Episode 9 of the GopherCraft Great Space Race opens under its title card with a rocket that tips over after launch and blows up beside the tracking station dishes. Back in the VAB, Basket goes to work on stability, then flies Orbit III with Bill Kerman. Jebediah Kerman is already circling Kerbin in Orbit II. By the end Bill has climbed a mountain on foot and the science stands at 33.
Struts
The first question is what to change: "I didn't have SAS on, but I don't think that answers why this thing was so ridiculously crazy." The craft is two tall stacks of tanks side by side. Basket tries the EAS-4 Strut Connector ("Can we make these things connect up? How do I keep these things stable?") and reads the part's own description: "Once both sides are connected, a structural beam is created." The struts go on in rows down both stacks. The name field still reads Orbit II, but on the pad the game calls the flight Orbit III.
Orbit III
"With this one, I think I'm going to just try going straight up." The rocket holds together all the way up: "I'm happy with those struts." Out of the atmosphere Basket drops the empty stages and plays with maneuver nodes on the map. One of them reads Kerbin Escape ("Oh, that would be Escaping Kerbin"), and every burn estimate comes up in hours. Basket burns anyway and cuts the engines when the path points at the mountains. "So I could have gotten into orbit and the thing was just lying to me about how many hours it was going to take." The materials bay reports that "the micro gravity has greatly affected the growth of crystalline structures."
Checking on Jebediah
While Orbit III falls, Basket opens the Tracking Station. Orbit II is listed as orbiting Kerbin and Orbit III as sub-orbital. Jebediah's Mystery Goo now reads "The Goo seems to have clumped into a sphere. It also appears to have become brittle." Basket keeps the data: "I guess I'll leave him orbiting for now."
A hike for nothing
Orbit III lands in Kerbin's Highlands, short of the mountains. "I think I've already done this one." Bill climbs out for a surface sample and sets off uphill on foot. "It took me 10 minutes of regular speed walking with this guy before I realized I could speed up time." Higher up, the biome is still the Highlands: "It is not, wah wah." The EVA report agrees: "I don't think a spacesuit was entirely necessary to get here, was it?"
Where it ends
Basket recovers Bill (2.3 science for the surface sample, Science 26) and then Orbit III (6.2 more, Science 33). Orbit II and Jebediah are still in orbit. "Let's see what we can do with the Orbit 3." A "To be continued..." card runs over the VAB, and the end card wishes Gopherboy, Scoti Garbidis, Pikerize, Sayulily and Steel Douglas good luck.