[Writing] Ibis IV

[RedDwarfIV]

Commander Oscar, Navigator Munble and Pilot Rufam stared upwards. It was early morning, and the tower was still lit up by the floodlights of several small vehicles placed around it. Eerie shadows played across the stark white hull of their Veto Aerospace Ibis version 2. Oscar spoke first. 'Just looking at that bird makes me want to go push trollies at a supermarket. Way safer.' Rufam turned to look at the Commander. 'You know that the only reason these ships crashed was because of Kerbal error?' Munble joined in, counting the crashes on his fingers. 'Pilot error, unsafe flight direction from ground, and, oh yeah, pilot error again.' he said, referring to the losses of all three previous Ibis class spaceplanes. 'These things have it in for us somehow.' replied Oscar. 'You just don\'t believe it yet.' Rufam put on a mock-shock face. 'You scared?' Oscar turned to face him. 'Hell yes. Doesn\'t make me a coward.' he said, before striding off towards the VAB. 'I\'m getting my kit on. You slackers coming or not?'

Harsh sunlight glinted through the cockpit window. However, the three Kerbals had the helmets\' sun visors up, to prevent themselves being blinded. Loss of vision could be disastrous for the mission, and the Space Program wasn\'t going to lose its pilots so easily. Not after learning it the hard way. The launch control link crackled with static, before a woman\'s voice rose above it. 'Ibis IV, Deltal GC. Confirm vessel prepared for launch? Go/no go poll was a-ok.' Oscar hit the transmit button and held it down. 'Deltal GC, Ibis IV, confirmed. Go for flight.' There was a moment where the link was silent. 'Ok, booster ignition in T-60 seconds. Counterweight drop in T-75 seconds.' The counterweight was a full tank of fuel that would be dropped immediately after clearing the tower - it was there to solve launch instability problems that had caused prototype Ibis X1s to crash into the tower despite SAS and apparently being balanced. Crude, but surprisingly effective.

'10... 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Booster ignition.' The four huge liquid engines under the stack lit up like a bonfire, sending tonnes of thrust downward. 'Pad clamps off.' The stack left ground. 'Ibis IV has cleared the tower.' And it did, The vessel swayed alarmingly, but did not reach the angle nescersary for it to tear itself apart against the tower. 'And 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Drop counterweight.' A number of explosive bolts popped, and the decoupler fell away from the stack, carrying its fuel tank with it. The stack straightened up. 'Go for throttle up.' The powerful engines were given use of their full power. Up in the cockpit, warning lights came on. 'Boosters overheat. Let\'s throttle down some.' he said, and Rufam gently slid the engine controls down a little. The warning lights went out. The vessel was barelling up into the sky, vibrating heavily. The G-forces pushed the three Kerbonauts into their seats. The altimeter counted their ascent, while another system measured the atmospheric density outside.

Eventually, the needle slid into the dark blue, and the altimeter read 36,000 metres. 'Complete engine shutdown.' came a message over the control link. 'In progress.' replied Oscar, as Rufam put the four boosters out of action. 'Engage Reaction Control System. he told them. 'Disengage Stabilisation of Attitude System.' Rufam was in a state of full concentration, working the controls swiftly and carefully. The RCS jets each emitted a muffled bang when they were fired, a sound that reached them by passing through the metal structure of the ship. 'Attitude attained.' muttered Rufam. 'Ok,' said Munble, 'get us to 24,500 m/s. Perigee 75,000 metres is our minimum target.' Rufam put the throtttle up to one quarter power. After that, he gently slid it up. The ship buffetted around violently - an effect which had been fatal for many earlier missions of the Space Program. Oscar and Munble watched the console\'s centre navigation screen, which was displaying a 3D view of Kerbin, and their currently sub-orbital flight path. The flight path\'s arc grew longer and its apogee higher as the engines rammed them forwards.

A jolt sent pain through the spines of each Kerbonaut, and slammed them forwards, as the boosters cut out. They had no more fuel to burn. 'Booster seperation.' said Oscar, as he operated the appropriate system. More explosive bolts fired, and the boosters were cut adrift, to come down somewhere over the ocean. Meanwhile, Rufam was preparing the NERVA engines that would get them to orbit. '3, 2, 1...' he murmered, 'Main engine ignition.' Two NERVA engines began sending their exhaust blasting out of their nozzles, rocketing the Ibis faster and faster. The flight path simulation\'s arc extended and extended. Eventually, it formed a ring. Oscar tapped a control, and the simulation turned 2D, as if give a bird\'s eye view, perpendicular to the plane of their orbit. The ring grew, and a marker apppeared, reading \'Pe - 1233\', with the number going up by the millisecond. Finally, after what seemed like an age, the Pe marker reached 75,000. 'MECO.' stated Rufam, as he slammed the throttle back, choking the NERVA engines. 'So,' he said, turning to Munble, 'Where\'re we going, Navigator?'

[TO BE CONTINUED]

[LaydeeDem]

Nice job! More please!

[RedDwarfIV]

It was several hours since orbit had been made. Finally, clearence had been given to make a trans-Minmus burn. Of course, that wasn\'t technically what it was, it was a burn to get apogee out to Minmus\'s orbit. It wouldn\'t intercept, not yet. More interesting things would come later. Commander Oscar spoke, shattering the silence that had only occasionally been punctuated by reports from Mission Control or from Munble and Rufam\'s jibes; 'Initiate burn in 15 seconds... 10... 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, and ignition.' 'Ignition confirmed.' replied Rufam, who was throttling up the engines. Munble watched the orbital mechanics simulation intently. 'Speed climbing. Attitude good, SAS holding.' The Ibis X class had had troubles with SAS in the past, but only through overly violent initial thrusts. Gradually, the simulation showed the orbit extending outwards, past the Mun, at which point Munble told Rufam to slow down. Rufam put the throttle at 1/8, until Munble confirmed that the apogee was at the correct altitude. The three crew looked at each other for a moment. 'Good so far.' muttered Oscar, who settled into his chair to wait.

The waiting was long. Several days after launch now, and the Ibis X 4 was preparing for circularisation thrusts. Not enough to put them in a completely circular orbit, or they would never have the fuel to get back to Kerbin. Rufam was fiddling with the RCS, getting the bearings just right. All was the silence of concentration. This had to be done right. Previous Bluebird missions had to be abandoned because fuel wasn\'t spent carefully enough. Several minutes of concentration later, Rufam announced he had the right bearing, and was ready to fire engines on Mission Control\'s guidance. Munble confirmed that the direction was right. The launch control link woman\'s voice crackled over the radio. 'Deltal GC, Ibis IV, telemetry confirms you are on target. Ok for thrust in 22 seconds.' Oscar spoke: 'Copy that Deltal, Preparing to fire.' Muble started humming. Rufam recognised the tune and whistled to it. Oscar sighed, but let them continue. They were professional enough that this wouldn\'t affect their judgement too much. Besides, it wasn\'t like they had to thrust exactly at apogee. Minmus was, after all, an entire moon, and a little leeway could be given for getting into its sphere of influence. The engines fired, and the simulation displayed their increasing speed and its effect on their orbit which was, as expected, widening.