Interplanetary Welcoming Express! - EveEx Fascination Sets Out!

[GehringGame]

Hi everyone! This thread will document my main career mode, Interplanetary Welcoming Express, which will be played as a lighthearted, comical, and often absurd quest to build a network of space hotels around the Kerbol system. Read on to learn more. I’ve been a fan of KSP since the first public release and I’m so happy that squad has seen their vision through to what it is today. It’s high time for me to finally participate in the community, so I hope that you will take a minute to tell me what you think of my intrepid Kerbals’ bold adventures. Thanks for reading! –Will

The Story:

Kerbals are an industrious little species, and they have taken to space with the kind of enthusiasm you might expect out of someone who has just learned that ice cream sandwiches are incredibly good for you. Every nation, corporation, and bold Kerbal with a tool kit and an unhealthy abundance of ambition is striving to make a name for themselves among the stars. The Space Exploration Administration of Kerbin (SEAK) was originally formed to be the best of bunch, the cream of the crop – to take Kerbalkind to new heights, and to become a shining star leading the way for future spacefarers of all kind! But this proved a bit too optimistic.

The universe is big, and surely Kerbals aren’t the only spacefaring race floating through the void. They may not even be the greenest. One night in the aftermath of a particularly destructive staff party, the SEAK administrators determined that it was utterly pointless to try to be the best out of everyone in a universe where they couldn’t be certain of just who “everyone†was. In fact, the next morning in the aftermath of the aftermath of the party, they concluded that effort of all kinds was pointless due to the inescapable scale of the universe and the equally inescapable insignificance of Kerbin in the grand scheme of things.

Inspired by the kind of pessimism that can only exist in the deepest of hangovers, everyone more or less agreed that since life almost surely exists elsewhere in the universe, it will likely one day attempt to conquer, subjugate, or otherwise destroy Kerbalkind. They continued to agree that the best way to instill oneself in the good graces of an invading alien race would be to give them freshly made beds to sleep in when they arrive.

So, out of a combination of begrudging acceptance of their place in the universe and everyday boredom, the SEAK admins gave up trying to be the best at everything and resolved to build a network of space hotels around the Kerbol system instead. Although it has never been proven, the idea for this unlikely change of direction is most probably attributed to the group of hotel chain regional managers that snuck into that particularly destructive staff party when they found out that the minibars at their own hotel chain didn’t come pre-stocked.

So there we have it. After making it through the growing pains of space program infancy, SEAK was restructured and given a new, and (in the words of the SEAK public relations team) altogether more responsible and practical direction. So the Interplanetary Welcoming Express was born!

With a newly minted vision of exciting and efficient space hospitality, SEAK Interplanetary Welcoming Express has two primary goals:

1. Create a network of hotels (and necessary support facilities) spanning each terrestrial body in the Kerbol system
   
2. Develop fast, cheap, and efficient ways of ferrying patrons to and from these futuristic abodes so that they can turn a profit until they are eventually inhabited by invading alien species
   

Everything I do in career mode should lead to accomplishing these goals, although some unrelated missions may be necessary since I have to keep the funds, science, and rep coming in.

This will be the ongoing mission log, which will be updated as I play. I will attempt to document my missions and present them in an entertaining way with screenshots, text descriptions, and quotes taken from interviews with the various characters to add a bit of color.

1. DunEx 1 - There and Back Again (Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) (Part 4) (Part 5) (Part 6) (Part 7)
   
2. MunServ 1 - Mun Service Bus
   
3. KerbServ 1 - Television Satellite Network + Reusable Rockets
   
4. MinHab 1 - First Hotel!
   
5. MunServ 2 - Crew Service Bus
   
6. MinServ 1 - Crew Service Bus
   
7. EveEx 1 - Fascination (Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3)
   

I am playing this in career mode with a few of my favorite mods. I am open to adding more mods in the future if I think they will fit well. This list will be updated with the mods I’m currently using.

• For information and automation: MechJeb, Kerbal Engineer, Transfer Window Planner, Kerbal Alarm Clock, Alternate Resource Panel, Docking Port Alignment Indicator
  
• For beautification: PlanetShine, Environmental Visual Enhancements, Texture Replacer, Oinker’s Skybox, Scatterer (sometimes), Hot Rockets
  
• For expanded design options: KW Rocketry, Aviation Lights
  

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The current state of things:

Some of SEAK’s old assets are still sitting around the space center, so the inventory specialists have gathered them up and taken stock to see what might be useful.

The aircraft didn’t seem immediately important to the new vision, but they were kept around as test beds for new tech.

In addition to the old SEAK hardware, there are two science facilities currently in operation.

The habitation engineers began drafting plans to expand the habitation facilities at the existing Mun and Minmus bases, but the SEAK admins were keen to launch an interplanetary mission in order to give their new, lovingly-crafted vision statement validity. What better place to start than Duna? It is friendly, inviting, close by, and (most importantly) the object of some very lucrative contracts.

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Stay tuned! The first mission log is ready for release and will be posted soon.

Edited July 21, 2015 by GehringGame

[Mister Dilsby]

Will the Visitors ever come? Are they real, or just figments of the imagination? This could end up becoming some sort of Kerbal religion...well, in any case you've found a unique and interesting reason for a space program. Looking forward to your reports!

[GehringGame]

Kuzzter, thanks for checking out my program! Your "Duna, Ore Bust" series is novel (literally) and entertaining. It is one of the threads that has really caught my eye since I joined the forums and I've started reading it from the beginning.

I don't have definitive answers for your questions but they are good ones to think about. Are the visitors real? It's most probable that they are! As for whether or not any alien races will feature in my story, that is yet to be seen. While I have a general plan for where this is going from an in-game perspective, the narrative will be shaped by things that happen along the way. A religion? Perhaps! A philosophy? Definitely. I'll let my Kerbals illustrate this as they go about their adventures.

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Mission Report - Duna Launch and Failed MunServ Test

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#1

Exploration Mission: Duna and Ike

Moniker: DunEx 1 (part 1)

Objectives: Scout for possible build sites on Duna and Ike, return science to assist future missions, complete contracts to keep accountants happy

Vessel: DunEx There and Back Again

Crew: 3 - Valentina (Pilot), Eilla (Engineer), Neilberry (Scientist)

SEAK’s first interplanetary vessel was christened the DunEx There and Back Again in hopes that its function would live up to its name. Its design supports a crew of 3 Kerbals with an extra crew module solely dedicated to in-flight entertainment. It contains a zero-G ping-pong table, a small library of romance novels, and a sandwich-making station fit for a medium-size corporate catering outfit. Attached to the main body of the vessel are two SEAKmap Alpha mapping satellites and two unclassified surface probes named Calvin and Hobbes. (Editor’s note: You are expected to accept this and all future examples of human references overlapping Kerbal ones. I’m only so creative you know). The forward-mounted drive section is capped with a heat shield for aerobraking maneuvers, and its two nuclear engines are toed out slightly so that they don’t cook the crew. Due to its weight and unwieldy shape, the craft was designed to be launched in two halves and connected in orbit over Kerbin.

Even with two launches the old Centaur rockets weren’t big enough. The engineers were tasked with designing a new launch vehicle capable of carrying the payload into orbit, which they did in record time thanks to obscene amounts of koffee - extra caffeine. Independent of any knowledge of human scientists, someone decided to name it the Newton V1. Everybody thought that sounded pretty swell so it stuck.

The craft was finished just in time for the Duna launch window, so Valentina, Eilla, and Neilberry began packing their bags and preparing for the long trip ahead. The drive section was sent up first. Everyone was very pleased to see that this occurred with a complete lack of unplanned explosions.

The next day the main body of the DunEx There and Back Again was launched, beginning an exciting new chapter in SEAK’s brief, inconsistent, and to this point frankly uninteresting history. The Kerbal media seemed to focus heavily on the "uninteresting" point. The SEAK media relations team felt rather hurt by this, and were quick to rebut that they shouldn't be faulted for a taking a while to hit their stride. After all, they protested, nobody was perfect. They felt this was a winning argument and patted themselves on the back.

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#2

Service Mission: Mun Base Alpha

Moniker: MunServ 1

Objectives: Test crew ferry design elements, return long-duration base crew to Kerbin

Vessel: Mun Service Bus

Crew: Unmanned (3-Kerbal capacity for return)

While the DunEx crew settled into their bunks aboard There and Back Again, the watery eyes of the SEAK admins turned back to local matters. The crew of Mun Base Alpha had been dutifully picking through nondescript, grey, sulfur-smelling dust for long enough that they were starting to name Mun rocks and keep them as pets. The admins decided that it was time for a rotation, especially so that they could pry Jebediah away from composing elaborate back-stories for his Mun rock pets and return him to active duty flying mission for the Interplanetary Welcoming Express.

Since the main engineers had been too busy working on the DunEx launch, the only design available for a crew transfer lander had been sketched up on the back of candy wrappers by a class of students that had visited the VAB on a field trip. In an inspiring demonstration of faith and pride in the Kerbal youth, the SEAK admins decided to actually launch the design. Fortunately, they had just enough sense to make it an unmanned test.

They loaded the child-designed Mun Service Bus up on a Centaur rocket and launched for the Mun.

Awkwardly, nobody had bothered to check the Munar calendar before they launched, so the robotic Mun Service Bus would need to land in the dark. The engineers didn’t find this too alarming, until they learned that the craft’s AI was bewilderingly programmed to use its onboard cameras for landing rather than any of the more sophisticated options readily available. To add to the problem, the lander’s robotic brain was – for a reason no one could adequately explain – programmed with propensity to throw caution to the wind and “do it live†in a desperate attempt to impress the female AI that controlled Mun Base Alpha’s solar panel alignment.

The robotic Mun Service Bus bravely hurtled towards the uneven ground near the base, bravely attempted a 180-degree turn right before landing so that the pretty solar panel AI could see it’s good side, and then bravely crashed into the surface. (Editor's note: I do not have any images of this exciting event. I was a bit preoccupied attempting to prevent it. Don't worry, in the future, entertainment shall come before safety!) Jeb consoled his frightened Mun rock pets and walked out to investigate the crash.

The craft was remarkably salvageable, but didn’t have enough fuel left for the return trip. Jeb and Katmie the Mun Queen shrugged it off and happily returned to discussions on Mun rock breeds and mineral husbandry.

(Editor's note: You are expected to ignore the fact that Mun Base Alpha is clearly adorned with a NASA flag. It was built before I had created the custom SEAK flags. It will be fixed for future missions.)

The SEAK staff back on Kerbin fumed and mumbled expletives through clenched teeth, but decided it was in poor taste to swear about a design created by bright-eyed children. They felt as though they needed to preemptively make up for the bad behavior they had considered exhibiting. The public relations team began looking ahead on the calendar to plan an ice cream social for the neighborhood kids so that they could feel better about themselves.

With Val, Eilla, and Neilberry on an interplanetary trajectory aboard There and Back Again, the overarching mood at the KSC was one of excitement. The Interplanetary Welcoming Express was underway!

Edited June 12, 2015 by GehringGame

[Mister Dilsby]

Appreciate the kind words and glad to have you as a reader! I really like the look of your craft and what you're doing with your graphic layouts. Keep it going!

[GehringGame]

Thank you Kuzzter, I appreciate your kind words in return, and your readership at this early stage! I'm sure you know it is rewarding to have an audience to share your creation with. I'm excited to get the next missions done.

[Mikki]

Hi GehringGame

I have read your thread and i like it alot, if you like you can use my recently posted Kerminger Space Shuttle for all your purpose as it is (or change it naturally...), i do not need to be referenced to it, it is a gift . I will follow your story when it develops! Take your Time !

Greetings Mikki

Your Storybase is real epic! It fits totally the funny aspects of this Game, i hope you can keep it relaxed and mirroring us humans in our (sometimes silly) behaviours... like expecting aliens visiting us for lunch !

I like the surrealistic touch of your style, its well authentic Kerbal like.

Edited June 15, 2015 by Mikki
Typo, yes sure:) and: Your Storybase...

[GehringGame]

Mikki, thanks for reading! I liked the design of your shuttle. My little kerbs haven't developed a need for a shuttle-type vehicle yet, but if they do in the future I will certainly take a look at your craft! Thank you for offering.

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Mission Report - Premium Television for Everyone! + Reusable Rockets!

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#3

Service Mission: Kerbin

Moniker: KerbServ 1

Objectives: Launch a new satellite television network into orbit around Kerbin

Vessel: Virgil B

Crew: Unmanned

Once you’re in the business of launching interplanetary missions, announcing that your next project will be putting a few small, boring satellites into orbit directly above your home planet is rather anticlimactic. This opinion was shared by all of the project managers at SEAK, so when the admins requested that the launching of a new communications network be moved to the top of the priority list they were met with a room full of project managers staring fixedly at remote corners of the room and mumbling about how pleased they would be to do it if it weren’t for some very good reason they couldn’t bring to mind at the time.

The public relations team, who were desperate for anything that the public might relate to, explained that high-qaulity television satellites would be a much more popular option. This was met with wild applause. The admins conceded the fact that having over two thousand channels of premium programming would be a nice draw for future space hotels. However, they insisted that long range communications capability be built in to the satellites. The DunEx There and Back Again would be out of range of ground communications before long and the admins found this distressing. The project managers thought that the admins were distressed entirely too easily, and suggested that the DunEx crew had talked too much when they were on Kerbin, and maybe everyone would like some peace and quiet. Somebody at the back of the room was feeling alliterative and starting chanting “No noise from Neilberry! No noise from Neilberry!â€Â

Eventually, it was decided that the communications capability should be included, but not actually be used to communicate with the DunEx crew until the staff was done enjoying their absence (and they still might not talk to Neilberry).

The news circulating around the SEAK offices the next day did not have to do with television entertainment. Everybody had been so excited to launch the DunEx There and Back Again that nobody had paused to consider the cost of developing it. This was particularly embarrassing for the accountants, who now had to break the news that SEAK was very nearly out of money. The administrators were in no mood to hear this and quickly made it someone else’s problem.

Chief Engineer Bill Kerman wasn’t the least bit pleased to learn that something had just become his problem. However, he grasped the handle of his koffee mug firmly, prepared his system to receive and unhealthy dose of caffeine, and went to work developing a cheap, reusable rocket that could launch the premium entertainment satellites into orbit.

Testing went hilariously badly.

It took a couple of iterations to get things right, but Bill congratulated himself for persevering through adversity. He had come up with SEAK’s first reusable rocket! The Virgil B is a small rocket capable of delivering satellites two at a time into orbit, then returning for a powered landing at the KSC. It is unmanned and is powered by the Virgil AI system (not by the Hactar system, thankfully).

The planned network needed seven satellites, so four launches were scheduled to put the craft into orbit. The Virgil B uses two pairs of relatively cheap solid rocket boosters firing in sequence to take it up to 12 km, then the main engine throttles up to take it into an 80 km orbit. (Editor's note: We can imagine that the SRBs would fall back to Kerbin on parachutes and then be recovered and reused for the next launch. I just didn't bother simulating this in the game).

With the payload delivered, the main stage performs a deorbit burn to take it down near the space center. Airbrakes deploy and can be controlled to adjust the descent path and select a landing zone.

The first launch revealed a flaw in the Virgil B's design. The battery overheated during reentry and the depleting electric charge muddled the AI core, causing a loss of attitude control a kilometer above the surface.

The rocket landed too hard and tipped over, forcefully rejecting the AI core that had caused it to crash and sulking about it. Even accounting for the control failure, a faulty descent profile lead to the Virgil B meeting the ground a good distance away from the planned site next to the hangar. The AI programming team scrambled to come up with a solution before the next launch. Meanwhile, the satellites from the first launch (KerbCom 1 and 2) performed the necessary maneuvers to take them into their final orbits.

A small upper stage boosts the satellites to a higher orbit where they go their separate ways. They use their own thrusters to move into the appropriately inclined plane.

The programming team found the error in the Virgil AI's targeting system, but decided it would be better to improvise an immediate solution rather than scrap the remaining three launches while they fixed the problem at its source. Their solution was to build a mobile tracking station that would use its own landing computer to guide the rocket stage down. With the tracking station in place next to the landing site, the SEAK staff crossed their fingers for a successful landing on the second attempt.

The battery was given better insulation to guard against reentry heat.

The mobile tracking station guided the rocket down directly onto the prepared landing site. The main engine fired up to land the rocket softly on its legs and.... touchdown!

The fully intact main stage was refueled and reused for the remaining two launches. With the mobile tracking station assisting, both of them returned to their mark at the space center.

The SEAK admins were elated to have the satellite network complete. The Interplanetary Welcoming Express would be able to include premium television in the introductory packages at all of its future hotels! Drinks and desserts were distributed liberally around the office as the staff admired their handywork.

Some inspiring words from SEAK's president ended a successful mission.

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Thanks for reading! Stay tuned - the next mission will bring the luxury of a five-star hotel to sleepy old Minmus Science Lab.

[Mikki]

WOOOW! Big smile on my face, and your crafts are fantastic! Your story is going to be big fun for sure!

Edited June 15, 2015 by Mikki

[GehringGame]

Mikki, thank you for your kind response! I'm really enjoying playing with the story in mind. I'm glad to have you as a reader!

[Snarfster]

Man, I am getting way too many threads that I am subscribed to...

Love the new tv channels!

[GehringGame]

Man, I am getting way too many threads that I am subscribed to...

Love the new tv channels!

Snarfster, thanks for making my thread one of your many subscriptions! I'm glad you are enjoying it so far.

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Mission Report: The Interplanetary Welcoming Express Opens Their First Hotel!

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#4

Habitation Mission: Minmus

Moniker: MinHab 1

Objectives: Open first hotel in the Interplanetary Welcoming Express chain, transport new science team to Minmus Science Lab

Vessel: Magical Minmus Resort and Creamery

Crew: 3 - Bill (Engineer), Wilfel (Scientist), Caldorf (Scientist)

The admins had spent the past three days in an ongoing lunch meeting with a carefully assembled team of elite interior designers. At present, they were agonizing over which bed linen color would best communicate an atmosphere of comfortable opulence to future alien conquerors.

The reason for this three-day lunch meeting (other than the fact that it could be expensed) was to ensure that the Interplanetary Welcoming Express’s first hotel on another world would be as wonderful and luxurious as everyone had dreamed. One of the web developers had accidentally launched the reservations website early, and as a result SEAK had been flooded with reservation requests for the Magical Minmus Resort and Creamery which didn’t yet exist. The admins didn’t want to lose out on this revenue, so they determined that the Magical Minmus Resort and Creamery should exist as soon as possible. They also determined that the name was stupid, argued over who’s idea it was, and said that they would change it after lunch, which so far showed no signs of ending.

So Bill’s engineering team was swamped with yet another last-minute project – designing habitation facilities for the Majestic Minmus Inn and Suites or whatever it was going to be called. Bill didn’t like hotels, but he agreed to the project because it presented a challenge. The new habitation module would need to connect to the existing Minmus Science Lab, mostly because the admins wanted to save money by mooching electricity and central air circulation off of the other facility. This meant it would need to mate up to the old docking ports on the lab, and it would need to have a small enough utility footprint that the lab’s existing systems could support it. It also would need to be small and narrow enough to launch on the Newton V1 because there just wasn’t enough money sitting around to design yet another launch vehicle.

The attempts made by the interior designers to communicate their vision of grand, beautiful opulence to a team of rocket engineers were about as effective as the earnest attempts of an American goldfinch to ask a blue whale out on a date. That is to say, not at all. It’s hard to describe how exactly they managed to put a final design down on paper, but when they did it looked like this:

(Editor's note: Imagining these kinds of parts as hotel rooms on the inside takes a little lateral thinking. Some may look more hotel-ish than others, but a certain amount will be left up to the imagination.)

Given the inflexible size constraints, the interior designers were forced to see efficiency as beauty. Inside each of the Mk2 crew sections is a private, two-kerbal suite packed with the most extravagant bed linens selected during the SEAK admins’ extended lunch meeting. Each suite connects to a living area with a full kitchen, bath, and top-of-the-line personal ice cream maker.

To economize their launches, SEAK had decided to send the replacement science team for Minmus Science Lab along with the new hotel section. Wilfel and Caldorf (two rookies) were selected for the assignment. There were some concerns about the mating of the two sections once on Minmus. Since the science lab didn’t have a resident engineer at the time, Bill Kerman volunteered to ride along and provide support for the unwieldy chunk of metal his team had createad.

When launch day rolled around, the Magical Minmus Resort and Creamery (nobody got around to changing the name) was carted out to the launch pad atop a fueled and primed Newton V1. All fragile decorations had been secured for launch and the three-kerbal crew were strapped into harnesses in one of the living rooms. Despite having three living crew members on board, the entire mission would be controlled remotely.

The Magical Minmus Resort and Creamery was equipped with a descent system similar to the design that had originally landed Minmus Science Lab back before the Interplanetary Welcome Express was envisioned. It would touch down vertically on the main engine, then pitch forward and use RCS jets to fall gently into its final horizontal position. The landing was conducted at night, which as we know can be problematic for the Hactar 1 AI system. Fortunately the programmers sorted out that issue and the landing went over as well as anybody could reasonably expect. What the programmers did not sort out was the constant stream of questions along the lines of, "The AI controlling those solar panels, do you think she is single? I bet she has a bunch of AIs chasing after her, what do you think? Do you think I have a chance? No seriously, you think I do? Do you think she saw that landing? Was she impressed?" it went on for quite some time.

Once on the ground, Bill had to spend quite a bit of time swearing at the Hactar 1 as it attempted to position the base for docking. It turns out that due to some oversights nobody was willing to accept responsibility for, the RCS jets used for the docking procedure weren't quite strong enough to lift the heavy descent system off the ground. This meant that there was a very tense moment in which the Hactar 1 fired the main engine to lift the whole thing off the ground rather more suddenly than anyone was comfortable with. Bill imagined this is what it would feel like to be agonizing over which wire to cut to disarm a bomb, only to have a hilariously incompetent and juvenile computer jump in a select for you. Luckily, nothing exploded, and the Magical Minmus Resort and Creamery was finally ready to dock!

With the two sections connected together and power flowing into the luxury hotel suites from Minmus Science Lab's main system, the order came through from SEAK mission control that everyone should spend a few days enjoying themselves in their new home. "But, please," they added, cutting Karsy and Megcie off mid-cheer, "don't break anything because the first guests arrive next week. The long term goal is providing nice, welcoming hotel rooms for visiting aliens, but the short term goal is sweet, cold profit. So keep things looking nice!" Karsy had already stopped listening and was extending the TV receiver dish. Bill, on the other hand, was taking a moment to look out over Minmus's flats and think.

As the sun set on the base, dynamic science duo Megcie and Karsy were showing Wilfel and Caldorf around their new science lab, but mostly around the arts and crafts station that they had constructed to pass the time. Bill was still looking out over Minmus and thinking about the future of SEAK and the Interplanetary Welcome Express.

Bill soon found his train of thought tiring and returned to thoughts about riding giant columns of explosions up into the sky. "Rockets RULE," he thought. He liked this thought, and went inside to share it with the rest of the crew.

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Thanks for reading! I tried a larger image format this time in hopes that it will use the space on the forums a little better. Stay tuned! In coming reports we'll be hearing from the crew of the DunEx There and Back Again as they approach Duna. We'll also be doing a couple rescues and swapping some crew on the Mun to get ready for SEAK's next interplanetary mission!

[GehringGame]

Hey everyone, this is a short mission update on the DunEx crew as they near Duna. I'll be pretty busy IRL this weekend but I hope to have enough play time to crank out the next MunServ mission and begin prep work for a larger set of interplanetary missions next week. Thanks for reading!

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Mission Update: DunEx There and Back Again and MunServ Failure #2

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The crew of the DunEx There and Back Again had been confined together in what amounted to a hastily assembled camper van in space for the past 275 days. Finally, they were coming down the home stretch. Duna encounter would happen on day 301, and if all went well they would hit the atmosphere for aerobraking and NOT explode on day 303.

Valentina and Eilla got along fine together. Valentina, Eilla, and Neilberry did not. The trio couldn’t wait to set foot on Ike so that they could get more than a few meters away from one another. Since that wasn’t an option aboard the There and Back Again, each crew member had devised their own way of passing the time. Eilla enjoyed reading through the ship’s collection of romance novels at marathon pace. Valentina enjoyed beating Neilberry repeatedly at zero-g ping-pong. Neilberry (who thought the whole trip was just a blast and didn’t know what the other two were all annoyed about) ate sandwiches and told jokes which he just knew were professional comedian material.

Day 275 marked the final correction maneuver that would take their periapsis down into Duna’s upper atmosphere (actually it was planned for day 278 but Val was impatient). It was a short burn at minimum thrust, but enough to force Eilla and Neilberry to sit together for a few seconds.

After the correction burn Val and Eilla suited up for a tandem EVA to check up on the There and Back Again's systems before Duna arrival. They checked the two SEAKmap Alpha satellites and the Calvin and Hobbes landers, then they just floated for a while enjoying the rare and wonderful silence, totally devoid of Neilberry's humor.

Soon they would be able to complete their mission and enter into celebrity in the eyes of the SEAK staff. Just 26 days to go, with plenty of sandwiches to go around.

Meanwhile back at KSC plans were already underway for missions to each of the other bodies in the Kerbol system. Before the next launch could happen however, SEAK needed to do some personnel management and bring in some contract funds. The first Mun Service Bus attempt had left the long term Mun Base Alpha crew stranded for an even longer term stay. It was high time to bring them back. With Bill absent on Minmus, the rest of the engineering team puffed up their chests and asserted that they could do just as good a job without him. They proudly proposed a nuclear powered lander, built it in record time, and strapped to the top of a modified Centaur rocket. Not ten minutes after they had finished telling all of their friends how perfect the design was, it spontaneously combusted on the launch pad.

Fortunately no Kerbals were aboard at the time of the blast, but it did leave a black mark on the egos of the engineering team, and the destruction of the modified Centaur left a red mark in the accountants' ledgers. Everyone sheepishly agreed that maybe they had better call Bill after all.

[Mister Dilsby]

Dozens of LV-Ns spontaneously combust each year--it's just not widely reported.

Another great update! So what happened? Wobble-->part collision, or something else?

[GehringGame]

Another great update! So what happened? Wobble-->part collision, or something else?

Thanks, I appreciate your readership!

I seem to have trouble designing nerv-powered landers, but I always try. It had four fuel tanks arranged radially around a central nuke to keep it compact, and I think the source of the problem was with the girders that I had mildly clipped between the tanks for a landing gear attachment point. It suffered the classic and hilarious violent jiggly death when it loaded into physics.

It wouldn't have even made it into the report except I couldn't pass up an explosion!

[Mikki]

Hi GehringGame,

When i look at your crafts i get the feeling you have some RL engineerdegree(s), your minmusbase is one of the most "realistic" things i have seen here around among very few others... When this game becomes online caps i must have a nap at your creamery! Can i do a reservation?

Your modules are inspiring me again to start making a longterm colony on minmus for my own, i have erased all my former not so well looking attempts...

[GehringGame]

When i look at your crafts i get the feeling you have some RL engineerdegree(s), your minmusbase is one of the most "realistic" things i have seen here around among very few others... When this game becomes online caps i must have a nap at your creamery! Can i do a reservation?

Thank you! I didn't study engineering in school but it has always been an interest of mine. I try to make my designs believable even though the Interplanetary Welcoming Express story is goofy. It's more fun for me as a player that way. And of course, the Magical Minmus Resort and Creamery is open for business! I hope you like ice cream.

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Mission Report: Personnel Management

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#5

Service Mission: Mun Base Alpha

Moniker: MunServ 2

Objectives: Test crew ferry design elements, return long-duration base crew to Kerbin

Vessel: Crew Service Bus

Crew: Unmanned (5-Kerbal capacity for return)

The simple task of ferrying crew to and from the Mun had been giving the SEAK staff anxiety since the failure of the original, child-designed Mun Service Bus. This anxiety reached an all-time high after the engineering team’s attempt at a nuclear lander suddenly became many small, burning pieces of a nuclear lander. The call was made to Bill out on Minmus and he painstakingly dictated a proper design over the phone. For now, SEAK just needed a craft capable of ferrying up to five Kerbals between Kerbin and its moons. In the future, the technology tested on the Crew Service Bus could be used in a more luxurious hotel shuttle.

The first order of business was scrapping the painfully Hactar 1 AI core and never speaking to it again. Since the... enthusiastic personality of the first iteration caused it to crash into the Mun's surface, It's replacement, the Hactar 2, was designed not to have a personality. When the lander was fully assembled according to Bill's instructions, the engineers found a non-exploded Centaur rocket and modified it to carry the heavier payload.

The primary objective of the MunServ 2 mission was to return Jebediah and Kenoly Kerman from their extended stay at Mun Base Alpha. The secondary objective was a bit more interesting. Two astronauts from a rival space program (Ribrey and Bilmund) had been on course to rendezvous in Munar orbit for a spot of tea. Embarrassingly, when they arrived at the Mun they discovered that they had were orbiting in opposite directions. Their own space program disowned them and made a public statement about not tolerating incompetence, etc. The SEAK admins, however, thought it was admirable that two kerbals would go to such lengths to meet for tea. The admins declared that Ribrey and Bilmund would be rescued and given the opportunity to join the Interplanetary Welcoming Express. They also made sure that they had stocked the Crew Service Bus with light refreshments and popular magazines so that the new astronaut's first impression of SEAK would be a good one.

The Crew Service Bus had been equipped with flashing orange lights to help the stranded kerbals locate it in the blackness of space. (Editor's note: New mod!) Ribrey spotted it right away as it approached and wasn't the least bit hesitant to climb aboard. He had spent the last half a day shouting insults at Bilmund when he passed by. It had taken a long time to complete a meaningful insult since Bilmund passed him at over 600 m/s and he could only get a single word in each time.

After picking up Ribrey, Hactar 2 guided the Crew Service Bus down to the surface. It was a clinical landing with absolutely no personality by design. The Hactar 1 module from the original Mun Service Bus scoffed at the lack of pizzazz, but was envious of how close Hactar 2 got to be to the pretty solar panel AI he had been trying to woo this whole time.

Jeb and Kenoly said farewell to their Mun rock pets and climbed aboard. Tanwig, who had been chosen to stay behind and continue doing science, was sullen. Katmie the self-named Mun Queen, who the SEAK psychologists thought had a "seriously weird" relationship with the Mun, stayed behind happily.

Hactar 2 took the Crew Service Bus back up the way it came and into a retrograde orbit to rescue Bilmund. Bilmund, who had passed the time stranded in orbit by making several expensive bets that he would be rescued before Ribrey, was none-too-pleased to see his colleague aboard. He spent the rest of the ride home making phone calls to explain that, yes, he had the money, but couldn't everyone just be happy that he was rescued for a minute and forget about the bet?

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#6

Service Mission: Minmus Science Lab

Moniker: MinServ 1

Objectives: Test crew ferry design elements, return long-duration base crew to Kerbin

Vessel: Crew Service Bus

Crew: Unmanned (5-Kerbal capacity for return)

The MunServ 2 mission was so successful that the admins were quick to request a similar mission to Minmus in order to retrieve Bill (who was clearly needed at home) and dynamic science duo Megcie and Karsy. The Crew Service Bus was refitted and relaunched.

The mission went off without a hitch. Hactar 2 performed another purposefully dry and uninteresting landing, Wilfel and Caldorf bade Megcie and Karsy farefwell, and Bill sat comfortably in the command pod of the Crew Service Bus as it didn't break in any way.

Now, with five valuable crew members returned from their posts, and two new additions to the Interplanetary Welcoming Express team, the SEAK admins could start planning their next interplanetary mission in earnest.

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Thanks for reading! These missions weren't the most exciting, but don't worry - coming up next: the DunEx There and Back Again arrives at the red planet!

Edited June 22, 2015 by GehringGame

[Mister Dilsby]

Good stuff as always--and believe me I know, it can be very difficult to do the 'needful' in an ongoing mission story (refueling, crew transfers, training, etc) and keep it entertaining. You're doing so, and with style--keep it up!

[GehringGame]

Thanks Kuzzter - I'm glad you still found it entertaining. It is tough to make an interesting mission out of something that's boring for you in game, certainly. You seem to be adept at this. For example, the crew-gathering missions in your second interlude are routine for you I'm sure, but you make them enjoyable through witty dialogue and character interest, thanks in part to a creative story format that relies on these things.

With the less interesting missions I'm inclined to put more effort into writing entertaining story text to compensate, but I don't want to create a wall of text that the reader will skip over. I'm trying to find a good balance there, but would love some feedback on the text/image balance from you and any other readers.

[Mister Dilsby]

With the less interesting missions I'm inclined to put more effort into writing entertaining story text to compensate, but I don't want to create a wall of text that the reader will skip over.

I think you're exactly right re: avoiding the "wall of text". Time is short and there is a lot of forum, so everything you do to make it easy for a reader to 'consume' your work is a good thing.

This is a big advantage of the graphic format--you can tell the story visually with a few pictures, and use short bits of text to make your presentation unique. Like Miles Davis said, "it's the notes you don't play" that matter. I especially how you use your panel layouts to guide the eye. Meanwhile the text quotes efficiently tell us what's going on, while at the same time revealing something interesting and creative about the personalities involved.

[GehringGame]

easy for a reader to 'consume' your work (...) big advantage of the graphic format

You pinpointed the reason I went with the graphic format to begin with. It allows me to pack three or four screenshots into a single consumable image panel. I love writing the story text as background explanation and flavor, but I know that many people will just skim the images. For this reason I try to compose the images in such a way that you could skim them and still understand what's going on.

If it turns out people aren't too interested in the background story text then I may move more of that content into the images themselves, we'll see how it evolves with time. For now a hybrid of text and images is the easiest to create.

[GehringGame]

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Mission Update: Duna Arrival!

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Spirits at the KSC were very high as SEAK's head of Duna operations announced that the DunEx There and Back Again had crossed into the red planet's SOI. At least, spirits were high among those who were in the room at the time. Actually, most of the SEAK staff had been so busy testing new technologies for their next mission that they had forgotten all about the the antiquated There and Back Again.

It seemed the Interplanetary Welcoming Express had a shorter attention span than the 303 days it took for a trip to Duna. Eventually word got around to everyone, usually met with something along the lines of, "Oh, that mission? Wow I totally forgot about that. Ok, cool."

Val, Eilla, and Neilberry shared considerably more enthusiasm about the event.

The There and Back Again was designed for an aerocapture trajectory to save fuel. Over the course of their journey, Val had had plenty of time to check the fuel levels and conclude that the fuel budget was quite a bit tighter than anyone would have liked, so special care was taken to make sure she got the maneuver absolutely right.

Those back at the space center (those that were paying attention at least) watched as the new apoapsis settled down right onto Ike's orbit. Val had performed the maneuver impossibly well.

After spending the proper amount of time staring slack-jawed and watery-eyed at the red planet, the crew got to work deploying the Duna component of the mission. Eilla had grown attached to her probes during her many EVA's to escape Neilberry. She felt like a proud mother sending her children off to the first day of kindergarten. Remedial kindergarten maybe - the probes had been hastily and sloppily designed - but nobody wanted to tell her this.

Simultaneously plotting the correct trajectories for the two surface probes and the mapping satellite proved too much for Neilberry to comprehend. He apologized cheerfully to a fuming Val and called Bob for help.

The Hobbes probe was easy enough. It would land near the equator at the mouth of one of Duna's prominent canyons. The Calvin probe and the SEAKmap Alpha satellite, however, needed to move to a polar orbit. Bob tried to make this a teaching moment for Neilberry, but after spending the better part of an hour trying to explain that the term "orbital mechanics" didn't actually mean guys that will fix your car if it breaks down in space, Bob decided just to do it all himself and send over the final calculations. All it took were a couple small burns and a friendly helping hand from Ike.

The crew had indeed forgotten to install the antennae on the SEAKmap Alpha satellites. They decided it was easier to blame someone else. It had probably been the job of some junior engineer back at the space center, right? Although the two satellites would be useless without antennae, they decided to put them into their respective orbits anyway. The surface probes, they hoped, didn't have any major flaws.

Hobbes was the first to begin its descent. It was targeting a scenic canyon that the SEAK admins thought might offer breathtaking views to future hotel guests. Unfortunately, the probe was another casualty of the engineers' koffee-addled brains at the time it was designed. The solar cells hadn't been intended for atmospheric entry, and they broke away during the descent. Although the probe landed safely, power ran dry and communication was lost before it could transmit any meaningful data.

The Calvin probe adjusted for the problem and was able to use its landing engines to slow its descent over the edge of the south pole. This time the solar cells survived and the probe landed fully intact.

The first images of the landing site were enough to sell the SEAK admins on the south pole as the location of their Duna hotel. It had everything! It had a view of Ike, it was flat, it was exclusive, and, most importantly, it was pink.

---

Next up: more updates from the DunEx crew as they explore Ike! I've had a couple problems since the 1.0.3 release, so it might take some time. Thanks for reading!

[Mister Dilsby]

Excellent update! That reminds me, I should really turn on surface scatter one of these days--those rocks really add a lot to the pictures.

Too bad about the forgotten antennae, I hope the surface scanners will work without your orbital scanners being able to transmit... be prepared for them not to :/

[Mikki]

I hope the update dont break your crafts... if you are going to have a summerbreak- i will grab you out, dont worry! We have also lots to do in RL. Your Duna mission is very nice, my PC is connected to a widescreen TV... i can see ALL details . (i do spy too...)

[GehringGame]

Excellent update! That reminds me, I should really turn on surface scatter one of these days--those rocks really add a lot to the pictures.

Too bad about the forgotten antennae, I hope the surface scanners will work without your orbital scanners being able to transmit... be prepared for them not to :/

Thanks! Yeah I used to play without it, and for a while I used it sporadically since it kept getting turned off by the xbox controller bug. Now that I'm using it consistently I can't live without it. It looks particularly good on Duna's south pole!

As for the antennae - yeah that was just a bonehead move on my part. I really need a pre-launch checklist. I've toyed with the idea of using kerbal attachment system to fix antennae to them in a later mission, but I'll probably just bring new satellites with me and scrub the old ones.

I hope the update dont break your crafts... (...) lots to do in RL. (...) i can see ALL details

Thanks, so far the game has crashed twice when I haven't had time for trouble-shooting. I'll check things out once I have some more play time. Lot's of things to do IRL is definitely going to slow me down! Hopefully I can keep the updates coming at a 2-3 per week pace. Oh man, I'm not sure that looking at all the details is a good thing! I'm sure I'll make a continuity error at some point. Actually I just realized that the image of the orbits shows the Hobbes lander already down on the surface. Oops!

[GehringGame]

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Mission Update: DunEx Crew on Ike

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Things were pretty quiet around the space center – the suspicious kind of quiet that usually means something dangerous, expensive, or otherwise ill-advised is about to happen. Fortunately, the crew of the DunEx There and Back Again were oblivious to the schemes forming back home on Kerbin. The Duna portion of their mission was over and the Calvin probe had discovered the perfect location for the Duna hotel. Now, it was on to Ike, where Val and Eilla could finally reestablish a comfortable bubble of personal space. Before landing, they dropped off the other communication-less SEAKmap Alpha satellite. "If it’s going to be dead in the water it might as well have a nice view," they thought.

Nobody (except maybe Neilberry) was too reluctant to disconnect from the recreation module. The smell of mayonnaise from the oversized sandwich kitchen had become pretty overpowering. With the drive unit and recreation module left in orbit, the crew burned for the surface like a child chasing an ice cream truck.

They stood next to each other just long enough to admire Duna on the horizon.

The crew had three days of surface time to enjoy. Neilberry added to his already annoyingly high self-confidence by successfully performing the mission’s list of science experiments, Val wandered around staring at Duna and thinking about how it was possible for Neilberry to be so confident and so incompetent at the same time, and Eilla just went straight out to the edge of her EVA range and sat behind a rock in silence. For the three Kerbals it was paradise.

The three days of surface time went by in a flash, and soon the crew was strapped back into the capsule for the return to orbit.

The crew docked with the other half of the There and Back Again and the smell of condiments and lunchmeats wafted nauseatingly into the capsule. Home sweet home. Neilberry was somehow giddy with the prospect of yet another sandwich lunch.

When the return window rolled around Val fired up the nuclear engines and set the There and Back Again on a course to return to Kerbin. The SEAK staff were already caught up in planning the next mission, so the crew was left enduring Neilberry’s insecent terrible jokes on the 299-day trip.

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This update took some time due to issues with my game. I’m now playing without issue in 1.0.4 although some mods still need to update. I’ll be a little busy IRL over the coming month, but I’ll try to post updates when I can. Thanks for reading!

Edited July 7, 2015 by GehringGame