Better than Starting Manned Campaign Journal

[babale]

Hi guys! I've been posting a log of my Better Than Starting Manned over on my gaming community site. But I've realized -- not many people there play KSP! So while they're enjoying the LP, they can't offer much advice -- which I find myself in desperate need off quite often So, I decided to crosspost the log over here, too.

The first few chapters are already done, but I'll be reposting them over the next few days. Once that's done, I'll let you know when you're caught up!

Dawn rises over the Unrepentant Space Center on the first day of the project. Funding for the center has been swift and plentiful, so construction of the massive complex is already finished. All that remains is to build rockets!

Unfortunately, the Unrepentant Kerbals don't yet have much in the way of technological progress when it comes to rockets. But no matter! We will learn through trial and error!

Our first job: get a craft to 12,500 meters, the highest any kerbal-made object has ever been launched.

It's a simple probe sitting on two tons of explosives. Almost as an afterthought, I attach a thermometer and antenna to get a bit of science out of the launch. Luckily, the barebones rocket is very cheap. It is also thoroughly uncontrollable; let's hope it comes down somewhere empty, rather than say, an orphanage. I name the rocket Airborne 1.

The rocket sails beautifully, nearly perfectly straight until it runs out of fuel. We reach succeed in setting the world record! Also, we find out that high elevations are cold. For science!

In fact, we shatter the record, almost hitting 20,000 meters. Hooray! The cash reward has more than paid for the rocket, and we will now be taken more seriously by aeronautics institutes.

The rocket comes down in the uninhabited slopes near the space center. It's a marvelous explosion that luckily doesn't hurt anyone.

We can research basic rocketry! It turns out that sending information back takes a lot of electricity, so we develop some batteries that can be attached to our probe cores. Also, the engineers design some smaller solid-core rockets that can be attached to the main rocket. And finally, the scientists design a barometer and ask me to find out what the air pressure is like at higher altitudes! They hope to find out how thick the aether is, and whether it is as flammable as legend states.

One whackjob says that they're nuts, and that space is a vacuum, not a highly flammable gas in a liquid state. Ha! As if!

Meanwhile, Gene and the other eggheads on the board decide that we should set another record, this time reaching 30,000 meters. What the hell; that sounds like fun.

The Airborne 2 is very similar to the Airborne 1, except that it has four radially attached boosters. Two burn first, lifting the rocket as high as they can; just before they burn out, the two other boosters plus the core rocket are activated at once, sending the Airborne 2 even higher. It also has a barometer and a pair of batteries to let us transmit more data.

Success! The Airborne 2 reaches nearly 35,000 meters, shattering any previous record! It takes air samples at this elevation.

Unfortunately, it seems that two batteries weren't enough. The probe runs out of power, leaving us with only partial information. Worse, the partially transmitted information seems to have been corrupted; the barometer readings show very low air pressure, which is clearly ludicrous! We will have to send another rocket up.

The Airborne 2 lands in the mountains with another mighty explosion.

Meanwhile, the eggheads made some progress! They've researched what they call General Rocketry, and have invented a way to use liquid fuel in rocket engines. This is great news, as we will be able to control the throttle!

Meanwhile, we've got some new goals. First, we are asked to take high altitude atmospheric readings again, to figure out what that error was.

Second, we are given a new altitude goal: 70,000 meters, past Kerbin's atmosphere and into the aether proper.

And finally, R&D asks us to test the liquid fuel engine by shutting it down and reigniting it above 70,000 meters. They want to know if igniting an engine at that height will even work, or if it will set the aether alight, dooming the world. Fun!

The Airborne 3 is a 25 ton, 8,000 Kerbbucks behemoth. It will do the job.

The three radial engines lift the Airborne 3 faster than any solid core boosters could. Soon enough the Airborne 3 reaches the same heights as its predecessors, but its fuel tanks are still half full.

Finally, the three radial tanks run dry. The central engine takes over, sending the Airborne 3 out into space.

The readings from the upper atmosphere are completed. Amazing! Pressure really DID drop, to almost negligible volumes!

The probe caps out at 77,000 meters. Readings prove it -- space really IS a vacuum! There is no air pressure and temperature switches from very very high to almost impossibly low depending on whether the thermometer is in shade or the direct light of the sun. Amazing! That crazy scientist won about two million Kerbbucks in various office bets.

The Airborne 3 never crashes; it simply loses contact halfway down. We will need to investigate further.

Meanwhile, we research basic flight control, unlocking wings to stabilize and direct the crafts.

In a final act of scientific stubbornness, some of the scientists in the aether camp have demanded that we send a rocket even higher. Perhaps, they argue, kerbal activity here on Kerbin has caused the aether surrounding our planet to burn away as part of the greatest environmental disaster of all times. 250,000 meters up, however, they believe we will find this fabled aether.

The Airborne 4 is identical to the Airborne 3, except that it has fins. These fins, we hope, will stabilize the craft until it reaches space, allowing more energy to be expended in the right direction.

The fins do their part, and the rocket's central engine doesn't run out of fuel until nearly 80,000 meters up.

Sadly, it's not enough. The Airborne 4 falls about 90,000 meters short of high space.

On the way down, the Airborne 4 heats up to incredible levels. So hot, in fact, that the probe disintegrates entirely! This explains why the Airborne 3 never crashed.

Meanwhile, back on Kerbin, trouble in brewing. The Kerbal Freedom Commandos, or KFC, form soon after the USEA begins its work. Afraid of aliens, and with much public support, they demand we begin military testing in case the big beige men invade.

The less said about the IDBM 1, the better.

To recuperate some of the lost funds, we take on a corporate testing mission. RCS tanks are being developed by Jeb's Junkyard and Spaceship Parts; if successful, they will allow us to control our crafts outside the atmosphere, but the company wants to see how well they hold up in low pressure environments. Meanwhile, MAXO Constructions wants us to test the structural integrity of their girders.

A simple craft fulfills both goals before crashing into the atmosphere.

With that, there are no more missions for us to do. The Airborne 4 model is sent out on another flight to reach high space.

Sadly, this flight also fails. Airborne 4 is simply not capable of reaching high space. So it is time to design the Airborne 5.

Sleek and aerodynamic, the Airborne 5 relies on solid boosters to raise the craft past the thick atmosphere where acceleration is difficult and into the high atmosphere where a single engine with a double tank will take over, boosting the craft much higher.

The Airborne 5 performs flawlessly, reaching 330,000 meters with ease.

Of course, it never returns.

Science from outer space allows us to research one more technology: Survivability. We design a cabin capable of carrying a kerbal up to the lower atmosphere and parachutes to bring him back down safe.

Jebediah Kerman volunteers to take the Bravery 1 (also known as the Stupidity 1) up to 12,500 feet and live to tell the tale. It's a simple craft, but one that should be sufficient.

There isn't much of a view from inside the cockpit, but Jebediah expertly reads the instruments as he guides his craft up.

With half of its liquid fuel remaining, the Bravery 1 reaches 13,000 meters and begins to descend.

Because it is such a heavy craft but only has one parachute, the Bravery 1 is moving too fast on the way down. Jeb keeps it upright and eases on the throttle, gently slowing down the craft.

Touchdown! The main engine is ruined, but the rest of the craft is in good health. As is brave (or stupid) Jebediah!

- - - Updated - - -

Reading over the last update, I see that I didn't really go into my thought process very well. Will remedy that this time!

So, when we left off, Jeb had returned the Bravery 1 from the first manned mission -- up to 13,000 feet. We find ourselves with a hefty chunk of change in the bank and a bit of science. Let's rock!

It's time to do gravity scans. I unlocked these babies when I got wings for the first time, but it took me a couple rockets before I made orbit and in the meanwhile I totally forgot about them! Well, gravity scanners are super awesome. They are worth a decent chunk of science, but more importantly are biome dependent. An equatorally orbiting craft can get all of the biomes except for the poles, which is a huge amount of science! This relatively simply craft can't make orbit, but it can absolutely leave the atmosphere, which is good enough for one scan.

1,000 meters per second is the magic number. When the average craft hits 1,000 meters per second, it usually means that it can reach around 75-80 thousand meters, or right where I want to circularize. It's when I turn all the way and prepare for the circularization burn.

Except in this case, where I messed up and kept going waaaaay too far. With RCS, this craft could circularize; sadly, at the moment, I have no way to turn after I leave the atmosphere. So for now, we're going far, far away!

I grab a gravity scan over Kerbin's oceans. It's not ideal -- water is the easiest biome to grab, and if the craft had gone straight up I could have grabbed Shores instead. Oh well! 25 science is pretty nice.

Or only 10; I run out of juice halfway through the transmission! Turns out that gravity scans require far more data than anything else at this point in the game, and they burn through power FAST. Still, as a proof of concept, it's not bad -- this probe design can let me grab quite a few biomes if I'm willing to do it in a slow series of launches, one or two at a time.

Luckily, I have other plans. But meanwhile, the probe burns up in the atmosphere.

Meet the Airborne 7. My other plans will have to wait; I don't have the science to unlock all the parts I'll need. But in the meantime, I can fill up on nearby gravity zones. The probe is pretty much identical, but since I made it to space easily enough it's carrying a bunch of batteries.

I burned north this time, so that I'd fly over some different biomes, and it paid off. This picture is horrible and doesn't even show the top of the curve, but I reach space in a different direction, over land.

I start grabbing biomes -- grasslands, highlands --

Annnnnd that's it. Not enough power. I got 31.5 science from this launch, which isn't terrible, but isn't great either. Stupid gravity scans taking up so much room and using up so much electricity!

Deciding to take a break from gravity scanners, I use my newfound tons and tons of science to unlock the next manned flight node and to build the spiritual successor to the Bravery -- the Champ 1. The Champ uses more powerful engines to get up to the upper atmosphere, taking a kerbal with it.

There are two reasons why I chose to unlock this specific node next. First, the Champ 1 alone will provide me with enough science to cover the cost -- a crew report from the upper atmosphere plus the new goo experiment at both the low and high atmosphere levels. Better yet, the Science Tech node also gives me two new batteries -- I can build an improved series of Airbornes that can actually get some useful data from gravity scans. Still, I decide to fly the Champ mission first -- the next node will also help with the next Airborne model.

Best of all, the Champ 1 pays for itself thrice over. The Kerbin World-Firsts blah blah blah wants me to set a new record and is willing to pay big moolah for it. Suckers! The Champ is cheap enough to be built out of a garage and most of the cost will be recovered (assuming Jebediah makes it home, that is).

The Champ 1 is a very simple model with a very great view. Three liquid engines give better thrust than a solid booster array would, and more importantly give me room to mount two parachutes. Better yet, a liquid engine plus tank is more expensive than a solid booster, but gives a higher percent of that cost back when recovered -- which means that a safe landing would make this trip practically free. Jeb easily hits 38,000 meters and could probably reach space if the cockpit was rated for the lack of pressure. Not wanting to risk it, I cut the engines early and send him home.

The craft lands safely with all engines intact. It could be used again as soon as refueled, but we're done with manned missions for now. Meanwhile, we earn a whopping 80 science between the three experiments, allowing us to purchase one more node and putting us just short of a second!

Total cost of the mission: Around 1,000 Kerbbucks.

Make that about 23,000 Kerbbucks of pure profit!

We've already got upgraded batteries; all we need now is a way to turn the Airborne-class rockets outside of the atmosphere and we can achieve orbit! Luckily, Flight Control is available for research. With RCS thrusters and a tank of monopropellant on board, our ships can turn on a dime. Or on a continent; orbital velocities and all that. Still, I research the new parts and build the upgraded Airborne 8, now RCS capable and with more efficient batteries. My hope is that this craft will reach orbit!

So it turns out that when I built the Airborne 8 I screwed up and took off the gravity sensor and when I put it back on I didn't enable mirrored mode. The rocket goes up and comes right back down.

You may notice a pair of lights on board the craft. One of the companies asked me to test their lights while on a suborbital trajectory. After this crash, they pulled their offer... Ah well, no harm no foul. It was stupid to turn those lights on anyhow; they use up battery.

The Airborne 9 works much better. It doesn't quite have the delta-V to make orbit, sadly; if I could drop the solid core boosters once they are depleted, it might work; but as-is, the liquid engine can't pull all that weight that far. Still, I manage to grab the missing science from the gravity scans over water. Time to rebuild! I grab General Construction; decouplers will let me put much heavier loads into space since I don't have to lug whatever's used up, and a 75 ton limit on the launchpad lets me build big lower stages. I'm confident in my ability to reach orbit now; let's tell that to those guys at the World Record Society.

Say hello to the Doohickey 1, first in a new generation of rockets. Four liquid rockets bring a fifth, smaller rocket past the atmosphere, at which point that rocket takes over and brings us into orbit. At 40,000 meters, the lower stage runs out of fuel and is dropped. By that point, the top stage is already moving at 1,000 meters per second. It easily tops off at 100,000 meters, then begins a circularization burn. The only question is, does it have enough juice to bring the periasis to 70,000 or above?

The answer is no. The probe's trajectory takes it three quarters of the way around Kerbin, but not all the way. Orbit is not achieved, but the Doohickey 1 is carried far enough to grab a number of gravity scans. Shores and highlands; sadly we already have water and grasslands, which are the other biomes we pass.

Back in the labs, we research Advanced Rocketry. A small but slightly more efficient engine and a smaller fuel tank; really not much to see here, but it unlocks the rest of the next generation techs.

It seems to me that the Doohickey 1 failed not due to a failure in design, but due to a failure in piloting. A 100 km apoasis is just too high. I decide to chop off a few batteries and try for a lower orbit when flying the Doohickey 1.5.

This time we reach 64,000 meters before losing the lower stage, having finished about a fifth of our circularization burn. We have much more delta-V now for circularization. An equatorial orbit is achieved!

Just getting into orbit gives us 50 science thanks to that contract. Even better, we can now scan a bunch of biomes! I adjust the orbit, going slightly off the equator, in order to grab a patch of desert, badlands, and mountains.

Success! We're up to 129 science! This is a major leap for Kerbalkind.

Meanwhile, the military contacts us again. Time for the IDBM 2 -- hopefully we can reach the airport this time.

Once again, the less said about that mission, the better. I research Aerodynamics, which unlocks the heat shield -- soon I will retrieve goo from outer space!

[babale]

Returning goo samples turned out to be a little more complicated than anticipated. As it turns out, with the probe core's round top not allowing room for a standard parachute, we needed to use the radial parachutes R&D has been promising us. I accept their contract to test the chute, not letting them know that it will be used for an actual mission rather than a test run. A modified early model Airborne is sent out. It quickly rises into low space and the goo sample is taken.

The chutes deploy early and are ripped away. R&D is very disappointed but I wrangle them into requisitioning us a second pair of chutes for another go. This time we only go up to 87,000 meters -- we weren't going to reach high orbit anyways, so might as well try for a lower speed.

With the mission finished, I check with R&D to see if they have any other suggestions. Surprisingly, they do; they offer us a big boost in funding if we manage to crash a probe into the mun. With that, I design the Munraker. A modified Doohickey with a third stage on top, this probe can reach far beyond Kerbin. The Munraker 1 is aimed straight for the mun; the Munraker 2 will be sent at Minmus. Based on simple delta-V calculations, the Munraker 2 does not need any modifications; it will reach Minmus just fine.

Before sending out the Munraker 2, I stop by the lab and find out that the scientists have built a new pod, capable of functioning in a vacuum. The next goal is to send a kerbal into space, to take crew reports and see if that vast, empty place is even survivable.

First, though, I take on yet another mission: Docking two vessels in orbit. The R&D department promises tons and tons of science from this task, a great leap forwards.

Of course, though the R&D department offered this contract, we don't yet have docking ports. So first we send the Munraker 2 out to crash into Minmus.

Proud of our progress, the R&D department asks us to reach the Mun in a less destructive fashion. But first, we unlock docking ports and send up the Male Docker and Female Dockers. The two crafts reach orbit and successfully dock.

Finally, we unlock advanced flight control modules. With these advanced probe cores, our probes will use half the power -- or last twice as long. Reaching the mun and sending back data is now a distinct possibility -- if we can get a powerful enough antenna.

Meanwhile, we've decided to try our luck at military contracts once more. This time, they want a bomb delivered. Using our new aerodynamic techs, and after many iterations in simulation, I design the Arrow 5 -- a small, sleek, lightweight bomber jet powered drone. With two bombs weighing it down, it is not very maneuverable; at 13,000 Kerbbucks, it's too expensive to be disposable. But, with some tinkering, I hope to make it a reliable bomber capable of landing and being recovered safely.

The first try drops the bombs right on target -- but sadly the plane crashes into one of the buildings. Oh well; future missions will hopefully be more successful.

This mission went off without a hitch; sadly the landing was botched and the plane crashed. But much closer this time! Soon we will have a reusable bomber drone capable of delivering explosives anywhere on Kerbin.

Meanwhile, another form of contract catches my attention. We are asked to deliver satellites into orbit. I design the Workhorse 1, a light lifter capable of attaining orbit and (hopefully) returning safely to Kerbin. It attempts to do this without dropping any stages, to ensure the most bag for our buck.

Sadly, the first Workhorse design is destroyed on reentry. However, it successfully delivered the package in a single stage, making this my first SSTO (Single Stage to Orbit) craft, ever! Future models will hopefully prove cheaper and more effective, perhaps carrying up multiple loads at once.

Meanwhile, the time has come to take a kerbal into orbit. The (hopefully ironically) named Exploder 1 is designed for just that purpose, and reliable Jebediah Kerman straps himself in. It's a simple two-stage design; four liquid engines carry a fifth engine up far enough to pass the thickest atmosphere, then the second stage stabilizes an orbit. Either remaining fuel or RCS is then used to deorbit, sending the craft back down to Kerbin.

We've done it! Jeb takes the Exploder 1 into a simple orbit, 100 by 70 kilometers. As he reaches the periasis, a second burn raises the apoasis to 347 km -- enough to reach high space with a kerbal. As soon as high space is reached, Jeb pushes the periasis back down, allowing him to return to Kerbin before his life support runs out.

The capsule hits the atmosphere at over 2 kilometers per second, and the heat shield quickly reaches a thousand degrees -- right around the danger zone. Luckily, it soon slows down and cools off. Jeb breathes a sigh of relief and prepares for landing.

After safely splashing down in the ocean, Jebediah and the High Space Goo (Band name!) are recovered and brought back to the space center. The scientists who studied the behavior of the craft are able to collaborate with the engineers who built it in the first place and design a better launch pad -- we can now launch up to 200 tons of spaceship, not to mention the development of struts! Now there are no more excuses -- it's time to go to the Mun.

The Faraway 1 is a 94 ton four stage behemoth capable of bringing a probe to the Mun, allowing it to shoot around its far side, and back to Kerbin. It comes equipped with 8 hours of battery life -- enough to reach the Mun and make it to the far side. It needs that much power, unlike the Munraker, because it needs to make corrections at that point in order to return to Kerbin at the right height. The chutes deploy automatically and the return module is aerodynamically designed to fall shield-first; as such, the probe can run out of power as soon as it makes its correction burn.

The Faraway 1 works perfectly, reaching orbit and setting a course for the Mun that already flings it right back on a collision course with Kerbin. That course will be corrected in Munar orbit; for now, it will do. As the probe begins its burn, the Mun itself peeks out from behind the massive Kerbin.

Four hours and nineteen minutes later, Faraway 1 is captured by the Mun's gravity. It falls towards the larger body, rapidly gaining speed -- fast enough to escape the Mun on the other side. On the way, we catch some gravity scans, temperature scans, a barometer scan (which confirms that the Mun is airless), and goo samples from high and low mun orbits.

As Faraway approaches the Mun, I plan the correction burn. Right now Faraway is going to be flung into a high-Kerbin orbit with an apoasis far beyond Minmus; that needs to change. A very short burn accomplishes this; I return to watching the probe, anxiously grabbing what science I can.

With a periasis of 45 km set, I separate the probe from the engine. With power due to run out very soon, I will not be able to do this later.

Faraway's core skims the atmosphere, but it's not enough; it still has a very high apoasis. Luckily, this was the plan all along; slowing down from Mun return velocities of 4 kilometers per second will crush the low-tech heat shields we currently use like aluminum foil. Instead, at 45km, the probe sheds only a small amount of velocity each time. It takes seven revolutions around Kerbin -- almost 14 hours' worth -- but eventually the probe slows down enough to make a landing.

The Faraway 1 touches down safely, bringing home 221 science and completing part of the Munar Exploration contract!

I unlock antennas capable of transmitting from as far out as Minmus along with landing gear and a seismic scanner. It is time -- the next probe will land upon the Mun.

The Faraway 2 loses many of the instruments that the Faraway 1 carried -- no need for gravity scanners, at least. It also does not carry goo containers -- those need to be brought home before being studied, and as such are useless on this mission. It does have landing legs and antennas, along with a seismic scanner. All in all, it weighs in at 92 tons -- slightly lighter than the Faraway 1.

Faraway 2 approaches the Mun and circularizes, eventually stopping with a very low orbit. Incidentally, this completes a second part of the Munar Exploration contract. The probe then burns retrograde, eventually killing its rotational momentum and falling towards the Mun.

Soon, it reaches the Mun's surface -- so close its shadow can be seen. The Faraway 2 extends its landing gear and drops, slowly -- very slowly -- and finally --

Gently touches down, tips over, and falls. The engine is longer than the landing legs, meaning that the probe cannot land safely. In any case, seismic readings are taken, as are temperature readings and a barometer scan. It reveals that the Mun is scorching on its sunny side, freezing on its dark side; contains no air whatsoever; and has no seismic activity, aside from the reverberations of distant meteors. The data is sent home; most makes it, but about half of the seismic scan is lost due to power issues. Luckily, that still amounts to a large chunk of science.

The dead probe remains on the Mun, forever a testament to Unrepentant's power. Meanwhile, it's time to look at manned missions once more.

Heavy Rocketry, Advanced Exploration, and Advanced Landing are all researched. The Exploder 1.5 is sent up, with Jebediah once more at the helm -- a mostly unmodified Exploder 1, with the addition of gravity scanners. This time Jeb will try for a polar orbit, allowing some more science to be gained by studying the ice caps of Kerbin.

The launch is routine, and after testing out the new suits in distant space and taking crew reports over half a dozen biomes, Jeb brings the ship home.

Suddenly, disaster strikes! Ground control loses all contact with Jebediah Kerman. Desperately trying to reestablish contact, the engineers are confused, until they take a look at the flight logs. Power requirements of the life support system were horribly miscalculated -- someone forgot to carry a 0. Jebediah has perished in outer space -- the first kerbal casualty of the Unrepentant Space Exploration Agency.

The empty command module, filled with Jeb's notes and observations, returns home. This is a great leap for knowledge, but a horrible loss for Kerbalkind. Jebediah Kerman will be missed as the USEA carries on.

Unrepentantly. Definitely feeling no regrets here.

I should mention that I'm playing this Ironman style -- no reverting or reloading, unless I'm testing something (in which case I try and redo it even if it goes right -- depending on time constraints ) or if there's a bug. So yeah -- this was a horrible loss.

- - - Updated - - -

With Jebediah dead, some political types began to question the wisdom of creating a space agency beholden to no one. Luckily for us, the Unrepentant Space Exploration Agency is not beholden to those political types doing the questioning. After a short interview process, we recruited four new Kerbals to the team: Eli Dullard, a scientist willing to go on even the most dangerous of missions with more courage than sense; the Nefarious Dr. Piddlebutt, an eccentric engineer whose strange designs tend to prove either very effective or very disasterous; Timmy Mack, an engineer with a knack for in-situ repairs; and Herlas Kerman, an expandable pilot who was told to buy a good life insurance policy.

(Sorry about the jobs not matching your requests; it turns out that KSP assigns the jobs based on the Kerbal name. So for example, Eli Dullard was a pilot before I renamed him, at which point he became a scientist.)

Meanwhile, it's time to move on. Jeb's death and the failure of not one but two contracts has taken a heavy toll on our finances. I turn to bombing runs to earn some money.

Shortly after this picture was taken the Arrow crashed. It is simply too uncontrollable when unloaded by bombs. To fix this, we will need more advanced aerodynamic parts; but we will not get those until we can earn some more science. Before that, we need money. Luckily, the military approaches USEA with a new offer. Our surveillance of the Mun has show it to be a useful place to place missiles which could later be launched at Kerbin. To head off that risk, the army demands we develop a weapon capable of striking any location on the Mun.

I have a plan -- but first, it's time to fulfill the Orbital EVA contract that Jeb was meant to take. Herlas Kerman, Expandable Pilot, straps himself into a carbon copy of Jeb's craft -- the Exploder 1.5. The mission is carried off quickly and efficiently; Jeb's sacrifice has made future missions easier for us all. Herlas makes sure to return right after going on EVA.

Using the readings taken by Herlas in space, our R&D department is able to develop a more powerful type of battery pack. Much lighter than the previous models, these batteries will easily last long enough to get to the Mun while remaining reasonably light. That's exactly what we need to send a kerbal on a Munar flyby.

The larger pods, while much more efficient in terms of light support -- nearly ten times more efficient, in fact -- are not equipped with a built-in heat shield, nor do we yet have a heat shield large enough to protect one. As such, the Gravity 1 -- Kerbalkind's first manned Mun-capable vehicle -- needs to carry two probes. After reaching the Mun and returning, the kerbal within will need to make his way outside of the vehicle into the smaller, tougher capsule. Eli Dullard proves that ladders are sufficient for this purpose on Kerbin's soil, giving Gravity 1 the green light.

The 200 ton Gravity 1 is the largest ship we've built so far, and it's more than capable of reaching the Mun with up to three kerbals. Sadly, it is not yet capable of bringing three kerbals home; Dullard will travel alone, returning in the smaller capsule once the mission is complete. He prepares for the mission and sets off. The Gravity's lifter performs admirably, reaching orbit with no trouble whatsoever.

The only drawback to the Gravity design is that its wet thrust to weight ratio is not high enough to lift off. The engines need to warm up, burning about 300 delta-V's worth of fuel before the ship is light enough to take off.

But take off it does, crawling into the sky at first but rapidly gaining speed. The faster the rocket goes, the easier it is to keep steady.

By around 7 kilometers the craft reaches terminal velocity and the engines are throttled down, keeping the ship below 120 meters per second. Any faster and we'll spend more fuel fighting air resistance than we save by escaping gravity.

Past 13 kilometers, the air is thin enough to ignore terminal velocity. Dullard screams and puts the pedal to the metal, taking off in a hurry.

Once in space, Dullard leaves the small capsule (which is equipped with a parachute and separator for reentry, both of whom can be activated prematurely in the event of a catastrophic failure requiring the mission to be aborted) and makes his way into the larger transfer capsule. Here in Low Kerbin Orbit, should this transfer prove to be impossible, Dullard might be saved; if the first attempt at transfer occurred on the way back to Kerbin, failure would be deadly. But Eli proves the concept sound and makes his way down the ladder.

We find an insertion burn that brings us close to the Mun and flings us back towards Kerbin. Dullard makes the burn; this heading will save us fuel and time on the way home. A small correction in low Munar orbit will ensure that we come back with the right periasis.

Eli Dullard is becomes the furthest kerbal from Kerbin. A few minor corrections are made on the way to the Mun -- Eli realizes that with the proper maneuver a correction in the Mun's sphere of influence will not be necessary after all -- and once again he's on his way.

Soon enough, Dullard becomes the first kerbal in Munar orbit. Kerbin's Mun is tidally locked, meaning that as he passes by the far side of the Mun he becomes the first kerbal to ever see those lands.

Three hours later, Dullard is almost home. His electric charge is running low; he can't afford to orbit Kerbin six times. He must make a decision on how to set his orbit. Too low, and he will burn up in the atmosphere; too high, and he'll freeze to death when the power runs out and the Gravity's heat escapes to space. With no fuel in the tanks, there is no way to charge the batteries by running the engines; worse, RCS thrusters can only apply so much force. If he comes any closer to Kerbin, he won't have the control he needs to choose his height.

Whatever decision Eli makes, he needs to do it now.

Perhaps hoping that even if Dullard doesn't survive his craft and notes will, Ground Control tells him to keep the periasis at 45 kilometers. But Dullard isn't willing to doom himself for data; against orders, he sets the periasis lower, to 35 kilometers. If the shields don't hold, he'll burn to death. But he prefers a quick death by fire than a slow one by ice.

Dullard waits as long as possible before moving to the reentry pod. The Gravity's gigantic battery banks will be decoupled, along with the transfer pod and the rockets themselves; when they are, Dullard will only have the limited internal batteries of the smaller reentry pod to keep him alive through however many orbits of Kerbin it takes to slow down to a landing. But with Kerbin so close below, Eli can wait no more. He makes the transfer.

At first, the plan was for the whole ship to plunge into the atmosphere, burning away and providing a buffer for Dullard's reentry pod. But the craft is too top-heavy; it flips the wrong way, threatening to incinerate the chutes. With the air thickening fast, Dullard decouples, falling away from the main ship.

Not a moment too soon; all around the reentry pod, parts of the larger craft explode into fiery bursts. The pod flies onwards, protected by its thick ablative shields.

The probe makes it through the worst of the atmosphere. It rises back up to forty thousand meters, but no higher; Dullard's risky maneuver allows him complete reentry in just one orbit. But the pod is still falling, towards the thickest part of the atmosphere now.

Somehow, it makes it! With more than half of its power banks depleted in the short time since hitting the atmosphere, the probe slows down enough for the flames to die away. But now another problem presents itself! The probe is heading for a mountain range, where there is far less time for the parachutes to slow it down. If it smashes into the mountains, making it past the atmosphere will be but small comfort.

The chutes deploy and miraculously Dullard comes down in the highlands beneath the mountain range. It still loses almost 3 kilometers of elevation compared to a sea level landing, but at least it misses the enormous mountain range by just a few kilometers. Dullard comes down safe and is brought back to the space center as a hero.

With all that money, I decide to send a probe to land and return from the Mun, bringing back goo samples and the rest of that seismic data. The Highriser 1 is born! Like the Gravity before it, it also needs to warm up the engines before ascending.

The probe heads out on a collision course for the Mun, but I can already tell that it's doomed to failure. The tanks are just too low, even after I shut down the central engine to conserve fuel.

Indeed, the probe simple cannot slow down enough to land. It's not a problem with the lander design per say; rather, the fact that we had to make the transfer and deorbit burns using the lander simply put too much stress on the tanks. I decide to make a minor change. The Gravity's payload -- meaning the batteries, two pods, and RCS tanks -- weigh 15 tons. The entire lander, fully fueled, weighs just a single ton more. I copy the Gravity's lifter and dub it a Gravity Class Lifter.

Altogether, the Highriser 2 has more than enough delta-V to reach the Mun -- in theory. The launch goes off perfectly and the probe is on its way.

Success! The probe lands in one of the Mun's craters and takes the samples needed. But its tanks are nearly empty -- perhaps due to piloting error, or perhaps due to flawed designs. I will note that my orbit around Kerbin had an apoasis of 109 kilometers -- 40 too high, which perhaps wasted the fuel we needed to make a successful landing. Still, with no antennas, we may as well try and return.

It's a good effort, but just not enough. The lander arcs across a quarter of the Mun before plunging down to its doom.

Tired of trying to land on the Mun, I design a new craft in a new series: The Infinity probe, capable of transmitting data back from Minmus. Of course, the Infinity is just a tad too expensive at the moment. So its time to do that job for the military. I construct the two-stage ILBM: Inter-Lunar Balistic Missile. Capable of striking any point on Minmus, the ILBM is a truly terrifying weapon.

Extremely easy to fly, the ILBM reaches orbit easily enough. From there its just a short hop into Munar orbit.

At first, I consider coming at the target at an angle by diving straight at it instead of circularizing. But a moment's reflection tells me that this is a bad idea. The Munar surface is rough and full of craters; better to hit the target straight from above, especially since the missile is certainly not lacking in delta-V. As soon as it passes over the target site, the ILBM kills all lateral velocity. Then, pointing straight at the target below, it picks up speed with a short burn. The rest of its fuel and RCS is used to make corrections and land right on target.

Bullseye! Sort of. Well, we're within 1,000 meters; that's what the brass asked for. With practice, and with the Mun's lack of an atmosphere, we can get this down to perfectly accurate strikes.

An ILBM costs 20,000 Kerbbucks; the army pays us 60 grand a pop. Not a bad profit margin!

We're still a bit short on cash, so I see what else the army wants. They ask for a bomber capable of hitting two targets in one run; the Arrow 5 is modified a bit and sent out to handle the challenge. But before that mission, we've got a probe that needs launching.

We can finally afford the Infinity 1. Unlike its predecessors, it can take off right away.

Launches like this are pretty routine by now; we easily make our way to Minmus. Three days of travel later, we arrive in Minmus' tiny sphere of influence and start sending back measurements.

The probe is treated to a beautiful sight -- the sun rises over Minmus while Kerbin and the Mun float in the distance.

Having sent back as much data as it could and out of fuel for course corrections that would allow it to pass by more biomes, the Infinity 1 sails past Minmus and into a highly eccentric Kerbin orbit. Perhaps eventually it will be captured by Minmus once more; until then, it will float for infinity.

Minmus provides us with enough science to upgrade the launchpad to handle 600 tons. But we have no money!

To earn some, I take on a couple of payload missions. Rockomax and Kerbodyne want satellites put into a Kerbin orbit. I decide to try and make a reusable Workhorse capable of taking loads to orbit in just one launch. While it can reach orbit, reentry turns out to be a bit of a problem.

Without recovery of the craft, the mission is actually a net loss. So I turn to the military, which will hopefully prove more profitable. The Arrow 5 struggles under its heavy load, but reaches the drop sites successfully, only to crash on the way home. Another monetary failure.

Meanwhile, I try my hand at a two-payload mission. This time there's enough of a margin that I can end up making a profit even if I can't recover the craft.

The engines actually survive reentry this time; the tanks behind them do not, though. The craft falls apart, and I salvage nothing.

Meanwhile, I've got a much bigger job. A payload to Munar orbit! And it promises to pay really well!

I design the Infinity 3. So awesome, we had to skip a number. This enormous craft rockets up to the 600 ton limit, but can carry a lander fully capable of landing on the Mun and returning (and perhaps even doing the same with Minmus, if batteries are upgraded!). It ALSO delivers a ten ton load to the Mun.

But the enormous rocket is enormously expensive, so first I design the next generation Arrow... The Arrow X. This craft is faster and more stable, able to carry as many as six sets of bombs to a target. Which is good, because now the brass wants me to bomb a target on the other side of the mountains west of the space center. Three times.

Aside from a close call when pulling out of the first dive that lead to a stall and near-crash, the Arrow X perform beautifully. All 3 targets are hit in rapid succession and the arrow returns home. Unladen with weaponry, it now pulls up quite strongly; but I keep it under control.

It skids right off the runway and tilts all the way onto its engines, but the Arrow X survives. The first bomber to do so! Flying the mission only cost around 3,000 Kerbbucks, mostly in explosives and fuel.

As we still can't afford to launch the Infinity 3, I check back with the brass. Another warhead to the Mun? Their wish is my command.

Will the second Mun rocket hit the bullseye? Will the Infinity 3 reach space? Will the new and brave pilots meet the same fate as Jebediah? Find out next time!

Edited February 5, 2015 by babale

[Ten Key]

I'm playing through an earlier version of BTSM, and it's been interesting going through this and seeing the similarities and differences in our approaches to certain problems. I've yet to leave Kerbin's SOI though, so I have a feeling this log is going to out run me very quickly.

Just a bit of advice though-- you may want to consider putting the individual missions behind spoiler tags so that the whole thing doesn't try to load at once when you open the page. You could also probably save some bandwidth by converting these to jpegs. At the very least, maybe add a warning to the title of the thread so that people using mobile devices know to not open it.