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Carl Kerman shares his thoughts about the first manned orbital flight


Etsu

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I started KSP Beta yersterday, and it was very hard to archive orbit. But in this historical day our brave pilot JK finally managed to achieve such a feat.

I will let our prominent astronomer, cosmologist, astrophysicist, astrobiologist and author, Carl Kerman, to comment the next images. (Right click for full resolution.)

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Here, in this historical photographic evidence, we can see how our brave pilot,

Jebediah Kerman, finally managed to reach the orbit of our planet.

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No, not the most beautiful spaceship, not the most elegant, or majestic,

or significant, but the labor of our scientists, which with their wit,

expertise, dedication and study, finally managed to take us to the stars.

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Here we can see how our world looks from space. It looks so insignificant,

so small, but also so magnificent, that all our preocupations, our fears,

our pains and sorrows, seem to vanish in a glance of admiration and wonder.

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All those lights, down there, are us. Those are our lights, our homes, our jobs, the places when we live. But also

the product of our efforts, of our technology and wealth, as a species that aims to overcome every day, imposing itself

new goals and aspirations, in an uncontrollable desire to achieve what once seemed, perhaps for some, impossible.

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Here, on Kerbin, our planet and home, Bill Kerman, one of our most dedicated

and experienced engineers, built what could be our next boat to the stars.

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He doesn't wonder if we can do it. He have a goal in mind, and has set

himself to find a way to reach it. That is the very nature of the kerbal spirit.

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That is not just a ship, machinery or construct. It's the place when we put our dreams,

our hopes, our needs and desires, hoping that one day it will lead us to somewhere else.

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It's not like we are naive or ignorant of the dangers. We know the risks. We know that our way

to the stars will be paved with disappointments, frustrations, sadness and loss, but also with

discoveries, achievements and wonders beyond our present imagination.

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That's why we decided to go beyond what our ancestors might have aspired, beyond all coast, boundaries,

or known border. Beyond our natural limitations, relying on our wits and wisdom and, why not, also in luck.

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It's a nice dream to have, but we hope not just a dream. Hopefully there is

truth in our dream, and that we can some day harvest the fruits of our labors.

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Maybe we are not there, not quite yet. But some day, in maybe a no so distant future,

our sons, our grandchildren, will put their feet in the soils of other worlds.

Worlds very different from ours, but which are here, in our universe's neighborhood.

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But for now it remanis a dream. A beautiful and wonderful dream, which will inspire and motivate the next generation.

An engineer can build a rocket, but we need a pilot to drive it. A pilot may go to space, but we need scientists

to analyze and study the data, and develop better ways, faster and safer, to go ever further.

Editor's note: Bill Kerman was unable to achieve orbit during the simulations and his flight canceled.

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Returning to Jebediah, our pilot is approaching to Kerbin again, hoping to return home safely. If all our

calculations were correct that's what should happen in a matter of just minutes or perhaps hours.

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At 43000 meters high and 41 hours into the mission, he gets rid of the last stage of his

journey and remaining fuel before friction with the atmosphere put his own life at risk.

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Our brave pilot is comming back home.

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One can only imagine what were his thoughts at that time.

Does he realized of the historical significance of his actions?

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Or he was just thinking in his friends down here, Bill and Bob, and the rest of the community?

We can not know unless we ask him. But being such an intimate, so personal moment,

I prefer to leave it as it is: a private fraction of time. Maybe one day he decides to tell us.

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A small dip for kerbal, but a big swin for kerbalkind.

Because is from these little stories that history is forged.

Mods used:

- FAR

- Enhanced Nav Ball

- TAC

- Deadly Reentry

- Environmental Visual Enhancements

- Kerbal Engineer

- Movie Time

- Texture Replacer

- Distant Object

Edited by Etsu
Minimal correction
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  • 2 weeks later...

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Another chapter in the life of the Kerbal Space Center.

Today we managed to lunch our first satellite, the Solidor 1, and put it on orbit around Kerbin. Of course, not everything could end up being as good as it appeared to be, so we ended up ruining the day in the Kerbal way.

Rick click on the pictures for full resolution.

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This is a special version of the Vossler, carrying the Solidor 1, our first unmanned vehicle.

If you look carefully, you will see Minmus in the distance and a star very close behind.

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And here we can see Moho, the closest planet to Kerbol, Duna, the red planet

and the fourth in our system, Eve, the second planet between Moho and Kerbin,

and if you get very close you will be able to barely see Gilly, the only natural satellite of Eve.

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This piece of technology was designed to be part of a future communication network

between Kerbin and planned unmanned probes sent to the Mun and Minmus.

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After activating the six antennas of the probe, Jebediah detach it

from the Vossler 14. You can see him in the distance.

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A wonderful piece of technology, destined to serve as a bridge between us and the stars.

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Meanwhile, Jebediah prepares himself to return home, to Kerbin.

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Here you can see Jool, the biggest planet of our system, right

above Jebediah's capsule. Maybe someday we will get there.

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Once on our planet, Jebediah find something new: a tree. What is that,

and how it could grow up so fast? It wasn't there last time, right? Right?

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Unfortunately he is not a scientist, otherwise it would have easily

deduced that Terrain Scatter was activated. Where are you, Bob?

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Back in space, we can see our new orbital body, smaller that the Mun and even Minmus,

but ours, because it's the product of our efforts, wisdom and wealth. We made it.

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As you can see, the Solidor 1 is in a perfect orbit around Kerbin. But of course, with the

wrong orbital inclination, which means that it will never be in contact with Mission Control again.

Good job, Kerbal Space Center. I am sure that everything will turn out better next time.

Edited by Etsu
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