Ultimate Steve

So, uh, my desktop PC is broken and it is probably the motherboard or the graphics card, which probably means its gonna be expensive to replace. I don't know how long it is going to be.

That, combined with the fact that university just started up again, means that my regular content will not be happening for a while. I still have a laptop, but its KSP performance is dismal, and everything related to current projects is on the PC. So, for a while, there will be no Voyage, Intrepid, Space Battles, or anything else, pretty much.

However, I was about to start a text only story, working title "WIZARDS!" so be on the look out for that, as it is one of the few things I can do without the desktop.

So, in the Bob/Sily save, I have a series of spaceships that I name. (I'm not sure if I'm going to continue the mission report but I'm continuing the save.) One of them is S-03 "Jeffree." It has launched on several refueling missions, and has had a successful run as a spaceship, being the oldest one still in service, unless you count a wreck that was converted into part of a base.

I launched a manned Duna mission, but it's running out of fuel, so I thought I'd send a refueler on a potentially one way mission so that the crew could get home. I chose Jeffree, as it was my only refueler in service (I later built another one to refuel Jeffree).

Then, a sad music box version of Payphone came on. I don't know how many of you remember, but a long time ago, HOC Gaming made a parody of Payphone called Space Probe, about a stranded space probe. Despite it having been several years, I know at least the verse by heart and I thought of that song while about to send Jeffree into the great unknown.

Jeffree is one of my friend's nicknames for me, and I had previously named a model rocket Jeffree, but it got stuck in a tree on its second flight and has probably disintegrated in the rain since then.

So, I may be about to lose a second Jeffree... And I'm sad now.

I will get Jeffree back to Kerbin at all costs. I promise, Jeffree.

Okay, you have got to hear this...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diego_Marín_Aguilera

First off, the authenticity of this story cannot be completely validated, but several important organizations regard it as at least partially true, including the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (who credit this guy with a flight of 360 meters). This was not well reported on as it happened in a small Spanish community.

So this guy, Diego Marin, was an inventor in his small town, and he wanted to build a flying machine. He most likely did not know of DaVinci or any other flight pioneers, but he studied birds for a while and came up with, depending on which source you go by, a glider or an ornithopper (wing flapping flying machine). On May 15, 1793, he got a bunch of people to get his machine to the top of a nearby castle tower, and once the wind was right, he launched. Maybe partially due to the wing flapping, but most likely mostly due to the wind conditions, his machine reportedly rose ~6 meters in the air before beginning a descent (it was at least somewhat controllable by most accounts) before one of the metal parts broke and caused the thing to gently crash, having flown ~320 meters depending on the account. The machine was still in good condition, and they were going to fix it, but the village found out and destroyed it and made fun of him, breaking his will to continue, contributing to his early death four years later.

While the story is a bit dubious, many high profile organizations say that there is some truth to it.

This is a semi-successful manned glider test less than a decade after the first manned hot air balloon flight, and the next successful glider tests wouldn't be claimed for decades, I believe. There were a few before Lilienthal but he's the only one people really hear about.

And if it incorporated wing flapping and wasn't just a glider, then it was an unsuccessful test of a powered heavier than air craft, probably one of the most notable and early examples seeing as it glided somewhat successfully.

Unless something catastrophic happens, the next chapter of Voyage: The Final Warning should be out today. I would say tomorrow but it's nearly 3:20 AM and I've been writing for hours. I will save proofreading and editing for tomorrow, but I have been sick for the past few days and I have a lot of make up work due Friday, so I can't say for sure whether or not I will get it done.

Hey y'all! I have a new challenge, probably unlike anything that's been done before, if anyone wants to help out!

https://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/index.php?/topic/182879-kerbin-collaborative-space-station/

Hey I would really appreciate y'all helping me with something

Thanks!

Hey, y'all... Sorry I've been so inactive with my mission reports lately, it's been busy. It's the time of the year where I have a competition every weekend or so and there's studying for the ACT, school, clubs, dealing with what is potentially a relationship, general stuff, a few things I don't want to talk about, etc.

I also have an idea for yet another story but I'm really hesitant to write it. I am already questioning my ability to finish my two main mission reports before college and I don't want another thing on my plate, but I think it would be interesting.

Tomorrow is going to be as lit as an SRB...

https://nextrocket.space/

I'm in the CST timezone, so...

A Falcon 9 with GPS-III at 8.

A European Soyuz with a spy sat at 10:30.

A Delta IV Heavy with a spy sat at 8.

A GSLV MkII with a Commsat at 4:40 AM the following day.

Four launches in 24 hours.

...And Blue Origin has filed for a launch at 8 AM but hasn't said anything about it yet. So maybe 5...

InSight is landing on Mars in less than 20 minutes! Cruise stage separation is in about 5 minutes, which is the first stage of the landing. If you aren't already watching, you should be!

I'm so glad we have a snow day today!

Just so y'all know I'm going to be gone until late night tomorrow.

So, uhh, I did a thing.

Attention, followers,

If you have model rocket launch capability, decent video editing experience, and the capacity to mail letters potentially internationally, well, I had an idea.

What if we did a collaboration where we mailed each other a tiny little astronaut figure and launched each others?

Note: From the US, mailing a letter internationally appears to be under $2 as far as I can tell. However, machines do the processing, so it would be unwise to send anything rigid in the envelopes. I've heard that coins don't get through the machines, so lego minifigures are probably out, that was my original idea. So something non-rigid, like a small rubber lizard or a paper/light cardboard cutout or something would have to work.

If you are interested say so and I will PM you all later!

How many of you would be interested in a lounge thread where I talk about my trip to Europe that I took a while back?

Don't panic, the new profile picture is only temporary, just got a rush of Gravity Falls nostalgia again.

Hey, y'all! In about an hour there will be a SpaceX launch, in which they attempt a first stage recovery... It will be the first west cost RTLS, as well as the first Block 5 RTLS, and the second flight of this booster.

No matter how hard I try, I cannot stop starting new things. Here's to another project I'm currently interested in that might wear off soon, or might stick around!

Whirligig is basically a planet pack where you start on this giant planet with a huge amount of gravity, but also a huge amount of rotation so you "only" need 4500m/s to get to orbit. It's like mega-Tylo. Also it has no atmosphere, which makes returning very troublesome.

Enjoy!

Ariane 5 launch in about 13 minutes, launching 2 communication sats! Also, the 100th Ariane 5 launch!

http://www.arianespace.com/mission/ariane-flight-va243/

Okay, I did not want to derail the SpaceX thread or the BFR thread, but...

^^^ Martin Molin is hands down my favorite musician ever and I already nominated him on the contact page before the BFR presentation even ended. Chances are he won't make it... But if he does...

There's a chance my music obsession and my space obsession could collide!

If you aren't already watching:

T-1 minute! A bit late on my part!

Can I get someone to help me right now?

My internet just got upgraded, and while it probably isn't enough to livestream well, I'm going to try again... Can I get a volunteer to judge stream quality from their end?

Looking at it I might just be able to stream with a decent framerate, but at 480p. Not good, but worth trying.

I'm halfway to 5 digits now! At this rate it's a race between that and graduating high school.

So I'm back from Europe

And I immediately have to go to Ohio

So I can't check my notifications for a few more hours.

But I have 23, which is a new record!

Hey there!

I just wanted anyone who cares to know that as of tomorrow at about 1:00 CST (give or take an hour) I will be leaving and I will not be back until late the 18th (probably the 19th). Unless I borrow someone's phone and they let me use it (unlikely) I will not be able to access the forum (or the internet at all) during that time, because I will be touring Europe as part of a state band program (YAY!).

I'm really excited, to say the least. Just letting you all know!