First kerbal to space. In style.

[Jod]

While launching my SSTO probes to Eve orbit, it occurred to me that I've yet to launch a single kerbal to space. And I have a refueling station right in Kerbin orbit with cosy 4-person apartments too. So I took my freighter variation SSTO, the KASA Moth IX-C and attached a cupola module with some RCS to the cargo port. It is a rather old design that doesn't use LV-Ns for some reason, instead it has 2 aerospikes for space maneuvers and a Skipper for boosting through higher atmosphere. Nevertheless, I hoped it would get the job done. And I took off right after attaching 4 parachutes to the command pod(just in case). Jebediah bravely volunteered to be the pilot/passenger.

(click the images to enlarge, 50 full res images would probably lag weaker PCs)

I completely forgot how well the cargo variant flies, it took off like a feather right from the end of the runway. I really need to balance my fuel tankers this way. Getting 9 tons of cargo to space was a breeze, 8 turbojet engines had more than enough power to push it half the way up to 1500 m/s. And we got to space with some fuel to spare.

And it flew straight up the equator too.

Now, let's detach the cargo and... watch it fidget relentlessly.

Jebediah! Why have you not reminded me we need ASAS on the cupola modules?! Argh... I'd hate to use exploits but it looks like that without time warping to stabilize heading we are not going anywhere. Note to self - never trust Jebediah to fly anything straight.

But wait - I have a small orbital tug docked to the station. Maybe I can use this.... If it hadn't a fuel tank permanently stuck to it! After several minutes of trying to undock the pesky fuel canister I decide to just haul it along.

And here we are! This might work yet.

Wow, that looks almost as if it was intended to fit together. Jeb, what do you say we not mention the whole ASAS incident and split the credit, eh? Anywho, now that we can maintain heading we can finally dock to the station!

Now that Jeb is accommodated - it's time to return the freighter back to base. First step - open the air intakes to increase drag and stability on reentry. Step two - transfer remaining fuel to the front to compensate for slight mass center shift and heavy engines in the back. Step three - do it again during reentry because you obviously messed up the first time.

As you can see, I burn retrograde right near the large crater on the other side of Kerbin to get periapsis all the way down to surface. It works well enough in most cases. I also select some craft debris near the landing strip as a target to get a sense of direction. Though it deselects after entering atmosphere for some reason so i have to select it again.

And there's the rest of the journey. Textbook reentry and landing right on the landing strip. Craft handles like a charm, ASAS tries to nose-up for some reason but with most fuel spent it is easier to fly manually anyway. Managed to lose control and do one nose-up loop on the way but stabilized easily, no screenshot of that because panic. Also - completely forgot to track speed relative to surface until the last moment.

Come to think of it - I really should've documented the ascent like this as well, but I was more concerned about Jeb's life at that point. In any case - Jebediah was transported to space with no casualties on the first try, the craft returned to base and is ready for refueling. Mission successful! Yay I will go sleep now I totally wasted several hours on this huge post.

Edited June 8, 2013 by Jod

[Henri von Braun]

Oh my goodness. Now THAT'S an SSTO.

[Jod]

Oh my goodness. Now THAT'S an SSTO.

It's a medium-sized cargo carrier actually. I use it for assembling stations and stuff in Kerbin orbit. I was going to make a larger version for Laythe trips but just can't stop using this thing. I mean, it even wiggles its advanced canard "antennae" when ASAS is on...