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KERBAL HARD + UNCUT | Episode 001 | 100% Stock

‐The Cold War was a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc, which began following World War II. Historians do not fully agree on its starting and ending points, but the period is generally considered to span the 1947 Truman Doctrine (12 March 1947) to the 1991 Dissolution of the Soviet Union (26 December 1991). The term cold war is used because there was no large-scale fighting directly between the two superpowers, but they each supported major regional conflicts known as proxy wars. The conflict was based around the ideological and geopolitical struggle for global influence by these two superpowers, following their temporary alliance and victory against pedant Germay in 1945. Aside from the nuclear arsenal development and conventional military deployment, the struggle for dominance was expressed via indirect means such as psychological warfare, propaganda campaigns, espionage, far-reaching embargoes, rivalry at sports events and technological competitions such as the Space Race. Before we get into the specifics, I'd first like to hand out some major props to several people, not the least of which includes @Superfluous J (for his continued involvement with the Kerpollo Program), @18Watt (for his continued involvement in the Elcano Challenge), @JAFO (for his continued involvement in the Caveman Challenge), and @Akagi (for setting up the Historical Replica Challenge, of which this challenge is partially borne). There are many people here on the forums that deserve kudos, but these 4 individuals specifically have pushed me to be better at this game, and of that their ideas have sparked in me an idea for a challenge of my own to put forth and be the moderator of. What will come of it? I don't know. But let's have some fun trying to find out, shall we? This challenge is based upon the real-life Space Race, a technological competition/conflict between the USSR and the USA, starting with the Truman Doctrine in 1947 and ending effectively with the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. During these 44 years, these 2 superpowers undertook what can now only be defined as the great leap forward technologically, each pushing the other to develop better and new ways to explore the vastness of space around our little blue globe. It starts with the launching of the first true ICBM in 1957, and it ends with the launching of the Mir space station in 1991 (shortly before the USSR dissolves officially and is no longer seen as 1 unified country in the eyes of the United Nations). So, what are the challenge parameters? How does one go about fulfilling the challenge requirements to get one of those sweet, sweet signature badges? I'm so glad you asked! Choose a side, Soviet or American, and, using the list that follows, launch every single rocket or satellite or what-have-you in chronological order for that superpower. The only exception here is that, should you decide to be the Soviets, you do not have to launch the first ICBM (although you may certainly do so if you so wish). On this note, you may absolutely decide to be one side, and then follow it up with the other, to earn both of the individual badges. If you are so inclined, do them both at once, again in chronological order, to get the combined badge. Start a new game on a difficulty no easier than Normal. If you wish, you may absolutely do a harder difficulty. All you may not do with the difficulty settings is make this easier than Normal. You have your option of which kind of game you want to play: Sandbox. Access to all parts right away. Science. Play here for a bit of a challenge, or if you want to farm science points. Normal Career. So you have nano-crystalline in your blood, eh? No contracts, ans toi start with no parts and lousy weight and part limits. Finishing this would be impressive. Track your progress, either in a Mission Report or here in this thread. For every launch, you must provide at a minimum: A screen shot of your ship/payload on the launchpad. A screen shot of your ship/payload in flight. A screen shot of your ship/payload at the target destination. For any ships/payloads that you return to Kerbin, you must provide a shot of the ship/payload back on the surface. All launches for Soviet craft are to be done from the Desert Launch Complex, while all American craft are to be launched from the Kerbal Space Center. No other launch sites are to be used. This inherently means that you must have the Making History DLC...or provide me with a really good reason why you can't launch from the Desert Complex for Soviet craft. All craft should be as close to being historically accurate as you can make them. If you are using Stock parts (this means that you are not using any part mods), some leeway will need to be taken into account as a lot of the early parts won't get you entirely accurate with the rockets/designs. All target destinations/orbits should be as close to being historically accurate as possible. This includes inclination, Ap, Pe, etc. Below is a list of all of the Space Race first launches that need to be completed for this challenge. I have given links to specific rockets so people can see the accurate rocket/orbit/destination information. I am aware that it is generally seen as incomplete to not give this information in this post, but if I did that then I'd be typing until the Kerbals come home. I have given lists broken out by decade, with the Soviets and Americans interspersed. This should allow people to see who is doing what at a given time, as well as allow those of you who are wishing to do both sides at once an easier time of seeing what needs to be done. 1957 - 1959 1960 - 1969 1970 - 1979 1980 - 1990 If you think that's a lot of missions to undertake in one challenge, then you are correct. In this 40+ year period, our world went from barely being in the sky to setting foot on the Moon and attempting to have at least a few people live in space. And when you think that, until the early 1900s people were still using horse-and-buggy as a primary means of land transportation, the scope of what was undertaken is pretty massive. And so, therefore, is this challenge. Keep in mind that this is not meant to be an actual "race" between anyone...unless you and a friend wish to make it so. There are going to be 3 categories for entry into this challenge. They are: Stock, Unmodded. DLC (Making History, Breaking Ground) do not count as modded entries. Stock Parts, Modded. This includes all submissions that do not have part mods, but do in fact have other mods that alter gameplay. The use of KER and MJ are allowed, but they will be scrutinized for all the missions in the 1950s as tech/science in that timeframe was pretty limited. Fully Modded. This includes any submissions that include part mods. Any submission that includes RSS falls into this category. Any mods that alter physics or the tech tree must be approved prior to use. Let me state that again with some flair so it is not lost in this sea of text: Any mods that alter physics or the tech tree must be approved prior to use. I'm not against using them, I just simply am not familiar with every single mod out there that could exist, and I'd like to review them to make sure they don't make this challenge so easy that you push one button and you are done. I believe in being fair, so I ask you to help me out with some of this. Once people start submitting and completing this challenge I will put up the leaderboard for the different categories. And I will also be submitting my own entry here so you can see that I'm not above trying to do this myself. And, of course, what people really want: Badges. With all of that said, I welcome questions and/or comments on this challenge. I tried not to duplicate anything else already being done or having been set up in the past, but I'm not perfect. If I missed something or didn't clarify enough, ask! Participants, Stock Unmodded @18Watt, attempting to do the American/Soviet combo. Finished the 1950s. Complete through Syncom III. Participants, Fully Modded @Scarecrow71, attempting to do the American/Soviet combo. Finished the 1950s. Complete through Apollo VIII. @jinnantonix, attempting to do the American/Soviet combo. Finished the 1950s. Complete through X-15. @Thundrevv, attempting to the Americans only. Complete through Vanguard I.