Guardian Hope

Mara One Rescue Mission Interregnum I: The Solar Observatory and the MASA When the NASA-KSP Agency was created on Kerbin, it was during a time of cold war between the United States of Kerbin and the United Koviet Kerbal States. The ideological differences had put these two countries of Kerbin on a collision course of Mutually Assured Destruction. However, after a disastrous collapse of the UKKS economy and the reformation of the UKKS into the Kerbal Federation, or KF, a new era had begun: one of global economic partnerships and the global Kerbin economy. Now the planet comprises of three countries: the United States of Kerbin, the Kerbin Union, the Kerbal Federation, and Kerbhina. While relations between the USK and the KU have been excellent, the KF and Kerbhina found themselves at odds with their western neighbors. Nevertheless, the four countries on the planet were willing to work together to develop a Solar Observatory and deploy it in orbit of Kerbin. "Wait!!!!" Jeb yelled as he came running into Mission Control where a bunch of dignitaries from the four nation-states have gathered. "We forgot the observatory's computer!" Jeb said in a panic. It was too late however, the USK-KU's most advanced computer system: the MechJeb, had already engaged the observatory for 150,000m orbit of the planet. Although the observatory was essentially rendered useless due in part to design flaws from the Kerbhina contributions like neglecting a decoupler for the Kerbal Federation's Ion Engines to engage, the observatory hit its target orbit and represented to all the people of Kerbin what happens when space agencies work together. Each of the four countries have been running their own space program: the USK had NASA-KSP, the KU has the KSA, and so on. However, even in this moment of failure there was triumph in the room of Mission Control. The USK's Aries I could easily intercept the observatory and add the computer needed while the engines provided by the KU provided SSTO. For the first time, Kerbals across the planet realized that a joint-effort to the Mun and to rescue those on the Mara SLA01 would be better than one agency trying to attempt either. Several days after the launch of the Solar Observatory, the leaders of the four countries came together in the Highlands of the KU - a place call Kinverness for the signing of a treaty that would form a new joint space agency named in honor of the brave souls currently aboard the SLA01: the Mara Aeronautics and Space Administration or MASA. As the construction of the most advanced one-way spacecraft begins, it will be MASA and all the nation-states of Kerbin that will land on the Mun and save the Kerbalnauts of the now former NASA-KSP.

Mara One Rescue Mission Chapter III: The Orbital One Mission Kerbol 323 It's been 323 days since the Mara SLA01 was lost to the orbit of Kerbol with Val in command. The NASA-KSP Program has had to make great strides in technology to prepare a rescue mission for a crew that has been stranded in space for almost a year. Nuclear and Ion propulsion have propelled the space program forward many years and for the first time in Kerbin history, an orbital station was to be built above Kerbin. No scientist on Kerbin was certain if the Orbital One Heavy Lifter could even take off with the first parts of the Orbital One station and the Director of the NASA-KSP Program could be seen fiddling as the countdown began: "5, 4, 3... main engine start, 2, 1.... Liftoff of the Orbital One Heavy Lifter bringing new scientific advances to Kerbals everywhere on Kerbin," It would be a few more moments before the crowd of Kerbals watching the launch from Mission Control would cheer as the Orbital One Heavy Lifter took nearly 9 seconds to clear the tower. Being led by Jeb in the Phoenix Command Module, the rocket roared past the tower and quickly gained speed as its SpaceY Heavy Lifter Boosters with nearly 11,000 kN of power pushed the heaviest load in NASA-KSP history towards the stars above. "Orbital One is now 20 KM downrange and continuing to accelerate away from KSC" was head over the com. With Jeb being the only Kerbalnaut to have reached space that remains on Kerbin, he smirked as he hit the MP3 player and blared across the CAPCOM. The other Kerbalnauts... well, they were writing their heroes in the Orbital One section of the rocket... just in case. In a matter of minutes however, the Orbital One Heavy Lifter Solid Rocket Boosters cut off and Jeb detached them - switching to Nuclear Propulsion as the Orbital One Heavy Lifter continued its acceleration into Kerbin orbit. The Nuclear Engine propelling the Heavy Lifter and the station into orbit continued to burn until the Blutonium Reactor begun to overheat. Fearing a meltdown, Jeb was forced to detach the Blutonium Reactor and the Nuclear Rocket Engine from the Orbital One Heavy Lifter - giving the new station an erratic orbit of nearly 500,000 kilometers at its furthest point and making the station not positioned ideally for KSC intercepts. However, the Orbital One station was incidentally positioned to have a craft launched from it towards the sun. An automated space vehicle to keep the Kerbalnauts alive could be sent well before Mara One. With no propulsion left, the station's solar panels were deployed and its lights came on as a shining start in Kerbin's sky. "Time to head home," Jeb said to the crew in the Phoenix Command Module. "Godspeed, Orbital One." With that, the Phoenix Command Module detached from Orbital One and begun its descent home. Using its plasma engines, the Phoenix Command Module begun de-orbit. It would miss KSC by on Kerbol 329 the Phoenix Command Module would land on the other side of the planet safely with the crew safe and alive. Meanwhile, Station Commander Podas Kerman begun his mission: prepare Orbital One for the Mara One rescue mission. However, as Podas Kerman and Orbital One begun its preparations for Mara One the people at NASA-KSP Mission Control realized that if they could not get a rescue craft to Val, Bill, and Bob - they could at least deliver supplies. Aries One - an Ion powered, unmanned, one-way space craft - was put on the drawing board at the Science Center for Kerbal Spaceflight. As hope gleamed in the eyes of Kerbals across Kerbin, the Aries One began construction. With exception to a Mun Lander that would be recovered by Aries Two, the Aries One was to be an unmanned spacecraft for the crew of the Mara SLA01 to transfer over to with fresh supplies from Kerbin. The Aries Program, if it were to succeed, would give breathing room to the already under pressure NASA-KSP to bring Val, Bill, and Bob home. It would however, be highly experimental and the Mun Lander would have to be launched from Orbital One - a station too small at the moment to dock the Aries. Coming up: Chapter IV: To the Mun or Bust! Although Jeb wanted to be the first Kebal to step foot on the Mun, work on Mara One would force him to step aside for a new commander to have the honor of stepping foot on the Mun. Aries One will be another monumental step forward but with Kerbals finally in space, mysteries are bound to be around the next corner.

@Snark, I want to thank you for responding to my questions so quickly! I am indeed coming back to KSP after a very long absence. I believe the last version of the game I played prior to now was .73 or .83 so it was definitely before 1.0 hit. I will definitely have to read up and post accordingly on that subject as it seems anything larger than a single rocket or if it's on the taller side even with stabilizers, RCS, etc. rockets will start to rather unrealistically bend until one or more engines run out of fuel at which point it's already hit KSC and the surrounding area or lifts off far enough to eject the command pod for it to safely return to the ground. That design was based off the SLA01 which reached Kerbin escape and is now incidentally orbiting the sun and thus only the second rocket of its design I have made which had multiple engines and make it off the launch pad. Even a pseudo-space shuttle couldn't make it off the launch pad and that far downrange (maybe, maybe 17 KM from KSC before crashing). The segment I posted can reach space but doesn't have enough fuel to establish orbit. Excellent! I have noticed this in KSP and I also know its true in rule rocketry science but about 80% of the total fuel supply (solid and liquid combined as an aggregate) is burned to just reach LEO or rather LKO since Kerbin isn't technically Earth. Having a station to resupply for the journey and attach all the parts of the craft would make such an endeavour much easier. That tool is extremely helpful. It was able to calculate a fairly good trajectory for a test flight. I have bookmarked it; this will definitely come in handy. After a few test flights, I think I have hammered down orbital rendezvous in Kerbin orbit both with two crafts already in orbit and one launch from KSC to intercept an already orbiting craft. For the purposes of my test, the velocity or the craft being intercepted was about 4,000 m/sec (the Mara SLA01 orbits at 3,000-3,600 m/sec around the sun). The closest I have brought a craft was 250 meters which for a first few tries I do believe is pretty good. However, this was using a nuclear propellant which will likely be the propellant of choice for the later stage rescue mission (I could not get Ion to work: while I had the Argon gas, it required megajoules which I thought solar panels would provide since joules were just a measure of energy but I was most definitely wrong). Between nuclear and ion, ion was definitely more efficient it seemed and a lot less heavy. The flag option didn't work (nothing appeared on the map) but I did park a purpose built solar and battery powered rover at KSC just short of the runway and than a flag (in case I forgot) with the heading information (True HDG 088 / Relative HDG 090). It's unfortunate KSP doesn't have ILS (Instrument Landing System for the uninitiated) and LOC (Localizers) but knowing where KSC is, the runway's true and relative heading, and my final planned descent speed should give me a reasonable estimation of where I need to be at 2,000 feet (about 610 meters) in altitude relative to the ground to line up for landing (Flight Simulator X and Orbiter can teach a lot of this). I found the rotate object button to change the direction of engines. The reason I asked this question is because I have noticed that my craft tend to be too heavy that on descent they start gaining speed even with a heat shield against the friction of the atmosphere. In fact, in some cases, my descent goes from about ~170 m/sec to over 2,700 m/sec which makes descent very quick but also the destruction of the spacecraft. Once entering orbit of Kerbin again I will definitely need a "fool proof way" of slowing down during atmospheric reentry and while heat shields have allowed me to survive the absurd 2,700 m/sec reentries I have committed, I can't say they have helped me slow down one bit. It definitely won't be SRBs on re-entry as they have no finite control; it'll have to be a small tank of expendable fuel. As for the SRBs not decoupling, I didn't get a screenshot (will try to) but what I did notice with my last launch is that the decouplers actually detach from the spacecraft and are visible but don't take anything with them. They look perfectly aligned with the SRBs that get attached but maybe they are not. Thank you @bewing for also replying quickly. I have begun testing with nuclear and ion engines. As I stated in my response to @Snark, ion engines didn't work unless I opened the debug menu and turned "infinite fuel" on (which is no fun). While I had the Argon gas required for the type of ion engines I was using, it also required megajoules which I thought would be provided by the deployable solar panels and rechargeable batteries. Nuclear worked like a charm but seemed like it will burn through a lot of fuel (so lots of expendable tanks) and nuclear is much heavier so getting it out of Kerbin's sphere of influence seems like it would be more challenging. Well small with powerful boosters did create this situation in the first place. The Mara SLA01 was intended for deploying satellites unmanned into Kerbin orbit but on its manned test flight it escaped Kerbin and entered into orbit of Kerbol. One thing I want to make sure doesn't happen is that fuel doesn't run out this time around: the rescue spacecraft (Mara One) needs to have enough fuel to make the trip to intercept the SLA01 including any adjustments and be able to maneuver into a position that gives it the speed of the SLA01 and a distance gap reasonable enough for the Kerbals to EVA over. One thing I have noticed is that 80% of the total aggregate fuel supply is burned up during launch for liquid and solid fuel. With nuclear and ion there appears to be a lot more headroom but ion has not gotten a true test due to the fact nothing I can find supplies the megajoules needed to burn the engines (had to use the debug menu to try out ion engines). This will definitely be harder. The SLA01 is out of fuel and traveling at a consistent 3,000-3,600 m/sec so that means the Mara One Rescue Ship will need to match that speed since the SLA01 is running on empty fuel. Hitting a few hundred meters will hopefully be doable - I've done it in Kerbin orbit with nuclear engines at a bit over 4,000 m/sec. To get everything put together and put through the trials in and around Kerbin I estimate that at least a few in-game months (probably half a year) will pass. I have no vehicle built and no infrastructure setup yet in and around Kerbin capable of handling this mission. I intend to launch an orbital station to support the mission into LKO. My plan was to separate a spaceplane (more of a space shuttle versus the idea we all get get when we say "spaceplane") design from the main spacecraft for the de-orbit and reentry. A retrograde burn to slow the vehicles down before detaching versus trying to intercept the orbital station (which I've started to name "Orbital One"). One thing Orbiter and FSX taught me is that it's a lot easier to land on the ground when you know where it is versus trying to intercept another moving object when every ounce of fuel counts. Especially Orbiter and landing back at Cape Canaveral. Now that I know where KSC is (thanks to my rover) this is the part I am least worried about. What I am worried about is slowing down on atmospheric reentry - only my earliest of spacecraft have not burned up on reentry due to the speed and atmospheric friction causing high thermal stress,

So, I have a predicament. I have been playing KSP which I have owned for a while and although I only got about 20 hours under my belt since the Early Access days (don't really have time to play games) I have gotten back into it. Well, I inadvertently launched a test orbital ship into space with enough power to break Kerbin orbit and enter into what appears to be a stable elongated orbit of the sun (read it all as it goes down here: Anyways, as I plan my rescue and refine my space program abilities (we only just achieved Kerbin orbital capabilities last night!) I realized that to attempt a mission of such magnitude presents a few hiccups. So, I will break my multi-part question down into smaller ones: Launching from KSC My first thought was SSTO but not only can the KSC construction building (fully upgraded) not handle rockets that I'm building (they get to be too tall for the building) but the SSTO component creates so much drag that even with the SpaceY Heavy Lifters SRB all firing at launch, it still takes the Liquid Rockets to reach a high enough altitude and burns through most of the fuel supply meaning no turns to establish orbit. I've seen a lot of craft on here and I'm sitting here asking myself, what am I doing wrong (the thread I linked off to contains the booster segment in my second post). It feels like drag as smaller launches for satellites on a new platform are working well as my space program techniques are refined (I get the Mach effect and have to use SAS to stabilize or else be flipping back to the ground in the SSTO booster so I feel I designed the vessel wrong) Orbit of Kerbin Can I dock a spacecraft at an orbital station for refueling (I do have a number of mods from KIS to KAS and than some - not reflected in the post I linked off to as I didn't have them then)? Can I dock multiple components to create a larger spacecraft in orbit of Kerbin? Planetary Assist Maneuvers My space program, as I stated, is obviously at a very early era with it just beginning to create craft capable of orbiting Kerbin. However, I successfully launched an automated craft that reached 11,000+m/sec and was plotted on Kerbin's escape before it was destroyed. What I am trying to figure out (and I have been reading) is how do I make the cross over maneuver to intercept a planet's orbit? (I think I have started to figure out how to do the orbital assists but getting to the planet is a bit harder). I see the alignment come up on my map when I set the target with the time, degrees, and delta-v needed I think. I am just not sure if that's what I am supposed to follow. Intercepting the target Spacecraft When I select a planet as a target, KSP can give me what I believe is the appropriate information if what I said above is true. Now I'm just trying to figure out how to intercept a spacecraft moving 3,000 m/sec and move my Kerbalnauts from the first craft to the rescue craft. Can I just EVA them at a close enough range? Returning to Kerbin KSC has no beacon. No ILS marker. Nothing. How exactly am I supposed to return to KSC in a spacecraft. So far my spacecraft have been pods so it didn't matter where on the planet they landed but I'm constructing a spaceplane for the final descent so landing at KSC which has a runway would be helpful. Knowing this would allow me to calculate a de-orbit trajectory. Reverse Thrusters - we're talking about a multi-stage interplanetary mission. We'll obviously need to slow the spacecraft down before reaching Kerbin descent. Is it even possible to mount reverse thrusters such as SRBs? Miscellaneous I think I am doing something wrong with the radial decouplers. When I try to decouple the SRBs from first stage they don't actually decouple and stay attached. You can see and hear the decouple effects. This is with the stock radial decouplers. Interestingly, in the many, many times my rockets have exploded, you can see in the report that the radial decouplers are colliding with the SRBs but the SRBs aren't exploding (these catastrophic failures where my rockets blew up were on reentry to Kerbin). Yes, so a number of questions but a very complicated and challenging mission coming up which I hope to learn a lot with.

Mara One Rescue Mission: The Scorch Booster Trials "Exactly one year and thirty days before they reach their closest pass around the sun," the Director of the NASA KSP Program said. Scientists and Engineers from all of Kerbin were waiting to join the program for this courageous trip through the system to rescue their own; some more courageous than others. But NASA-KSP needed all the help it could get if it were to mount a rescue operation in the time it had and there had to be Kerbels that could be redshirts should the need arise. We may bring our people home but we never said if they would be alive when they got back. However, for Val and company, their only hope of seeing Kerbin again lies with the advancements and sacrifices of those Kerbels who are being led by Jeb to make Mara One a reality. While the NASA-KSP Administration building was filled with press, a new space race had begun to build the most sophisticated spaceship ever attempted in NASA-KSP history to intercept the Mara SLA01 prototype. "The design for the Mara clearly works, let's just make it bigger and more powerful," a B9 Aerospace engineer stated. "By the way, we do not give refunds," he had added. Jeb, the only Kerbel on Kerbin to have made a successful spaceflight - even if it was suborbital, had no choice. If they were going to catch up to something moving at over 3,100 meters a second and expected to be moving at nearly 4,000 meters a second when they intercept all Jeb could hope for was a competent crew and really powerful engines. NASA-KSP signed off on the $762,000+ Mara One Booster Stage One monstrosity. Equipped with the latest from B9 Aerospace and SpaceY, the Mara One's first booster stage had as powerful liquid engines as it did solid rockets. Unfortunately, due to the warranty, B9 and SpaceY do not cover the fact the decouplers do not work to separate the boosters. The Mara One Booster Stage 1 Prototype The Mara One Stage 1 Booster Prototype was quickly moved to the launch pad once completed. NASA-KSP opted to skip testing for faulting components. Jebediah Kerman, Poddas Kerman, and Kagela Kerman made up the test crew for this historic launch. The largest and most powerful rocket in NASA-KSP history was resting on the launch pad being held mere feet from the ground by SpaceY Heavy Clamps. Scientists suspected that the Mara One Stage One Booster didn't have enough power and that spacing would prove vital in ensuring it launched without damaging the launch pad. On the NASA-KSP COM you could hear the call outs: Booster? Go. Guidance? Go! Flight? Go! Range? Go for Range. Payload? None Launch? Go.. CAPCOM? Go. "Set the countdown to T minus 30." As the voice counted down to the spectators from 10, Jeb said it loud and proud: "let's rock and roll!" to the amusement of the others. "5, 4, 3, main engine start, 2, 1...." The clamps release and the Mara One Booster roared into the skies. "Trajectory and stage looks good," mission control stated. To prevent the Mara One Stage 1 Booster from breaking Kerbin orbit and having the same fate as the SLA01, Jeb throttled down the engines. This mission was a quick run around the block - even if the crew cabin of the booster section could sustain them given so much was borrowed from the SLA01. Approaching Kerbin Apoapsis, it was time to separate from the booster and make atmospheric re-entry not far from the Space Center. With a push of a button, the explosive bolts fired, separating the capsule bringing the Kerbalnauts home from the booster. Unfortunately, the separation didn't push the capsule far enough away. As the capsule begun its entry into the atmosphere so did the booster which was not designed to survive reentry. Mere kilometers separated the booster from the capsule of the three brave Kerbelnauts as it exploded - sending a shockwave of what remained with it and knocking the capsule slightly off course. Fortunately, all three Kerbelnauts returned to Kerbin as heroes with the praises of all around the planet. However, NASA-KSP saw this test as a failure. From the official file: "The Mara One Stage 1 Booster struggled at best to carry its payload to orbit, running out of solid fuel before reaching the crux of space forcing the use of unreplenishable liquid fuel needed for the mission. The booster failed to achieve a target velocity of 3,000 meters a second - a fraction of the speed needed for the Mara One-SLA01 Intercept. Adjustments will need to be made before the booster is capable of carrying the Mara One Craft into space." With one year and 29 days left on the calendar before Mara One must intercept the SLA01, NASA-KSP must find a way to do something it had never done before. Will Mara One be ready in time, or will the crew of the SLA01 meet an untimely fate? Follow the continued journeys of Jeb and Val in what is turning into Star Trek: Voyager meets the Martian.

Operation: Mara One Rescue "We Leave No Kerbal Behind" "Space, the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise, oh you got to be kidding me; they pulled a Voyager and a the Martian in the same day. I'm not reading this." - Jeb, Heroic Astronaut of the NASA KSP Program. He survived. The Mara SLA01 - Current Status It was supposed to be an automated probe for a flyby of the Mun. It's test launch of course was manned. Outfitted with some of the most powerful SpaceY engines available and designed like nothing the NASA KSP Program created before, it was to be the first stepping stone to the Mun. "Mun or bust" after all, right. Unfortunately, the Mara SLA01 (Standard Launch Automated) did not turn out as expected. Accelerating to nearly 3,000 m/sec the Mara SLA01 broke Kerbin orbit and before burning out its solid rocket boosters entered into an elliptical orbit with Kerbol. Meet the Mara SLA01: Equipped with the latest technology of the time, the Mara SLA01 was designed for extended long term automated missions. With full electrical charge to sustain the computers and life support, the Mara SLA01 could potentially keep its crew alive indefinitely (or until the food ran out). However, we do not leave a Kerbal behind. In a courageous decision, the survivor of many NASA KSP Program test launches has volunteered to lead the rescue effort to bring our Kerbalnauts home! The Objectives: Intercept the Mara SLA01 with a newly developed spacecraft equipped with the most advanced technology we have: the Mara One; Save our Kerbalnauts! Bring all our Kerbalnauts home What We Know: The Mara SLA01 has no fuel left and is relying on solar energy for electricity. It is impossible to maneuver the vessel; Any rescue ship must be capable of catching up with the SLA01 and either dock with the SLA01 or passengers of the SLA01 must be able to EVA at nearly 3.1 Km/sec; The Mara One rescue ship must be able to accelerate out of Kerbol orbit and will need the speed, power, and fuel to perform several maneuvers to reach Kerbin; Mara One will need to slow down significantly for atmospheric reentry or face burning up before reaching the Space Center It's time to bring our Kerbalnauts Home The current mission status direct from Mission Control Headquarters on Kerbin: Designing the Mara One Tasks that Remain NASA KSP Engineers and Scientists are concerned that if we launch the Mara One too early it may face the same fate or worse. Time is against us as we prepare for a rescue mission. Mara One Launch System Trials Mara One Interplanetary Engine Trials Mara One Planetary Breaking Trials Mara One Spaceplane Trials Mara One Ship Trials Mara One Launch Follow a long as the Mara One Rescue Mission commences.