SRV Ron

That took care of the ease to drop into the saves folder. Now, to build a intercept rocket to retrieve the data still on board. The challenge, retrieve the data stored on board, not the probe itself. That takes a Kerbal on EVA to do the mission.

Finding the ideal flight profile and power setting at altitude and speed is very critical to reaching a target speed and apogee prior to high altitude burnout.

From an unguided missile challenge;

When you can strip off all the boosters and have no gain in performance.

The pad will blow up under the weight of Deep Space Ship 2. As the fusion engine generator is always active, solar panels are unnecessary.

Tons of delta V on this mod design using a fusion engine and drop tanks.

This is where Sandbox can be used for testing the puzzle of such a contract. A Wackjob design is unnecessary. The trick in testing that rocket booster is attaching radical engines to it to use the fuel carried aboard to reach the desired sub orbital altitude. The test is then performed and the entire rocket parachuted into the ocean next to the launch pad. I kept a small reserve of fuel to slow descent at the last seconds to ensure recovery of the entire test rocket. I had one to send that booster into Kerbal escape. SRBs were used for the launch to cut cost. It is possible to keep a small fuel reserve to reverse course for recovery. This was designed to test both a Poodle and hydraulic decouplers on an escape trajectory.

According to the challenge, you only need to intercept the probe, send a Kerbal on EVA to retrieve the data, and return him safely to Kerbal as quickly as possible with limited tech. Raincrafter; It might be easiest to just provide the zipped Save File of the specific challenge, with the name "Save The Probe," where you left the probe stranded in Mun orbit. Google Drive is not downloading the complete folder, only the individual files found in the sub folders. That way, everyone starts where you left off on the tech tree, difficulty level, and game time. The challenge then is the person that can complete the mission in the shortest additional game time from the save becomes the leader. That way, there is no advantage in unlocking additional technology before conducting the mission.

You can test them when going up as soon as the test conditions are met. That is often easier then trying to meet conditions when going down. Using a liquid fueled rocket or jet engine will allow you to control reaching the test conditions and cut power as soon as the chute has been deployed through staging. While most tests involve staging, be sure to read the note just in case you need to run test instead.

This little known TV show of the 70s Junkyard owner Harry Broderick assembles a team to pull off the ultimate salvage operation. With former astronaut Skip Carmichael and fuel expert Melanie Slozar, Harry builds the spacecraft Vulture in order to bring back the equipment left on the moon during the Apollo moon expeditions. http://www.tv.com/shows/salvage-1/salvage-1-153823/

Ox Stat Panels, Too Hot Thermometer, as soon as possible. Those two items allow fulfillment of the explore Mun, Minmus, Ike, Duna, Eve,contracts using just standard 1.25m components. They also allow fulfillment of future data from orbit contracts at zero additional cost.

While it is possible to land and return using tier zero parts, a better challenge would be requiring specific parts on your lander, such as a landing can, Ox Stat panels, Too Hot thermometer, Gravity meter. No parts mods allowed. Then, it becomes a challenge in Career just how quickly you can unlock the required tech to fulfill the mission. Set up scoring for cost of lander along with number of hours in the Career clock required to complete the landing and safe return. You could do categories for Science only, easy, normal, hard, and custom with specific value settings.

100% on liquids, SRBs boosters tweaked depending on their power output to reach between 5,000 to 10,000 by burnout. Then, gradually do the gravity turn on a continuous basis until a 100K apogee is reached.

On hard mode to force my program to purchase research for selective parts while using Nova Punch and KW Rocketry mods. Even though I could go do all four base contracts after getting some science from EVAs on the pad, I deliberately start the space program in little steps. Those little steps results in lots of revenue and science generating contracts in which two simple low cost SRB designs can fulfill those contracts. It's similar to how a real space program would have started. 1. Launch and reach 5,000 meters. Use an SRB with 40% fuel tweaked to 40% power, land in the water. 2. Launch and reach 11,000 meters with more fuel in the SRB. 3. Launch and reach 22,000 meters using even more fuel in the SRB 4. Launch and reach 33,000 meters using the SRB with 100% fuel. 5. Do the 55,000 meter and sub orbital with a two stage SRB with Goo canisters for science. 6. Go for orbit with combo SRB and liquid engines with Goo canisters. 7. Do manned flyby of Mun, Minmus once the contracts appear. 8. Do actual probe landings once the tech is unlocked for Ox Stats and the Too Hot Thermometer. Place the lander back in orbit for additional free money data from orbit contracts. 9. Conduct manned landings to plant flag and return samples. 10. Use test while escaping missions to place probes orbiting the sun to find a direct launch window for future explore Duna, Eve, etc... contracts. 11. Prepare interplanetary unmanned missions for Eve and Duna along with manned ones. Launch them one right after another to send the exploration fleet to the target planet and moons. 12. Do plenty of combined testing contracts to accumulate enough funds to launch the fleet missions once the launch window is available. 13. Do it all with small low cost efficient designs. 14. Keep a record of the results. Until the EVA bug is fixed, I am avoiding EVA which is really restricting Jeb's ability to unlock a lot of science early on in the program. Forum glitch double posted during an edit.

On hard mode to force my program to purchase research for selective parts while using Nova Punch and KW Rocketry mods. Even though I could go do all four base contracts after getting some science from EVAs on the pad, I deliberately start the space program in little steps. Those little steps results in lots of revenue and science generating contracts in which two simple low cost SRB designs can fulfill those contracts. It's similar to how a real space program would have started. 1. Launch and reach 5,000 meters. Use an SRB with 40% fuel tweaked to 40% power, land in the water. 2. Launch and reach 11,000 meters with more fuel in the SRB. 3. Launch and reach 22,000 meters using even more fuel in the SRB 4. Launch and reach 33,000 meters using the SRB with 100% fuel. 5. Do the 55,000 meter and sub orbital with a two stage SRB with Goo canisters for science. 6. Go for orbit with combo SRB and liquid engines with Goo canisters. 7. Do manned flyby of Mun, Minmus once the contracts appear. 8. Do actual probe landings once the tech is unlocked for Ox Stats and the Too Hot Thermometer. Place the lander back in orbit for additional free money data from orbit contracts. 9. Conduct manned landings to plant flag and return samples. 10. Use test while escaping missions to place probes orbiting the sun to find a direct launch window for future explore Duna, Eve, etc... contracts. 11. Prepare interplanetary unmanned missions for Eve and Duna along with manned ones. Launch them one right after another to send the exploration fleet to the target planet and moons. 12. Do plenty of combined testing contracts to accumulate enough funds to launch the fleet missions once the launch window is available. 13. Do it all with small low cost efficient designs. 14. Keep a record of the results.

Once you have learned the basics, there are a number of ways you can go from realistic to bazaar. You can go NASA real missions, Future realistic, Star Trek, even Dr Who or Steam Punk. KW Rocketry and Nova Punch will give you a bunch of rocket parts that will allow fine tuning designs for best efficiency. Both mods fit in nicely into Career where at the hard setting you will need to be selective on unlocking only those parts that will work best for your space program. Both mods also are featured in testing contracts thus enabling you to raise the cash needed for taking advantage of them. Mech Jeb and others will provide flight aids useful when you want to do multiple precision launches such as those needed for assembling space stations or huge interplanetary rockets in space. Others provide realistic eye candy to the program. Still others totally change how the game is played such as Real Solar System and Alternate Kerbal. If you wish to play with those mods, install them in their own copy of KSP as they will totally ruin all existing saves. In short, install one mod at a time in a copy of KSP preserving the original download as insurance against a combo of mods breaking the game.

Launched the FASA Explorer One into orbit. If you can't get it into orbit, made difficult due to using a three stage SRB per the real one, you need some practice in orbital turn. I could have easily aimed for a 100K apogee where you want to fire the last SRB two stages to achieve orbit.

As long as they don't get more then 2.5K away;

Because the next set of drop tanks will then be under them. The rotation along the vertical axis, Q or E key if you disconnect the section under the Material Bay, places the drop tanks between the Goo Canters when they fly up vertically.

Some early missions; Stranded on Duna and Minmus;

I was able to easily do the contract requirements with the simple tier one career ship. Check the speed and altitude shown. Cut power and deploy the chute while still going up. It and Jeb will survive the test. Catching the same window on return might require a powered descent to counter drag.

While you can't control two ships at once, you can switch from one to the other. My test turbojet plane stages at burnout to orbit the payload. By careful flying, it can reach a speed of 2,300 m/s at about 40,000 meters at burnout with an apogee in space. At apogee, a small burn places the payload in orbit. I then switch to the turbojet stage which has a control pod needed to guide it to a landing. The turbojet which launches vertically; Burnout; In orbit; Parachute recovery of booster;

Try moving your drop tanks 45* in relation to the Goo Canisters directly above two of them. Testing has shown that they are being hit by the drop tanks flying upwards which is what is destroying your ship. Testing also shows sideways tumbling of full tanks at launch while empty ones fly almost straight up when near space. Seems all the radical decouplers are suffering from the upward force bug.