[AAR] The Grand Tour - Voyage To The Planets

[Designer225]

Given the current condition, Jeb and the rest of his crew will be more pressured. I wonder what would go next.

And I thought Bob's fall is more soap opera than (Bill) Clinton's fall.

[BostLabs]

Given the current condition, Jeb and the rest of his crew will be more pressured. I wonder what would go next.

And I thought Bob's fall is more soap opera than (Bill) Clinton's fall.

Pfft! Clinton came out of that smelling like a rose.

Besides, Bob's story isn't soap opera. Like all great books and stories I've read in my life, Bob's part is important. It provides conflict.

Bob's fate here also made me re-evaluate Bob's role in my missions going forward. My AAR Beagle Flight (not a plug) has Bob in second seat now than 3rd banana. That was a direct result from reading this story.

[Designer225]

Now you talked about it, I need to re-think my AAR crew position.

Information: Originally my AAR is supposed to have 2 landers housing 3, and a ship housing 7. That means one of them (which is originally Bob) would have to stay onboard throughout the flight. However, by reading this AAR, I have thought that I should make a lander of 4, to give Bob room to wiggle. (You guess it, Bob is one of the crew.) I'm not going to use the Dragon Rider, however, and decided to make my own. Not a mod, but using stock parts.

Edited August 10, 2013 by Designer225
grammar

[czokletmuss]

CHAPTER 17

DRES ORBIT INSERTION; DRES LANDING

121 DAYS AFTER THE DRES TRANSFER BURN

***

BERTY v.2.0.8: Orbit injection burn completed. Dres orbit achieved.

BILL: Prepare AMU for undocking.

BERTY v.2.0.8: Checking. All systems operational. Kethane scanner online. Automatic Miner Unit ready for undocking.

BILL: Release it.

BERTY v.2.0.8: Affirmative.

BERTY v.2.0.8: Automatic Miner Unit released. Executing mining protocol 001/D/A.

BILL: Good. Circularize as soon as we can. I want nice equatorial orbit at, let's see… 205 kilometers.

BERTY v.2.0.8: Affirmative .

BILL: What about Ned and VCA?

BERTY v.2.0.8: Chief engineer Ned and his team is prepared for the Vehicle Condition Assessment, commander. We can proceed immediately after establishing new orbit.

BILL: Mhm. And start orbital scanning, we need to find viable landing site.

BERTY v.2.0.8: Affirmative.

***

JOHNDON: …completely f-fused. There is no w-way we can repair that Ned, just like you said.

NED: Oh really? What a pity nobody foresaw that and thus saved us dragging this dead weight for few months.

BERTY v.2.0.8: Ned, you have described this very scenario 46 times since we have left Eve's sphere of influence.

NED: :sigh: I know, BERTY, I was being ironic.

BERTY v.2.0.8: The use of words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of its literal meaning is a very inefficient way of communicating, Ned.

NED: Thank you BERTY, I've never thought about this like that.

BERTY v.2.0.8: You are welcome.

NED: :sigh:

JOHNDON: Uh, N-ned? Linguistics is an interesting topic to d-discuss but, uhm …

NED: I'm sorry. Check the elbow pitch joint, please – maybe we at least could cannibalize it.

JOHNDON: Copy that.

BERTY v.2.0.8: Ned, I've to remind you that according to the new safety protocol none of the parts can be removed permanently without the approval of the mission control. Moreover, removing the robotic arm B would cause imbalance of the whole spacecraft and therefore is not advised.

NED: But we can save some fuel this way! It's not like we will aerobrake before randez-vous with the Payload B above Duna anyways, so…

JOHNDON: Uhm, the joint is broken. I don't think that we can salvage anything.

NED: Crap! Are you sure?

JOHNDON: Y-yes. Should I proceed to the heat shield?

NED: I guess so. BERTY?

BERTY v.2.0.8: Heat shield ready for visual inspection.

NED: You heard it. Damn, I wish I could help you Johndon. Are you sure you can handle it?

JOHNDON: Sure, no p-problem Ned.

BERTY v.2.0.8: Please remember that according to the new EVA safety protocol only one supervised crew member can…

NED: BERTY, please. Because of this stupid changes we're only wasting our time.

JOHNDON: Approaching the heat shield.

BERTY v.2.0.8: Safety has the highest priority, Ned.

NED: Yeah, like any procedure can guarantee that there will be no accident.

BERTY v.2.0.8: Quantitative risk assessment…

NED: Forget it, BERTY. Let's just focus on the EVA, alright? I would feel much more secure with the unfolded and checked shield.

BERTY v.2.0.8: Affirmative.

***

DANREY: Unfolding solar panels. Okay, “Proteusâ€Â, we're ready.

BILL: Copy that.

GENANAND: It's so good to finally see some solid surface. After all these weeks… It's like discovering new land after spending weeks on the dark ocean, don't you think Sid?

SIDELY: Whatever.

BILL: You are go for orbit change, I repeat, you are go for orbit change.

DANREY: Roger.

GENANAND: You are still worrying about captain Jeb, am I right?

SIDELY: Yes Genanand, I am. And I still think that spending some time on the surface will help him.

GENANAND: Well, he's still suspended after what he has done.

SIDELY: Rozer provoked him.

GENANAND: But he did punch him, Sid. Listen, I know you are good friends but it's not our call.

DANREY: I would gladly hand over this landing to him, Mr. Sidely, he's much better pilot than I am.

GENANAND: Thank you Dan, but we all know that you need this, that's what the doctors said. Unfortunately, anxiety attack is not reason enough for some people.

SIDELY: Oh really? So maybe you could explain one thing for me – how come while going to land on a dwarf planet we're not taking geologist with us?

GENANAND: Now wait a second…

SIDELY: Do we really need physicist down there? Or maybe this decision was affected by EECO back on Kerbin who just happens to be the old friend of this physicist? I wonder.

GENANAND: Are you suggesting that I…

SIDELY: I'm not suggesting anything. It's just that some of the KSC's recent decisions are quite… puzzling.

GENANAND: If you think that your beloved “commander†Jebediah should…

DANREY: Hey! Mr. Sidely, Mr. Genanand – I understand that you have, uhm, issues to talk about but as long as you are with me we're going to concentrate on the mission, okay? So please, behave like kerbonauts.

SIDELY: …

GENANAND: …

DANREY: :sigh: It's going to take some time before we land, so maybe, uhm, maybe you would like to listen to some music? If nobody wants to talk, I mean.

GENANAND: Yes.

DANREY: Great, great. I hope you like classical music.

***

DANREY: And touchdown! We've landed in the canyon!

SIDELY: Hooray.

GENANAND: This is incredible! Can we proceed with the EVA?

DANREY: Yup. I need to take care of the LAMGML first, but you are free to go.

GENANAND: Absolutely astounding. Alright, I'm going to make a first step… And so we've come to the asteroid belt.

SIDELY: Very creative.

GENANAND: I see some interesting rocks, I'm going to investigate.

GENANAND: Okay, I took some samples. Come on, people, it'll be dark soon.

SIDELY: Wow.

GENANAND: Incredible, isn't it?

SIDELY: Yeah. We're in a geological heaven and we don't have a geologist. How clever.

DANREY: Gentlemen, please. We have work to do. Mr.. Sidely, could you plant the flag so that we can finish the formalities and focus on the samples?

SIDELY: Sure.

SIDELY: There. Another rock conquered by the brave crew of “Proteusâ€Â. :sigh:

DANREY: Say what you want, Mr. Sidely, but we are the first ones.

SIDELY: It's not a race, Dan. And if it is, we've lost 12 years ago when “Jingwei†landed – remember?

DANREY: Well of course! Yang Liwe, Zhai Zhigang and Liu Wang, first people to set foot on Duna. One of the reasons why I decided to became a kerbonaut, you know?

GENANAND: Such a shame we didn't make it.

SIDELY: It's not about flag waving, doctor.

GENANAND: Maybe, but we are here now and it's our flag you just planted. And we could've been on Duna too; besides, this whole Duna Direct idea? One of us figured this out, not one of them.

SIDELY: I'm not surprised to find out that we have even less in common than I thought, doctor Genanand. It was Kubrin's idea – nobody listened to him, so he found people who did. Science doesn't care about national pride.

GENANAND: Said one of the “Kadmos†trio.

DANREY: Can we please focus on the mission?

SIDELY: Oh, yes, we have to. What could be more important than our mission? After all, it's the only thing that matters, right?

***

MISSION STATUS

***

Edited August 11, 2013 by czokletmuss

[Tyber]

Great chapter! I had a feeling that the 'new generation' will mess up and cause terrible consequences due to them being indoctrinated or lack of empathy. I don't like some of them.

[Wesmark]

Amazing Chapter! What mods do you use?

[czokletmuss]

Great chapter! I had a feeling that the 'new generation' will mess up and cause terrible consequences due to them being indoctrinated or lack of empathy. I don't like some of them.

Good People have different motivations and characters, it would be very unrealistic to make every single one of the crew members to behave in the same way.

Amazing Chapter! What mods do you use?

That's not everything of course However Universe Replacer is the new "must have". I would LOVE to have some custom spacesuits for "Proteus" - I hope devs will add one day features like this.

Edited August 10, 2013 by czokletmuss

[silentdragon]

And again, great chapter! I'm also starting to feel like there will be a lot more trouble because of the "new generation" crewmembers... And i'm afraid Jeb might even do worse than just punching someone (but after all, I kinda understand him). But one thing I also want to know is how Jeb and Bill come along.

[RogueMason]

Dres, that's one of the places I need to go back to. I've only been there once, the same as Moho (although I did a flyby of the latter when 0.21 hit). Anyway, great chapter once again

[czokletmuss]

And again, great chapter! I'm also starting to feel like there will be a lot more trouble because of the "new generation" crewmembers... And i'm afraid Jeb might even do worse than just punching someone (but after all, I kinda understand him). But one thing I also want to know is how Jeb and Bill come along.

Thanks! Jeb-Bill relations will be flashed out, that's for sure

Dres, that's one of the places I need to go back to. I've only been there once, the same as Moho (although I did a flyby of the latter when 0.21 hit). Anyway, great chapter once again

Well, to be honest Dres is one of the most boring targets; Moho is close to Sun and hard to get, Eve has a moon and dense atmosphere, Duna has Ike and is the best place for colonization, Jool and moons it's like another miniature solar system, Eeloo is challenging to get to. And Dres just kinda floats there

[Itsdavyjones]

good chapter, always a good read.

[BostLabs]

Yea! New chapter. Good stuff!

Lots of conflict going on there. LOL!

[czokletmuss]

CHAPTER 18

MINING: DRES

***

BERTY v.2.0.8: Commander, Automatic Miner Unit has detected kethane deposit. Landing in progress.

BILL: Very good. Let me know if something happens.

BERTY v.2.0.8: Affirmative.

BERTY v.2.0.8: Warning. Connection with Automatic Miner Unit lost. Searching.

BILL: What? How?! BERTY, report.

BERTY v.2.0.8: Connection lost. On-board computer is now in control. Rebooting.

BILL: My Kod, this is our only source of fuel! BERTY, reestablish control over the AMU at once!

BERTY v.2.0.8: Affirmative. Connection secured. Checking.

BILL: Tell me everything is alright.

BERTY v.2.0.8: Automatic Miner Unit has landed. Drill operational. Solar panels operational. No damage to the landing legs. Warning. RCS thruster A3 non responsive.

BILL: Damage assessment. Can we dock safely without one thruster?

BERTY v.2.0.8: Affirmative. According to new docking protocol, docking operation with vessel which RCS or SAS system is damaged requires presence of two pilots in the command module and one engineer-supervisor.

BILL: Whew! Alright than – start the drilling and tell Rozer and Ned that their presence here will be required in what, 4 hours?

BERTY v.2.0.8: Randez-vous with the Automatic Miner Unit is expected to begin in 3 hours and 23 minutes.

BILL: Just tell them. And notify me when kethane tanks are full – I have a feeling that this won't be “business as usualâ€Â.

***

BERTY v.2.0.8: Kethane tanks are full. Drilling completed.

BILL: Okay. Retract the first drill BERTY. Gently.

BERTY v.2.0.8: Affirmative.

BILL: Good. Now, as soon as we can confirm that…

BERTY v.2.0.8: Warning. RCS thruster A4 non responsive.

BILL: Weird. Check the electronics and…

BERTY v.2.0.8: Warning. RCS thruster A1 non responsive. Automatic Miner Unit is moving with the velocity of 1,3 m/s.

BILL: What the…? Are engines online?

BERTY v.2.0.8: Negative. 1,5 m/s. Multiple failures in the drill B detected.

BILL: Are you sure you're getting the right data? AMU can't move if… In which direction?

BERTY v.2.0.8: South-west. 1,8 m/s.

BILL: On-board computer landed in the crater when he lost contact with you, right?

BERTY v.2.0.8: Affirmative. 1,9 m/s.

BILL: Holy crap, it's sliding down the crater! Initiate emergency ascent protocol!

BERTY v.2.0.8: Negative. Drill B not retracted.

BILL: Override!

BERTY v.2.0.8: Affirmative. Emergency ascent protocol initiated.

BILL: Crap. Plot the course for the randez-vous with “Proteusâ€Â. Is the AMU still capable of docking?

BERTY v.2.0.8: Negative. RCS thruster A1, A4 and A3 non responsive. Safe approach to the mothership impossible.

BILL: According to the docking protocol, yes, but we can still catch it using the robotic arm and then repair it, right?

BERTY v.2.0.8: I'm sorry, commander, I can't answer to that question without more data about the condition of the Automatic Miner Unit.

BILL: Hmm. When we can expect AMU to approach “Proteus�

BERTY v.2.0.8: Randez-vous is expected to happen in 68 years, 35 days, 3 hours and 15 minutes.

BILL: What?! Err, can you please double-check all systems of the AMU? And I want Rozer and Ned here ASAP.

BERTY v.2.0.8: Affirmative.

***

ROZER: We need the kethane. We have to try this.

NED: Really? You know that the AMU weighs more than 50 tones, right? Do you have any idea how severe the damage can be if it collides with us?

ROZER: I understand this. But without AMU we can't continue our mission.

NED: No, we can't. But we h]ave enough fuel to execute transfer burn to Duna and wait for cargo from home. Or abort to Kerbin.

ROZER: Aborting the mission is out of the question. IMV “Proteus†is fully operational, all we need is more fuel – not on Duna's orbit but later, while exploring joolian moons.

NED: Maybe but do we need to put everyone in jeopardy trying to capture the AMU? Bill, say something. And where's Jeb? He's the most…

ROZER: He's on cleaning duty.

NED: You sent our best pilot to look out for mold?! Bill, this is just…!

BILL: He's still suspended and I can't do anything about it, Ned. You know the protocol.

NED: Well of course, let the bureaucrats back on Kerbin dictate us what to do. Listen, I can go and…

BILL: No. Unless we really need to, we are doing everything by the book.

ROZER: With all due respect commander, I don't think we can just ignore the rules when we want too. There was already one casualty.

NED: …

BILL: …

ROZER: BERTY, without AMU when we will run out of fuel according to the plan?

BERTY v.2.0.8: Assuming there won't be any trajectory corrections, “Proteus†will run out of fuel during Phase 9.

ROZER: That's Tylo's SOI. Bill, we need the fuel. Even if AMU is broken beyond repair, we can still take everything and then just leave it here. But we need the fuel.

NED: We have enough! We can't risk any damage to the ship. For Kod's sake, it's 50 tones we are talking about.

BILL: BERTY, tell dr Johndon we need him to operate the robotic arm.

BERTY v.2.0.8: Affirmative.

ROZER: Commander?

BILL: We're going for it.

[

***

BILL: :sigh: Alright, 6th approach. Take it easy, doctor.

JOHNDON: I'm t-trying, commander, but it's moving too f-fast.

NED: It won't work, Bill. I'm sorry, Johndon is the best guy for this work but you have to open your eyes. We're lucky that nothing has happened so far – can we abandon this idea for good? 'Cause this space ballet is just a waste of time.

BERTY v.2.0.8: Proximity alert.

ROZER: Cancel alarm. So what do you propose than? Without additional fuel there will be no more landings on Dres. We will fail.

NED: No, we won't – we've men down there who at this very moment…

JOHNDON: F-f-f…!

BILL: What is it doctor?

JOHNDON: I m-m-missed it again!

BILL: Damn!

NED: So now what?

ROZER: We have to try again.

NED: Again? And what if this time there will be collision? We can't…

JEB: I'll do it.

NED: Jeb! How long…?

JEB: If the common berthing mechanism is intact, I can use LAMGML to dock to the AMU and use lander's RCS system to approach slow and precise enough so that doctor Johndon can catch us.

ROZER: Wait a second, you are still suspended, you can't do this.

JEB: Bill?

BILL: He's right. I can't let you do this.

JEB: Listen. I can do this. You know that. I now I'm suspended but we really need what AMU carries and mission control is months of flight from here. You can say that I didn't want to listen to you, but please, let me try this.

ROZER: Commander, you can't allow him to…

BILL: You said it yourself, captain Rozer – we need the AMU. BERTY, prepare the LAMGML “Beta†for undocking.

BERTY v.2.0.8: Affirmative.

ROZER: The mission control…

BILL: That was an order, captain! I'm the commander of this ship and all the responsibility is mine. Dismissed.

***

JEB: Docked. Checking connection… Okay, it appears I can switch to manual control.

BILL: Doctor Johndon?

JOHNDON: I'm r-ready.

BILL: Alright. You can begin the approach.

JEB: Copy that.

BILL: Take your time, Jeb.

BERTY v.2.0.8: Proximity alert.

BILL: Cancel alarm. Keep us posted about the distance though.

BERTY v.2.0.8: Affirmative. 30 meters.

BILL: Doctor?

JOHNDON: Almost t-there.

BERTY v.2.0.8: 25 meters.

NED: You can do it, Jeb.

ROZER: I thought you say that this is a bad idea.

BERTY v.2.0.8: 20 meters.

NED: Because it is. But if there is anyone who can do this, it's him.

ROZER: We'll see about that.

BERTY v.2.0.8: 15 meters.

BILL: Talk to me Jeb.

JEB: It's hard to stabilize but it's looking…

BERTY v.2.0.8: 10 meters.

BILL: What are you waiting for? Catch him!

JOHNDON: He's coming t-too fast!

BERTY v.2.0.8: 5 meters.

NED: Oh crap!

BILL: Pull up, pull up!

BERTY v.2.0.8: 3 meters.

BILL: For the love of Kod, what was that?!

JEB: I don't know, the AMU's RCS was non responsive for a few seconds!

NED: Man, that was close.

BERTY v.2.0.8: 10 meters.

JEB: I'll gain some distance and try again.

BILL: No, it's too dangerous.

ROZER: Commander?

BILL: Wait until you are far enough, then undock and come back to “Proteusâ€Â.

JEB: But what about AMU?

BILL: Leave it. We can't risk collision.

NED: :sigh:

BILL: BERTY, I want you too…

JEB: I think I'll try one more time.

BILL: What? Jeb, I'm your superior and that was an order – abandon the AMU and return to the ship. Do you copy?

JEB: Negative, Bill.

BILL: Jeb, stop screwing around. I command you to…!

JEB: I'm sorry.

BILL: Jeb? Jeb!

BERTY v.2.0.8: Contact with the LAMGML “Beta†lost.

BILL: Where is he?!

ROZER: I told you!

BILL: Shut up! BERTY, initiate…

BERTY v.2.0.8: 35 meters.

BILL: Frak! Seal all the hatches! Turn on the RCS!

BERTY v.2.0.8: Affirmative. 30 meters.

NED: My Kod, Jeb!

BILL: Prepare for impact! Johndon!

JOHNDON: I'm t-t-t… I g-got him!

BILL: Status report.

BERTY v.2.0.8: All systems nominal. LAMGML “Beta†was captured by the robotic arm B. Should I start transferring the fuel and kethane gas, commander?

BILL: Huh. He did it. Jeb, you son of a…!

NED: Bill?

ROZER: Sir? Why are you laughing?

BILL: I'm alright, I'm alright, it's just… well, what did I expect?

ROZER: Are you going to report this unacceptable behavior, commander?

BILL: Report? No way – he did what he promised to do. KSC won't hear even a word about it. This little mutiny though… BERTY?

BERTY v.2.0.8: Yes, commander?

BILL: I'm revoking all flight permissions and access to the landers for captain Jebediah indefinitely as soon as he return with LAMGML.

BERTY v.2.0.8: Affirmative.

NED: Are you sure that this is the best way to handle it?

BILL: It's not your call, Ned. And you, Rozer – don't look so grim. We have the AMU and all the precious kethane. Aerobraking or not, Duna or Kerbin – we're safe now.

***

MISSION STATUS

***

[czokletmuss]

I think I got a flu or something, so there may be more typos/errors than normally - just saying.

Next update - well, I would love to write it tomorrow, but I can't guarantee it now. I would also like to post something new for the Space Race in the next few days.

good chapter, always a good read.

Thank you

Yea! New chapter. Good stuff!

Lots of conflict going on there. LOL!

Thx! Conflict among the crew is one of the challenges for the long space travel in RL - astronauts who work on ISS spend more than 18 months training together to make sure they can make a good team (http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/support/training/isstraining/).

[Tyber]

Next chapter already? I'm not ready for this! Great chapter, Bill finally managed to pull out part of that stick up his ass.

[Guest]

Great chapter, as always.

Too bad about Jeb.

[The Error]

Go ahead, revoke Jeb's flight permission. I dare you.

[Wesmark]

Love this story!

[Wesmark]

What mods do you use for your landers?

[czokletmuss]

Next chapter already? I'm not ready for this! Great chapter, Bill finally managed to pull out part of that stick up his ass.

I'm feeling better so expect yet another chapter today!

Great chapter, as always.

Too bad about Jeb.

Go ahead, revoke Jeb's flight permission. I dare you.

Love this story!

What mods do you use for your landers?

Let me think - circular solar panel from Lionhead, Soyuz capsule from Bobcat, common berthing mechanism from Fusty and the rest is mainly from SpaceTech. Oh, and there are Lazors as well. I will post a .craft file on Spaceport IF I get LAMGML working on the 0.21 version - the Grand Tour is powered by 0.20.2

[BostLabs]

Jeb saves the day once more and they take away his flight status. LOL.

Typical in today's environment.

czokletmuss, can you tell me the part count of Proteus please. I think Colossus may need some trimming to avoid memory issues.

[czokletmuss]

czokletmuss, can you tell me the part count of Proteus please. I think Colossus may need some trimming to avoid memory issues.

158 with both LAMGML's and without AMU; with both landers and AMU it's 185 and KSP is on the verge of crashing, so I guess for my laptop (bought in 2011) 190 parts means completely unplayable vessel.

[BostLabs]

Colossus is like 285. Heh, no wonder I have mem issues.

I'll find an interesting way to correct this issue.

[Mr. Pseudonym]

158 with both LAMGML's and without AMU; with both landers and AMU it's 185 and KSP is on the verge of crashing, so I guess for my laptop (bought in 2011) 190 parts means completely unplayable vessel.

Holy crap, you can't run a craft with 190 parts? My desktop starts to lag at 450 (my craft that I made to go to Jool is named the KSS Veronica Lissioncorse (about 350 parts), and most of the payload delivery ships put the payload craft files over 200. That means you can't deliver my payload ), but it doesn't crash during flight. Mostly does that during assembly.*

*All HIRP&DERP crafts require some assembly & batteries

[czokletmuss]

Well, what can I say - it ain't the best laptop you know Though it's caused by the dozens of mods and plugins too; when KSP will use multithreading I expect much better performance.