KRRAKC - Missions of a Rescue Program - Purple, With a Chance of Deep Haze and Rain

[Starhawk]

Looking at Gilry's capsule as grabbed by the klaw has caused the engineering staff to raise a 'concern'.  Will the heat shield protect that cockpit during re-entry?  There is ample time before the mid-course correction burn allowing KSC to run simulations of the reentry.  If warranted, we will try releasing the pod and reorienting to klaw it axially from the rear.  We could also try grabbing it closer to the centre of its dimensions rather than the centre of mass (which is located very close to the rear of the cockpit).

A more general concern raised is whether the Thundercraft 1 has enough torque to keep oriented the correct way if aerobraking a crew cabin or other part without built-in reaction wheels.  We'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

I'm trying to play this with a fair amount of realism in mind, so I'm going to start the next rescue from Vall orbit right away.  I should still be able to grab the new recruit and make the current transfer window back to Kerbin, saving the rescuee a year's wait.

Here is Burdorf's Rescue.

Every time I klaw a rescuee I have a moment when this scene from Duna, Ore Bust! comes to mind.

Kerbin Space Centre - KRRAKC Headquarters - Administration Building - Office of Gus Kerman

Gene: "Okay Gus.  I know you and Wernher have wanted to keep this under pretty tight wraps.  And Wernher isn't saying anything other than 'Ja, I think zis vill vork, ve vill see.' with a strange grin on his face.  Then I see Walt, of all kerbs, grinning from ear to ear after a visit to the VAB.
So I've finally come to you.  What's going on?"

Gus: "Let's take a walk over to the VAB."

Gus: "So, Werher decided to allow some of the younger engineers to try their hand at design.  A couple of them have some... different ideas.  Wernher was pretty skeptical at first, but as he and his engineers saw the plan develop they got more and more convinced that this was a good, solid design. When Walt saw the new design, he got very excited and said something about a 'PR coup', whatever that means.  Anyway he seemed to think other kerbs would like it.  We've almost got it ready."

[Entering the VAB]
Gus: "Gene, it gives me great pleasure to present to you the Thundercraft 2!"

Happy landings!

 

Edited March 19, 2016 by Starhawk

[Starhawk]

The Thundercraft 2 has been through a few rounds of testing and redesign.   An atmospheric version was created to do some testing in Kerbin conditions.
The pilot corps reports that the new skills required are challenging.  However, in simulations, we eventually achieved capture of a pod with the klaw proving the viability of the plan and the design.  Relief was felt.  Celebratory beverages were consumed.

I figured that if I can do it at Kerbin, I should be able to manage at Vall with about one quarter the gravity. 

Happy landings!

[Loren Pechtel]

On 1/16/2016 at 10:04 AM, Hotaru said:

PPS. I just took a look at it in map view: getting to that orbit and back directly from LKO is going to take at least 9,000 m/s each way. You could save some of the Kerbin departure burn (~500 m/s) by leaving from Minmus, probably another 1000 or so each way with Eve encounters, and potentially most of the Kerbin arrival burn (another thousand at least) by aerobraking, but that's still on the order of 14-15 km/sec of delta-v you'll need to put into LKO. Even more taking into account the extra 1.8t payload on the return trip.

How in the world are you calculating this 9,000 m/s???  I've been trying to figure out what it will take to get low Kerbol science and I can't find the dV information anywhere.

[Starhawk]

15 minutes ago, Loren Pechtel said:

How in the world are you calculating this 9,000 m/s???  I've been trying to figure out what it will take to get low Kerbol science and I can't find the dV information anywhere.

If you have something in LKO, you can create a maneuver node and see the resulting orbit in the map view.  To get to low sun orbit you want to leave Kerbin going the opposite direction to the way Kerbin is travelling in its orbit around the sun.

Anyway, adjusting the maneuver node will change the resulting orbit and you can then see how much dv it will take to achieve a particular periapsis.

After that, a second maneuver node can be placed at the periapsis of the projected orbit and adjusted until the orbit is circularized at low sun orbit.  Hovering the mouse over that second maneuver node will display how much delta-v that one requires.

Hope this helps.

Happy landings!

Edited March 23, 2016 by Starhawk

[Loren Pechtel]

7 hours ago, Starhawk said:

If you have something in LKO, you can create a maneuver node and see the resulting orbit in the map view.  To get to low sun orbit you want to leave Kerbin going the opposite direction to the way Kerbin is travelling in its orbit around the sun.

Anyway, adjusting the maneuver node will change the resulting orbit and you can then see how much dv it will take to achieve a particular periapsis.

After that, a second maneuver node can be placed at the periapsis of the projected orbit and adjusted until the orbit is circularized at low sun orbit.  Hovering the mouse over that second maneuver node will display how much delta-v that one requires.

Hope this helps.

Happy landings!

You can place a second node with the first node not executed??  I never realized that.

[Starhawk]

9 minutes ago, Loren Pechtel said:

You can place a second node with the first node not executed??  I never realized that.

The interface is literally packed full of stuff like that.

Happy landings!

[Starhawk]

Now, what I want to do is go to KSC, launch the Ike rescue mission and time warp to ejection to get it out of the way.
Joan has other ideas about what to do right now.

Whoopstooshort Base

"Well, Gene, I'm very glad we're out here.  Gilry and Burdorf are on their way home.  The Thundercraft 1 ships both performed very well.  You've already got reports on our concerns.
We have correction burns plotted for both craft set to occur in a little under two years.  After completion of the burns and confirmation of course we will hand control of each craft over to KSC for the final leg of its journey home."

"Happy to hear about the plan for the Ike rescue and progress on the Thundercraft 2.  Let me tell you, the pilots are excited about that one.  Some time in the simulator on it has somewhat quieted down the team, but they are making progress.
If this thing can be done, then we will figure out how to do it.
Joan out."

"Joan to science team - give me a Celestial Cartography report."

"We have completed all mapping of the inner moons to 99.9%.  Mapping of Pol is proceeding very slowly, Ma'am.  The orbital period is very long at the optimal scanning range.  We adjusted the altitude and it's scanning faster, but over a narrower track.  Anyway, once the altimetry scan is complete we should have fewer problems.  The other scanners operate fairly well at a lower altitude."

"Okay, move the ore scans up to next priority.  Biome and anomaly scans can wait until later.
Now tell me about our next rescuee."

"Sensor readings indicate she is on EVA.  Telemetry suggests that she has probably entered hibe.
Her location is at the foot of a mountain.  Slope indicators show approximately 8 to 12 degrees.
We won't know more until we get within EVA suit radio range and can interact with her directly."

"Felix, you're going to take the science lander down.  I need to know what the situation is down there.  And leave the second seat open.  I know that will disappoint the science team, but our rescuee is a scientist.  Hopefully, she can be convinced to gather some data and bring it up to Base, giving us plenty to study.  We may not be able to complete this mission until we get some new equipment, but we can sure get that stranded kerb up to the Base."

"You probably don't want a full fuel load.  This isn't Tylo, after all.  But you do need to land near her and you know that's going to cost fuel, so make sure you take that into account.  Exact load is at your discretion.  Launch as soon as you're ready."

...

"Ready for deorbit burn.  It's suboptimal I'm afraid.  There's too much high terrain on the approach vector.  I'm coming in from exactly the wrong direction.  She's right behind the mountain from here."

"I'm past the first ridge, that seemed snug.  Coming up on the mountain.  I'm too low.  I can't start the burn until I'm sure I'm clear."

"Range 30 klicks.  Wow that mountain is big!  Looks like I might scrape paint.  Just kidding.  Still..."

"There!  I'm clear.  Starting my burn.  And overshooting target.  Good thing I brought some margin with me.
I'm down.  Range - about 2.1 klicks.  Fuel situation is marginal.  Still, it should be enough."

"Connecting with the pod and her EVA suit.  Sending the wake-up signal - she should come out of hibe right away.
Getting telemetry from her remote cameras...
Gaahhh!!  What??!!!"

"Felix, Report!  What's going on?"

"I have a visual... and Trama appears to be a male!
There's other news, Ma'am.  The team made an assumption based on that garbled transmission that she was in a Mk 1 Command Pod.  It turns out it's a Mk 1 Crew Cabin.  And it's sitting on one end!"

"Well get the new recruit aboard and head back to Base as soon as you two have had the chance to collect a bit of science.
That's great news about the Crew Cabin, Felix.  It's about time something got a bit easier instead of just harder."

"Uh, excuse me for interrupting, Ma'am, Barbart here.  We have a transmission coming in from Kerbin."

Happy landings!

[Mister Dilsby]

We knew this would happen eventually. Well, your sig says you've gotten purple rocks from there before--now it's time to go get Milry!

[Commander Zoom]

"Oh boy."  - Sam Kerman

[Starhawk]

19 hours ago, Kuzzter said:

We knew this would happen eventually.

You are so right.

19 hours ago, Kuzzter said:

Well, your sig says you've gotten purple rocks from there before--now it's time to go get Milry!

I've actually been there in 1.0.5, even.  I believe the contract wouldn't appear if I hadn't.

Of course, we still have Trama's rescue to complete and a few other contracts to finish while we're at Jool, so we won't be leaving right away.

Happy landings!

[Starhawk]

Felix stared at his monitor in confusion.  The contract definitely indicated that Trama was a female, but the camera showed otherwise.

After Trama woke from hibe, Felix said "Welcome to KRRAKC!  We can't get your debris yet, but I'm here to rescue you.  You should have a signal from my lander.  Jetpack over and I'll cycle the pressure and unlock the hatch."

Felix watched the approaching rescuee and readied the lander to receive the new recruit.

"Nice flying." he said as he opened the hatch.  "And thanks for grabbing that science data.  Come on in and seal the hatch.  I'll cycle the pressure as soon as it's sealed and we can take off our helmets.  Gahhh!  What!?  You're really female after all?  I was sure I saw a male face in the camera."

"No, I'm quite sure I've always been female."  Trama replied.  "Maybe it was just helmet-head from being in hibe so long."

"Uh, yeah.  Sure.  Well, welcome aboard anyway.  I'm Felix..  I usually fly this lander.  Strap yourself in and we'll head up to Whoopstooshort Base."

"Sorry Joan.  We really can't tell you anything more.  None of the crew on the JEM mission reported any unusual occurrences at Vall.
And, as you know, biology is still a complete mystery to our science.  Kerbals have been trying to understand conundrums ranging from gender to invisible birds without any progress.  We don't have any record of spontaneous gender changing.   Wernher and Linus don't think there's anything to worry about. Keep your eye on Trama and we'll let you know if we learn anything new.
Gene out."

 

So, operations have proceeded.  Contracts for a spacewalk in orbit of Pol, ore from Vall, and science data from near Vall have been completed.

I have no idea what happened to Trama and why she appeared to be a male when I first made contact.  I was quite shocked both when I first saw 'him' and when I got her into the lander and saw her portrait.

A rescue from orbit of Ike is proceeding and, far outside the purview of this thread, a Dres expedition has been launched.

And, of course, there's the Eve rescue still to be handled.

Happy landings!

[Mister Dilsby]

2 hours ago, Starhawk said:

I have no idea what happened to Trama and why she appeared to be a male when I first made contact.  I was quite shocked both when I first saw 'him' and when I got her into the lander and saw her portrait.

Well, stranger things have happened. The most plausible answer may be that you weren't looking at the portrait you thought you were looking at, but that's certainly not the most interesting answer. Love the reference to Kerbal science not really understanding gender... or 'invisible birds' ("We can hear them... where the heck are they?") I wonder if the birds nest in the Gus's magical and invisible recovery vehicles that can instantaneously transport anything back to the KSC from anywhere on Kerbin? 

[Starhawk]

20 hours ago, Kuzzter said:

The most plausible answer may be that you weren't looking at the portrait you thought you were looking at

The screenshots tell a different tale...

20 hours ago, Kuzzter said:

Gus's magical and invisible recovery vehicles that can instantaneously transport anything back to the KSC from anywhere on Kerbin? 

After reading that everything clicked!

Why does Gus hang out at the admin building?  Why does it have a pool?
I've been watching some clips of the Thunderbirds lately and now it's perfectly obvious.  The pool opens up and the recovery vehicle comes out from Gus' secret underground hangar!

It's the only thing that makes sense. 

Happy landings!

Edited April 5, 2016 by Starhawk

[RocketSquid]

11 hours ago, Starhawk said:

Why does Gus hang out at the admin building?  Why does it have a pool?

I've been watching some clips of the Thunderbirds lately and now it's perfectly obvious.  The pool opens up and the recovery vehicle comes out from Gus' secret underground hangar!

It's the only thing that makes sense. 

Happy landings!

How could I not have seen this... it explains everything... the recovery vehicles, the fake water... ALL OF IT!!

Also, the "Gender change" could be a side effect of hibernating while on EVA.

[Starhawk]

19 hours ago, RocketSquid said:

Also, the "Gender change" could be a side effect of hibernating while on EVA.

Yes, that's certainly one possible explanation I'd considered using.

I will leave it as a mystery, at least for the time being.

 

There is lots of small operational stuff going on.
Refuelling is proceeding very slowly.  I'm not super-motivated to fly those missions when there's so much else to think about.
Science is being gathered and researched in the lab.  Four of the five moons have been mapped with Scansat and we now know the locations of any anomalies on those moons.
The Thundercraft 2 design has been finalized, and there's simulations to run for Trama's debris retrieval.

There are still contracts for science data from Laythe's surface as well as the Vall 6 Voyage - flybys of Mun, Minmus, Eve, Gilly, Vall, and Tylo with a single vessel.
I had hoped to do that last one with the Thundercraft 2, but I don't think I'll have enough time to get to the Mun and Minmus before the next window to Jool.  I guess I still have almost 200 years or so to complete that one. 

The station needs a resupply of Thundercraft 1 units since we've used two and one is earmarked for taking Trama and her debris home.  I don't know yet just how the new units will attach to the Thunderbolt Module.  Anyway, that may have to wait until rendezvous with the Eve Rescue ship which is still in the early planning stages.

I'm a bit disappointed that I hauled all these Firebolts out here and didn't get to use a single one so far. 

I'll hopefully have an update later today.

Happy landings!

Edited April 6, 2016 by Starhawk

[Starhawk]

Joan's Personal Log:

We still have so much to do here and yet my mind dwells endlessly on Eve.
We talk and consider, but seem to get no nearer to a clear picture of what we're going to do.  We know what works from the first Eve landing done by Val, Bob, and Bill.  But there are so many questions.  How close can we land to a target on Eve?  Can we take a chance on an unkerbed vessel?  Is it a bigger risk to send personnel down for the rescue?  Ultimately, what happens if we mess up and we need to be rescued?
I still don't know.
Gene says Thundercraft 2 is about to launch.  It'll take three years to get here so there's plenty of time for the pilots to train up on it in the simulator. Once we have Trama's debris we'll have to leave for Eve at the next window.  We'd better be ready.

Barbart: "Transmission from Kerbin, Ma'am."

Joan: "All right.  Prep Thundercraft 1-3.  Time to send out another tow truck."

Once again, the Thundercraft 1 has proved to be a very capable craft.  Just under 2600 m/s available after capture of Cambles.  Way more than we need.
In fact, with Tylo's Oberth effect it will cost very little delta-v to get home.  This sequence of shots shows the trajectory as I zoom out at Jool and then zoom in at Kerbin.








 

The encounter will be further refined with a correction node once we leave Jool's SOI.

Meanwhile, back on Kerbin, in the VAB observation room...

Mort: "Gene, there you are!  You can't keep avoiding me.  I know that you've got the new ship just about ready to launch and I still haven't seen the costs.  That's a complete breach of protocol!  It's time to level with me.  How much is this - "  [Looks out onto the VAB floor] "monstrosity going to cost?"
Gene: "Sorry Mort.  It's really just that we've all been so busy.  I have the cost numbers right here."
Mort: "Well!...  uh...  okay." [Looks from the paper to VAB floor] "Only 44 000 funds and change?  That seems impressive.  I suppose it'll need some kind of crazy expensive lifter stage."
Gene: "Actually no.  Take a look at the next page."
Mort: "Amazing!  47 934 all in." [Takes another look out into the VAB]  "That's a pretty nice looking ship after all.  My compliments to the new engineering team."

 

And here is Thundercraft 2 launching and ascending.

And here we see it approaching, docked with, and leaving Kerbin Station 3 (I know, imaginative name, isn't it?)

And Thundercraft 2 is ready to begin its three year journey out to Whoopstooshort Base.  Kerbin Station 3 orbits at 350 km and so is an ideal departure point for ships heading to Jool.

I haven't actually tested the ship again since the last round of modifications, but they were fairly minor tweaks so it shouldn't be too much of a gamble. 

Happy landings!

[Mister Dilsby]

Very nice--this is turning into quite the tutorial for getting in and out of the Jool system. Now, as for Eve...unkerbed is the safer route, as you can expend probes all you want and try, try again, but where's the glory in that?  

[Starhawk]

16 hours ago, Kuzzter said:

Very nice--this is turning into quite the tutorial for getting in and out of the Jool system.

Thanks.  I had hoped to expound a little more on certain techniques in a similar way to the discussion of gravity capture.  Time constraints have hindered me so far, but I hope to have a few more teaching moments featured in the thread.  Perhaps I can manage a Tylo-gravity-assisted ejection from Jool when I'm ready to leave for Eve.

16 hours ago, Kuzzter said:

Now, as for Eve...unkerbed is the safer route, as you can expend probes all you want and try, try again, but where's the glory in that?  

Interesting question.  It can be fascinating to see the thoughts and ideas that arise in response to a single word.  Thanks again.

Happy landings!

[Starhawk]

"-but where's the glory in that?"

"It's not about glory, Walt!  It's about saving Kerbal lives."

"Look, Gene.  We need the support of the public to keep this going.  Call it 'prestige' then instead of glory.  If we lose too much public support, even the CEO's of the corporations won't be able to keep the program going in the face of public pressure.   And we're losing them.  We haven't completed a single rescue yet and it's been years!  The natives are getting restless.
The launch of Thundercraft 2 is exactly what we need to get the public enthusiasm back, but it's just a start."

"I hear you Mort.  In the end, this decision is going to rest with the mission commander.  She's the one who will be there.  She's the one who will decide exactly what risks will be taken."

"Fair enough.  I understand.  But we have to talk about the other new ship."

"Oh, the crew transport?  I've been so busy that I haven't even seen the plans."

"Really?  Well let's go take a look."

"Good grief!  What on Kerbin is that?!"

"Wernher said that the older engineers who didn't get included on the Thundercraft 2 project were feeling somewhat disgruntled.  Well, he thought he'd give them a chance to work on this in the hopes that it would 're-gruntle' them.  He says it's practical and efficient.  I guess we could only do night launches with it.  Really, really late at night."

"Okay Walt, I see what you're talking about.  Somehow, I just don't think that ship will generate any public enthusiasm.  I'll have a talk with Wernher and see if we can get the 'young blood' engineers to come up with an alternate design."

 

So Wernher toiled with his young, enthusiastic engineering team.  They burned an FLT-100 of midnight oil and managed to come up with a new design in time to make the Jool window.

Without further ado, I present to you the Lightning crew transport.

Built mostly on the very sound principle of 'making things look cool', this will provide our brave kerbs with an efficient and stylish means of getting several from place to place without moving the entire base.  Useful for stuff like crew rotations or looking good while arriving just in the nick of time. 

It's not a spaceplane, it just looks that way.

 

Joan's Personal Log:

In the end, I guess the decision isn't that hard, after all.  Gene and Walt and Mort all have their own priorities.  I'm the one who thinks about the kerbs.  And that's really all I have to do.  Milry is on Eve.  Alone.  That's actually all I need to know.  Even if she's in hibe, that still doesn't change the fact that the first thing she hears should be a friendly voice, not a robot probe transmission.  And who knows what long term habitation on Eve will do?  She may even need our help in other ways than just getting home.
There's more than that, of course.  Even our best pilots have never thought about trying to pinpoint land in thick atmosphere flying by remote.  We're definitely sending someone down to the purple place.  Now I just have to make sure that Wernher keeps me in the loop while working on the design.  That, and decide who goes down to Eve's surface.

Happy landings!

[Mister Dilsby]

6 hours ago, Starhawk said:

Built mostly on the very sound principle of 'making things look cool', this will provide our brave kerbs with an efficient and stylish means of getting several from place to place without moving the entire base.  Useful for stuff like crew rotations or looking good while arriving just in the nick of time. 

That's not just a sound principle, it's a trope! Hopefully the design staff will be able to gruntle again soon. I've been in businesses that have lost their gruntle and it can be hard to find it again. So much else to like in this update. Like "nick of time" I think it was J. Michael Stracynski who said that all ships travel "at the speed of plot". If it needs to get there just in time, it does. If it needs to be 12 seconds too late, it is. And above all, it has to get there in style 

[Starhawk]

The Launch of Lightning

Lightning was launched with great fanfare and the video feed was broadcast and delighted kerbs everywhere.  Everywhere except at Whoopstooshort Base.  Bandwidth constraints prevented the crew of Whoopstooshort Base from receiving the video.  Apparently the science teams back on Kerbin were anxious to see the high-res false-colour altimetry maps of all Jool's moons.

Eventually, some of the pictures were transmitted when they could be squeezed in between fuel mining and consumption reports and crew assignment and evaluation records.

 

At this point Lightning and Thundercraft 2 have about three years to get to Jool, the correction burns for our first pair of rescuees are coming up in about a year.  Our fourth rescuee from Jool's environs, Cambles, is just starting his journey back home.  (Trama was our third rescuee, but we still can't get her crew cabin from Vall's surface until Thundercraft 2 arrives so she's hanging out at the Base.)

Let's do the time warp again.

About one year later...

"The correction burns have been completed for both Burdorf's craft and Gilry's craft.  Once you've confirmed the trajectories, I hand control of both missions over to KSC.
I'm very much anticipating Lightning and Thundercraft 2 arriving.  Much more exciting, though, is the prospect of our first rescuees finally returning home.  I know their arrival is still some time away, but it will be the first concrete results of all our rescue efforts.  And bandwidth be damned!  I want that feed piped up to us live!
Moving on, I'm quite concerned with what's going on with the engineering staff back there.  We're hearing things all the way out here.  And I have to tell you that what I've heard combined with the lack of apparent progress on the Eve Rescuer has me feeling a bit unsettled.  We and our rescuee will be depending on this equipment.  We can't have any of the kind of 'issues' faced by the Ike Rescue mission.  I understand that Ike Rescue 2 has been launched, but we can't afford to be that casual about our engineering.  This is Eve we're talking about now!  You and Wernher need to get the engineering team's gruntle back and do what it takes to make them a cohesive unit again!
Joan out."

So yeah.  What with everything going on, the wrong ship was launched to Ike.  The contract required a tow truck but we sent a taxi cab.  Didn't realize it until the ship was entering Duna's SOI.  Eventually a taxi cab type rescue will pop up there and we'll already have the equipment in place.  Yeah, that's it.  In the meantime another ship was launched to Ike.  That one should be able to actually execute the mission.

Next time we'll finally complete a rescue!  Won't that be exciting. 

Happy landings!

 

Edited April 15, 2016 by Starhawk

[Starhawk]

"Vell, Joan, your engineering team vas absolutely correct to be concerned.   Gilry's cockpit has low heat tolerance and ze encounter vill be very energetic due to ze particular trajectory chosen.  It vill enter ze atmosphere at about 5500 m/s instead of ze sedate 4500 m/s zat Burdorf's craft is projected to have.   Ve ran ze simulations and ze ship exploded vithin eight seconds of entering atmosphere.  Ve vill detach and reconnect from ze rear to provide proper shielding.  Zis operation will be done once ze craft is vithin Kerbin's SOI und ve have minimal signal delay.
Please express my gratitude to your team.  You really have zome KRRAKC engineers!
Wernher out."

Here's how things look at this point.

You can see in the picture above that Gilry's orbit line is not optimal resulting in a much greater projected entry velocity.

The first to arrive, however, will be Burdorf.

Let's do the time warp again.

 

"Hello, Burdorf!  This is Gene Kerman of KRRAKC.  I'm at KSC with the ground control team and we're going to get you home."

"First, we'll track you across the SOI boundary.  Wouldn't want to arouse the 'Space Beet'."

"Now, we'll lower your periapsis to 32 klicks and you'll be set for atmospheric entry.  I have to tell you this is very exciting!  This is the first live reentry with a Thundercraft 1."

Burdorf: "Ulp..  O.M.B. Demolition Enterprises left me in a very precarious situation despite all their assurances.  I hope you guys know what you're doing better than they did."

"No worries, Burdorf.  Just relax and enjoy the flames.  We have separation...  and atmospheric entry."

"And there goes the transfer stage."

"Slowing nicely.  Heat looks nominal."

"Way more ablator than was necessary.  It's good to have safety margins, but you could come in from way past Eeloo with these shields."

"The terrain at your landing site is very mountainous.  Fortunately, you're coming in to a nice flat spot."

"You made it!  Welcome home!"

 

Celebrations abounded, including out at Whoopstooshort Base, where the video feed was piped live.

The Thundercraft 1 performed perfectly and everybody, including the entire engineering staff, was very pleased with the ship.

Finally, the joy which accompanied the first completed rescue by KRRAKC was universal.

Very happy landings!

[Mister Dilsby]

First! First rescue, I mean, and very well done  You should be pleased with that ship, it worked flawlessly.

[Starhawk]

5 hours ago, Kuzzter said:

First! First rescue, I mean, and very well done  You should be pleased with that ship, it worked flawlessly.

Thanks Kuzzter.  Of course, it's not exactly hard to get first on this particular thread. 

I'm definitely pleased with the Thundercraft 1.  It's not much to look at, but very effective.  I think tow truck sums it up nicely.
It is, however, a product of the 'old school' engineers rather than the 'young blood'.  I think the success of this craft will help a lot with the re-gruntling process.

I have to say that the most surprising thing about this experience of shifting design styles is how incredibly inexpensive the 'young blood' designs are.  Thundercraft 2 and Lightning and their lifter stages are practically dirt cheap!
Even the incredibly ugly design for a crew transfer vehicle created by the 'old school' folks was more expensive than Lightning.

I guess I expected a bigger fiscal hit from trying to design with aesthetics in mind.

I don't really know if I'm having any success on the 'making things look cool' front as far as anybody else is concerned.  I think they look pretty nice, but haven't really had much feedback one way or the other from readers.

If you have any thoughts about the look of the new ships, I welcome them.

 

Happy landings!

[Commander Zoom]

I'm a big fan of the new Thundercraft look.  More "meh" on the Lightning, but I'm the wrong person to ask about spaceplanes.