Operation: Mara One Rescue

[Guardian Hope]

Operation: Mara One Rescue
"We Leave No Kerbal Behind"

"Space, the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise, oh you got to be kidding me; they pulled a Voyager and a the Martian in the same day. I'm not reading this." - Jeb, Heroic Astronaut of the NASA KSP Program. He survived.

The Mara SLA01 - Current Status

It was supposed to be an automated probe for a flyby of the Mun. It's test launch of course was manned. Outfitted with some of the most powerful SpaceY engines available and designed like nothing the NASA KSP Program created before, it was to be the first stepping stone to the Mun. "Mun or bust" after all, right. Unfortunately, the Mara SLA01 (Standard Launch Automated) did not turn out as expected. Accelerating to nearly 3,000 m/sec the Mara SLA01 broke Kerbin orbit and before burning out its solid rocket boosters entered into an elliptical orbit with Kerbol.

Meet the Mara SLA01:

Equipped with the latest technology of the time, the Mara SLA01 was designed for extended long term automated missions. With full electrical charge to sustain the computers and life support, the Mara SLA01 could potentially keep its crew alive indefinitely (or until the food ran out).

However, we do not leave a Kerbal behind. In a courageous decision, the survivor of many NASA KSP Program test launches has volunteered to lead the rescue effort to bring our Kerbalnauts home!

The Objectives:

• Intercept the Mara SLA01 with a newly developed spacecraft equipped with the most advanced technology we have: the Mara One;
• Save our Kerbalnauts!
• Bring all our Kerbalnauts home

What We Know:

• The Mara SLA01 has no fuel left and is relying on solar energy for electricity. It is impossible to maneuver the vessel;
• Any rescue ship must be capable of catching up with the SLA01 and either dock with the SLA01 or passengers of the SLA01 must be able to EVA at nearly 3.1 Km/sec;
• The Mara One rescue ship must be able to accelerate out of Kerbol orbit and will need the speed, power, and fuel to perform several maneuvers to reach Kerbin;
• Mara One will need to slow down significantly for atmospheric reentry or face burning up before reaching the Space Center

It's time to bring our Kerbalnauts Home

The current mission status direct from Mission Control Headquarters on Kerbin:

• Designing the Mara One

Tasks that Remain

NASA KSP Engineers and Scientists are concerned that if we launch the Mara One too early it may face the same fate or worse. Time is against us as we prepare for a rescue mission.

• Mara One Launch System Trials
• Mara One Interplanetary Engine Trials
• Mara One Planetary Breaking Trials
• Mara One Spaceplane Trials
• Mara One Ship Trials
• Mara One Launch

Follow a long as the Mara One Rescue Mission commences.

[Just Jim]

OK, I think you had me hooked on the opening quote...   

[Kerbinchaser]

Agreed. That was awesome.

Edited July 3, 2016 by Lo Var Lachland

[Guardian Hope]

Mara One Rescue Mission: The Scorch Booster Trials

"Exactly one year and thirty days before they reach their closest pass around the sun," the Director of the NASA KSP Program said.

Scientists and Engineers from all of Kerbin were waiting to join the program for this courageous trip through the system to rescue their own; some more courageous than others. But NASA-KSP needed all the help it could get if it were to mount a rescue operation in the time it had and there had to be Kerbels that could be redshirts should the need arise. We may bring our people home but we never said if they would be alive when they got back.

However, for Val and company, their only hope of seeing Kerbin again lies with the advancements and sacrifices of those Kerbels who are being led by Jeb to make Mara One a reality.

While the NASA-KSP Administration building was filled with press, a new space race had begun to build the most sophisticated spaceship ever attempted in NASA-KSP history to intercept the Mara SLA01 prototype.

"The design for the Mara clearly works, let's just make it bigger and more powerful," a B9 Aerospace engineer stated. "By the way, we do not give refunds," he had added.

Jeb, the only Kerbel on Kerbin to have made a successful spaceflight - even if it was suborbital, had no choice. If they were going to catch up to something moving at over 3,100 meters a second and expected to be moving at nearly 4,000 meters a second when they intercept all Jeb could hope for was a competent crew and really powerful engines.

NASA-KSP signed off on the $762,000+ Mara One Booster Stage One monstrosity. Equipped with the latest from B9 Aerospace and SpaceY, the Mara One's first booster stage had as powerful liquid engines as it did solid rockets. Unfortunately, due to the warranty, B9 and SpaceY do not cover the fact the decouplers do not work to separate the boosters.

The Mara One Booster Stage 1 Prototype

 

The Mara One Stage 1 Booster Prototype was quickly moved to the launch pad once completed. NASA-KSP opted to skip testing for faulting components.

Jebediah Kerman, Poddas Kerman, and Kagela Kerman made up the test crew for this historic launch. The largest and most powerful rocket in NASA-KSP history was resting on the launch pad being held mere feet from the ground by SpaceY Heavy Clamps. Scientists suspected that the Mara One Stage One Booster didn't have enough power and that spacing would prove vital in ensuring it launched without damaging the launch pad.

On the NASA-KSP COM you could hear the call outs: 

Booster?

Go.

Guidance?

Go!

Flight?

Go!

Range?

Go for Range.

Payload?

None

Launch?

Go..

CAPCOM?

Go.

"Set the countdown to T minus 30."

As the voice counted down to the spectators from 10, Jeb said it loud and proud: "let's rock and roll!" to the amusement of the others.

"5, 4, 3, main engine start, 2, 1...."

The clamps release and the Mara One Booster roared into the skies.

"Trajectory and stage looks good," mission control stated.

 

 

To prevent the Mara One Stage 1 Booster from breaking Kerbin orbit and having the same fate as the SLA01, Jeb throttled down the engines. This mission was a quick run around the block - even if the crew cabin of the booster section could sustain them given so much was borrowed from the SLA01.

Approaching Kerbin Apoapsis, it was time to separate from the booster and make atmospheric re-entry not far from the Space Center. With a push of a button, the explosive bolts fired, separating the capsule bringing the Kerbalnauts home from the booster. Unfortunately, the separation didn't push the capsule far enough away.

 

As the capsule begun its entry into the atmosphere so did the booster which was not designed to survive reentry. Mere kilometers separated the booster from the capsule of the three brave Kerbelnauts as it exploded - sending a shockwave of what remained with it and knocking the capsule slightly off course.

Fortunately, all three Kerbelnauts returned to Kerbin as heroes with the praises of all around the planet.

However, NASA-KSP saw this test as a failure. From the official file:

"The Mara One Stage 1 Booster struggled at best to carry its payload to orbit, running out of solid fuel before reaching the crux of space forcing the use of unreplenishable liquid fuel needed for the mission. The booster failed to achieve a target velocity of 3,000 meters a second - a fraction of the speed needed for the Mara One-SLA01 Intercept. Adjustments will need to be made before the booster is capable of carrying the Mara One Craft into space."

With one year and 29 days left on the calendar before Mara One must intercept the SLA01, NASA-KSP must find a way to do something it had never done before. Will Mara One be ready in time, or will the crew of the SLA01 meet an untimely fate? Follow the continued journeys of Jeb and Val in what is turning into Star Trek: Voyager meets the Martian. 

[Guardian Hope]

Mara One Rescue Mission
Chapter III: The Orbital One Mission

Kerbol 323

It's been 323 days since the Mara SLA01 was lost to the orbit of Kerbol with Val in command. The NASA-KSP Program has had to make great strides in technology to prepare a rescue mission for a crew that has been stranded in space for almost a year. Nuclear and Ion propulsion have propelled the space program forward many years and for the first time in Kerbin history, an orbital station was to be built above Kerbin. No scientist on Kerbin was certain if the Orbital One Heavy Lifter could even take off with the first parts of the Orbital One station and the Director of the NASA-KSP Program could be seen fiddling as the countdown began:

"5, 4, 3... main engine start, 2, 1.... Liftoff of the Orbital One Heavy Lifter bringing new scientific advances to Kerbals everywhere on Kerbin,"

It would be a few more moments before the crowd of Kerbals watching the launch from Mission Control would cheer as the Orbital One Heavy Lifter took nearly 9 seconds to clear the tower.

Being led by Jeb in the Phoenix Command Module, the rocket roared past the tower and quickly gained speed as its SpaceY Heavy Lifter Boosters with nearly 11,000 kN of power pushed the heaviest load in NASA-KSP history towards the stars above.

"Orbital One is now 20 KM downrange and continuing to accelerate away from KSC" was head over the com.

With Jeb being the only Kerbalnaut to have reached space that remains on Kerbin, he smirked as he hit the MP3 player and blared across the CAPCOM. 

The other Kerbalnauts... well, they were writing their heroes in the Orbital One section of the rocket... just in case.

In a matter of minutes however, the Orbital One Heavy Lifter Solid Rocket Boosters cut off and Jeb detached them - switching to Nuclear Propulsion as the Orbital One Heavy Lifter continued its acceleration into Kerbin orbit.

The Nuclear Engine propelling the Heavy Lifter and the station into orbit continued to burn until the Blutonium Reactor begun to overheat. Fearing a meltdown, Jeb was forced to detach the Blutonium Reactor and the Nuclear Rocket Engine from the Orbital One Heavy Lifter - giving the new station an erratic orbit of nearly 500,000 kilometers at its furthest point and making the station not positioned ideally for KSC intercepts.

However, the Orbital One station was incidentally positioned to have a craft launched from it towards the sun. An automated space vehicle to keep the Kerbalnauts alive could be sent well before Mara One.

With no propulsion left, the station's solar panels were deployed and its lights came on as a shining start in Kerbin's sky.

"Time to head home," Jeb said to the crew in the Phoenix Command Module. "Godspeed, Orbital One."

With that, the Phoenix Command Module detached from Orbital One and begun its descent home. 

Using its plasma engines, the Phoenix Command Module begun de-orbit. It would miss KSC by on Kerbol 329 the Phoenix Command Module would land on the other side of the planet safely with the crew safe and alive.

Meanwhile, Station Commander Podas Kerman begun his mission: prepare Orbital One for the Mara One rescue mission.

However, as Podas Kerman and Orbital One begun its preparations for Mara One the people at NASA-KSP Mission Control realized that if they could not get a rescue craft to Val, Bill, and Bob - they could at least deliver supplies.

Aries One - an Ion powered, unmanned, one-way space craft - was put on the drawing board at the Science Center for Kerbal Spaceflight.

As hope gleamed in the eyes of Kerbals across Kerbin, the Aries One began construction. With exception to a Mun Lander that would be recovered by Aries Two, the Aries One was to be an unmanned spacecraft for the crew of the Mara SLA01 to transfer over to with fresh supplies from Kerbin.

The Aries Program, if it were to succeed, would give breathing room to the already under pressure NASA-KSP to bring Val, Bill, and Bob home. It would however, be highly experimental and the Mun Lander would have to be launched from Orbital One - a station too small at the moment to dock the Aries.

Coming up: Chapter IV: To the Mun or Bust! Although Jeb wanted to be the first Kebal to step foot on the Mun, work on Mara One would force him to step aside for a new commander to have the honor of stepping foot on the Mun. Aries One will be another monumental step forward but with Kerbals finally in space, mysteries are bound to be around the next corner.

[Guardian Hope]

Mara One Rescue Mission
Interregnum I: The Solar Observatory and the MASA

When the NASA-KSP Agency was created on Kerbin, it was during a time of cold war between the United States of Kerbin and the United Koviet Kerbal States. The ideological differences had put these two countries of Kerbin on a collision course of Mutually Assured Destruction. However, after a disastrous collapse of the UKKS economy and the reformation of the UKKS into the Kerbal Federation, or KF, a new era had begun: one of global economic partnerships and the global Kerbin economy. Now the planet comprises of three countries: the United States of Kerbin, the Kerbin Union, the Kerbal Federation, and Kerbhina. While relations between the USK and the KU have been excellent, the KF and Kerbhina found themselves at odds with their western neighbors. Nevertheless, the four countries on the planet were willing to work together to develop a Solar Observatory and deploy it in orbit of Kerbin.

"Wait!!!!" Jeb yelled as he came running into Mission Control where a bunch of dignitaries from the four nation-states have gathered.

"We forgot the observatory's computer!" Jeb said in a panic.

It was too late however, the USK-KU's most advanced computer system: the MechJeb, had already engaged the observatory for 150,000m orbit of the planet. Although the observatory was essentially rendered useless due in part to design flaws from the Kerbhina contributions like neglecting a decoupler for the Kerbal Federation's Ion Engines to engage, the observatory hit its target orbit and represented to all the people of Kerbin what happens when space agencies work together.

Each of the four countries have been running their own space program: the USK had NASA-KSP, the KU has the KSA, and so on. However, even in this moment of failure there was triumph in the room of Mission Control. The USK's Aries I could easily intercept the observatory and add the computer needed while the engines provided by the KU provided SSTO. For the first time, Kerbals across the planet realized that a joint-effort to the Mun and to rescue those on the Mara SLA01 would be better than one agency trying to attempt either.

Several days after the launch of the Solar Observatory, the leaders of the four countries came together in the Highlands of the KU - a place call Kinverness for the signing of a treaty that would form a new joint space agency named in honor of the brave souls currently aboard the SLA01: the Mara Aeronautics and Space Administration or MASA.

As the construction of the most advanced one-way spacecraft begins, it will be MASA and all the nation-states of Kerbin that will land on the Mun and save the Kerbalnauts of the now former NASA-KSP. 

Quote

I hope you have enjoyed this Interregnum; I felt it was a way to bring to life a planet which has been really lacking a story. Space isn't about one thing and through these Interregnums I hope to make the universe of the Mara One Rescue become more alive as the stakes are raised. From everyone at KSC in the United States of Kerbin, good night