KeithStone

I'm using the ladybug bodies on the constructicons currently headed toward dres, but due to my terrible planning of launch to rendevous windows all my docking has been at night. I figure that Laythe has the best bet of being shielded by the gravity well of Jool, however I feel that the liquid on its surface probably isnt water since it's a lot colder there (but im not certain i havent looked it up). Duna currently appears abandoned by the central command at the moment and Dres is just interesting because not many ppl go there. Personally I havent been to either Dres or Laythe, this is my first attempt at anything past duna, but I have some interesting plans to develop this series, even past the challenge requirements....

congrats to you! I too have a bit of this same curse...

Great little vessel you have there! Keep up the good work and welcome to the forums!

Hooligan labs has some submarine parts so long as its no further than 500 meters below the surface.

Dont some of the firespitter engines use liquid fuel? So this is an electric-only challenge?

nice mod! I kinda wish this was around during my older days of having no idea how to edit .cfgs, but nevertheless, I think I'll be picking this one up.

Part 3 is online HERE. 34 more kerbals put in to orbit, and a new mysterious force joins the race to save kerbalkind....

Part 3 - Suspension Locked This misson contained multiple important launches. First, the Constructicons unit was planned for a mission to Dres. Initially planned for Duna, a last-minute decision was made by central command to instead send it followed by a manned crew to Dres. It's lower gravity and further distance from Kerbin would ensure a good base for future orbital constructions and it's inclined orbital plane would help keep it safe from any asteroid fragmets that might go rogue after the approaching impact. The constructicons unit consits of 2 specialized rovers equipped with crane arms and expanding habitation modules. A construction pad tops the parts storage container and the entire system is topped with an additional kethane and ore scanning probe. Second launch brought the Constructicon's ITV. Angered by central command's scoffing at the fast-approaching duna transfer window, a rogue group of engineers made off with enough parts to lift an interplanetary satellite package to orbit. Television signals were hacked and a short message played out over the airwaves while a video of their rogue launch played out. Announcing themselves as "Kaine's Chosen Ones", they denounced central command's abuse of astronauts and failure to send kerbals to inhabitable worlds. They claimed that the incoming asteroid was the work of the Kraken, and command's only focus was to rescue the rich and powerful. As soon as the media outlets were able to regain control of the airwaves, the entire stunt was dismissed as a prank, the satellite claimed as a planned launch from central command, and that "there's no such thing as killer asteroids or krakens". Afterwards, a three day marathon of "Doctor Whom" was aired, and free beer tokens were distributed to the population, paid for by kind and generous wealthy kerbals as a sign that absolutely nothing was wrong. Unable to find the source of stolen parts, central command was forced to make due with what they had left, stuffing a whopping 34 kerbals in to the KANISTRE (Kerbals Allowed No Internal Space until Rooms Expanded), a habitation module to follow behind the constructicons unit. After launching and docking another ITV to the Kanistre, command watched on their monitors as the mysterious probe in orbit suddenly made its burn for Duna....

You've got my interest....

Yeah, i keep two extra installs of kerbal (one stock and one with hardmode mods) in addition to my main install. Unless you have a background screencap program you would have to prtscrn and alt+tab to paint...which is annoying. Still, awesome story. Videos like that would rival the drama of the big Scott himself!

Sounds kind of like my first trips to Duna. The writing is excellent, a few pics would help, but I know all too well that when minutes count in a mission to save kerbals (or launch winodws) there's little time for screencaps

I like that your docked parts have a standard cone base for ease of attachment. Keeps everything lined up nicely!

I like this design a lot! smooth, simple, and that rover looks great!

I think if you used some of the welding mods you might be able to reduce the part count drastically....

My bad, I've updated the first post. I know how it goes, I get that way too with my real name

Not sure what link you need. The "Part 2" text above is the hyperlink to my thread.

Thanks, I abandoned the mun and minimus since they would likely just fly off if they didnt have kerbin there to hold them in place.

Part 2 is now online! First burns for for another planet (and a minor disaster)!

Part 2 – Blue Collar Astronauts First launch consisted of the SUBURB (SLUM Unification Base with Universal Rover Bays - Max Crew 66) combined with the L-DOT Space Station (Long Distance Orbital Tranmitter - Max Crew 15), and a small ore and kethane scanning satellite. The ore scanners on the satellite were upgraded with a few extra capacitors and a little overclocking to get a scanning range of 100km (60km on the stock part is to small for decent timewarping but I didnt need the giant one so i just tweaked the .cfg file, I dont feel its game breaking since i still kept the scanning range fairly low). Second launch consisted of the SUBURBs main interplanetary transfer vehicle. After docking the ITV to the SUBURB, the crew ran the numbers and noticed that the first inplanetary window would be to Jool. Everything was checked and double checked, and the crews of the SLUM and SUBURB awaited the final countdown until burn, when disaster struck. Apparently, instead of checking and double checking their gear, the crew of the SUBURB played board games and ate all of the snacks on board. After starting their burn to Jool it was found that the engine's thrust was too much for the docking port attached to it, and it snapped off in to the distance. With no time to spare a second ITV was sent up with the new (and untested) quantum struts locking mechanism. After docking, it was also noted that the main fuel tank of the SUBURB was launched empty to conserve weight with the intent of taking the fuel from the ascent stage of the transfer module, but in their haste to burn for duna the ascent stage was ditched early. This meant they would have to use whatever fuel was left in the ITV to attempt to land on Laythe, but little could be done because the main engine was already targeted and burning away. Luckily, the landing system was designed to land safely on the much thinner atmosphere of Duna, so the crew hoped they would make it safely. And by hoped, I mean forgot all about their troubles at the sign of the new refreshments brought up with the ITV. The SlumLord burned a day behind to give time for the command center to communicate with the crew of the SUBURB between landing windows. Many on the SlumLord grumbled at their being second to the hoity-toity group in the SUBURB, completely unaware that they themselves were a ship full of astronauts who failed every training exam they took and merely checked off every item on their own checklist without ever doing any of the checks themselves. The kerbals in kerbin command simply sighed, noting that their future endevours would definitely need to go more smoothly if their race had any hopes of survival. Thanks for following! I almost quit this one, but decided to push through after reading your comments!

Yeah, these arent the biggest things that i've put in to orbit, but since .23 broke quite a bit of my landing gears and fun bits from B9, Aies, and Novapunch, I scalled some of it back and focused on making some cool stuff with LLL. soon I'm sure the mods will update and my 200 ton launchers will return

First submission is now ready HERE! 100 kerbals now off-world, but they're far from safe!

This is a progress log for Poryy's Apocalypse Challenge. The objective is simple. Establish as many off-world bases and evacuate as many kerbals as you can within a 5 year time span before Kerbin is obliterated by a rouge planet. I present to you my story: Escape Velocity Mods Used: HOME Texture Compressor Crew Manifest Editor Extensions Kerbal Engineer Extraplanetary Launchpads Kerbal Attachment System Proceedural Fairings Kethane Lackluster Labs Infernal Robotics Droman Robotics MechJeb Spherical/Toridal Fuel Tanks Modular Fuel Tanks Docking Alignment Indicator Protractor Rubberband Tracks Select Root TAC Fuel Balancer Kerbal Alarm Clock UDK Lethal Dose's Station Parts And a healthy smidge of NovaPunch (added quantum struts due to a launch failure) (12-27 added B9 and Bahamuto Dynamics) Part1: Preparations A timer (a prob body with RTGs) is placed near the launchpad to allow me to keep a world clock set on the 5 year mark. The first stage in my plan was two-fold. Establish a large orbital construction facility and put my first service vehicle in to orbit. Designing was well under way for my Calladrius Space Station, Mark 5. Capable of holding 71 kerbals, two service pods, and several open docking ports, I figured it would have more than enough crew in orbit to begin construction of larger projects if so needed. Requiring 3 separate launches to put in place, it was a fairly large endeavour Phasing between launches of the Calladrius were launches for the S.L.U.M (Self-contained Living in the Universe Module) system, containing 4 individual SLUMs and hauled by the first interplanetary service vehicle, the SLUM Lord. Though lacking anything in the way of personal transportation, mining, or engineering capability, the SLUMs each carry 24 kerbals to their new home, giving the SLUM Lord the capacity to transport 96 kerbals (plus 3 pilots) off-world in a single vessel, with ~9k delta-V fully loaded and fueled. Since this project also took 3 separate launches to put in place, phasing the launches to give room for rendevous worked (fairly) well, saving me a little time (which I wasted missing a rendevous lol). Two separate launch vehicles were used. The first can lift ~60tons to orbit, the second much larger one can lift ~100tons. Currently, 100 kerbals are now off-world! And we are just getting started here! (Sorry for all of the night docking shots)

Now that .23 is out, i'm not sure I really like the new display for tooltips on parts in the vab/sph. Also, (seeing as I dont have the info in the tooltips) are all the parts fuel-crossfeed capable? I seem to be having some issues even with fuel lines going both ways all over the place...Engines only seem to want to suck fuel from the tank right in front of them.

I'll be coming home from vaca tomorrow, but I'm already starting to plan launch windows, this is going to be EPIC.

I'm surprised this didnt make challenge of the month a long time ago! I'm about to head for vacation, but I'll have to give this one another try when i get back, I have some new ideas