Mercury1964

In effort to circumvent the problem Kashua and Captain Sierra found, yes. As long as you can prove they were launched into orbit by the same vehicle at the same time, docking segments together is OK. I'll change the rules above to match this.

Not disputing that. The aim is to do it with style. It's easy to complete the challenge, but what's the fun in *just* meeting the requirements?

As per the rules, mods are allowed. Otherwise, orbit it however you want. SSTO, all solid fuel, entierly with LV-1s, etc.

The Kerbal Space Center and the Kerbal Boat Center have always been at odds with each other. Both want to be on top of any new scientific breakthrough before the other, leading to some pretty nasty rivalry. Recently, the Boat Center unveiled their newest creation, the "KBC-1 Really Long Boat", designed to explore all of Kerbin's oceans and collect loads of science. The Space Center, not one to take upstaging well, wants to prove they can launch a ship longer than any other in orbit before. However, time is running out before the papers go to press, so they only have one launch to complete the mega-station. And you're going to design it. THE CHALLENGE: Get the longest ship you can into orbit with just one launch, preferably with lots of kerbonauts. RULES: Only one launch is allowed. The ship must be in a stable Kerbin orbit, AKA with a periapsis above 68km. All parts on the ship after orbital insertion count towards the ship's total length. EDITED: Docking is allowed, as long as all components were launched by the same vehicle at the same time. Engines and fuel tanks count towards length. The ship must hold at least five kerbonauts, so no probes on trusses. Mods are allowed, but use fair judgement. For example, MechJeb would be OK while "Bill Kerman's Really Small Trusses that Expand For Miles in Space" would not. Do it with style SCORING: Scoring is based on the length of your ship in Modular Girder Segment XLs. Copy your ship in the VAB, add a extended radial decoupler, and stack them to match the length of your ship (example in my entry below). Each girder length is worth 20 points, with each kerbonaut above the required five an extra 2 points. --------------------- MY ENTRY: 12 girders and 17 kerbonauts for a total of 264 points. Full gallery here.

All SAS with a top speed of ~25m/s. Big, bulky, can't be turned, and has a tendency to drop its probe core and spin out of control. In other words, perfect. This is the album of photos. Top speed shot should be first in the list. EDIT: Image 5 has a speed of 26m/s, but it was kinda out of control and thus (probably) doesn't qualify.

Coming down, the lander looked slanted, yet my eightball said I was pointed straight down. "Oh well," I said to myself, "what's the worst that could happen?" Lesson learned: Always trust your instruments.

496) A Kerb's death is OK as long as they went out spectacularly. 497) Science is measured in units of science. 498) At least, science involving mystery dumpster goo and glowing squid. 499) Kerbs laugh in the face of certain death, die, and then come back to life to repeat the process. *and finally* 500) We're dedicated enough to point out five hundred differences between us and real life

Somehow, during a transfer burn from Mun to Kerbin, I managed to be recaptured by Mun three times. By the end I was still burning retrograde a few hundred meters above Kerbin's atmosphere, just to make sure.

474) We measure astronaut's competency by their combined courage and stupidity 475) We hire astronauts based on "Can you fit into the capsule?" alone

457) No competition for the taxpayer's dollars 458) All of the taxpayer's dollars anyway

Back in early .20, I tried to orbit a station around Mun for future visitors. Got near it, ready to go, and started burning to get into Munar orbit. I was set to escape Kerbin to a 15 million km Kerbol orbit before I realized the engines were mounted backwards.

405: NASA could, in theory, build and launch a rocket without any computers (slide rules, lookup tables, etc.). We need computers to function.

389. Finding hoards of little green men on a planet is normal (at least if you're behind on the rescue missions)

372. We launch probes to Duna by achieving Kerbol orbit first. 373. If the crew lives, we pop the champagne, because that counts as a success! Even if they have absolutely no return capabilities or landed during EVA! 374. We have a memorial to a person on another celestial body, even though that person doesn't exist in the Kerbal universe. 375. Engines can be landing struts if they want to be. 376. If a manned pod becomes a permanent probe, we totally meant to do that. 377. We achieve orbit through rock arches, just because. 378. Snacks and science are all you need to pack for interplanetary missions

Same here, with Ubuntu 13.04