Episode 32 of the GopherCraft Great Space Race stays close to home. "This episode will be about trying to get money." Basket takes contracts to test parts over Kerbin and flies three solid booster rockets for them. The gear bay test is finished by the end, but the booster test is still incomplete, and nobody has landed on the Mun and made it back yet.
Contracts for cash
Mission Control has a list of offers: test a Basic Jet Engine, a Small Gear Bay and a TT-38K Radial Decoupler landed at Kerbin, rescue Nedvey Kerman, and explore Duna, Ike and Minmus. Basket accepts the Rockomax one: test the Rockomax BACC Solid Fuel Booster in flight over Kerbin. The game shows funds at 144,066 and science at 13.7.
The first try is a single booster with a capsule and a parachute, flown by Ronton Kerman. It goes up, comes down under the parachute and is recovered at the Space Center. "If you actually recover parts, you get money back." Funds go up to 145,686. Back in Mission Control, the contract wants the booster fired between 23,600 and 25,100 meters, at 480 to 580 m/s. "Okay, so I need to make some bigger rockets."
Three boosters
The second rocket has a booster on each side of the middle one, and Basket puts parachutes on the side boosters to try to get them back. Jebediah Kerman flies it. The plan is to burn the side boosters, drop them and light the middle one at 24,000 meters, but they run out too soon. "Maybe I'll have to do a bigger kind of rocket." Check marks on the contract come and go during the flight. "It did count, but then it didn't count."
Only the capsule, its parachute and some MonoPropellant are recovered, 156.3 km from the Space Center. "Those guys that parachuted down, I guess it didn't recover, unfortunately." Funds drop to 140,847.
The Rockomax BACC Test
Basket also accepts the Small Gear Bay contract and adds a gear bay to a new, bigger rocket, named Rockomax BACC Test. Jebediah flies again. The boosters still burn out short of the window. "I mean, I'm at the right points for some of this stuff." The last stage carries on up. "Oh, it's going really high out there."
After landing, 540.5 km from the Space Center, the gear bay test is run on the ground. "I guess that worked great." The Small Gear Bay contract moves to the completed list, and science rises to 46.7. Funds are at 134,116 after the recovery.
Where it ends
The booster contract is still incomplete. "This is really complicated." Basket looks at a new offer to test the Rockomax "Mainsail" Liquid Engine in flight over Kerbin, then calls it there. The plan for next time is more contracts first, since there isn't quite enough yet, then another launch for the Mun. The "Science data from space around the Mun" contract is still active.