Kerbonauts complex

[diomedea]

The astronaut complex in the space center seems to be ready for a good overhaul, though I have still to find any suggestion or plan about its development. So, let me post my thinking.

To start, each and every Kerman has to gain a few more tracts; courage and (lack of) intelligence being not enough for a "true" kerbonaut.

First new tract: Fitness. To be related with the amount of exercise that the Kerman has put in his preparation. Fitness will slowly decline if not actively kept, even during space trips. To gain fitness, @ the complex there need be a number of proper tools: a gym, a centrifuge (for High-G), a water-splash trainer (like Dilbert Dunker), a pool (for neutral-buoyancy AKA 0-grav training), a long-stay closed complex.

Second new tract: Flight ability, to be improved with basic physics studies, flying lessons, and extensive use of simulators.

Third new tract: Science ability, to be improved with more science studies, and laboratories, to simulate scientific experiments.

To add to the training facilities mentioned above, a medical centre. Not that a Kerman ever gets ill (unless you want to introduce that too, would be nice) but to provide medical tests.

Then, any Kerbonaut needs to be qualified for flight (either atmospheric or in space) by comparing his skills and medical tests. The player may actually act as the head of the qualifying office, and allow even poorly trained Kermen to go, but the results may not be optimal. Indeed (I reckon somebody already suggested something along the following lines somewhere), fitness should be made a limit to sustain manoeuvers, EVAs, low and high gravity environments. Flight ability may limit how precise and fast any manouever will be made. Science ability will limit the amount of science recovered with experiments.