The Duna Enterprise

[roboslacker]

Aaah, now I see. How long is it till the Duna launch?

[GarrisonChisholm]

Still over a year, I am having a save-load issue or it would have been less than that after today.  I suspect however when I reach my next pause that it will still be at least 6 months.  I'll have a couple more launches to update before I build the Duna probe. 

 

[GarrisonChisholm]

 

Year 10, day 400;

CRAP 10

 

"Good morning!", announced a beaming Gene.  "Today we have a lot to talk about, in what has been perhaps our most successful year of Program activities."

"To start with, Deep Regional Relay 2 set off on its 10 year traverse to its 183 million kilometer orbit, joining DRR 1 and about 180 degrees opposite to its orientation."

"Next we had a simple part test, though not exactly uninvolved, as we put a prototype Linear Aerospike engine on an escape trajectory out of Mun at the engineer's request.  The probe body has no other useful utility, and at test conclusion it traveled out of transmission range onto a solar orbit."

"This was our first use of our largest solid rocket booster, and it provided significant lift at minimal cost."

"Next, having gotten the Linear Areospike in the shop, the space plane side was eager to test in on Kopec, as it promised an improvement of almost 1000 additional Dv."

"Unfortunately the thrust-to-weight trade off was more extreme in practice than in theory, and the flight was aborted while fuel remained to land back at the runway.  The 2nd Jool Ion Probe, JIP2, would instead to be mounted on an LB series lifter and launched to orbit traditionally."

"The next item on our itinerary was Eris 3 arriving at Eve, having launched shortly after Eris 2's unfortunate failure."

Spoiler

"A bit of orbital maneuvering was required, but ultimately we were able to get the orbit we desired, and were afterwards able to reduce Eris 3 to a serviceable 150 x 300 mapping orbit."

"Next we had a night launch of DRR 3, which will remain in Kerbin orbit for about 200 days until the alignment is satisfactory for its departure."

Spoiler

"Following this launch we had the 2nd and successful attempt to get JIP 2 into orbit."

Spoiler

"The Jool departure window is coming up in about 6 months."

"We then flew 8 more TOURISTs to Minmus orbit in the second flight of Lustre."

Spoiler

"The flight was incredibly smooth, and recovery a breeze.  This capsule is extremely stable."

"The VAB has also completed construction of the Duna probe!"

"The 4 sub-probes and 2 relay satellites were mated to the bus, and everything is on track to meet our launch window towards the end of next year.  The VAB itself was expanded so-as to accommodate construction, but we have ended the year with a net increase in Funds, up to just over a million."

Spoiler

"Lastly we launched DRR 4, which is also waiting for its departure burn.  Our full solar system exploration is on track to make the next several years the most momentous yet."

Gene motioned for Linus to step up for the science Q&A.  While Linus spoke, Gene opened his black folder to regard the very interesting imagery they would be confronting the Air Force with shortly...

Spoiler

 

Edited May 9, 2018 by GarrisonChisholm

[roboslacker]

Seeing those probes put a smile on my face

[GarrisonChisholm]

  They are modified a bit of course, I avoided part clipping for one, but they are definitely the product of your labs!

[GarrisonChisholm]

CRAP 10, the meeting...

 

 

Gene stared at Mort, nearly zero expression at all on his face as he tried to process what had just been said.

"The Air Force denies that any of these 'hits' are their responsibility?  But, they are right-angle returns, they can't be anything 'organic' to Mun!"

Linus cleared his throat and spoke.  "They could be some kind of crystalline growth Gene, maybe from as a result of Mun's impact history.  That could explain the radar returns and as well their-"

Gene cut him off.

"You're telling me as a scientist that it is rational to suppose that crystals could grow to multiple-meter size in the exposed vacuum of Mun?"

"Now, now everyone.." Mort chimed in. "Lets not jump onto any conclusions. Linus could be wrong, but we don't have any evidence to back up that he's not right. For all we know, it could be some of our spacecraft debris which were lucky enough to maintain their shape when they crash landed on the Mun. Linus, whats the chemical composition of those irregularities? Do we have data on that?"

Linus shook his head.

"No, all that seems apparent is that the high reflectivity suggests clean planes and- as Gene already noted - right angles.  Our highest resolution camera passes still have difficulty with sub 5-meter resolution, so we simply need to get closer."

Gene strummed his fingers with briefly accelerating tempo.

"So the Air Force couldn't offer us any additional data, and they're encouraging us to investigate further?"

"As much as I would like to call KowMulch on the Air Force's claims of innocence, I don't think Joffren would mess with me. Not after my meeting in the office." Mort put his legs on the table, much to Werhner's irritation.

"So let's see, the anomalies are reflective, that would mean it's metal or glass. Metal in its native state is rare in space. The only option left is glass, which might form when regolith is heated to very high temperature. But Nature has always been bad at right angles, you know."

Linus looked at Gene, "Woah, woah hold the heck up right there! Is he saying that someone made those? Nope, not buying it!"

Mort spoke before Gene could. "Its only a hypothesis. Say, we have those Ike landers ready, right?" There was a terrible smile on his face when he said that.

Gene glanced from Linus to Mort, trying to be alarmed about two things at once.

"- ...yes, the Ike landers have been finished and mated to the Duna Bus.  We could, and rather cheaply, build a 5th and send it to the Mun.  ...that *would* provide us a reference mission to test the lander, and it also would seem to be the easiest way to find out just what these things are."

Here he looked to Mort pointedly.

"And it would also, I hope, open up the funding gates for future Mun missions.  We're doing our Job One here; Explore, Investigate, Discover.  ...Let's hope it is something worth discovering."

With a full slate of transfer windows up-coming, and a pair of Minmus science missions to build it was going to be a full year already- but now everything was stepped to second priority, as all the Kerbals 'in the know' waited expectantly for the upcoming probe investigation.

Edited May 12, 2018 by GarrisonChisholm

[GarrisonChisholm]

In just over 40 days a DIL was bootstrapped to a new booster designed using the 4 available Fullsail engines that had been pulled out of Kopec II.

Spoiler

Aside from a slight fairing detach difficulty, all proceeded as expected until the landing was attempted.

Spoiler

The probe landed successfully, but it far overshot its intended destination as it was found that the descent motor was too feeble to swiftly arrest orbital velocity.  Chagrined, Mission Control had to be satisfied with bringing it safely down almost 100km from the anomaly they had targeted.  The reference mission was a 'success', as they had gained a valuable insight into their probe's characteristics prior to the Duna flight, but the anomaly still avoided explanation.

So a new purpose built probe was assembled with a nearly 4-1 TWR and at 3 times the cost, but at least it was certain to get the job done.

The Munar Anomaly Survey Craft marked the first use both of the Twin Boar booster and a full-scale Skipper 2nd-stage, and was assembled in just under 60 days.  Its trip to LKO and Munar Insertion were delightfully trouble free.

Spoiler

Using the Duna-Ike Lander reference as a landing beacon, MASC approached its landing zone.

"1600 meters Flight."

"Recon, are we getting any radar returns?"

"Nothing definitive Flight, we'll be able to assess more fully after landing."

Gene soured at the inefficiency, but a short 'hop' had been budgeted in the fuel allowance.  There was just too much going on too quickly for his team to pinpoint the exact spot during descent.  The altitude ticked down, and the probe's powerful motors swiftly brought its velocity to zero at the surface.

"Touch-down Flight."

"Copy.  Run the experiment package before we lift off again just in case of a mishap.  Recon, any news?"

"Stand by Flight..." Linus leaned over the technician's shoulder, too impatient to not be present for this moment, watching the fuzzy crater get scanned by the BTDT radar.

Spoiler

"Got it Flight, about 4km to the South East, returns echoing from the greater rim.  There are craters within craters here, so no line of sight possible yet."

"Alright.  Aaron plot a short burn to move us there, plan for about 10 minutes from now how about."

"Copy Flight."

The probe's computer was programmed with the new calculated info for the short flight.  With nearly empty tanks the thrust-to-weight was above 4 now, so it leapt deftly skyward in a short arc and followed Aaron's plotted descent.

"...and...contact Flight.  We're down at Majesty Site."

"Imaging?"

"Waiting for the dust to clear Flight..."

The probe's high-resolution camera and floodlight pierced the settling dust, and at last on their screens they had the image they had sought.

Spoiler

Gene discovered what gobbsmacked felt like.

"...what the hell..."

*somewhere in the building Also Sprach Zarathustra started playing...*

Edited May 14, 2018 by GarrisonChisholm

[DatBoi]

"... Is that..."

[GarrisonChisholm]

 

Classified Briefing...

 

Linus straightened his glasses and queued the first slide.

"The Shaman Stones are part of our earliest recorded history on Kerbin, and likely reflect more ancient memories from the end of the Neolithic Intermediate.  The Holy Texts of Jool record how, under the leadership of the Shaman priestly caste, Kerbin's first communities were established with a Shaman Stone at their center.  It had been long supposed that the Shamans created these stones themselves, though modern scholarship has brought that into question."

"Each stone is identical to the last measurement, no matter where they are found on Kerbin, implying a world wide communication or dissemination of information which is difficult to justify circa 12,000 BCE.  Additionally, the shattered and fused basalt they are composed of would require blast furnaces far beyond the technology available, and recent early-century supposition that they were cast from molten flows is now clearly an untenable idea.  Until now, the Stones have been an unexplained curiosity of our past."

"It is not possible to carbon date the stones themselves as they seem to have zero natural elements which would experience decay, however it is possible to exhume some strata from beneath their foundations and date that.  Dr. Annette Kerman recently published a paper stating that the monoliths were put in place nearly 19,000 years ago, however her publication was done without peer review as none in the academic community would vouch for her process and conclusions.  Were I able to, I would now most certainly do so."

"Given the enormity of the implications of the discovery on Mun, steps were immediately taken to gather more data.  With an MSL/P craft in storage, it was immediately rolled out and Bob was sent to conduct a direct survey."

Spoiler

"Unfortunately after making orbit it was determined that there was simply not enough fuel reserve in this design to justify a landing attempt given the extra Dv required for a targeted landing.  However this was considered before launch, and we incorporated a 'Plan B' into the mission.  Taking a very low-orbit pass, the ships's landing radar was used to record sub-millimeter returns which have been measured against the very same scan of the KSC monolith before breaking orbit, and I can now announce that the data - with its order of magnitude greater detail - is functionally identical.  Obviously an in-situ examination is still our screaming priority, but for the sake of argument I am prepared to conclude that the Stones on Kerbin are identical to the Mun monolith.  Bob, of course, successfully returned 2 days ago."

Spoiler

"Now, the MASC probe, immediately after collecting its first imaging, recorded a broad spectrum phenomenon."

"All of its recording devices logged just under 3 seconds of static, which was also logged by various satellites in distant Kerbin orbits.  Triangulation allows us to deduce that some type of energy signal far more than could be confined by a simple definition was directed at Duna."

Linus allowed the muffled exclamations in the hall to subside.

"I will say that this is not without historical reference.  One ancient text referred to the stones as the Screaming Stones, though no-one has understood why, and just 15 years ago when Sir Hillary Kerman made his historic climb he documented that upon approaching the monolith he discovered there all of their compasses briefly spun in wild career.  The stones, despite being inert rock to the deepest attempt at our understanding, appear to in actuality be devices."

Gasps were heard throughout.

"So, in conclusion, it appears that just after the Neolithic Intermediate impact a power beyond our knowledge placed multiple monoliths on Kerbin and apparently Mun, and perhaps elsewhere as well.  It is clear that 3 steps are called for with the highest urgency."

"One, the Mun monolith must be examined by scientific minds and its foundation soil excavated and returned to Kerbin for confirmation of its placement era.  A new Munar Solo Lander of enhanced capability already ordered into construction by Gene should be able to execute this task."

"Two, Kerbin itself should be immediately mapped by our same Eve Scanning Radar which was used on Mun and searched for undiscovered monoliths, however unlikely.  A satellite should be designed and launched for this purpose."

"Three, it must be learned why a signal was sent in the direction of, with very tight tolerances, Duna.  The Duna Probe already under construction will be able to address this point."   

"And lastly there is a fourth matter which must be discussed and decided upon so uniform decisions and expectations are in place.  Should this discovery on the Mun be allowed to be publicized to the world at large?  This question will be addressed by the PCA Group later today."

[Barzon]

yay! New post! 

[DatBoi]

Yes, it should be revealed. The KSC should not keep a deep state. Transparency should allow the public to realize that this needs to be studied, and funding should skyrocket.

[GarrisonChisholm]

 

...it will be just fine Bob, just run it like the sims, it'll be great...

...I'll have you in my ear, advice won't be far away.  - I know it should have been you...

...It's the mission Bob.  It's whats needed.  - We'll all get our chance...

 

Year 11, Day 256

 

"Ignition- ...3...2...1-"

"Liftoff."

The Munar Solo Lander left the pad for the first time, its two Mainsails and the Twin Boar booster immediately pressing Bob into his seat at nearly 2 gees of acceleration.  Jeb sat at Capcom, feeding Bob any instructions he'd need for this historic first crewed landing on another world.

"Everything looking good Flight."

"Roger Econ."

Gene watched the rocket climb into the sky, the 60 day wonder that was built & flown more swiftly than any other crew-rated craft.  The gees climbed well past two and approached 3 as the Mainsail fuel tanks emptied into the core.

"13 Km Flight, standing by for separation..."

Spoiler

"Whoa!"

"That's ok Bob, you're burning fine," Jeb swiftly advised.  "Just vapor ignition in the boosters, we probably lost them but everything is A.O.K. with the flight."

"Copy Jeb, thanks."

Gene looked over at Propulsion, who just shook his head and threw his hands up.  Why did they design the boosters to be recoverable without providing enough sepratrons to ensure they cleared the core?  It looked like they'd only be recovering the two empty tanks.

The booster burned out when the apoapsis reached about 85km, and separation of the booster was shortly followed by the fairing.

"Looking good Control, I have stars."

"We copy Bob. Your insertion burn is laid in and is coming up shortly."

Gene and the Mission Control team watched as Bob in MSL1 made orbit, completed his on-orbit checklist, and then completed his munar injection burn.

"You're on cruise now Bob, sit back and have a snack."

"Oooh..."  Bob swiftly forgot his panic on the staging incident as he opened the snack compartment.

Gene smirked, ... then realized he wouldn't mind a snack himself...

Just over 1 day later MSL1 entered the Mun's SOI.  The munar insertion burn was set, as Bob prepared to make orbit.

"...and... cut-off.  You're in orbit Bob, and we have a good sun angle so Aaron will plot your landing for the first pass."

"Copy Control."

Aaron entered the burn data, a burn assisted by the proximity of MASC to the landing target.

"Burn initiated Flight."

"Copy.  Fuel status?"

"Well within safety, the insertion stage is just finishing its contribution."

"Copy.  Capcom, go on voice auxiliary and remind Bob not to reference the target as other than Majesty Site during the landing."

"Copy Flight."

The word had come down from PCA that for the time being the "Munolith" would be kept under wraps.  Once they were sure of their data they would make an announcement.  Privately, many expected the ERIS-Kerbin Mapper would make fresh discoveries on Kerbin that would explode the story anyway, but that data wasn't available yet.

MSL1 descended now on its landing engines.  A deliberately grainy video feed was being broadcast to every television on the planet.

Spoiler

"...400 meters..."

"...50 meters..."

"...5...2...1... - Touchdown Majesty Site."

Gene realized he'd been holding his breath, and breathed in as the rest of the room erupted in cheers.

"We copy you down Bob, great job!"

Everyone grinned and exulted, though as they watched Bob step down on their own crystal clear video feed they all had the thought; but were we really the first?

Bob did a visual exam of the lander and its science package, and then set out to check off the EVA list.

Spoiler

The monolith of course was job one, and Bob carefully took a soil sample from beneath its base, as well as a reference sample from the same depth 20 meters away.  Of course, the publicity folks wanted him to take one looking at the remote camera.  Bob did touch it, but reported it inert and seemingly identical to the KSC Stone.

Next the MASC probe was visited, and a first-ever EVA repair conducted.  Bob checked over its systems, to ensure it would be able to study the monolith for a long time to come.

Bob stayed on the surface for several hours, concluding his tasks with conventional geology by chronicling the regolith of the various layered craters in the area.  Lift off and return was somewhat anticlimactic, with nothing unusual to report and plenty of consumables in reserve.

Bob enjoyed the quite unique SL pod view of re-entry for a second time, and ultimately alighted safely.

The world rejoiced and cheered the accomplishment, the historic first landing on another world, and Bob received great accolades for the tricky MASC probe repairs.  None however knew yet that the real purpose of the mission was to uncover the most astounding story of all, that Kerbalkind was not alone.

 

Edited May 28, 2018 by GarrisonChisholm

[GarrisonChisholm]

 

Gene walked into the D-Magic Lecture Hall as the early morning rays cast their long shadows across the campus.  It was very strange knowing he was not going to be entirely forthcoming before the press today.  Mort had spoken quite plainly after Linus' confidential briefing;

"This is a real pickle. The information has already been known to everyone in the control room. It has been several days since we discovered the Monolith, word surely has gone out."

"We can be certain that news reporters would be harassing us, but we can maintain deniability if they do. Should any worker try to blow the whistle, it won't take me long to get the snitch classified as 'Mentally unstable' and have him confined in a Mental asylum until the investigation is over!"

Gene had ground his teeth, but said nothing.

"Linus, Gene. Your teams know this, yes? Have a talk with them.  Tell them to keep their mouths shut!"

Linus had jumped out of his seat then, as aggressive as he had been that day when he had stormed into Gene's office.

"But, this is an important discovery! If published and peer reviewed, we will eventually be able to get a deeper insight into our history! Our forefathers!!"

"And WHERE are your forefathers, Linus? They are dead, and I will be damned if I allow the past to mess up the present AND the future! We will tell kerbalkind eventually, but only after we have concluded all our research."

"So what will it be, gentlemen? Will we let the society run amok with panic and disorder? Or will we keep our heads cool, and our mouths shut?"

Since that day they had run essentially two Programs, one very open and public, another shrouded in the deepest secrecy.  Gene checked his presentation twice when he opened his briefcase behind the lectern to be sure he was about to read the right one.

"Good morning everyone.  In addition to our 4 Mun flights this year we've had a very full launch schedule as you know, so let me present those for you."

"Firstly, the Kopec Jool Interplanetary Probe and the Local Body Lifter JIP both had their launch windows."

Spoiler

The LBL-JIP lights its ion drives for the first time, as it needs to make up for its ad-hoc orbital flight.

Spoiler

 

"LBL-JIP will have a prograde insertion onto a Tylo encounter, while Kopec-JIP will insert retrograde.  Both probes will attempt to maximize their fly-bys of all Jool's worlds in the coming years, and end their service as potential relays for future flights."

"Next we had the launch of the Bhiku 1 probe to Sarnus."

Spoiler

"The Fullsail upper stage provided a fantastic kick to Bhiku, allowing it to be projected to arrive at Sarnus in just over 600 days, with a close flyby of Tekto's mysteriously thick atmosphere made possible by a correction burn after about 40 days."

"Next we had our only launch failure of the year, the first attempt to send MMAIO on its way to study the soil of Minmus."

Spoiler

MMAIO loses attitude control.

MMAIO begins tumbling, ending up about 1 km offshore.

"This is the second loss of a Local Body Lifter, the first however to come in a "nominal" flight regime.  The rocket simply wanted to pitch greater than the gimbles could counter, for reasons we have not yet diagnosed."

"A second booster was made ready which utilized stabilizing fins, and the flight and deployment to Minmus proceeded normally."

Spoiler

"Inbetween the two MMAIO launches, we launched the Eris-Kerbin Mapper on a polar orbit, to more completely understand our home planet."

Spoiler

"The satellite is currently relaying its precise knowledge of Kerbin's surface and weather daily, providing a deep insight into the shape and health of Kerbin."

"Next we launched our final Deep Regional Relay satellite, setting the stage for complete outer solar system coverage in the decades to come."

  

"And, lastly, we launched the Eve Environment Vehicle to Eve, a low-cost lander designed to maximize our return on four contracts."

Spoiler

"As is plain to see by our upcoming schedule, we have a lot of launches to manage this year, and we still are 80-odd days away from the Duna Kadillac mission.  Our interplanetary data is going to start coming hot and heavy, and that is not even considering the trove of knowledge from our Mun discoveries this year."

The annoying reporter who always made sure to get in the first question started talking before Gene was half-way through 'discoveries'.

"Gene the program went 10 years without getting to Mun, only to have a surge of landing and landing attempts at a single site.  Why the sudden floodgates opening on Munar missions?"

Gene stared at the reporter while he unwrapped a stick of gum, which he then deliberately put in his mouth and started chewing, mumbling, "- wouldn't want to be impolite", and sat down as Linus stepped to the podium with Bob at his side.

Yes, the questions had begun, just as Mort predicted.  Gene actually now couldn't wait for the closed-door sessions to commence.

Edited May 29, 2018 by GarrisonChisholm

[Sorabh]

30 minutes ago, GarrisonChisholm said:

Gene stared at the reporter while he unwrapped a stick of gum, which he then deliberately put in his mouth and started chewing,

Smooth..... Smooth as heck....

[Nivee~]

Ah, finished it! Great mission report!!

I have an issue, however... @GarrisonChisholm , Mort feels a bit sinister in my opinion..Its almost as if you transform into another person to write his character . 

I dont have any issue with that, but in response to his shadiness, maybe you could give Gene or Linus more BadS moments to balance the scale?

But it's just my opinion!! Please dont mind me if I am being a lil too frank!!!

[GarrisonChisholm]

12 hours ago, Nivee~ said:

Ah, finished it! Great mission report!!

I have an issue, however... @GarrisonChisholm , Mort feels a bit sinister in my opinion..Its almost as if you transform into another person to write his character . 

I dont have any issue with that, but in response to his shadiness, maybe you could give Gene or Linus more BadS moments to balance the scale?

But it's just my opinion!! Please dont mind me if I am being a lil too frank!!!

:)  Mort is definitely the strongest spice in the stew (curry?  sage?  take a bow Mort!), but so far I have only had Gene evidence occasional "irritation" towards him.  In theory I want my Kerbin to conform to the accepted norms of Kerbals, a.k.a. peaceful and curious, but it is hard to have interesting occurrences in your world's development if everything only abides by those dictum.

I hope I can succeed in keeping the "NPCs" interesting enough to support the flight reports, and maybe I will look for an opportunity for Gene to drop a hammer or two.

Thank you for the compliments!  The next chapter is in the works, it is a very busy year!

[Sorabh]

On 6/2/2018 at 2:10 PM, Nivee~ said:

as if you transform into another person to write his character . 

Well, that would be because I write the character for Mort And I agree that Mort's a bit too shady and sometimes comes off as a bit...emo... Its only because of @GarrisonChisholm's excellent writing that it fits seamlessly into the story.

(Honestly, if I were Gene I would have slapped Mort a couple of times already...)

[GarrisonChisholm]

 

Linus tapped his loose papers to refine his nice neat stack, then shifted his glasses as he began to speak.

"Good afternoon.  As Gene highlighted before the press this morning, we are meeting 3 months early due to the high volume of planetary encounters upcoming in the next 400 days, illustrated here on this graphic.  There were only 4 flights and one arrival to document."

"Eve Environment Vehicle 1 arrived at Eve as scheduled."

"Unfortunately, an unfavorable alignment of our relay satellites was unavoidable, and by the time the command sequence could be confirmed to complete the insertion burn, EEV 1 was well past its burn point.  Orbit was finally achieved, but the periapsis could only be lowered to 165km."

Spoiler

"A hasty redesign was put into place, as it would still be possible using a non-optimal window to meet the remaining contract requirements."

"EEV 2 now sits in LKO awaiting identification of its final launch window."

"Three other flights were conducted, the launch of the Duna-Ike Orbiter..."

Spoiler

"...our Ike sample-return attempt with the incredibly robust K-Tech lander..."

Spoiler

"...and the first, uncrewed flight of Lo-cost-or, our 100% recoverable launch system for the Libra relay satellite system."

"Locostor successfully deployed a Kerbin gravity mapping satellite, and though only sub-orbital on its maiden flight the craft's capabilities will be augmented with the recent delivery of the first Rapier engines."

Spoiler

"Now.  As far as the Munolith."

"As you know, this is the radar map acquired of Mun."

"It shows 8 targets detected, none of which we have any reason to believe are different from the Munolith already sighted.  Now, if only we had found the first 'munolith'  in a prone or broken state, the logical Okkams's Razor solution to the puzzle would have been that the Shaman Stone - as unlikely as this seems - was blasted to Mun by a terrestrial impact.  However, finding it quite upright, this- the only "natural" explanation known- is ruled out."

"Next, we have the radar map of Kerbin, acquired at the science office's request."

"On Kerbin, 14 targets were detected, 2 more than known by modern science, as a pair of submerged Stones were apparently located.  The appropriate authorities are investigating these presently, but the two found off shore seem unlikely to have been simply dropped.  This points to another degree of capability of the Visitors."

"Now, going over Minmus lander data, despite not having an altimetry map we have now been able to piece together this-"

"Neither of these targets have been seen as of yet, however they too are likely Shaman Stones.  Considering the data from all three worlds together, if one again applies Okkam's Razor the least fantastic solution to our puzzle indicates that a pre-impact society of Kerbals attained high comprehension and capability such that local area spaceflight and discovery was possible.  This, the simplest solution, unfortunately flies in the face of hundreds of years of archaeological discovery regarding our forebears and would meet steep resistance to acceptance.  But then, there is also this."

Spoiler

Linus paused for the reaction to the Eris 3 data to subside.

"This discovery, in the conclusion of our analysis, cinches the case beyond a doubt.  The difficulties of getting to the surface of Eve are great, and setting up a 33,000 kilogram obelisk to say 'we were here' seems a foolhardy  suggestion.  Therefore, it is our definitive belief that the apparent broad-scope settlement of Shaman Stones in our system roughly 19,000 years ago must have been accomplished by a space-faring people which left no traces of their presence behind."

Linus took off his glasses and pocketed them.

"We can then make noteworthy suppositions about them.  One, they were of a shape or form that their appreciation of a monolithic megalith must have been akin to our own, from which we could imply but not deduce that they were bipedal.  Two, the 'accident' that the stones seem to have been placed on the Neolithic Intermediate impact layer should not be discounted as circumstantial; the Shaman Stone's origin is tied somehow to the impact itself."

"And, three, they are no longer anywhere near "here".  If they were interested enough to set up Stones, then if they could have they would have followed up on their contact/discovery.  They have not, and so we must conclude they no longer exist or are prevented from visiting again due to time, distance, or a barrier unknown to us.  Even we can be sure they do not hail from Valentine, for that star is close enough that powers wielded such as we have here deduced would have been able to visit us again of a certainty."

"We suspect, ladies and gentlemen, that as we explore the system we will find more stones, but we need not consider too deeply protocols on "first contact".  This ... visitor is, to us, no-more a concern, and we feel that a slow, selective release of this data to the public can be ultimately informative and beneficial for all."

As Linus settled his papers again and left the lectern, the two D-Magic reps in the back of the room looked at each other and then shifted awkwardly, and one of them made a small note on his pad.

Edited June 4, 2018 by GarrisonChisholm

[GarrisonChisholm]

 

Oktober 16, the 62nd year of the People's Era

 

The first of the two Duna craft enters the planet's gravitational influence, one of K-Tech's robust landers with its injection stage still attached, and maneuvers to make orbit around Ike.

 

Spoiler

Having selected its landing "mare" and discarded the Duna Injection Stage, the craft descends by the Ike Insertion Stage, as the control team strives to maximize the available Dv for the return trip.

Upon final approach to the landing zone the Insertion Stage is discarded late, from which the scientists start screaming from the observation lounge as there is no way their landing field would not now be contaminated with unspent propellant and metals.

Spoiler

After the the stage is discarded though something inexplicably goes amiss.  In the previous 3 flights of this design, which successfully landed on and returned from both Minmus and Mun, the Injection stage had been discarded at an altitude of 6 to 8 kilometers followed by descent on the landing engine.  Here above Ike however at an altitude of just over 100 meters the probe, suddenly on its descent motor, slews off its line, and after a swift assimilation of data determining that the rotation is both being properly responded too *and* unrecoverable, the CPU cuts power to the engine which would now only be adding lateral velocity.  Seeing a 40m drop from which catastrophic damage was probable the CPU fired the seismic sensors in the hopes that at least something would be left functional after landing.  The end result was entirely unpredictable.

Spoiler

Later diagnostics would seem to indicate that the only component casualties were 2 of the variable solar arrays and one landing leg, but long engineering meetings would need to be had before a decision on how, or whether to, proceed with a future return attempt- K-Tech would need to be consulted.  The science panels were all run, except for the soil experiment which could not now contact the regolith.  This mission was set aside at this moment however, as a few days later the Duna-Ike Probe also entered Duna's gravity well.

This would be a very busy mission, as 4 probes and 2 relays would need to be deployed, and 5 different orbits managed.  First, after entering Ike orbit the two Ike Landers are deployed, and the first of them began its landing attempt.

Spoiler

Unfortunately, for some reason the probe was providing incorrect altitude-above-terrain data, which was off by 2700 meters, which would have been the time margin for satelite relay coverage to be assured.  As it was, the DIO Bus orbited out of LOS, and the probe dropped with no data link.

Spoiler

Control was never restored.

Subsequently, the DIO Bus was was moved to a higher orbit, so when IL2 attempted its landing coverage would be complete.

Spoiler

The work around Ike was now complete, as the science data from both landing sites was relayed back to Kerbin.  Next, the DIO Bus would need to break orbit and deploy its two WWYT Relay Satellites at two different altitudes above Duna.

[Part 2 to Follow]

Edited June 10, 2018 by GarrisonChisholm

[roboslacker]

It's finally here! 

[GarrisonChisholm]

 

The Duna Mapping Probe, continued...

 

The DIO Bus now made a burn to place it in its first Duna orbit, a 500km relay orbit.

Spoiler

The Duna Injection Stage is finally discarded.

WWYT1 drifts gently away, with the data overlay showing that one of its solar panels had failed en-route.

Next, the DIO Bus orbit needed to be lowered to 100km, which was the first time that the Bus would be under unbalanced propulsion.  Just prior to entering Duna SOI one of the landers had lost its reaction wheel, so not only was the Bus mass unbalanced but so was the control input.

The maneuver however was executed nominally, though with notable control input being exercised by the probe CPU to maintain desired alignment.

Now the 2nd WWYT relay satellite could be deployed, and as well the Duna Equatorial Lander.

Spoiler

WWYT2 is released.

WWYT2 briefly fires its ion engine to 'make some space' for Lander deployment.

The Duna Insertion Stage is ejected, as only 1 burn remains on the plan, and with almost all deployments completed the Bus solar arrays can now be safely deployed.

The DIO Bus then performs its final burn, to place it on a polar mapping orbit.  This would also be its most unbalanced burn as but a single probe remains attached.  This burn also is successfully carried out however, and the Bus prepares to deploy its final lander for a polar landing.

Spoiler

After the lander begins its burn to descent, for which there is fuel for constant deceleration to the surface (required to reduce mass as much as possible for maximum efficacy of the parachutes).  The probe makes atmospheric interface, and immediately sends a data set to the Orbiter for relay to Kerbin.  As the probe descends deeper and deeper into the atmosphere however, the low thrust issue of the descent motor again rears its head.  Seeing as the design incorporates static panels on the landing legs as well as the extendable arrays, the unforeseen application of drag deeper in the atmosphere suddenly unbalanced the craft beyond the ability of engine or reaction wheels to compensate for.

Spoiler

The lander would simply need tumble until its drogue chutes could deploy to stabilize it, after which the first landing on Duna was accomplished, upon its carbon-dioxide northern polar cap.

Spoiler

The Polar Probe then surveys its surroundings, sending back marvelous imagery to the Orbiter of Kerbol's bright shine radiating off escarpments and plains.  Finally now it was the Equatorial Lander's turn, and a canyon basin was targeted near some possible recent-past flow channels, where conceivably water might have run.

The Equatorial Probe's performance was similar, including the stability issues, but as that was now expected it caused little consternation as the data streamed in.  Given the much lower altitude reached here than that which the Polar Probe encountered, parachute performance was superior, though retro propulsion was still used through contact.

Spoiler

The Duna-Ike mission plan was complete, and now it only remained for all the data to acquired and beamed back home to an eager and joyful Kerbin.

Edited June 10, 2018 by GarrisonChisholm

[roboslacker]

One nitpick: it's actually WWYT.

[GarrisonChisholm]

15 hours ago, roboslacker said:

One nitpick: it's actually WWYT.

Sorry!  I'll edit that.

[GarrisonChisholm]

April 2, '063

 

"Good morning everyone!  As we've all seen over the recent weeks we have finally visited the outer planets!"

"The LBL-JIP, launched via Local Body Lifter, is already on track for a close encounter with Tylo in just over a 2 months.  Its sister ship, the KOPeC JIP, was the first to arrive at Jool however."

 

"With a burn point close to the Orbit of Laythe, the probe was able to determine from long distance viewing the incredible news that the moon hosts liquid water oceans!  This stunning revelation immediately pushed Laythe to the top of Linus' 'quest for life' lists."  Gene chuckled and Linus grinned, absent-mindedly rotating his phone in its place on the table before him.

"KOPeC-JIP then fired its breaking motors, ultimately dropping into an orbit from which a pair of very valuable encounters could be crafted.  We look forward to both of them later this year."

Spoiler

"Next, Bhiku entered the Sarnus system, on course for its very swift fly-by of Tekto."

Spoiler

"Vast reams of data were collected, which have been beamed back over the last several weeks.  On its way out of the system, this beautiful image was captured.  Sarnus too truly deserves scientific focus."

"Then just a few days ago, Jeb and Bill took up Locostor to deploy a new relay satellite, though its ultimate destination is unknown as of yet."

"The Locostor used the new Raptor engines, and reached orbit with no issues, climbing out at a nearly direct 25* ascent."

"The Loco-Libra relay satellite is capable of Kerbin System deployment or a direct injection to Duna, and is the 3rd generation of Relay Sat for the KSC."

Spoiler

"The Locostor returned directly to KSC after its first flight, providing a highly economical deployment."

Spoiler

"We are all very happy with how all these encounters have gone, at Jool, Sarnus, & Duna, and we hope for a..."

Gene looked over at Linus, who had just grabbed his phone with both hands, and they all had just enough time to see the color drain from Linus' face before he bolted from the room like a hare startled by a hound.

[GarrisonChisholm]

Notes.

 

Good afternoon everyone.  Just dropping a note to my legions of (3) readers to assure you that the tale has not died. 

The next 3 chapters are written in my head, but having had one disastrous experience with Kerbalism, I did not want to proceed to the climax of the thread without proving to myself that it could be done on Kerbalism.  So, I made a sandbox game to sim out some designs.

My word what an Odyssey (Bob Fitch reference).  After sending the flagship mission on its way, I was rudely interrupted by the entire ship dropping from warp and every part having a danger temp bar over it and then proceeding to explode.  Thus began the most laborious, tedious, seldom-rewarding-until-the-epiphany period of troubleshooting I have ever had to undertake.  Since I got home from work on 6/29, I have put at least FIFTY hours into the enterprise before finally finding the solution.  And man was it hard to find.

In short, time warp affects how Kerbalism deals with radiation.  Through Warp 5 (x100), Radiation Flux is handled normally.  At higher warps it is not, and if you have RTGs on your crewed vessel then the game is constantly applying radiation effects to the crew.  After a mere 30-40 days, boom.  Having finally figured this out, simply switching to all solar power has done the trick.  I am now finally testing a vessel that could do the job.

Rest assured, in a day or 3 I will be done, and then the next chapters of the story can be written, for indeed the CA has mandated that Duna be investigated immediately, and in person.  Everyone hold your breath!