First Kerbal in Space

[Osprey]

Hey folks,

I'm curious to know, when playing in career mode, how people go about putting their first Kerbal into space.

Personally, I collect as much ground science (and unlock all the tier 2 techs (20-15sci ea.) as I can to unlock some better parts, and build a 3 stage rocket to go into orbit on the first flight, usually carrying a goo container for early orbital science boost. That said, I know there are other alternatives including sub-orbital flights, for which you also get a bonus for where the craft went that you might miss if you just do orbital missions all the time.

So, what do you do...?

• Unlock techs/Go for glory?
  
• Orbital/Sub-orbital?
  
• Who's your first Kerbal in space?
  

I'll share a picture of my first-mission launcher later when I'm home, but for know I'm just curious if anyone has a set strategy or ritual they go through for this milestone?

[RW-1]

As far as I can tell ... if you don't edit your crew and it's a single capsule, most end up launch Jeb first by default. (Unless they killed him on a suborbital jaunt first)

[DaPatman]

First, I take a small command pod, stick a parachute on top, an SRB underneath, and Jeb inside. Then I get a crew report from the launchpad, before launching it straight up, picking up crew and EVA reports from flying above Kerbin's shores and flying high above Kerbin (the craft (something so primitive doesn't deserve to be called a rocket) can just about reach 18km above sea level if you keep it pointed straight up). Then I land at KSC, get a grew report from there, get out, and take surface samples and get EVA reports from KSC, the launchpad and the runway. Then I end the flight.

This mission will net you 60.4 science, which is enough to unlock the first four nodes of the stock tech tree, so that's what I do next. Having done so, I then use the newly obtained parts to build a rocket capable of making polar orbit, even with half a dozen goo cannisters attached to it, and launch Jeb in it. I forget the exact amount of science this mission nets me, but I do know that it consists of, in order of obtainment:

• One (1) Goo observation from the launchpad
  
• One (1) Goo observation from Kerbin's lower atmosphere
  
• One (1) Goo observation from Kerbin's upper atmosphere
  
• One (1) Goo observation, one (1) crew report and nine (9) EVA reports (one per biome observable from space) from low Kerbin orbit
  
• One (1) Goo observation, one (1) crew report and one (1) EVA report from high Kerbin orbit
  
• One (1) crew report and one (1) EVA report from Kerbin's lower atmosphere above my landing site
  
• One (1) Goo observation, one (1) crew report, one (1) EVA report and one (1) surface sample from my landing site
  
• Plus the science from recovering a vessel that orbited Kerbin
  

Having done this, I'm a lot looser with how I progress through the rest of career mode.

[pauix]

I tend to make a spacecraft consisting on a parachute, the command pod, a fuel tank and a liquid engine. Then strap a bunch of SRBs beneath them, firing a few of them at a time (so that when they're fired, they blow up what's under them). I got into space on my first flight, but the thing was uncontrollable so I could not circularize.

And the first Kerbal I send to Space (and to everywhere, provided he's still alive and near KSC) is Jebediah. No one else would dare get into my early hacks.