Episode 5 of the GopherCraft Great Space Race is one long day of trying for orbit. Basket thinks the gravity turn finally makes sense and loads the last rocket, Basket 15, to try it. Two orbit attempts come up short on fuel, an overloaded Basket 16 barely leaves the pad, and then a rocket built only to go straight up brings home 50.9 science in one recovery. Science goes from 89 to 147, Space Exploration gets researched, and there is still no orbit when the episode ends.
Basket 15 goes for orbit
Basket 15 keeps the side boosters from before, with Jebediah Kerman in the pod. It spins on the way up, and Basket guesses why: "since these are offset, I think that might be why it kind of rotates a little bit." The big boosters go, and past 10,000 meters Basket turns east. High up, a maneuver node shows the burn it would take: "we need to do it for three minutes. Oh, we're not going to have enough fuel for that." The capsule falls back and lands in the water at night. Jebediah climbs out for a surface sample and an EVA report, and the Science Summary for Basket 15 pays 30.3 science, for 89. "What a great mission."
Too many tanks on Basket 16
Basket spends 45 science on Advanced Rocketry for the FL-T800 Fuel Tank, which holds twice the fuel, then stacks a pile of them into Basket 16. At the pad: "It's not going at all because it's too heavy." Dropping stages gets it moving, but not far. Partway through, Basket notices who is flying: "Oh, this is Jebediah. Oh, Jebediah is alive." The capsule drifts down slowly under parachutes beside the Space Center and lands on Kerbin's Shores. Jebediah takes a surface sample but can't climb back in ("I didn't put any ladders"), so the kerbal and the craft are recovered separately, for 67 science. "If we just add a whole bunch of fuel tanks that doesn't mean that your rocket's gonna go anywhere."
Basket 17 tries again
Basket 17 is much smaller: one of the new tanks and no boosters. "I like not rotating as I launch, it makes it a lot easier." It climbs slowly, turns at 10,000 meters and reaches space, but the next maneuver node asks for another long burn, and it falls back into the ocean. "Maybe it's a different ocean. Nope. Same." Science reaches 85, and Space Exploration costs 90. "I need another five more."
Science Rocket I goes straight up
For the last flight Basket builds Science Rocket I with no plan for a gravity turn: "We're just going to try and go all the way up, do science, and see what we can send back." Hanvan Kerman takes Jebediah's seat. The side pieces fail to drop ("did not attach properly"), so the rocket hauls them along until its tank runs dry. It keeps going anyway, and with the altimeter past 762,000 meters the Materials Study reads "The high radiation environment caused a few of the samples to glow." Basket adds a crew report, an EVA report and more goo. The pod comes back down on Kerbin's Deserts, where Hanvan takes a surface sample. Science Rocket I pays 50.9 science and Hanvan's samples 11.4, for 147. "That's a lot of science."
Where it ends
Basket buys Space Exploration for 90 science, which unlocks the Mobile Processing Lab MPL-LG-2 and the 2HOT Thermometer, leaving 57. "Wow, the thing is big." Alone on the launch pad the lab reads "Not Enough Crew (0/2)." With a crewed command pod on top it reads "Operational," and Basket recovers it to "read up on how that works." The plan for next time: more science, and "I'll try again to do a orbit." The end card wishes Gopherboy, Scoti Garbidis, Pikerize and Sayulily good luck.
