The Venturer Program: Tour of the planets

[RogueMason]

Yeah, a (minor) case of home invasion. Didn't trip the alarm system because he slipped through the windows leading into the basement (which are quite small, mind you). Also, I was more just pointing the gun at him to get him out of the house, since a .22 longrifle is only really good for target practice and not much else (Also, my dad keeps the ammo in a secret location. Have to find out where he's keeping it one of these days.).

Well, good to hear that everything is alright

[RogueMason]

CHAPTER 1: LAUNCH DAY

Several months later…

Jeb: “You never told me it was going to be this big.â€Â

Gene: “Even if I did, would you have believed me?â€Â

Jeb: “It’s bigger than Lonestar.â€Â

Gene: “Yes, I know. T-minus 60 seconds.â€Â

Bob: “Oh boy.â€Â

Jeb: “This is gonna be good!â€Â

Lengas: “Engines and fuel tanks are Go.â€Â

Bob: “Systems Go.â€Â

Bill: “Navigation is Go.â€Â

Jeb: “Controls are Go.â€Â

Gene: “Ok, guys, give me a Go NoGo for liftoff. Booster?â€Â

Booster: “Go.â€Â

Gene: “RETRO?â€Â

RETRO: “Go!â€Â

Gene: “GUIDO?â€Â

GUIDO: “We’re Go.â€Â

Gene: “FIDO?â€Â

FIDO: “Go.â€Â

Gene: “EECOM?â€Â

EECOM: “Go!â€Â

Gene: “Control?â€Â

Control: “We’re go, Flight.â€Â

Gene: “FAO?â€Â

FAO: “Go!â€Â

Gene: “CAPCOM?â€Â

CAPCOM: “We’re Go, Flight!â€Â

Gene: “Alright then, everything is Go for liftoff, T-minus 30 seconds.â€Â

Jeb: “Aw yeah!â€Â

Bob: “Here we go again…â€Â

Lengas: “Bring it on!â€Â

Gene: “Good luck and Kodspeed, guys. 10, 9, 8, ignition sequence start, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…â€Â

Bill: “Whoa!â€Â

Jeb: “That’s a rumble and a half!â€Â

Gene: “We have liftoff of the IEV Enterprise! Mission clock has begun.â€Â

Lengas: “Engines and fuel are nominal.â€Â

Jeb: “We’re at full throttle. Booster jettison in 2 minutes.â€Â

Bill: “We can expect to decelerate for a few moments once we’ve dropped those boosters before getting back up to speed.â€Â

Jeb: “Copy that.â€Â

Gene: “T+ 60 seconds. Flight nominal.â€Â

Bob: “External temperature at 100 Celsius and rising.â€Â

Jeb: “Booster sep imminent!â€Â

Lengas: “Staging complete, we have separation!â€Â

Bill: “Maintain this heading, Jeb.â€Â

Gene: “Clean booster sep.â€Â

Bill: “Apoapsis is above the atmosphere.â€Â

Jeb: “Alright. How high do we want it, again?â€Â

Bill: “I’ll say when.â€Â

Jeb: “Ok.â€Â

Bob: “External temperature is dropping back down, now.â€Â

Lengas: “Structural integrity is sound at 100%.â€Â

Bill: “Cut the engine. Apoapsis at 265,344 metres above sea level.â€Â

Jeb: “Cutting the engine… ah, microgravity, how I missed ye.â€Â

Bob: “Deploying habs, solar panels, and comms dishes.â€Â

Bob: “Deployment complete, nice and smooth.â€Â

Jeb: “Cool. How long to apoapsis?â€Â

Bill: “Four minutes.â€Â

Jeb: “Ok, I’ll get the lights.â€Â

Jeb: “Beautiful.â€Â

Lengas: “Power draw is perfect.â€Â

Jeb: “Ok, we’ll make orbit and then wait for sunrise to do the external inspection.â€Â

Lengas: “Got it. I think we should be alright. I didn’t hear or feel any bumps on the ascent.â€Â

Jeb: “Even so.â€Â

Lengas: “I know, I know.â€Â

Half an orbit later…

Jeb: “Sunrise. You’re up, Lengas.â€Â

Lengas: “Ok, I’m leaving the cabin now.â€Â

Lengas: “Ooh, I haven’t had to do this for a little while. Feels weird.â€Â

Jeb: “The neutral buoyancy tank doesn’t quite get it right, does it?â€Â

Lengas: “Never has, never will. Alright, time to take a look at the girl.â€Â

Lengas: “Forward hull is all ok. Greenhouse modules are intact. That’s good, those were my main worry.â€Â

Bob: “They look alright from in here, too. How’s the centrifuge?â€Â

Lengas: “Spinning like a spinny thing. No leaks…â€Â

Bob: “Good, good.â€Â

Lengas: “The big hab is… well, big. And alright. I don’t see any leaks.â€Â

Bob: “Yeah, it’s all good in here. They even patched up the dart holes.â€Â

Lengas: “What?â€Â

Bob: “Some idiots were testing the resilience of the inner layer by playing darts. Needless to say, they got severely reprimanded and had to patch it up. The dartboard is still here, though.â€Â

Lengas: “O…k…â€Â

My Kod, this ship is huge!

Lengas: “Side tanks and solar panels are fine. Now for the engine…â€Â

Jeb: “I’ll keep my hands off the throttle.â€Â

Lengas: “You better had.â€Â

Jeb: “Hehehe…â€Â

Lengas: “Say, they changed the colours of some of the compression rings. They used to be yellow, and now they’re blue. Odd.â€Â

Jeb: “Looks cooler.â€Â

Bob: “Might just be a different compression system.â€Â

Lengas: “I don’t know, I’d have been told if it were. Oh well, I’m coming back now.â€Â

[RogueMason]

Ok, third picture in that chapter; ignore the missing nose cone thingy from the back of one of the outer tanks. Clearly that's an older picture than the rest...

[The Error]

Coolio. I like your 4-nacelle design, it gives the ship a very futuristic air.

Air? Vacuum? Who can tell?

[RogueMason]

Next chapter later today. Update on my progress; the mission is in Duna orbit at the moment, but I've yet to write up Eve orbit, which is chapter 12. Yeah, this is definitely gonna be a long story...

[The Error]

Given czok's was, well SIXTY THREE, you're doin' good so far. And besides more Mason isn't a bad thing

Also, why is the Eve lander always a traditional lander, instead of a winged LV-N design? It's not like Eve wants for atmospheric density.

Edited May 13, 2014 by The Error

[RogueMason]

CHAPTER 2: DELIVERIES – PART 1

Bill: “Ugh, this is where Cal would be useful up here…â€Â

Bob: “Cal?â€Â

Lengas: “Calwell. Astrophysics and logistics. He’ll be coming up here soon.â€Â

Bob: “Oh.â€Â

Bill: “So, yeah, we’ll be taking charge of the two prototype landers that are already up here as insurance in case our proper landers fail, which they shouldn’t, right?â€Â

Lengas: “They should be just fine. I had a look at them, and everything seemed ok.â€Â

Bill: “Alright then, I’ll start plotting some trajectories to get them here.â€Â

Jeb: “Don’t forget that we have a truckload of fuel tankers coming up to meet us, too, and the OTVs.â€Â

Bill: “Don’t remind me. I’ll just be glad to see Cal later on.â€Â

Half on orbit later…

Bill: “Prototype One is approaching.â€Â

Jeb: “Seems a little small.â€Â

Lengas: “Single occupancy lightweight lander, rated for Vall-sized worlds and below.â€Â

Jeb: “…â€Â

Lengas: “You inferred that you wanted an explanation.â€Â

Jeb: “Right…â€Â

Lengas: “Hmm.â€Â

Bill: “Beginning docking procedure.â€Â

*Thump*

Bill: “There we go. Now for the other one…â€Â

Bob: “And we aren’t keeping these things?â€Â

Bill: “No. Extra mass equals more fuel required. More fuel required is more expensive. More expenses after commissioning this ship? Unlikely.â€Â

Bob: “Well, at least they’re gonna recover them when we de-orbit them.â€Â

Bill: “Hopefully. I’m not entirely sure why they sent these landers up in the first place if they’re not going to use them.â€Â

Jeb: “The Libra science vessels needed a lander. That’s the design.â€Â

Lengas: “Who’s the expert on those things now, then?â€Â

Jeb: “Just looked it up. It’s actually pretty nifty.â€Â

Lengas: “I know. I helped design it.â€Â

Jeb: “Oh.â€Â

Lengas: “Yep, my fine mind helped to cram everything into that tiny ship. Unfortunately, if anything hit it, it would be out for the count instantly.â€Â

Jeb: “Well, I guess it’s good that we aren’t planning on taking these through some debris field, then.â€Â

Bill: “Number two is en route. ETA thirty minutes.â€Â

Jeb: “Got it.â€Â

Half an hour later…

Jeb: “Ok then, what next?â€Â

Bill: “Crew. First three will be brought up by that new Starlight shuttleâ€â€Ã¢â‚¬Å“

Jeb: “That thing can hold four crew, can’t it? Why are there only three being brought here?â€Â

Bill: “It can’t fly unmanned, which if you ask me is ridiculous. I hope they fix that.â€Â

Lengas: “The Starlight is a temporary vehicle. The SSTO guys are looking at making a shuttle with the same crew capacity and unmanned capability whilst being completely reusable.â€Â

Bill: “Well, thank Kod for that, then.â€Â

Jeb: “As you were saying, anyway…â€Â

Bill: “Err, yes, the last five are coming up in an OT/RV. I personally don’t know why they didn’t just decide on one launch vehicle.â€Â

Jeb: “That does seem a bit odd. Oh well.â€Â

Bill: “You don’t care, do you?â€Â

Jeb: “Hey, I’m not the one who has to manage it all.â€Â

Bill: “Sigh…â€Â

Meanwhile…

A few hours later…

Buzz: “This is Starlight Shuttle 03, requesting docking permission.â€Â

Bill: “Bring yourself in, Buzz. Top port.â€Â

Buzz: “Copy that.â€Â

Buzz: “…â€Â

Mac: “Err, Buzz?â€Â

Buzz: “There’s not enough room.â€Â

Mac: “What?â€Â

Bill: “Say again, Buzz?â€Â

Buzz: “I can’t get this thing any closer without causing problems. Guys, you’re gonna have to EVA over there.â€Â

Mac: “Aw crap.â€Â

Dean: “Relax, it’s easy enough.â€Â

Ed: “Says the one who flew a starfighter around a few years back.â€Â

Dean: “That has nothing to do with EVA.â€Â

Buzz: “It does if you get spaced by gun fire, which you nearly did as I recall.â€Â

Dean: “Oh yeah, like you didn't come any closer to getting your a** handed to you by Firespitter.â€Â

Buzz: “Hey, I never took a hit! I’m a complete ace, you see.â€Â

Dean: “Hah, the ace who can’t even dock a shuttle to a cruiser!â€Â

Buzz: “… Ok, you got me.â€Â

Dean: “Yes! Anyway, I’ll see you in a few hours, old timer.â€Â

Buzz: “Old timer… save that one for Jeb, would you?â€Â

Jeb: “I heard that.â€Â

Bill: “And you disagree?â€Â

Jeb: “…Doesn’t matter whether or not I agree, I’m Jebediah Kerman.â€Â

Bill: “Oh boy, you’re playing that card again?â€Â

Jeb: “Now where did I put those sunglasses…?â€Â

Bill: “Alright, we’ll get the airlocks ready for you guys, and maybe so I can chuck Jeb outside, too.â€Â

Mac: “Thanks, Bill. And thanks for the ride, Buzz.â€Â

Buzz: “Someone’s got to fly this crate.â€Â

A few minutes later…

Buzz: “Ok, I’m out of here. I’ll be back later, with a little luck.â€Â

Jeb: “Fly safe, Old Timer.â€Â

Buzz: “You’re not going to let that go, are you?â€Â

Jeb: “Not just yet, I think.â€Â

Buzz: “Heh, alright then.â€Â

A short while later…

[The Error]

Old timer? Really, Jeb? You're gonna complain about that?

[bartekkru99]

Waiting for the next update (:

[RogueMason]

CHAPTER 3: DELIVERIES – PART 2

Buzz: “This is OT/RV 11 requesting docking permission, over.â€Â

Jeb: “Back so soon, eh?â€Â

Bill: “Bring yourself in Buzz. Hopefully there’ll be no trouble this time.â€Â

Buzz: “Hopefully.â€Â

Buzz: “Steady as she goes, and… we’re docked.â€Â

Matton: “Woo!â€Â

Buzz: “…â€Â

Matton: “Umm…â€Â

Buzz: “Nevermind.â€Â

Cal: “I’ll pop the hatch.â€Â

Bill: “Cal? Thank Kod you’re here. I can’t do this logistics stuff.â€Â

Cal: “Well, it isn’t that hard, but there are a lot of things, I suppose.â€Â

Bill: “You have no idea…â€Â

Cal: “I do, I’m the logistics guy.â€Â

Bill: “Ah, umm, nevermind. Anyway, come on in, folks.â€Â

Sid: “Yay.â€Â

Jim: “Finally get to stretch my legs a bit. Make way for the supreme pilot of this mission.â€Â

Jeb: "Whoa, whoa, hold it right there, buddy. You may be a pilot, but there'd have to be some dire problem for you to beat me at flying."

Jim: "And here I was hoping you hadn't heard me. Anyway, I'll go bounce around the hab, I think."

Jeb: "Nothing too crazy, this is an official mission after all."

Buzz: “You beat me to it, Jeb.â€Â

Jeb: "I am the captain of Enterprise too, you know."

Buzz: "But of course, captain. I'll be in the centrifuge if you need me."

A few hours later…

Cal: “There she is, Bill. Fuel tanker one.â€Â

Bill: “Ok, you can do the rest, then.â€Â

Cal: “Thank you…â€Â

Jeb: “If that’s the vessel they’re using, then they have a lot of launching to do.â€Â

Cal: “I think they’ve got a heavier tanker getting ready to fly, but yes, lots of launches.â€Â

Jeb: “I pity you.â€Â

Cal: “I don’t. This isn’t exactly the most demanding job in the world. They trained me on it for a week and I had it. The main reason I’m here is astrophysics. I’m going to be getting a look at some nebulae and other cosmic phenomena while we’re out here.â€Â

Jeb: “Fancy.â€Â

Cal: “Indeed. SRLFT at 10 metres and closing.â€Â

Jeb: “So, if I see a nebula, should I point it out to you?â€Â

Cal: “It would be useful, yeah. I’ll probably be spending most of my time in those greenhouses.â€Â

Jeb: “May want to check with Ed about that, seeing as he’s tending to those.â€Â

Cal: “I already spoke to him. He’s fine with it.â€Â

Jeb: “Ok then, you beat me to it.â€Â

Bob: “Docking successful. Beginning fuel transfer.â€Â

Jeb: “Ah, good. Right, well, I’m hungry. I’ll be in the centrifuge, if anyone needs me.â€Â

Bill: “Wait up, I need some chow, too.â€Â

Jeb: “This mission is going to be long…â€Â

Bill: “That it is. So, what’s our first stop?â€Â

Jeb: “Mun, obviously.â€Â

Bill: “No, I meant after we’re done with Mun and Minmus. Are we going to Moho or Eve first?â€Â

Jeb: “Eve. We’re getting the hardest ascent over and done with. I don’t think I could bare the anticipation of waiting to get to Eve for longer than I need to.â€Â

Bill: “Excited anticipation, or…â€Â

Jeb: “Anxiety. That purple hell-hole killed almost all of the lander designs in the simulator. If we go there first, I don’t have to worry as much.â€Â

Bill: “Uh-huh. And what ifâ€â€Ã¢â‚¬Å“

Jeb: “No, no, don’t ‘What if’ me about Eve. Positive thoughts only.â€Â

Bill: “Oh, alright then. So, what food do you want?â€Â

Meanwhile…

Cal: “Lander One has just reached orbit, it’ll be here in a few hours.â€Â

Jeb: “Ok, thanks Cal.â€Â

[RogueMason]

I think I'll post the next chapter today, despite only posting one yesterday. Next chapter, we go forward unto dawn Mun. Definitely Mun.

Given czok's was, well SIXTY THREE, you're doin' good so far. And besides more Mason isn't a bad thing

Also, why is the Eve lander always a traditional lander, instead of a winged LV-N design? It's not like Eve wants for atmospheric density.

Well, I can hardly contest the 'More Mason' point

As for Eve... well, Kerbin spaceplanes are hard enough, and that's with jet assistance. Eve is another beast entirely. Maybe one day, but it is not this day... or the day I actually set about dealing with Eve. Oh well.

[RogueMason]

CHAPTER 4: TO THE MUN

Captain’s Log, entry 1: Well here we are again. It’s always such a pleasure.

I’m in command of the biggest and most advanced interplanetary spaceship ever developed. Our mission is to do science, as well as plant a flag on the surface of every celestial body save for Jool, seeing as to do that would require the gas giant to actually have a surface. Our first stop is Mun, followed up by Minmus, and thankfully, I’ve got the Mun landing, with Lengas and Macwise (whom I shall refer to henceforth as Mac). I know Lengas is accustomed to all this, as am I, but Mac? It will be interesting to see how a post-grad medical student fares on the surface of my favourite moon.

Oh, and a personal checklist, for safekeeping.

Snacks… check.

Board games… check.

Films… check.

All the other stuff I couldn’t be bothered listing… check.

Well, that’s that. Mun transfer in one hour, so I’d better get to it.

-----

Bill: “Mun transfer window imminent, Jeb.â€Â

Jeb: “And so it begins. All right everyone, buckle up, this is going to be one helluva ride!â€Â

Bob: “Joy. Damn space cowboy…â€Â

Jeb: “Again with the space cowboy… oh well. Burn commencing in one minute.â€Â

Lengas: “Engine is ready.â€Â

Sid: “We’re all set back here.â€Â

Jim: “This isn’t going to ruin my cushion fort, is it?â€Â

Lengas: “Cushion fort?â€Â

Jim: “Have a look after we’re through with this.â€Â

Jeb: “30 seconds.â€Â

Lengas: “You built a… cushion fort?â€Â

Jim: “Yeah.â€Â

Sid: “It’s pretty neat, to be fair.â€Â

Lengas: “Umm…â€Â

Bill: “Is that appropriate use of mission hardware?â€Â

Jim: “I doubt a few extra cushions are going to be mission critical.â€Â

Jeb: “10, 9, 8…â€Â

Bill: “We’ll talk in a minute, ok?â€Â

Jim: “Got it, Commander.â€Â

Jeb: “…3, 2, 1. Commencing burn.â€Â

Lengas: “Fuel consumption nominal, engine at maximum power.â€Â

Jeb: “Oh yeah, baby, we’re going to Mun!â€Â

Bill: “40 seconds to engine shutdown.â€Â

Bob: “Systems nominal.â€Â

Buzz: “It feels weird in the centrifuge. Gravity just changed…â€Â

Jeb: “What the Kerbin are you still doing in there?â€Â

Buzz: “Testing. I wanted to see if it felt weird in the centrifuge during a burn. I dare say, my experiment is a success. Also, it isn't that bad, really. We could stay in here during every burn.â€Â

Jeb: “Err, right.â€Â

Bill: “20 seconds.â€Â

Jim: “Ah, my cushion fort!â€Â

Bill: “Oh dear.â€Â

Lengas: “I was quite looking forward to seeing that.â€Â

Bill: “Mun encounter confirmed, periapsis of about 350km.â€Â

Jeb: “Awesome. It sure feels good to be getting back out there.â€Â

Bob: “You can say that again.â€Â

Lengas: “Right, let’s see what’s left of this fort…â€Â

Jim: “Uh, give me a moment...â€Â

Bill: “It’s now or never, Jim.â€Â

Jim: “Ugh…â€Â

A few hours later…

Bill: “Approaching periapsis.â€Â

Jeb: “Ok, ok, I’m just grabbing a snack.â€Â

Bill: “If any crumbs get into the consoles…â€Â

Jeb: “I’m sure we’ve had this conversation already, Bill.â€Â

Bill: “…Right.â€Â

Jeb: “Ok, strap in, beginning retro-burn.â€Â

Cal: “Whooaaa!â€Â

Sid: “AAH!â€Â

Clatters and thumps can be heard from the back of the ship.

Cal: “You could have warned us earlier than that, Jeb!â€Â

Jeb: “Sorry!â€Â

Sid: “You will be, buddy!â€Â

Bill: “We have a Munar orbit, roughly 380km high.â€Â

Jeb: “Good. Now, let’s get my lander ready to go down there.â€Â

Lengas: “You excited?â€Â

Jeb: “Hell yeah! I haven’t been to Mun for Kod knows how long.â€Â

Lengas: “Me neither, it’ll be good. Anyway, I’ll power up Alpha.â€Â

Jeb: “Alright. Hey Mac, get your gear!â€Â

Mac: “I’m on it already.â€Â

Jeb: “Good, good.â€Â

Cal and Sid float through from the back of the ship.

Cal: “Ok, fortunately for you, Jeb, nothing bad happened back here. We just bumped into one another and floated to the back of the hab.â€Â

Sid: “Quite fun, actually.â€Â

Jeb: “Ah, umm, yeah, I’ll try and yell earlier next time.â€Â

Cal: “Cool.â€Â

[The Error]

To the Mun, Alice!

[RogueMason]

CHAPTER 5: MUN DUST

Bob: “Alright Jeb, you’re clear to undock.â€Â

Jeb: “Copy that. I’ll see you in a bit. Keep my seat warm, would you?â€Â

Bob: “Will do.â€Â

Jeb: “And don’t even think about touching my snacks!â€Â

Bob: “Can’t promise anything, Jeb. Bob out.â€Â

Jeb: “Swine… alright then, folks, let’s get to it!â€Â

Lengas: “Engine is ready whenever you are.â€Â

Mac: “This is exciting. My first time on a celestial body other than Kerbin… I can’t believe my luck.â€Â

Lengas: “With your qualifications, I don’t think luck has anything to do with it, Mac.â€Â

Mac: “Space doctors are hardly rocket scientists.â€Â

Jeb: “I’m no rocket scientist, yet look at me.â€Â

Mac: “You don’t count, you’re Jebediah Kerman.â€Â

Jeb: “Yes, I am, aren’t I?â€Â

Lengas: “Try not to make his ego any bigger than it already is, Mac. He’s already taking up half the ship.â€Â

Jeb: “Ooh, that sort of attitude can get a guy demoted, you know.â€Â

Lengas: “However, I’m the chief engineer, so I think I’m pretty safe from such an occurrence.â€Â

Jeb: “Oh, you’d be surprised at what I’d do.â€Â

Mac: “Hey, uh, can we go to the surface now, Jeb?â€Â

Jeb: “Yeah, yeah, let’s go.â€Â

Lengas: “Things are looking good.â€Â

Jeb: “Mac, how’s our trajectory?â€Â

Mac “Just gone sub-orbital. We’ll be on course for the landing site in 12 seconds.â€Â

Jeb: “Got it.â€Â

Mac: “That’s it, we’re on course.â€Â

Lengas: “Yay.â€Â

Jeb: “Deploying legs.â€Â

Mac: “We’ve drifted slightly, might want to adjust trajectory.â€Â

Lengas: “Fuel levels are nominal.â€Â

Jeb: “Ok, I’ll adjust a little bit.â€Â

Jeb: “Almost there…â€Â

Lengas: “Fuel below 50%.â€Â

Jeb: “Almost there…â€Â

Jeb: “Touchdown!â€Â

Lengas: “Shutting down the engine, ladder deploying.â€Â

Mac: “Nice work, old timer.â€Â

Jeb: “Buzz didn’t tell you to say that, did he?â€Â

Mac: “He might have done, but maybe he didn’t. Who knows?â€Â

Jeb: “You know.â€Â

Mac: “True.â€Â

Jeb: “I guess I’ll investigate this later. Right now, I’m investigating my good old friend, Mun.â€Â

Lengas: “Hold on, decompression is nearly… ok, it’s done.â€Â

Jeb: “Well, here goes nothing.â€Â

Jeb: “I’m down, and it feels good to be back!â€Â

Lengas: “I’ll follow you out in a moment.â€Â

Jeb: “Copy that.â€Â

Jeb: “Hold on… mother of…!â€Â

Lengas: “What is it?â€Â

Jeb: “The plaque on the flag has a typo. It says ‘The first landing compelted…’ instead of ‘The first landing completed…’â€Â

Lengas: “OK, someone in the miscellaneous department is getting their a** kicked right about now.â€Â

Jeb: “Damn straight. Are you coming out?â€Â

Lengas: “Yup.â€Â

Mac: “Right, I’m officially completely and utterly captivated by this place. So barren, desolate, yet… surprisingly pretty.â€Â

Jeb: “Don’t let it get to your head, Mac.â€Â

Mac: “Right, right. Don’t worry, I’ll be good.â€Â

Lengas: “Meanwhile, I’ve spotted my first site.â€Â

Lengas: “Weird terrain deformity, I must say. Might be an intrusive igneous landform.â€Â

Jeb: “I’ll head over to that peak over there. Mac, grab some samples.â€Â

Mac: “I’m on it.â€Â

Jeb: *Whistles an upbeat tune*

Jeb: “Kod, I forgot how much I love this place…â€Â

Lengas: “I’ll get your retirement plan to include Munar residency, shall I?â€Â

Jeb: “I think I’ll handle the details of my retirement, Lengas, if I ever do retire.â€Â

Lengas: “If. Big if, that.â€Â

Jeb: “Yep.â€Â

[Tw1]

Cal thinks he's going to see Nebula? How far is this ship going?

I imagine Jeb will never truly retire, but will instead buy his own private island use his funds to create awesome machines ready to save kerbals in danger, piloted by his children now he's too old to do so himself, and they will have an awesome secret base with... Wait, what do you mean this idea's not original?

Or, retire to the Mun. It's not a bad place...

[RogueMason]

Cal thinks he's going to see nebula? How far is this ship going?

I imagine jeb will never truly retire, but will instead buy his own private island use his funds to create awesome machines ready to save kerbals in danger, piloted by his children now he's too old to do so himself, and they will have an awesome secret base with... Wait, what do you mean this idea's not original?

Or, retire to the mun. It's not a bad place...

5

DUN

4

DUN

3

DUN

2

DUUUN!

1

BOOM

Thunder-Jebs are go!

Yes, Thunder-Jebs. Yes, Boom. Somehow I don't think the first launch of Thunder-Jeb Three will go quite according to plan.

[Pyranz]

Great story! But I get the feeling that I'm missing a previous installation(s) in this series, would that be correct? And if so, can you please link me so I can catch up?

[The Error]

Use the "Mason Codex" link in his sig. It has all his stories in.

[RogueMason]

Indeed, all my stories are in the Codex in my signature, along with a few other threads that I should really update at some point

[Sylandro]

Will Sid be trapped on Laythe?

[RogueMason]

Will Sid be trapped on Laythe?

Strand another Sid Kerman on Laythe? Are you trying to set up your own 'Grab-a-Sid' machine with the centrepiece being -- of course -- The Claw?

Hmm, it's not a bad idea actually. The Universe will be pushing and shoving to come and play this epic game of skill, I guarantee it.

[RogueMason]

CHAPTER 6: FROM DUST

Mac: “Hey guys, it’s getting dark. Nearly time to go.â€Â

Jeb: “Give me a minute.â€Â

Lengas: “I’m just finishing off.â€Â

Mac: “Alright, well, I’m heading back into the lander.â€Â

Jeb: “Copy that.â€Â

Lengas: “Jeb, pass me the drill, would you?â€Â

Jeb: “Alright, here.â€Â

Lengas: “Thanks. You know, I don’t know what you’re waiting around for.â€Â

Jeb: “It’s Mun, Lengas! I haven’t been here for years!â€Â

Lengas: “Yes, but I’m willing to bet you’ve been here more than most.â€Â

Jeb: “Does it really matter how many times I’veâ€â€Ã¢â‚¬Å“

Mac: “OOF!â€Â

Jeb: “What the?â€Â

Jeb: “Mac? You ok?â€Â

Mac: “…â€Â

Jeb: “Mac, do you read?â€Â

Mac: “Ugh… yeah, I read.â€Â

Jeb: “What the hell happened?â€Â

Mac: “I, uh, well…â€Â

Mac: “I may have not seen some of the solar panels when I had my thruster pack on.â€Â

Jeb: “What do you… oh, you didn’t.â€Â

Mac: “I think I did. Snapped two of them clean off.â€Â

Jeb: “Good Kod…â€Â

Lengas: “I won’t be able to fix those, you know. The photovoltaic cells are probably shattered.â€Â

Jeb: “Well, Mac, are you alright?â€Â

Mac: “I feel alright. No injuries that I know of, and my suit is intact.â€Â

Jeb: “Well, you’re officially worse than Bob Kerman for breaking stuff.â€Â

Bob: “Hey, I heard that, Jeb!â€Â

Mac: “Uh, sorry Jeb, I’ll be more careful from now on.â€Â

Bob: “You know, we’re going to have to talk about this whole thing, Jeb. I thought it was behind us!â€Â

Jeb: “I hope so, Mac. Spaceships are expensive things, you see? I’ll talk to KSC and see about getting this one fixed.â€Â

Bob: “Are you even listening to me?â€Â

Jeb: “Yes, I’m listening to you, Bob, and no, we’ll not talk. It was a perfect opportunity, and I took it. Mac, don’t sweat it.â€Â

Mac: “Alright then.â€Â

Bob: “Ugh…â€Â

Lengas: “It’ll still operate just fine on two panels, Jeb.â€Â

Jeb: “I know, but redundancy. And besides, we’re still in the Kerbin sub-system, so we may as well get it sorted out before we head to Eve.â€Â

Lengas: “Good point.â€Â

Jeb: “Well, I guess our work here is done. Pack your stuff and head inside.â€Â

Lengas: “Aye, Captain.â€Â

Mac: “Sorry, again.â€Â

Jeb: “Don’t worry about it, these things happen, and it’s your first time out here. Just work on your situational awareness and you’ll be fine.â€Â

Mac: “I will.â€Â

Jeb: “Ok, you both strapped in?â€Â

Lengas: “I’m set. Engine is online and idling.â€Â

Mac: “Ready.â€Â

Jeb: “Alright, let’s punch it!â€Â

Jeb: “Enterprise, Jeb, do you copy?â€Â

Bill: “I read you, Jeb.â€Â

Jeb: “Making Mun ascent right now, I’ll be with you in around an hour.â€Â

Bill: “Got it, tracking you now.â€Â

Lengas: “Umm…â€Â

Jeb: “What is it?â€Â

Lengas: “Fuel levels. They’re a little lower than I’d expect them to be at this point.â€Â

Jeb: “Bad maths or something?â€Â

Lengas: “I don’t know. No leaks, the engine is fine, but maybe I underestimated the capability of the lander.â€Â

Jeb: “Are we going to make it?â€Â

Lengas: “We’re in Mun orbit now with plenty of fuel left to rendezvous with Enterprise. I’m thinking ahead to places like Moho and Vall, seeing as they are 50 and 100km wider than Mun, respectively.â€Â

Jeb: “I guess we’ll just have to see when we get to them, won’t we?â€Â

Lengas: “Not what I’d call comforting, but I guess it’s the only option for now. I’ll talk with Bill.â€Â

Jeb: “Ok then.â€Â

A little while later…

Jeb: “We’re closing in. Enterprise, you there?â€Â

Bill: “I’m still tracking you. Your trajectory is fine.â€Â

Jeb: “I know that, I’m just checking. Is the docking port ready?â€Â

Bill: “Yeah, it’s all set.â€Â

Jeb: “Good.â€Â

Mac: “Enterprise is big, isn’t she?â€Â

Lengas: “Biggest ship I’ve served on… in fact, it’s the biggest ever commissioned.â€Â

Jeb: “What about that old Jool mothership attempt under the same name?â€Â

Lengas: “Yeah, it was pretty damn excessive. And then it blew up catastrophically when it fired its engines. The crew were lucky to get out of that mess.â€Â

Jeb: “That was pretty crazy.â€Â

Mac: “I do remember something about that. Weren't you on that ship, Jeb?â€Â

Jeb: “Yes, and that’s how I know it was crazy. Beginning docking sequence.â€Â

Mac: “Don’t blow this ship up, then.â€Â

Jeb: “I don’t plan to. 1 metre to docking port, and…â€Â

Lengas: “Firm connection, equalising pressures.â€Â

Jeb: “Ah, home sweet home.â€Â

Mac: “I’ll grab some of the samples.â€Â

Lengas: “Let me get the hatch open first.â€Â

Bill: “Welcome back guys. Jeb, did you have fun?â€Â

Jeb: “Did I ever! It’s Mun, for crying out loud, how can I not have fun there?â€Â

Bill: “Ok, ok, I get it. Now, if you don’t mind, we need to prepare for Minmus.â€Â

Jeb: “Right, let’s get to it then.â€Â

Edited May 21, 2014 by RogueMason

[RogueMason]

Currently wrapping up operations around Duna and Ike, but I've yet to write up the Gilly and Eve landings. Next chapter tomorrow, as I assume would be expected given the schedule I've adopted.

For now though, a picture that I decided wouldn't fit quite right into the last chapter due to Jeb being on EVA:

[The Error]

Cool. And is that noodle incident with Bob and the solar panels actually in any of your stories, or is it the Thing We Do Not Speak Of?

[RogueMason]

Cool. And is that noodle incident with Bob and the solar panels actually in any of your stories, or is it the Thing We Do Not Speak Of?

It actually happened back in 0.18 a while before I even wrote Outreach Colony. There was a time when Jeb, Bill, and Bob resided in a basic Mun base...

Then came a crew transfer vehicle. Jeb and Bill left the base without incident, shaking hands with the new eternal prisoners of Mun unsuspecting enthusiastic new crew. Bob Kerman, on the other hand, was secretly a vandalistic being at this point. As he left the habitation module, he saw the solar panels to his left.

Jeb: "BOB KERMAAAAAAAN!!"

...Yeah, Jeb was not a happy Kerbonaut. Bob spent the entire trip back tied to his seat in the command module.

And there you have it, the back story to Bob Kerman and the Solar Panel.