Kerbiter

We all know about SSTOs, but what about the opposite end? What is the rocket that requires the most stage to reach orbit? The challenge: Make a rocket that requires the most stages to reach orbit. Grading: F - 0-4 stages D - 5-9 stages C - 10-19 stages B - 20-29 stages A - 30+ stages C = Bronze B = Silver A = Gold Go ahead and do it guys. I might make signature things for people who fall into the A, B, or C grades (gold, silver, and bronze).

You know what? Make probes, man... you need to test out probe cores before you try and get to the Mun maaan...

OK go ahead.

Dear @ZooNamedGames, We have decided to allocate 2 Kerbals to test fly the Komodo spacecraft. Meet Staselle (SpaceY Pilot) and Meremy Kerman (Komodo Engineer). Staselle learned to fly planes, and came under our work when she flew chase planes above the launch site during the launch of the Raptor 1. After that she went through space training and this will be her first spaceflight. Meremy worked on the Komodo spacecraft and knows every nook and cranny of the craft. He is also a rookie. Objective: Detach and let the Komodo fly from LKO to a 500km circular orbit, then let the Komodo maneuver back to the SOV. In the event we cannot maneuver to the SOV, we will ATL (abort to landing) and the Komodo spacecraft will come back by itself. That is all of the details you need to know. Please make these details public and please give a status of the SOV. If death of the crew occurs, we will issue a backup crew. - Elon Kerman, SpaceY CEO, and co-founder of KPal

AFTER MANY WEEKS OF PREPARATION, THE LEADERS OF EKUANDO, ZAKAN, USSARI FEDERATION, KHINA, UNITED PROVINCES, AND SPACE PROGRAM EMPLOYEES GENE, WERNHER, XANDER, AND JEBEDIAH SET OUT ON A MOTHERSHIP AFTER BEING LAUNCHED ON A SMALLER VERSION OF THE KRLS NORMAL LIFT CREATED BY THE SPACE PROGRAM TO SATISFY THE CREWED LAUNCH. SHORTLY AFTER, AN ALCUBIERRE ENGINE CALLED THE Z-XII-E SENT THE MOTHERSHIP TO THE SOL SYSTEM. Jeb looking through a telescope: Woah, is that Earth? Commander Byron Jones: Yes indeed Flight Attendant Ella Smith over mothership intercom: Welcome to the solar system, get ready for another FTL burn to get closer to Earth. 20 HOURS LATER Xander: Woah Koro Kerman, Prime Minister of Zakan: I can see many advanced cloud formations Vladimir Kerman, President of Ussari Federation: Looking at the atlas book, I was able to find a country called Russian Federation... Russia is an anagram of Ussari, therefore it is the Earth's Ussari Federation! Commander: Yes indeed MID-NOTE: THE KERBALS ARE IN THEIR OWN ROOM RIGHT BEHIND THE COCKPIT SO COMMUNICATION WITH THE COMMANDER IS EASY Wernher von Kerman: Now vatch hshuman space station Commander: We have to reach 600 km altitude Commander: We are very far from that 3 HOURS LATER Vlad: Not bad! Commander: Ready for crew module separation *latch* Commander: Crew module sep Commander: Jeb you're on it Jeb: Oh baby, we're going Krakenspeed! Commander: I'll get you on ground contact Houston: This is Houston, we're contacting Krakenspeed Jeb: That wasn't going to be the name of the craft but I call it, over Houston: Are you go for docking? Jeb: Houston, we are go for docking Jini Kerman, Supreme Leader of Khina: We dock now Wernher: Ja Jini Gene: Jeb remember to aim it right Jeb: Loading docking camera Houston: 5 meters from nominal docking position Houston: 2 meters Jeb: We copy, Houston Houston: Precise, get 57 degree roll heading, and thrust forward Jeb: Got it, Houston, we're doing it Johnny Kerman, President of Ekuando: Let's do this Robin Kerman, President of United Provinces: The view's beautiful Koro: My goodness, we're doing it, get the snacks my friends *snacks come out from compartments* Koro: Now num Crew: *num num num num* Jeb: 50 meters from docking Houston: This is Houston, we're having all station personnel observe Krakenspeed approach the space station Jeb: 25 meters Jeb: 22...20.....16 Jeb: 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, latch Houston: This is Houston, press for docking lock Jeb: Houston, we are go for docking lock Jeb: *pushes button and docking latches lock in* Gene: Eh, Houston, Starlab, we have Krakenspeed onboard COMING SOON: HUMANS SEE KERBALS IN REAL LIFE FOR THE FIRST TIME

you are welcome

Tantares, FASA, and MechJeb.

Dear @ZooNamedGames, We recently had a successful launch of our first rocket, the Raptor 1. Since it cannot lift much heavier payloads, I have an idea for a heavier payload to be carried on the Saturn Shuttle. For perhaps a munar space station, we would like to create a MEV (Munar Exploration Vehicle) that is capable of going to the Mun and back, and right now we have some concepts for the design of such vehicle. Right now it's going through the engineering facility as the "Komodo" and has a crew capacity of 2. Take a look. Simply add a Size 0 standard "Clamp-o-Tron Jr." and you will be set. The idea is before launch, the Komodo will be set in the cargo bay. Then the Komodo crew will get in the crew cabin of the SOV. In orbit, the Komodo crew transfers to the Komodo vehicle. Then they steer clear and fire to the mun. A version retrofitted to be unmanned could be launched to resupply said station. If we develop a launch vehicle that can send this to orbit, we will not need you anymore. Thanks in advance, - Elon Kerman, SpaceY CEO, and co-founder of KPal

I have to log in to dropbox and I don't have one, so maybe you can mirror it somewhere.

Whitewing... White Knight, the carrier plane for SpaceShipTwo of Virgin Galactic! I knew it reminded me of that!

SpaceY Inc. - Cheaper. Better. Quicker. Today we launched the Raptor 1 with the RaptorSat brick of a payload. RaptorSat only weighs 0.1 tons and is simply a probe core, a battery, and an antenna transmitting incoherent beeping. The first manufactured Raptor 1 standing on the launchpad a couple hours from launch. [SpaceY] At T-10 minutes, the strongback holding the rocket up retracted. At T-1 minutes, the rocket ran fully on internal power. At T-4 seconds, the "Kiwi" engine started up, generating 86,000 pounds of thrust. At T±0, the launch clamps stopped holding the craft to the ground and the Raptor 1 rocket rocketed up into the sky. The rocket clearing the 4 towers after liftoff. [SpaceY] By this time, we tested the rocket's onboard cameras, which were confirmed to work pre-flight, but we had to see if the systems worked during flight and if there wouldn't be that much static due to the rocket's violent shaking. They worked as expected. A view from a camera placed on the first stage of the rocket. [SpaceY] There was a bit of bad quality from the camera as expected. Eventually the rocket started its gravioli turn into space. The view was swtiched to some advanced chase cameras at the press area. The rocket beginning to climb to space, as captured by a chase camera. [SpaceY] Eventually the air began to deplete and the engine flame started making a weird effect. It looks really cool too, but we don't know what it is. If any scientist can approach us with the answer, we greatly appreciate it. The weird engine flame thing. [SpaceY] Eventually the first stage was completely depleted of its fuel and it seperated. Then the second stage ignited. Using an LV-909 "Terrier" engine bought from excess Jeb's Co. stock, the second stage propelled the RaptorSat to space. Sadly, the rocket got out of range and was not visible to the chase cameras anymore. Gladly, we had a few cameras on the second stage and we got a view of the "Terrier" engine ignited behind a backdrop of Kerbin. A view of the second stage firing its engine from an onboard camera. [SpaceY] Eventually the engine shut off from orbital insertion and the fairing was seperated. But after some time, finally after rigorous testing and preparing, the satellite was deployed. The RaptorSat after deployment, captured by an onboard camera on the second stage. [SpaceY] Now, we attempted a second burn. It was only a tiny bit failure, because we had over-shot the normal-facing burn to change the orbital inclination of the second stage, and we very slightly over shot the correction burn after, but we decided that it would take too long to correct, so we left it as is. Sadly, since the second stage could not transmit precise telemetry data, we do not have the exact inclination of the second stage. The mission was declared a success. We have listened to your submissions. Sadly we do not have enough firepower on the Raptor 1 to put some of these payloads into orbit. Hopefully when we have developed a much better launch vehicle, we might launch them as primary or secondary payloads. Thank you for the submissions, and that is it for the progress report. - Elon Kerman, SpaceY CEO, and co-founder of KPal

Thanks for telling me, I didn't know.

I use 1.0.5 so if the 1.1 Asteroid Day parts and the mod used in 1.0.5 are compatible, I will use it.

NOTE: I will be continuing Paler Blue Dot. This is another thing I will continue after Paler Blue Dot. SpaceY Inc. - Cheaper. Better. Quicker. We are currently developing a launch vehicle called the Raptor 1. This launch vehicle will only be able to lift very light payloads into low Kerbin orbit. A test flight with a simple boilerplate satellite called RaptorSat will be launched soon. You can submit some light stock payloads and SpaceY will select a few to attempt to launch. Please submit your payloads. We will consider every one of them. Thank you in advance. - Elon Kerman, SpaceY CEO, and co-founder of KPal MODS USED: SpaceY, KVV, VSR, Tantares LV (historically), Hullcam VDS, RealPlume, SpaceX Launch Towers, Tundra Exploration, and KerbalKonstructs DISCLAIMER: I am not trying to steal the name of the SpaceY mods from @NecroBones. SpaceY was a good alternate name for SpaceX and I think it works well. I love this dude's mods and I respect him in lots of ways. If this was too much of a precautionary measure, I will remove this disclaimer.

A shorter episode this time. IRC: <xand_xand> So Sir Presdient of the United States <potus_no1> Yes Xander? <xand_xand> You want diplomacy and connections? <potus_no1> Yes absolutely <xand_xand> I will have to inform the Ekuando leader (KSC is in that nation) to ask other leaders to hitch a ride in an FTL ship <xand_xand> Presumably of yours <potus_no1> We have one, FTL Mothership <potus_no1> It houses way too many people <potus_no1> Ask the leader of Ekuan-whatever to send 8 of the best (including his/herself), yourself, and Jeb <lil_gene> Hey why do I get cut off? <potus_no1> We are worried about telepathy dangers <xand_xand> It's a man, thanks <xand_xand> And I'd like to go <xand_xand> Maybe soon I can meet the administrator of your space program, NASA <skelly_jr is back : Finished science> <skelly_jr> You want to hitch Jeb on a ride to Starlab? <the_only_jeb> Oh yeah I should <the_only_jeb> What is your spacecraft capable of? <skelly_jr> Not much on its own but it can hatch up to the mothership, crew capacity is 6 <xand_xand> I'm worried about space sickness <skelly_jr> We have about 7 barf bags a person <xand_xand> Wow <the_only_jeb> Let's tell Gene <lil_gene is back : I just woke up guys> <lil_gene> I know, and I will probably use all my barf bags <lil_gene> Let's admit it, I'm a fat wimp <potus_no1> Want to hitch a ride on an Orion-X? <the_only_jeb> Yeah <skelly_jr> Starlab is a pretty cool place, I think you lil buddies will fit in it well <lil_gene> Yeah man <xand_xand> He's willing to do it, as long as he gets a ride on a 0G plane for everyone COMING SOON: JEB CAUSES THE SUN TO EXPLODE DUE TO CONTROLLING A SOL-SCALE CRAFT (JUST KIDDING GUYS)

At least you like the gif idea. I saw @CatastrophicFailure do it.

G'job man! I got a suggestion for the story. Why don't you take snippets of the launches and stuff and turn it into GIFs for quick highlight viewing? Maybe I can make a payload for you, and include it as a commercial payload? Like a tiny cube sat or something with a couple experiments and an antenna? I can just go make it a bit later and call it Neutrino.

He ran out of orange suits.

I want you guys to predict what will happen in the rest of the story! Want to see some good guesses...

This thing is actually a pretty cool concept. It's a spaceplane which is able to take off normally and land vertically like a Falcon 9 first stage. I want to see this fly to the old runway, go up high, or even to orbit. I want to see someone to take this to higher heights. All I was able to do was go up a bit and land. DOWNLOAD THIS

<wernher> finish rocket <xand_xand> Let m- <xand_xand> There we go <lil_gene> Looks good <the_only_jeb> 9/10 <xand_xand> 3, 2, 1, lift-off!!! <gene_the_third is back : Refilled my coffee> <gene_the_third> Woah guys, congrats Xand and Wern <lil_gene> Hey I suggested liquid fuel boosters! <gene_the_third> No wonder, they're much more reliable <potus_no1 is back : Work> <potus_no1> Wow <potus_no1> Good to see you guys got it well <jp_man is back : This is my work> <jp_man> You guys are rolling it man! <xand_xand> Thanks man <jp_man> You've worked the camera angles well <the_only_jeb> Yeah he just found the middle mouse button lol <xand_xand> Jeb! <the_only_jeb> Sorry, but it's true <potus_no1> lol man <lil_gene> Boosters are near burnout <lil_gene> Wernher, you built the boosters as less fuel as the core right? <wernher> yes yes <xand_xand> Booster seperation confirmed <jp_man> Ooh <the_only_jeb> I like the smoke effects from the radial decouplers <jp_man> Me too <xand_xand> I'm looking at the panels, and the apoapsis is already there <potus_no1> Very very cool man <xand_xand> Time warp and apoapsis <xand_xand> Core stage sep and second stage ignition <jp_man> How do you know all this rocket stuff? <xand_xand> Wernher gave me dusty old rocket books <wernher> so old dust blow off could be call "dust storm" <xand_xand> Yeah Wern\ <the_seti_man is back : Trying to find other intelligent species> <the_seti_man> I hope you get to orbit and back well <xand_xand> Orbital insertion nominal, spacecraft deployment <skelly_jr is back : Just back from an EVA> <skelly_jr> How beautiful! Love that craft; get an image of it \ <skelly_jr> Perfect! <the_only_jeb> Get an EVA out <xand_xand> OK, ... EVA <xand_xand> Let me activate RCS on EVA <xand_xand> This is really cool <the_only_jeb> It's cooler for me <xand_xand> Let me get back into the ship <xand_xand> Now I time warp a while, and do retro rocketing <lil_gene> This is a great simulation, now let me get my koffee <lil_gene> How do you do that away command again? <jp_man> ./away <lil_gene is away : Getting koffee> <jp_man> Following this <the_seti_man> Me too, but I'm also scanning with my telescope <lil_gene is back : Sweet glory> <lil_gene> Oh that's great <xand_xand> Retrorockets fire!!! <jp_man> That's some great firepower <xand_xand> Retrorockets done firing, time warp <xand_xand> Retrorocket sep <lil_gene> Ooh baby <wernher> rocket work well <lil_gene> Yes Wernher <the_seti_man> You know what? <the_seti_man> Get some companies to make some rockets and eventually manned programs <wernher> we never do that but yes now we should do that <lil_gene> I second <xand_xand> I third man, as long as they don't get SSTOs <the_seti_man> But you agree to sell rights to one company for sub orbital space planes? <xand_xand> Yes of course <xand_xand> Re-entry! <lil_gene> I don't see it <jp_man> Yeah move it <the_seti_man> You know what? <the_seti_man> You guys are very very rare <the_seti_man> The fact you lil guys think very very similar to us is unique, other species could think very different from ours <lil_gene> Thanks, it's a nice coincidence <xand_xand> 500 meters per second <gene_the_third> Hopefully you can give me the telemetry <xand_xand> 350 meters per second, supersonics cancelling out, drag is lurking in <xand_xand> 250 meters per second, parachute deploy at approx. 7.5 km <xand_xand> Time warp to splash down <xand_xand> 1 km, parachute fully deployed and still time warping <jp_man> How did you get the hang of this? <the_only_jeb> After I went ahead and flew the Dove for about a minute around the space center, we decided to look at the in game tutorials to help us play <the_only_jeb> Xand was the best, he's hooked on this <xand_xand> WAIT SPLASHDOWN NEARLY THERE <xand_xand> SPLASHDOWN <potus_no1> Congratulations <the_only_jeb> Bro you the best <lil_gene> That was great <gene_the_third> Definetely a success <wernher> my rocket work good see? <jp_man> You guys got the hang of this <xand_xand> Now the kerbonaut gets out, I don't remember her name quite well <jp_man> OK <the_only_jeb> Hoo hoo she fine <xand_xand> Oh Jeb hahaha <xand_xand> Let me get her back in and recover vessel <lil_gene> Sweet heaven <xand_xand> What your koffee again? <lil_gene> Sweet heaven is a successful mission, sweet glory is my koffee <potus_no1> Yeah good job guys, keep doing your simulations <potus_no1> What are your currency over there? <xand_xand> Kerblingos (KER, Ƙ) <xand_xand> 1,000 Kerblingos are 1 Fund <jp_man> Over here we have a currency (Dollar, USD, $) <jp_man> Maybe sell this for 18 Kerblingos as KSP is $18 over here on Earth <xand_xand> Good thing we're Kerbals because we can sell it as a simulation <xand_xand> Maybe I should contact this kid, he's a great programmer, he calls himself "The Shadow" <xand_xand> He made some toy aliens and launched them on fireworks, the Hyoiman series <jp_man> We had one over here named HarvesteR, he did the same thing as a kid, but with the Kerbal series <xand_xand> That's cool man, the origins of this <jp_man> We had a simulation game a long time ago too, Orbiter <jp_man> But it's really old <xand_xand> OK <xand_xand> Tomorrow I'm getting him over here

What I meant was the OLD demo. I want to do some experimenting with that demo (I have the full game already, so all I do is mess around in those versions)

How can I get the 0.18.3 demo in any way possible?

A BIT LATER <gene_the_third> Waiting for satellite deployment <xand_xand> This is going to be very exciting <jp_man> I know man so great <potus_no1> Yeah <gene_the_third> Satellite deployed, trans-stage has seperated <skelly_jr> Get that image for me <lil_gene> Dude already did, just copy paste it <skelly_jr> Well, OK <the_seti_man> I declare this a great endeavor IN 6 DAYS <the_seti_man> OK <the_seti_man> You ready? <wernher> yes <the_seti_man> Sending transmission <the_seti_man> It should be coming in <wernher> yes i hear beeping and see image of satellite <the_seti_man> Good man <gene_the_third has joined> <gene_the_third> I confirm success <wernher> yes <wernher> now <wernher> we get game <the_seti_man> OK man, I'm not good at it, and Xander wanted it, so he's getting it <the_seti_man> jp_man needs to be here <jp_man is back> <jp_man> You needed me? <the_seti_man> Yes, and Wernher, send Xand KERBIN Wernher on phone: Jander! Xander: Yes Wern? Wernher: Come ovar hya ve need ju! Xander: Over Wernher: Bye IRC <xand_xand> Yes? <jp_man> Kerbal Space Program 6.12 <xand_xand> Ooh <xand_xand> Downloading... <xand_xand> Done! <xand_xand> Let me open it <xand_xand> That's us? Wow, what a darn good job they did! <xand_xand> Let me make a sandbox save game and <xand_xand> That's the same space center <jp_man> You impressed sir? <xand_xand> Yes! <xand_xand> Let me open the hangar and pull out a plane <xand_xand> Dove plane... <xand_xand> Our high orbital SSTO, wow! <xand_xand> I have to see if Jeb can fly it... <jp_man> Who's Jeb? <xand_xand> Our main pilot, he flew the SSTOs to the probe <jp_man> Oh, get him on here <potus_no1 has joined> <potus_no1> I read everything, will be glad to meet him <xand_xand> Sending him over Kerbin Xander on phone: Jeb? Jeb: Yeah? Xander: Where are you, we need you at tracking station! Jeb: I'm at the Astronaut Complex about to do a few things, it can wait Xander: OK, bye Tracking Station ENTER NICKNAME THE_ONLY_JEB_____ Jeb: There we go <screen clear> GOOD YOU MAY PROCEED PRESS ANY KEY <Jeb presses a random key> IRC <the_only_jeb has joined> <the_only_jeb> Xander, why you send me here? <xand_xand> Kerbal Space Program 6.12 <the_only_jeb> How cool, let me check it out <the_only_jeb> Woah, let me go into the hanger and load the SSTO <the_only_jeb> There we go, press ... Launch, aha! <the_only_jeb> Wait, why is it outsi <the_only_jeb> Hey it's me! <xand_xand> Yup <jp_man> Yes in fact the whole gang is probably there <the_only_jeb> IVA... I'll click it <skelly_jr has joined> <skelly_jr> How great, Jeb <the_only_jeb> You are? <skelly_jr> Scott Kelly Jr., astronaut, resident of Starlab, an Earth orbital space station <the_only_jeb> OK <the_seti_man has joined> <the_seti_man> Beginning satellite uplink... <the_seti_man> You should get your signals up <lil_gene is back> <lil_gene> Sending signal <the_seti_man> It comes back to us, Jeb is playing <the_only_jeb> I see the panels, all are OK <the_only_jeb> What are the controls? <jp_man> KSP Controls <the_only_jeb> Thanks, that's great <the_only_jeb> Woohoo baby! She's a real smoothie!!! <the_only_jeb> I'm getting the external views too, it looks great <the_only_jeb> Let me land at the island over there <the_only_jeb> Feels good, I like it <the_only_jeb> We need Wernher one day to build a rocket with this, it seems like a great simulation NEXT PART: THE ACTUAL THING SORRY IF THIS SEEMS A BIT TOO MUCH OF WAIT, I HAVE TONS OF CONFLICTING IDEAS AND IT'S A BIT HARD WITH ALL OF THEM I HOPE YOU LIKE THIS

Soon in the next part of this story we will have sat deployments, Kerbals playing KSP to a live audience, and much, much more. Stay tuned.