Science Mode with a 100 Part Limit

[IntellectualTortoise]

After reading @Ultimate Steve's mission report of a science mode game with a limit of 100,000 funds, I wanted to challenge myself in a similar vein. I started a new normal-difficulty science mode save with the intention to get as far in the game as possible while having no more than 100 parts in flight at any one time. I also imposed the following secondary rules for added difficulty:

• Parts that are destroyed do not replenish the number of parts available; i.e. parts must be recovered on Kerbin for the number of available parts to increase
• No launching from the runway; that would make this challenge too easy as I could just use SSTO spaceplanes once I get the technology
• Any parts manipulated in EVA construction (besides items that can't be normally placed on a vessel like EVA packs and deployable science gear) must be launched outside of a storage container
• Stock+DLC parts only (I have other parts mods installed but am using Janitor's Closet to ensure I do not place modded parts on a vessel accidentally)
• Stage Recovery mod will not be used even though I have it installed; i.e. all craft landing on Kerbin must do so via manual piloting
• Kerbal Engineer use is limited to the HUD at the top of the screen and checking part counts in flight

The first launch in the save is the Hydrogen manned by Bob Kerman, collecting science from the launchpad, lower atmosphere and ocean. A simple 4-part hopper that is fully recovered along with 58-odd science points, thanks to Bob being a level 5 scientist able to take surface samples.

Spoiler

 

Next up is the Helium, a suborbital craft also piloted by Bob. The heat shield on the nose turned out to be dead weight as none of the ablator was used during the flight. I added "wings" to the fuselage in the hopes of gliding through the atmosphere to reduce speed, as near-vertical reentries from suborbital hops have been known to end badly. Althought I wasn't able to glide it as intended, by simply rolling the craft I was able to decelerate enough to open the parachutes. All parts were recovered.

Spoiler

 

With some more science nodes unlocked, it's time to go for orbit. The Lithium is a two-stage craft; a booster piloted by Jeb propelled the orbital stage with Bob onboard into orbit. While I had the Stayputnik probe core unlocked, I opted to use a Mk1 pod on the booster instead due to the presence of a reaction wheel. Bob was able to gather science from high space and both components landed fully intact.

Spoiler

 

After the first 3 missions, I have recovered all parts and unlocked the tech nodes shown below. In hindsight I should have probably researched Fuel Systems instead of Propulsion Systems. The next goal is to gather science from the Mun to pave the way for crewed landings on the Mun and Minmus. (Yes, I do have Community Tech Tree installed, but as mentioned above I will be only using stock and DLC parts in this save.)

Edited June 1, 2023 by IntellectualTortoise

[IntellectualTortoise]

The fourth mission, Beryllium, was the first to reach another celestial body: the Mun. Once again crewed by Bob, the craft achieved orbit around the Mun and returned to Kerbin with all parts intact. Thanks to the OKTO probe core being unlocked, Jeb was not required to pilot the booster to a safe splashdown.

Spoiler

Tech tree after the mission:

 

Following the Beryllium is the Boron, a mission to orbit and land on Minmus. I was hoping to go biome-hopping but tight fuel margins permitted only a single landing. The mission was again piloted by Bob and both spacecraft and booster were fully recovered, except for the fairings. As the game does not classify deployed fairing panels as parts, they will not decrease the total number of available parts that I have for this save. Fairing bases, on the other hand, do still count as parts.

Spoiler

 

The tech tree following the flight of the Boron:

 

As of now, all launched vessels have been fully recovered and I still have up to 100 parts available for the next launch, which will be a Mun landing with multiple crew. After that I will likely start interplanetary flights but I am also considering placing a science lab in Kerbin, Mun or Minmus orbit even though it will decrease the part count limit for new vehicles I launch while it is in space.

[IntellectualTortoise]

Today's update is a short but important one: the first crewed Mun landing of the save. As mentioned in the last post, I had hoped to send multiple crew on the mission but I forgot to unlock the 1.875m and larger heat shields, so I downscaled the Carbon to house just one crew member: you guessed it, Bob. Despite the landing vehicle being a bit unstable and fuel margins being on the thinner side, the mission was a great success, reaching two biomes and all parts launched were recovered.

Spoiler

 

Here is the tech tree after the return of the Carbon. With nuclear engines now available, the next mission will be to Gilly and back, this time almost certainly with multiple crew.