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A History of Kerbal Space-Flight; or, A Game Re-Discovered: Part the 5th


cy4n

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PREFACE BY THE AUTHOR

Spoiler

Soon after its release, I began playing the Kerbal Space Program free demonstration, and, eventually, purchased a copy of my own. I proceeded with the usual space-program things: launching a rocket, failing to get it into orbit, launching another rocket, succeeding that time, going to the Mun, not understanding orbital mechanics and trying to get back from the Mun by turning around, and, after about two years spent on several fruitless diversions, finally building a mission to Duna, which I realized was missing a parachute. This, combined with my disappointment with the diversions, was sufficient to stop me from playing the game for quite a while.
Slightly older, and slightly wiser, I re-discovered Kerbal Space Program, decided to try my hand at Space Programming again, and checked on the forums. I was rather embarrassed at my previous actions, and attempted to create a new account. This turned out to be against the forum rules, and this put a stop to my plans.
We now come to the present moment. A few months ago, having nothing better to do, I began systematically completing un-finished video games, and found a welcome challenge in Kerbal Space Program. Armed with an understanding of physics, and a multitude of spreadsheets, I started a stock Science Mode save file, dedicated to conquering Duna, and doing it with style.

A little while ago, I completed it.

The sheer brilliance of this endeavor was such that I felt I could not withhold it from the good people of this forum, and so, with the comforting thought that many other forum-goers had acted foolishly in the past (and indeed many still do), I brushed off my old account and set about writing the chronicle you see before you.

CONTENTS

i. Preface by the Author

ii. Contents

1. In which the endeavor is begun, and several missions are launched.

2. In which the Mun is flown by.

3. In which the greatest achievement ever accomplished by Kerbalkind... is.

4. In which a slightly greater achievement is accomplished, but with none of the fanfare.

5. In which Ike is landed upon.

PART THE FIRST

In which the endeavor is begun, and several missions are launched

The first mission of this space program was an uninteresting one, a mission that you have doubtless
seen many times before, so not much time will be spent describing it. For the few who at all care, a
picture has been provided below.

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Fig. 1: The Kerbin 1 on its immensely dull flight

It went up, and it came down. Construction was immediately begun on a new, more interesting mission.

oSyEMhb.png

Fig. 2: The Kerbin 2

The Kerbin 2 pushed the boundaries of rocketry with its revolutionary new design, which still managed
to look quite like many other craft. While it had a more interesting mission than the 1, consisting of not
one but two science opportunities, it still suffered from the same fundamental dullness.

6t1DvIJ.png
Fig. 3: The Kerbin 2 in flight

With the development of the Kerbin 3, the engineers at Science, Incorporated started to close in on the
cause of this dullness, and equipped the Kerbin 3 with new features to fight it, such as more parts, a
multi-stage design and a number even larger than its predecessor’s.

33HU5ZZ.png
Fig. 4: The Kerbin 3

The Kerbin 3 followed the ‘orbiter’ mission format, with a launch phase, a ‘circularization’ phase, a
science phase, and a return phase. Some difficulty was presented in piloting the mission, its having no
method of control for the first stage, but this was easily overcome.

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Fig. 5: The launch

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Fig. 6: The circularization

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Fig. 7: The return

The efforts of these engineers were not entirely in vain, however, as the insights gained from this
mission enabled them to take a step forwards that was almost visionary: eschewing the Kerbin naming
scheme to call their next rocket the Mun 1.

Edited by cy4n
Added Part the Fifth
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PART THE SECOND

In which the Mun is flown by

The Mun 1 was the first ‘space-craft’ to bear the Mun designation, and the first to visit another celestial
body. Its design put to an end the lingering dullness of the previous three missions and ushered in a
new era of space-craft that differed, at least slightly, from what others were doing.

Koco4CL.png
Fig. 1: The Mun 1

Once it was in orbit, the Mun 1 transferred to a trajectory that flew past the Mun, a ‘fly-by’ if you will,
using a new ‘transfer stage’ designed especially for this purpose.

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Fig. 2: The experimental ‘transfer stage’

Once it entered the Mun’s ‘influence sphere’, Valentina Kerman put the Mun 1’s complement of science
instruments to use, recording many important data on the Mun’s atmosphere (none), temperature
(none), effects upon a strange gooey substance, and effects upon an Experimental Engineering Group
Science Jr.® self-contained laboratory with complimentary notepad.

zyRDMD9.png

Fig. 3: The Mun 1 approaches the Mun

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Fig. 4: Valentina Kerman performs an extra-vehicular activity, or ‘EVA’

All good things come to an end, however, and the Mun 1, assisted by the Mun’s gravity, was soon falling
back towards Kerbin. The trajectory set up beforehand enabled an aerodynamic braking maneuver, or
‘aero-brake’, to occur, ‘bleeding off’ the speed from the fly-by.

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Fig. 5: The Mun 1 performs an ‘aero-braking’ maneuver

Once this was accomplished, landing on Kerbin was relatively simple.

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Fig. 6: The Mun 1 returns to Kerbin

The Mun 1 had paved the way for the next mission, a mission that would go down in history as the
greatest achievement ever accomplished by Kerbalkind, at least for a few years.

Its name was the Mun 2.

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PART THE THIRD

In which the greatest achievement accomplished by Kerbalkind... is.

The Mun 2, as it was called, was indubitably the greatest achievement ever accomplished by Kerbalkind,
at least for a few years.

5zlh8lp.png
Fig. 1: The greatest achievement ever accomplished by Kerbalkind.

It was a colossal space-craft, almost twice the size of the preceding mission, with an unprecedented
amount of stages and an even greater number of parts.

5zlh8lp.png
Fig. 2: Let’s take a look at it again.

The Mun 2 would soar to unparalleled heights both figurative and literal.

5zlh8lp.png
Fig. 3: This is the last one, I swear.

It would claim the very Mun itself for Kerbalkind.

5zlh8lp.png
Fig. 4: ...

After an uneventful launch, wherein nothing much happened, it proceeded to orbit, following the usual
method, and finally set a course for the Mun, using another new ‘transfer stage’.

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Fig. 5: Fine. You win.

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Fig. 6: *glares*

Once it arrived, the Mun 2 had no business in orbit, and got right down to landing.

A landing site was picked more or less at random, based upon wherever the lander happened to pass
closest to the surface. The Mun 2’s high ‘thrust-weight ratio’ enabled it to land with little difficulty.

F2yp4pG.png
Fig. 7:

After planting a flag with a suitably inspirational message, Science was performed.

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Fig. 8

With the Mun 2’s objective complete, it took off and returned to munar orbit, spotting something
strange along the way. If this space program had time to waste, it would return to investigate.

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Fig. 9

After landing on the Mun, landing on Kerbin was laughably easy, and the Mun 2 arrived home with
great aplomb.

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Fig. 10

Unfortunately, due to the space program’s integrity, there was not quite enough science available for a
mission to Duna. A new mission would have to be undertaken first, both to acquire new science, and to
provide a test of the new naming scheme. It would be called simply the Minmus.

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  • 3 weeks later...

PART THE FOURTH

In which a slightly greater achievement is accomplished, but with none of the fanfare

The Minmus was essentially the same space-craft as the Mun 2, but with one important difference: the
Minmus was crewed by a scientist, but flown by a probe-core.

zeDCjHU.png
Fig. 1: The Minmus, poorly lit

This enabled it to collect Science using only a single set of experiments, and the probe’s partial control,
combined with the scientist’s partial control, enabled it to be flown nearly as if by a qualified pilot;
except for maneuver nodes, for which purpose it carried a large antenna.

zeDCjHU.png
Fig. 2: The Minmus again

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Fig. 3: Ha, ha, only joking!

These launches were all the same, really, and there was no point in extending them to fill a few
sentences, so the Minmus soon reached orbit.

axRqiGa.png
Fig. 4.4: Ooh, I think this is a much better system, don’t you?

This mission would be slightly different from the previous by using a new ‘plane-change’ maneuver,
which involved turning the space craft at an angle ninety degrees to any used before.

It was also fairly uneventful.

The Minmus then set out for its eponymous destination, utilizing another ‘transfer stage’, the repetition
of which was getting rather tiresome.

DoQAmrL.png
Fig. 4.5: The Minmus sets off for Minmus

Once it arrived at Minmus, Bob Kerman (for it was he who had been crew of the Minmus) departed his
capsule, did some Science, and, using his scientist abilities, re-set the experiments for later use.

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Fig. 4.6: The Minmus on its way to Minmus

When the Minmus was ‘captured’ around Minmus, this was done again, and a picture was not really
necessary, but here it is anyway.

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Fig. 4.7: My, this is a lot of pictures, isn’t it?

With the help of the probe core, the Minmus landed, a flag was planted, Science was performed, et
cetera. While this was arguably a greater achievement than the Mun landing, only a few sentences were
devoted to it.

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Fig. 4.8: If you ask me, it’s probably because he feels bad about taking so long.

In another part of the mission that has been done many times before, the Minmus returned to Kerbin.

UodHLby.png
Fig. 4.9: But who am I to know? I just write the captions.

With the return of the Minmus, engineers started work on the most advanced space-craft ever built.
It would carry Kerbals (well, one Kerbal) far beyond the influence sphere of Kerbin in a tiny dark capsule
for three years. It would be called... the Duna-Ike.

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  • 1 month later...

PART THE FIFTH

In which Ike is landed upon

Utilizing new compound-name technology, the Duna-Ike was the pinnacle of Kerbal space-flight.

8TJFe0t.png
Fig 5.1: The Duna-Ike

It was quite advanced in terms of Science experiments, the Space Program having, in fact, spent all 1400-odd
Science on new ones, rather than on more sensible parts like fuel tanks, engines, landing legs, and the like.

8TJFe0t.png
Fig 5.2: The Duna-Ike

The mission plan was as follows: Firstly, a standard launch to orbit, followed by, after several days, a transfer burn,
which would be accomplished using the Duna-Ike’s non-nuclear engines (which, if you ask von Kerman, would have
been a much better investment than a gravimeter, but what does he know, he’s only a rocket scientist), and then a
long cruise to Duna.

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Fig. 5.3: I’m fired?

As this was the first time a space-craft had left Kerbin’s sphere of influence, there was lots of Science to be done.

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Fig. 5.4: What do you mean, it’s not funny?

After months of sitting in a tiny dark capsule, Bob (for indeed it was he) arrived at Duna.

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Fig. 5.5: Just give me one more chance, OK?

However, due to the difficulty in building a kerbaled mission to visit Duna and Ike with every Science experiment
and weighing less than 100 tons (I’d like to see you design that), a few things had to be dropped. Such as the
fuel for the capture burn. And also the ablator for the heat-shield.

09ogZ65.png
Fig. 5.6: Aerobraking at Duna (see?)

This all depended on luck.

Luckily, it worked. The Duna-Ike was safely captured into a circular equatorial orbit of Duna, and was ready to
transfer to Ike.

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Fig. 5.7: Transferring to Ike

Ike was a desolate gray mun, but it seemed rude to come all this way just to ignore it, so the Duna-Ike headed
there anyway.

crBUVx5.png
Fig. 5.8: Arriving at Ike

Landing on Ike was simple enough, as the space program did not make a habit of picking landing sites more
specific than ‘the day side’, and the Duna-Ike’s Terrier engine made short work of the weak gravity.

Bob stepped out and planted a flag.

qtnU3CT.png
Fig. 5.9: Ike is claimed for Kerbalkind

And another planet was conquered.

Next time on Science, Incorporated: Action! Adventure! Spaceflight! Tune in whenever I feel like it for the thrilling
conclusion of Bob Kerman’s epic adventure across the solar system:

Part the Sixth (and Last).

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