Reaching For the Stars - Jeb's Memoirs

[Kerminator K-100]

I recently had a game breaking crash on my other save: Exploring the Kosmos, so instead of spend days fixing everything I decided to abandon it and start fresh. I have been reading  @adsii1970's story, Kerny Kerman's Journal and wanted to try a report from the perspective of a Kerbal. 

I have installed @Angel-125's mods: Snacks , BARIS, and also reinstalled Kerbal Health. Because this is going to be from Jeb's perspective, I have also installed Raster Prop Moniter for better IVA's.

I don't know if this will be useful (Haven't planned that far ahead yet) (Yes it is useful, it gives you backstory on the countries and a map) but here is a link to my other thread where I am building a history of my corner of the kerbin multi-verse (Foreshadowing?): 

The flag I will be using: (From @Just Jim's Emiko Station)

Settings: Allow Quicksaves - for bugs and glitches

                Allow Revert - Same as before

               No Respawn

I would finally like to thank @Just Jim and @adsii1970 for inspiring me to create my own content. Thank you for all the work you do to make this forum fun. 

Mod list

Spoiler

ABCORS

B9 Part switch

Better Burn Time

Click Through Blocker

Community Category Kit

Contract Configurator

Contract Packs

    - Clever Sat

    -Field Research

    -Kerbal Academy

    -Space Stations and Bases reborn

    -Tourism plus

DMagic Orbital Science

Easy Vessel Sitch

EVE
KAC

KER

Maneuver Node Evolved

Mech Jeb 2

Near Future Props

Near Future Spacecraft

Orbital LFO engines

Scatterer

Spectra

Stockalike Station Parts Expansion Redux

Tarsier Space Tech

Vessel View

Zero Mini AVC

 

Edited September 1, 2020 by Kerminator1000

[SuperMiiBrother]

What happens if Jeb dies or gets otherwise stranded with no hope of recovery?

[Kerminator K-100]

11 hours ago, SuperMiiBrother said:

What happens if Jeb dies or gets otherwise stranded with no hope of recovery?

I never thought about that. I guess either Bill, Bob or Val will write the rest of the journal or the journal will end, I haven't decided yet. I'm leaning more toward someone else writing it though.

[Kerminator K-100]

I was hoping to have this done by Saturday but RL got in the way. I have gotten all the screenshots and am hoping to have posted this by the end of the day.

[Kerminator K-100]

(Sorry for the huge post, I had a lot I wanted to say at the beginning)

Reaching for the Stars - The memoirs of Jebidiah Kerman

Day 1, Y001 BSP 

BSP - Before Space Program

After two weeks of arguing, the Kerbal Committee (KC) has finally decided to grant us funding for our space program! Gene was so excited when he got the email last month that he ran down the stairs and did a victory lap around the apartment building. After catching his breath, Gene isn't the most athletic kerbal, he told us what was happening and we ran around yelling too.

The KC was pretty excited to as this was the United Kerbal Republic's first aerospace program since the Anatom war* and would be a huge boost for patriotism. In fact they thought it was so good for them that they agreed to let us use the old Kerbin Airfield and repair it for free as long as we opened a museum about the Kerbal Aviation Klub and Enthusiasts (K.A.K.E). After a month of various repairs and fixes and hiring board members, they finally declared the Kerbal Aviation and Space Agency (KASA) officially open! Me, my old friend Bob and his twin sister Val, and my other friends Gene and Bill, all piled into a bus (Yes they even created a bus stop for us!) and drove down to the KSC. When we got there we saw that a fixer-upper was probably to good a word for the KSC. As it turns out, one month is not enough time to rebuild a ruined building, and many bits were held up with supports and massive pieces of steel covered holes in the buildings. 

Still, it was usable for the moment and we could upgrade when we get more funding.

After looking around at the buildings, we went to the administration building to go meet the department heads. The KC had picked an interesting cast of characters,  from Mortimer Kerman, world famous stock broker and accountant, to Walt Kerman, also world famous but for wearing a hazmat suit nonstop and leading the Society of Believers in Robot Spiders on Duna, to Wernher Von Kerman, world famous rocket scientist and the inventor of the Snack, to finally Gus Kerman, leader of operations at the KSC and the only non famous Kerbal in the room.

Wernher was stuck in the UKR's capital for now but sent his intern Linus Kerman to represent him. Once we had all gotten acquainted, the four department heads laid out some strategies they had come up with. The four of us (Me, Bob, Val, and Bill) decided to turn administrative duties over to Gene and let him pick. He looked them over and realized we couldn't fund any of the strategies right now and decided to wait a bit before picking one.

We brainstormed what the immediate goals for KASA were and wrote them down on the whiteboard. After that was settled we moved on to filling the remaining roles at the KSC. I was picked to be head of the kerbonauts, meaning I could pick who to hire, and Val was put in charge of training. Bill took over the engineering department and Bob became head of the astronaut science team (Linus and Wernher ran the science department for KASA). Then Bob nominated Gene to be the director of KASA but Walt stopped us.

"I'm afraid we already have a director", he said. I looked over at Gene, who was looking pretty disappointed, and asked Walt if it was robot spiders from Duna. Gene laughed but Walt's eye started twitching and he looked like he might attack me. Mort hurriedly answered that the director was a kerbal who went by the name Kerminator1000. He was supposedly a very secretive Kerb who never showed his face and only communicated using memos.

We all sat in silence for a bit until Val suggested that Gene become the mission controller, responsible for taking contracts and leading the missions. Gene reluctantly agreed and we all left for the day. 

Day 002 Y 001

 

Today Val showed up in a fancy new Kamaro she had bought and drove us all to the KSC. On the way there we spotted a few solid rocket boosters lying on the side of the road and strapped them to the hood, despite Val complaining about them scratching the paint. When we got there we unloaded the five boosters and showed them to Wernher, who had finally showed up. He said that they looked amazing and that he was going to have to copy the design for future missions. He then said that they would be great for today because he had gotten a shipment of MK1 Command Pods from Kerlington and that now we would be able to actually launch a rocket today, rather than just train in the command pods. 

Gene, a big believer in safety, looked appalled at that suggestion, but me and Val managed to convince him otherwise. While Gus and his crew installed the command pods on the boosters, I asked Gene if I could have the first mission. Gene agreed and I ran off to go tell Val (who was so sure that she would be first, she had printed business cards). Soon after, as Gus was moving the rockets to the launchpad, Gene ran up to us. He said that several companies had sent us contracts and were very interested in the future of the space program!

With lots of cash on the line I sprinted to the capsule and strapped myself in. Kerlington had really outdone themselves, because the monitors and controls were amazingly well done and even featured a touchscreen version! Bill said that as soon as the spacecraft had better computers, he would see about coding some games to play on them. I fired up the systems and turned on the comms.

MISSION REPORT - 001

Name: Basic Hopper (BH) Alpha

Crew: Jebidiah Kerman - Pilot, Commander

Date: Y001 D001 0:01:32

Transcript:

Gene Kerman (Mission Control and CAPCOM): All systems look good on our end, Jeb, how are things on yours?

Jeb: Ready to go CAPCOM!

Gene: Checking with ground operations, are you secure?

Gus Kerman (Director of Operations): We are secure in the bunker CAPCOM and go for launch

Gene: Roger that. Jeb are you go for launch?

Jeb: Roger CAPCOM!

Gene: Beginning launch sequence... T-10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, Ignition Sequence Activated, 1, Liftoff, do we have liftoff?

Jeb: (Strained) Yeah, we've definitely got liftoff!

Gus: We could see it go, it looked beautiful!

Gene: Jeb it looks like you're pulling 4 gees, 8.9 at the max, how are you feeling?

Jeb: Beside the gees its pretty fine! Looks like I've got a few m/s of dV left... Main engine off... I'm coasting now CAPCOM... I can see a little out my window! It looks- it looks amazing!

Gene: Looks like you're going to hit apoapsis in a few seconds, get ready to hit the parachute.

Jeb: Roger... Parachute deploye- WHOA!

Gene: Are you okay?

Jeb: Yeah just got suddenly jerked around, I'm flying upside down, or rather the capsule is upside down, I feel right side up now, just hope this will fix itself before the ground hits.

Gene: Roger, Can you take a mystery goo reading?

Jeb: Sure, alright... looks like the goo is wobbling a little, I don't really think it likes this.

Linus Kerman (Head of the Science Department): Thanks for the report Jeb, I don't suppose you could tell us your observations?

Jeb: Sure, I'm looking out on the water, I can almost see the rich people on their yachts!

Linus: Thanks.

Gene: Parachute should be deployed, Jeb. 

Jeb: Yeah, it just flipped me around suddenly.

Gene: Splashdown in 5 seconds... and splash down, can you run another goo report, then wait until recovery?

Jeb: Roger. See you guys soon.

<END TRANSCRIPT>

Splashdown was so hard we lost the fins. I did set a record for altitude and speed: 10221 m and a max speed of 558 m/s! After I got back I learned that Val had launched. Her mission used the large booster we found and she set an altitude record of 56394, just shy of space, and a speed record of 1070 m/s. She did go west instead of east (the way I went) and landed in the mountains, causing a tense moment when she landed. 

<START TRANSMISSION>

Gene: Looks like your chute deployed, Val can you confirm?

Val: It hasn't unfurled yet, and I'm getting worried, its supposed to deploy at 1000 m and the altimeter says I'm at 586 m.

Gene: Oh S***! You're coming down in the mountains and its set to sea level altitude!

Val: 400 m and descending fast!

Gene: I'll send an update to the capsule to unfurl the chute!

Val: 300 m and the only antenna we have is a comms antenna.

Gene: $#@&!

Val: Oh, there we go, chute deployed at 200 m above ground level, touching down on a slight hill.

<END TRANSMISSION>

After I got back, Gene rushed me over to the launchpad were the second to last launch was waiting. I climbed in but took an EVA report first.

This was the first multi-stage LF rocket and was meant to leave the atmosphere. However an engine failure meant that I had to abort before crossing 20,000 m.

 Val got the final mission, one with larger wings, which was meant to test the parachute between 4,000 - 7,000 m and between 30 m/s to 130 m/s. Oh the tortures R&D thinks up.

This one went well and at the end of the day we had enough money that Gene was able to hire a contractor to upgrade Mission Control and the Astronaut Complex!

Edited August 25, 2020 by Kerminator1000

[SuperMiiBrother]

I wonder who Kerminator1000 is, I bet he’s totally not an author!

[Kerminator K-100]

15 hours ago, SuperMiiBrother said:

I wonder who Kerminator1000 is, I bet he’s totally not an author!

No definitely not!

Edited August 25, 2020 by Kerminator1000

[Kerminator K-100]

Day 3

When I got to the KSC today, the launchpad was filled with the new workers Gus had hired. They were putting together something large and when I saw what it was I ran down to Mission Control. But when I got there I was stopped by Val, who had a smug expression on her face. 

"You're too late!", She said. "I got the first trip out of the atmosphere!" I sprinted past her but Gene saw me coming.

"She's right. I decided to give her the first spaceflight." 

"No!!!", I couldn't believe it! "After all I've done for this space program!" Gene looked annoyed. 

"I don't know why you're so upset. You get the first orbit." He said. With that my good mood was restored. Slightly. Val walked down to the rocket and strapped herself in. It was a simple rocket and was only designed to leave the atmosphere and return. Werhner had claimed there was no need for a heat shield, and Val, crazy daredevil that she is, agreed. The launch went perfectly and Val entered low space and collected enough science to keep R&D happy for a few weeks. 

Altitude: 82,663 m

Max Speed: 1182 m/s

This was actually the second launch. The first had had a catastrophic failure and the main booster exploded. Fortunately Val was unhurt and able to quickly launch on a second mission.

"Hey I can see the Island Airfield from here!" - Val 

"Crossing the Kerman Line now, Val" - Gene

"Hope everyone is out of the way when I land" - Val

After Val came back the R&D department hurried away with the data. Gene had Bobak (his new assistant) go get a ton of beer from the nearest ABCK. When Bobak came back we had the greatest party ever! Bob surprised us all when he managed to out drink Gus and his ground crew and Val passed out in a cake after trying to out drink Linus. While completely drunk Gus also managed to build the Astronauts Complex, the Mission Control Building, and the Launchpad, all in one night! After collecting a few six packs from a game of Eighteen Card Jimmy* I walked out of Mission Control and staggered away before losing conscious.

Day 4

After last night's party, I shouldn't be surprised about this morning. I woke up on the top of the VAB, shirtless and with 39 bottles of beer stuck to the wall. How I got up there is a mystery, because there is no ladder. After yelling for help for an hour, Gus found a ladder and I came down. After recovering slightly Gene told me that Werhner was designing a orbital rocket. I was excited to leave right away but Gene told me that I had to wait until it was built. It was going to be 11 days of testing and building before I could make history! 

Day 15

After 11 days of training, building, and static fires we finally finished the O1 - Orbital Rocket! Werher was also developing a two seater capsule, which Bob dubbed the Pea. As I climbed into the rocket, the launch clamps groaned ominously. Mostly because this rocket was the largest rocket we had ever launched, and also because our launch clamps sucked (we are expecting a new shipment in a few weeks). 

I strapped myself in and flicked on all the screens. Bill had developed a small camera that we could duct tap to the side of the rocket, giving us an exterior view. I blasted off the launchpad at 0:0:32, just after finishing off a large lunch. 

The rocket was supposed to take 11 days to build but most of the time disappeared as if time was warped. The few times we tested it the fins had failed and the rocket engine (a Reliant Rocket Motor) was to unresponsive so we switched to a Swivel Class instead. We had done some static tests and a test of a new command pod that could hold two kerbals. 

After launching, the rocket tipped over in a new maneuver called a "gravity turn" that our physicists had discovered. Soon after tipping over the main boosters staged.

(Editors Note: If you're wondering why the plumes look so different, its because I installed ReStock. I uninstalled it after today though because I wasn't really a fan of most of the textures.)

The rocket began heating up and I was worried briefly, but Gene claimed that it was just turbulence or something. I wasn't sure but it cleared up after a bit. The rocket suddenly jerked forward as the second stage kicked in.

 

After losing the first stage, I decoupled the abort tower. Mission Control had assumed that we didn't need and could just hit the parachute. Fortunately nothing went wrong and we didn't need to abort at all. 

I circularized and relaxed in orbit. It had taken nine minutes to launch! I thought it had been less but I guess time flies when you're having fun (or riding an explosive tube into space). I looked around at Kerbin and the Mun, floating in the huge arm of the Green Galaxy and and wanted to go explore it all. I also was surprised by mysterious music that started playing through the speakers. The comms switched over to the Harvester Massif antenna and in the brief silence I heard something. It sounded ancient and angry. My best guess was that it was one of the Krakens that Bill was always talking about but I couldn't tell. The sound was slowly rising, filing the capsule, when suddenly Harvester Massif broke through.

"Jeb! Jeb, do you read me?"

"Yeah, I read you." I said, but my mind was elsewhere. 

"Great, Gene wants to tell you that the KSC has gotten some emails! Tito Kerman wants to go to space and is willing to pay 100,000 for getting there! Also the Kerbal Committee wants us to go to the Mun!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"To make sure the capsule can actually last that long, we want you to spend 2 and a half hours up there!" I silently listened, then suddenly switched off the comms. I needed a few minutes with my thoughts before talking to anyone. 

An hour later I switched back on the comms. Gene was on.

"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING!! You could have had an emergency, or we could have needed to contact you! Don't do that ever again if you ever want to go to space again! Do you understand me!" Gene screamed into the mike.

"Yeah, I got you. Just needed some time alone." I replied.

"THEN TAKE IT ON THE GROUND!" Gene screamed. "From now on I am leaving all comms bolted on! No one can ever turn th-" I shut the comms off again. Gene would go berserk but at least on the ground I could leave. Also I am the best pilot so there was no way Gene would get rid of me. 

Two and a half hours passed and I switched back on the comms. 

"Coming back now." I said, "Plasma blackout is about to make it so you can't talk!"

"Oh I've still got some time!" Gene growled, "And when I ge-" I turned the comms off again and laughed as I imagined Gene's face. Val told me later that Gene looked redder than Duna at that moment and everyone else had to muffle their laughs. 

Reentry was weird because my back began getting very toasty and I was pressed toward the heat. The thermometer said that the temperature was around 300 Kerbals (roughly 1 Kelvin in our universe). 

A schematic showing how a kerbal would be seated in the command pod\

A worrying moment occurred when the heat shield refused to detach until the parachutes deployed.

But the problem was soon fixed and I splashed down safely. 

When the ground crew picked me up I was told that Gene was on the war path and wanted to kill me. I told them thanks for the warning, but that I would take my chances. When the recovery ship docked I saw Gene on the dock, grinning like a maniac and decided that facing him might not be wise. He managed to catch me, I suspect Val gave my hiding spot away, but was calmer than I expected. He told me that I was signed up for the Kerbal Academy Pilot Boot Camp and that it started tomorrow.

"It lasts for two weeks and has 12 hour days!" He said, "And I'm fixing the comms so that you can never switch them off! And you don't get the tourist mission! And yo-" 

"That's great Gene!" I said, interrupting him again. He turned bright red and I questioned the wisdom of this path. "Oh, alright Gene, I'll never do it again. But something happened up there, something that felt ancient."

"Could it be Krakens?" Gene said, his face in a weird expression.

"Yeah I guess it could have, Oh." I realized that he thought I was crazy and stormed off, with the sounds of Gene's laughter behind me. 

[Misguided Kerbal]

47 minutes ago, Kerminator1000 said:

(Editors Note: If you're wondering why the plumes look so different, its because I installed ReStock. I uninstalled it after today though because I wasn't really a fan of most of the textures.)

Hmm... I like restock better.

 

Also, great storytelling!

[Kerminator K-100]

27 minutes ago, Misguided_Kerbal said:

Hmm... I like restock better.

 

Well, ReStock is nice but I just didn't feel like it fit with my style.

28 minutes ago, Misguided_Kerbal said:

Also, great storytelling!

Thanks!

[Kerminator K-100]

Day 16

The next day I woke up in my bed. I shook my head. Did I really say all that yesterday? I couldn't believe it! I remembered mouthing off to Gene and shutting off the comms on him, but it had felt like I was a spectator in my own head. Something had possessed me and made me act so destructively.  I had to talk to someone about it and see what they thought.

The only person I could trust not to make fun of me (in Val's case) or ignore me (in Gene's case) were Bill and Bob. Of the two, Bill was more into mysterious things. He still believed in SQUADism, an old religion that believed that a force named SQUAD defeated the Kraken and made the universe. Bob tended to focus on the scientific side of things and was always debating Bill. I realized the "force" I felt was like Bill's Krakens and decided to ask him when I got the chance. While I waited, I needed to pack for Kerbal Academy.

Kerbal Academy is a prestigious aviation and spaceflight academy. It turns out dozens of the best pilots, mechanics and has recently opened a science academy. Before the orbital mission, they had extended a offer to train me in their new spaceflight sims. The schedule was tough, but I was going to train with the best astrophysicists and pilots to learn how to perform orbital maneuvers and inclination changes. 

The course wouldn't start until tomorrow so I headed down to the space center to see if I could help out. As I headed to the VAB, Gene stopped me. 

"You better not mess this course up!" He growled, "We paid 100,000 for you to do this and if you shut off the comms on them you'll be out of there faster than you can say 'but the money'!"

"Don't worry", I said, "What happened yesterday, will never happen again."

"You better hope it doesn't or you'll be out of a job!", Gene stomped away. I walked over to the VAB. We were building a rocket that would take up Tito Kerman into orbit, sustain him and the pilot for four hours and return safely. The biggest problem was that the capsule we were using, the Pea, did not have reaction wheels. Gus and his crew were installing fins on the top stage and Werhner was developing a small reaction wheel top put on the capsule. I decided to help out with the building and got to work.

Day 17

The bus met me early that morning to take me to Kerbal Academy. I felt like a Kerbette going to school again. I got off the bus at the Academy. It was huge! A large sign arced over the door and a Kerb was at the door waiting for me. She took me down to the simulator room where several people were waiting for me. The week's schedule went like this:

Kerbal Academy - Astronaut Training

Trainee: Jebidiah Kerman

Day 1 - Day 4

4:15 - 5:45 - Lecture

5:45 - 0:15 - Lunch

0:15 - 1:45 - Simulator

Day 5

4:15 - 1:45 Simulator (Lunch in capsule)

The first day was very busy. A few professors taught me about the theory of inclination changes and how to do them. The simulator felt very real and was the best part of the day. Lunch was also amazing. It was way better than the crap they serve at the KSC. When we get more money, I'm going to force Gene to hire some better cooks. 

Day 19

It seems like my first orbit caught the attention of some other countries. The KBC (Kerbal Broadcasting Corporation) had a story about the KKF's first rocket launch. Almost as soon as the first story finished, an urgent newscast came on about another rocket, the Kingdom of Acnalb-Ayalp this time. As these two countries are the UKR's  closest neighbor's, the Kerbal Committee  (UKR's rulers) decided to increase our funding, as long as we started launching military probes and spy satellites. 

Day 22

Today was my final day in the Kerbal Academy. I had a 3 hour and 30 minute capsule test. Despite the fact that it was a nonstop simulator in a cramped capsule, it was actually fun. I had learned a lot about how to do maneuvers and inclination burns and was now an experienced pilot.

While I was in the capsule Val launched with Tito Kerman, the millionaire inventor of KerbNet, who was paying for a trip into space. 

As you can tell from the picture, Val hated Tito. She complained about him messing with the buttons and had to smack him away from her snacks drawer. She did manage to make the most accurate landing of the entire space program. About 7km away from the launchpad! Tito claimed he had a great time, but the nervous looks that he gave Val gave away what really happened. But Val refused to explain what really happened and me, Bill, and Bob think we will never know. 

Tito's trip seems to have sparked a space fanaticism. We have contracts to go to the Mun, put up satellites, and bring tourists to space. A school even gave us this contract:

We need to research better habitation and living quarters but we will get about 1,000,000 for this space camp!