Angelo Kerman

Chapter 9 “Landing gear jettisoned, engine thrust is- wait- engine thrust is dropping! Flameout! Flameout on main engine… We’re losing altitude,” Dudmon screamed, “We’re losing altitude! Brace for impact! Brace-“ Dudmon woke with a start, his heart racing and eyes wide with fright. It was a nightmare that he’d had many nights before the launch of the Endeavour, their home-built rocket salvaged from crashed spacecraft parts spread around Duna. It took the veteran astronaut a few moments to realize that he wasn’t still trapped on Duna, wondering if their crazy plan would work. Instead, he was in the dorsal cryo module aboard Kopernicus (DSEV-02). He started to remember; after surviving- no, thriving- on Duna for the better part of a year and finding unequivocal proof that the ancient Kermantians had visited there, they’d made it into Duna orbit, docked with Kopernicus, and then headed for Kerbin. They bedded down in cryosleep for the long journey home. That must’ve meant- “Good afternoon, Kopernicus,” the voice of Bobak Kerman rang out in the cryo module. “It’s been six months and twenty tree days since you entered cryosleep. Do you know who you are?” That phrase, Dudmon thought to himself. I hate that phrase! How many times did they make us hear that mulching phrase! He snapped out of his stupor immediately. He took a deep breath. “Dudmon Kerman,” he said, pronouncing his name dude-mon, “Captain, Kerman States Navy. Former Spacecraft Commander of Münflight 3, former pilot of SLS-1, former Chief of The Astronaut Corps. Current Spacecraft Commander of Kopernicus, and Expedition Commander of the Third Duna Fleet. Recipient of the Medal of Heroism.” “Good,” Bobak radioed back. “As Spacecraft Commander, protocol dictates that you be the first to awaken upon entering the Sphere of Influence of another world. In this case, Kerbin. Welcome back, Kopernicus.” “Thanks,” Dudmon said simply. He was weary from the stress of trying to survive on Duna. “Ship’s status?” Bobak didn’t take Dudmon’s gruff responses personally, he knew what the crew went through, especially after Ribler mcKerman, the original Mission Commander, suffered fatal injuries after the Estonian 3 landing capsule crashed. “Kopernicus has nearly two-thirds of her propellant remaining, the main engine is nominal-“ “What are you not telling me,” Dudmon interrupted. He could hear the trepidation in Bobak’s voice. There was a slight pause before Bobak calmly spoke. “Um… Can you check on the ventral cryo module, please?” Dudmon immediately un-belted from his cryochamber and torpedoed his way to the ventral module. He barely heard something about telemetry loss. Tobias vonKerman, Jonas vonKerman, and Emma vonKerman all bedded down in the module. Without those three amazing engineers, they’d all still be stuck on Duna. He checked the readouts; the module still had an airtight seal. Satisfied, Dudmon undogged the hatch and after considerable effort, finally pried it open. The inside was slightly out of alignment, and there were dents along the floor where the module’s storage section was. But the cryopods were intact. Dudmon didn’t wait for clearance to revive the vonKermans, he immediately got to it. He breathed a sigh of relief when Tobias, Jonas, and Emma all woke up. Several minutes later, the remaining crew members- Calbro mcKerman, Raald mcKerman, and Ferwin Kerman- all scientists- also woke up. All seven survivors of the Estonian 3 crash were present and accounted for. Sometime during their voyage back to Kerbin, Kopernicus was hit by something that shattered the ventral cryo module’s endcap and vented its storage compartment’s contents into space. Fortunately, the heavily shielded cryo compartment withstood the damage. The impact also rendered the ship’s centrifuge uninhabitable, so it remained powered down as the crew turned on the lights and warmed up the ship. They busied themselves with work and tried not to think about how close to death they’d come- again. At least they were already on their way to low Kerbin orbit thanks to a mid-course correction burn done on automatic. Nine and a half-days later, Kopernicus made a 1,650 m/sec burn to place it into a 149.0 km by 155.78 km orbit. “Orbital dawn never looked prettier,” Dudmon said quietly. * The next morning, the Ministry of Space launched an Arrow 6 with Orbiter 5 into orbit to retrieve the Kopernicus crew. Orbiter 5 contained a crew pod with Lanbas Kerman, Wilfur Kerman, and Benbo Kerman aboard. The three astronauts were slated as the maintenance crew that would replace Dudmon and his team. The ride into orbit was uneventful, and three hours after launch, the spacecraft docked with Kopernicus. The two crews began exchanging places. “Hey, did you guys hear,” Lanbas asked as the Kopernicus’s crew settled into their seats. “Hear what,” Ferwin asked as he took his seat. “About the Sandcaster that you guys modified.” “No, what about it,” Ferwin asked. “We almost had a runaway vonNeumann situation,” Lanbas responded. “After you guys left Duna, a software glitch caused it to self-replicate. It made three copies of itself, and its copies were making copies before we figured it out and sent them a kill command. Now we have eighteen of the things sitting on Duna and gathering dust.” “Gotta check your code carefully,” Tobias vonKerman quipped as he belted in. Dudmon looked around in the cockpit of Kopernicus and stared out at the vehicle docked to the ship’s nose. For the first time in a while, he had a moment of calm as the game paused he took the opportunity to have one last look around before beginning the trip home. “She’s all yours, Lanbas,” he finally said to the maintenance crew as he left the seat. With the game unpaused his moment of calm over, Dudmon transferred over to Orbiter 5 for the trip home. It was strange to think that despite leaving later than Nautilus, Kopernicus had gone to Duna, spent a year there, and returned to Kerbin just four weeks after Nautilus returned to Kerbin. He looked forward to comparing notes with Valentina about their respective experiences as ship’s Captain and Expedition Commander. Once the Koperincus’ crew finished transferring to Orbiter 5, the craft departed and headed back to Kerbin. Fifteen minutes later, the craft very narrowly missed the landing pad at KSC, but the Heroes of Duna landed safely. * The International Space Consortium reluctantly announced that given the ship’s condition, they would not convert Kopernicus- DSEV-02- into a museum like they were in the process of doing with the Nautilus. The ship simply suffered too much damage to render it safe enough for visitation. Instead, they decided to decommission the vessel at the Magic Boulder Shipyard- they couldn’t bring themselves to have the Space Operations Center tear down the ship that they’d built. The maintenance crew that traded places with Dudmon and his staff had no trouble navigating DSEV-02 her to her final destination. The ship entered Bay 2, where grappling arms captured the built-on-a-budget Deep Space Exploration Vessel. Though they solemnly began their slow work of tearing apart the vessel, the yard crew vowed to ensure that her recycled materials would find their way into the next DSEV. Piece by piece, the yard crew dismantled ex-Kopernicus (DSEV-02) and recycled its materials until nothing of the former Deep Space Exploration Vessel remained. * “As we’ve said previously, we are the Kermantians- or more accurately, we are their descendants,” Gene Kerman said at the press conference. “The Kermantian nation dissolved millennia ago after years of political instability, economic stagnation, and civil strife. The Kermantians divided up largely along social lines and went their separate ways, eventually becoming today’s nations of Kerbin. “We also previously announced the discovery that somehow, with their neolithic technology, the Kermantians reached the Mün, Duna, and the other planets the kerbolar system. With the discovery of the three Münar Arches, we finally have definitive proof that the Kermantians had access to advanced technology. The how and why is something we’ll be discussing today. But first, let’s talk about the Arches themselves. “Based on the color and organization of the exposed Arch’s lights, we believe that it depicts the planets and moons in the kerbolar system. And based on our ground-penetrating radar scans, the other two Arches that the Orbital Dynamics team discovered depict other star systems. One of them shows similarities to the layout of Grannus, for instance, but we’re still figuring out which system the other Arch depicts. “As far as our scientists can tell, the Arch is a monument- not to themselves, but to us. According to the writings that we found, the Kermantians were visited by a group of kerbals that they called the Travelers. At first the Kermantians believed them to be gods but the Travelers quickly proved otherwise. In one story, the Travelers even asked the Kermantians how they made pots and buckets and homes, and then related the Kermantians' answers to the Travelers' “magic items.” They were simply things made with advanced tools. Once the Kermantians realized that they were as mortal as they were, they also realized that the Travelers could become powerful allies. “The Kermantians described the Travelers as being from ‘a world next to a world next to our world,’ which we think is the closest way for the Kermantians to understand the concept of parallel universes. To say the least, our scientists are shocked to learn that parallel universes are very much real and not science fiction. Already they're vying to write papers on the subject. "Anyway, after forming an alliance, the Travelers recruited the Kermantians to help them build ‘new beginnings’ in exchange for a tour of the kerbolar system. Our ancestors readily agreed to the deal. But not long after, a debate arose between the Travelers: should they stay and build a new life, or should they try to go home once again? “To go home they would need to build a ‘hole’ near Jool to ‘harness the Gods’ wills that make us fall.’ But there was controversy around that plan. Like the hole that they made before, many Travelers believed that building another hole was going to be ‘too slippery, like a rope bridge that would not stay anchored to the other side.’ In modern terms, it sounds like the Travelers previously built a wormhole- a theoretical... uh, no longer theoretical... shortcut through space-time- that they hoped would lead back to their home universe, but it proved unstable and led to our universe instead. It also sounded like further attempts would also likely not succeed due to the lack of an 'anchor,' which our scientists theorize means they need some kind of gate at both ends. “But some of the Travelers had to try anyway, which resulted in a split in their group. “Most of the Travelers stayed, and they became known as the Travelers Who Stayed- which is ironic, given where they went, and we'll get to that in a bit. They’re the ones who built the Arches with the help of the Kermantians. And then, with a handful of our ancestors, they went to neighboring star systems, leaving the Arches as an invitation for us, the descendants of the Kermantians, to follow. Given the turmoil that was happening with the Kermantians at the time that the Travelers arrived, we can understand why they chose to leave for another star system... "The other group of Travelers, called the Travelers Who Left, Flew to Jool to build a wormhole on Vall, again with help from our ancestors. There is no mention of what happened to them. “Given this extraordinary revelation, we have updated the SCV Discovery’s mission objectives to investigate Vall after deploying their Drop Pods and setting up Jool Station. All that will happen when they arrive at Jool in about two years. “Finaly, when the Travelers Who Stayed sealed up the Arches, they left behind some important artifacts for us to discover. They gave us gravitic engines that are surprisingly like our own, and computer systems that were very well preserved- and still functioning once we hooked up a compatible power source. After teaching us their language and science, we discovered that the computers contained plans for the gravitic engines they gifted us along with a very interesting engine design…”

It's been a while since I last looked, but I just checked and yup, SunkWorks accounts for the part's buoyancy as defined in the part's config. So these two mods already play nice. If they didn't I'd find a way.

This was a big update that was long in the making, and there's more work to do. I want to clean up the warp effects a bit so they don't look like you're flying through a neon tube, I want to add a warp pylon or two, and I want to make it possible to add craft files as space anomalies. I may also make an even larger warp ring- I was thinking about Excelsior-style warp nacelles but @JadeOfMaar beat me to it. There's one more part that I'm investigating: a jump engine, but that's a ways off.

@Lonelykermit Heads up that WildBlueCore has just been updated. ModuleSuitSwitcher has been renamed WBIModuleSuitSwitcher.

Blueshift 1.11.0 is now available: HOW TO FIX MISSING PART MODULES ERROR This update renames a number of Wild Blue Industries' part modules and may cause KSP to complain when you try to load your craft files. To fix this issue, follow the steps here: https://github.com/Angel-125/WildBlueCore/wiki/How-To-Fix-Missing-Part-Modules-Warning New Parts - S1 Multi-Segment Warp Coil: This part combines multiple S1 warp coil segments into one part variant to reduce warp coil part spamming. It offers 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 segment variants, with appropriate increases in mass, cost, and performance. There are also "Midsection" versions to combine with other coils for truly long warp nacelles. - S2 Multi-Segment Warp Coil: This part combines multiple S2 warp coil segments into one part variant to reduce warp coil part spamming. It offers 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 segment variants, with appropriate increases in mass, cost, and performance. There are also "Midsection" versions to combine with other coils for truly long warp nacelles. - Mk2 Multi-Segment Warp Coil: This part combines multiple mk2 warp coil segments into one part variant to reduce warp coil part spamming. It offers 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 segment variants, with appropriate increases in mass, cost, and performance. There are also "Midsection" versions to combine with other coils for truly long warp nacelles. - S2 Contragravity Generator: This part represents the first step in gravitic technology. It can negate up to 95% of a planet's gravity, making it easier to launch a vessel into orbit. A single generator can negate up to 1g of a planet's gravity, but you can add multiple generators to counteract higher amounts of gravity. Changes - Warp Dragging: If enabled from Settings, warp engine can "drag" nearby vessels with them as they travel in warp. The dragged vessel masses are accounted for during the focused ship's warp performance calculations. NOTE: Warp Dragging is NOT supported during timewarp! NOTE: Warp Dragging doesn't support auto-circulation. - SPACE_ANOMALY entries can now specify "everyPlanet" as a spawnMode. Fair warning: This will spam a lot of anomalies, so use sparringly. - Added Debug Mode menu item to the Blueshift Settings menu. This supersedes the "debugMode" field found in settings.cfg and various part module files. - Added Sphere of Influence support for JNSQ's planet Nara. - The settings.cfg file has a new parameter: lightYearMeters. This lets mods change the distance that 1 light-year represents. The default is 9460730472580044 meters (1 real-world light-year). - Refactored the tech tree to disperse parts across multiple tech nodes and to unify it with Kerbal Flying Saucers. - WBIWarpEngine: Added new field: absoluteMaxSpeed. This field defaults to < 1. When > 0, the engine's max possible speed is limited to multiples of c- if the value is > 1, or fractions of c- if the value < 1. - WBIWarpCoil: Now supports the ability to multiply the warp capacity (and the corresponding resource requirements) based on the selected part variant. This is done by adding an EXTRA_INFO node to the appropriate variant. Example: VARIANT { name = Short displayName = #autoLOC_8005067 //#autoLOC_8005067 = Short primaryColor = #3a562a secondaryColor = #9e7100 GAMEOBJECTS { yadaYada = true } EXTRA_INFO { // Capacity Multiplier specifies how much to multiply the base capacity capacityMultiplier = 1 } } - WBIAnimatedTexture: Texture & emission animation now supports multiple transformed with the same name specified by the textureTransformName field. Additionally, you can now specify a TEXTURE_TRANSFORMS config node with one or more textureTransformName fields that will also be animated. Example: MODULE { name = WBIAnimatedTexture // ID of the module so we can distinguish between several animated textures in one part. // This one is controlled by the warp coil. moduleID = WarpCoil // The 3D model can have multiple transforms with this name. textureTransformName = plasmaCoil // These will also be animated TEXTURE_TRANSFORMS { textureTransformName = plasmaCoil2 textureTransformName = plasmaCoil3 textureTransformName = plasmaCoil4 textureTransformName = plasmaCoil5 } animatedEmissiveTexture = WildBlueIndustries/Blueshift/Parts/Engine/WarpTech/WarpPlasma minFramesPerSecond = 15 maxFramesPerSecond = 50 fadesAtMinThrottle = true emissiveFadeTime = 0.5 } Bug Fixes - Adjusted part costs for the Bussard Collectors and Plasma Vents. - Fixed issue with WBIModuleGeneratorFX that prevented it from setting Action Groups. - Fixed negative Funds cost of the Mini Jumpgate Platform. - Fixed issue where space anomalies all had the same vessel name. - Fixed issue where generator resource consumption dropped to zero when flying in interstellar space. - Fixed issue with wonky resource generator display in the VAB/SPH. EfficiencyBonus is also accounted for in the display. - Fixed issue where interstellarResourceConsumptionModifier wasn't properly reducing the interstellar resource consumption rates.

SunkWorks 1.1.0 is now available: HOW TO FIX MISSING PART MODULES ERROR This update renames a number of Wild Blue Industries' part modules and may cause KSP to complain when you try to load your craft files. To fix this issue, follow the steps here: https://github.com/Angel-125/WildBlueCore/wiki/How-To-Fix-Missing-Part-Modules-Warning Changes - Part module name changes.

Sandcastle 1.3.0 is now available: IMPORTANT NOTE: Currently, printing vessels on the ground is resulting in their orientations NOT matching the orientation of the printer, and result in the spawned vessel crashing into the ground. You won't likely see this at the space center, but it definitely happens on other planets. This is a source of major frustration for me right now. - The Sandcaster's printers will now only be available when the printer arm has been deployed. - Upon completion of printing, if a vessel is printed on the ground, then the printers will draw a movable box depicting where the vessel will spawn. Simply use the movement arrows to place the box in the desired position before pressing the Finalize Printing button. - The MATERIALS_LIST and TECH_NODE_MATERIALS config nodes now allow you to add REQUIRED_COMPONENT config nodes that specify what parts are required to complete parts in the part category and/or tech node, respectively. - You can now specify a MATERIALS_LIST for a Community Category. NOTE: For a part to make use of a Community Category materials list, the part's "category" field must be set to "none" and you must properly define a Community Category in the part's "tag" field. NOTE: The FIRST Community Category found in the part's config will be used as the part's category for the purposes of determining its MATERIALS_LIST. - Added Sandcastle support to the Mk1 Drydock and Mk3-75 Drydock from the Mark One Laboratory Extensions mod. NOTE: If you see the drydock parts in the MOLE category tab, DO NOT USE THEM! They will have "Deprecated" in their title. Use the drydock parts found under the Sandcastle category tab instead. - WBIShipwright have new configurable fields: // Alternate transforms- these are used in place of spawnTransformName to help orient vessels properly. spawnTransformVABName = VesselSpawnPointVAB spawnTransformSPHName = VesselSpawnPointSPH // Maximum possible craft size that can be printed: Height (X) Width (Y) Length (Z). E.G. 5,5,5 // Leave commented out for unlimited printing dimensions. maxCraftDimensions = 11,11,20 // Flag to indicate if the printer should offset the printed vessel to avoid colliding with the printer upon spawning. Recommended to set to FALSE for printers with enclosed printing spaces. repositionCraftBeforeSpawning = false - WBIPrintShop has new configurable fields: // Maximum possible craft size that can be printed: Height (X) Width (Y) Length (Z). E.G. 5,5,5 // Leave commented out for unlimited printing dimensions. maxCraftDimensions = 11,11,20 // Flag to indicate if the printer should offset the printed vessel to avoid colliding with the printer upon spawning. Recommended to set to FALSE for printers with enclosed printing spaces. repositionCraftBeforeSpawning = false Bug Fixes - Fixed issue where Shipbreaker would get stuck if it had no storage capacity for a resource that it was trying to drain from the part being recycled. - Fixed issue where Shipbreaker would get stuck if the recycled part's dry mass or variant mass is negative. - Fixed issue where Shipbreaker wasn't emptying the inventory of stored parts from the ship being recycled. - Fixed issue where Shipbreaker would store recycled parts in the vessel that it was recycling. - Fixed issue where Shipbreaker's UI wasn't reflecting the parts that had been recycled. - Fixed issue with duplicated parts being added to the Shipbreaker's recycling queue.

Pathfinder 1.42.0 is now available: This has been a long time coming, but the 10+ year-old template system, which was a holdover from the earliest days of Multipurpose Colony Modules, is being retired in favor of the more flexible Omni Converter and Omni Storage system. Existing parts are deprecated, so your existing bases are safe. But new bases will use the new Omni system instead. BE SURE TO DELETE YOUR WildBlueIndustries/000WildBlueTools folder if you have one! - All convertible storage and template modules have been replaced with OmniStorage and OmniConverters. NOTE: This may affect vessels in flight, but you can easily reconfigure your modules by turning off resource and skill requirements in Game Settings -> WBIResources. - Play Mode is no longer a factor; if you have Community Resource Pack installed, you get CRP converters. If you have Classic Stock Resources installed, you get Classic Stock converters. If you have both installed, you get both. - Deprecated the Ponderosa, Casa, Chuckwagon, Conestoga, Hacienda, Mule, AKI Power Strip, and Doc Science Lab. - The Ponderosa, Casa, Chuckwagon, Conestoga, Hacienda, Mule, and Doc Science Lab all have new versions. - With the latest DSEV installed, the Mule V2 won't be available; use DSEV's S2 Logistics Module instead. - The geology functions of the Pathfinder template have been moved to the new Doc Science Lab. - The new Chuckwagon has an integrated greenhouse when Snacks is installed. - The new Conestoga gains an omniconverter in place of its dedicated Monopropellant Power Unit.

MOLE 1.30.0 is now available: This has been a long time coming, but the 10+ year-old template system, which was a holdover from the earliest days of Multipurpose Colony Modules, is being retired in favor of the more flexible Omni Converter and Omni Storage system. BE SURE TO DELETE YOUR WildBlueIndustries/000WildBlueTools folder if you have one! - All convertible storage and template modules have been replaced with OmniStorage and OmniConverters. NOTE: This may affect vessels in flight, but you can easily reconfigure your modules by turning off resource and skill requirements in Game Settings -> WBIResources. - Play Mode is no longer a factor; if you have Community Resource Pack installed, you get CRP converters. If you have Classic Stock Resources installed, you get Classic Stock converters. If you have both installed, you get both.

Red Alert! Heisenberg 2.20.0 is now available: This has been a long time coming, but the 10+ year-old template system, which was a holdover from the earliest days of Multipurpose Colony Modules, is being retired in favor of the more flexible Omni Converter and Omni Storage system. BE SURE TO DELETE YOUR WildBlueIndustries/000WildBlueTools folder if you have one! - All convertible storage and template modules have been replaced with OmniStorage and OmniConverters. NOTE: This may affect vessels in flight, but you can easily reconfigure your modules by turning off resource and skill requirements in Game Settings -> WBIResources. - Play Mode is no longer a factor; if you have Community Resource Pack installed, you get CRP converters. If you have Classic Stock Resources installed, you get Classic Stock converters. If you have both installed, you get both. I've been looking into the state of Heisenberg as a result of this update, and I'm getting some ideas. First, I want to replace the Hooligan Labs support with a homegrown solution. IF that pans out, then I'll likely redo Heisenberg like I did with Buffalo 2. That would mean that I'd retire Heisenberg and make Heisenberg 2, with modernized gondola parts and 12.5m or 15m airship hulls.

DSEV 3.31.0 is now available: This has been a long time coming, but the 10+ year-old template system, which was a holdover from the earliest days of Multipurpose Colony Modules, is being retired in favor of the more flexible Omni Converter and Omni Storage system. BE SURE TO DELETE YOUR WildBlueIndustries/000WildBlueTools folder if you have one! - All convertible storage and template modules have been replaced with OmniStorage and OmniConverters. - Play Mode is no longer a factor; if you have Community Resource Pack installed, you get CRP converters. If you have Classic Stock Resources installed, you get Classic Stock converters. If you have both installed, you get both. NOTE: This may affect vessels in flight, but you can easily reconfigure your modules by turning off resource and skill requirements in Game Settings -> WBIResources. - Deprecated the Mk2 Tranquility Habitat in favor of its new V2 variant. NOTE: The new Mk2 Tranquility Habitat is dedicated to habitat functionality; no more template-based science lab capabilities. - Deprecated the D2 Lab in favor of the D2 OmniLab added in Release 3.14. - Renamed the S2 Cargo Bay to S2 Cargo Bay (Medium). - Added new S2 Logistics Module- it is twice the size of the Short Logistics Module. - Added new Kosmos Science Lab. It uses the Mobile Processing Lab MPL-LG-2's IVA, and has the functionality that was in the Tranquility Habitat.

Buffalo 1.7.0 is now available. This just updates support for the new WBIResources modlet.

Chapter 8 Valentina slowly opened her eyes as she heard something. It sounded like “Moaning,” followed by “Not us.” She felt cold. Very cold. Her body shivered with the chill. Her breath left clouds of vapor. “M-meat locker,” she mumbled. “C-cold.” Valentina wanted to drift back to sleep, but the “Moaning” and “Not us” kept repeating. What felt like an eternity later, her brain fog began to fade. She could finally understand what was being said. “Good morning, Nautilus,” the voice of Bobak Kerman, Flight Director and voice of Mission Control called out from the ether. “Mowing,” she slurred. Bobak sounded far too cheerful. “Today’s date is Montezu 4, 2007. It’s been 2 years and 235 days since you entered cryosleep,” Bobak said a few seconds later. “Do you remember who you are?” That was a key phrase that every kerbal who entered cryosleep had to remember. It helped Valentina wake up. “Valentina vonKerman. Captain of… Uh… Sorry… Valentina Kerman, Captain, Kerman States Navy. Spacecraft Commander of the Nautilus.” “Excellent,” Bobak responded after a short delay. He read from a script. “As Spacecraft Commander, protocol dictates that you be the first to awaken upon entering the Sphere of Influence of another world. In this case, Kerbin. Welcome back, Nautilus.” “Th- Thank you,” Valentina answered. “Ship’s status?” “Telemetry reports everything is nominal. All primary SAFER reactors are up and running all secondary SAFERs are on standby. Main engine diagnostics report a slight pressure drop on the secondary feed line, but its within tolerances. All cryopods report nominal. You’re go to wake your crew at your earliest convenience.” “Copy, KSC,” Valentina responded methodically. She wanted badly to wake her husband, Bob, first, but procedures required her to wake up Jeb before waking the rest of the crew, to ensure that Nautilus had a backup pilot in case something happened to her. A few minutes of seemingly endless complaining later, Jeb was fully awake. And too cheerful, the jerk... “Get to the bridge and warm up the ship, she said.” “Regulations require-“ “I know the regs, Jeb, I wrote them. Now, get to the bridge. That’s an order.” “Yes Ma’am,” he said tersely, and floated off to the bridge. Valentina woke Bill Kerman next. As the ship’s Chief Engineer, he needed to check the ship from stem to stern before their next planned maneuver in about a day. Sara vonKerman, the ship’s cryo specialist, followed afterwards. She could handle the remaining crew while Valentina tended to the ship. Sara thawed out Seanner mcKerman, Sammal mcKerman, and Diltrey mcKerman, members of the science team, and finally, Bob Kerman, the chief scientist. The scientists took up residence in the now-spinning centrifuge to check up on their precious experiment samples. As Sara performed her medical examinations of the crew, Bill, Jeb, and Val performed ship diagnostics to ensure everything was in working order. Finding no significant issues, they plotted a 1,603 m/sec burn to slow the ship down enough to reach Low Kerbin Orbit- the ISC made an exception to the 1,000 km minimum altitude requirement for their Emancipator nuclear engine, knowing that it would be the last time that such an engine would be used. Right on time, Nautilus performed her engine burn, giving her a periapsis of 286.22 km. Five and a half days later, DSEV-01 returned home, settling into a 121.44 km by 122.26 km orbit. Not long after, Pathfinder (OV-301) took off from KSC and flew into space, rendezvousing with Nautilus a day later. After she docked with DSEV-01, the ship’s crew started to transfer over to the shuttle. The author science team nearly freaked out when they realized that Pathfinder didn’t have a science return container, but Bill calmly when to the ship’s 3D print lab, built one, went on EVA, and installed it in the shuttle’s payload bay. Crisis averted! Then, when Pathfinder’s crew mentioned that they were low on fuel, Bill topped off OV-301’s tanks using Nautilus’ own propellium reserves. To say the least, the author International Space Consortium was not pleased with Pathfinder’s flight performance, and they made a note to reevaluate future use of the spacecraft. Nonetheless, Pathfinder had enough fuel to return home, and Bill completed his duties as Chief Engineer of the Nautilus. Jeb was relieved of duty aboard the Nautilus, and with everyone else aboard the shuttle, Valentina was left alone on the bridge. “So long, Nautilus,” Valentina said, “thanks for bringing us home.” She transferred over to Pathfinder. It was time to go home. “Don’t forget the science,” Bob pointed out. The shuttle’s flight crew felt a little embarrassed about that, but they made sure that all of Nautilus’ science results were aboard OV-301. At last, the shuttle cast off from Nautilus, leaving her with a maintenance crew that would decommission DSEV-01 and prepare her for life as a museum. Nautilus was simply too old to be refitted, especially given how quickly technology advanced to the point where gravitic engines powered the newest Deep Space Exploration Vessels. Half an hour later, OV-301 made her deorbit burn, and another thirty minutes after that, Pathfinder landed safely back at KSC. The weary travelers, who went further than any kerbal in modern history, were home at last. Author’s Note: At this point in the timeline, we’ve caught up with the events depicted in the Epilogue of Commercial Space Ventures. As noted before, Flight of The Endeavour was a prequel. Most of this mission report was a prequel as well. * Huitzil 19, 2007: “Wow, they kept that quiet,” Karbal said to himself as he read the news. The ISC just announced definitive proof of life on Lathe! The Nautilus crew brought back samples of phytoplankton growing in Laythe’s oceans. The media absorbed that revelation along with knowledge of the advanced technology comprising the Arches- the Kermantians did not make those- and began wildly speculating. As a result, the ISC leadership promised a news conference “soon” about the Arches, but for now, they were focused on the return of Nautilus and their scientific findings. So, it came as no surprise that when Phoenix Aerospace announced the results of the crowdfunding campaign, hardly anyone noticed. That crowdfunding was unexpected; Phoenix Aerospace originally had other plans. An insider let slip that the company executives had hoped that the ISC would stop at Phoenix Lab- orbiting the Mün- and use it as a layover while they assembled their new Arch Base. They were ready to rent out space on their station. Then SCV Newton did all the heavy lifting, and their plan evaporated. The crowdfunding was a desperation move, but it worked. At least they received enough funds through their campaign to last past Kopernicus’ return, and now, two lucky funders would get to go on the trip. Phoenix Aerospace would get their last hurrah after all. Speaking of which, Karbal got to work on the penultimate chapter of his alt history… (ALT) Keep Looking Up Part 7 – Skin in The Game Early in the morning, the vonKerman Koloss heavy lift launch vehicle leapt into the skies once more, this time with a large payload fairing replacing the nose-mounted oversized fairing used during a shuttle launch, and minus said shuttle. That was the advantage of placing the main engines on the external tank instead of the orbiter; it made the booster much more versatile. Without the Schneestrum (“Blizzard”) orbiter, Koloss could loft considerably more payload into orbit- 73 metric tons, to be exact. Koloss performed flawlessly as it launched into the sky, shed its recoverable liquid boosters, continued its climb, and jettisoned its engine module and core tank when its propellants were depleted. That left its payload, the Feuerwerkskörper (“Firework”) nuclear upper stage, to complete its orbital insertion. Powered by a single NV-GX Emancipator nuclear engine, the Feuerwerkskörper successfully attained a 150 km parking orbit before making a plane change maneuver a half-hour later. The Emancipator had a 2,950 second ISP- significantly more than the Kerman States’ atomic rocket. Feuerwerkskörper put that improved fuel efficiency to good use 40 minutes after its plane-change maneuver when it made a 1,570 m/sec burn for Minmus. The engine glowed a dull red during its engine burn, but it operated well within normal parameters. Kontrol waited another seven and a half hours before making a small mid-course correction burn, which it performed adequately. Unfortunately, engineers noted that some of the upper stage’s propellium boiled away during that time. It was only enough to lose a couple of meters per second of delta-v, but they needed every drop of propellium to reach Eve and back with acceptable safety margins. But such was the nature of test flights; figure out what worked, what didn’t, and iterate and improve on the next design. Over the course of seven days, Kontrol watched as Feuerwerkskörper 1’s propellium continued to drop. They finally traced the issue to high timewarp causing power generation to stop, which resulted in the boiloff part module thinking that it had no power and reducing the propellium a small leak in a propellant line. They switched to the Space Center to avoid timewarp while focusing on the vessel a secondary line as a stopgap measure, but since it also had a leak, they knew that it was only a matter of time before the nuclear upper stage lost all its propellant. As a result, Kontrol programmed one last burn that would cause the nuclear stage to slingshot around Minmus and escape into interplanetary space before it could pose a navigational hazard to cisminmar space. At the expected time, Feuerwerkskörper 1 performed a 657 m/sec engine burn that sealed its fate. A half-hour later, the nuclear upper stage sailed just 22.74 km above the surface of the Mint Mün- which sparked protests from both the Kerman States and the mcKerman Kingdom- but thankfully nothing bad happened as the nuclear upper stage whizzed past. Eighteen days later, Feuerwerkskörper 1 became the first nuclear-powered vehicle to enter interplanetary space. * Meanwhile, the Kerman States’ Nuclear Shuttle fared a bit better. Thanks to not using tanks with boiloff advanced insulation coupled with sunlight reflecting paint, NS-1 experienced negligible propellant loss as it patiently waited in orbit. Thankfully, it didn’t have to wait much longer. KSC rolled out a modified Lindor-9R to Pad C that carried MünLab- essentially a modified SkyBase- on a heavily modified Lindor 9 Second Stage. KSC engineers stripped the second stage of its landing equipment and interstage adapter in favor of a new Lindor Interstage Docking Adapter (LIDA) that would enable NS-1 to link up with the new space station. As Feuerwerkskörper 1 exited Kerbin’s sphere of influence, MünLab and LIDA took flight. Once again, the L-9R failed to land properly despite modifications, but with their massive budget, KSP could afford to lose a few boosters. A half-hour after liftoff, MünLab and the modified second stage reached a 300 km parking orbit. A series of preprogrammed maneuvers later, MünLab rendezvoused with NS-1, and the two craft docked together. Not long after, Nuclear Shuttle 1 boosted towards the Mün using two engine burns- KSC had to avoid dumping the spacecraft into Kerbin’s atmosphere with a single engine burn. Five days later, MünLab settled into a 53.16 km by 54.00 km equatorial orbit, ready to receive visitors. KSC initiated the station’s “Hat Tip” maneuver to reposition its solar observatory from its launch configuration and then deployed its sensor arrays and solar panels. With that completed, KSC Mission Control declared MünLab operational. And with its objective complete, Nuclear Shuttle 1 disengaged from the station and headed back to Kerbin. * KSP and the vonKerman Space Agency weren’t the only ones busying themselves with their respective space projects. The Ministry of Space began launching Hubble, a new spacecraft that they intended to land at Minmus to conduct long-term science. Hubble’s propulsion system was still being worked on, but the station/base still had a use in Kerbin orbit. Besides, Hubble leveraged many lessons learned from the Sir Arthur mcKerman Memorial Space Station, such as the need for larger docking ports to facilitate transfer of equipment between modules. Set atop an Arrow 4 Heavy and barely fitting inside the Arrow Long Faring, the Hubble Core Module (HCM) patiently waited for the launch site to line up with Minmus. At the appointed time, however, the launch vehicle blasted off its pad and into the night sky. The ascent to orbit was uneventful, though flight planners needed to adjust future flight paths to stop the gravity turn just above the atmosphere. As Hubble crossed over to the dayside of Kerbin, its Arrow 4 Upper Stage completed the circularization burn, dropped off its payload, and deorbited. Three days later, an Arrow 4 launched the Hubble Science Module (HSM). Essentially just an upgraded Arrow Science Lab, the HSM had additional science instruments like a radar altimeter, resource mapping system, micro science-junior materials platform, and others. The HSM boosted into a 300 km parking orbit and made a plane change maneuver to line up with the HCM. A day of chasing the Core Module later, the Science Module, low on propellants, rendezvous with the HCM and deftly docked to its aft port. Every three days, another Arrow 4 launched a component of Hubble into orbit including a pair of support modules, a sensor mast with complementary mini payload maneuvering vehicle, and a pair of solar arrays. With nearly all the major components lofted into orbit, the Ministry of Space sent the refurbished Newton into orbit carrying Valfield mcKerman (PLT), Libon mcKerman (PLT), Nelpont mcKerman (ENG), and Nedley mcKerman (SCI). Like the newer service modules that brought Hubble’s components into orbit, Newton’s service module had a Clamp-O-Tron docking port, giving the spacecraft the ability to dock with older and newer stations. Half a day after launch, Newton arrived at Hubble, in the dark, as is right and proper. At orbital dawn, the crew got to work. Valfield piloted the Mini-Payload Maneuvering Vehicle (MPMV), moving the solar arrays and sensor mast in place while Nedley began unpacking the lab module and Nelpont unpacked the habitat section. Unfortunately, it became quickly clear that the MPMV lacked the maneuverability needed to reposition the ship’s components and the team felt stuck until Libon suggested using Newton’s superior RCS and gyro systems. After Valfield positioned the MPMV, Libon maneuvered Newton over to the MPMV’s docking port, undocked the solar array, and flew it over to its mounting point. She repeated the process with the other solar array, and then got to work on the sensor mast. It was a tricky job, but she managed to assemble the mast as well. “Great job, Libon, and outstanding idea,” MoS Mission Control radioed. She quietly thanked them, disengaged from the MPMV, and docked to the starboard solar array while Valfield parked the MPMV on the lab module. Both solar arrays had the ability to dock a Newton shuttle and had crew passageways. As Valfield instructed the spent service module on the ship’s aft port to depart, the Ministry of Space assessed the situation and realized that the MPMV had a lack of gyro control that made it nearly impossible to maneuver relatively massive payloads. They promised to pack some gyros to retrofit the MPMV in the next shipment. Meanwhile, Nedley took the opportunity to set up the sensor mast while Nelpont handled the solar arrays. Another three days passed, and the Ministry of Space once again launched an Arrow 4 into the sky. Within half a day, a cargo variant of the Arrow Transfer Vehicle reached Hubble and docked to its lab module. It brought with it several parts that the crew needed to reinforce the connections between module. After suiting up and putting on a jet pack, Nelpont stepped outside to do some work. Jetting around and attaching a ladder when needed, Nelpont bolted on several struts between the modules to strengthen their connections. Then he went around and attached numerous landing legs that Hubble would need to land on Minmus. Finally, Nelpont pulled removed the MPMV’s external antennas and mounted gyros, shipped up with the Cargo ATV, in its place. As he went back inside, the Ministry of Space launched one last Cargo ATV to bring up some needed supplies. With the MPMV retrofitted, it got to work on its last job. It pulled a strange payload out of the Cargo ATV’s hold and parked it on Hubble’s aft docking port. Then, no longer needed, the MPMV maneuvered into the space inside the Cargo ATV’s hold. And with its mission complete, the Cargo ATV departed Hubble and made its death plunge into Kerbin’s atmosphere for disposal. The ventral-port-docked Cargo ATV departed soon after. Hubble’s crew spent the next few days testing navigation systems, cycling the ship’s landing gear, programming the scientific instruments, and generally making the ship ready to fly. Once satisfied, Valfield gave Libon permission to cast off and fly the Newton home. “Have a good flight,” she called out over the radio as Newton departed. Amateur radio operators heard that transmission and immediately flooded the Ministry of Space’s phone lines, asking what she’d meant. Anticipating that this would happen, MoS’ leadership held a press conference. “Today, the mcKerman Kingdom is officially putting our hat into the ring. We accept the challenge to race to Eve. Our vessel, the Hubble, shall depart for Eve henceforth at dawn tomorrow.” At dawn tomorrow, seriously? None of the other nations have a ship ready, and the launch window doesn’t even open for another year!

The relevant configuration is indeed in the IVA: MODULE { name = InternalSeat seatTransformName = Seat001 allowCrewHelmet = false } You could patch IVAs to disable the requirement for helmets but making them toggle able might not be possible without code changes. Something like INTERNAL[*] { @MODULE[InternalSeat] { …..

Thanks for making the mod! The suit switcher plugin needs a bit of work but it'll be done in the next few days.