002[/td][td]Bill[/td][td]Warbler-Sparrow[/td][td]Assembly crew for Piq 1.[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Piquemetami 1-A[/td][td]2-003[/td][td][/td][td]Bluejay[/td][td]Core node of first space station.[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Piquemetami 1-B[/td][td]2-004[/td][td][/td][td]Bluejay[/td][td]Lab module for station.[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Lewekeomi 7[/td][td]2-005[/td][td]Grazy[/td][td]Warbler-Sparrow[/td][td][/td][/tr] [tr][td]Lewekeomi 8[/td][td]2-006[/td][td]Bob[/td][td]Warbler-Sparrow[/td][td][/td][/tr] [tr][td]Chirp 16[/td][td][/td][td][/td][td]Warbler-Sparrow[/td][td]Failure: Launch.[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Maple 3[/td][td][/td][td][/td][td]Warbler-Sparrow[/td][td]Failure: Launch.[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Chirp 17[/td][td][/td][td][/td][td]Warbler-Sparrow[/td][td]Failure: Launch.[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Maple 4[/td][td]2-007[/td][td][/td][td]Warbler-Sparrow[/td][td]Failure: post-landing glitch.[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Chirp 18[/td][td]2-008[/td][td][/td][td]Warbler-Sparrow[/td][td]Issue: Overheat during ascent.[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Chirp 19[/td][td]2-009[/td][td][/td][td]Warbler-Sparrow[/td][td]First craft to Minmus.[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Piquemetami 1-C[/td][td]2-010[/td][td][/td][td]Warbler-Sparrow[/td][td]Solar arrays for station.[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Maple 5[/td][td]2-011[/td][td][/td][td]Warbler-Sparrow[/td][td][/td][/tr] [tr][td]Maple 6[/td][td]2-012[/td][td][/td][td]Warbler-Sparrow[/td][td]Failure: post-landing glitch.[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Dogwood 1[/td][td]2-013[/td][td][/td][td]Warbler-Sparrow[/td][td]Issue: Damaged during ascent.[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Dogwood 2[/td][td]2-014[/td][td][/td][td]Warbler-Sparrow[/td][td][/td][/tr] [tr][td]Lewekeomi 9[/td][td]2-015[/td][td]Svetlana[/td][td]Tanager-Chickadee[/td][td][/td][/tr] [tr][td]Lewekeomi 10[/td][td]2-016[/td][td]Lindra[/td][td]Tanager-Chickadee[/td][td][/td][/tr] [tr][td]Lewekeomi 11[/td][td]2-017[/td][td]Ribzor[/td][td]Tanager-Chickadee[/td][td][/td][/tr] [tr][td]Adventure 9 SO3[/td][td][/td][td]Gralinne[/td][td]Wren[/td][td]Tourist.[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Chirp 20[/td][td]2-018[/td][td][/td][td]Tanager-Chickadee[/td][td][/td][/tr] [tr][td]Tiskelwah 1[/td][td]2-019[/td][td][/td][td]Robin[/td][td]Mun lander systems test.[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Oak 1[/td][td]2-020[/td][td][/td][td]Tanager-Chickadee[/td][td]Solar probe, in-transit.[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Pequoni 1-A[/td][td]2-021[/td][td][/td][td]Robin[/td][td]Core node for Mun station.[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Pequoni 1-B[/td][td]2-022[/td][td][/td][td]Robin[/td][td]Solar arrays for Mun station.[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Tiskelwah 2[/td][td]2-023[/td][td]Rama[/td][td]Tanager-Chickadee[/td][td]First kerbal to orbit Mun.[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Tiskelwah 3[/td][td]2-024[/td][td]Jebediah[/td][td]Robin[/td][td]First Mun landing. Type-A.[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Maple 7[/td][td]2-025[/td][td][/td][td]Sparrow[/td][td][/td][/tr] [tr][td]Tiskelwah 4[/td][td]2-026[/td][td]Valentina[/td][td]Robin[/td][td]Type-A Mun landing.[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Adventure 10 SO3[/td][td][/td][td]Stelbie[/td][td]Wren[/td][td]Tourist.[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Adventure 11 SO3[/td][td][/td][td]Seansted[/td][td]Wren[/td][td]Tourist.[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Adventure 12 SO3[/td][td][/td][td]Philnie[/td][td]Wren[/td][td]Tourist.[/td][/tr] [tr][td]3.0-Rokea-01[/td][td]2-027[/td][td][/td][td]Tanager-Chickadee[/td][td][/td][/tr] [tr][td]3.0-Peri-01[/td][td]2-028[/td][td][/td][td]Warbler-Chickadee[/td][td][/td][/tr] [tr][td]3.1-Dink-02[/td][td]2-029[/td][td][/td][td]Sparrow[/td][td][/td][/tr] [/table] Failed Missions and Issues of Note Chirp 16: Launch failure. Maple 3: Launch failure. Chirp 17: Launch failure. Maple 4: Craft landed and glitched out universe. Chirp 18: Mild overheat on ascent from uncertain source. Maple 6: Craft landed and glitched out universe. Dogwood 1: Improper fairing release damaged solar arrays. Missions In-Progress Lewekeomi 9, Svetlana Kerman at Piquemetami 1 Lewekeomi 10, Lindra Kerman at Piquemetami 1 Lewekeomi 11, Ribzor Kerman at Piquemetami 1 Tiskelwah 2, Rama Kerman at Pequoni 1 Oak 1, Solar observation probe, in-transit to target orbit. Crew Roster Jebediah Kerman, Pilot. 1 Flight. Valentina Kerman, Pilot. 1 Flight. Bill Kerman, Engineer. 1 Flight. Bob Kerman, Scientist. 1 Flight. Grazy Kerman, Scientist. 1 Flight. Svetlana Kerman, Pilot, Recruit: Second Five. 1 Flight. Lindra Kerman, Scientist, Recruit: Second Five. 1 Flight. Ribzor Kerman, Scientist, Recruit: Second Five. 1 Flight. Jermin Kerman, Engineer, Recruit: Second Five. Inactive. Rama Kerman, Engineer, Recruit: Second Five. 1 Flight. Active Launch Vehicles [table=class: grid, align: left] [tr] [td=width: 200]Launch Vehicle[/td] [td=width: 100]Lift-Off Payload Mass[/td] [td=width: 100]Orbital Payload Mass[/td] [td=width: 100]Attempts[/td] [td=width: 100]Successes[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]LV-01 Wren[/td][td]6t[/td][td]190kg[/td][td]4[/td][td]4[/td][/tr] [tr][td]LV-02 Sparrow[/td][td]3.8t[/td][td]770kg[/td][td]2[/td][td]2[/td][/tr] [tr][td]LV-03B Warbler-Chickadee[/td][td][/td][td][/td][td]1[/td][td]1[/td][/tr] [tr][td]LV-03C/K Warbler-Sparrow[/td][td]7.1t[/td][td]5.9t[/td][td]15[/td][td]12[/td][/tr] [tr][td]LV-04 Tanager-Chickadee[/td][td]5.6t[/td][td]5.6t[/td][td]7[/td][td]7[/td][/tr] [tr][td]LV-21 Bluejay[/td][td]25.5t[/td][td]5.4t[/td][td]2[/td][td]2[/td][/tr] [tr][td]LV-22 Robin[/td][td]47t[/td][td]17.1t[/td][td]5[/td][td]5[/td][/tr] [/table]

Technically, all of those numbers are correct at certain times of the year and under certain conditions. (Though the ISS orbit is a bit more nuanced, with apoapsis ~440km and periapsis ~300km.) There is no exact altitude where the atmosphere "ends", just like there is no exact altitude where the layers of the atmosphere transition. It depends on time of day, time of year, latitude, solar activity, local weather, all sorts of factors. For example, the Thermopause can range from ~400km at its lowest to ~1000+km at the highest, and as you observed that's not even the upper layer of the atmosphere. The Exosphere is even more varied, and measured by matter that is in orbit of Earth or in a suborbital trajectory, not so much in its atmosphere. So the upper limit of the Exosphere would then be the point where the force of gravity, the matter's momentum, and the pressure from external factors (solar wind, gravity of other bodies, etc) all balance out [Edit: for atomic hydrogen]. Above that and external factors will pull the matter out of orbit. There really isn't a point where an orbit would be 100% stable, such as in the mathematically ideal 2-body physics of KSP. So I suppose my question in response would be "For what definition of 'Atmosphere'?"