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Next chapter is up. A Journey Around the World Jeb lifted the picture onto its hook and squinted as he tilted it from side to side, holding it carefully by the edges of its frame. Satisfied, he climbed down off the chair and stepped back to admire his handiwork. “Not bad, Jeb," said Geneney, “Bill's photo from the Kerbal 1 is still my favourite though." He stepped into Jeb's office. “Kerbin from thirty kilometres, Kerbin from orbit and the far side of the Mün. What's next - Minmus from orbit?" Jeb grinned. “Actually I thought a nice snap of you posing by the lander on Minmus would finish the set off nicely, Genie." Geneney rolled his eyes. “I admire your ambition, Jeb - but believe me - I know exactly how much we need to do before we can even think about it." he said, scrunching his voice into a passable imitation of Wernher's gruff tones. Jeb laughed. “With a voice like that you could be his long lost brother, Genie." 'Whose brother would that be?", said Wernher as he walked in and took a seat by Jeb's desk. “Oh nice - is that one of the high res images from the Muna 2, Jeb? A couple more of those on the wall and people might even start to believe that we're running a space program from here." He raised an eyebrow. “Although we do indeed have a lot to do before you can take that picture of Gene on Minmus." Jeb had the sense to keep a straight face as Geneney blushed. “Speaking of which, Genie," he said, “how's the new Mark 2 capsule coming along?" “Not much more than an engineering mockup at the moment, Jeb," said Joemy from the doorway. “Nothing you could stick on top of a booster but it's a good test bed for crew fit and function and the new environmental systems." “Are we still on for a three kerbal crew?" “Probably," said Joemy, “provided that we can fit all the electronic gear in too. The lower equipment bay is starting to look a bit crowded but Bill's working on that. Oh hey, Bill - we were just talking about the electronics for the Mark 2." Bill slumped into a chair. “Talk to me about that, once we've got the Mark 1 working properly," he said. “Any chance of a coffee, Jeb?" “Right behind you, Bill," said Jeb, “Still having problems with the radar then?" “Oh the radar is fine, Jeb," said Bill as he poured himself a coffee. He added a lump of sugar, paused for a moment and added two more. “Edsen found some lighter weight parts in that heap of old avionics gear that Ornie brought over. No it's the computer that's giving us all the problems." “A three sugar problem?"said Jeb, “We havn't had one of those for a while." Bill sighed as he took a sip of the thick, sweet brew. “No we haven't,“ he said, “although the radar came close. But getting the computer to talk to the radar and the SAS, making a robust enough interface board to survive the launch and making the whole mess small and light enough to cram into a Moho capsule is very definitely a three sugar problem." “We can give you more weight to work with," said Wernher, “The LV909 in the upper stage is more efficient than the 905, so we can handle a slightly heavier capsule for the same fuel load." Bill stared into his mug. “That's something anyway. Thanks, Wernher." Just then, Lucan stuck his head around the door. “Sorry I'm late," he said. “The last Whirligig run took longer than expected. What have I missed?" “Three sugars," said Jeb. Lucan grimaced. “Computer still causing problems, Bill?" he asked Bill looked up. “Edsen and Neling got the radar working at last," he said, “but we're having problems integrating the computer with the radar, SAS and rate indicators." Lucan sat down beside him. “What if we pull the computer?" he said, “Will the radar play nicely with the rest of the capsule systems?" Bill took another sip of coffee as he thought it over. “It should do," he said at last, “The computer takes data from the radar but isn't needed to control it. I should be able to rig up a reporter system so that Adelan can get rate, range and bearing data directly and hand off the calculations to Mission Control. It's a cumbersome way to fly though." “Actually," said Lucan, “I don't think it'll be that bad. A couple of guys in the flight dynamics team have been figuring out some backup options. Visual navigation techniques, manoeuvre charts for flying manual rendezvous, that kind of thing. Theoretically we could just about do the whole thing by hand if we had to." “Have you run these on the Whirligig?" said Jeb. “We've had a couple of goes with the charts," said Lucan. “but the Whirligig isn't a good enough sim for the visual navigation procedures." Geneney looked thoughtful. "It'll need some work," he said, “but using the backup options for a non-critical rendezvous would be a valuable test anyway and it would give Bill's team more time." “Assuming that Adelan is willing, that sounds like a plan to me," said Jeb. “We'll need to have the computers working for Moho 5 and 6 though." Bill nodded. “We will," he said, “and we'll have them working by then, Jeb." “I know you will, Bill. Right, what's next?" Geneney pulled a notebook out of his pocket. “I had a rather interesting phone call the other day from a Mr Lodan," he said. “Apparently he's the director of the Kerbin Space Agency..." Jeb choked on his coffee. “The what!" “That's about what I thought," said Geneney, “Director Lodan was remarkably non-specific about the details of his space agency but he did wonder whether we would be interested in joining his tracking and communication network." Lucan looked across at him. “I'd say that we might be," he said, “What does it involve?" “As far as I could work out, free access to three tracking and communication stations," said Geneney. “The first one has just finished testing - that's down by the Koluclaw mountains. I'm not quite sure where the others are - Mr Lodan did mention place names but they didn't mean much to me." Lucan scratched his ear. “Another station out by the Koluclaws, would be useful," he said. "Between that and Sigbin and Doodie's station, it would improve our orbital coverage quite a bit. Are you sure you didn't recognise those other names, Gene?" “Afraid not," said Geneney, “but I think they were supposed to be placed equidistantly around Kerbin, or as near to equidistant as they could manage." Jeb sat up straight. “Now that would be helpful," he said. “Even better coverage for orbital spacecraft but more importantly - proper communications and tracking for Mün bound craft."He scowled. “There has to be a catch here somewhere." Geneney shrugged. “Mr Lodan did say that his facilities were for 'the further development and free use of any and all spaceflight efforts on Kerbin." “Sounds like a pompous bureaucrat to me," muttered Jeb, “This is a government organisation if I ever heard one." “Probably," said Geneney, “but any money we can save on comms facilities is money we can spend on new hardware. And frankly, I'll take whatever help we can get right now." “Help?" said Jeb, “Genie - we've got more money now than we've ever had thanks to you. The Moho 4 is going to be more of a flying billboard than a rocket ship. That new deal with Stratus was a masterpiece and I can't believe you talked Zaltonic into taking out that sponsorship deal and giving us free batteries for the rest of the Moho flights. We've even got some of the Probodyne money left! I know that we can always use more funds but is it that much of a problem right now?" “Yes," said Geneney, “it is. Look - the Moho booster can put a single crew capsule into orbit with enough consumables for maybe a day. With a bit of tweaking and a lot of weight shaving, it'll put a probe into orbit around the Mün or possibly Minmus if we pare the payload back to the bare essentials. For anything else - we're going to need a bigger rocket." “How big is big?" said Jeb. “Clustered LVT-20s in the main stage, plus more of the same or scaled up Trashcans for the strap on boosters. For the second stage we might get away with a 909 but we'll probably need to use another LVT for that as well." Jeb's face fell. “Seriously, Genie - seven, maybe eight T-20s?" “Yes," said Geneney, “Using engines and parts that we have right now, that's about the minimum we need to put a Mark 2 into orbit with a very basic service and propulsion module. The good news is that a slightly downsized version would also let us put a decent sized probe around the Mün, Minmus or possibly even Duna or Eve. Roncott and Camrie have also been doing some preliminary design work on a new probe chassis." Jeb sighed. “I can see where this is going. Fine, go ahead and see what Mr Lodan is offering." “If it makes you feel any better, Jeb," said Geneney, “I'm a bit suspicious about this myself. I can't believe that a new space agency would simply spring up out of nowhere and build a Kerbin wide space tracking network unless they were planning to do something with it." Lucan laughed. "Maybe you can pick up some business for us, Gene." Jeb finished his coffee and put his mug down. “OK then. Gene has a word with Mr Lodan and in the meantime, we go ahead with Moho 4 without the flight computer. Anything else?" He looked around his office but nobody else spoke up." “Thank you, everyone." -------------- Adelan jerked forward against her harness and narrowly managed to avoid bumping her head on the hatch wheel as the first stage engine shut down. A light blinked off on her control panel as the decoupler ring fired, pushing the spent stage away from the rest of the Moho 4. Seconds later she was pushed back into her seat again as the second stage engine lit with a reassuring rumble. She caught a brief glimpse of the midnight blue sky outside the hatch window before turning her attention back to her instrument panel. “Flight, Moho 4. Second stage ignition confirmed. Altitude and velocity are green." Lucan's voice echoed in her ear. “Copy that, Moho 4. Trajectory is nominal - you're flying straight through the window." Not the best choice of words after that staging. “Understood, Flight." Adelan kept a wary eye on the booster status displays as the Moho 4 continued it's long climb to orbit but the tank pressures and engine temperature stayed firmly within their expected limits. Apart from the steady vibration from the engine it was almost like a simulated launch in the Whirligig. Yeah and its about now that the Booth Crew like to throw something into the works. Keep on top of it Adelan. "Moho 4, Flight. Forty seconds to loss of signal. All systems are Go. Good luck." “Thank you, Flight. See you on the next orbit." The radio crackled and fell silent. Twenty seconds later the second stage engine shut down and the capsule shuddered as the final decoupler ring fired to push the empty second stage away. The reaction control system fired automatically, nudging the capsule further away from the lazily tumbling rocket. As the capsule pitched down into the correct orbital attitude, Adelan's breath caught in her throat as a blue glow filled the capsule interior and she took her first proper look outside. I don't think you're in the Whirligig any more, girl. The flight plan for the first orbit was simple. Monitor capsule systems, enjoy the view and wait to re-establish contact with Mission Control. Adelan spent most of it with her face pressed up against the hatch window watching her home roll past beneath her. From this height it was almost impossible to get any sense of depth. Continents and oceans appeared flat, spread out before her like a fantastically detailed map. Towns and cities were clearly visible as irregular sprawls of densely packed shapes that flowed across their patches of landscape like amoebae, creeping around hills and insinuating themselves into the gaps between rivers. Away from the cities, a mosaic of fields and farms marched across the land broken up by forests and moors and ending in a ragged fringe near the mountains. The regular dots of Kerm groves covered farmland and moors alike. Kerbol dipped below the horizon as the capsule sped out over the ocean. Streamers of crimson and cerise light washed through the clouds and all too soon, the capsule was plunged into darkness. Then, as Adelan's eyes adjusted, the stars came out around her. The softly glowing band of the Great River dominated her view but even from this perspective she could recognise some of the constellations; the Octopus, the Minor Fishes and the Little Snake, the Cookpot, the Plough and the Ship. Around and far beyond the familiar patterns from her childhood, uncounted shoals of new stars littered the sky. They all look very different today, she murmured to herself as the capsule raced onwards. The lights on the instrument panel dimmed as the first faint rays of light from Kerbol filtered through the clouds below. The radio crackled and buzzed and then she heard Sigbin's familiar voice. “Moho 4, Wakira Station. Come in, Moho 4." “Wakira Station, Moho 4. Peaceful morning, Sigbin." “Peaceful morning to you too, Adelan. We're tracking you in a one six two by one eighty eight orbit. Barkton will confirm timing for the first burn but in the meantime we've got some thrusters to warm up." “I have the checklist, Wakira. Standing by." Adelan set to work, setting switch positions and watching for warning lights as she brought the reaction control system online. “My board is green, Wakira. Please confirm." “Our board is green, Moho 4." “Horizon scanners are good. Starting IGU check." The navball attitude and direction indicator on Adelan's control panel shifted slightly as the guidance system updated the gyro positions in the inertial guidance unit, aligning them with the capsule axes. “Platform is good, Wakira, Re-orienting to local horizon." “Go ahead, Moho 4." Adelan took hold of the hand controller and nudged it gently to one side. There was a quick rattle of solenoids as the reaction control rockets fired, slewing the capsule slowly round. She watched the navball intently as it drifted round and then fired a second burst from to bring the capsule to a halt. Deftly she twisted the handgrip a fraction, triggering a second set of control thrusters. The capsule spun about it's axis. Flame puffed out of the thrusters again and it stopped. “Wakira, Moho 4. Oriented to horizon, roll and yaw control is good." “Copy that, Moho 4. Standby for handover to Barkton Control." “Thank you, Wakira. Have a good day down there - looks like it's going to be a scorcher." “Tell us about it. Wakira Station out." The capsule was silent for a moment and then Lucan's voice crackled over her headset. “Moho 4, Flight. How's it looking up there, Adelan?" “Beautiful view from here, Flight. Capsule systems are good, platform is aligned, RCS checks out in roll and yaw." “Understood, Moho 4. Everything looks good from here too. We'll confirm RCS in pitch and then we're Go for catch up. According to the flight dynamics team we can proceed as planned with an orbit raising burn at MET one-four-two minutes followed by circularisation at MET one-nine-one dot thirty minutes." “Copy that, Flight. Apoapsis to two one zero kilometres and then circularise at the start of orbit three. Do you have the burn times? “Affirmative, Moho 4. Stand by." --------------------- Four tongues of fire lit up the darkness over Kerbin, although nobody on the surface would have been able to see them. The matt black flanks of the capsule remained hidden in the dark, although yellowy white light sparkled off thruster housings and antennas. Inside the capsule, Adelan settled gently into her seat. Then the thrusters flicked off and she bobbed back up against her harness. An observer on the ground would have been extremely hard pressed to spot the Moho 4 as it crossed the terminator on its way up to the highest point in its orbit. Even with quite a powerful telescope, the small, dark, swiftly moving capsule would have been next to impossible to find. Fortunately, the KIS tracking station did not rely on optical tracking and the kerbals sitting at their consoles in Mission Control knew exactly when the craft was supposed to pass overhead. Even so Edsen was relieved to see his screen light up with data at the expected time. “Flight - we have reaquisition," he reported. He pushed his headset back and scratched his sweaty scalp. In the background he could hear one side of the ground to air dialogue as Lucan ran through a systems check with Adelan. According to the altitude reading on his console, the Moho 4 was near to apoapsis. Right on cue, it's velocity suddenly increased and then settled at precisely the pre-calculated value in the flight plan. "That's a good burn, Flight." “Copy that, Edsen. Let's see if we can find that satellite." Lucan turned back to his console. “Moho 4, Flight. We're Go for radar acquisition. Estimated distance to the Kerbin 1 is no more than three hundred kilometres." Aboard the Moho 4, Adelan reached out and flicked a toggle switch. In the capsule nose, Bill's rendezvous radar came to life, sweeping the space in front of the spacecraft with its electronic gaze. The reflection from the metal sphere was weak but it was enough. Adelan smiled broadly as she thumbed the microphone switch. “Flight, Moho 4. I have a lock. Range one-five-eight kilometres, bearing three dot six radial in, two dot two normal. The satisfaction in Lucan's voice was unmistakeable. “Good work. Edsen is working the next burn. Stand by. Several orbits later, the satisfaction had given way to frustration. “This just isn't working, Flight! Maybe an onboard computer or more comms uptime would do it but trying to run the manoeuvre when I'm out of touch for most of each orbit is just impossible. It doesn't matter how close I get, the damn thing just slides past at a different angle every time!" Adelan paused. “Sorry, Flight." “Judging from the language that I've been getting from the press loop, I think we can trust Leland not to write that down. We gave him a good interview with Edsen's team too. Okay, take a break and get set up for Objective Two on the next pass." “Copy that, Flight. Speak to you in an hour or so." Adelan's headset crackled and then fell silent as the Moho 4 flew over Barkton's radio horizon. She stretched as best she could in the cramped confines of the capsule and then reached for the squeeze bottle clipped to the wall. The water was tepid but still wonderfully refreshing after nearly five hours of flying. She set the bottle floating by the window, pulled a foil package out of it's clip on the wall and ripped it open. Looks like one of Ornie's compressed ration bars. Oh well, better than nothing. As she bit into the bar, her eyes lit up at the wholly unexpected taste of sweet dried sunfruit pieces and chocolate chips. I take it all back. Ornie - I think I love you!. Washing down the end of the fruit bar with a last mouthful of water, Adelan clipped the bottle back to the wall and stowed the empty foil package. Then she reached under the control panel and retrieved a coil of crinkled silvery tubing fitted with a blue adapter plug and locking collar on each end. She fitted one plug into a socket on her spacesuit, twisted it and heard it click into place. Then she twisted the locking collar in the opposite direction and felt it click into place too. Suit locked, suit lock locked. Adelan uncoiled the umbilical and plugged the other end into its socket in the arm of her seat. The tubing was stiff and drifted awkwardly around her in the zero gravity environment of the capsule. She pushed it to one side as best she could and twisted the second collar into place. Supply locked, supply lock locked She forced her hands into her stiff spacesuit gloves and secured them at the cuffs. Finally she put her helmet back on, snapping it into place on the neck ring of her suit. The suit gloves were too restrictive to let her cross her fingers, so she tapped the edge of the control panel for luck and toggled the cabin air supply switch to EVA. As cool air began to flow over her face, she switched her headset from CAB to SUIT and waited. ----------- “Wakira Station, Moho 4. Come in, Wakira." There was no reply. Adelan checked the switch positions on the communications panel and tried again. “Wakira Station, Moho 4. Come in, Wakira." She heard a faint buzz from her headset and then Sigbin's muffled voice in her ear. “Moho 4, Wakira. You're very faint, Moho 4." Adelan twisted the volume dial up to full. “I've boosted volume to maximum, Wakira. How do you read?" “Not great but enough to do the job." “Understood, Wakira. Environmental systems are Go for EVA. Requesting capsule systems check." "Copy that. Your board is green and you are Go for depress." Adelan reached out, flipped open a protective cage on her control panel and jabbed the button underneath with one padded forefinger. Immediately air began to vent from the capsule and her suit began to swell as the cabin pressure dropped. As the pressure fell below ten percent of normal, she closed the vents and re-caged the button. “Wakira, Moho 4. I'm opening the hatch." The wheel was stiff and cumbersome to operate with gloved hands but Adelan eventually managed to turn it far enough to withdraw the locking bolts and push the hatch open. She released her seat harness, took a firm hold of the hatch frame and then slowly and carefully stood up on her seat and pulled her head and body hrough the doorway into open space. There was absolute silence over the air to ground loop. Sigbin shared a worried look with Doodlie and keyed her microphone again. “Moho 4, Wakira. Do you read me?" “Loud and clear ,Wakira! You can't see me but I'm waving at you guys!" Doodlie slapped his forehead and pressed a switch on his console. “Don't bet on that, Moho 4. How about another wave for the camera?" A small television screen lit up and Doodlie's jaw dropped open. Sigbin glanced up too and promptly sat back in her chair with a thump. The curved surface of the Moho 4 filled the bottom of the screen. For the first time ever, the capsule hatch was open in flight and a space suited figure was leaning out of it and waving at them. Behind the capsule, the bright backdrop of Kerbin lit up the entire scene. The image was good enough that Sigbin could just make out clouds and the edge of the Wakira coastline. “Oh wow..." she said softly. “Moho 4, is that view as good as it looks?" “Probably even better, Wakira!" came the exuberant reply. “The view from the capsule window is spectacular enough but this... this is something else! I tell you, Sigbin - every kerbonaut that we send up needs to see this." “I don't suppose Jeb has any spaces left in the roster has he?" said Doodlie wistfully. “Not for Moho flights," said Adelan, “but we'll need plenty of new pilots for the new three kerbal capsule. We all build them - we all fly them guys." At that moment, both Doodlie and Sigbin decided that they would be taking a trip to Barkton in the not too distant future. “It's a tempting thought, Adelan. Wish we could watch you out there all day but you're about out of range. One minute to loss of signal and transfer to Barkton Control." “Understood, Wakira." Adelan waited as the radio crackled into static and back again. “Moho 4, Barkton. Come in, Moho 4." “Do I have to, Flight?" There was a pause and then a chuckle. “Not yet, Moho 4. We've got you right on camera and you've got a lot of people down here cheering at you. From the expression on Jeb's face, I think you're giving him an idea or two as well!" “The boss is watching this too, Flight?" “We're all watching this Moho 4. Everyone here at the junkyard and I don't know how many others around the world. You're headline news, Adelan!" “Too bad I can't do much more than wave at the camera, Flight." “That's good enough for us. We'll get to more complex EVAs in time but right now - you're making us proud here, Moho 4." Adelan was suddenly very thankful that her face was obscured by a reflective visor. “Uhh, thanks Flight. I just wish that everyone who helped put me up here could see this too. Flying the capsule is already pretty special but EVA... it's just me, Kerbin and the whole wide universe, Flight." For a moment, there was silence from Mission Control. “Copy that, Moho 4. I hate to bring us back to the flight plan but how's the suit holding up?" “I'm as snug as a kerblet in its pouch, Flight. Thermal control is excellent, mobility is good, environmental systems are nominal. Feels great to be able to stretch my arms without worrying about knocking into anything important." “That I can imagine, Moho 4. The Kerbal 2 was a bit cramped too but I only had to spend twenty minutes squashed between Gene and the capsule wall." Lucan paused. “OK, Moho 4, I've got a roomful of people here confirming your suit status report. How do you feel about staying outside for the extended thermal systems evaluation?" Adelan smiled behind her visor. “I'd be happy to, Flight," she said. The Moho 4 soared around the night side of Kerbin. Adelan tucked her gloved hands under the hatch wheel and watched the lights unroll beneath her. Her suit radio had long since fallen silent, leaving her to contemplate the view in peace. Enjoy it while it lasts girl she told herself You're probably the only kerbal who'll ever get to do this without having Mission Control in their ear the whole time. She glanced down and checked the suit readings on her chest. This is crazy. I'm a hundred miles into space, flying in the shadow of Kerbin and it feels like I'm tucked up in bed. Wonder if Mission Control could rig up a hammock next to the hatch? Something to lie back on and watch the stars go by. The stars faded away as Kerbol crept over the horizon, bathing Adelan and the Moho 4 in sunlight once again. Adelan sighed and prepared to climb back inside the capsule. Then she grinned. Might as well stay out here a little longer and finish the orbit first. Sigbin had to work hard to keep her voice sounding properly matter of fact. “Moho 4, Wakira. We're seeing a problem with your hatch bolts. Please confirm locking status." The voice from space still sounded a little faint. “Wakira, Moho 4. Locking status is nominal. Recommend you check external camera systems." Sigbin raised her eyebrows at Doodlie, who shrugged and flicked the camera back on. “What the...! You're still out there, Moho 4?" “Uh, it's in the flight plan, Wakira. Extended thermal systems evaluation on the suit." “Well yes, yes it is. But running the extended evaluation first time out!" Adelan's voice was soothing. “Relax, Wakira. Suit status was confirmed by Barkton before the EVA extension. Besides - I had enough light from inside the hatch and enough air in my helmet to get back inside if need be. I was just taking a nice easy journey around the world." ----------------- Astronomers all over Kerbin spotted an unusually bright shooting star passing overhead that night. The more astute ones noted its almost perfectly equatorial heading and realised what they were watching. Some of them even waved as it blazed overhead, silently wishing the pilot a safe landing. Minutes later, a dark speck sailed through the sky and out over the Great Tranquil Sea. An orange ribbon snapped out behind it, pulled taut and broke away as two orange discs burst into view. The Moho 4 was coming home. ------------------ I'd like to dedicate this one to Colonel David Randolph Scott; Apollo 15, Apollo 9 and Gemini 8, a great astronaut who never did get to take his walk around the world. << Chapter 24: Chapter 26>>

Talk about power. I'm about 300 miles from cape canaveral, and if it's clear out during a launch I can clime on my roof to see a shiny red dot fly into space. I've also made it out to cape canaveral a few times and yeah real loud.

Hmm.. That talk about the CIWS, I wonder if it might be really overpowered or underpowered. Does it just point at the COM and shoot or does it lead the target? And how much damage does the spray of bullets do, plus you made a video of it a long time ago testing lazor missiles against the CIWS, and the CIWS almost instantly destroy them. Just wondering!

I was going to address this sooner, but the forums kind of exploded, so I'll address it now. I'm not comfortable with the zealousness of some of the moderators, and we do try to avoid these situations as often as possible. As much as I hate to use the cliche "we're human" excuse, we do make mistakes quite often and we can't do everything perfectly all the time and have eyes on every thread. The reason some of our methods may seem ridiculous is due to trying to maintain continuity and consistency in our actions. That said, I'm addressing this publicly so that the thread stays going in the right direction. Let's keep this thread away from this subject, as the OP has already stated that his topics were not targeted at the moderation team. If you have complaints, there's a sub-forum to post them in and staff members who are more than willing to talk it out in a respectful and civil manner. I'm online often and am always on IRC if anyone needs to talk about issues they may be having. So please, have at the discussion in OP, but keep it that, and not a staff-bashing moshpit. Edit: My feelings on these subjects are pretty much reflected in this thread. Fragmenting the community is a bad idea. I think it's ironic that the forums went down while I was typing it out, but today's forum explosion was not on Squad's end as far as we can tell.

Love the idea, and that's not a big deal. While technically the units we use would look horrible, we just define the base unit of length, say the Plength, as whatever multiple of the Planck Length is close to a Meter (or a foot. Meter's always felt a bit too big to me) and the base unit of time, say the Tanck as the multiple closest to the second or minute (or even hour). Then we can talk about kiloplenths, or milltancks. Bonus: Millitancks is a cool name.

About my post above, when I was saying launch, I was referring to a direct ascent. I have to admit, you can't really talk about the Oberth effect in that case. The second example with the powered flyby was fine. The first example should have been about making a transfer burn to other planet from an orbit around a planet. You want to do all the acceleration required for the transfer near the Pe (and you want Pe to be as low as possible), to carry a part of your speed around the planet out of it's SOI.

@Peppe Don't forget to account for one other thing when you're talking about Max Antenna Range. It's not talking to the ground I'm wheeling for, but talking with other satellites. If, for example, I put a satellite with the 5 Mm antenna up at say, 4,000 km, then there's no way it can talk with any satellite outside a little more than a third of the circumference around. I like my low sats to be low enough so that they can interlink. As I said, part of my strategy for my constellation is redundancy through connection numbers. It's based on my gameplay philosophy. Set it and forget it. My philosophy is based on one simple thing. In real life, space infrastructure is maintained by hundreds, if not thousands of people watching things around the clock. Any deviations in the infrastructure are corrected almost immediately as needed almost non-stop. As a player, I take all those jobs and roll them into one person, me. And whatever assisting supporting programs I may have. I simply do not have the ability to split my attention to handle the kind of micromanaging that is required to keep everything well-oiled like that. Nor do I have the time to fix things. I'll probably go grab VOID if it provides me with even more accurate orbits, but the fact remains that as a Player, I don't have the ability mass-manage anything that is not 'set it and forget it'. One of the reasons why I prefer redundancy over raw accuracy. The accuracy WILL collapse, I can't escape that. I can slow it down, but that's just a stopgap measure. But I can orchestrate a mess that effectively has no holes in it save for freak events on par with The Stars Being Right. That's my philosophy/strategy.

My biggest concern is connection reliability and redundancy. I don't much like working on a long range probe if at the critical time in flight, the connection drops out because there's a hole in the network. And the biggest cause of holes is the rounding error from things going on the rails. Without time warp, a well placed constellation takes a long time to drift out of phase. Once Time Warp kicks in, the entire thing becomes a mess in the time it takes to send a ship to minmus. So I try to set up a network that maximizes uptime while mitigating any down time ASAP. Uptime tends to result from a combination of coverage and link redundancy. The more links I have between sats that have wide coverage area, the better the uptime. In this case, my primary goal is to keep the primary link to KSC up to about 99.99% (Mathematically, there WILL be a gap at some point in the game, meaning it is impossible to achieve perfect 100%) In order to ensure I have coverage and connections, I consider that my satellites have a very wide field of view of kerbin, while also being close enough that I can get them to cross-communicate with each other unless they're ocluded by kerbin itself. This way, even if they bunch-up in their orbits due to time warp, they still have LoS and range to talk to other satellites in the constellation. Like this group: I forget what sat set that was, but even though the two up on the top side of the picture are bunched up, it's clear by the cat's cradle of connections that even if they get wonky, down time remains very low. And in the image, the sats that are in lower standby orbits have higher frequencies, which allows them to swing around and clear gaps in coverage that could pop up due to drift. That's not intentional however, just a side-effect of popping a bunch into LKO first, then seeing how many I need to place. Going for simplest is a good goal, but in my opinion, it's too easy to 'break'.

I haven't looked into it yet, but I was planning on allowing modules that land in the near vicinity of another module (5m?) to be connected on site with an inflatable corridor (like the pipes in KAS). I'm planning on having some kind of resource system, it will probably be integrated with Kethane, and pipe connecter ports on the base of the fuel tanks would be excellent, so KAS is defiantly planned too, but I'd have to talk with the respective authors first. Even if I don't get around to it though, I don't foresee anything that would make them incompatible.

SimCity has them, Civilization has them, and even Minecraft has them: Community developed portals. I think its time to discuss this. It's time to form a group, a team, to develop and maintain a KSP community alternative. Why? - The community needs a reliable Spaceport alternative. All of our eggs are in the Spaceport basket, and then scattered everywhere else. Its time for a reliable alternative/second central repository of craft files. Spaceport 2 will be fine and a godsend, but the community will still need an alternative for the unexpected. - The community needs a downtime forum, and a place to post opinions outside of this forum. (Not that this post in anyway implies a complaint or desire to split or call for an exodus of content from this awesome forum here and its most excellent moderation team.) - The community needs a place to explore different means of collaborating which can scale popular ideas quickly so that Squad doesn't have to devote valuable resources managing such ideas that may or may not be successful. - The community needs a dedicated multiplayer server system. It's time to discuss your ideas and develop a plan for a KSP community alternative. This thread is NOT about leaving this community. This thread is about complementing it. Some questions to answer: -Do you think a community alternative is needed at this point? -What else do think the community needs in such a portal? -What shall we call it? -Should we keep it simple? -Who may be interested in helping to manage it or moderate it? -Who has resources they'd be willing to donate to pull this off? -Who has the skills to make this happen? -What applications should we use? Now before anyone rushes off to snap up a domain or start programming a site to get started, lets talk ideas. Let's do this together. Your suggestions are most appreciated. What are your thought and answers to the questions above?

What players have that setup? Maybe they are not using the current version or it is a video/screenshot from an old version? I think remotetech 1 allowed 2 way communication based on the average or longest range of the two antennas/dishes. Remotetech 2 the comm range is the range of the shortest device. Not sure how your relay showed connected when it was active. Do your lower KEO satellites have dishes pointing to active ship? If so you can lock them onto your deep space relay. At your distances you want a dish in LKO to talk to your relay out past the moons. The relay to to have 2 dishes one to point back to kerbin and one to point at the active ship. So the signal path would be KSC -> Antenna on KEO sat -> KEO Dish -> Deep space Dish 1 -> Deep space Dish 2 -> active craft dish 1 If your KEO comm relay is just antenna's you could launch two dish satellites in polar orbits. They should have antennas to communicate with your local comm relay to KSC. Align them perpendicular and one should always have line of site in kerbin SOI.

CHAPTER 3: INVESTIGATIONS Meanwhile, in Kerbin orbit… KSC: “…Unfortunately, everything you do from now on will be listed as deniable in the event of your, umm… capture.†Buzz: “That’s reassuring.†KSC: “Well, with something as delicate as this, I’m afraid we don’t make the rules. We’re just passing on Admiral Kierson’s message.†Buzz: “Admiral Kierson, eh?†KSC: “You know him?†Buzz: “I spoke to him after we ousted Krumer. Friendly guy, and he certainly knows what he’s doing with regards to the fleet.†KSC: “Sounds about right. Anyway, he wants you to head to the former orbit of the MSW Dresden and pick through the debris there. I know it’s not much of a first assignment, but it needs to be done.†Buzz: “Copy that, control.†Several hours later… Buzz: “Alright, what do we have here… a parachute. Well, that’s interesting.†Buzz manoeuvres the Arrow for a closer look at the drifting debris. Buzz: “Laser burns… hmm. Control, Buzz here, I need some info on the armaments of the Dresden.†KSC: “One moment… ok, the Dresden had 3 medium torpedoes and 4 laser turrets. Why are you asking?†Buzz: “Well, one thing is certain; they aren’t around anymore, but I found one of their emergency parachutes and it’s got laser burns on it. Are you sure Firespitter don’t have any armed vessels?†KSC: “They don’t have laser weapons, and as far as we can tell, they’ve only sent unarmed ships into orbit. What are you getting at, Buzz?†Buzz: “Just a theory, really, but what if that Firespitter signal cause the ship to fire at itself? Like I said, it’s just a thought, so I’ll try to find the black box of the ship to see what really happened. It should be floating around here somewhere.†KSC: “Hmm… well, whatever happened, the Dresden is gone, like you say. Damn… thanks for clarifying, anyway. You may want to head back to the spacedock.†Buzz: “Once I’m finished here, I’ll head off.†Buzz: “Stupid parachute was just cluttering the place up, anyway…†Several more hours later… Buzz: “Kerbin Spacedock, this is Buzz Kerman, requesting docking permission.†Kirfrid: “Copy that, d-docking permission granted. Will you need refuelling?†Buzz: “Affirmative. And is that you, Kirfrid?†Kirfrid: “Yeah, that’s me, Buzz. Interesting posting, this station. Anyway, we can expect f-fuel to be launched up to us in the next few days.†Buzz: “Roger that. By the way, your stammer has improved.†Kirfrid: “I had a couple of s-speech therapy sessions after we got back from Dres. It’s quite nice to be able to talk almost unimpaired.†Buzz: “I’ll bet it is. You’re not alone on that station, are you?†Kirfrid: “I think someone was due to come up at s-some point, but I’m not sure when that was supposed to be.†Buzz: “Well, we can chat then.†Kirfrid: “Indeed.â€Â

Umlux:: Judging from the setup, you have no active link between KerbNet4 and KerbNet3. Check your sats. Are they all programmed to link to active? If so, that would work fine while KerbNet4 is the active, but the moment you fly your probe, they all retargeted it. Since it's pointing at Kerbnet4, it doesn't notice the other three trying to talk to it. This is why I really want an auto-receiver. ==== Anyway, I'm doing some Plug-N-chug over here. I've determined with kerbin that the maximum surface distance to the horizon for any given sat is 942 km with lots of decimal values falling in behind it as you stack zeroes behind the altitude value. So no matter how insanely high you push your sats, the maximum surface area coverage is reached when you get up into the 900s range. The 900 km crossover point occurs at an altitude of 7883 km. At my old selected altitude of 742 km, the coverage radius is out to 664 km, or a little over 2/3 of the hemisphere. Plugging around, I discovered that as far as the distance curve goes, the gain for surface area falls off steeply after about 1000 km altitude. All things considered, since perfect hemispherical coverage is a mathematical impossibility, I want to know what you guys think is a 'threshold' percentage of coverage to use as the standard when furthering calculations. 2/3? 3/4? 5/8? I'll see if I can find an official 'standard' myself.

Hardly a bad day, you got to talk about KSP. I'd expect your teacher to be impressed - not many play around with orbital mechanics for fun.

First and foremost: Ill leave this one up to the mods if this counts as "Better/More interesting planetary surfaces" I just thought I would throw my two cents in as to how they could be better, because I think Laythe in particular needs huge improvements, and I'm not trying troll the forums moaning about how things just need to be "better" Now, formalities aside, lets talk about how I think Laythe could be improved! 1: Coral reefs along the shorelines: Laythe is an ocean world, so lets use that to our advantage and include lovely coral reefs. who knows? you might find a curious fish among the colorful coral! The coral could be of various different types and colors, and perhaps be different types on different islands. Perhaps samples of rarer coral could yield a higher scientific value? (P.S, About the fish, I know "aliens" aren't happening in this game, but this ain't exactly E.T. we're talking about here) 2: cliffs and crags: I saw this trailer for a game called "space engine" I don't know if anyone here has heard of it, but at the 5 minute mark it showed a world surprisingly similar to Laythe. This shows exactly the problem with current terrain in ksp. its too smooth! I have not really seen any truly epic mountains or cliffs or ridges. I mean, current terrain gets the job done, but its not quite as pretty as this. Perhaps if Laythe happened to suffer a few eruptions, the lava could make a few interesting formations... 3: Good god, Laythe is dull. I hate to break it to you, but your moon looks dead. Even the oceans manage to be dead and grey, and this is a problem for such a pretty moon. why not brighten things up a bit? I don't know quite how to explain it, and it certainly doesn't need a completely different color scheme, but something is missing. it looks bare bones at the moment. Tying in with number 4, continents with volcanoes could be rocky and solid. A welcome retreat from the dull grey sand. The oceans need brightening up as well. Perhaps the addition of waves and tides could help with this a little? Should a storm come, coastal bases had better watch out! 4: Volcanoes and hot lava! Given the nature of this planet, and how it obviously has volcanic activity within it (or a result perhaps caused by tidal forces from Jool?), I think it could use a few volcanoes on its surface, to help heat up the moon so far from the sun. alongside a couple minor ones... somewhere on the surface, lies a continent dominated by an extremely powerful and gigantic volcano of epic proportions!!! Kerbals trying to land had best beware, as the huge clouds of smoke and ash can damage solar panels and scientific equipment, and the pit of lava in its center is extremely dangerous, and instantly fatal. Despite its dangerous nature, the volcano is quite a site to see from a safe distance, as its massive plumes of smoke can be seen for miles, and reach all the way up to the edge of the atmosphere! Perhaps when weather and clouds are added, huge storms could come from this plume and travel for miles? 5: Glowing green....er. Radiation! Many people have wondered about the implementation of radiation, given Laythes proximity to Jool. I don't know quite how this would work. Kerbals with cancer? no thanks. If anyone has any ideas for how our little moon could turn fallout-style, ill be sure to add them up here That's about it for now, I hope folks reading this like my ideas, and even have a few of their own. Laythe has a lot of potential for exploration and science, and I look forward to all the devs have planned for it.

Coming now is the whole preparation for the parts transfer to Jool and Laythe, in Kerbin orbit. 6 ships, including 4 nuclear tugs and 2 "space shuttles" (cannot land, they are space bound only). I will talk about the fuel cargo and SSTO in separate posts. Shuttle cargo takeoff (it's technically a SSTO but once in space it stays there): Jool base core in orbit: and there, attached to its tug: Moving off to Jool: Other parts (fuel tanks, control modules): This is the articulated boom with the small dock port, for space planes mostly: Docking the hab module for the Jool base:

FROM KERBIN TO THE MUN Part X: The Trouble With Kerbals/Beyond the Green Event Horizon Thingamabob Sort of a Space Odyssey There was a tap at the door. Gene Kerman guiltily tucked his 1/16th complete Kubik’s Rube ™ behind his desk. “Enter,†he said. It had been quiet around the space center of late. Suspiciously quiet. Things had never been better at the Kerbal Space Center. Jeb was certifiably dead; and Bill and Bob were stuck on a highly elliptical interplanetary orbit. Productivity was up, explosions were down, funding was nominal. Gene should have been happy. Instead, though he hated to admit it… he was bored. The knocking at his door continued. “Come in already!†he yelled. Wernher Von Kerman poked his head around the door. “I’m sorry,†he said. “I thought I heard you say ‘Enter’…†“Von Kerman, what a pleasure! I was just thinking of you,†Gene Kerman said. “I’ve been meaning to speak to you about some of the line items on your latest project budget.†“Exactly!†Von Kerman beamed. “Which is vy I want to show you my latest creation. Shall ve take a stroll?†Outside the space center administration building, the Taco Supreme leaned heavily against it’s Clamp-O-Tron ™ moorings, silver duct tape glistening in the morning sun. In front of the launch pad was parked a brand-new shiny red convertible. “This is exactly the budget item I wanted to speak to you about,†said Gene Kerman. “Ah yes,†said Von Kerman happily. “The critical component of my latest project. Simply take one late-model, high performance sports car, a Kamborghini ™ , say…†“And you strap a bunch of boosters to it? Turn it into a time machine?†“No…†said Wernher Von Kerman, getting into the convertible next to a busty, blonde-haired, green-skinned kerbal. “Well, I’m glad ve had this little discussion. See you on ze flip side, ja?†He started the car and peeled out with a roar, leaving Gene Kerman coughing and sputtering in a cloud of high-test unleaded exhaust. “Excuse me, sir?†Gene Kerman wheeled around. There, healthy as lemmings, were the three stooges: Jeb, Bill, and Bob Kerman. Bill Kerman pointed at the Taco Grande, sagging dangerously against its moorings. “I’m concerned about the thrust-to-weight ratio on that thing.†Bob Kerman said “And I’d like to talk about the return-stage delta vees.†Jebediah Kerman said “Green crayons taste the same as red ones.†Oh boy, just like old times. “Where the heck did you guys come from?†Gene was going to have to plug in his wah-wah pedal again. “Well,†said Jeb. “You see,†added Bob. “It’s a long story…†concluded Bill. “Can it,†snapped Gene. “Alright you pimento-stuffed olives, into that command module this instant! I want all three of you strapped in and ready to go. Blast-off is in two minutes. Don’t be late!†“But sir,†said Bill, “Where are we going?†“What’s our destination?†asked Bob. “Can I have another green crayon?†asked Jeb. Gene Kerman regarded the three kerbonauts with loathing. It seemed he’d chosen the wrong week to stop drinking. “Anywhere,†he growled, “but here.†“I hear Eeloo is very nice this time of year,†said Bill, thumbing the SAS to the ‘on’ position. “What’s an eeloo?†asked Jeb, eyeing the big friendly red ‘launch’ button with lust in his heart. “Here we go again,†said Bob with a sigh, clipping the buckle on his harness and adjusting the straps. END. For real. All ashore whats going ashore.

A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away, there was talk about some ' new landing gear'... Did anything ever happen along those lines / ideas ????

See post #42 Page 5 P.S. Just realized it was actually #42! Talk about the ultimate answer : D

All I could see was red. All I could hear was my own heart pumping hot blood. That's why we've been here, this whole time... How many times has he... I looked up into Habitat A where Ferdan was floating with his arms folded... Thinking. Thinking of ways to experiment with us. Thinking of ways to torture us! I grabbed the opening of the docking port and flew through. "Hey Ferdan!" The second he looked at me, I punched him. I punched him again after that. Then again. Then again. Then again. "YOU! SON! OF A *****!" He grunted but said nothing. His eyes closed momentarily, but when they reopened it was the same stare I'd come to expect. The same toying, manipulative, venomous glare... "So, you figured it out." I punched him again. "Go ahead and hit me! It doesn't make any difference. Our work here is bigger than this - the two of us fighting here." I punched him again. He spat out blood. "You think you took me by surprise, didn't you? Now the real test begins!" I didn't punch him. Why didn't I punch him? "Oh, you're confused? I thought you figured out everything! Clearly not..." What... "Let me spell it out for you. Hit yourself." I punched myself in the jaw as hard as I possibly could. "Get it now? Hit yourself again." I wanted to disobey, but my body just went with it. Now I was spitting up blood. "I can see it in your eyes. I own you, and you know I own you... But I don't own your thoughts. Tell me what you're thinking, now." You're insane! "You're insane!" My mouth spoke the words I didn't want to. "Interesting. The conditioning seems to work on bodily functions. I can make you do anything I want you to. I could make you get in the airlock with no space suit. I could make you strangle yourself unconscious. I could make you stop eating and die of starvation. A kerbal with no sense of will, no self preservation, who blindly follows every order he's given. Would this not be the holy grail of any business, or military, or space program? Think of the leaps and bounds we'd make in science if our subjects didn't object! But clearly the conditioning only goes skin deep. More testing is necessary on you, 1-4-1..." "What are you tal-" "-quiet! You thought we selected you for this program because of your experience flying jets for four months? We've used trained monkeys with more qualifications than that! It was all so convenient how you got here, wasn't it? A daddy who beat you because he never could forget his own failures, which drove you into the military to get away... To seek the power you never had. And that brought you right to us... You never had to work hard a day in your life, and you just ended up on the first mission in 15 years? Let me tell you something... We never stopped. We just tested, and built, and continued. We have colonies on every world in this solar system and you never knew about a single one of them because we never wanted you to. Our work here at Halcyon Point has been invaluable in creating willing subjects to fly our rockets. To go on our suicide missions. To go land on other worlds and never come back! You never question. You never wonder. You never fight. And each time you die your memories and experiences are uploaded into the subconscious of the next clone that we make of you, so you're that much better at what you do. THAT is the legacy of Halcyon Point!" You used us... "Bill..." He hit me. "Shut up! Did I say you could talk? Clearly the conditioning isn't perfect! Yes, Bill died up there, 15 years ago. So did Jebediah. I made sure that their bodies went to a useful purpose... They were the first and second subjects, and Bob knew too much... So he became the third. They never came back from the Mun, but their legacies are so much greater now! We could never have expanded to other worlds if we never utilized them to their fullest potential." You... You "kept" us ignorant... "Blind..." "What was that?" He may have been able to control my body, but he could never control the rage I felt in that moment... "You... kept us... blind... You used us..." My hands twitched. "YOU USED US!" I grabbed the wall and hurled myself at him, fists flying in a blind rage. "We're experiments to you! We're Kerbals! We think!" Punch him. "We feel!" Hurt him. "We breath!" Kill him. "You slaughtered us for science... You ****ing monster! This experiment ends today!" "This experiment ends WHEN I SAY IT ENDS!" He shoved off of the bulkhead and piled into me. My head hit the hatchway into the common area. He tumbled past me, pulling me through the doorway with him, hitting me in the chest and stomach. I kicked out for him, but struck a nearby supply bag. DVDs and snacks went flying everywhere. "What do you think is going to happen here!? You're just going to beat me until I die? Until you win? I can kill you with a word!" "Then why don't you!?" "MechJeb!" "Awaiting orders." "Terminate-" "-Halcyon Point!" I shouted. "What!? No. Countermand that order!" "Terminate Halcyon Point!" I shouted again. "Initiating..." "MechJeb! Do not listen to that order. Countermand!" We locked stares. "You gave me access to MechJeb's orders. I remember because you used me to kill Dandun... Now I'm going to use it to end this whole messed up enterprise. You have hubris old man, and in your hubris you have failed." "Anything you say, I will countermand... And anything I say, you will countermand... It looks like we're at a stalemate." "Not exactly..." MechJeb crackled on over the intercom "Self destruct sequence activated. Locking voice command protocols. Initiating self destruct in 60. 59. 58. 57-" "****... What have you done!? How!?" "Look behind you..." He did... Ferdred met his gaze. Eyes locked, he smiled a knowing smile then closed his eyes. "Your 'cognative playback' killed him, but it never defeated him..." "40. 39. 38. 37-"

All this talk of structural stability makes me think Harvestr ought to discuss consider making Ferram's Kerbal Joint Reinforcement part of the stock game. "Moar struts!" is fine a punchline to a joke but the stock attachment physics is seriously wonkly. KJR makes things MUCH better, and by eliminating needless struts it helps keeps part-counts down from many craft.

Uh guys... Couldn't you just code the game to run a check to see if the ship is capable of transmitting (which is already does on command), and then code the end screen to award a 'recovery of data from a ship crashed on X' the same way it handles determination whether you recover or scrap a vessel? To prevent it happening for landers, it only works on a 'catastrophic failure!' screen. I mean, the game is already doing everything it needs for this to work. The different aspects just need to talk to one another. As for seismometers and stuff. Yeah, that's one thing that they do. Though I think it's much more common to send the impactor, and then watch the resulting plume/crater with spectrometers and telescopes and such. Since we don't HAVE those... I think it's a fair abstraction to assume the kerbals have their big lenses trained on your kaboom.

Ok, I've created and tested some rebalance files for ECLSS: First up, assumptions and usage rates: O2 requirements per 24 hours: 550 liters (real world value for an average Human) CO2 production per 24 hours: 495 liters (real world value for an average Human) O2 and CO2 storage attributes (based on real world values) http://sdrv.ms/1a1Sn2p Conversion of CO2 to O2 using the reprocessor: I have used the chemical equation 2CO2 --> 2C0 + O2 This is a real world reaction so it seems a good base. It does mean that the reprocessor is only 50% efficient and you end up with waste Carbon Monoxide. I'll talk about how to change this value below. Adjusting the parts: This mod halves the scale of the ECLSS parts, so that the large tanks and reprocessor are now 1.25m parts and the single tanks are smaller. These new size parts have a storage capacity more in line with real world values. Then I have added O2 and CO2 storage to all manned command pods, each has enough for either 1 day or 3 days supply (assuming fully crewed pods. You can select how many days by using the appropriate file (see below) Using the Mod First up install ECLSS Next download the rebalance files here http://tinyurl.com/kaxdetu Unzip the file! In your KSP folder open GameData, LifeSupport and delete the two .cfg files Then copy in the LifeSupport.cfg from the downloaded zip file Finally select one of the other .cfg files from the downloaded zip file and copy this to the GameData,LifeSupport folder. The 2 files allow you to select how much O2 is present on command pods, either a 1 day supply or a 3 day supply. Note that these modulemanager files will add ECLSS functionality to any manned command pods (stock and mods) based on crew capacity. More information and installation video avalalble at http://www.kingtiger.co.uk/kingtiger/wordpress/2014/01/02/mod-eclss-rebalancer/ Finally, Licence information: This mod is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported licence. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ Feel free to share and modify the files, but please give credit to the author of this mod and to the authors of any mods referenced in this one.

By the time Bill had docked the Wilbur II to Kewton Station for the third time, he was well past seething and beginning to positively fume. "Jeb gets all of the glory while I get all of the drudgery," he muttered to himself as he hauled the latest batch of Mun rocks into Kewton Station's lab. It was hard to argue with this. Jeb had, of course, been the first to set foot on Mun, landing in East Farside crater piloting the Wilbur I. Jeb had then performed the tricky hop into the canyon on the east side of the crater. He gathered rock samples and performed science experiments at both locations, all the while breathlessly watched by all of kerbal-kind. After Jeb splashed down in the Kacific Ocean, he was immediately whisked off to the Kresident's office to receive medals, and then on to parades across Kerbin. He appeared on the Johnny Karson show. Jeb was feted, applauded, and huzzahed. With Jeb's smashing success, KSC launched Kewton Station into orbit about Mun, placing Bob in charge of operations there. While this didn't generate quite the hoopla that Jeb's landing had, a visibly nervous Bob was interviewed on the David Ketterman show via satellite uplink. Bob explained Kewton Station's purpose of being the orbital lab in which future Mun rocks and Mun-based experiments would be processed before being returned to Kerbin for futher study. KSC engineers designed the Wilbur II, a craft capable of visiting two separate landings sites on Mun and docking with Kewton Station. They tapped Bill for the pilot of Wilbur II, as Jeb was quite exhausted by groupies. Bill was initially thrilled to be chosen. He would not only land on Mun once, but four times! He would advance Kerbal science to an unprecedented degree, as he would explore a whopping eight regions with Wilbur II. Not only that, but he would perform the tricky dockings with Kewton Station, and would perform extended EVA missions hauling in the samples and results of Wilbur II's experiment bays. He would finally be able to outshine Jeb! Little did he realize the fickle ways of fame. On his first trip he landed at Twin Craters, explored the Midlands adjacent to them, and successfully delivered his bonanza of science to Kewton Station. "Good job, Bill," said Bob, "but we're kind of on a tight schedule here as the East Crater window is coming up. We'll need you to undock and de-orbit as soon as the experiments have been re-fitted." Bill gamely rushed back to the cramped confines of Wilbur II and performed a flawless landing in East Crater. He performed his allotted sampling and experimenting, and then skipped over to the Highlands for another round before again returning to Kewton Station. "Hey, Bill," Bob said on his return, "the Kresident wants to talk to you." "Finally," Bill thought to himself. "I'm getting the recognition I deserve!" Bill activated the satellite uplink with a smile. "Yes, Mr. Kresident?" "Bill, you know Jeb best," the krackly voice of the Kresident said. "What's his favorite kolor? I want to present him with a ceremonial sash to hang his medals from, and want to make sure he'd like it." Bill was of course krushed. "Klear!" he snarled into the uplink, and then disconnected. He stomped back to the now fairly smelly, cramped confines of Wilbur II, made sure the experiments were ready to go, and decelerated toward the Munar surface. This time Bill took on the Northwest Crater, and then performed a pinpoint landing in the Midland Craters. Again, he returned the science bounty back to Kewton Station. Bob met Bill at the lab's airlock. "All we need now is the Farside Crater, Bill. After that we can take all of these results back to Kerbin. I don't have to tell you the scientists back at KSC are really chomping at the bit to get the complete data set back. If you hustle you can just make the de-orbit window." Bill had finally had enough. "If KSC wants those results so badly," he shouted at a rather startled Bob, "they'll have to play by my rules!" He stormed back to the Wilbur II and cast off before the lab personnel had a chance to refurbish the experiments. It's hard to say whether the fire from the Rockomax engines or Bill's rage was hotter as he landed in Farside Crater. Bill stomped (as well as one can stomp in 1/6 G) out onto the Munar surface. In full view of the cameras he cut the Wilbur II's fuel lines. Bill's epic pout had begun. "I'm tired of being cooped up in this tin can! Send me a proper habitat that's well stocked with delicious snacks, or you will never know the secrets of Farside Crater!" The engineers at KSC quickly attached a Hitchhiker to a Stayputnik, imaginatively named it Farside Habitat I, and landed it near the disabled Wilbur II. Bill immediately entered it, removed his suit, took a long-overdue shower, and gorged himself on snacks. His pout, however, still endured. "Um, the really good samples are a few klicks away from the landing site," he radioed back to KSC. "You'll need to send me a rover if you want them." He then took another shower and ate more snacks. The engineers at KSC were up to the challenge. They sent not one, but two rovers to Farside Crater. "This is more like it!" Bill chortled to himself as he zipped about the Munar landscape. He was not done with his epic pout, however. "The findings here are so rich, you should send a full science lab here," was Bill's next transmission back to KSC. This caused some konsternation among the engineering staff, but they were (barely) able to launch a lab staffed with the least stupid recruits and equipped with two full experiment kits, and land it by the rest of the klutter that Farside Crater had accumulated. "OK, Bill," the scientists aboard the lab said, "load up the samples and we'll take it from here." Bill kackled evilly. He knew the scientists didn't have EVA suits aboard their lab. "I will only hand these samples over to Jeb!," Jeb was quickly bundled aboard a kourier ship, and landed at what was now known as Farside Base. He climbed down the ladder, medals gleaming on his klear sash he wore over his EVA suit, and konfronted the recalcitrant Bill. "Bill," Jeb said, "don't you think it's time to come home?" "Why should I?", asked Bill. "Here. Take these rotten samples and go on." "But Bill," replied Jeb, "don't you realize that with all of the discoveries you've made, once we get all of the results back to Kerbin we will be able to go to Duna? Heck, I'll even let you go first this time. Now let's grab Bob and get home." So Bill finally ended his epic pout. Bill and Jeb rendezvoused with Kewton Station, retrieved Bob and the accumulated research stashed there, and returned to the jubilant scientists eagerly awaiting them at KSC. As Jeb predicted, the research Bill had gathered was enough to catapult kerbal technology into the interplanetary arena. So impressed was the Kresident with the results, he forgave Bill his pout and awarded him the Kobel Prize on Bill's very own klear sash. THE END

Ok I've mashed up all of your guy's ideas an written up most of chapter 1 of the quest. I'll finish chapter 1 later today then design the scenes and resource lists. Kerbol Quest Quest 1: trouble on the blue marble Chapter 1: Pre made Save file. Jeb is inside the command center at KSC an npc is at the bottom of the ramp with an explanation point over his head. (Scott Manley was to play this character, Admiral S. Kermin) Interacting with him we get a voice over; Jeb! Glad to see you. It's been a while since we last had an assignment like this, and you are the most qualified to handle it, so let me get right to it. (Main monitor on back wall puts up picture of kerbin with red crosshairs pointing at old KSC) We've been picking up radio transmissions from the old decommissioned space center. Nobody has been there in 3 years and our satellites are showing no trace of movement or heat signatures within 5km, so we need you to take a closer look to see what's going on. We have a jet waiting for you on the runway over here that's equipped with a new encrypted radio system, please report to us with the new radio once you arrive and we will proceed from there! (Jeb walks to runway and boards aircraft. Fly to old KSC, land anywhere inside the valley then exit the aircraft. Interact with the radio system that is on the side of the aircraft) Voice over admiral kerman; Jeb on your decent your onboard camera saw something odd at the top of that mountain to the north. Last time we were here there was no cave up there but now it looks like there's an opening part way up the mountain! That over hang explains why we couldn't see it with our satellites. We are going to need you to get up there and check it out. It looks too small to land a jet at, and too steep to walk or drive up the mountain. Come back and see what the boys in the lab can do for you. I heard they have something that will be just the ticket! (Jeb flies to KSC to the Rocket Lab building, interacts with NPC. ) Voice over; Yes, yes, mhmm. Oh right. Wait, who? Oh Jebidiah! I was told to expect your visit! And I know exactly what you need! Unfortunately our prototype had a few,, erm, bugs.. It didn't really survive its initial test flight. You know how that goes eh Jeb? We've worked out what went wrong and made the proper changes, the thing is we don't have some of the parts we need to built the Mark 2. If you don't mind waiting we can have them all shipped here, but Admiral Kerman said you would be in a hurry.. Lets see.. Since none of us are really capable of flying anything faster than a butterfly, we need you to go collect the parts for us. Once you bring them all back here we can assemble the Mark 2 and add it to your inventory! (Hands Jeb a disk) here are the coordinates for the Kerbinite mine. We'll tell the mining director to expect your arrival! Give me a call on your secure radio once you have retrieved the Kerbinite and I'll give you the next location! (Board jet and fly to the mine north east of KSC. Land on the KT placed runway, walk to the mine and talk to the npc. ) Here you are Jeb, we just finished packaging it for you! (Return to jet and use radio) Rocket scientist: You got the Kerbinite? Great! Ok, you'll need to take that over to the low-grav refinery and just.. Oh, um, we'll there's something I forgot to mention. Jeb the Low Grav Refinery is on the Mun. See, one of the problems with the Mark 1 was that the Kessler Coils were made here, in normal gravity, and that made the thing spin out of control. Our low-grav refinery was built to handle much more precise machining jobs like what we need now. Admiral Kerman just sent word that you've got permission to take a ship up to the refinery. He also mentioned they have a few things for you to do up there before you come home. Guess he wants to kill two birds with one stone! We've programmed the landing coordinates into the ships landing computer and told them you are on your way. See you when you get back! (Board jet, fly to KSC, go to launch pad and board the rocket waiting there. Launch to orbit and transfer to Mun. Land at coordinates that pop up on the screen when you enter Mun SOI. Land at coordinates. The refinery has a 100 meter across landing pad with inlaid lighting, and a structure off to one side. It is built over top of a large crater with large metal beams holding it level with the lip of the crater. Some ramps lead to the mun surface) At the entrance to the structure the NPC talks; Jeb you made it! I was so worried! Here, I'll take that kerbinite, it will take me a little while to build your Kessler coil, but I've got a problem I need you to look into while I'm doing it. This refinery is built over top of a special crater. The meteor that hit the Mun here contained special mineral deposits that we are trying to extract, but our drill rig down below is on the fritz. Would you be able to go take care of it? I'm sure I'll be done with this by the time you get back! (Go down below the landing pad into the crater. There is a glowing meteor nested in the crater with scaffolding all around it and a drill rig beside it, not functioning) Talk to the NPC by the drill. "Jeb? They send you to take a look at this piece of junk? Well, the tools are down there by the ladder, and the control panel is right over here. Good luck! (Look at control panel. Go to tool box and grab hammer and duct tape. Go to drill and use hammer. Go to control panel and use duct tape to hold wires in. Press green button and drill starts to spin and sparks start coming off the drill bit) Talk to NPC: "I should have known that's what you'd do. Well, thanks a lot Jeb! See you in a month when I rotate back home!" (Go back to top level, talk to NPC.) "You fixed the drill? Good man! Here's your Kessler coil! Best of luck to you! (Board rocket, return to KSC, walk to rocket lab and talk to Scientist) Oh great! You got it! While you we're away I had a few of the other parts we were missing delivered, so just let me install this coil and the Mark 2 will be all set! There we go, You should have the Mark 2 in your assembly buildings now. (Jeb returns to the command center) Admiral Kerman says: Jeb I got word that you've recieved the prototype Jet Pack? Good. You'll need to equip it on your next mission. Make sure you stick it on your plane where you can get at it and head back to that cave entrance! (Player makes an aircraft or rocket with jet pack mounted on it somewhere then flys to old KSC and boards jet pack. Player flys from landing site to the cave entrance and lance inside the entrance. Leave jet pack and enter the large steel doors inside cave.) Inside the mountain is hollowed out into one very large room at the end of a tunnel. Lots of computer screens and something that looks like a supercollider coiled around the outer edge of the room. A couple of scientist can be seen at the far side of the room working on their computers. Interact with one of the scientists and dialog comes up. "Wow, how did you manage to get in here? This is the ending to chapter 1, a LOT of time was put into making each of the scenes, between the 6 different modelers. The Kerbinite mine is the biggest scene, as its an entire hollowed out mountain with tunnels and structures inside and a large runway and worksite with buildings and everything outside. The Low Grav Refinery is the next largest, being a large flat kerbal made object on the Mun, with multiple levels. edit: ive also updated the Jetpack mod for 0.23 over here but dont want to needlessly bump it