Season 3 is a fresh single-player game of Kerbal Space Program in Science mode. The commentary weighs Career against Science, viewers suggest Science, and the save starts with nothing researched. This first stream builds and flies ten rockets, Science 1 to Science 10, from experiments on the launch pad to a capsule that reaches space. Three kerbals are lost along the way. It ends at the Space Center with Bob Kerman home safe and 57.4 science from the last flight.
Science from the launch pad
Science 1 is a command pod with a goo canister, and it never leaves the pad. Jebediah Kerman sits inside while the goo is observed, a crew report is filed, and an EVA and a surface sample are taken right there. "It's the basic initial easy science." The Mission Summary counts four experiments for +19.1 science.
That buys the first basic rockets and the Science Jr., which goes onto Science 2 for one more round on the pad. The next idea is to get off the pad without flying. Science 3 is turned on its side to roll. "Oh boy. So I went a little bit fast." Part of it breaks off, and a second try does no better. "Rolling isn't really working for us. We'll go in the air, that's fine."
Short hops
Science 5 gets a parachute, a small engine and a decoupler. It goes up, falls back near the Space Center buildings and comes down under the parachute, but the Science Jr. blows up on landing. "Why'd you blow up still?" Science 6 lands in the grass in one piece, and again the bottom part explodes. "For some reason Science Jr. keeps on blowing up. Not sure why that is."
Science 7 goes too high
Science 7 gets wings, extra parachutes and a heat shield on the bottom. Basket aims for the ocean, and the rocket keeps climbing. "We might even make it to space." It does not reach orbit, but Flight Results later list a highest altitude of 122,018 meters. Jebediah files a crew report and an EVA report up there.
The heat shield, put on to soften the landing, ends up carrying the capsule through a long fiery reentry. The parachutes open over the water, but the capsule is still falling too fast, and the Flight Results read "Outcome: Catastrophic Failure!" The commentary sums it up: "I was coming in too steep, I think, or too hot."
Too many boosters
Science 8 is a cluster of fuel tanks and engines around the pod. With Valentina Kerman aboard, it tips over less than half a minute after liftoff and explodes, never more than 653 meters up. The rocket is turned and launched again with Bill Kerman. "Even right now it's kind of freaking out." It flies almost sideways over the coast and comes down near the runway. This time the Flight Results say "Bill Kerman was killed." "I'm killing all my guys. Great."
The cluster gets cut down to four engines, a decoupler and a smaller stage. Science 9 carries Bob Kerman. "So not stable at all." It wobbles and turns, but it gets up, drops its engines and floats down under one parachute into the ocean. Bob takes a surface sample from the water and an EVA report, and the goo gets observed in the water before recovery.
Science 10 reaches space
For Science 10 the extra engines go and four solid rocket boosters come back, with nose cones and fins. It climbs fast. A maneuver node is set for an orbit, but the fuel runs out partway through the burn. "Okay, well, that's all we have." It still gets into space, "not orbit, but space," as the commentary puts it.
Up there Bob goes on EVA, takes the data out of the materials bay and carries it back into the pod, so the results survive even if the lower part burns off. "Now this bottom part can blow up in theory and we'll still be okay."
Reentry is another wall of flame. The battery runs out, and the goo canisters are lost. "I should have collected the data from them." The parachutes hold, and the capsule settles on dark grassland at night. Bob takes a surface sample and an EVA report before the vessel is recovered. The Mission Summary for Science 10 lists six experiments, the materials study alone worth 25, for +57.4 science and a total of 82.
Where it ends
45 science goes into the research tree. A stop at the Astronaut Complex shows the cost of the day: Jebediah, Bill and Valentina Kerman are all listed as Missing in Action. "They'll come back, I think." The stream ends at the Space Center, with Bob Kerman safe and the next ship not built yet.
