getting a science lab to minmus without massive rockets

[MrDude]

KIS and KAS mods are great fun and allow you to do some repair work or upgrades in the field. Simply send an experienced engineer as part of the crew. Pack an antenna part in his seat (right click in the VAB) or attach a 2nd antenna to the repair craft). Once you arrive take the antenna off or out of storage and install it on the other craft. KIS has a PDF manual (pack one of those as a part on the flight too if you want!)

[Anglave]

My suggestions were never intended to be the most cost efficient solution; the original question was simply "Can I get this payload to Minmus with Skippers."

The answer is yes.

Beyond that, I wanted to give mrklaw an idea of the power of Asparagus. Certainly a 6x radial Skipper launch vehicle is overkill for that payload, but I was building it from memory.

If your concern is launch cost, my recommendation would be to subsidize your desired missions with contracts.

You can "X" out the offered contracts at no penalty, and cycle through until you find compatible ones. If someone's going to pay you to put things in orbit or on the surface (or to collect science or explore) where you want to go anyway, just build your craft to meet their requirements and your mission goals.

I haven't found vehicle costs to be a major factor in my career. They're tiny compared to the cost of upgrading KSC.

If you're penny pinching, the SRBs are much less expensive, and fairly easy to recover (put a parachute on top of the SRB that deploys when you stage it). The same can in theory be done for the liquid booster stages, but I haven't tried it myself.