purpleivan

Pistaciho obviously.

Plane doesn't need to get to the starting line you say... hmmm... might have another crack at this with a "slightly" different delivery system.

Thanks @DoctorDavinci I'll give it a try.

I was so lucky with my run. In tests it always took a few goes before I had a run that made it to the finish line, but for the real thing I made it on the first attempt, albeit with some costly errors. Good time BTW.

I just tried that, but it doesn't seem to make any difference. Strangely though, the toggle button doesn't graphically change when clicked on, staying in the bright blue, solid button state.

Then I'll need to design something able to land near the start flag to gain some time... where will this all end

@TriopI just notice the leaderboard showing my flight time as 14:25 +19:03 = 33:28 My total time from KSC to the start flag was 19:03 including taxi-ing the plane to the flag. Sorry for the confusion.

Unfortunately I'm still not getting any adjustments of the elevons. Here's how I've got the three components (BFC control unit and the two elevons at the rear of the Purple People Eater). When I get airbourne (using the runway as a ramp) the elevons aren't moving to "brake" position. The Brake Flaps on their own seem to be working though, as the RCS toggle control does make them close, just not automatically when the vehicle becomes airbourne. Sorry if I've missed something stupid... always a possibility

Submitted an entry to the Dessert Derby 2018 Flew a jet assisted rover from the KSC to the Dessert airfield and then drove it to the Temple complex at high speed, for a time of 8:33. Some pics of the delivery.

I installed the updated mod and took the Purple People Eater for a drive, but I'm not sure if it's working as anticipated. If I enable Boost Flap in the Elevon right click menu, the parts just stay flat (orientation is parallel with the ground) so not blocking the jet exhaust at any time. I tried jumping over the runway a few times to get the flaps to close, but no luck. Am I missing something?

I'd agree with that. My style of rover does feel a bit like cheating up against rovers that have to apply force through the wheels to move.

Good timing... I just installed the existing version (1.3.x) and I'm confused about how to add this to my rover. I looked at the Imgur description images, but I don't see what part(s) I need to add to my vehicle.

Subject to possible instant disqualification, to appear only in the "dishonourable mentions" category, I present to you... Velocirover - Start to finish flag in 8:33 I spent quite a lot of time on this, probably as much on the flight to the dessert airfield as the rover drive. Then I realised this morning that I have to get my machine not on the runway, but to the start flag some distance away. So I decided to enter in the Race category, given the extra that I was set up for a landing at the airfield. The rover is jet powered, but it stays on the ground thanks to that thunking big rectangular wing on top. It does get airbourne from time to time, but rarely for than a second and it sticks to the ground going over most humps. I didn't use the Boost Flap Kracken Tech, as this rover was pretty well stuck to the ground, although I did attach control surfaces at the back to act as jet exhaust covers The plan was to use these to cut a lot of the thrust without killing the engine, and spooling up again, when required (e.g. spinning out). However I ended up forgetting that in use and kept killing the engines, which wasn't the quickest way to the finish flag. If this gets disqualified, then oh well... it was a fun challenge to enter. But if the vehicle is ok, then I think given the several spins I had, a complete tumble near the end, and my lack of use of the jet flaps, a sub 8 minute run is almost certain possible. If BFKT is a requirement of jet boosted entiries, then if the mod is compatible with 1.4.5 then I'll have another crack at this, with it mod installed. Getting to the desert. First step (when I was planning on entering the flight and race category) was to have the plan pointing in the West on the runway, to save the turnaround time in the air... who needs concrete to take off. Enroute. Not quite on the runway. Wheelstop in 14:25. Then the slow treck to the start flag. 19:03 from the KSC to the start flag Velocirover is free. The Race Picture (taken from video) says it all Finish time A course time of 8:33. An angry god.

Please say yes, please say yes, please say yes

Velocirover will be eating up those "dunes" tomorrow.

Some images from the latest chapters of LOST on Laythe.

In addition to this questions, what point on the airfield should we be starting from if I have the DLC? All the test runs of my rover have been done from the spawn point at the southern end of the runway, but I don't know if that's going to be the actual start point on Saturday. Ignore the question, I download the save file with the flags, so now I know where the start is.

Chapter 08 – Two to go “Make that two rolls, we got a lot of console to cover” – Jebediah Kerman Full Sindley and Gelsey Kerman were huddled around a small screen mounted on the console of the science vessel’s command pod. The view it showed was from a camera mounted on the rear of the vehicle, and the view was breathtaking. A half illuminated Jool hung over the limb of the blue green expanse of Laythe that filled the lower third of the screen. With Jeb and Voyler safely on the surface, the time for Sindley and Gelsey to join them was just moments away. “Ok there Gelsey, I’ve got a good signal and burn is in 30 seconds” came the voice of Jeb Kerman over the pod’s speakers. “Good to hear Jeb, everything’s ready up here” replied Gelsey, glancing at Sindley and mouthing “yeah?” to see if there might be any last minute thing that she might have missed. “Yes... all good here, hope you have a beautiful landing site for us down there?” enquired Sindley “wonders to explore”. “Weeeeell... if you call an endless expanse of brown dirt wonders, then I guess we’ve got plenty for ya” replied Jeb. “Oh fantastic... can’t wait to get down and see it” answered Sindley excitedly. A small pause followed before Jeb’s voice came over the speakers again. “Ok kids hope you’re strapped in tight ‘cos we’re just 10 seconds from burn”. Sindley looked at Gelsey, nervousness apparent on her face, her fingers tapping rapidly on the armrest. Clearly the descent to the surface worried her, even if there might be “wonders” down there as a pay off. Back at KSC the communication between the two vehicles was being monitored, but they kept silent, so as not to distract Jeb from his task of controlling the decent of the science vessel. It also gave them a chance to recover from last night’s “Toga for Tiddles” party, so having nothing to do but listen was very welcome. “Ok, time for this school bus to go for a field trip, in 3, 2, 1” said Jeb, counting down the de-orbit burn. The F12 burst to life, its dull roar rumbling through the structure of the ship. Sindley and Gelsey stared at the console, watching their ground speed steadily tumble as they were pressed firmly into their seat backs. with the rapid deceleration. On the ground Jeb had his hands full... literally, as he held the sticks mounted on the remote control unit that communicated with the science vessel’s AR203. Good thing that he’d managed to find his UPLIFT card in time he thought, no idea how it came to be wedged between two wall panels at the back of the pod. The science vessel was making a good entry through the upper atmosphere, with only an occasional adjustment required at the remote control unit. Jeb glanced at the burn remaining time that was steadily ticking down. 27 seconds to go and things were going well, certainly a smoother ride than his and Voyler’s ... so far anyway. “20 seconds Gelsey” Jeb announced, giving her the time until engine shut off. Gelsey thought about responding, but realised there was nothing for her to say. She and Sindley were just mass in the equation at this point, having no control over the descent of the vehicle. Just leave him to it she thought, he might be a pilot, but he was a good one and was more bearable than than most. “10 seconds” came Jeb’s voice again. Not long to go now Gelsey thought, a few minutes and were on the surface. “aaand shutdown!” confirmed Jeb, as the roar behind the two scientists ceased. Gelsey and Sindley scanned the parts of the console that was readable, for signs of mishap. No red lights, no numbers out of place... nothing. So going better than most missions Gelsey thought, looks like we might make it down in one piece. Steadily the science vessel continued towards the surface, the navball, just about readable through the plastic, seemed to show them on a good track towards their target position. Then again, given the distortion through the thick sheeting, they could be way off course. With its work done, the engine section was detached, and Jeb gave the vehicle a small rotation to pick up some drag, pulling it away from the track of the F12. “How’s our descent path looking Jeb” enquired Sindley, wondering how much of a drive they might have to join the mining vessel at the colony site. “Looking good... might be a couple K or so off, but no more than that” answered Jeb, clearly proud at the accuracy of the landing he was guiding them to. “2 kilometres, not bad” Sindley said to Gelsey “time for us time to give the vehicle a good check out on the ground”. “True, true” replied Gelsey although she’d prefer a landing bang on target, to minimise the time before meeting up with Jeb and Voyler. Sindley was ok to be around, as long as they were talking shop, but she missed good old meaningless conversation. To protect the vessel during its fiery passage through the atmosphere, a large inflatable heat shield opened at its base. As the vessel descended, the molecules of Laythe’s atmosphere began to party around it. The universe’s own DJ was playing and the party was getting HOT, and more so by the second. Gelsey looked at the plasma that swarmed around the vehicle, frequently glancing at the system status board for signs of trouble. Meanwhile Voyler stared out of the front window, equally terrified by the intense heat that was the other side of it, and entranced by the colour and flow of it as they descended. Gradually the glow around the vessel decreased, as did the buffeting it was receiving in its plunge towards the surface. The pair started at the altimeter, bracing themselves for the inevitable jolts that lay ahead. Jolt one hit at 5,000m as parachutes ejected from their housings at both ends of the vehicle. Fortunately they were still attached by a myriad of tethers to the rapidly descending vehicle. Looking at the console the two occupants could see their rate of descent gradually decreasing. Sindley stared out at the green sky, no stars, no great bulk of Jool to look at, just green. Sindley liked green, certainly more than the fiery orange of a few minutes ago. 500m and jolt two hit as the parachutes that rippled above them in the airstream billowed out into a display of orange and white that blocked out the sky. “Sky” Gelsey thought realising something was wrong. “Er... Jeb, shouldn’t we have lost the heat shield a while back” she enquired. “What!” exclaimed Jeb “that should have detached at 10k”. “Well before the chutes opened, we were still looking at the sky, not the horizon” replied Gelsey, sounding rightly concerned about the huge shield that was surely still attached to the rear end of the vehicle. “No way we can land with that on there, we’ll roll over on touchdown”. “You sure you’re still looking straight up, you could just be disoriented?” asked Jeb, confident that these scientists couldn’t tell up from down without a calculator. “Well my back is still being pushed into this seat and looking at the navball we’re pointing straight up” she replied, not liking the dismissive tone in Jeb’s voice. Jeb wasn’t used to scientists taking an interest in the navball, especially one drapped in thick plastic wrap, so took a look at the matching display on the remote console in front of him. Gelsey’s was right, they were indeed still pointing skyward. “Ok, ok... er, Gelsey, take a look at the upper right area of the console, there’s part with 3 blue lights and a row of dark green switches... you see ‘em?” guided Jeb. Gelsey looked toward the part of the console that Jeb referred to “blue lights, blue lights, blue lights” she muttered, while searching. Finally her gaze came to rest on what looked like three blue lights, best as she could tell through the murk of the plastic “Found them Jeb” she exclaimed. “Ok, you see that row of dark green switches, you need to flick down the 3rd switch from the left end to manually release the shield” instructed Jeb. Gelsey reached forward to press what looked like the 3rd switch. It was difficult to be see where one switch began and another ended through the plastic, but it looked 3rd, best as she could tell. Jeb suddenly remembered the plastic that had been installed on the console just prior to the departure from Kerbin. “Best bet is to keep their fingers off aaaanything they don’t need to use” he remembered saying at the time. Maybe he’d been a bit hasty in that decision. “Whoa there Gelsey, don’t touch anything!” Jeb shouted, sounding unusually panicked. “What’s the problem” asked Gelsey, her index finger halted just above what was most likely the 3rd switch. Sindley glanced at her nervously, having noticed that they were already down to 300m, although thankfully that big shield was slowing their descent considerably, so buying them some time. “You need to be real careful with those switches” Jeb warned “the 2nd switch cuts the chutes and the 4th is snack storage detachment”. Gelsey instantly understood the gravity of the situation, button 2 was a deadly impact with the surface, button 4 would be days without snacks until a later ship from Kerbin arrived. Both were fates not worth contemplating. The scientist thought for a moment and asked what she thought might be a pertinent question. “How many switches am I looking at on that row here?” Jeb thought for a moment, trying to remember more clearly the layout of the cupola console. He wasn’t that familiar with it, as the cupola wasn’t what pilots thought of as a real pod; one fit for a pilot, even if it did give a great view. “Three” came Jeb’s reply after a few seconds. “Ok... just to confirm” Gelsey replied, sounding a little annoyed “it’s the third from the left, on a row of three switches”. “Yup... third one in from the left” confirmed Jeb. Gelsey shifted her finger over to the rightmost switch and flicked it down. Medium At that moment both Sindley and Gelsey wished that they’d not had quite such a big lunch to celebrate the upcoming landing, nor the snacks that closely followed it. The vessel was swinging and rolling wildly as it now rested loosely at one end on the detached heat shield. They were now pointing roughly in the right direction; they could see the ground now at least, if a bit too much of it. “Jeb... urghhh... we’re looking at a lot of ground here... eroooh... I think we’re snagged on the shield” informed Gelsey; slapping a hand over her mouth, while trying to keep what was inside her stomach from being outside. Jeb could see from the navball display that the scientist was indeed correct. 2 for 2 for Gelsey today... Go science!. He took hold of the sticks on the remote control unit and started to roll the vehicle side to side in an effort to dislodge the shield. Inside it, the two scientists could contain their stomachs no longer and hurled. Fortunately the console was mostly covered in plastic and largely below them at that point. After several of these rolling motions, far too many for its unfortunate occupants, the heat shield broke free, causing the rear end of the vehicle to fall suddenly, coming level with the front. The jolt brought forth another fountain of partly digested snacks from the poor scientists, but at least they finally were looking at the horizon. Free of the heat shield, the troubles of their landing were surely over. Empty Having a partiality to Kerby Krisps, the delicious snack of choice for many kerbals, Gelsey had been steadily eating her way through the stock of them on the science vessel since departure from Kerbin, in fact a couple of them were now sprayed across the plastic covered console. These snacks were all stowed in the rear end of the science vehicle that hung below the (theoretically at least) well balanced array of parachutes. Unfortunately for the two scientists, Gelsey’s taste in chocolate treats meant that the front and slightly heavier end of the vehicle was slowly drifting to point towards the surface once more. Not so great an angle to jeopardise the vehicle and its crew, but enough to give them a less than perfect landing. The front wheels hit Laythian dirt for the first time, scraping along for a moment before lurching back up, followed by the rear's hitting the ground, their suspension groaning under the sudden shift of weight. A pattern of lurching between front and rear wheels contact followed, lasting about 10 seconds, emptying what little was left in Gelsey and Sindley’s stomachs, before finally coming to rest. Fortunately the brakes were on, stopping them from rolling down the slight incline that they had landed on. They had that at least. After a moment to catch their breaths and compose their stomachs, the two shook hands weakly. They might have hugged, given they had finally landed on the planet that would be their new home, but given the state of their suits after their stomach churning ordeal, they thought better of it. “Jeb, KSC... science vehicle here... we have landed on Laythe” Gelsey announced before slumping back in her seat and letting out a low sigh. At that moment a tiny streak across the sky above them signaled the arrival of the Hab vessel, slamming into the upper atmosphere, to lose some speed in its encounter with their new home. Two down, two to go.

Not quite the same thing but... Ggggg... Ghostship.

Chapter 07 - One down “Fuel heater coil... about yay big” – Pad crew chief KSC Starved Voyler Kerman sat nervously, strapped into her seat waiting for what was about to happen. Jeb Kerman sat behind her at the controls of the mining vessel that had crossed millions of kilometres to a planet never visited by Kerbalkind. With the future of the species at stake there was much weight on his shoulders. However he’d never failed to stick a landing, so there was that perfect record at stake to add a little pressure too. Clocks ticked down, dials spun and fingers drummed in anticipation on the console, then finally... it was time. One green finger jabbed one orange button and the F12 engine at the base of the vessel burst into life and the vessel started to descend. With all of its equipment and tanks, the mining vessel was the heaviest of those of the LOST colony fleet. Descent was going to be the longest and the hairiest, hence it being given to the KSC’s premier pilot. Jeb’s face, although calm, was intensely focused on the console in front of him. Voyler however had nothing to do but contemplate the task that was about to be attempted. With no window to look out of, she relied on a small console to her side to keep her updated on the events of the landing. With just a few seconds to go before the descent burn was complete, there were a series of jolts that shook the whole vessel. Worryingly a small red light appeared on Voyler’s console marked “fuel pressure”. Some weeks earlier in a card game on Kerbin, a young member of the KSC pad crew was chatting about the little project the crew had going on behind the big O2 tank. That project required much tubing, junctions for tubing as well as heaters, if the coming apocalypse was to be “fully fueled”. There had been many item to procure, some of which were in short supply, “So you get one?” enquired another of the card players, a six of Duna and a pair of Kraken Widows in his hand. “Sure” replied the young pad crew member “couldn’t get one from storage, but I found another... don’t think they’ll miss it”. “Great work... now pass me that jug, you’re lookin’ at a thirsty guy here” said the card player with a grin, beckoning with his free hand. Back in the present, on a vessel plunging through Laythe’s atmosphere, Voyler Kerman was not grinning, in fact she was panicking. “Jeeb, Jeeb, we got a warnin’ light here... we got no fuel pressure”. The fuel might have had no pressure, but right now Jeb Kerman had plenty of it. His perfectly timed descent burn had quit on him early, and they were going to overshoot the landing site, so he and Voyler were headed for a heavy watery impact. “Well do what you can to get me some” snapped Jeb “I can’t fly this thing without fuel”. After a moment he realised there was some flying he could do. He gradually pitched up the heavy vessel to give a bigger profile to the air it was rapidly passing through, in order to increase drag. It would buy them some time, but they were still on their way to a watery grave without some fuel. Voyler looked over the console; but as the vessel shook, from its angry angle of attack passing through the atmosphere, much of it looked a blur to her. Finally she caught sight of something that looked like a solution. She tapped a small blue button on the console and fuel started to flow once more, bringing the mighty F12 back to life. “There ya goes Jeeb” shouted Voyler over the noise in the pod, noise that was already diminishing as the pilot swung the vessel to its normal angle for descent. “Ok I think I’ve got this” replied Jeb as he finished orienting the vessel to point retrograde once more to complete the descent burn. Finally, the fuel exhausted, the F12 cut out and the mining vessel was on course for a landing on something solid, even if it was a few kilometres away from the planned landing site. Many weeks had been spent by many scientists and mission planners back on Kerbin, to pick that landing site. But where they were now headed, was where they were going to stay. Crunchy Minutes later, after passing through the upper atmosphere of their new home, the mining vessel spewed forth a display of orange and white billowing above it. The chutes had survived the fiery descent and now held the vessel in their reassuringly draggy hand. In the build up to the launch of the LOST fleet, the fine fabric that these parachutes were made from was in short supply. Rumour had spread like wildfire that the material was favoured by the Kraken, and so it would spare those wrapped in it, on comet Tiddles arrival. That or or at least make their end a swift and painless one. The rumour started as a joke by a late night comedian, but rapidly went from humour, to rumour, to accepted truth by many. With supplies short, the LOST planning team had to skimp here and there on the precious cloth, with one such cut back being to the mining vessel. Instead of the required number of chutes for a gently touchdown of the bulky craft, the landing would be assisted by a short burn of the F12, to bring it to a gentle stop on Laythian soil. However Voyler’s little blue button was marked “Landing Reserve – Transfer”. With just moments to go before touching down Jeb adjusted the throttle setting of the F12 and jabbed the engine ignition button on his console to bring it back to life. Kerhpuuut...pthhhh sounded the engine, followed by a sound much like the last dregs of a milkshake being sucked through a straw. “Voy what do you see, she won’t light” shouted Jeb. Voyler looked at her console, all the fuel readings were solid red bars, with the numerical readouts all a discomforting “0.0”. “It be ok Jeeb... jus a moment... jus a moment” replied the engineer, reassuring herself as much as her crewmate. Voyler could see the landing radar’s display of the distance to the ground below them falling faster than was comfortable, or safe. But there was nothing she could do except grip the armrests of her seat tightly, screw one eye tightly shut, the other glued to the descent speed indicator, and hope. “It be ok... jus you see... be ok” murmured Voyler, finding the repetition soothing. “Be ok... be ok... be Ow!” said the engineer as the vessel came to a shuddering halt as the landing legs hit the ground. Hydraulic rams were pushed, metal groaned and fillings in heads shook, as the mining vessel came to rest on the surface. The first Kerbal vessel to hit Laythe seemed to be in one piece but was going to need an inspection of the landing legs and the structure they were attached to at least. “You ok there Voyler?” enquired Jeb, clear concern in his voice. Voyler unscrewed her left eye and slowly released her grip on the armrests before exhaling deeply “Yeah Jeeb, I’m ok... I’m ok”. Having checked that the vessel wasn’t about to topple over, Jebediah Kerman took a deep breath and uttered the words that kerbals everywhere we eager to hear. Gulp “LOST is on Laythe KSC... I repeat, LOST is on Laythe”. For a moment there was silence at the KSC as they took in the moment, then the sound of glasses clinking, hands slapping and whoops of joy filled its buildings. All their hard work was paying off and some kind of future (other than a fiery demise) seemed to be in store for at least some of their species. On the Hab, Coslin and Bill stopped their heated Kit Keman discussion, while Elson sat across the table from them, smiled and took a bite out of large slab of chocolate he’d brought for the occasion. Bob Kerman, still floating along outside the Hab knew nothing of the arrival, as his suit radio switch was still firmly in the off position, to block out the sound of Bill and Coslin. On the science vessel Gelsey and Sindley hugged for a moment then returned to their observations of Vall as it receded behind them, its gravity swinging them on course for Laythe. Meanwhile... bring up last place was Valentina in the Lifter, who stared out of the cockpit window, wondering what it must be like to be first for once.

Chapter 6 - Spanner in the works “Oh no... we’ve got another one” - unnamed: accounts dept, propulsion division KSC Glow First one bleary eye opened, then the other and then both jammed shut again as the light from the cabin light hit Gelsey’s retinas. “Oooo” came a familiar voice from the command pod, that lay the other side of the door of Gelsy’s quarters.. “Aaaaaah” came the voice again. Even in her sleepy state Gelsey recognised it as that of her fellow passenger on the trip to Laythe. “Oh Gat, I wish you could see this, it’s sooo amazing” the voice exclaimed. “Errrr... you what... erm... sorry there Sindley, got distracted for a moment” came Gatler Kerman’s voice from the lab’s speakers; less deafening than usual. Truth be told, Gatler had nodded off for a moment. This was partly due to the recent shift to the launch crew’s “special brew” as the drink of no choice at the KSC. But it was mainly because Sindley had spent that past 20 minutes giving him a blow by blow description of the Lab’s approach towards Jool. “It’s soooo green... you know the colour of the grass in the western hills on a spring morning after the rain. It’s even greener than that” described the scientist. “Roger that ... green” responded the KSC communicator. “But with bands of white, that make it even more wonderful” continued the scientist, in not so scientific language. “White... gotcha” replied Gat, wondering if this tale of colour schemes was going to continue all the way to Laythe. “I... I think it’s a little larger than before, and the colour is so...” started Sindley, before a voice cut her off. “Mornin’ there Gat, so how’s thing’s looking, are we good for the Vall burn?” asked Gelsey, as she entered the pod, giving the poor communicator a reprieve from her fellow scientist’s Jool observations. “Oh... er... thanks there Gelsey... and to you Sindley, lovely description... like I was right there with you” replied Gat, secretly thanking the Kraken that he wasn’t. At least speakers had an off switch. “Let me see, let me see... Vall” began Gatler. “We’ve got a small correction to your burn that we need to pass up to you... don’t want you getting too much of a good thing eh” chuckled the communicator. The “good thing” referred to being the gravity assist that would swing the science vessel into the correct trajectory for their Laythe encounter. “Hey, you can never have too much of a good thing Gat” chuckled Gelsey, “except if it leaves you stuck in Kerbol orbit with no fuel”. Gelsey took a look at the console of the pod, most of which was covered in clear plastic sheeting, the glow of the displays beneath blurred by it to be almost unreadable. Her attention came to rest on the big switch, just left of center of the main panel marked “remote operation”. This switch was in the on position, glued in place by a huge blob of adhesive. “Ok there Gelsey, if you set your AR203 to receive and high-band locked, we’ll update you for the burn” instructed the communicator. The AR203 was the successor to the much respected (in some quarters at least) AR202 flight control unit. This unit had been a huge success, performing faultlessly on the two missions on which it was flown. To celebrate this feat, the Union of Pilots and League of Flight Industry Technicians rounded up every unit for a “special event”. With these technical marvels in hand they headed out in the dead of night and buried them in a deep hole, high in the mountains West of the KSC. The successor model; the specifications of which were agreed on after much negotiation, had the same basic flight control capabilities of the 202. However instead of the unit making the calculations for a vessel and controlling it autonomously, a pilot was required at a remote control unit to manually set up all burns. All 203 RCU’s had a card slot on the side, into which a pilot would slide their UPLIFT card (Local 17 for launches from the KSC), unlocking the unit for operation. At the KSC, young pilot Tomard Kerman sat at the remote control unit. He reached forward took the union card from his wallet and slid it into place, then proceeded to set up the remote control unit for transmission of the new burn settings to the science vessel’s 203. While this was going on Gelsey and Sindley set about making things ready for the incoming flight control update. Then suddenly... everything went black. For a moment there was silence, as the two scientist floated in the pod of the science vessel, lightly bathed by the oh-so green hues of Jool. Then... noise. “WHAT DID YOU DO?” shouted Sindley, suddenly her voice less fanciful and more accusatory. “What do mean, what did I do?... you think I turned out the lights for dramatic effect.” replied Gelsey. “Well, I mean I didn’t touch anyth...” began her crewmate. “Or maybe I decided to pulled a random breakers JUST to see what would happen” continued Gelsey. “But...” Sindley started. “Or perhaps I just wanted a clearer view of Jool’s verdant glow” said Gelsey, more than a little mockingly. “Well, it is very verdant, I mean it’s an amazing thing to witness so far from Kerb..” started Sindley. “Stop!” exclaimed Sindley’s crewmate “New rule... no prose of the universe stuff while I’m around to hear it”. “But that’s not fair, I’m only trying to descri...” began Gelsey’s rather brow beaten colleague. “Shhht!... what did I say?” demanded Gelsy. “Errrr... no more prose of the universe” replied Sindley dejectedly. Gelsey looked towards one of the areas of the pod’s console not covered in plastic sheeting, that housed the ship’s system status board. There glowed a swathe of Jool like green lights, but two glowed an angry Duna red. “Great... main power bus and the high gain are out.” Stated Gelsey before asking her crewmate “so which do you want to take”. “I erm...” began Sindley, relieved that Gelsey’s haranguing had come to an end. “I’ll take the high gain”. Sindley headed for the airlock in the lab module, and Gelsey started to go through the checklist for resetting the breakers, many of which had been thrown, to bring main power back online. Just as she was exiting the pod, Sindley turned her head towards Gelsey. “I’ll get a wooonderful view of Jool from out there” before giving a wink and launching herself towards the airlock. Paperwork Sindley gazed at the green white marble of Jool as it hung in the blackness, accompanied by the blue of Laythe, the grey of Tylo and the blue/grey of Vall. It was as if a giant child had been playing with them, when suddenly called to dinner, leaving them floating in the void. No time for such thoughts though, the Vall encounter was only a few hours away and that antenna needed to be fixed before then, to receive the burn update. With a small nudge of the thrust on the underside of her backpack, Sindley drifted upward, to get a closer look at the RA-15. This was a piece of equipment that she was well acquainted with, as it had been the stock solution to the problem of getting scientific data home to Kerbin for many missions. As she drifted upward, her shadow spilled out unrecognisably across its oblique lower surface, then gradually morphed into a clearer rendition of her shape, as it move up towards the center. There was no obvious cause of the problem with the high gain dish, no apparent damage, or signs of anything coming loose. Sindley realised that she needed to take a look at the underside of the unit, where it was mounted to the ship. But that would take some doing, as the gap between the dish and the fuel tanks was pretty tight. Manoeuvring herself in close to the fuel tanks, she tilted her head to peer into the darkness beneath the dish. She flicked on the lights mounted on her helmet, wincing for a moment at the sudden brightness. She looked over the mounting and the cable connections to the antenna and everything seemed fine. Finally she saw something that looked a likely source of the problem. Wedged into an exposed part of one of the guide motors was what looked like a piece of paper. She stretched he arm out to grab hold of it, but then noticed a spark jump from the motor across the paper into the mount, and thought better of it. “Gelsey, you’re at the breaker board aren’t you?” she asked over the suit’s comms. After a moments silence, the voice of her crewmate came over her headset. “Er, yeah, why’d you ask?” “Could you pull the breaker for the RA-15... just the motors, don’t need to take down the whole unit” she replied before continuing “there’s something stuck in one of the motors and I want to pull it out”. Gelsey gazed across the breaker board until she found what she was looking for and snapped one of the breakers into the “Off” position. “The motors are out now, should be safe to work on Sindley” came her crewmate’s voice, sounding far less shrill than it had when she’d been inside. “Roger that” replied Sindley before reaching into the gap to retrieve the object. After much stretching and wiggling of stubby fingers (hers were stubby, even for a kerbal) she grasped the piece of paper and pulled it out from the motor. She held it up in front of her helmet, its lights illuminating it in the shadow of Kerbol. She couldn’t make out what it was at first. There was something written on it, but she couldn’t read it, then realising it was upside down, she twisted her arm to correct its orientation. Now she could see that the piece of paper was a speeding ticket. Name: Jumlin Kerman Home address: Kerbin (c/o KSC, propulsion division.) Offence: Exceeding the posted speed limit Details of offence: Travelling at 93m/s in a 30m/s zone. Payee Details: Send it to KSC accounts dept... F12 Ruuuulz! Not understanding what a speeding ticket was doing jammed into their antenna mount, Sindley flipped it round to look at the other side and found her answer. Scrawled on it barely legibly in black marker were the words. Give Bill back his spanners Remember one way ticket Do before launch Clearly Mr Jumlin had stuck it to the vessel as a reminder and forgotten to remove it. Hopefully he didn’t forget to give Bill back his spanners too Sindley thought to herself. Engineers get very possessive about their tools. Once back inside the science vessel, Sindley and Gelsey brought the antenna back online, so were able to receive the burn update from Kerbin. For some inexplicable reason of spacecraft wiring, the speeding ticket becoming wedged into the motor as it slowly rotated to track Kerbin, had caused a short to the main power bus, bringing down power throughout the vessel. Engineers Gelsey thought. Can’t launch with ‘em, can’t launch without ‘em.

Some more Dessert Rally 2018 preparation images, Various iterations of the delivery vehicle. To aid navigation on approach to the airfield, I had Bill and Tilbold head out into the desert to plant a big arrow in the sand. It's now standing about 3km North of the runway.

Unfortunately it had to be sacrificed and left to head into a Kerbol orbit. It was a lot larger than the crewed vehicle, so there wasn't sufficient fuel to bring back both.

Delivery vehicle is now tweaked and brings the Velocirover to the Dessert Airfield in a little over 14 minutes. I had some issues lining up with the runway on approach, even with a flag planted at the South end of the runway and another about 20km North of it as guides. This is partly due to the view of the airfield on approach from the North, being blocked by low rise in the landscape. So unless I wanted to try a really steep descent (my flying skills aren't up to that), then I needed something in the landscape to line up with. This was my solution, which is now parked about 3km North of the end of the runway. Seen here having a wheel fixed by Bill. Big enough for me to see it from a distance and dark enough to contrast well with the sand. Nothing like preparaton.

I had a vehicle returning from Jool and once again had misjudged the amount of fuel to get it back to Kerbin. It had enough to pass by at a few hundred km, but enough to get into orbit, or skim the atmosphere to brake into one. So it was going to rush by at about 2.5km/s too high a speed for orbit and head out into the empty blackness. Luckily I had a large fuel tank with engines sitting at a mining station on Minmus that I was using to move the product of a mining base on the surface, to a fuel station in orbit. So I waited for the Jool ship to come rushing by, then eyeball my departure from Minmus orbit in hot pursuit. Once I was chasing after the Jool ship, I started dropping maneuver nodes on my trajectory, to tweak my rescue ship's approach to it's target. FInally, just within Kerbin's SOI, I cought up with it, docked and transferred the remaining fuel to the Jool ship. This gave it enough to hit the brakes and swing back into orbit of Kerbin, to have it's crew picked up later by a ship sent from a station in lower orbit. The rescue ship.