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Gaelan Conquest: 3.2x GPP Through The View Of Gael Rocketry United's CEO | Chapter 30 - Secret Project


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We are progressing rather quickly towards manned Iota spaceflight, but some technological issues still need to be sorted out. A manned landing is still in the distant future, but a manned flyby?

Chapter 7 - Daring Leaps

 

Ilios II

Spoiler

 

Year 3, Day 399

Ilios II is on standby on the launchpad

Mission: Be the first spacecraft to exit the Gael system

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Our largest and most complex craft yet, sitting at 110 tons with 4 large SRB's strapped to the sides.

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I don't think I need to update the viewers & readers of this blog about the launch and the individual stages.. Only beautiful cinematic (simulated) shots of the ship. 

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About one week after launch, Ilios II becomes the most isolated spacecraft from Gael. Some photos were sent back to Gael as well (that little sphere next to the ship is Gael!)

Science was beamed back, and the new science went towards larger tanks & engines 


 

 

 

 

While the Solaris IV ship was being constructed, a 2nd mission was sent to land on Iota, the Delta Iota Lander

Delta Iotian Lander

Spoiler


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The mission ended rather sadly due to a miscalculation..

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An inclination change used up too much fuel, and so the ship did not have enough fuel to land. 

Instead, the ship crashed into the surface at about 150 meters/second. 

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Not a good omen to a manned Iota flyby at all! Good thing is we have a few years to work out manned landings. 


 

 

And now.. the time has come for our biggest leap in spaceflight. At this moment in time, the farthest a Gaelan has gone outside of Gael is about 1,050 kilometers. This time, we plan to go out 50x farther. Our greatest scientists hypothesize that for every extra kilometer outside of 1k out of the atmosphere, 2% extra of normal radiation is absorbed by the pilot per day. We are currently still in development of radiation shielding for manned spacecrafts, but this works out to about to the flyby being limited to about 25 day trip or less to prevent any permanent radiation damage to the pilot. 

 

Solaris IV

Spoiler

 

Year 4, Day 71

Solaris IV is rolled out to the launch pad

Mission: Flyby Iota/Study radiation effects on Gaelans

Pilot: Kirbald Gaelan

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Our largest ship yet, weighing in at 128 tons. Despite this size, the ship is rather simple. A 3 stage ship with enough food water & oxygen to last Kirbald 30 days. 

After a longer than usual flight checklist, the ship is go for launch and then lifts off the launchpad. No turning back now.

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By far one of the most powerful first stages in a spacecraft. At the end of the first stages life, the ship pulled a skull breaking 5 G's.

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Once in orbit, Kirbald has to wait around one day for Iota to line up in the position for a flyby to be done. 

Once that is done, Kirbald is catapulted way beyond where any Gaelan has been before.

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Bye Gael!

 

 

Year 4, Day 75

And now? We don't know. The ship is not equipped to communicate back with the ground for extremely long distances. At about 15,000 km, communication was lost. Until the ship passes back through that threshold, we won't know what happens to Kirbald. We will only know if once we get a signal, we hear a voice or not. Until then, Kirbald will be the loneliest Gaelan in existence. Once that happens, I will make sure to update the mission regardless of whether Kirbald comes back alive or dead. Best of luck to Kirbald and the Solaris IV ship

-Jimeno Gaelan

 

 

 

Edited by Steeeeve
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Chapter 8 - The Loneliest Gaelan In History

Solaris IV (Continued)

Spoiler

 

Year 4, Day 90

On his trajectory, Kirbald was set for a flyby of Iota. A rather far flyby from Iota, just inside it's sphere of influence. Regardless, it is still a major milestone in our space program.

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We keep tabs on Kirbald's whereabouts through the trajectory that was known before we lost contact with him.

 

Those 18 and something days between contact of Kirbald were some of the worst days in our space program. There were many mission control workers who couldn't sleep for some nights, and other various workers who decided to not head home, but to rather sleep in their cubicles. 

Nothing else was planned in regards to spacecrafts as this was a very large project. 

The engineers hoped that everything was in the right order, as their jobs depended on it. 

 

On the 18th day of the trip, we gained contact once again. 

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While most of us were cheering, Kirbald sounded startled. Must've woken him up by yelling into his earpiece. Oops :/

 

After that, we were one day away from recovering Kirbald.

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One other concern in regards to Kirbald's ship was if it could survive re-entry. Because of this, two heat shields were added to the ship instead of some. Some radiators as well.

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Kirbald pulled some major G's on the way down, but was otherwise fine.

Since everything after the burn towards Iota was more or less a crap shoot, we weren't exactly sure where he was gonna land. He ended up landing in a rather deserted area in the mountains. Kirbald didn't seem to care, as his long trip inside a tin can was finally over. We will never for sure know his farthest distance away from Gael. Some estimate it to be around 80,000 to 100,000 kilometers up.

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We picked up Kirbald about three hours after his landing. He was a bit malnourished & tired, but otherwise had no permanent long term side affects from his lone space travel. 

While this log doesn't go into detail about Kirbald's long trip, we asked Kirbald to bring a camera & journal with him to document his trip & mental state along the way. So without further ado:

Spoiler

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As it turns out, while hostile, deep space is not as bad as we thought. Kirbald was not too banged up emotionally and mentally from the trip.

However, we will have to develop larger capsules and better communication devices for manned spacecrafts if we want to continue manned trips to Iota, much less Ceti. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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-Jimeno Gaelan

 

 

Edited by Steeeeve
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After our first manned mission to another celestial body, we decided to lay back a little bit and focus on sending probes to our 2 neighbors in the Gael system, Iota and Ceti. There is still much more to be learned from the two bodies that we can use to further our space program. Let's see how it goes :)

 

Chapter 9 - Another Cold And Lifeless Rock

 

Monument Iotian Lander (Mk I & II)

Spoiler

 

Year 4, Day 110

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Another mission to Iota. This time it will complete 2 landings in 2 separate biomes, and will most likely succeed this time!

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..or not. Side boosters collided with the main tank after separation, resulting in a loss of about :funds:75,000 from the vehicle itself. Back to the drawing board..

 

Year 4, Day 125

 

I guess we can't catch a break with our unmanned Iota spacecrafts! Same rocket, except with slightly modified side boosters for a much cleaner separation.

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This one survives and then we are Iota bound!

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The probe also worked to complete a contract in regards to Iota probes. So far, we have sent 2 probes to the surface in 3 Iotian biomes. Perhaps our next landing on Iota will be manned, or via a rover?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Zeta Ceti Comms Orbiter

Spoiler

 

Year 4, Day 152

Zeta Ceti Comms Orbiter is rolled out to launch pad

Mission: Orbit Iota/Comms network around Iota

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The booster shown here is a modification/upgrade of the booster on Solaris IV, dubbed the Delta 1a. This could be considered the Delta 1b, but it is uncertain if it will be used to haul probes on other missions. 

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The good thing about this spacecraft is that it is rather cost efficient, costing only :funds:50,000

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Eyes are now set on Ceti, a slightly larger and more colorful counterpart to Iota. It's reddish beige tinge is what makes it special. We are not considering any manned missions to Ceti soon, as the trip would likely take weeks or even months.

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[Full on view of the probe itself, containing 2 comms devices which will be released in Ceti orbit, and the main probe body on the bottom]

 

After the encounter of Ceti on day 24 of the mission, the first comms relay is released in a very high Ceti orbit. 

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..The 2nd comms relay is released at about half of the altitude of the first one

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After that part of the mission is done, the main vessel parks itself in a 23 x 20 km orbit around Ceti, where the surface can be photographed and the photos beamed back. 

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Yup, it does appear to be just another rocky world. Our 2 closest planetary neighbors, Tellumo and Niven are believed to have atmospheres however. In the near future we will most likely get photographs of their beautiful surfaces via spacecraft!

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With this mission's contracts completed, we are left with about :funds:1,100,000 in the bank. We are also left with about 180 :science:, which will most likely go to the development towards manned spaceflight. A manned Iotian orbit is not that far off! It's making the trip bearable for the astronauts that is the hard part.

-Jimeno Gaelan

 

 

Edited by Steeeeve
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Getting closer and closer to a manned Iota landing. We are somewhat short on funds at the moment, so tackling Ceti first seems like a good idea. Within the next year or so, the Solaris program will be scrapped in turn form a new manned program. Exciting times are coming soon!

 

Chapter 10 - New (And Borrowed) Technologies

 

 

Year 4, Day 194

So uhh, an unknown manufacturer gave us a new 2.5 meter capsule. They had a sweet deal on a bulk of them, and so all we needed to do is figure out how they work. For this, an unmanned flight was set out, and then a manned flight after that.

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[Solaris V, an unmanned test flight utilizing the 2 man capsule].

 

It's green tinge is fairly unsettling, but I guess our crew can use it as some sort of camouflage just in case their capsule lands somewhere in the wilderness.

 

After the test flight, it was go time for the real deal, Solaris VI

 

Solaris VI

Spoiler

 

Year 4, Day 250

Solaris VI is rolled out to launchpad, crew is on standby

Mission: Further capsule tests + first time more than 1 passenger is in space at once. 

Crew: Kirbald (Pilot) and Sigma (Scientist) Gaelan

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I could get used to the capsule color, but surely once we are sending crew to Iota on a regular basis, we will have developed a more reliable capsule with a more pleasing color. 

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Once in orbit, the crew really doesn't have much to do but enjoy the spacious 2 person cabin. Oh, and catch some amazing views using the double long window the capsule has

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Finally, before the capsule landed, the crew requested a double EVA, another first of its kind. 

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One thing we know for sure is that the capsule is pretty darn resistant to heat. Foreign engineering all the way, mixed with a little bit of hope and luck!

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With a little loss on funds, I decided to break the bank and use the funds towards one large ship geared towards a Ceti landing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gamma Ceti Lander

Spoiler

 

Year 5, Day 4

Gamma Ceti Lander is rolled out to launchpad

Mission: Land in 2 or more Ceti biomes

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There is no competition whatsoever that this spacecraft is the largest. Utilizing the Athe-1A booster stage, it has quite the punch. 

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This ship alone shows the potential struggle of a manned Iotian lander. A ship of this size is already costing an arm and a leg as is. 

Still, the contracts on Ceti and Iota are practically begging that we send more spacecrafts. Money is waiting for us there!

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With it now being realized that a decent chunk of Ceti's surface is tinged red, some scientists are curious as to what the surface is made out of. Some future tests will surely have to be run to figure this out.

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The probe only managed to land in 2 biomes with 3 being the specified contract. It isn't all lost though. This should Incentivize at least one more unmanned landing with several other experiments on board.

Still, we completed 2 contracts on the mission, and also got some extra cash from milestones.

 

 

 

 

 

We are left of in probably the best shape this space program has ever been in. Tons in the bank, and plenty of science for the boys in the lab to analyze. At this point, we do certainly have more than enough funding for a manned program directed towards orbit and then landing on Iota. Let's see how that goes shortly!

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-Jimeno Gaelan

Edited by Steeeeve
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..So we got a signal from an unknown sender, and, it appears that it is coming from space. Obviously means there's other space programs. We have no clue where it would come from though. I'll summarize the call below

 

Ground Control: Uh, yes?

Unknown Ship: Ah, I'm in a bit of trouble, and you're the only station I could get in contact with 

Ground Control: Ok. ...Who is this again?

Unknown Ship: Thomrey Gaelan. I was sent on an orbit mission by people who obviously don't know much about space travel, and I'm stuck in a tin can with 20 days of life support. A rescue would be nice

Ground Control: Ok. What would you do for us in return?

Unknown Ship: I'm a good utility to your group of astronauts! I can pilot ships & do various science experiments. If you guys take me under your wing I'll also relay some valuable information from this space program. 

Ground Control: Ok, sounds dandy.

 

And then there we were. A mission without much of a paycheck, and some new knowledge that there are in fact other space programs out there!

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Chapter 11 - Near Disaster In Space

 

On a whim, the Recon I program was assembled. In about 15 days in fact. We really only had one shot to flyby this ship close enough.

Recon I

Spoiler

 

Year 5, Day 75

Recon I is rolled onto launchpad

Mission: First close flyby of another spacecraft (funnily enough)/Rescuing Thomrey Gaelan

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Thomrey managed to negotiate with his ground control and throw in a :funds:45,000 pay grade to the mission, so it isn't like we're breaking the bank. Plus, we are getting a jack of all trades to add onto our manned program.

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The transfer went very smoothly, and it was just about time to investigate what ship Thomrey was flying in

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Yeah, that is quite the head scratcher. Not sure how only the capsule ended up here. Hopefully Thomrey will tell all once we put him into interrogation.

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Thomrey trekked across the 200 meter gap in space, and entered the Recon I.

 

And now time to.....

Spoiler

NO PARACHUTES?!?!?!

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It looks like the short 15 day construction time came to bite us in the you-know-what.

 

Luckily the engineering team somehow did not forget to pack 10 days of life support. Yeah, we have 10 days to send a ship up there. Not fun.

Recon II

Spoiler

 

Year 5, Day 80

Recon II is rolled out on to launchpad

Mission: Rescue the rescue ship/DO NOT BLOW UP

 

The ship was assembled in 5 days. 5 days and 2 hours to be exact. This was not the greatest time to be an engineer. The ship basically just used scrapped parts from the Free Eagle & early Solaris Programs. hence the rather thin ship. Obscure booster stage, will likely never fly again.

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We lifted off with no troubles, and Thomrey had to fly across blackness of space once more

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This time the engineering team triple checked to make sure there were in fact parachutes on board. No rescuing the rescue-rescue ship!

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Thomrey is home. We are going to be sending out a plane to rescue him, and then we will have to put him into an interrogation room to make him spill the secrets about this other "space program" he was hired for.


 

 

 

While this was a little setback, we are certainly still sending Gaelans to Iota. A flyby is next on our list, and in fact it should happen before the year is out.

I will leave the readers with a spacecraft launched earlier this month. Nothing monumental, just a little weather satellite intended to grab a little science.. or is it?

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-Jimeno Gaelan

 

 

 

 

Edited by Steeeeve
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After we recovered Thomrey and his craft, we immediately put him into interrogation. We seem to have gotten him to cough up everything he could.

We learned that the other program is not coming from a sovereign state, but rather from a private company (much like us). 

We also learned the intentions of their program was for spy satellites + space tourism. Obviously they were a little too unprepared. Thomrey also told us that they were not aware of our space program.

 

With that, the other space program forked over the :funds:45,000 (they also did not know that we interrogated Thomrey :D), and Thomrey became a member of our space program. Hopefully he will become a good utility.

 

With that out of the way, it was time for us to  *Officially* set our sights towards a manned orbit of Iota. This time for real

 

Chapter 12 - Iota Bound!

 

With the Solaris program finally done, we were ready to begin the Nova program. Hopefully this one will end with an Iota landing!

The first few Iota orbiter prototypes were developed, and then work got started on one shortly after. Between the time this was being built, the Integrity Ceti Lander was launched to complete a few contracts to boost us on funds.

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The probe landed in the Lowlands, and we got some science & other goodies from the mission. Soon enough we'll be leaving the Gael system and setting our sights on Niven or Tellumo with probes!

 

Nova I

Spoiler

 

Year 5, Day 254

Nova I is rolled out to launchpad

Mission: Orbit Iota

Crew: Kirbald & Wilnda Gaelan

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Quite the large booster stage, utilizing 9 engines & 2 SRB's

 

with 2 rather good astronauts in command, we are go for Iota. Unlike Solaris IV, this one is set up to be able to communicate & beam back science, except for when our astronauts are on the opposite side of Iota.

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The ship gets into a 105 x 102km orbit with plenty of fuel left for an Iotian orbit.

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This time there will be NO sanity related issues for being alone. There is plenty of room in the cabins & we are keeping open communications at all times. The crew should be good in regards to radiation as well.

 

Year 5, Day 259

Here we are! The ship has plenty of fuel to park into an orbit (40 x 60km) of Iota

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Wilnda did the first spacewalk only to realize there was no extra propellant to fuel her MMU tanks. Luckily she did not get off the ladder, and rather had more of a gander into space & the surface of Iota

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The first 4 orbits were primarily meant for scientific experiments, but once that was done the crew got a few hours to sight see Iota in all of its glory.

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After 7 orbits, the crew heads back home. Re-entry was expected to be quite a breeze. The heat shield was tried and tested. 

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[Don't worry, that's the bottom stage blowing up, not the parachutes!]

 

G's were pretty rough on re-entry though. Wilnda was pretty close to passing out as we topped out at about 7 G's

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After that, the crew is home.

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Both Kirbald and Wilnda got some merits and we also got some interesting science from our science modules that were included on the mission.

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The ship was quite costly, at around :funds:280,000. We did gain some of that back, but it certainly put a dent in the bank.

Obviously the next step is a manned Iota landing, but we still have some stuff to work out in the meantime. We are progressing quite quickly though :)

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[One last shot of Nova I around Iota]

-Jimeno Gaelan

 

 

Edited by Steeeeve
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We are very quickly closing in on timing for a manned Iota landing. Prototypes for an Iota lander have been discussed, but no official prototype has been given the green light for construction yet.

 

Before that, we need to work out a few more things, such as docking in orbit.

 

Chapter 13 - Almost There

 

Nova II & III

Spoiler

 

We have 2 ships planned for construction in quick succession. Both will be manned, and our objective is to dock both into orbit. This will prove trivial as our more recent manned Iota lander prototypes involve 2 separate ships, a lander and an orbiter. 

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First up was the Nova II, piloted by an engineer, Philemy Gaelan

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Quite simplistic ship, not much to it at all.

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This time we went for a higher orbit than normal, about 124 x 123 km. This allowed for Nova III to be able to catch up to Nova II with some margin for error

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Philemy got the short end of the stick in regards to this mission, as he has to sit in orbit for 2 days waiting for Nova III to be constructed.

 

After that, Nova III was rolled out onto the launchpad on Year 5, Day 281

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Utilizing an upgraded booster stage, Poody takes command.

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Sadly no more day shots for the launch. We needed to wait for nighttime to rendezvous with the other spacecraft.

After about half an orbit, both Nova II and III are slowly nearing each other. 

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Almost there!

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And..

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Docked!

After that, the next logical step was a double EVA. 

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Philemy got out first, and then Poody followed

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The crew spent about 4 hours docked, and both crew tested sending resources over to the other side, something we may need for our Iota landings.

 

After that, the ships landed one by one. Poody first.

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And then Philemy second.

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Another big step towards an Iota landing checked off. 

 

Year 5, Day 300

We finally got the greenlight towards an Iota lander ship. Construction time should not be too lengthy. In the meantime we tested some heavy launchers, including an Iota unmanned lander

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We are still sort of struggling with the lack of stable large fairings, but we can manage.

 

And that about does it for our progress in the past 40 days. We are getting very close. If we don't land a Gaelan on Iota before the year is out, who knows when we will do it. I will leave you all with a glamour shot from our Polaris Research probe.

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-Jimeno Gaelan

Edited by Steeeeve
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The largest event in the history of space travel is quickly unfolding here. The construction of the Nova IV is underway, and will bring 2 Gaelans to Iota, 1 to the surface. It is very close to be fully complete, and with it brings a mission many of which never thought were possible.

 

Chapter 14 - Footprints On Iota

 

Nova IV

Spoiler

 

Year 5, Day 342

Nova IV is rolled out onto the launchpad

Mission: Land on Iota and return back to Gael

Crew: Thomrey And Kirbald Gaelan

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A spacecraft that took 36 days to construct, and is nearly 5 years in the making. This craft has enough fuel to not only land on Iota, but return the capsule and crew as well.

In command are two respected astronauts, including our recruit from another space program. The lander can only has one seat, and Kirbald will be the one to embark on the journey to the surface, as he is the only pilot.

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Utilizing 5 mainsail boosters on the bottom stage, this ship packs an enormous punch. 4 SRB's were added to get the craft off the pad without any worries.

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An unusually clear day meant for an uneventful liftoff weather-wise

Spoiler

Almost as if there was a glitch with the clouds :)

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And here she is. A 60 ton behemoth in orbit of Gael, but we have only started our journey.

After the insertion burn to Iota, we are ready to unveil what is hiding under the fairings.

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The lander shown on the bottom (Code named Aspen) will land on the surface of Iota, and then will dock up with the mother ship (Code named Sunlight), and then finally the mother ship would return home.

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Goodbye Gael!

 

Year 5, Day 349 

 

After 7 days of the mission the crew is finally at Iota

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Following a burn to get the ship in a stable orbit, the ship's semi-final form is observed.

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Kirbald then proceeded to get into the lander, and the two ships separated.

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"Aspen de-orbiting 34 kilometers from the surface"

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"2500 meters up now"

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"Gotta make for a soft landing"

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And...

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"Aspen has landed".

An event 5 years in the making, and we had finally done it.

Shortly after, Kirbald stepped out of the craft for the first footsteps on another world.

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After Kirbald took his first few steps, a flag was planted with an appropriate plaque. 

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At this point in the mission, Kirbald had alreadyconducted several experiments, including scooping up a sample of the surface of Iota. Kirbald described it as "somewhat mushy and smelling of sulfur". 

Following these experiments, Kirbald got about half an hour to explore the landscape within several kilometers of the lander.

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He then went to investigate a rock nearby the ship.

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After slightly over an hour on the surface, it was time to head back home.

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"Aspen is airborne"

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The rendezvous was a bit rough, requiring Kirbald to wait 1 orbit to dock with Sunlight.

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At about 15 kilometers out, the two crafts could identify each other as small dots floating in space

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At 3 kilometers out, Kirbald could identify Sunlight and some of it's features.

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Before Kirbald knew it, the two ships were right near each other.

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Shortly after that, they docked.

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Before Kirbald transferred over, he decided to take a photo of Gael, partially obstructed by the window divider.

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After the crew transfered, the two ships undocked as Sunlight left Aspen in Iotian orbit.

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At about half an orbit later, Sunlight departed Iota to return back to it's origin.

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A last goodbye to Iota

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..And a first hello to Gael about 4 days later

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The ship came in with quite some speed, at about 5.6 kilometers per second. Rough re-entry inbound!

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The crew bared the rough re-entry quite well.

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And then the crew was home.

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We had proven the impossible once again. We had not only brought crew to the surface of Iota, but we had brought them back as well. A 16 day mission.

 

 

Shortly after on their landing the crew were given many accolades and were dubbed national heroes following their daring mission. Kirbald's name to be remembered for years to come.

Surely the first Iota landing of many. 

-Jimeno Gaelan

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by Steeeeve
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Following the largest mission of our space program's history, we are struggling to get consistent funds. We are sitting at about :funds:500,000 (As of Year 6, Day 17). For example, the Nova IV spacecraft + booster cost around :funds:315,000. This means we need to build up some funds until we will consider doing a mission similar.

 

Chapter 15 - Paychecks Galore

 

Odyssey Iotian Lander

Spoiler

Year 6, Day 53

"Odyssey" is rolled out onto launchpad

Mission: Land on Iota & return/Rendezvous with the Nova IV lander (to satisfy various contracts)

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One of our larger spacecrafts. Costing around :funds:150,000, it should gain about twice the cost back from the mission, so it's a win.

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Oh yeah, and our first launch of year 6 as well!

 

Not much went on between transfer to Iota & landing in terms of our space program. The Nova V is to be constructed quite soon though.

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Following the ship's landing, we are on standby until the ship is able to be on the same plane as the Nova IV lander.

The rendezvous was not that close, at about 1.1 kilometers. Can you see the Nova IV lander?

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6 Days later, 24 days into the mission, the ship enters low Gael orbit.

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After we shortly lost connection during reentry, connection is restored.

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Now, we are sitting at around :funds:900,000 funds. Good, but not exceptional.

Shortly after, Nova V is constructed. At this time in our manned space program, we have not yet touched Ceti. This is mainly due to it being much farther out that Iota. Shortly, that will change. Nova V is intended to include more than 50 days of life support. While the mission should not go on for that long, our communication has also extended it's range, meaning that we should keep communication with the ship for most of the mission.

 

Nova V

Spoiler

Year 6, Day 247

Nova V is rolled out onto the launchpad

Mission: Flyby/Orbit Ceti in a manned spacecraft & return

Crew: Raging Gaelan & Poody Gaelan

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While nowhere near as large as Nova IV, this ship is still up there in size, weighing in at 350 tons. 

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The bottom 2 stages are enough to launch about 20 tons into orbit.

After that, the insertion burn to Ceti is performed. 

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16 Days to reach Ceti

Soon Gael will become really really small to our astronauts. Raging snapped this beautiful picture

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Year 6, Day 263

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And yes, Gael has gotten quite small in the view of our 2 astronauts. Only a handful of pixels in fact!

At this point in the mission, the SOI has changed to that of Ceti.

We only briefly get into an orbit with a perigee of 114 km

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This brief window allowed 1 of our astronauts to EVA. Being a relative novice to our space program, Raging Gaelan was given the ability to EVA

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Some experiments were conducted in this window too, but some of the main aspects of this mission were the visuals and effects of long term manned spaceflight.

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After around half an hour of this, a burn is performed en route of Gael.

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Year 6, Day 284

41 Days into the mission.. the end is in sight.

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One thing that is new to our space program is the speed of re-entry. The crew set a new speed record of around 5.7 km/s on re-entry. 

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We were expecting this, however. No unplanned explosions here!

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And...

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Home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Following rescue, our funds are put into the millions. :funds:1,350,000 in fact.

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With our extra funds in hand, we are not quite yet ready to go interplanetary with probes. Most windows are still a year or two away. In the meantime, we decided to use these funds on an actual comms relay system, and we also reserved some funds for future manned missions to Iota & Ceti.

 

Comms Star

Spoiler

Year 6, Day 312

Comms Star is rolled out onto launchpad

Mission: Comms satellite

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Not much to this mission other than what it says in the mission briefing. Just a comms satellite that will separate into 3 relays.

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Near the end of this mission, we ended up having our first engine faliure during a spaceflight. An engine intended towards getting the relays equidistant from each other.

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Luckily we did have some RCS thrusters on board, so we were able to launch the 3rd satellite into the same orbit as the first two.

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And we are left off with about :funds:1,100,000 in the bank. This is enough for at least one or two more Iota landing missions. We already have some additional missions in the Nova program planned in regards to Iota landers, some of which we may discuss in future mission briefings. I still absolutely cannot believe that this program is nearing a decade old. Unbelievable!

-Jimeno Gaelan

 

Edited by Steeeeve
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With future missions to Iota and Ceti planned for the future, we first need to collect funds to fund these missions. Also, several interplanetary windows are lining up. Is it about time we sent probes to these worlds?

 

Chapter 16 - In For The Long Haul

 

Year 6, Day 345 

So..  We have gotten some requests from a certain eccentric billionaire Tito Gaelan to fund a spaceflight with the main purpose being tourism. 

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His up front offer is rather decent, and it is believed that we can construct a rocket for only :funds:50,000, making it a viable mission

 

Nova VII

Spoiler

Year 6, Day 370

Nova VII is rolled out onto the launchpad

Mission: Orbit Gael/Make Tito the first space tourist

Crew: Kirbald & Tito Gaelan

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The mission Tito specified required at least one pilot in the spacecraft, and so that is the reason why we are using a 2 man capsule.

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Tito of course brought a camera, and also specified that the ship should be in orbit for at least 4 hours for the "full experience".

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Kirbald was sure relieved to not have to do any work on this mission. He did however have to give up the front seat so Tito could sight see. 

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After the four hour mark was up, Kirbald went for a quick EVA before re-entry. Obviously Tito could not tag along. Nobody to pay for the mission if he floats away!

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After this EVA, the ship performed a burn to send the capsule home.

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Surely Tito will be able to tell the story to many other people, and hopefully this opens our space program up to a new market. Perhaps this is an untapped gold mine?

 

Pila Iotian Scansat

Spoiler

Year 6, Day 385

Pila Iotian Scansat is rolled out onto the launchpad

Mission: Perform equipment test/usage in Iotian orbit

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Another market we have not looked into is space mining. There is plenty of potential to mine Iota and Ceti for ores & other various goods. While much more expensive than space tourism, it would likely be more profitable in the long run

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Oh, and we also should be able to get some science along the way. We haven't done too much with new instruments in terms of experiments. 

 

Year 6, Day 384

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Don't worry, this overly sized dish is perfectly practical :)

One of the main points of this mission was a resource scan of Iota. 

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We picked up some science, but in the future we will have to do more intensive scans & plan out landing sites to mine these resources. Obviously Iota would be the place of choice to do this first due to it's lack of a strong gravity well.

 

Nova VIII

Spoiler

Year 6, Day 426

Nova VIII is on standby on the launchpad

Mission: Dock with Nova IV lander/Stay in Iotian orbit for 1 week

Crew: Thomrey & Poody Gaelan

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The Pila Iotian Orbiter had no paycheck involved, and so at the moment we are temporarily hovering around :funds:995,000 funds. This mission is set to gain these funds back. The mission is quite odd, as we have to dock with the 280 day old Nova V landing vehicle where it left off in orbit. An obscure contract sure, but at this moment in time we'll do anything to insure the future of our space program. Also, it does tie into what we wanted to do next in the Nova program: spend a prolonged time in Iotian orbit. 

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While heading for Iota, we had a temporary issue with being on the dark side of Gael. 

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Thankfully this was short lived & we got back into sunlight before the air got too toxic.

 

Year 6, Day 432

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Once in orbit of Iota, the rendezvous process began with the objective to dock with the "Aspen" lander. 

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And.. Docked!

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The crew of 2 got to spend a full week in orbit of Iota, and were able to easily transfer between the two vessels, basically leaving them with a 25 square foot living space for this period.

Thomrey spent most of his time in the lander module, taking gorgeous pictures of Iota & Gael

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On day 7 of being in Iotian orbit, the crew did a final EVA in low orbit before they had to head home.

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After that, they said their goodbyes to that rocky world and did a burn for home.

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Year 6, Day 457

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Thomrey captured this beautiful shot on the way home of Gael's home continent. This camera technology is getting pretty good :)

We had some fuel in the tank to slow down our re-entry speed, so re-entry was not as bad on the crew.

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32 days after launch, the crew is home.

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Soon enough we will be putting stations in orbit of bodies such as Iota. If mining comes in to play, these will be especially useful for getting ships from orbit to the ground & back into Iotian orbit again.

 

 

Our program is becoming something much larger than I would've ever imagined. Once we can get our interplanetary windows lined up, our expansion will become exponential :)

-Jimeno Gaelan

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Chapter 17 - Interplanetary/Plans For The Future

 

With our first nearby interplanetary window nearing in, it was about time we sent an unmanned probe to a place outside of the Gael system. We do believe that we can do this and still communicate with the probe while it is there. In due time, a probe was constructed with the prospects of flying by Gratian, and potentially it's moon.

 

Ilios III

Spoiler

Year 7, Day 74

Ilios III is rolled out onto the launchpad

Mission: Flyby Gratian

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Yes, our largest spacecraft so far. Utilizing 4 Mainsail boosters, it has enough fuel to perform the transfer to Gratian. Soon enough we'll have larger tanks, as this spacecraft utilizes four 3.00 meter wide tanks for the booster stage

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Oh yeah, and the ship has 7 separate booster stages to, utilizing all 12,000 meters of delta-v.

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The 12k delta-v also allowed us to make the inclination change to reach the same plane as Gratian.

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Ilios III says it's final goodbyes to Gael, as it'll be the last time it ever sees it's homeworld.

 

Year 7, Day 104

And here we are, in interplanetary space for only the 2nd time in our space program's history. It's been a long time coming.

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8 Cameras were installed on the front of the probe. We had to compensate with resolution of the cameras in favor of lighter cameras. No reason to pack a large 1 ton camera that has only slightly better resolution.

 

Ilios III will enter Gratian's SOI in about 1 year, 186 days. Quite a long time, but once that comes along we'll also have a Niven transfer window setting up :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Year 6, Day 114

Our plans for future Nova missions were released to the public last night. If you didn't catch them, here they are:

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Our fellow mission planners were tempted to throw in a "D" option, which would've been tourism missions, but I don't quite think we're ready for tourism outside of Gael's SOI.

At this moment in time we have :funds:1,100,000 in the bank, which should be enough to fund  several A & C type missions, with some room left over for C-2 missions. Obviously this doesn't involve any funds we may get from various contracts along the way, which means we may have room for extended missions beyond that! Hopefully by the time those roll around, our technology is ready to land on a fairly larger moon we call Ceti. Until next time folks :)

 

-Jimeno Gaelan

 

 

Edited by Steeeeve
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Chapter 18 - Caught In a Solar Flare

 

Nova IX

Spoiler

Year 7, Day 193

Nova IX is rolled out onto the launchpad

Mission: Return to the surface of Iota in a manned spacecraft for the 2nd time

Crew: Poody & Jade Gaelan

 

Almost 2 years since our last Iota landing, we are planning to head to the surface in a manned spacecraft once more. 

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Costing about :funds:400,000 to build, this ship is a slightly larger version of our first Iotian lander with the intention of having our lander craft land in more than one biome of Iota. The ship isn't a total loss either, as it will fulfill 2 or 3 contracts along the way that should leave us only losing about  :funds:125,000

 

Once again, the four side boosters are used to help lift the ship off the pad, as the main Athe-1B block does not have strong enough engines to do the task on it's own.

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Once the 1st block is long gone, our 2nd engine block fires up.

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Utilizing 10 separate engines! 

This one block is powerful enough to lift the ship into orbit, with the entire booster stages powerful enough to lift 100 tons into low Gael Orbit.

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Shortly after, a burn is performed by Iota, with a little help from the 10 engine block to assist the burn.

Shortly after, the 2 vessels dock together.

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And now we are ready to tackle Iota!

 

 

 

Year 7, Day 196

Our crew was woken up by a flashing icon on their control panel.

The result was quite startling..

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While the cabin is equipped to handle some radiation, and usually the crew will experience some radiation, the levels at which they were receiving radiation was over the top.

 

Spoiler

I really didn't know what to say here. I had never gotten stopped by a radiation notification on a mission before. I got two separate notifications, one for each crew member. It was especially weird since it was not too far into the mission, while some missions had gone on for over 40 days without a single issue with radiation. Every mission up to this hasn't gone with shielding either, as I did not know that shielding had a slider for the capsule in the VAB. Whoops.

Obviously, the mission was derailed right as this was relayed to mission control. Shortening the mission to getting home as quickly as possible would help prevent any long term conditions caused by the radiation.

 

Year 7, Day 199

Luckily no other alert notifications were brought up on the return trip. We asked the crew several questions related to long term radiation exposure, but as we learned a while back, long term radiation exposure can result in greening in the face.. so it's not like anything would be useful that the crew could say about that..

 

It is now believed that the mission was timed up with an ejection of plasma from Ciro. Quite awful timing for a mission outside of Gael orbit :(

 

Luckily the crew splashed down about ~30 kilometers from the space center, and so we quickly got a ship out there to rescue them.

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We will monitor them over the next month to make sure that nothing comes up.

 

Sadly we did lose :funds:400,000 from the mission, but I am very glad that we got our crew back to safety before it was too late.

-Jimeno Gaelan

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Chapter 19 - In The Valley Of Harmony

 

With :funds:400,000 lost from our previous mission, we have had to improvise to save the future of the Nova program. We still have ~:funds:750,000 funds, but if we want to run more than 2 or 3 manned missions back Iota, we are going to have to develop a new heavy launcher capable of bringing Gaelans to the surface of Iota, and then eventually Ceti.

 

This is where our new lifter comes in. It has been in development for quite some time, quite a while before the Nova IX mission failure. It had cost efficiency in mind, and also had extra safety measures to prevent any mishaps during launch or orbit.

 

Nova Heavy Test Flight

Spoiler

Year 7, Day 233

Nova Heavy Test Flight vehicle is rolled out onto the launchpad

Mission: Test a new launch vehicle for future Iota spaceflights.

Unmanned.

 

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With this new spacecraft, it was trivial we test it first with no crew on board, as to not repeat the Nova IX mission. Despite this, the payload is exactly the same as it would be for future Iota landings utilizing this booster stage: lander and orbiter/return vessels, both unnamed as that was not needed for an unmanned mission. The only difference between this and previous Nova Iota landers is that the orbiter/return capsule is meant for 1 crew. Our previous fears with a crew member losing their sanity was due to communication issues and the one crew not having anyone to talk to, but as our communication satellites have gotten better & more numerous, there's no reason why we can't relay a signal from anywhere around Iota back to Gael.

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One other concern was the side boosters colliding with the main booster, causing the ship to explode.

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However, the boosters separated with a decent bit of margin left. The first major aspect of this ship passing with flying colors, as the ship continued the burn towards orbit.

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 4 minutes and 30 seconds after the engine first fired, the main booster is separated.

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After this, the weaker "Skipper" engine put the ship in a 103 x 105 orbit.

The fairing is them promptly deployed to show the magnificent lander and orbiter ships.

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After one orbit, the previously mentioned skipper engine launches the vessel into a flyby of Iota.

 

Year 7, Day 245

The newly added shielding to the capsules holds in the hostile environment of space on the 12 day trip to flyby Iota. Another big part of the mission checked off.

 

Once the two connected ships are parked into orbit, it is now go for our lander to perform it's first ever landing.

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No science on board, but that doesn't matter at this moment. No contracts either, but at this point we are okay on funds..

After finding a relatively flat spot, the lander descends to the surface.

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Cameras were also installed for the lander side of the vessel, which will also be in operation for future missions.

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The lander came in for a soft touchdown, checked off another big part of the mission.

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After this, mission control had to play the waiting game for our orbiter ship to flyby the lander once more.

 

Once this finally happens, stage 2 of the lander's objective commences.

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After one orbit, the 2 ships are once again right next to each other. Why no docking? We went extra cautious and added an additional parachute to the capsule, as the shielding made the capsule substantially heavier. 

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Another thing we're doing differently to the earlier Nova missions is that we are configuring the landers to become operating satellites once they are left in orbit. This can also allow them to dock with other spacecrafts, potentially becoming a module for an Iota orbiting base one day??

 

After this, the orbiter ship performs a burn for home.

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Year 7, Day 251

I think I've been going on for too long. Luckily the mission is quite close to over, and has been a huge success.

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With perfect timing and a bit of luck, the ship is landing a mere 135 kilometers from The GRU Space Center.

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8 minutes after entering the atmosphere..

The ship is home.

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A great mission all across the board. Now we are finally ready to launch a manned mission of the same ship. Hopefully sooner rather than later

 

 

Nova X

Spoiler

Year 7, Day 319

Nova X Is rolled out onto the launchpad

Mission: Perform a manned flight of the Nova Heavy/Return to the surface of Iota

Crew: Poody Gaelan

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A manned flight of our most sophisticated spacecraft calls for our best Pilot. This mission is another big step. While our previous launch vehicle would only be able to gain back about 30% of it's launch cost by completing various missions, our new cheaper launch vehicle can get about 50-60% back. 

 

Mission control goes through it's checklist once more, and now it is time for the launch of the 2nd ever Nova Heavy vehicle. 

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And a perfectly clear day to do it as well. No weather related issues here :). The side boosters separate without a hitch.

In fact, this launch was more efficient than the original test flight, saving ~100 dV more.

Shortly after getting into orbit, it is now time to launch the ship into a flyby of Iota. No going back from here.

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And this time, there will almost certainly be no radiation related issues with our newly developed shielding technology. 

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Year 7, Day 335

The only minor setback with this launch is that it occurred when Iota was on the same plane as our normal orbits are, meaning that the ship had to be launched a bit farther away from Iota as to be able to catch up with Iota. It's not too complicated, trust me :wink:

 

The smaller "Poodle" engine helps get the two ships in orbit.

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In this case, the lander is codenamed Tranquility, while the orbiter was codenamed Homestead.

Shortly after the ship was parked into orbit, both mission control and Poody scoured the landscape looking for a relatively flat spot. Both decided on a little valley, previously nicknamed "The Valley Of Harmony" by the Carlin Iota Orbiter Probe. After this, the two ships separate and Tranquility is prepared for the 2nd ever manned Iotian landing.

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After Poody killed off most of the lander's horizontal speed, it's an easy going landing from here.

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Beautiful.

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Even in the very hilly Iota, we have found two spots that have been exceptionally flat.

Once touched down, Poody runs some experiments and then heads out for her first footsteps on Iota.

 

This time we came prepared for some more surface samples to be returned. The ship is equipped to return ~5kg of Iota rocks, besting the previous Nova IV, which could only bring back 2kg due to weight limitations.

 

After several experiments are done, Poody then places a flag on Iota, with an appropriate plaque.

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After several more experiments were conducted, it was time for Poody to explore & investigate the land surrounding the lander.

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"Wow, this would make a perfect place for a manned Iota base", Poody exclaimed. "Plenty of land for large scale bases, and quite the interesting landscape being sheltered by a mountain on 3 sides, and a hill on the 4th side". This got mission control thinking about Iota bases. Ehh, we'll touch on it later.

 

After Poody's 32 minute EVA, it was now time to head back to Homestead.

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The lander section is left for the surface forever.. Perhaps to be integrated in future Iota bases? The Valley of Harmony is quite the amazing section of Iota to behold no doubt.

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One final shot of the mountain nearest to the landing site. Poody described it as "1 or 2 kilometers taller than the valley floor". Wow :0.0:

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Mission control gave the go ahead for Poody to launch a bit too late, and so she had to wait 2 orbits to dock with Homestead instead of the usual 1 orbit.

Time passed quickly, and Poody was there before she knew it.

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Once docked, the lander was configured into another satellite, the same with the previous test flight.

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After Poody and the data/experiments were transferred over to Homestead, the two ships were promptly undocked as Poody was prepared to head back home.

..But not without one last image of the wonderfully rocky surface of Iota.

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Year 7, Day 341

One of the better things with these missions is that the return ships get to pass over Gael's North pole. Absolutely stunning!

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Sadly we were not as fortunate as we were with the previous mission, as the lander is landing on practically the opposite side of the planet as the GRU Space Center.

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And finally..

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Poody is home.

 

Another vastly successful mission in which we gained extra knowledge and gathered experiments to help investigate origin of both Iota and Ceti, and how they got to where they are today.

 

 

Finally, in other news:

Our Niven transfer is quickly approaching, as Niven will be in a prime position in about 300 days. 

The Ilios III ship will be flying by Gratian in 1 year, 180 days.

 

Quite the time to be alive folks. We are progressing in the realm of space travel, getting funding from all over the place. Cheers :)

-Jimeno Gaelan

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Chapter 20 - What Do You Mean There's No Connection?

 

With our Ilios III probe leaving our communication range, it is time to add on to old infrastructure, as well as fulfill contracts along the way. 

 

Threshold I & II

Spoiler

Year 7, Day 368

Threshold I is rolled out onto the launchpad

Mission: park into a high Ceti orbit

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An elegant design no doubt, this first ship will serve the function of being the ship that Threshold II docks with. It will also serve as a relay probe.

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The first launch goes off without a hitch and gets into orbit no problem.

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It's set to enter Ceti's SOI in 15 days. Threshold II will be completed in 10 days, and so it'll lag behind the first ship quite some bit.

 

Threshold II

Year 7, Day 378

Threshold II is rolled out onto launchpad

Mission: dock with Threshold I and complete the Threshold Ceti Relay

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Carbon copy of the previous rocket. No differences whatsoever. However, I would like to note that both launch vehicles are quite cheap, being able to bring an 11 ton object into high Ceti orbit for only :funds:120,000 a piece. This mission will earn plenty back, which will likely go towards extending the range of our optical ground telescopes.

The adorable side SRB's separate very cleanly, producing a neat streak of clouds.

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Once in orbit the ship does the exact same thing as it's predecessor, although we had a smoother launch than the previous ship.

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Year 7, Day 392

Threshold I parked at an 18,000 km x 16,000 km orbit around 5 days after Threshold II's launch, and soon after Threshold II followed, getting ever so closer to the first ship.

 

After a tedious 16 hours of slight adjustments to Threshold II's orbit, the two ships are within close range.

A solar panel did malfunction on the Threshold I craft, but with the amount of solar panels, the ship should be good for more than half a decade, helping relay signals to deep space.

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Once docked, the relay is configured to be able to connect with the Ilios probe, which lost connection since ~70 or so days ago. Also, several contracts were fulfilled resulting in a gain of :funds:550,000 from the Threshold missions, likely going towards the previously mentioned ground satellite dishes/comms network

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....Or not? We know the relay is working correctly. Perhaps after we upgrade the ground satellites we will get a clearer picture on what's going on

 

 

 

Ilios III (Update)

Spoiler

Year 7, Day 427

Yup.. we got nothing. Could've sworn that upgrading the satellite network in space & on the ground would've solved the issue. Until then we have to resolve it. Some of the ship's commands are performed without our interference, and so it is still on it's course to Gratian. 

 

Anyways, since we cannot get connection for updated photos, I will leave you all with a photo taken earlier in the mission. 

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-Jimeno Gaelan

Edited by Steeeeve
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Chapter 21 - Major Plans For The Future

 

Year 8, Day 44

The green light has been given to construct a manned Ceti lander. At this point in time we're thinking of doing a direct ascent. We don't think a Nova Heavy launcher would cut it, especially for a direct ascent, so an entirely new LARGER ship will have to be thought and and constructed. It's going to take a while, but we're pretty positive that we can get the finished product well before this year is out. For now, we're doing minor projects with our ships already out in the field. 

Nova X (Converted Lander-->Probe)

Spoiler

Year 8, Day 102

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Utilizing the "SCANSAT" science module on the lander, we've been scanning a majority of the surface of Iota for valuables, such as ores and even biomes.

Here's the final product of that. Everything scanned except the poles. Hopefully soon we can also get to mining Iota for it's precious minerals :)

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SCANSAT-1

Spoiler

Year 8, Day 128

SCANSAT-1 is rolled out onto the launchpad

Mission: Launch a commercial satellite into orbit to scan the surface of Gael

 

With our utilization of the SCANSAT science module on the Nova X probe, SCANSAT decided to strike up a deal with us. :funds:50,000 seemed like a healthy amount of money, and so our engineers crafted a cheap :funds:30,000 spacecraft set to go into a polar orbit.

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Probably close to the last time you will see a spacecraft this small be flown again, other than some more commercial missions.

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Once in a smaller orbit, the remaining fuel is left to adjust the 0.3 ton probe to a 1,000 km x 1,000 km polar orbit to conduct its experiments.

 

Year 8, Day 134

It only took 6 days to scan the required 75% of Gael. Not sure if we'll ever need it's information, but SCANSAT probably will!

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And so.. we're within 100 days of the construction of our Ceti bound ship being completed. If anything, I'm not too worried. We've picked up some awfully good engineers in our time. I can't leak too much about the new ship. All I can say is that it is a whopping 1 kilotonne! 

Other than that, not much else to say. A Niven transfer window is nearing us, and so we will make sure not to miss if for a 2nd time.

-Jimeno Gaelan

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Year 8, Day 179, 3:39 GT (Gaelan Time)

After over 100 days of planning and construction, our massive ship is ready to take flight. Build upon what we've learned from past rocketry this ship is taking the direct ascent option, landing directly on Ceti's surface rather than with 2 individual ships. This is much more costly, resulting in a :funds:420,000 ship. This is more than half our budget, so we really only have one shot at this for at least the next year. Obviously we will also gain tons of funding if this mission is successful, so let's mess it up. 

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Chapter 22 - Integra To Ceti's Surface

 

Nova XI

Spoiler

Year 8, Day 179

Nova XI is ready on the launchpad

Mission: land a crew of 2 on Ceti's surface & return

Crew: Kirbald & Jade Gaelan

 

Mission briefing:

While a rather inefficient design, the go ahead was given on the construction of the ship. It utilizes a rather odd launch stage, with side boosters each nearly as large as the main bottom booster. Weighing in at 1,000 tons or 1 kilotonne, it can in theory lift ~130 tons to low Gael orbit. While this could mean it also could double as a heavy lift vehicle, this would likely go to the job of an upgrade Nova Heavy launch vehicle. In command are some of our finest astronauts, with Kirbald logging the most spaceflights of any of our astronauts, and Jade utilizing his special engineering skills to be able to fix any potential hazards that may arise during the 40-50 day trip. 

 

And at 3:45, the beautiful beast sprung into life as it lifts off from the pad.

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To put this thing into scale, each "Pila" engine weighs around 9 tons, meaning 36 tons of the ship is just the 1st stage engines. Our first ever launchpad could barely hold 18 tons without breaking under the weight!

 

After the 1st minute, no issues arise, and the mission is going as planned. No abort system to save the crew, and so their only hope will be that they are spared from the debris.

Their worries never come to fruition, as the mission is coming along quite well. 

 

Booster separation is clean.

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All that is left is for the ship to march on towards orbit. 

The Pila engines are an interesting topic, as being 9 tons, they are the heaviest engines in use today, and are by far the strongest. They are a very good for being nearly 3 years old though, and may be in use for at least a decade longer.

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Nearly 6 minutes after the engines first ignited, the ship is in orbit. The approximate weight is calculated at 126.1 tons.

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The crew has to wait a full orbit for the burn towards Ceti.

Shortly after that is done, the Ceti ship is revealed. 

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The landing & return ship (codenamed Integra) has 2 stages, one landing & 1 returning. For being the first mission to Ceti's surface, the ship was given 1k extra dV's worth of fuel. "Get out of jail free" fuel as the engineers called it, just in case of any mistakes on landing & return from Ceti's surface.

 

Year 8, Day 203

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For only the 2nd time in history have Gaelans been in the SOI of Ceti. This is one of them. No going back at all now. 

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As it turns out, there was extra fuel in the Ceti orbital stage, and so to ensure a safe return from the surface of Iota, it was also utilized for assisting the landing part of the mission.

At about 1km up, that part is jettisoned.

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Almost there...

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...Threading the needle

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..And we have done it. Integra has landed on Ceti.

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After this, the mission became televised utilizing a communication satellite previously launched into Ceti orbit. This is something we lacked with the Iota missions. This time, nearly EVERYONE got a chance to see the mission unfold.

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The suit development team also went ahead and put cameras in the astronaut's suits for their excursions on the surface. Before any of that was done, a flag was planted in honor of the dedication to everyone in our space program.

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Out of the camera range, the two crew went to survey/investigate a piece of surviving debris from the jettisoned stage.

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I forgot to mention that the 2 man capsule can handle a whopping 15 kilograms worth of surface sample of Iota. One of the perks of the direct ascent plan.

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After 3 hours on the surface conducting experiments and 5 hours in the capsule, the ship departs the surface.

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200 m/s from orbit, the landing stage is jettisoned to reunite with the surface of Ceti.

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Only 22 days until the crew is home. Stay strong Jade & Kirbald!

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Year 8, Day 225

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The image of Gael slowly grows on the crew, until they are just hours from returning to the surface. One of the longest spaceflights in a rather cramped area! I bet they enjoyed the Ceti excursion.

Excess fuel is used to slow down the ship a decent bit to prevent a speedy re-entry.

After the jettison of the return stage, the crew are just mere minutes from being home.

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Re-entry is once again uneventful, and the crew lands around 500 km from the GRU Space Center.

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A grand mission the whole way through, with :funds:800,000 gained from fulfilled contracts. A mission that nearly 2/3 of Gael saw unfold on their tv screens. What a mission. Now if you'll excuse me, the GRU Space Center is closed for the weekend. For uhh, a party.

 

 

Ilios IV
 

Spoiler

Year 8, Day 252

Ilios IV is rolled out onto the launchpad

Mission: park Commsat in orbit of Niven + land the landing module

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With the extra funds gained from our major Ceti landing, it was time to go big once more. While not quite as big, this 600 ton behemoth is launching a 15 ton payload into Niven orbit, with a module of that payload intended to land on the surface.

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The first stage is so bulky that it would take TWO Pila engines just to lift it up off the pad, with 2 SRB's to make sure that it doesn't just hover slightly off the pad.

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50 tons into orbit, with the last stage assisting the burn into a flyby trajectory of Niven. Unlike Ilios III, this craft will VERY LIKELY have signal the whole way through, with extra space infrastructure being parked in highorbit of Niven in the communications module for future unmanned Niven probes.

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See you in 1 year, Ilios IV!

-Jimeno Gaelan

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On 6/23/2018 at 3:10 PM, The Minmus Derp said:

Do you have GEP?

 

Spoiler

Not at the moment, but I will likely get it soon. I'm pretty sure RESCALE! Should work since it worked with the main GPP planets, but I'd like to test it out in another save to make sure the GEP planets are also scaled up by 3.2

 

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1 hour ago, The Minmus Derp said:

At some point, you should do Kerbol Origins. By @amarius1.

 

Spoiler

Please try not to clutter up this thread with questions. If you have any questions, please PM me. I likely will just stick to GPP and GEP though, as despite playing through 4 or 5 GPP career saves, I haven't explore much other than probes to other worlds. There's still a lot to explore!

Spoiler

Edit: questions unrelated to the current career mode save.

 

Edited by Steeeeve
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Chapter 23 - Reusability In Mind

 

After our "milestone" mission, we're sitting at about :funds:1,100,000 funds. This is great, but we also need a sustainable way to gain money to fund our future manned missions + interplanetary probes. Because of this, a new manned spacecraft was designed. No manned flights just yet, but it's entire goal is to gain funds in cheap ways.

 

Orbital Lifter Test

Spoiler

Year 8, Day 304

Orbital Lifter vehicle is rolled out onto the launchpad

Mission: Run a proof of concept of a reusable capsule + cargo ship.

 

I also forgot to mention that the capsule is a "2-man", with 2 capsules practically stitched on to each other. This is because the capsule as a whole is lighter than our workhorse 2 man capsule, which is good for efficiency. 

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Costing :funds:80,000, the ship is carrying a 3 ton orbital payload, SCANSAT-2, which will go on and scan the surface of Ceti. This launcher saves about half the cost of our typical designs.

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The ship pitches over quicker than most crafts, as the main bottom stage burns for about 3-4 minutes.

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SRB separation is clean

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The efficient bottom stage helps kick the craft into a 105km apogee as the stage separates.

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Once in orbit, the fairing is deployed to reveal the satellite, and now the capsule has to wait a half orbit to de-orbit.

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See you on the other side!

 

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One minor issue on re-entry was that the ship isn't really top or bottom heavy. It sort of just sidelined into the atmosphere. The capsule is fairly heat-resistant though, but we gotta work this out before we can do manned flights.

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Luckily it also slows down in the upper atmosphere, so the parachutes will be able to deploy freely.

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Once landed, we sent some aircraft out to pick up the :funds:10,000 capsule. While it may be better to just leave out the capsule, this opens up the option of many things, including Iota/Ceti missions with cargo or the construction of a station around Gael. Fun times ahead :)

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SCANSAT-2

Spoiler

Once the capsule is recovered, SCANSAT-2 continues its journey on to Ceti

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Year 8, Day 327

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Once in orbit of Ceti, it is now time to begin scanning. SCANSAT is treating us well, paying us :funds:200,000 once this is all said and done. Hmm, I wonder what they want to use this technology for. Road mapping on other worlds?

 

Year 8, Day 361

Yes, it took a while, but at this moment and time all we're looking for is funds while we also wait for our 1 defunct probe (Ilios III) and functioning probe (Ilios IV) to flyby Gratian and Niven respectively. Anyways, the long 3 week scan is over, and it now time to cash in.

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And that's all there was to this addition of the mission log. Still, some fun and potentially profitable times ahead. Hard not to get excited at that! :D

-Jimeno Gaelan

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