To the Mun - Beagle flight

[BostLabs]

Beagle Flight

Jeb Kermen had made the historic flight of Beagle I around Kerbin and designs were submitted by several Kerbs for Beagle II, the Mun ship.

Finalist came down to 3 designs. Jeb Kermen's, Bill Kermen's and a committee submitted design.

The committee design was selected. However, once it was built it detonated on the pad before any Kerbinaut could board it. The committee selected name for the vessel was stuck from the books and was simply replaced with 'Boom!'.

The selection process resumed and after much debate Jeb's design was selected.

Beagle II now sits on the launch pad and is awaiting Jeb to board. In the ready room, Jeb is preparing for the flight with Bill assisting.

"So Bob will be KapCom today." Bill said.

Jeb looks up as he connects a glove "Excellent! He is a fine choice. You'll be there too right?"

"Of course! Just because your design was chosen doesn't mean I wouldn't be there to support you." Bill replied. "But you know I still think my compact design is better."

Jeb grinned, "Yeah I know you think that. But today mine flies, maybe yours will next time. Can you help me with my helmet?"

"Sure!" Bill lowers the helmet over Jeb's head and snaps the neck seal in place. Bill raps his knuckles on the transparent face shield. "All good?"

Jeb grins and gives a thumbs up. "All green and good to go!"

Bill grasps Jeb's hand. "Good luck Jeb!"

Jeb grins again and heads to the waiting van that will take him to the launch pad.

A short time later: "Beep! Mission Control, this is Beagle II ready for launch."

"Beep! Beagle II, Jeb this is KapCom. We read you but we have a minor technical issue here. Launch on stand-by."

"Beep! Roger, Bob. How long a hold?"

"Beep! Shouldn't be long. 'bang' beep! 'bang,bang' beep! 'bang,bang,bang!' BEEEEEE- 'WHAM!'

"Ok Jeb, that took care of it. Launch clock proceeding. T-10 minutes and counting.'

"That's great KapCom. I wonder how those bugs keep getting into the main Com system?"

"I think we just need to keep the cookies out of mission control and the bugs will stop coming, Jeb."

"Hah! No much chance of that happening Bob."

As launch time approached a flurry of activity fired off.

"All stations, this is Mission Control. Report Go-No Go for launch"

"BOOSTER - Go!

RETRO - Go!

FIDO - Go!

GUIDANCE - Go!

SURGEON - Go!

EECOM - Go!

GNC - Go!

TELMU - Go!

CONTROL - Go!

PROCEDURES - Go!

INCO - Go!

FAO - Go!

NETWORK - Go!

RECOVERY - Go!

KAPCOM - Beep! 'WHAM!' - Go!"

"All stations, Mission Control shows Go for launch."

"Beagle II, KapCom; you are go for launch."

"Roger KapCom, Launch is GO! Lets lite the fire!"

"T-10,9,8,7,6,5,ignition sequence started,3,2,1...Lift Off!"

"Go baby, GO!" Bill yelled over the roar of the mighty spacecraft.

Higher and higher Beagle II rose, then something odd happened.

[BostLabs]

"KapCom, Beagle II; we have a problem."

"Holy crap Jeb! A booster has separated! Abort Jeb! Abort!"

"I got it Bob."

"Jeb! Your engines have stopped and another booster is off!"

"Roger KapCom, stand-by"

"Jeb you've got to abort!"

"I'm busy Bob. Stand-by"

Mission Reporter: Alas I have no pictures of this spectacle. Needless to say I was a bit busy.

"Jeb there is parts falling all over the place!"

"Stand-by..."

Suddenly the remaining engines fire full throttle.

"Jeb, Jeb, you are leveling out and no longer tumbling. Guidance shows you climbing again. You are off course but you'll make orbit"

"Walk in the park KapCom. Mission continues."

"Beagle II, KapCom; Be right back after I change my shorts."

[BostLabs]

"KapCom, this is Beagle II, you got new tidy whities yet?"

"...'fumble, fumble,smuertlyfluff', Beagle II, KapCom is online. What did I miss?"

"Muner insertion burn completed and on course."

"What? I mean, KapCom; understood. Mission continues."

Much later:

"KapCom?"

"fweep! 'swipe, swipe' Beep! 'splat!' gods he was a juicy one. Beagle II, KapCom here. Status check?"

"Ready for Munar orbit, but I see a great landing spot."

"KapCom; Jeb go for orbit."

"Not enough fuel to orbit and land. Going for landing KapCom"

Bob looks askance to Bill as Bill is furiously pounding calculations into his keyboard. Bill stares are the result and then shakes his head no at Bob.

"Beagle II, Bob says no to landing." Bill waves printout sheets at Bob. "Calculations do not show a safe landing Jeb."

"KapCom, my calculations show differently." Rumbling can be heard in the transmission. "Landing proceeding."

"No, Jeb! No!" Bill exclaims.

Edited July 27, 2013 by BostLabs

[BostLabs]

Smeltly Kermin at Guidance takes a gulp of koffee as he looks at his console. His eyes flew wide open and he spits koffee all over Harly Kermin at FIDO. He then hits the alarm.

'WOOWOOWOOBeep!WOOWOOWOO WOOWOOWOOBeep!'

"KapCom to Beagle II. Jeb, Guidance shows you coming in too hot and to high of an angle. Abort Jeb! Abort!"

"I can't Bob, I used those circuits to get my self out of the mess from launch. I'm going in. My calculations say I can do it."

"Jeb, we do not concure. Abort any way you can!"

"KapCom, I'm recalculating.... Well crap!"

"Jeb?"

"Forgot to carry the 2 KapCom. Impact in 10 secs. Abort circuits are garbage now."

"........ Oh Jeb!"

"Tell Bill he was r'SQUAAAARRRRKKKKKKKKKKK!'ssssssssssssssssssssssss..."

"Beagle II this is KapCom, come in."

"sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss..."

"Beagle II, come in."

"sssssssssssssssssssssss..."

Bob hangs his head while Bill sits dumbfounded.

Mission Control is silent.

Mission Reporter: Oh my god, I killed Jeb.

Beagle Flight will continue.

Edited July 27, 2013 by BostLabs

[BostLabs]

Months later. Bill sits in the ready room preping for his flight of Beagle III. Bob is assisting.

Bob looks out the window at the launch pad where Beagle III waits.

"Do you really think that will fly?"

Bill zips up his flight suit, "500 simulated flights successful. It will do the job."

Bob picks up a suit glove and moves to assist Bill, "I see your flight plan calls for a landing at Jeb's crash site. What do you expect to find there?"

Bob sighs, "Too much time has passed. Even if Jeb survived the impact he'd run out of air long before we even started building the new ship. No I don't expect to find him but I'm going to complete his mission."

"I think he'd like that Bill. I'm KapCom today."

"Good! Jeb had great confidnece in you Bob. I do as well. You'll do wonderfully."

Bob turns his head to hide his tears. Bill understands completely and tries to do the same.

"KapCom, this is Beagle III ready for launch."

"Roger Beagle III, Guidance is concerned on the flight characteristics."

"Understand KapCom. She'll fly."

"All stations, this is Mission Control. Report Go-No Go for launch"

"BOOSTER - Go!

RETRO - Go!

FIDO - Go!

GUIDANCE - Go!

SURGEON - Go!

EECOM - Go!

GNC - Go!

TELMU - Go!

CONTROL - Go!

PROCEDURES - Go!

INCO - Go!

FAO - Go!

NETWORK - Go!

RECOVERY - Go!

KAPCOM - ...Go!"

"All stations, Mission Control shows Go for launch."

"Beagle III, KapCom; you are go for launch."

"Roger KapCom, Launch is GO! ...Lets lite the fire!"

"KapCom; litting the fire in T-10,9,8,7,6,5,ignition sequence started,3,2,1...Lift Off!"

"Go baby, Go, go, go!" Bob yells over the thunder.

Edited July 27, 2013 by BostLabs

[BostLabs]

Higher and higher Beagle III climbed.

"KapCom to Beagle III. Approaching gravity turn."

"Roger Bob, gravity turn in 3, 2, 1, program start."

"KapCom, roll completed, advancing throttle. SRB seperation completed. Assent continues."

"Roger Beagle III, Guidance shows you in the groove within margin of errors."

"Beagle III, Guidance reports main launch system approaching burn out. Staging in 10."

"Roger KapCom. This is the fun part. Thread the needle time."

"Staging..."

"KapCom to Beagle III. Begin circulation program."

"...Roger. Burn complete. Verify orbit KapCom."

"KapCom; Orbit verified. You're in space Bill."

Edited July 27, 2013 by BostLabs

[BostLabs]

AFter a snack Bill is ready to leave Kerbin orbit.

"KapCom, I'm staging the orbit stage."

"Roger Beagle III. We show the Nuke ready to fire."

"Staging complete KapCom. I'm warming the stove ready to get cooking."

"Beagle III, Kermit Station shows you in posistion to go for Mun Insertion."

"Roger, Bob. And here we go!"

The burn is long, longer than Bill expected.

"KapCom, what do you show on the Nuke?"

"Beagle III, Thrust appears to be lower than expected. You will have to do a course correction."

"Concur KapCom. Planning correction."

Later the fuel for the nuke is exhusted and the stage is jetisioned before the course correction is fired.

"KapCom, approaching correction burn."

"Guidance confirms Beagle III."

"Starting burn in 3, 2, 1."

"KapCom to Beagle III. We show you on course. Time for a nap."

"Whew! Agreed Bob. I've set the alarm. Chat with you later."

[BostLabs]

bzzt, bzzt, bzzt, bzzzt!

"BEEP! damn bugs! KapCom to Beagle III. Do you read?"

"Mommy? 'rattle, rattle' KapCom, this is Beagle III, I read you."

"Good morning sunshine. Read for another exciting day?"

"Koffee, need koffee."

"Beep! 'swipe,swipe' No koffee, bugs I got. Someone left some sugar out last night".

"'groan',Ok Bob, I'm ready for Munar orbit."

"KapCom, orbit achieved. Landing site designated. Ready for course correction."

"Confirmed Beagle III. Standing by."

"Correction completed."

"We show you on course for landing Bill. Good luck!"

"On final KapCom."

"Roger, Bill. Edge of the seat here buddy."

"I have shadow, KapCom. I show safe landing speed."

"We concur Beagle III."

"Contact light."

"KapCom, Jedidiah Base here. The Beagle has landed."

"Understand Beagle. You have a bunch of Kerbs back here that can breathe again. Thank you, nice landing."

"I'm going to take a stroll, Bob."

"Understand Bill. Standing by."

"sssssssst we made it Jeb."

"Beep! What was that Bill?"

"Nothing, just talking to an old friend."

Edited July 27, 2013 by BostLabs

[BostLabs]

"Ok, who forgot to pack the flag?"

Mission Reporter: Could not deploy the flag for some reason last night. I hope to get it planted later when I start up again. I hope you are enjoying the mission.

[BostLabs]

Meanwhile, in high Munar orbit. A Kerbal slowly becomes conscious.

"Ugh! Where am I?" Jeb says as he slowly becomes awake. There are dim lights in front of him that look something like his control panel from Beagle II. But his forward screen is blocked by what looks like the bottom of a fuel tank.

"The last thing I remember is I was seconds from impact on the Mun due to a big miscalculation. I was talking to Bob then blackness. Now I'm here. But where is here?"

Jeb reaches for a switch that would have been landing lights on Beagle II and flips it.

Light floods in from the remaining viewports.

"This isn't Beagle II that's for sure!" Jeb exclaims.

Mission Reporter: Orbital Fueling Station by Adam Roberts. You can find it in the Spaceport here. http://kerbalspaceprogram.com/orbitalfuelstation/

Jeb notices what appears to be a letter taped to the right viewport. He detaches it and begins to read.

"Jeb,

Welcome back to the land of the living. Who we are is not important. We rescued you from your doomed lander. How we did this is not important right now. This station, which currently unnamed, is a gift from us to you and the KSP. Use it wisely. Do not attempt to find us. When the time is right, we will find you."

The letter ends, unsigned.

Mission Reporter: I found the fueling station in the Spaceport and wanted to try it out. After I put a few reaction wheels on it I decided to launch it. Imagine my suprise when I saw Jeb in the pilot seat. I launched it with the supplied launcher and, after a minor bump or two, placed it in high orbit around the Mun. So now I have to work it into the story. LOL!

Jeb lowers the letter and checks the fuel read outs. "Holy Karp! This thing is packed with fuel and docking ports!"

He glances behind him and see a manifest. Snatching it up and he is astounded. "Food, water, air for years of operation!" Jeb places the manifest back on it's clip. "Who are these Kerbs?"

Just then he notices the radio activity light, he turns up the volume from low.

"Beep! What was that Bill?"

"Nothing, just talking to an old friend."

Grabbing up the mic, he keys it. "Hello boys! Guess where I am." Jeb grins as he listens to the stunned silence from the radio.

"Beep! Who is this? Whoever it is, this isn't funny!"

"Oh it's me KapCom. I heard Bill, where are you Bill?"

"Alp! Jeb!?!?!" Bill stammers.

"Yup it's me buddy. Where are you?"

"On the Mun at your crash site Jeb." Bill replies in a state of shock. "How did you survive? Are you close by? I have extra air and food. I can come to you!"

"No idea how I survived buddy. I'm not on the Mun. I'm in orbit around it at 1652 Km."

"Beep! Redirecting radar. Holy Karp! There is a station there! It's nothing we put up." Bob says.

"I'm quite comfy here." Jeb says. "And I'm full to the brim with everything I need and tons of fuel. I have a letter here that says it is a gift. I have no idea who it is from. It's unsigned."

"this is incredible Jeb!" Bill exclaims. "Beagle III does not have a docking port or I'd join you."

"Beagle III eh? You managed to launch that?" Jeb grins into the mic.

"Yes I did, thank you very much!" Bill replies.

"Well I suggest that you complete your mission and design a ship with docking ports and come visit." Jeb says.

"What bout you, Jeb? Beep! 'Wham!'"

"Heh, I have plenty to keep me busy until you guys get here. It's a big station."

Beagle Flight continues.

Edited July 28, 2013 by BostLabs

[Mekan1k]

Nice Story. I thought this would be an AAR, or should be in the story segment of the site, but I am glad I found this.

+Rep and Subscribed.

[BostLabs]

Thank you!

It started out as just a mission report but it kinda took a life on of it's own.

More to come.

[BostLabs]

Back on the Mun, Bill completed his last experiments and packed his samples back on Beagle III.

"This is amazing!" he thought as he closed the compartment that stored his samples and findings. "That station will open up the entire Kerbol system to us."

"Beagle III, this is KapCom. You there Bill?" the radio broke into Bill thoughts.

"KapCom, Beagle III, I hear you Bob."

"Your launch window is coming up buddy. You about ready?" Bob replied.

Bill climbed into his landers seat and strapped in. "Roger KapCom." Bill went through his check list quickly, but not too quickly so he wouldn't overlook anything. No need to make any mistakes now.

"Beagle III ready for launch, KapCom." Bill sent when he had completed prelaunch.

Bob relayed the final checks from mission control. "Beagle III; KapCom, you are go for launch."

"Roger KapCom." Bill opened the protective cover over a lever. A wail filled the cabin and Bill pressed a button next to the lever. The wail stopped. A green light lite up and a ping was heard. "KapCom, Beagle III is go for launch."

"Roger Beagle III. T-10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1"

Bill pulled the lever. Four bangs were heard and the small engine under the cabin fired up and Bill left the surface of the Mun.

"KapCom, Beagle III is heading for Munar Orbit." Bill called out.

"Roger, Bill. Clean lift off. You are on course." Bob replied.

A short time later: "KapCom, Beagle III is ready to return to Kerbin."

"Roger Beagle III, Your are go for Kerbin return."

Bill fired the small rocket and slowly left the Mun behind.

Later the program completed. Bill was on the return path. Fuel was exactly where it was supposed to be. Enough for minor course corrections and a final retro burn. He was eager to get back. Bob had informed him that shortly after Jeb announced himself a rather large donation was placed in KSP's coffers. Bob told him that it was also tied to a trust so funds would keep coming in.

Despite a detailed investigation the paper trail ran out with no clue who the benefactor was. Then there were the detailed plans for the fuel station and a few other spacecraft that simple appeared on the lead designers desk. He went out to lunch, came back and there they were. It was quite a mystery.

Bill let his thoughts on that subject end as he came up on the retro burn. Enough wool gathering. Back to work.

Retro burn completed Bill prepared for landing. His course would bring him very close to the launch facilities so it would be an easy recovery.

"Kapcom, Beagle III, I'm on final." Bill radioed.

"We see you Bill. Welcome home. You won't believe the TV coverage you are getting."

"Well, we'll have to be brief with them. We got a lot of planning to do. You know I'm going to fight to get on the ship to go see Jeb right?"

"You and me both Bill." Bob replied. "From the looks of it, KSP will have a flight and another start up group calling themselves BLS Enterprises will be sending a ship they are calling a Taxi. I've seen the design, it looks impressive."

"Well isn't that interesting." Bill replied.

"Sounds like Jeb is going to have a lot of company with in a few weeks." Bob replied.

"Approaching LOS Bob, I'll see you on the ground."

"Roger Bill. First drink is on me.... just don't drink too.....pffffffftssssssssssss"

"Amazing." Bill though as reentry heat flickered by his viewport. "Crowded indeed."

Beagle flight continues.

[BostLabs]

Mission Reporter: No images for this bit.

The Media:

Bill's plan to be brief with the media failed right out of the gate. They wanted to talk to Bill and Jeb and they wanted to talk to them now!

As it turns out, the Oribital Fuel Station (still unnamed as Jeb hadn't come up with a good name yet) has a very good transmission station. Video, sound and data.

So the media battle started and Kentin Kerbin, yes The Kentin Kerbin, of The Kentin Kerbin Show won out for the first interview in his studio. A big screen was setup in Kentin's studio so Jeb could be present for the interview, while Bill was seated to the right of the screen, Kentin on the left. Kentin was informed that due to the distance of where Jeb was orbiting the Mun that there were be a delay between transmissions. Around 1.3 seconds, give or take a few milliseconds. Kentin was a veteran TV Kerb and had dealt with delay before, he would adjust his questions to allow enough time to pass for Jeb to answer. So the system was setup, tests made and the interview was about to start with a live studio audiance.

So the inteview progressed nicely with Kentin asking about the KSP program and Beagle flight in general. Bill and Jeb did their best to answer. Jeb's image was a bit grainly at times and had just a touch of static but he was understood well enough.

Then the fateful question was asked that caused Kentin to go from #1 to #9 in the ratings.

"So Jeb." Kentin started up while looking at the big screen, "Just how does it feel to be the first Kerbal in space, orbit and the first Kerbal to land on the Mun?"

Bill was dumbfounded. Yes, Jeb was the first Kerbal in space and in orbit, but He was the first Kerbal on the Mun. Jeb had verified this and no debris of Beagle II was found at the, supposed, crash site. Not even an impact site.

Kentin kept blatering on about Jeb's accomplshments and then paused. Kentins final part of his question flew through space, but Jeb's answer was already on it's way. Big time. When Jeb heard the first part of the question he leaned forward and flipped a switch. This action caused all the transmission power to be dirverted to the main array. Jeb then took a breath.

1.3 seconds later, just as Kentin paused, Jeb's image snapped to full gain and Jeb's voice thundered out as if it was the voice of Kod Itself.

"THAT IS NOT CORRECT!"

Bill almost wet his pants. Kentin did.

"I have absolutely no memory of landing on the Mun, much less walking on it. No, Bill Kerbin has that honor and only him." Jeb didn't know it at the time, but he made history as the only Kerbal to ever interrupt every single broadcast on Kerbin with his message. Some weaker receivers simple blew out after his first statement.

Back at the KSC, Bob was watching the show from the media room. He was laughing so hard he was crying.

Jeb returned the transmitters back to it's normal setting. Jeb's image and volume returned to normal. The interview wound down after that quickly. So Bill was proclaimed, and written into the history books, as the first Kerbal on the Mun. Kentin was never the same after that.

Beagle Flight continues.

Edited July 30, 2013 by BostLabs

[BostLabs]

Beagle IV:

It was decided that in order to quickly get to Jeb one of the new designs were selcted and quickly assembled.

Dementer II - Nova. Part of the NovaPunch 2.02 pack.

It can be found here.

http://kerbalspaceprogram.com/novapunch-remix-pack/

Bill found Bob looking up at the enormous craft. "There are SRB's on an upper stage Bill!"

Bill grinned, "Yeah I told them it would be way over powered but they want us to test it on the way to Jeb."

Bob just looked at Bill, "You're kidding right?"

"Nope!"

Just then Macbin Kerbin, newly trained kerbinaut, ran up. "Isn't it great?"

"Oh it wil get the job done, newbie." Bill replied. "Lets suit up."

Lift off was very smooth but the SRB's on the upper stage threw them off course. Once those were staged they were able to make a course correction.

\

"Good thing we have plenty of fuel." Bill said. Bob grinned and noticed Macbin. "Hey, what's up with him?

"Oh I turned off his transmitter shortly after launch." Bill said.

"Why?" Bob questioned.

Bill reached over and turned on Macbin's transmitter. "SQeeeeeee! ohmykod-ohmykod-ohmykod! I'm in SPACE! Sqeeeeeee!" 'Click!' "That's why. I fugure he'll settle down as we get close to the station."

Bob shook his head. "Newbs!"

"Ahh! Here we are! Beagle IV to Fuel Station, Jeb how do you read?" Bob transmitted.

"Bob ole buddy! Nice of you to drop by." Jeb's voice came over the radio. Macbin heard Jeb's voice and noticed that no one was answering him. He discovered that his transmitter was shut off so he turned it on.

"What's going on? Is that Jeb?!?!?"

Bill grinned. "Yeah kid, that's Jeb. We're here. Now settle down. I've got a tricky docking to handle. Kods, this thing handles like a barge. It would handle better if I could stage but the powers that be want me to keep it in this mode. Ok here we go"

Many, many, many minutes later:

"Ok Jeb, we are in final approach."

"Don't dent my station Bill."

"Just a little bit more." Bill grunted. 'Clunk!' 'Ka-Chunk!' "Ok solid dock, thank Kod."

Bob sighed, "I hope the taxi has a better time of it. I hear that they've launched already."

Beagle Flight continues.

[BostLabs]

WEll I'm sorry to report but my save file got wiped while trying to determine what mods where causing me to crash. My station could not load after removing B9 and that took with it everything that was connected to it. Heh! teach me to leave everything in one place.

Beagle Flight will restart as a true AAR in the correct place.

[BostLabs]

If any one is still reading this thread you can find the AAR by following the link in my sig.

Edited August 22, 2013 by BostLabs

[Duxwing]

I'm reading this! A few words of advice:

The Story

--Fewer colloquialisms (what on earth is "wool gathering"?) during narration.

--Combine such sentences as, "He flipped a switch. This caused all power to be diverted to the main array"

--Use more descriptive language to give your dialogue some background: a few, well-written lines can make your world come alive with light, sound, touch, taste, and smell.

--Work on your mechanics:

----'This' is an adjective, not a pronoun.

----"Assent" is an expression of approval or agreement; 'Ascent' describes the rise of a rocket from the pad to orbit.

----Capitalize where you should and don't where you shouldn't: e.g., "...but He was the first Kerbal on the Mun" should be "...but he was the first Kerbal on the Mun" because Bill is not God.

----Be concise and clear. Doing so is understandably difficult; I've some examples below.

"His course would bring him very close to the launch facilities so it would be an easy recovery." should be "His course would bring him very close to the launch facilities and thereby ease recovery". The reasons for the edits are important:

--"it" is a pronoun and should therefore not start a sentence unless its antecedent is clear. For example, "It is said that X is Y" should be rewritten as "X is said to be Y".

--"so it would be an easy recovery" is unclear. Is the narrator concluding that recovery would be easy, or was the course selected to ease recovery?

--"so it would be an easy recover" is a subordinate clause and therefore should be grammatically connected to the rest of the sentence--not just tacked on.

"So the inteview progressed nicely with Kentin asking about the KSP program and Beagle flight in general. Bill and Jeb did their best to answer. Jeb's image was a bit grainly at times and had just a touch of static but he was understood well enough." should be "Bill and Jeb did their best to answer Kentin's questions about Beagle flight and the Kerbal Space Program. Jeb's transmission was grainy and static-filled at times, yet intelligible." Again, the reasons are important:

--Show, don't tell. Your audience should conclude that the interview went smoothly from the details that you provide them.

--Where you can remove a verb, do so: I moved "Bill and Jeb did their best to answer" to the front of the sentence to eliminate "asked". I also modified the description of Jeb's transmission.

Gameplay

Your Munar landers are huge, inefficient beasts, and I just so happened to have spent weeks working on an all-stock, very light, and very cheap two-stage-to-orbit Munar Lander (with included lifter) that can go from the pad to LKO, LMO, the Munar surface, and back to LKO without refueling and still have a few hundred liters of liquid fuel to spare. I call it "Mun Rocket 7," but you can call it the "Duxwing Lander" (as if I weren't arrogant enough, coming in here, correcting your grammar and calling your ships inefficient ) if you'd like and can show me how to find the .craft files in my KSP folder. I have yet to try landing it on Minmus:

I intend it for use as a reusable lander and orbiter of bodies in Kerbin's SOI, but a mothership can haul it to small moons for use there: its very low TWR means it cannot lift off from planets as massive as Kerbin. A full tank, however, gives it 4,559.68m/s dV in a vacuum.

Pictures

Jeb says, "MOAR BOOSTERS!". I say "MOAR PICTURES!". Specifically those from inside the cockpit that show an approaching body or illustrate a story point: they allow readers to bond with the characters and feel immersed in their world. Think of them as illustrations in a story book and hearken your memory to your childhood: who was the awesomest author? That's right, the one with awesomest pictures. Don't just say, "Jack decapitated the heretic," bring me the head of the holy man.

-Duxwing

Edited August 22, 2013 by Duxwing

[BostLabs]

Thank you for your comments. I admit my writing is a bit rusty.

The craft files for your ships will be in the saves folder in your KSP root. (for me that is KSP_win)

Find your game name then drill down into Ships and then VAB.

I will take your comments to heart and see what I can improve on. I'm sure I will return to your post more than a few times.

[BostLabs]

Wool gathering : To engage in fanciful daydreaming.

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/woolgathering

Work on your mechanics: It would probably help if I didn't write so late into the evening. Midnight isn't a good time to try to compose. My brain has been active since 4:30 in the morning.

Ther interview was rushed. I tried slipping that in when I had a brief opening in my schedule from work. I probably should not have done that. LOL!

Your Munar landers are huge, inefficient beasts: Well, yes they are. Most of my ships are over built. I'm not trying for efficiency. I like your craft, it would not be an efficient launch, but it is cool looking. Real aerodynamics would kill it shortly after launch.

However, a shroud would take care of that.

That is all I have time for this morning. Again, thank you for your comments. I always strive to improve myself.

Edited August 22, 2013 by BostLabs

[Duxwing]

Wool gathering : To engage in fanciful daydreaming.

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/woolgathering

Work on your mechanics: It would probably help if I didn't write so late into the evening. Midnight isn't a good time to try to compose. My brain has been active since 4:30 in the morning.

Ther interview was rushed. I tried slipping that in when I had a brief opening in my schedule from work. I probably should not have done that. LOL

Your Munar landers are huge, inefficient beasts: Well, yes they are. Most of my ships are over built. I'm not trying for efficiency. I like your craft, it would not be an efficient launch, but it is cool looking. Real aerodynamics would kill it shortly after launch.

However, a shroud would take care of that.

That is all I have time for this morning. Again, thank you for your comments. I always strive to improve myself.

Carve out an uninterrupted hour of writing time: you'll be more productive then than during two hours that are spread out over your day like rocket parts over the pad. Thanks for taking my criticism well. The shroud need only be a 3m nosecone on an inverted 1m stack decoupler atop the LV-N, but why are you modelling realistic drag without cost and mass efficiency? Now that we're talking about realism, two recommended mods:

--Ferram Aerospace Research. It vastly improves the aerodynamic physics. Lowering drag by adding nosecones and using sequential instead of parallel staging will vastly increase your atmospheric dV and therefore your payload fraction, but gravity turning too aggressively will spin your rocket out of control, and going too fast in atmosphere will shake it apart.

--Deadly Reentry. Going too fast will now burn your rocket up. When combined with Ferram Aerospace Research, it restricts your survivable re-entry trajectory and energy in a very authentic way: come in too shallow, and you burn up, come in too steep, and you break up.

Having used many, many parts packs, I can add that the stock KSP parts lack no core functionality. However, you may desire certain gameplay elements that they do not provide:

--Kethane. It vastly extends your reach, but I wonder whether hauling all of that scouting, drilling, and refining equipment is worth the cost considering that it could have been replaced with an extra Jumbo Tank or two.

--Inflatable Habitats. A gimmick, but a very useful gimmick.

--Kerbal Attachment System. You can use it to attach Kerbals to things and things to each other.

--Infernal Robotics. Your robotic arm fantasy is now a reality. Combine with KAS for great results.

--B9 Pack. Cargo bays are surprisingly useful. Combine with KAS and Infernal Robotics for pure awesome.

--Procedural Fairings. Nearly a necessity for those who use FAR and want to lift huge things into orbit.

--MechJeb. We'll all look the other way when you send that fifth tanker into orbit.

--Large Ion Engines. Unbeatable ISP for extremely long missions. They also look awesome.

--Novapunch and any other pack that provides a 2.5m NERVA: 300kN at 900s is worth the extra tonnage.

I tried your method and still couldn't find my ships.

-Duxwing

Edited August 22, 2013 by Duxwing