TheEpicSquared

CHAPTER 25: MAINTENANCE The DOV was stranded in a highly elliptical Kerbin orbit, unable to move. It had barely managed to limp back into a stable orbit. A rescue mission would have to be conducted. However, the standard Cormorant-Brumby configuration would not have enough delta-v to rendezvous with the DOV. The Brumby Mk2 with the Kerbol 1 certainly would make it, but was far too expensive for a mission that wasn't going anywhere near the Mun. Danker Kerman came up with the solution: use the Brumby Mk2 Rescue Vehicle. It had been used to rescue Jeb and Bill after they got stranded in LMO after landing on the Mun, and was basically a Brumby Mk2 bolted atop a Kerbol Light. Rodgas and Bill were selected to ride atop the assembly. However, Hardfield was apprehensive. "Is the Kerbol Light kerbal-rated?" Danker replied, "Actually, it is, believe it or not, even though it was designed as a cargo rocket." "Right... but the Brumby doesn't have an escape tower in this configuration." "Yeah, we're working on that..." It turned out that the lack of an escape tower wouldn't be a problem. When Rodgas and Bill heard that the repair mission would have to be delayed because of the lack of an abort system, they insisted on sticking with the schedule. "But, what if something goes wrong during ascent?" Hardfield asked worriedly. "Then we'll separate and use the second stage to maneuver away," Rodgas replied confidently. "And what if the second stage malfunctions?" Then we'll use the Brumby Mk2 CSM to maneuver away," Bill said. "And if the Brumby fails?" "Tell me, Hardfield," Rodgas said, a little irritated, "When has the Brumby ever failed?" "Forgotten about Mun Expedition 1, have you," Hardfield snapped, equally irritated. "That wasn't the Brumby's fault. The avionics on the lander screwed up." "Well, if you insist," Hardfield replied, but I really am apprehensive." "We'll be fine..." Bill said. And with that, it was decided. The DOV Repair Expedition 1 would be the first (and hopefully last) kerballed rocket to lift off without a proper abort system. The rocket finished its short journey to the launchpad at dawn. After the pre-flight checks were completed (the part about the abort system had to be skipped, for obvious reasons), the rocket's four first stage engines ignited, ramping up to full thrust before the clamps released the gigantic assembly. Because of the relatively light payload, the rocket started pitching east fairly early in the flight. Mission Control wasn't looking anywhere but at the data streaming in on the consoles. Usually, if the slightest problem was found, the abort system would be engaged. That wouldn't be possible now. If something went wrong, Bill and Rodgas would be on their own. The rocket continued to ascend. Tens of seconds later, the first stage was nearly out of propellant, and the rocket was high in the atmosphere. "We have fmain engine cutoff! We have MECO!" An engineer called out at Mission Control. Rodgas then said, "Stage separation, and second stage engine ignition!" "Rodgas, this is Mission Control, we concur, flight is nominal at this point." Everyone cheered. Soon, an acceptable trajectory was reached and the Penguin engine shut off. The circularization burn was one of the better ones, needing only 114m/s of additional velocity. The Penguin restarted at apoapsis. And soon the repair mission was safely parked in LKO. After the routine health checks were completed, a rendezvous was set up. The burn was even better than expected, resulting in a separation of only 200 meters! Soon, Rodgas and Bill were closing in on the DOV. The Penguin ignited once again just under 1.5 kilometers away from the DOV. Soon the repair craft was lined up with the DOV, and was closing in. As the Brumby crept closer, Rodgas kept his hand firmly on the joystick and guided it in. "And... docking confirmed!" Bill said, hearing the audible thunk of the Klaw grabbing the DOV. Mission Control came online. "Alright, here's the plan. Rodgas will conduct the first EVA and inspect the damage. If the damage is minimal, he will proceed to repair it, and then the Brumby will head home. If it turns out that the damage is beyond Rodgas's repair capabilities, he will head back to the Brumby. After that, BIll will EVA, fix the damage, and then we can finish off the mission. Got it?" "Affirmative," Bill replied, "Rodgas goes first, fixes it if possible, and if not, I'll EVA and repair the tank." "Correct. Good luck, guys." And with that, Rodgas suited up and climbed out of the vessel. He grabbed the necessary repair items from the Brumby's inventory. He also took a little time off to just enjoy space. "Rodgas, get back to work," Hardfield reminded him. Rodgas complied and jetted towards the Nervs at the rear of the DOV. "Alright, I'm here," Rodgas radioed. "I'll see if I can fix it, but it looks complicated. We might need to get Bill out, but I'll try." Rodgas tried for a few minutes, but he finally had to admit that he didn't have a clue how to repair the severe damage. "Mission Control, I have no idea how to fix this... I'll tell Bill to get suited up." "Roger, Rodgas," Hardfield replied. Rodgas was back at the Brumby in no time. After a few... 'acrobatic' moves in the cramped capsule, Bill managed to exit the craft and jetted towards the Nervs. "Righty then, I'm here. I think I can fix this, but Rodgas is right. Overheating fractures are very complicated. I'll try my best, but no guarantees." Bill pulled out his toolkit and started tinkering around. After around half an hour, Rodgas radioed, "How's it going, Bill?" "I've sealed the fractures with resin, but it'll be a while before they set and I can apply the top layer of the tank. I think I should be fine, though." "Always good to hear." 15 minutes later, the resin was firm and the final layer, nicknamed the 'duct tape' by the engineers, could be applied. "I've applied the duct tape, and everything looks good! I think we can call that a success!" "Alright! Nice work, Bill, now get back in so we can get out of here," said Rodgas. "Yup, I'm heading back now." After a few more acrobatic moves, Bill and Rodgas were both back in their seats and ready to undock. Separation was confirmed both by the crew and by Mission Control. Once the Brumby was an acceptable distance from the DOV, the Penguin ignited one final time, commiting it and the rest of the stage to a fiery destruction in the atmosphere. A periapsis of 4 kilometers would be brilliant. A while later, it was time for the second stage and the unused Brumby Mk2 Service Module to separate from the capsule. "Um, Mission Control, we haven't got confirmation of second stage separation," said Bill. We read that as well, is it possible to raise your periapsis into a stable orbit until we can figure out a solution?" "Negative, Control. We have the delta-v to enter orbit, but we don't have the life support for more orbits," replied Rodgas. An alarm sounded. "Control, we have entered the atmosphere!" Suddenly, Rodgas said, "Wait! It must be the fairing! The computer won't let us separate unless we discard the fairing!" "But the streamlined shape of the fairing is the only thing keeping us stable on retrograde!" Bill replied. "We have to try. If we keep the second stage on, the burning pieces of the metal will punch a hole through our heatshield. Assuming it somehow survives, the additional mass will mean our chutes will rip apart when we deploy them. Not that they'd be much use anyway with the added mass." "Okay, separate the fairing." "Three, two, one, separation." The fairings separated successfully. Now, Rodgas and Bill would have to hurry to separate everything before the craft started spinning out of control. "Rodgas, hurry up! We're getting plasma now! "I'm trying... the heat's frying the circuits! We'll have to conduct a manual separation!" Bill knew what that meant. He removed his seat belt and struggled against the G-force, and finally managed to get on the floor. He then frantically began to spin the wheel that would unlock the locks holding the stages together. Rodgas also got out of his seat and helped. The whole attempt was made greatly more difficult by the fact that they were wearing EVA suits, as per standard procedure. Eventually, the locks finally gave way and the capsule finally separated from the rest of the craft. Rodgas breathed a sigh of relief... until he saw Bill, who was unconscious, head against the capsule wall. He must have hit his head because of the G-forces of separation. Quite an impact too, if Bill had been knocked out through his EVA helmet. Struggling against the G's, Rodgas pulled Bill into his seat and strapped him in. Rodgas then strapped himself into his own seat and managed to stabilize the capsule to retrograde. The rest of reentry was fairly normal, and the drogue chutes deployed on time. This was followed by the main chutes. By now, Bill had woken up again, and Rodgas was thoroughly relieved to find out that Bill had not suffered a lot of damage. The capsule splashed down a few hundred kilometers short of target, but it would be no problem for the recovery team to find them. An hour later, a medical and recovery team arrived, and Bill and Rodgas were safely transported back to the KSC. *** That night, Caldos was once again racked with nightmares. It was, as usual, the Hybridium. But this time, they weren't just saying that they wanted to cooperate. Finally, they were saying something else. "Caldos... your species' space program is too ambitious... you will not succeed with colonizing Duna if you continue at your present rate. You must practice. Caldos... practice on Minmus. Colonize Minmus first, or you will never make it to Duna... And whatever you do, DO NOT LET INTEREST IN THE SPACE PROGRAM FALTER. Otherwise you will never make it. Mark my words, Caldos... Mark my words..." Caldos sat up, soaked in sweat. He had to tell Hardfield immediately. Hardfield was still up, as usual. Caldos burst in, not bothering to knock or say hello. "Hardfield, the Hybridium spoke to me. They said we'll never make it to Duna if we don't practice first." "Practice? What do you mean?" "They said we need to colonize Minmus, in order to get some experience in the safety of the Kerbin system." "You know, I've been thinking about that as well. I've realized that we are being waaay too ambitious. We need to slow down a little, we need to gather some experience." "Yes! Yes, that's exactly what the Hybridium want us to do!" Caldos replied breathlessly." "Alright, Caldos, I think you need to calm down. Take a shower, have some koffee, wind down a bit. I'll see what I can do." Caldos nodded and left. Once Hardfield was alone again, he sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. There was something he hadn't told Caldos. The Hybridium were speaking to Hardfield as well.

I'm still here... @DarkOwl57

Hello there, how're you doing? Never mind, ninja'd by adsii @DarkOwl57

Cubinator might be around... but so am I! @cubinator

Hmm, I guess I agree. I usually play either sandbox or career, I feel like science mode doesn't have much use, and adding the building upgrades based on science would make it more realistic while still having science as the only limiting resource. Good idea.

Oh, it certainly will suit my needs... thanks again! Chapter 25 should be out either today or tomorrow (probably today). It's a bit shorter than I expected, but due to schoolwork didn't have enough time to play more KSP. Anyway, stay tuned for 25, it'll be coming out shortly!

@The Raging Sandwich Clyde Tombaugh, the discoverer of Pluto, died on 17 January 1997.

As they say...

https://www.rt.com/viral/373880-spacex-launch-photos-from-above/

I know a rather good one... but I fear it might offend a few people.

It's a theoretical form of propulsion that involves warping space and time around the spacecraft, by contracting space in front of the spacecraft and expanding space behind it. Through some complex equations/concepts, this enables the craft to move at up to 10 times the speed of light (don't quote me on that, though), all without breaking the laws of physics!

@Kosmonaut I just checked out the base, it's absolutely awesome! Thanks a bunch!

Alcubierre Drive (very, very futuristic propulsion)

Wow... that's impressive. Thanks! I'll download it later today probably, and it'll be launched during the first duna transfer window. And I've got most of the screenshots for chapter 25 done, it should be out next weekend due to schoolwork.

What happened?

The twitch stream starts at 4:10 EST, right?

Successful deployment of all 10 satellites! Mission success! What a great return to flight! And what a great way to gather rep points!

Controller issue from the ground station means that SpaceX can't confirm if the remaining satellites have deployed, an update in roughly 10 minutes.

Telemetry says 1st Iridium satellite has deployed!

Second burn of the second stage complete, looks like they got a good orbit!

Well, it's supposed to be SES-10, which is scheduled for sometime in February according to spaceflightnow. Doesn't say the exact date though.

I started a career with Galilieo's Planet Pack and played for a while. Then I shut down KSP and opened youtube to watch the SpaceX Iridium mission.

Oh yeah, forgot about those. Will they be livestreamed? I don't recall the pad abort being livestreamed.

Looks like I'll have plenty to look forward to! (There should be a thumbs up kerbal emoticon)

Next SpaceX launch is NET Jan 26 05:00 CET according to spaceflightnow. It's EchoStar 23.