Starwhip

This is harder than I thought. Going with the high-traction one next time. Got to about 540 meters. Love that rover, though, I'll keep it. EDIT: Also, this. EDIT2: The new rover is competent... I figured out a GENIUS way to go faster much faster... It involves "hopping" with the rover. Hit the ramp at around 18.5 m/s.

Tweaked it a bit. EDIT: Hey, what the? I'm watching you.

Nope. Sal_vager.

I find it odd that there are consistently around ten times as many guests on the forum as there are members. And usually there are more than 1000 guests online at any time, regardless of the number of registered members. Based on the "who's viewing" numbers on the sub-forums, it seems as if guests are also counted, is that true? Also, I vaguely remember guest restrictions on the forum; I believe that's why I originally signed up. Do those still exist?

This looks like a really fun challenge. I assume no power on the rover besides the electric wheels? (I.E. no Ion or RCS or LFO engines) EDIT: Re-read the rules, can we carry some form of fuel as ballast? Or is that not allowed either? (There are other forms of ballast. I'm not worried.)

I get that too. But then again, I always feel like that, because most of these riddles are blown out of proportion when we get stuck in a rut going the wrong way.

I find that it's not the part I have trouble remembering the most, but that I have a contract for a part test at all. I'd like to see a better contract notification window in the VAB myself. But the picture would be nice.

Dark Matter/Energy?

What ships do we not have enough of? I can make some pretty good SSTO's and rovers. And basically anything else, but it may take a while.

8/10. Still don't have an avatar?

Na. Ferrows.

Precisely.

MonoDevelop is also built-in to Unity for those familiar with modding KSP.

DNA? Hmm...

Hmm... Tesseract / membranes (String theory)?

Black hole / singularity?

Oi. Pushy, pushy, I'm working on it.

Typos, begone! CHAPTER THREE: Transfer Jeb made a few final attitude adjustments before shutting down the second stage engine. He reached over to the console and depressed the radio's transmit button. "Control, this is Jeb. Orbit achieved." "Telemetry confirms orbit. Mun transfer window in T-3:37." "Thanks for the heads-up." Jeb leaned back as far as his helmet and the micro-gravity would allow him, closed his eyes and let out a pent-up breath. Halfway to anywhere, he thought, and smiled. "An autopilot unit?! Wernher, are you crazy?!" Bill hated yelling at Wernher, but the memory of the catastrophic failure that the last computer-guided rocket had experienced was branded into his mind. "Relax, Bill, we have it set up only to learn from Jeb's piloting, it will be fine-" "The frack it will be fine. If Venturer I fails up there, we're down the hole. Kaput! Not only will we have lost our best pilot, but we have no money!" "I know, I know. It was a gamble. But just imagine what we can do with that autopilot when we get it working." "If we get it working." Jeb's helmet speaker came online once more. It was Gene. "Okay, Jeb, the Mun should be coming up over the horizon any moment now. You know the drill." Jeb pushed the flight stick forward slightly, adjusting the craft's attitude. "Right, thanks." Knew it already, he silently continued. Jeb squinted at the bright blue glare of the horizon line, where the edge of Kerbin's atmosphere brushed the vastness of space. His right hand inched towards the throttle. The air inside the capsule seemed charged with anticipation. Then the cratered face of the Mun broke Kerbin's blue disk. Wait for it... "Transfer in T-10." Jeb glanced at his instruments for a brief moment. He remembered the training session he had attended not one day ago. You won't be able to eyeball this one, Jeb, Wernher had told him. You'll need to reach a certain velocity at a certain time to be on the right trajectory. The image Wernher had shown him blazed to life, a shimmering mirage floating just in front of his face. The carefully computed number burned with exceptional brightness. "Go for transfer, Jebediah." Jeb shoved the throttle to its maximum position, and the acceleration once again pinned him to the command chair. "Go for transfer, copy that." His velocity indicator began to rise incredibly swiftly. Twenty-six hundred... Twenty eight... Twenty nine... Just as Wernher had instructed, as the indicator approached the required value, he brought the throttle back, slowing its ascent. "A little longer, Jeb," Gene encouraged him. Lower he brought the throttle, lower still. At just the right moment, he brought the throttle to its 'off' position. "Control, this is Jeb, transfer burn completed. ETA of Mun inter-" There was a muffled BOOM.

Nah, sixty.

Again: Doesn't go in the Fan Works section, Jonny. But it's wicked cool. EDIT: Maybe it does. Maybe.

If he would post one, yes.

Climb aboard!

Hey, thanks (for both). I might be taking a bit of liberty with the placement of the buildings here, but hey, it's my story. CHAPTER TWO: Ascendance Bill walked slowly down the hall of the administration facility. The worn coffee tables, the dimly flickering lights, the dilapidated door frames to the many offices all screamed "bankruptcy". He kicked an old cardboard cup from it's place in the middle of the hallway back under an old conference chair. Kraken, we've let this place go downhill. I hope Jeb's flight goes well. Finally, Bill reached the door of Wernher's office. He reached up to knock on the door... just as a distant, haunting siren blared. A steady rising, falling, rising howling that penetrated deep into Bill's being. The launch warning! The door opened suddenly, revealing Wernher's drawn, weathered face. It creased into a warm smile. "Bill! I'm glad you're here. Quickly, come to the window." Bill stepped into the barren executive office, not much larger than the break room in the Vehicle Assembly Building. It smelled faintly of paper and metal, and based on the temperature, the climate control seemed to be broken. But there was one gem among the dust and rocks; the large, curved window that overlooked the launchpad and runway, nearly one hundred and eighty degrees of unrestricted vision, so brilliantly clear that it felt out of place. "She's a beauty, eh, Bill?" Wernher gestured toward Venturer I, held firmly on the launchpad by the dull red arms of the clamps. The launch siren continued to wail. "That she is," Bill said. And she cost too much. He turned toward Wernher, but the voice of Mission Control interrupted him. "T-30 seconds. All non-vital personnel, please move to your designated areas." A small burst of vapor came from the lower engines as Bill looked back to Venturer I. "T-15," the loudspeaker announced. More jets of gas, this time from the second stage tanks. "T-10, 9, 8, 7, 6..." "Oh, boy," Bill glanced at Wernher, saw that his fingers were crossed behind his back. Smoke began to billow out from the channels under the launchpad; Bill could see the Skippers begin to heat up. "3, 2, 1, 0... " And then the smoke took on a vigor that Bill had never seen before. Deafening waves of sound hit the glass as Grey-white clouds laced with fire rose up in a curtain around the craft, completely obscuring it from view. Bill gasped. "Holy Kraken!" Wernher held up a hand. "Wait for it..." Several agonizing seconds elapsed. Then Venturer I's grey Mark I pod emerged from the roiling smoke, promptly followed by its transfer section, ascent stage, and seven blazing nozzles. Bill cheered, Wernher's grin widened. "Liftoff! We have liftoff of Venturer I!" The PA system in the office could barely compete with the roaring of the engines. The ship continued to rise for nearly a minute, drowning out all other sound, though growing quieter by the moment. Wernher cupped his hand near Bill's ear. "The first staging event should occur right about... now!" There was a bright flash, and three of Venturer I's tanks and engines separated from the main stage. Bill frowned. "What kind of staging is that?" Wernher positively beamed. "That, my friend, is the dawn of a new form of efficiency, designed by yours truly. Those three tanks that just fell off? They were feeding into the other three radial tanks, which, in turn, are transferring fuel to the center. So right now," he pointed upward, "Venturer I has all of it's tanks nearly full. When the next three run out and separate in a few more minutes, the center engine will still be full." The two of them continued to watch as the ship began to curve toward the east, steadily shrinking into a glowing dot. After a while, there was another flash, significantly dimmer this time, and the dot shrunk to a point smaller than the average star in the sky. And then the ship faded entirely. Bill waited a few seconds before looking to Wernher. "So, I've been meaning to ask you... Why did that ship cost so much?"

I don't see anything wrong here, do you?

I also notice that the text could use some English-to-English translation... hmm. It's a wee bit odd.