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[AAR] The Space Race


czokletmuss

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Hi czokletmuss!

It'd been a long time! (I still have to understand how thread suscriptions lol)

I loved the picture of the Red Place and how it did set the mood instantly : ÿрõúрðÑÂýþ !

My only question would be : why did you keep "S. K."' identity only hinted, whereas it seems quite clear that this guy is good ol' Sergueï Pavlovitch?

Because personally, I'm perfectly OK with slightly altering names and/or personalities for the sake of the story.

Or, are the Reds protecting his identity because they fear a second "Operation PaperKlip" ? :D

I also like how you captured the inherent risk of being an engineer in Soviet Russia : the Americans risked their careers, but these risked their lives in OKBs...

Thanks for the BBC link on the Space Race, I'll have to check it out.

Cheers!

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Hi czokletmuss!

It'd been a long time! (I still have to understand how thread suscriptions lol)

I loved the picture of the Red Place and how it did set the mood instantly : ÿрõúрðÑÂýþ !

Spasiba :)

My only question would be : why did you keep "S. K."' identity only hinted, whereas it seems quite clear that this guy is good ol' Sergueï Pavlovitch?

Because personally, I'm perfectly OK with slightly altering names and/or personalities for the sake of the story.

Or, are the Reds protecting his identity because they fear a second "Operation PaperKlip" ? :D

The goal was to emphasize differences between von Braun and, ahem, S.K. In real world Chief Designer's identity was a state secret, while in USA von Braun was able to do this:

Using only his initials seems like a good, non-invasive and not-messing-with-storyline way to show this.

I also like how you captured the inherent risk of being an engineer in Soviet Russia : the Americans risked their careers, but these risked their lives in OKBs...

Thanks for the BBC link on the Space Race, I'll have to check it out.

Cheers!

Expect more differences between Reds and Greens to be shown in the future :) As you probably noticed, my von Braun and KASA is shown in much goofier and in up-beat, lighthearted KSP-style. The Soviets, on the other hand...

Check it out ASAP, it's great documentary! There is also Red Star in Orbit from the early nineties (1991?) made by BBC - they even made a trip to the Space City and interveiwed the cosmonauts before they trip to Mir. Hell, they even interviewed Leonov! It's a must-see for every space fan :)

EDIT: Oh, and check out the Grand Tour too :P

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The goal was to emphasize differences between von Braun and, ahem, S.K. In real world Chief Designer's identity was a state secret, while in USA von Braun was able to do this:

Using only his initials seems like a good, non-invasive and not-messing-with-storyline way to show this.

Oops, I had lost sight of how well his identity was protected at this time, it's true...

Nice sense of detail and writing, as always.

As you probably noticed, my von Braun and KASA is shown in much goofier and in up-beat, lighthearted KSP-style. The Soviets, on the other hand...

... are downright SCARY! The oppressive feeling of emergency and overheated internal politics and their negative impacts on the Reds decisions are very well re transcribed.

I kept singing "Kuba si si si, Yankee no no no!" in my head... :rolleyes:

EDIT: Oh, and check out the Grand Tour too :P

I will! :D

Thanks again for your excellent work.

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If we get the Reds to the moon with an L3 complex - An LK + blok D, an LOK and the blok E then that would be epic, all launched on the L3 N1. Beat the damn Kermaricans! (No offense to americans, I am neither american nor russian so It's not favoritism, I just think the USSR had cooler rockets.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I'm not sure if you've heard of this, but there is a mod called Hullcam, where you can stick cameras on you carious craft. I think adding this mod would make for some better screen shots (and some more realistic too!) http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/46365-0-22-Hullcam-VDS-Added-Ordan-Telescopes-and-mapview-fix-Updated-25-Oct

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  • 2 weeks later...

A very fun read so far. I quite enjoy this.

It's too bad you started before FASA updated to the point of having an actual Mercury capsule, and an actual Atlas. I noticed in "Aurora Borealis" it looks like you flew the Atlas wrong, in that the Atlas didn't keep all three of it's engines; it dropped them after a certain point in flight. (In 0.23 I tend to get away with dropping the boosters once the Atlas is around >500 m/s.)

Will you be following the path of the actual space race, now that BobCat has put out an entire N1-L3? Or will you decide on who wins by luck of the draw, or some other method?

If you're interested in mod suggestions; the Near Future Propulsion Pack has an excellent nuclear reactor (the M-EXP) which would do well if you wanted to recreate some the experimental SNAP-10A nuclear reactor satellite made by the US, or the Soviet RORSAT nuclear reactor powered surveillance satellites. The rest of the parts in the pack aren't altogether useful for recreating the early space race.

When it comes time for Apollo, you might want to consider making use of nothke's 6S Service Compartment Tubes to make the CSM look less Kerbal and more NASA.

Another suggestion, from the world of "not implemented in real life (thankfully), but drawn on paper, and made in KSP" is everyone's favourite environment destroyer and the most Kerbal of propulsion systems, the Orion Nuclear Pulse Propulsion Rocket.

Cheers, and keep up the excellent work!

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Thank you very much, I'm currently experimenting with these mods and I think you'll be able to pretty soon see the results. The break in The Space Race AAR was way too long, so I would like to write few chapters in the near future to make up for it. Plus I'm having troubles (again!) with the Grand Tour save, so in the meantime I would love to play some stable KSP 0.23 :)

BTW did BobCat decide to stop supporting N1-L3?

Edited by czokletmuss
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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi czo! I don't want to sound like I'm pestering, because I really appreciate the amount of work you have been putting into this AAR. I think this is fantastic and I am huge fan of it. I suspect RL has gotten in the way as it has a tendency to do from time to time. Any idea when you'll have time to work on it again or is it on hold indefinitely?

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Hi czo! I don't want to sound like I'm pestering, because I really appreciate the amount of work you have been putting into this AAR. I think this is fantastic and I am huge fan of it. I suspect RL has gotten in the way as it has a tendency to do from time to time. Any idea when you'll have time to work on it again or is it on hold indefinitely?

Thank you very much, this is a very nice thing to hear (read?). Yes, in fact the lack of any update for the last 2 months (!) wasn't planned. I guess I should've expected this when besides The Grand Tour I started also third AAR (based on Crusader Kings II) on a different forum. This doesn't mean that I'm not going to continue this AAR - in fact I have most of the spacecraft tested and ready, as well as the plan for further chapters. I even found some time this week to finally reconstruct Alexey Leonov first spacewalk:

aleksey.jpg

4KVbzzr.jpg

But I don't think there will be a new chapter sometime soon - RL indeed is getting in the way. I guess I would have more time for The Space Race when the Grand Tour is completed. But frankly I can't really tell. One thing is certain though: I don't want to abandon this project.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Abrakadabra... *mumble* Hokus Pokus, Winkardium Levioka

I Hereby nekromance this thread back from beyond!

Return from the other side!

-snip-

Hey, two days ago I've finished giant (8 pages in Word) chapter for the Space Race, today I posted even bigger (9-10 pages) chapter for the Grand Tour -snip-

^^16th of November

We miss you.

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Abrakadabra... *mumble* Hokus Pokus, Winkardium Levioka

I Hereby nekromance this thread back from beyond!

Return from the other side!

^^16th of November

We miss you.

I'm just waiting for "The Grand Tour - Voyage to the Planets" to finally finish, but just when I think it's about to end, it keeps on going. No offense meant, czokletmuss, it's a very well done and amazingly thought out story. I just can't get into it, I guess it's not quite my cup of tea (which is weird because I generally love sci-fi/pop-culture references inside stories).

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I still haven't decided what exactly I'm going to do when "The Grand Tour" is over. Basically I'll have to choose between my secret project and "The Space Race". And honestly I'm not sure which one should I choose. Both are quite ambitious (according to my original plans, "The Space Race" was going to be more or less as long as "The Grand Tour" is). Now there is still quite some time before I can start either of these projects (or re-start in case of "The Space Race"), so don't expect any updates in February - sorry :( To make up for this, here's a screenshots from some tests for a KASA storyline:

qKlmMtY.png

Hell, maybe I should make a poll or something...

Edited by czokletmuss
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  • 2 months later...

IMPORTANT

When I began writing this I had ambition to portray the whole Kerbal Space Program since Sputnik until modern times - more than 60 years, various missions, programs, spacecraft. But alas it turned to be to big a challenge - it would require much more time then I thought it would and being basically KSPfied recreation of real world events it didn't give me that much freedom when it comes to characters or plot (very limited licentia poetica).

So the time has come to make it official - "The Space Race" is closed idefinitely. Thanks for reading!

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