Colonization: Chapter two-Lalock Valley (AAR) [pic heavy]

[Patupi]

Completed Chapters:

Ch1: Farside Crater, Ch2: Lalock Valley(this one!), Ch3: Tylen Sea, Ch4: Munbase Alpha, Ch5: Jool Explorer

Ongoing Chapters: Chapter Six: Atomic Science

This is a continuation of my AAR, an ongoing story of exploration, and hopefully colonization of the Kerbol system. This Chapter is the tale of the first trip to Duna, a footsteps and flag mission. While it is ongoing there will be other AARs alongside it for missions done in the Kerbin system to Mun and Minmus. The Duna mission is a little more long winded one.

For this AAR I'm using the following mods in career mode with a custom Tech Tree. Actions on the Fly, Editor Extensions, Firespitter, KAS, Kethane, Mechjeb, Science Log, Universe Replacer, City lights and Clouds, Interstellar, and Procedural Fairings.

I'm also limiting the time it takes to use science points gained by exploration and experiments. The Kerbals at KSC can use 3 pts per day, so a 90pt research project takes 30 days to complete.

Note that though this is all based on my actual game I'm mainly focusing on story telling, so one or two details may be altered from the play. Also the interludes/preludes etc don't have pics as I haven't done modelling in ages and really don't feel like mocking up pics of Kerbals in corridors talking to each other. Other aspects have in game pics.

Hope you like it.

Prelude

Through the gleaming corridors of KSC (KSC paid their cleaning crew WELL!) strode the tall, crew cut, chizle jawed kerbonaut, drawing stares as he passed.

"Hey Jedwig." Caldin called to him as he passed.

"Hey Caldin... I mean Telemetry. Ha!"

Caldin's smile slipped a little. It wasn't even as if what Jedwig had said was mean or anything, just... something about him oozed self-importance. That was the third time Caldin had tried to greet Jedwig, the new Commander of the upcoming Duna mission, and the third time he'd felt somehow snubbed... without actually anything solid he could put his finger on.

"You too huh?" Came a voice from beside him

"Oh, Hi Lildel. Um, yeah. What's with him anyway?" Caldin said, aiming his thumb back where Jedwig had vanished round the corner.

"Well, in his own words. 'It's hard to be humble when you're as Genius as I am.' "

"Wait, 'as genius as I am'? That's horrible grammar!" Caldin said and made a face.

"Yeah, tell me about it. Talking isn't his forte. I was with him in school and he is a natural mathematician. Doesn't need a calculator most of the time. Sad to say he is a genius, both in maths and physics, and from what I hear a very good pilot too. Doesn't make many friends though."

"Thank Kod it isn't just me!" Caldin said as he heard another 'Ha!' from Jedwig further up the corridor "He still tries to make friends though huh?"

"Yeah." Caldin said with a snort. "He hasn't a clue. Genius, but... dumb."

Chuckling the two Mission Control officers headed back to the break-room for some well earned snacks.

***

"And he was at four o'clock, buzzing down like a bat out of Heck." Jeb said, grinning from ear to ear as he enthused in front of the recruits "My prop noise cut out a lot so I didn't know his engine had cut out till he slid right past me. We were out fifty miles from shore, and when I saw him bail... well, I knew he'd never make it in the drink till a rescue chopper came in."

He stood up on the bench in the lockers as the various blue shirts gathered round to hear a daring tale from fabled Jebediah Kerman.

"I couldn't snatch him from the sea once he was down, so I dove down, rolled over, then pulled up, driving him into the rear seat before he even opened his chute! Ha that was so..."

"Inefficient."

All heads turned to the new voice, and several eyebrows went up as they recognized the Commander for the Duna mission.

"Um, Hey Jedwig." Jeb said, awkwardly. "Come on over, grab a seat."

One of the braver recruits stuck his hand up and Jeb nearly snorted. This wasn't a lecture hall! But Jedwig seemed to just accept it and nodded to the guy.

"Um, Commander? What do you mean inefficient?"

"If the other aircraft was coming in from a bearing 120 degrees, and descending rapidly with no engine, the best intercept would have simply been to nose down, pull left to match heading and pull up. That way you wouldn't have to do more maneuvering to survive the encounter after having retrieved the errant pilot."

Most of the trainees were looking sort of stunned. Someone QUESTIONING the great Jeb's performance? One or two though were nodding agreement and Jeb was starting to get ticked off.

"Uh huh. And of course you'd know from being in that situation before right?"

"Doesn't enter into it." Jedwig said condescendingly "It's all a matter of numbers, vectors and trajectories. I understand you failed vector maths, didn't you Jeb?"

Teeth ground as Jeb glared at Jedwig, but before he could give a retort the offending idiot... Right, his name was Jedwig Jeb reminded himself... looked at his watch and sighed.

"Ah well, gotta go now. Real Kerbonautics to do. I believe it's a training sim for conditions on the Duna surface. See you later Jeb."

And with that the guy strode off without another word leaving Jeb seething behind him. He was just starting to see red and wondering how far he could throw his shoe when a hand descended on his shoulder.

"Not worth it son." Gene's calm voice said. "True he's good, and a maths genius, but he's not a test pilot. He doesn't have the feel for it. There aren't enough of that breed, and sooner or later Jedwig is going to figure out that there are some problems you can't solve via mathematics."

Slowly Jeb calmed and stared after the guy.

"I just hope I'm there to rub his face in it when he does!"

Edited February 22, 2014 by Patupi
updating chapters

[123nick]

what does AAR even mean? i heard it said before but i thought it was only 1 person working on whatever a AAR is

[Patupi]

Blast off

"T minus thirty seconds Duna One." Gene said into the mic.

"Roger Flight. Pre-flight board green. Checks complete."

At least the smarminess disappeared when he was getting ready for a launch, and he really was good at his job. The guy just had no clue how to relate to people and didn't handle sudden surprises well. Odd given what he was chosen for, but the guy could usually work out what was going to happen ahead of time, and was really good at it. Thus he rarely had surprises to deal with.

Gene sighed. He'd voted against Jedwig for the Duna mission, but political and scientific heads had picked him, and the guy was good at his job. Gene just had to keep telling himself that.

There was just that nagging suspicion that was lurking at the back of Gene's head that something was going to go horribly wrong.

"T minus Five... four... three... two... one... and liftoff!" Gene said as the fiery blaze came from the massive stack of solid boosters staged under the already large section above. The Duna One system seemed a bit of a kludge at first sight, but Wernher and Dunkel had gone over it carefully, both when it was being designed and as it was assembled. The ship was good, more stable than Munar One or Two by the look of it as he watched the ship rise atop it's pillar of flame.

"Launch clamps clear." Jedwig's voice came over the line "Lost one rear view camera in port assembly. Others are sending true."

The camera showed Jedwig's gaze flicking rapidly across the panels, but his face appeared calm as he analyzed all that data. Jeb didn't need to. Although Jeb followed the plots Mission Control worked out for him, he'd proven time and again that he could fly the capsule just from feeling the vibration in his seat, watching the horizon change and gauging the constellations visible.

Gene remembered those early days lobbing rockets to orbit. Kerbal Two had gone badly, but Jeb's instincts had saved the mission, and his own life, when the nav system had shorted out. Luckily the rest of the system had been intact, but they hadn't really been sure. Before they'd even been able to lock down what the problem was Jeb had started working out his course and had ignored all the controls because he didn't know which was reading right and which weren't. He'd made it fine of course, and been a heck of lot less insufferable than Jedwig was on a daily basis.

A smile came to Gene's face as he remembered those early days. Dangerous, yes. Sometimes they'd had some spectacular failures, but no loss of life yet, right up to today. Gene knew, somewhere deep down, that that wouldn't last. Sooner or later they'd have some catastrophe they couldn't fix and a brave Kerbonaut would pay the price. He hoped it wouldn't be this mission though. Gene just wanted to put it off as long as he could.

"Jettisoning Main boosters in three... two... one... Release!" Jedwig stated and on the tracking cameras Gene watched as the massive stack of SRBs fell beneath the rocket as it's Secondary Boosters cut in.

The gravity turn started soon after as the Secondaries burned hot. These were the shorter 'Blam in a Can' garbage can solid rockets so didn't burn for long, but they pushed it higher and higher, reaching over twenty thousand meters before they cut out and were set free. Finally the Sixth and Fifth stages liquid rockets cut in and Jedwig had more control.

The Fifth stage's fuel tanks were fed from the Sixth's, a 'stage and a half' technique that was being experimented with on this launch. Given that it wasn't long before the sixth stage too was gone and vanished beneath the ship as curved over more and more.

"Fifth stage release Flight. Pulling down to ten degrees off horizon. Rising beyond fifty five kilometers. Plot looks good."

Gene shook his head. Normally Caldin was the one who told the ship when the plot looked good. Heck, even Jeb didn't do that, and he often knew when things were out of whack before the crew down here did!

Mission Control monitored things carefully, but this time nothing blew out, jammed or otherwise caused a problem and the Apoapsis lifted higher and higher.

"Circularizing Flight." Jedwig said calmly. "Fourth stage is down to twenty percent fuel."

The course plotted by Deep Scan Nine was showing a smooth flight, easy even burn and an almost dead parabolic gravity turn to orbit. Even as Jedwig cut loose the fourth stage and just used a last little bit from the transfer stage to stabilize the orbit it was almost a footnote.

"I'm on a One Oh five by One oh six orbit Flight, inclination looks good. Plotting Duna transfer.... Eta twenty minutes to transfer burn Flight. Sending data."

Gene closed his eyes. The guy was insufferable! He was trying to do everyone's job! The next few minutes showed Caldin confirming his plot and Jedwig slid around in his orbit till he lined up on the exit for Duna.

"Safeties off, guidance check... green. Stabilizers... Green. Go for burn in ten... nine..."

He just cleared himself for the burn? Gene almost cut him off right there, but there was nothing strictly against it in the KSC rules. Gritting teeth he focused on keeping an eye on the bigger picture of the flight. That was his job after all.

"...two... one... ignition." Jedwig stated, and the roar of the six engines came over the line. "Intercept at two point six kilometers in... one mintute and twenty seconds."

"Intercept? Duna One, clarify!" Gene shouted. What was the idiot talking about?

"Incoming!" Caldin yelled. "Debris recorded on vector towards LVDM. Tracking... It's the fourth stage! He went around his orbit and caught up to it!"

And the insufferable jerk predicted it before the tracking station caught it! OK, calm down Gene! He told himself. He's doing his job, and doing it well.

Glancing at the plot he winced as the debris flashed past the ship, and closest approach was...

"Sorry Flight, two point five kilometers. Must have been a collision between parts of the stage after separation that altered their vector. Burn is clear, on course for Duna."

Jildon next to Gene jumped as a sudden snap came from his boss' direction. Gene was solid calm, no sign of turmoil on his face. He now however had blue ink on his hands from the pen he'd just snapped between shaking fingers and it seemed he hadn't even noticed.

Slowly turning back Jildon kept very still, making the decision to not to bring this to the bosses attention right now. Maybe Jedwig annoyed him almost as much as he annoyed Jildon? Naww, not possible.

Edited July 21, 2016 by Patupi

[Patupi]

It means 'After Action Report'. Basically tech speak for writing out what happened in a mission you played in KSP.

Oh, and the research work to date:

Start:

Basic Rocketry

General Rocketry

Stability

Survivability

General Construction

Flight Control

Science Tech

Advanced Flight Control

Electrics

Year 01 Day 15:

Advanced Rocketry

Year 01 Day 45:

Fuel Systems

Year 01 Day 75:

Space Exploration

Year 01 Day 105:

Advanced Construction

Year 01 Day 158:

Advanced Exploration

Edited November 5, 2013 by Patupi
Science information

[briansun1]

city lights and cloud mod?

edit we need a keep calm and slap Jedwig pic

Edited November 5, 2013 by briansun1

[NASAFanboy]

city lights and cloud mod?

edit we need a keep calm and slap Jedwig pic

You asked for it.

Here ya go.

[briansun1]

that works...

[Patupi]

Looks more like keep calm and slap Munar One... That might hurt! Though wouldn't do the capsule any good either. Gene'd appreciate the sentiment though (and half of KSC by the sound of it)

Oh, and here's a link to that mod Briansun1. CityLights and Clouds Note, careful if you're using Universe Replacer as well (as I am) and be sure to chose textures in UR that don't already have clouds. One on top of the other gets very cluttered.

Edited November 5, 2013 by Patupi

[briansun1]

oh, no that's not what I ment i meant that you were useing it...

[Patupi]

Use a capsule to slap Jedwig? *ponders* Wait, I'm still thinking....

*grins* that's OK, I got what you meant. (EDIT: Wait, maybe I didn't... did you mean the city lights and clouds bit? That I was using it? *DOH!*)

Edited November 5, 2013 by Patupi

[Patupi]

Transfer

"Control, I read closest approach is over one oh thousand kilometers from target. Refining course."

There was a significant pause before Gene answered, but his response was as calm as always.

"Understood Duna One. Telemetry is at your command. Use your resources." to make that a request took a lot from Gene, but he did it.

Gene purposely left his board and headed to the break room, though he left his headset on to monitor things while he got a drink of koffee.

"You want me to take over Gene? You look like you could use a rest."

Gene glanced up and saw Bob by the snack machine.

"I'm good." Gene managed, dropping into a chair.

"Good, yes. Relaxed? Hardly." Bob said with a grin. "Heck, just take a break while I cover for you. If only to get away from the jerk."

"That is tempting Bob, and thank you for the offer, but I can cope with mister perfect."

Bob snorted and shook his head.

"You know, I didn't think I'd ever find anyone more irritating than Jeb. At least Jedwig gave us that."

Blowing on his koffee Gene glanced up at Bob.

"Honestly Bob, I never found Jeb irritating. Even when he went completely overboard it was always for the mission. Maybe unplanned and risky, but useful nonetheless."

"Yeah. Look, if I'm not going to take over for you I ought to hop over to the Sim room. Bill is trying to get Seanbur at Minmus, taking the ship down in one piece and seems to be having a hard time. I'm going to offer a shoulder to cry on... and see how many times Seanbur can crash that sim!"

With a chuckle Gene waved him off and sipped his koffee.

"Correction burn is good." Came Jedwig's annoyingly calm tones over Gene's headset. "Hit my estimate within four decimal places Flight. Duna periapsis is down to ninety nine kilometers. Leaving final correction for late course burn so engine vibration doesn't affect fine tuning. Over."

With a sigh Gene got back up and headed back to Mission control. It was going to be a long shift.

***

Several days later the tracking staff in one corner of Mission Control began waking up the KM3 satellite that was on course for Duna. It had been sent on a high thrust, non-hohmann transfer five weeks before Jedwig's launch. Now it was on course for a injection into polar orbit around Duna to begin scanning the planet prior to his arrival.

"Primary bus feed.... check. Auxiliary power feed... stable. Check main Stability system."

Ipdel glanced at Caldin as the feeds scrolled across their monitors. KM3 was being cooperative so far.

"Main Stability..." Caldin responded, "...reads green. Got ninety eight percent on the flywheel motors. Torque tests green. No vibration on main housing."

The big board at Mission Control still showed Duna One on trajectory, having left Kerbin SOI and starting it's long cruise across the solar system to Duna. Two plots on the right of the main screen showed KM3 however, along with their own boards of course.

In another section of the big display, down on the left side, a feed from the VAB showed the preparations for TSNM-1 and it's Minmus One vessel undergoing final checks. Mission Control sure was busy right now! Quiet right at this moment however. Everything was just in between things it seemed. Well, KM3 was about to take the forefront.

"Final checklist." Ipdel said, his fingers flicking over his keyboard.

Every now and then he'd pause and wait a hair over a minute for the lightspeed delay to relay some information from the probe before he continued. Things were getting strained managing a probe this far out. Over thirty light seconds there, thirty back. What would it be like when they started firing probes off to Jool?

"Board is green." Ipdel said finally, then looked up over at Gene. "Flight? I read go for insertion. Heatshield is aligned.... and Scanners are operational. We're getting surface scans."

"Roger GUIDO. Time to aerobrake Telemetry?"

Caldin brought up the plot and highlighted the flyby path on the screen.

"I read ten minutes forty seconds Flight. Confirm orientation and stability. She's good to cook."

A hint of a smile crossed Gene's face for a moment.

"Roger Telemetry. Standing by."

The 'ten minutes forty seconds' was their time of course. KM3 would hit Duna atmosphere a little before that but the signal would take time to reach them. As Ipdel watched his board the satellite he'd spent so many days programming and fine tuning smoothly slid closer to it's target, the swell of the red planet growing on it's real-time, low res feed. It's high definition cameras were putting out very detailed images too, but as it neared atmospheric entry the main antenna sealed and they had to rely on the low data rate secondaries. HD pics were coming in at one frame every forty seconds right now.

Timers ticked down and Kerbals watched their displays. It was out of their hands now. The aerobrake either worked or it didn't, with the speed of light delay they couldn't correct anything in time if something did go wrong.

"Forty kilometers." Ipdel said into his mic. "Starting to get first traces of CO2. Pressure gauges registering. No heat build up yet."

Images showed the craft starting to vibrate a tiny amount. Then more as it dug deeper into the atmosphere.

"Altitude down to twenty eight kilometers. Picking up some drag. Speed three thousand three hundred meters per second. Getting deceleration."

Caldin glanced at Ipdel as he spoke, reading off figures as KM3 started to burn. The guy was sweating certainly, this was his baby.

"Seventeen Kilometers.... Sixteen... picking up heat. Velocity now three thousand two hundred and dropping. Plasma contrail."

The displays showed it, if grainily, as KM3 streaked at high speed through the Dunan atmosphere, going so fast the air couldn't get out of the way and was burned aside. The blunt shield on the rear of the probe was more than capable to the task and soon it's orbital velocity fell as it neared the lowest point in it's arcing course.

"Past periapsis. Altitude now eleven kilometers and rising. Plot looks good."

As it streaked back up into space the display showed it shudder as its shield was jetisoned and it's engine exposed. Finally, with some minimal use of it's engines, the vessel dropped into a polar orbit of about sixty kilometers and a sigh went around Mission Control.

"GUIDO, we are getting readings... and we have Kethane. Good job everyone." Gene said, smiling, but he was looking mainly at Ipdel.

Caldel went to pat him on the back and instead caught him as he collapsed forwards.

"Uh, Flight? I think GUIDO needs a break."

"Heh, he deserves it. OK guys, start rotating for second shift. Caldin, get Ipdel back to his room. And good job Telemetry."

With a smile he hauled his friend off towards his room while the beeping coming from the probe as it scanned the planet below continued. A few more weeks and Jedwig would catch up. They'd have to be sure he had all the mapping he needed.

[Patupi]

Note, the 'heatshield' is purely fictional. But, since I'm not running Deadly Reentry it's not really important so I'm just adding in to the story.

Oh, and this point in the story is where it switches to Bill and Seanbur on their trip to Minmus. After that's done I'll be back to Jedwig... unfortunately. Hopefully I can get through the AAR without strangling him

Edited November 5, 2013 by Patupi

[BostLabs]

what does AAR even mean? i heard it said before but i thought it was only 1 person working on whatever a AAR is

After Action Report. Usually it is an accounting of what transpired during a mission in the game. In this case, as with a lot of authors, Patupi has added content and background to make it a full fledged story.

[Patupi]

After Action Report. Usually it is an accounting of what transpired during a mission in the game. In this case, as with a lot of authors, Patupi has added content and background to make it a full fledged story.

You're darned tootin! I love hard scifi, a bit at odds with my wackiness on occasion, but I manage. This will be a story rather than just a record of a game, but I promise no Montypythonesque silliness... though a little silliness may creep in. Should have a warning label I guess 'May contain nuts'

[BostLabs]

Should have a warning label I guess 'May contain nuts'

LOL!

Darn tooting!

[Daddy Cecil]

I think this thread needs more Jedwig.

New chapter soon?

[Patupi]

There can never be enough Jedwig... at least for him!

And yep, I'm continuing this now that Episode 3 TSNM is done, but I think after Lalock Valley is done I'll likely compact the missions into larger threads. I'm thinking a long one for the setup and building the Munbase coming up (still haven't finished that on playthrough yet), then a separate one for the whole set of missions to Jool, leading to the colonization effort. That's pretty big so the whole Jool thing might get broken up into a few Chapters. We'll see.

[Patupi]

En-route to Duna

"I'm leaving the capsule now Flight." Jedwig's serene tones came across the speaker.

Even this far from Kerbin the lightspeed delay was only a few seconds. Just enough to be irritating. Though Jedwig needed no help with that. Things would be different once they got all the way out to Jool, but even Duna was only between 20 light seconds and a little over a light minute away (double that in delay for signals going back and forth) depending on the difference in Kerbin's and Duna's orbits. When Jedwig got there it'd be a little over a minute time delay for communication.

"It appears I'm floating in a most unusual way." Jedwig said.

"Rookie." Jeb said as he sat down next to Gene. "How did he get picked for this when he's only done two orbital launches? He doesn't even have any flight experience!"

"Loads of sheer gall though." Gene said, then shook his head. "No, he may be low on experience, but he does have a natural ability. His flight tests were good, very good, on sims at least. Plus he has out done everyone in the rocket simulator. Doesn't mean he'd be my choice though, Jeb. I'm only Flight director. I don't get to decide on which missions we do or who goes on them, just on everything that happens during the missions. Though I hear chief director Sendo is thinking of retiring. Maybe I could take his job? Think Bob would mind taking over as Flight?"

"Hmm, I thought he was angling for commander of the new Munbase?" Jeb said, taking a sip of koffee.

"I haven't seen any papers on my desk regarding that... but that doesn't mean much. Could be. Still, I'm not sure I'd trust my job with too many people. Although, who knows when Sendo will decide to head out. Might be years away. I know if I do take over it'll be heck dealing with the planning council! He certainly doesn't enjoy it."

"I've stood in on a couple of meetings so I know what you mean boss. Still, you'd have a heck of a backing. The KSC is still pretty much your baby, no matter what the politicos say."

Gene looked askance at Jeb.

"The council is hardly 'politicos' Jeb. I admit there are one or two Kerbals from the Hill, but most are scientists, pure and simple. Heck, most of the problem is them not grasping issues outside their field of study! Mainly economics."

"Maybe," Jeb agreed, grudgingly, "But they feel just as oily as politicos. Maybe they took a course in it? 'Shark oil 101'?"

A snort from Gene showed he'd at least cracked the boss' armor a little. Hard to do with Gene.

"No, and don't let anyone high up hear you talking like that Jeb. We're getting a lot of heat lately over the proposed Munbase. Costs are high, and getting higher. This Duna mission is seen as more of a sideshow, something for the masses to goggle over. We really should have waited till we can send a bigger ship. Right now, all Jedwig is going to do is a paltry amount of science, take some pics, plant a flag and head home. Not exactly worth months in space and the huge cost of the rocket."

Jeb turned to Gene with a stark look.

"It is DEFINITELY worth it! Don't let them tell you otherwise boss. Heck, I plan on being the first Kerbal to step on one of Jool's moons. If they cancel that because they can't see any return on going to Jool?... Well, I'd attempt to 'persuade them' otherwise."

Gene stared at him for a moment. Yeah, he probably would too. And he doubted he could talk Jeb out of it either.

"Well, anyway, so far things are going well." Gene continued. "We've got the test kethane miner going up soon, your survey of Wernher's choice of site for the Munbase after that, and possibly some tests of more re-usable hardware. The council is certainly interested in the latter."

"I don't like the designs I've seen for the RLVs so far. Hope they improve on it a bit. Seem a little ungainly."

Gene shrugged.

"Maybe, but we're limited in what we can do at the moment Jeb. Have to roll with the punches, eh?" He turned to the controls and whispered something to someone else at Mission Control through his mike before turning back to Jeb. "Look, I'm a little busy right now. Jedwig is going to be doing EVA, some external checks and then some Kerbolar studies with the materials lab. Maybe you could come back later?"

"Sure." Jeb said, standing up with his koffee. "Say hi to junior for me will ya?"

Gene just shook his head. Sometimes Jeb was weird.

***

Jedwig wouldn't admit it, but he was nervous. He liked knowing everything so he could plan in advance. He'd done the best he could, but out here there were a lot of unknowns. It was just so darned frustrating!

"Flight, current data indicates estimated mass of Duna is within expected parameters. Re-route the data from KM3 direct and realtime."

After the delay he could swear he could hear some muttering in the background. They could darned well chat on their own time! This was time for Jedwig and the Duna mission!

"Roger Duna One. Ipdel is rerouting now. You'll have direct local control on the data feed on the primary antenna. Secondary is still relaying back to Kerbin. Please leave it alone."

"Of course." Jedwig said idly as the data started coming in.

True, no visual data. Who would send a satellite out here and not put a camera on it? Still the Kethane scans and the low res radar returns helped a bit. At least he had course, current altitude map to go on. The target, the entrance to the Lalock Valley, seemed fairly flat. He'd be able to do some checks on the scan down the valley that they wanted (He should have brought his theodolite! Hah! Ah, he should be a comedian!), do some soil samples for hoped for trace elements of kethane, and maybe do some tests for making that concrete they wanted from Dunan materials.

Jedwig frankly gave that a low chance of success. It would be very economical to build the majority of the housing on any Dunan base from the local sand, but the iron oxides estimated to be present would mean a lot of processing to get any kind of solid building blocks. They'd need some hefty tools to build bricks up here! Maybe it'd be better if they could just mine for metals and build true shelters? Ah, that's just a pipe dream.

With half an eye he ran through the figures for the approach vector, aligned it with the Lalock Valley during the aerobrake, adjusted the altitude to get a good swing around Duna for slight inclination change, then ran some numbers on the thermal absorbtion. Well within parameters!

Things were looking up.

The rest of his attention was on the view. Duna was growing behind him, slowly swelling as he got closer. It didn't look as inviting as he thought it would, being slightly... menacing somehow. Maybe it was the lack of any water? No, the Mun didn't look dangerous. He was no good at conceptual things like this, and Mission Control would think him a wimp if he asked. Maybe he could check it up when he got back?

"Aerobrake and capture plotted." He said idly into the mike while scanning the Kethane map.

They already had found from the KM3 satellite that the Kethane predicted to be all along the Lalock Valley was only on the northwestern tip, thus his proposed landing in the valley mouth there. He wondered who had named the valley? It sounded vaguely familiar... something relating to Lenham Observatory he thought. Well, maybe he could look that up too when he got back?

His current data did show the Kethane at the valley mouth was richer than expected, hopefully improving the prospect of getting trace amounts in the surface sample. He didn't have much to do on this mission (Heck, he didn't even have a rover!) but at least it looked like what he did have to do would amount to something scientifically.

"Roger Duna One. We're confirming your plot now." Gene replied, after the obligatory minute's delay. Jedwig waited a while and soon Gene was back. "Plot looks good. You're overflying the target on the aerobrake Jedwig? OK, well, goodluck on the aerocapture. Flight Out."

That seemed a little brusque to Jedwig, but then he had trouble figuring out Gene anyway. Probably just his 'thing'. Whatever that meant.

"Understood Flight. Duna One out."

He was coming in pretty quickly so Duna was soon upon him and the air buffeting the hull. He monitored conditions, but it was as expected. He smiled as the first jets of plasma streamed past his window.

"Mission report, day fifty six, forteen hundred hours ten minutes. Entering Duna's atmosphere." Jedwig said into the ships recorders while jockying the controls and keeping up with the instruments. "So far on schedule and target will be in visual range as I start to leave the atmosphere. Should give me an uninterupted view of the landing spot for planning."

Slowly Duna One bit deeper into the Dunan sky, then slowly slid back out, having slowed enough to orbital speed. Jedwig spun his craft over to view the terrain as it went by.

"Have identified the mouth of the Lalock Valley. There is a noticeable rise in terrain close the valley mouth, will aim for the top of the rise for flat terrain. Now heading back into orbit. Will continue report after landing. Report ends."

Edited November 12, 2013 by Patupi
'at'... 'and'... they mean the same, don't they?

[Patupi]

Duna Landing

"I've replotted the landing site Flight." Jedwig said about half way through his last orbit. "After consideration the hill north west of Lalock Valley is a little too sloped for a good landing site. I'm edging to the eastern edge of the scanned Kethane map on the flat dunes close to the mouth itself. Data sending. Confirm plot, Telemetry. Duna One Out."

Once the annoying 'calling home' was done Jedwig adjusted his inclination and flight path, bringing him back over the target. So far 'home' had not helped much. Heck, he didn't need it, but it would have been nice to get some assistance! He didn't bother to update Flight that he was on course. A) they'd have the data feed from his inertials, and it didn't make any difference to him whether they knew or not.

As always, things looked good. Straight path in, heading towards the mouth of the valley. With braking he should slide right back to the landing zone, give or take a kilometer. With these instruments it was hard to do better than that. Dunkel kept talking about upgrading the AR units to get better predictive software for landing, but Jedwig wouldn't hold his breath. Right now he had all he needed. Fairly good instruments and the best instrument of all.

Jedwig.

Smiling to himself Jedwig slanted down towards the (shiver) unknown surface below and hoped he hadn't forgotten anything. The deep red ground slowly rose towards him, once more flames burning around his craft as he bit deep into the atmosphere.

"Trajectory looks good." Jedwig said, then paused... sure enough...

"Roger Duna One. When you get this transmission it looks like you'll be in descent. Good luck." Gene sounded actually worried for a moment there. Jedwig was touched.

The flames abated and the slightly charred craft soared into the Dunan skies. So far this was the first artifact KSC had launched to the Dunan surface, which was odd. They'd had reliable probe cores for a while, why wouldn't they send an automated probe first? Jedwig didn't understand politics, but he suspected it was behind that decision. Perhaps the shots of his Kerbally physique striding across the red plains would be an inspiration to future space pilots? Yeah, that must be it.

"Deploying parachutes." He said into the mike. "Plot seems on course. Landing zone on the east edge of the deposit, as predicted."

The shudder as the chutes deployed above him was slight in the thin Dunan air but they did start to slow him down. He was in a shallow descent so they could have more time to decelerate his craft. Eye's tracking across the display panel Jedwig was almost oblivious to the deepening shade in the sky but soon he felt the shudder as the chutes fully deployed and Duna One slowed drastically. The design was good however and it held together under the stress.

Now he had time to check the displays he smiled. There was a slight rise here, but nothing significant. The maps he had derived were obviously slightly off. He really needed better resolution mapping! Well, nothing harmed by it now, and poodleing to Mission Control now would likely be seen as assuming he was to blame and covering up for it. Couldn't have that!

The last few meters fell away and with a thunk the landing legs hit dirt.

"I am on Duna. Landing successful." he said, whilst still checking the instruments.

Before he left the capsule he wanted to be sure everything was accounted for!

Edited July 21, 2016 by Patupi

[Patupi]

Duna EVA

With a clang the hatch opened and Dunan air streamed into the cabin. He almost wished he could smell it, but it was not only unbreathable, it was way too low a pressure for Kerbals. The ungainly process of clambering down the lander was... unpleasant, but he had practiced quite extensively back on Kerbin with a variety of mock-ups. It wasn't a problem. Soon, with a faint spray of dirt, his boots touched the red soil.

"Flight, I am out of the vessel and on the surface. A day to remember, Jedwig; the first Kerbal on Duna!" Admiring the view he stared around, the deep redness everywhere, even the sky, was odd to get used to.

"I'm proceeding to do a soil analysis Flight." He said, before he received their answer to his first message. "I think the prospect is good for Kethane traces. Hopefully other useful materials."

Unpacking his analysis kit he proceeded to gather samples and study the Duna regolith.

***

"He's got the arrogant explorer mannerisms down pat at least." Jeb grumbled as they received more wondrous news from Jedwig.

It seemed they would be able to mine Kethane here aswell. With the samples getting quite high traces on the surface the deposits underground were likely shallow enough for simple drilling rigs to get at. The rigs that were in final stages of testing at the moment.

"Gene?" Jeb said as more patchy video of Jedwig exploring Duna came over the big monitor "I'm going to see Dunkel and see how he's doing. It'll be better than watching this pap!"

"You were the one that said it was important Jeb." Gene said, but he was smiling when he said it.

Shaking his head Jeb headed out.

***

"Yo, Dunkel! You in here?" a sudden crash from around the corner indicated that yes, someone was here. "Ah good. Just wanted an update on developments. You know, the good stuff."

A rather annoyed Dunkel stomped around the corner (Jeb didn't remember seeing an 'un-annoyed' Dunkel actually) wiping grease off his shirt.

"Oh, what a pleasant surprise Jeb. Dropping in on me unannounced." Was he being sarcastic? Jeb better tread carefully here he thought. "Now Jeb, you want developments... and can't seem to open your email to check the updates I've sent you. How fascinating."

Yup, definitely sarcastic. Jeb could tell by the blazing look to his eyes.

"Oh well, you know me and computers. Don't really get along too well." he said, keeping his nerves out of his voice and off his face. He'd found the best way to deal with Dunkel was to seem oblivious. Actually he used that a lot. He wondered how many people thought he was completely out of touch?

Dunkel seemed to take a deep breath and then calmed a little.

"Actually I'm getting close to finishing the new Radial mining attachment." He said, looking back to where he'd come from. "And if people could stop interrupting me I'd be done a lot quicker too."

"Um, yeah, the miner unit... fascinating." Jeb said, playing dumb.

"Of course you were interested in something else? RCS Flight pack? Finished last week. I understand they're in production now... no? What else could I be forgetting?" Dunkel looked skyward, apparently deep in thought. "Ooooh, I remember... this?"

Dunkel gave two short sharp claps and Jeb looked up as a clicking sounded. Above him a bulge in the ceiling hinged open and a collection of tiny struts folded out... what on Kerbin was... Oh! As Jeb's face grew into a smile the whole assembly hinged down and extended into a recognizable ladder.

"DUNKEL!" he shouted and leapt past the ladder and grabbed the surprised engineer and hoisted him off the ground. "You're a genius!"

Dunkel gasped as the young commander whirled him around a few times, the bear hug getting a bit too much.

"Jeb! *gasp* Can't breath!"

With a chuckle Jeb let the old guy down and patted him on the back.

"Genius!" He repeated, walking around the contraption, tapping the little light near the top. "You thought of everything! I owe you Dunkel, big time!"

Dunkel looked oddly at him as Jeb stared back seriously.

"Huh, well *pant* just don't do that again, OK?" He cricked his back and winced "I ain't that young no more."

Jeb nodded, then tapped the button on the side of the ladder and watched it slide upwards and fold back into the small capsule once more, the hatch snapping shut with a satisfying snap.

"That is one superb ladder!"

"Mobility Enhancer." Dunkel stated, crossing his arms.

"Uhhh, right. Mobility Enhancer. It looks good Dunkel. Can't wait to try it out on the Mun!"

"Well, by then the shorter version should be ready too. I think that will sort everything out for you, hmm?"

"It will that. Like I said, I owe you Dunkel."

Jeb stared up at the retracted 'Mobility Enhancer' one last time, saluted Dunkel, and strode out, grinning widely.

"That oaf, be impressed if I made space bread." Dunkel said, sighing... however he seemed to have a bit more spring in his step for the rest of the day. Sometimes it was good to work here.

Edited July 21, 2016 by Patupi

[briansun1]

yay double update

[Patupi]

Yeah, I'm trying to do some of this from Jedwig's perspective. Kind of shows why does what he does... other than being an... ooh, not using an inpolite word here. F&!# No!

Edited November 13, 2013 by Patupi
more verbose beepage

[Patupi]

Duna

"The chemical analysis seems to disallow the class one structures." Jedwig intoned on the monitor as Jeb sat back down again at Mission Control. "However perhaps class two maybe possible from these materials. Set Dunkel on scaling down his brick layer hmm?"

Jeb saw Gene take a breath before responding. Things were getting bad if Gene had to control his temper!

"Duna One, I believe there is a schedule for the Development lab at present. I don't think, from memory, that the Construction assist Mk2 is on that list. Over."

"Very diplomatically put sir." Jeb murmered over his koffee.

Gene didn't sound diplomatic now though, off air thank goodness.

"I'd like to diplomatically shove that idea right up his..."

"Hello. " Came Wernher's happy tones as he entered Control. "How is de mission going. Good yah?"

"Oh yeah, vunderba!" Jeb said, and got a scowl from Wernher in response.

"The Kethane plot is looking good Wernher. The samples corroborate the orbital scans, so I think we can say positively the resonance method of scanning will work well on most environments. The Mun, Minmus and now Duna all correspond well between scan maps and surface samples. It's not proof positive, but I think it can warrant a new batch of satellites sent to other planets and moons. We'll see what the council thinks."

"Vell, dis is gut news, but I think other things on my plate now. Jeb's ride iz nearly done. I have been analyzing parameters and have de plan down on paper."

"Literally, right?" Jeb interupted. "Seriously, even I use computers more than you do, and I'm TERRIBLE with them! How come if it's an electronic scientific tool you're fine with it, but put a computer in front of you you clam up?"

"I do not qvestion you and your failings , yah? Do not do zo with me." Wernher said, but at least looked a little cheerful still. Jeb was just glad he was in a good mood for once.

"OK, OK, I got it!" Jeb said, grinning and holding his hands up in submission. "Anyway, now you've beat me down a little and got your fun for the day, how do the plans for the Munbase look?"

Jeb heart sank as he saw Wernher scowl.

"Ve are having difficulty in ze testing of attachments of differink sections. Docking such parts together is... challenging. Time constraints may force us to launch the entire base as one unit."

Even Gene looked shocked at this.

"Wernher, you're not serious? The projected mass for the base is huge. It's got to support fourteen Kerbals in long term habitat. That kind of payload is way beyond anything we've launched before."

Nodding seriously Wernher brought out his pad and tapped it meaningfully.

"Of dis I am vell aware." he said, but then smiled. "However, the new systems currently being developed have shown promise for heavy lift systems. At present the stress on large engines mean we are starting with de low thrust, orbital versions first, but still, a few of these should allow us to haul the entire assembly to the Mun and land it in one piece... However..."

"I knew there was going to be a catch." Jeb said, leaning over to Gene.

"... HOWEVER!" Wernher repeated, staring at Jeb. "It seems there is an issue with fuel for such a huge assembly. Current predictions suggest it vill need to be refueled in Kerbin orbit. And, depending on how easy zuch things are, in Munar orbit as well prior to landing."

"Wait, why would we need both? Surely it can have enough tankage to get there and land?"

"Possibly, but zis system would require a huge payload to be launched from KSC to refuel it. Would it not be better to launch such a payload from the Mun?"

Gene and Jeb looked at each other and smiled.

"You're talking about advancing the VKM project aren't you?"

"Yah, the test vessel is being designed zoon. I think it could fly after Jeb's next trip to the Mun. I also think he should check out our projected landing site. After that ve can attempt the test miner, then go for the full VKM zystem and use it to refuel the carrier for the Base."

Gene however looked increasingly worried through this.

"Wernher. The base will be going up with a skeleton crew I understand, but it won't have a return capability will it?"

"Not as such, no. There are plans for a one Kerbal lander on the Carrier to enable a return for data that cannot be sent... but nothing more. Vhy?"

"The council will not approve this until we have a way to safely get the crew of Munbase back home. I think we need to get the Rescue Project done before the Mun Mission. Perhaps even before Jeb's recon of the base site. Then he can double check the Rescue ship is functional."

Wernher nodded, deep in thought.

"Yah, yah. Dat vould vork. Ve have had the Rescue One project on hold vor zome time now. Maybe dis will force us to get ze backing ve need vor it, yah?"

"You know Wernher?" Jeb said, squinting slightly "Your accent shifts every now and then. Plus you've been in the states for decades. I'm pretty sure you know the difference between 'Yah' and 'Yes'. Why keep it up?"

Wernher stopped suddenly and glared at Jeb.

"I do not know vot you mean!" he said and turned and stomped out, shouting over his shoulder. "Ve vill get to vork on Rescue Vone Immediately, zen on to de vinishing touches to Munar Vour. Goodbye Jeb!"

Needless to say he slammed the door.

"You really know how to make friends Jeb." Gene said, slapping him on the back, then turning back to his console.

"Yeah, it's a gift." Jeb said with a grin.

***

Jedwig hadn't been here that long and was already exhausted. He'd trekked out to the base of the rise leading to the Lalock Valley itself and taken samples. He'd done spectrometry on the sun through the wispy Dunan atmosphere. He'd cataloged the sand analysis results into grain sizes. There wasn't much science left to do with his limited equipment, and Mission Control was becoming rather annoying. He was making reports, then had to stop the report to report live to Mission Control! It was idiotic!

Right now he was going over the vessel with a fine tooth comb. He did not want any malfunctions or missed breakages on the ship to mess up his return to Kerbin! After finishing with the landing leg check he moved under, crouching to examine the engine nozzles.

"Flight, All systems report green on landing legs. Proceeding with engine checklist and physical examination." He intoned while he got busy with the check itself.

It took so long that Flight called back before he'd finished.

"Roger Duna One. You'll need to hustle. Your flight plan calls for launch in fifteen minutes."

Jedwig snorted. Not HIS flight plan.

"Negative Flight. Vector off orbit in.... thirty five minutes." He said, checking his suit chronometer. "Surface launch in twenty two minutes and counting. Everything is set."

Hah, see? From the muttering in the background a few minutes later he knew they appreciated him lessening their load. Besides, he was sure his course was better than what they could produce.

With a final check complete on engine number six he started climbing up to repack the chutes (just in case he had to abort the launch part way through and attempt to re-land). He'd got some serious practice in this back at KSC,and the rhythm of folding fabric, lining it up to the actuators and rams, then snapping the cover down became rather enjoyable. Finally the last parachute was sealed and he clambered back up to the capsule and hauled himself inside. With a satisfying clunk the hatch sealed and he began pressurizing the capsule. Checking again he still had over five minutes left. Plenty of time!

"I'm ready and standing by for launch Flight. Timer set to T minus five... now.

***

"You know what's annoying?" Gene whispered to Jeb.

Jeb jabbed a thumb at the screen where Jedwig could be seen doing his preflight.

"Um, that?"

"Besides that." Gene said with a smirk. "No, what's annoying is that his tendancy to try to do everything himself will become rather useful later. Out at Jool with the excessive time delays in communications... well, the crews of those ships will be effectively on their own for anything that needs an answer right now! But here at Duna it isn't neccessary and I'm pretty sure he isn't even checking out our data. He just assumes his is better."

Jeb just shook his head.

"He's going to find out how that kind of thing can come back and hit you in the stomach one of these days. And if he doesn't I'll be happy to demonstrate!"

With a chuckle Gene went back to his console. Soon time for launch.

[briansun1]

I still want to slap him...

[Patupi]

As Palpatine once said: "Goooood, gooooood *cackle* Give in to the dark side! Feel it..." Oh I could go on all day like this!

(EDIT: Ponders, what does it mean when the quotes I remember most are from evil people?)

Edited November 14, 2013 by Patupi