Above and Beyond the Known: A Beyond Home playthrough

[Nivee~]

Introductions:

Hello, I am Nivee~ and I have been on a hiatus from KSP due to personal issues. Now that I have found my inspiration to play KSP again, I decided to write a mission report.

This save will explore the beautiful planet pack by Gameslinx, Beyond Home. I will not be starting this mission report from scratch, as it gets repetitive and bores me. I have already landed a kerbal on the nearest moon of Rhode, Lua. And now I wish to explore the entirety of Tempus system before I send my Kerbals back to their roots, the distant and dim Kerbol system.

While it will be challenging enough for me to land on each celestial body because of my rusty piloting skills after nearly an year of inactivity, I aim to explore the beautiful surface features that have been incorporated in this planet pack. I,myself, don't know much about those features, but it would be fun to find and explore those anomalies.

I won't bore you with my mod list, but here's the summary:
1. Parts: SSTU, ReStock,ReStock+
2. Visuals: EVE, scatterer with Beyond Home's custom config.
3. Utilities: USI containers and reactors, Simple construction, [x]Science, BonVoyage, Simple Logistics, MechJeb

Without further ado, let's begin our adventure!

Chapter 1: The Prologue and the First Interplanetary Step towards Salvation.

Rhode, was well... home for hundreds of thousands of Kerbals. But there was a time when it was just a fancy exoplanet discovered by two random upstarts by accident from Kerbin. Kerbol became a red giant in due time, destroying life at Kerbin. Kerbals fled to Duna, which was then renamed Solitude. A few million years ago, Kerbol went Nova and destroyed the inner Kerbol system. Before it could wipe out Kerbalkind, a few thousand brave kerbals embarked on an expeditionary journey to find new homes. Some settled on the now warm Laythe, some would opt for the solitary Eeloo, but a few hundred kerbs of steel would embark on an interstellar expedition named the Great Exodus. They would find the planet named Rhode and build a colony. In due time the colony grew and prospered and soon it had enough technological prowess to terraform one of Rhodes' moons, Lua.

Society, however does not always get better with time. Every once a while, a social cataclysm would plunge civilization into Chaos and destroyed thousands of years of hard earned knowledge and culture. Kerbals would start afresh having learnt their lesson and for a few millenia society would be blessed with peace and prosperitym before Chaos reared its ugly head once again.

It has been 4 million years since the Great Exodus brought the first kerbals to Rhode. For 4 million years, Kerbals had been trying and failing to reach their ultimate goal. But not this time. This generation of Kerbals is not going to let petty politics and social upheavals disrupt their pursuit of Science. This generation is not going to bend the knee to Chaos when it returns. This generation WILL break through the glass ceiling and it will do what Kerbals have been failing at for 4 million years: To go back home.

But first, Kerbals would need to explore the celestial bodies nearest to Rhode. Hydrus was selected as the target for the first Interplanetary jaunt. Science fiction writers during the Golden Age of Literature often believed that there would be life under the clouds of this strange murky planet, while Romanticist writers would often portray the planet as the perfect destination for love-struck couples to hide from their irate parents. The scietific community could not care less about such ramblings but they were interested in the so-called magnetic anomalies of Hydrus and thus they comissioned a mission to Hydrus.

After a year of development, Hydros - 1 mission bus was finally prepared for launch. The mission included a Relay satellite network for Hydrus, a Hydrus Rover and a Hydrone Lander/Orbiter.

Spoiler

The Tragedy of Hydros - 1

Launched aboard Hope Launch Vehicle, with a Momo Hydrolox Upper stage, the plan was to first deploy the Rover to the polar region of Hydrus, followed by the deployment of the three relay satellites. Then the Hydrone Lander will move to Hydrone where it will land at the Canyons for science, and possibly hop over to the next closes biome before launching back to High Hydrus orbit.

Little did they know about the challenges they would face.

The Hydros team members faced a setback when they realized that the liquid hydrogen in the Momo Upper stage was boiling off quickly, and that they would not be able to continue the mission. Despite the best minds of KSC working on the problem, a solution could not be determined and KSC decided to pull the plug on the mission. The entire payload deorbited and its 15 days of fortune ended, just like that. Nevertheless, Momo was certified to be a credible upper stage and cleared for use in future missions.

But the Hydros team was not deterred. A quick redesign later, Hydros 1A was built. It had a LFO upper stage this time, to prevent boiloff issues. To compensate the added weight of the LFO upper stage, the Rover was removed from the payload. A HOPE-LS4 rocket comfortably placed the payload in Low Rhode Orbit, and an injection burn pushed it to its destination.

The payload carrying 4 relay satellite and one Hydrone explorer/ BigS relay was injected to the desired orbit. A shame about the rover, however. The magnetic anomalies at the poles of Hydrus would be examined at the next opportunity.

Meanwhile, Kerbals were developing a handy new method of delivering cargo reliably to  the surface of celestial bodies. This new method, called Little Zeus, or LZ was tested at Armstrong.

Spoiler

Space Transport Oddities

The Little Zeus transformed a humble upper stage to a multi thrust-axis lander, offering a cheap alternative to the existing cargo delivery method. The reliability of this lander was questionable, but RSC found the low-risk payload deployment very attractive.

The low distance of payload from the ground allowed even complicated payloads to be landed at a relatively lower risk. The side engines' position would have to be adjusted according to the payload mass.

While the prototype was designed to be a single time use lander, KSC  tried bringing it back to orbit anyways.

The experiment was successful and might have paved the way for reusable Little Zeus landers in the near-future. Further refinements are necessary but for now, the Rover supplied to the surface of Armstrong will be put to good use to gather whatever science it can before it is crewed by an actual scientist.

This concludes the first chapter of this series, which I would hopefully see to the end and not abandon mid-way. Please wish me luck.

Edited December 28, 2020 by Nivee~

[Nivee~]

Chapter 2: Extensive Armstrong Survey

Ah, Armstrong. The dirty rocky gravelly iceball clinging on to it's dear life by not getting too close to Lua's and Ash's gravity well. Stuck between the Vaccuum and the Kraken, as they say.

While it may look like a dirty snowball, it was found to have a mineral rich crust under that gravelly exterior. Records show that the space programs of ages past had their eyes on this tiny moonlet for resource exploitation, once most of Rhode's native resources had been spent to terraform Lua.

The present administration did not have access to lost technologies like Terraforming and the like, but it could most certainly reduce Rhode's burden by using Armstrong's mineral deposit to supplement Rhode's demands. Thus, a detailed survey was warranted. The crewed rover dispatched on the last mission to Rhode was but the first step to do so.

Spoiler

The Moon Bunny

The aforementioned rover developed electrical abnormalities within a day of it's touchdown. Mission control assumed that it would be sorted once te rover would be exposed to sunlight, but that was not supposed to be. The experimental rover was declared a failure, and it was decided that instead of the rover, kerbonauts are better off exploring the moon of Armstrong with a propulsive hopper. The science hopper was dispatched to Armstrong without much incident.

The hopper then ejected to Armstrong and captured without any problems.

The engineers at KSC tried to experiment with recovering the launch vehicle's core. The core fired retrograde and hurtled through the atmosphere until the drogue chutes opened up, then the main parachutes opened and slowed the rocket down to 15 m/s. The engine fired one last time and slowed the vehicle to 4 m/s when it landed. Those engines are in no shape to be used anymore, but engineers will get more insight on how to build a reusable rocket.

If such an experimental design with primitive avionics and parachutes could land safely, then a booster specially built for reuse would offer even more flexibility and reliability when it comes to booster recovery. The scientists and engineers could not wait.

Back on Armstrong, the hopper deorbited and landed at a pre designated landing zone, prepared to receive its guests. The delta-v was overestimated to such an extent, that the transfer kick-stage had enough fuel to land and still have 600m/s delta-v left in its tanks.

A reusable lander was launched next to Armstrong. This was a real smooth-brained move by the Mission control as the hopper could be used to descend to and ascend back to orbit. However KSC presented this as new hardware undergoing live tests beyond Low Rhode Orbit

Spoiler

The Reusability Gimmick

The lander was launched upon the HOPE rocket, the usual workhorse of the space agency.

The lander transferred to Armstrong and circularized in an optimum orbit without any trouble.

Valentina Kerman and Jobo Kerman were selected as crew for the first detailed scientific survey of Armstrong. The crew will rendezvous with a predeployed reusable Armstrong  crew lander. This lander was designed to operate to and from the surface of Ash. However KSC decided to skip the molten deathball and try to explore Armstrong in its stead.

However the crew did not seem to be getting along. Radio transmissions recorded several instances of both kerbonauts snapping at each other. Mission control only intervened when someone insulted the other's parentage, but it was clear that a crammed capsule was not doing the crew any favors either. This transmission was noted as 'peak angery' moment for Jobo.

A non-trivial amount of science was gained from this rant as well, as it reflected the psychological state of Kerbals in confined spaces over an extended period of time

Spoiler

Of Catfights and a Catastrophe

A nominal rendezvous and docking later, the crew of two had transferred over to the lander over Armstrong. The Crew Transfer vehicle undocked and would stay in orbit until the surface mission concluded.

As the Lander descended to the surface, Valentina decided to take the risk of a suborbital EVA report. The plan was to get out of the hatch, hold on to the ladder and study the surroundings. However, the unthinkable happened when she was flung off the lander and tumbled uncontrollably. In the following picture, Val can be seen in the background, just to the left of the lander.

Jobo was scared out of her wits when she saw Valentina's limp body falling down to the surface.

Mere meters over the surface, Val gained consciousness and activated her EVA pack and managed to land with a tumble. Jobo's emergency training kicked in and she managed to put the lander gently on the surface as well. The mission control let out a sigh of relief.

Val was upset at herself for making such a rookie mistake and returned to the lander seething and fuming. She even forgot to put up the flag. Since she had a crack in her helmet visor and a sprained shoulder she was instructed to stay put in the Lander, and control the hopper remotely to land at all nearby biomes and collect science.

This emergency maneuver also had the lander land a few kilometers away from the landing zone. The hopper made a small jump to the lander's location to rectify this mishap.

Luckily, all the biomes were close by and the hopper did not have to expend a lot of fuel. With the surface mission completed, the crew blasted off to rendezvous with the Crew Transfer Vehicle.

An ejection burn sends them back to Rhode where the crew lands safely.

It was only now that Valentina remembered that she did not plant a flag. But there's no use crying over spilt milk.

Meanwhile, someone decided to prank KSC by sending them an impossible contract of landing on Destiny, one of the 2 stars in Kerbals' home system.

When asked how they would land on a star, Gene replied, "Very carefully, at night."

With the science gained from the Armstrong mission , KSC managed to unlock several new technologies. However they still are not satisfied, and thus, a crewed mission to  survey the volcanic moon  Ash was planned.

See you next week, with a new chapter!

Edited December 31, 2020 by Nivee~

[FleshJeb]

This is excellent. Good job, Mom!

[SpaceRaven]

This is the best planet pack I have used. It even works together with other planet packs.

I am using Galaxies Unbound and Extra Solar packs. I am sure Real Exoplanets will also work. 

[Nivee~]

Chapter 3: A Rescue and A Disaster

The Space Center decided to spend some money to upgrade its buildings! The VAB is bigger, the Mission control is shinier, the administration building does not look like an abandoned shed and the swimming pool finally has some water. Their was a hefty price tag attached to all these upgrades, but such is Life. You don't get any free lunch.

While looking around for new contracts for replenishing the treasury, the mission control found some really weird contracts. Some contracts wanted them to mine a star, some wanted to splash down on lava. Mortimer came across a weird mission that he had accepted before upgrading the KSC.

Apparently someone had crashed on to the surface of Lua, one of Rhode's moons without their knowledge, and now "Sean's Cannery" wanted KSC to rescue that kerbal.  KSC had only landed one kerbal at Lua, and it certainly was not anyone named Camald Kerman. There were a ton of questions floating around for this 'Camald' to answer. But for that, KSC had to rescue his butt back to Rhode.

Spoiler

Suspiciously Stranded

Mission control thought of this rescue mission as a good chance to test out their new modified Lander. It was a modification of the Reusable Armstrong Lander, with an extra 'spark' engine for more thrust and onboard science experiments.

Satellite footage had located the wreckage of the lost kerbonaut on a very risky, uneven terrain. Some argued that a rover would be the right choice, but a rocket powered lander could also do the job, albeit with some very thin margin. After a lengthy discussion, the mission control decided to use the new Lua Lander for the rescue.

Unlike the previous 2-launch mission to Armstrong, the crew transfer vehicle and the lander was sent to Lua on a single launch. KSC also tossed in a particularly whiny tourist who wanted to get to Lua's orbit.

The heaviest version of the HOPE launch version was used to chuck the crew capsule and the lander to orbit, along with the Lua Transfer stage.

After an uneventful journey to Lua, the Lander separated from the crew capsule and descended to where Camald Kerman was at.

Camald was just chilling outside his crashed craft and suddenly heard this son-of-a-kraken barelling down towards him at supersonic speed. He ducked and rolled and let out a sigh of relief as the lander did NOT land on his head.

Camald was instructed to perform the science experiments aboard the lander and launch back to the orbiting CTV. Once all the experimental data had been transferred, the CTV separated from the lander and burned towards Rhode.

The tourist in the capsule tried to initiate conversation but it turns out that Camald hated small talk.

The capsule was safely recovered and Camald was detained for questioning. However on the orders of the Rhode military, he had to be released.

One of KSC's sponsors wanted to land a base on Ash. The money was good, and the requirements were not too harsh and after some consultation with mission architects, the 'Blaze' Surface Base was commissioned to land on the fiery moon. The lowlands was selected as the landing site because of the relatively flat topography. The mission happened uneventfully, and the 'Blaze' landed safely on the surface of Ash. Unfortunately due to an error by a stupid intern, mission footage and pictures were lost.

KSC also landed a pressurized rover on Ash to help future expeditions to explore Ash thoroughly.

Spoiler

It Roved So Hard, and Drove So Far...

The rover landed safely, despite some concerning oscillation.

Because of the oscillations, the landing program glitched and the rover landed four kilometers away from the base. The rover had to travel the distance on its own.

According to the terms and conditions of the contract, the base was KSC's property once it had safely landed and cleared all contract parameters. KSC decided to use the 'Blaze' base to complement a crewed mission to Ash to comb the moon of all possible science. Science was rapidly running out of the Rhode system, it was concerning..

Spoiler

The WRONG stuff!

The first crew of the "Phoenix" program was selected for landing and research on Ash. The crew consisted of:
1. Tanden Kerman, Mission Commander and Scientist
2. Desnard Kerman, Payload Specialist and Engineer
3. Jobo Kerman, Payload Specialist and Scientist

It was an uneventful transit to Ash for the crew capsule and the lander.

Once the desired orbit was achieved, the crew of three proceeded with the treacherous descent to Ash's surface. Only 1 out of every 3 Ash landings had been successful, so the crew and the mission control were concerned.

The descent was flawless and the crew landed right next to the base. Way too close for comfort. Mission control breathed a sigh of relief and instructed the crew to EVA to the base.

Tanden was the first to exit the lander. " We have finally done it. We have conquered the last moon of Rhode. Now, we aim for the staaaaaAAAAA--" Tanden was flung from the lander before he could finish his speech. He smacked his face into the surface of Ash and knocked himself out.

As he came back to the world of living, he could hear the troubled shouts of his crew on the radio. "CAPTAAAAAAAIIN! No! Please respond! DONT YOU DARE DIE ON ME!"

"Ugghh.. SHUT THE HECK UP! I am okay, my ankle is busted though!"

"Thank goodness you are alright. We are in some really hot mess right now!"

"What do you mean-- Oh..Oh Krap." Tanden looked at the carnage behind him.

The lander had broken one of its landing legs and had now tipped over, with no way of getting it back upright. Thankfully the hatch was accessible, so the rest of his crew could get out of that vehicle.

"Evacuate the lander this instant! Desnard, vent out all the fuel. We don't want an explosion to wreck the base!"

His crew complied, and once the lander was emptied of it's fuel, they moved to the base. Desnard and Jobo deployed some experiments, and the crew retired for the day.

After an investigation, KSC found out that one of the descent engines ignited unexpectedly as Tanden was descending from the lander. This sudden, offset thrust exerted a high impulsive force on one of the landing legs leading to it's destruction. The engine ignition also led to the lander doing a somersault and flinging Tanden away. Thankfully, the damage was minimal to the crew quarters.     

But the crew can't let this mishap stop them. They have a ton of driving and a lot of science-ing to do over the next few days.

In the meantime, KSC also managed to rendezvous and snag a small B-class asteroid. The "Aster-Ex" Mission was so successful that the guys at mission control bragged that they could start mining and exploiting the bigger D and E class asteroids and make KSC very very rich.

The asteroid was pathetic, weighing 85 tons and having only 60 tons of exploitable resources.

That's it for now, tune in next week to see more stuff. The launch window to Scaythe is coming up in 150 days and there's a BigS asteroid arriving at Rhode's SOI in about a 100 days. So there will be a lot to do for our stupid little kerbals. Its 2 AM and the narrator is feeling very sleepy.

[Nivee~]

Interlude: The Kraken Giveth, and the Kraken Giveth Some M're

Previously, on Above and Beyond, we read a report about the rescue of a 'Camald Kerman' who was mysteriously wrecked at Lua without KSC's knowledge. Today, we move back a few weeks to see what exactly the military was trying to hide when it whisked Camald Kerman away from the KSC's interrogation room.  (Why does the KSC have an interrogation room? Don't ask. Just Don't..)

It was a week ago when Major Camald got the permission to fly a new experimental aircraft. The X-K20, as it was called, was supposedly a revolution in aviation as it could fly near soundlessly and to much higher altitudes than any planes in production.

Or so he heard.

He would only believe it when he flies the plane with his own hands. After waiting a long time for approval, the opportunity was finally here.

"Hmm, just 2 small rocket engines? They can't expect me to get to orbit with just that." Camald touched the fuselage of the plane. " Hey nerd, you never told me how the k-drive works."

" I am afraid that is a secret, you adrenaline junkie." Mert replied coldly. " Consider yourself lucky to even lay your eyes on my masterpiece. A simpleton like you can't even comprehend the taming of the Kraken."

"Hooo, a Kraken? So you are breaking the laws of physics now?" Camald asked.

"Of course not, we are not breaking the laws, just extending them. This discovery shows that our understanding of the universe is far from completion." Mert sighed. " I honestly want to see what happens if we let a K-drive accelerate to speeds faster than light. Will the drive transform to energy? Will it time travel to the future? To the past? Will it break the existence as we know it?"

Camald slowly inched away from the madkerb and started boarding the plane. "Well I don't know what you are blabbering about. All I can do is fly this aircraft to see if it's fit for the Air Force. I want to see how far we can push."

"Oh yes, please do that." Mert nodded. "If things go well, we might tell you to go to orbit, or maybe a quick trip to Lua."

"Hey, are you crazy? Do we even have life support on this plane for a trip that long?"

"We have infinite delta-v you dummy. We can just point this ship to Lua and accelerate. Are you ready?"

"Ready whenever you are."

Fifteen minutes later, Camald was given the GO for launch and take-off. It felt weird not hearing the expected humming of the engine when he switched the Kraken drive on.

"Hey, where's the throttle on this?"

"Oh did I forget to mention? There's no throttle control. You can only switch the K-drive on and off. Fly safe!" Camald could hear the smugness in Mert's voice but there was no turning back now.

He switched the engines on as advised and felt a heavy jerk as the plane picked up speed. 'Damn, no engine spooling. It is either at full power or dead.'

Soon the plane took off and raced to the skies. Without any Delta-v restrictions, he was free to take the most inefficient ascent profile to get into orbit.

"XK-20, you are in orbit. Good job. We would like you to take a trip to Lua."

The journey to Lua was ridiculously easy. On a brachiostrone trajectory, it took him barely 4 minutes to get to the moon instead of the 56 minute transit that it took with the hohmann trajectory. Camald was sure he could reach the nearest planets in a matter of weeks or days.

'Such power. And it's all mine...'

Camald braked into a comfortable low Lua orbit. He started making extreme plane changes just for giggles and begun descending to the surface.

"Captain, a landing attempt is ill advised. We do not know how a the drive will fair while landing propulsively."

"Don't worry about me, I will be fine."

A few minutes later, the experimental plane XK-20 crashed hard on Lua's surface. Only the cockpit and the pilot survived.

The pilot, Camald Kerman, had to be resuced by the KSC in a later mission and was questioned by the military about the K-Drive's capabilities.

Just a few minutes aboard that plane had given him a minor God Complex. He was pretty sure that everyone would salivate at the thought of infinite deltav and its potential. Such a disruptive technology will bring the society to its knees as different groups fight over it.

An unfavorable report later, Camald was designated the task to destroy every prototype, every document related to the K-Drive. It was deemed a potential 'World Breaker' by the Government, and despite the possible breakthroughs in theoretical physics that could be possible with this technology, Rhode's government did not think it was worth the hassle.

As per his instructions, Camald purged every computer, shredded every document and destroyed every prototype about the K-Drive.

On a completely unrelated note, Camald is now in possession of a highly encrypted pen drive.

[FleshJeb]

Great job working the rescue into the overall story. That and getting the plane working.

[Nivee~]

Chapter 4: A "Scaythe-ing" Mission

A wild launch window to Scaythe, Rhode's second closest planet appeared. Kerbals could a) Ignore it; b) Send a probe or c)Send a crew. Thus the KSC decided to choose the most unwise course of action, and decided to send a crew of four to explore all biomes of Scaythe and its smol moon Scindo.

The first launch put the Hab-Lab module into orbit. This was the spaceship's core stage seating 4 kerbals, and carrying a science rover with it. The module was deployed in space and all of its subsystems were tested before the next launch.

Spoiler

The Hab/Lab module in all its glory. Cramped living arrangements for 4, a science lab and a rover to explore all biomes of Scaythe

The next launch would be the Scaythe Lander and Return vehicle (SLR). Since Scaythe is one BigS celestial body, the lander had to be considerably thicc. This two-stage bad boy could ferry two kerbals to and from Scaythe's surface, and also serve as a Scindo hopper after refuelling from the mothership.

Spoiler

That was a SMOOTH-BRAINED operator...

The heaviest version of the HOPE launch vehicle was used to lift the heavy lander to orbit.

<Obligatory beauty shot>

Now, this is where the beauty of the kerbal smooth brain is aptly described. They initially designed a Scaythe exclusive lander which did not have docking ability along with a dedicated Scindo lander. But later they scrapped the Scindo Lander, making SLR do double duty. HOWEVER, they did not include the docking apparatus. How did they think they would refuel the SLR's upper stage without docking? I swear, sometimes the engineers can be smart and dumb at the same time.

The launch of the SLR was without issues. But since it could not dock on its own, the Hab-Lab module which had the RCS ports, docked with it.

Spoiler

...It was a Smooth-Brained Operation!

They clearly did not think this through.

According to Kerbal safety guidelines, propulsion modules need to be assembled separately, far away from crewed modules before the final mating. Therefore, the next launch lofted the propulsion core module into orbit, and the subsequent two launches put the drop tanks up there.

Spoiler

Launching the core propulsion module.

Rendezvous and docking of drop tanks. It was a wiggly affair, trying to get those RCS tugs out of the assembly, but everything turned out to be alright in the end. Those RCS tugs were deorbited to avoid littering the planet's orbit.

Once the Propulsion module was completely assembled, the transfer stage launched it to rendezvous with the Hab/Lab module.

As both modules rendezvoused, the propulsion module discarded it's transfer stage and started the final docking approach. The docking took place without incident, and the IPV Endeavor was ready to serve.

The final launch put the crew of the IPV into orbit. The crew had 3 scientists and 1 pilot, with Valentina as the captain of the ship. The new crew capsule could take 4 to orbit at once. But it had not been tested before, so a lot could go wrong. Fingers crossed.

And before I forget, meet the crew!

1. Valentina Kerman, Mission commander and pilot
2. Bob Kerman, Health Officer and Scientist
3. Nenard Kerman, Payload Specialist and Scientist
4. Stelfred Kerman,Payload Specialist and Scientist

Spoiler

An Interesting Title!

Meanwhile, at the Blaze Surface base on Ash.

"This is not cool at all!" Jobo grunted as she fiddled with her laptop. "We are busting our butts working on these Kraken-forsaken moons and out of nowhere, those complete rookies get a chance to be the first crew to go to another planet! BAH!"

" Calm down, it's only a matter of time before our performance gets acknowledged. At this point we are more experienced than the Fab 4 themselves."

"Yeah! Think about how bad it is for Valentina and Bob. They are basically glorified baby sitters at this point. I doubt Mission control will allow those rookies out of the science lab of the spaceship."

"Yeah whatever." Jobo trailed off as she kept working on the science she gathered from one of the numerous Lava oceans on the torrid moon of Ash. Her disappointment was immeasurable and her day was ruined. After all, she had been sent on missions on all three of Rhode's moons to research science and gain experience. The Mission Control was grooming her and her team to be ready for the first Interplanetary mission, only for them to be grounded on Ash to make way for two rich 'Pay-astronauts'. There was dissatisfaction in the Base, but as long as it did not turn into a mutiny, Mission Control was okay with it.

*******

"You nervous?" Val asked Stelfred as the hour long countdown started. Stelfred was made to sit by her side in the command section of the crew launch vehicle while Bob was watching over Nenard Kerman in the crew cabin.

"Umm, y-yeah. Quite a bit." Stelfred stammered. "Are you sure it was the right decision to choose us for this mission? Surely there are kerbonauts more qualified than me and my sister?"

"Yup, there are more deserving candidates." Val watched Stelfred shrink into herself "But, you two have shown excellent promise and aptitude in the simulations. It will be a shame to waste your potential at a desk job."

Stelfred blushed up a storm, her cheeks coloring a dark shade of forest green. "But what if I mess up?"

"You won't. Believe in yourself. If you can't do that, then believe in me, for I believe in you." Val smiled at her, in her usual motherly fashion. Stelfred cracked a smile and she grinned. "Okay, I will do that.."

As the clock started counting down the last 10 seconds until launch, Stelfred closed her eyes and said a quick prayer. She thanked her parents, her teachers and her friends who helped her and her sister reach where they are. Even if she did not come back from this mission, she would still be grateful that she was born into this world.

The main engine roared to life, the launch clamps disengaged and the HOPE rocket started rising. It began the pitch and roll maneuver and Stelfred was quite surprised with how gentle it felt compared to the simulations. 'Must be because of the new vibration dampeners Mr Bob designed.'

The rocket started pitching as it kept going higher and faster. The increasing G-forces only brought a smile to her face as her heart started beating at an exhilarating pace. After reaching a certain speed and attitude, the abort system separated from the rocket, as planned.

When the fairings separated, Stelfred gasped as she saw the planet like she had never seen before. Tiny hills, small settlements, rivulets and inland seas, everything looked so small and insignificant from up here.

'If only they could realize how little they matter in the grand scheme of Stelfred thought

"I know right? Those warhawks and politicians on the ground should take a ride to space. The world would be a much better place if that happened.

"WHA- Are you reading my mind?"

"No, just reading your expressions. I have seen that dazed looks on way too many rookies by now." Val continued. "I know that this is an overwhelming feeling, but just think of this journey as leaving behind your mortal worries on the planet. You will feel a lot better, trust me."

The yet-to-be-named CTV circularized in a 65x67 km orbit, and then proceeded to rendezvous with the IPV Endeavor

(The extra bits and pieces that you might see on the IPV were docked in a quick mission which the Author regrettably failed to document.)

As soon as the hatch opened, the two veteran kerbonauts took their places in the command module, and the two rookies got cozy at the Science Lab. Nenard Kerman was bouncing off the walls of the lab, nerding out over the advanced scientific equipments on board, but then again, you can't spell 'Nenard' without 'Nerd'.

The CTV undocked from the IPV Endeavor and would dock to the 'Orbital Laboratory' Space Station.

With all crew preparations complete, all that had to be done was the final checkout.

Spoiler

LET'S GOOOOO!

The IPV Endeavor discarded the engine cover and service module once it was ready to launch. Tests were performed to ensure that the engines would fire adequately.

The engines fired up in Rhode's shadow and executed the ejection burn to Scaythe. The crew said their goodbyes, and readied themselves for the adventure ahead.

But did you know, the engineers forgot to fit communications equipment on the IPV? Crazy right?

A crewed Interplanetary spaceship incapable of communicating back home is as good as useless. So, the space center is going to launch a Comms equipment and relay satellites on a high delta-v trajectory to Scaythe to save the crippled ship.. Meanwhile, a launch window to Fury, the innermost planet of the Tempus system will open up in about 300 days.

Please wait for the next installment to read more about the miscellaneous  misadventures and miscalculations of Rhode's space agency. Thank you for reading!