Episode 6 of the GopherCraft Great Space Race stays close to home. Basket is not chasing an orbit this time. The plan is "to get some extra science from stuff around," with short hops to biomes on Kerbin that the program has not visited yet. Every flight has Jebediah Kerman in the pod, the name on the portrait and on each Science Summary. By the end the science has passed 100, Basket has spent 90 of it on Electrics, and there is still no orbit.
Planet Exploration I heads north
The new rocket, designed off camera, carries a Science Jr. and Mystery Goo on a single engine. Basket names it Planet Exploration I ("I like the roman numerals instead"). After watching another racer head north to reach a different biome, Basket angles north too, burns the fuel, drops the engine and opens the parachute. The pod comes down just short of the land it was aiming for, in Kerbin's Water, and something breaks on landing. "Oh, I guess it broke." Basket thinks the goo canisters and the Science Jr. went with it, and wonders about more parachutes. Jebediah still gets out for a surface sample and an EVA report, and the science reaches 62.
More parachutes, more fuel
Planet Exploration II gets two more parachutes, placed so they do not block the door, and extra fuel. It lands safely, but in the Grasslands, which the program has already done, and the science only climbs to 72. Basket checks the cost of lights in Research and Development and then runs the experiments on the launch pad without leaving it, for 10.5 science and a total of 83. "I need seven more and I can get lights."
The next hop aims for the runway and misses it, but the Science Summary says KSC, a new area. The surface sample alone is worth 9 science. "What a deal." The recovery leaves the program at 106.
Electrics
Basket researches Electrics for 90 science: lights, the OX-STAT Photovoltaic Panels and a battery bank. "If I can get something into space, I can do a bunch of science." In the VAB the rocket gets two floodlights, one solar panel, an antenna on top and a thermometer.
A night landing under floodlights
The next version launches the opposite way from the earlier flights. The lights shine down ("so they do shine down"), but it is night, so the solar panel has nothing to work with. Basket hopes for the mountains and lands in the Grasslands again. A crew report goes out by antenna before the game warns "Not Enough ElectricCharge!" After the Science Summaries for Jebediah Kerman and Planet Exploration III, the program ends the episode with 29 science. "I think we might try ahead for those mountains next."
Where it ends
A "To be continued..." card runs over the Space Center, then the end card wishes Gopherboy, Scoti Garbidis, Pikerize, Sayulily and Steel Douglas good luck. Jebediah is home safe, the save holds 29 science and the Electrics parts, and the mountains are the next target.