I was doing some number crunching and have a basic outline for a two mission unlock, assuming getting research at the launch pad doesn't count as a mission. Step 1) get a command pod on the launch pad and collect science to unlock goo containers Step 2) repeat with goo containers Step 3) research general rocketry for t45 engine (unless you can get a rocket into orbit without any control, in which case go for survivability). Step 4) build a rocket to get a Minmus and Mun flyby. Using 4 goo containers per zone will yield 17.3 science with diminishing returns before multipliers, so put enough for 8 or 9 zones or 32 to 36 containers. This should yield around 500 science (800 if you land on Minmus). Step 5) using this science create a rocket to go to the Jool system, doing flybys/gravity assists of Eve, Duna and Dres. And flyby each moon of Jool finally landing on Laythe. With the materials container and some solar panels for powering the antennae this should yield about 10000 science through transmissions. The entire tree is 10.5k science. Note: Getting 90% of maximum science with the materials container takes 14 transmissions and 9 with the goo container. Other experiments are at 5 and below.
