Cortwade

Kaptain’s Log, Kapril 19, 4097 Morning- We’ve arrived at the orbit of Blalo. I woke up earlier to the sound of my alarm clock screeching at me. I arose, and looked out my window. We were passing Blalo’s terminator, the lights from various colonies visible on the surface. Alar was visible, just peaking out from behind its primary. As I changed into my uniform, I noticed several shuttles departing for Alar, no doubt for the Yyvota Hot Springs Spa and Resort. Shortly thereafter, another fleet departed for the surface of Blalo, most likely Trota City. I asked my page to bring me a cup of coffee and some breakfast. Thirty minutes later, here I am still waiting while I read the data pad. First Mate Lodlim walks in the door, handing me a cup of coffee. I inquired where my page is, to which he didn’t have an answer. I’ll have to find him later... Midday- Most of the passengers have departed now. I believe Mrs. Geoffrey is in the clinic. Now that we’ve decelerated into orbit around Blalo, the gravity in the ship is once more nonexistent. Doc says that she needs to get down to the surface, and asked if she could ride in my shuttle. I said fine, it’ll only be a 20 minute ride anyway. 0:32 PM- KSS Hyperion Transport Shuttle J41 “The computer is about to commence the deorbit and landing sequence. Strap in please.” The attendant went back into the cockpit to talk to the captain. The descent typically has sustained forces of 4Gs. The pilot is worried about Mrs. Geoffrey. They’re going to try a shallow descent profile. As the throttle kicks in, we were pushed gently into our seats. The pilot came over the intercom: “Atmospheric reentry in 6 minutes. Make sure all belongings are strapped securely down.” Mrs. Geoffrey looked nervous. She had lived on Kerbin her whole life, she told me. Now suddenly she was moving to Blalo, a whole new frontier. Suddenly, the music being played on the intercom stopped. We were entering atmosphere. I tightened mine and Mrs. Geoffrey’s harness. I looked outside the window. Plasma began licking at the sides of it. The sound of rushing air filled the cabin. Things soon began to calm down. I felt the vibrations as the landing gear extended. I felt the bump as we landed. I looked outside. Kars and Towers filled my view. Trota City, The City of a Thousand Languages. Evening- I flopped on my bed. I had to translate five languages to check into this hotel; the 5-Star Hotel Troneck. I contemplated what I need to do tomorrow, before promptly passing out. Shore leave, thank Kerm.

Kaptains’s Log, Date: 15, Kebruary, 4097. Morning- The Hyperion is running swimmingly. I expect that we arrive at Blalo within 3 months. Triti says that she might be able to coax the engines into having a higher thrust, at the coast of fuel. I gave her the go-ahead. We could go pretty much across the whole cluster with the amount of fuel we have. I wish that KSTA wasn’t on my back all the time... I’ve run this ship for 12 years, I know what I’m doing, dang it! Passenger morale is high, and its Bangkong night at the buffet. Mrs. Geoffrey bugged me earlier about being a cross the ship from her son. Of course a 56 year old woman would be worried about her 29 year old son... The ship doctor is worried about her. He says that she might have an early case of Microlyphemia, decay of the organs from long term microgravity. She looks fine to me, but he wants me to make her come see him... Midday- The alarm is going off... The custodians confirm everyone is in their cabins and strapped in. I begin to shut down the engines and turn around. We’ve been burning for 3 months, and now it’s time to burn retrograde for the decelerating burn. We cant have passengers floating about during the period of Zero-G, accompanied by the sudden return of gravity... I can’t handle any more paperwork from someone getting hurt from that again. Already I can hear the chefs down below cursing... their food flying about... Maybe I should have given more warning... oh well. As long as one of the chefs don't cut themselves... 1:09 PM ~ Conversation between Kaptain Jedediah Kerman and Lieutenant Bobfrey Kerman Bobfrey: Sir, were reporting a minor engine anomaly. Do you wish to continue with the deceleration sequence? Jebediah: Yes, strap in, prepare for throttle to full in 30 seconds. Bobfrey: But sir, if this is major, you could wind of jeopardizing the whole ship. Jebediah: Nothing is wrong with that damn reactor! I don't have time nor the money to fix something that isn't broke. Now strap in! Bobfrey: Please, just let us do a ch- Jebediah: No! Strap in now! Computer: Throttle engaging in 10... 9... 8... 7... 6... 5... ABORT SEQUENCE ACTIVATED. TERMINATING THROTTLE SEQUENCE. Jebediah: What the... Evening- Engineers say that it was a reactor leak. They say it's an easy fix. They say someone was tampering with the power flow. I'm so tired... so tired of this ship. Ugh... END PART ONE

“I have issues!!!” (begins humming popular catchy American song)

Kerbal Star Systems (KSS) is a galaxy pack that adds more than 100 new bodies (and a revamped kerbol). I write sciencedefs for it, check it out!

Definitally need KSS and Kopernicus. It's awesome!

It’s just sciencedefs and ideas. I’d know... I’m the secret sciencedef writer nobody knows about... BACK TO THE SHADOWS! Seriously though, if you’re good at creative writing and science stuff, you’d probably be good at this. Good luck!

@StarCrusher96

When you’ve been playing for a month just exploring the Mün, and you know how to go interplanetary... But no gosh darn it you’re exploring every nook and cranny!

I might be a little late... I just read Chapter 12 ”AD ASTRA PER—“ ASPERA! I knew I found a good avatar!

Has anyone ever made a huge vessel for colonization? If so, post pictures, why you made it, how it was made, and where it went! I’m trying to get inspiration for a heavily modded play through where my ultimate goal is to colonize everywhere, and I like the idea of Arkships. Surely I’m not the only one with this idea... right?

^ I loved that

Chapter Two: New Beginnings Jebediah looked over the controls. To him, they seemed like madness. Luckily Bill was here to explain what literally every button meant. ”What does this do?” ”It starts the secondary rocket engine.” ”What does this one do?” ”It separates the payload from our ship.” ”And this one?” Jeb’s finger inched close to a big red button, glowing ominously. ”ERMEHGARD JEB DON’T TOUCH THAT!” Bill screamed. “It separates the capsule from the engine for reentry. If you press it now we’ll be stuck out here. A routine mission to Minmus to collect some science was proving to be quite... annoying. At least Bill wasn’t stuck with that weird dude... He never shut up! What did he call himself? Doorpay? They were 5 days out from Minmus using a standard Hohmann Meneuver. Their rocket, the Adventure VII, was loaded to the brim with supplies, science stuff, and a rover. They were expected to stay for a week, then head back to Kerbin. The Retriever was still operating. It had saved the KSA from bankruptcy. Already, it had made 2 million Soseps in recovered debris. In fact, it was likely maneuvering to retrieve some of the debris from Adventure. The KSA was already developing new and exciting technologies using the new funds they had received. The Minmus mission was going to be to survey a new site for the mining of a rare metal apparently quite common on Minmus. After the survey, the first extraplanetary base will be launched on a strange and ungainly device, the Prokaro I. It was nearly as tall as the VAB itself. Nobody had any idea how it worked, but it did. It will take the entire base, a rover, and ten crew members to Minmus, along with an emergency return ship, for a 2 year shift on Kerbin’s tiny little moon. — Five Days Later: Bill was screaming at the top of his lungs. “JEB GET YOUR FLARPING HELMET ON! BOB GET STRAPPED IN!” Bill’s hand was on the abort handle. After dealing with four days of “Are we there yet? Are we there yet?” and “What’s this button for?” they had arrived at Minmus and were descending. It was all going smoothly. Bob was down in the crew quarters, Jeb was smiling maniacally outside the window, and Bill was busy being a pilot, even though he wasn’t one. Then, suddenly a geyser erupted. Nothing to bad, at first. Some water splatters and small rocks hit the vessel. Then it got worse. The pinging of rocks got louder and louder. It seemed like the ship was going to be punctured. Then suddenly, it stopped. For about a minute, all was quiet. Then the ship was rocked with a giant bang. Alarms sounded, and the pressure in the lab and rover bay decreased, and disappeared altogether. Bill began calling a checklist to Bob. ”Capsule pressure!” ”Nominal!” ”Quaters pressure!” ”Nominal!” ”Lab pressure!” ”Vacuum!” ”Rover pressure!” ”Five Pascals!” ”Fuel storage!” ”Left tank leaking slightly, right tank Nominal!” ”Engines!” ”Nominal, 100 KN of Thrust!” Bill then watched the altimeter tick down, and glanced at the speedometer occasionally. 15KM, 500m/s 5km, 100m/s 1km, 25m/s ”BRACE!” The crew were jolted about the capsule. Bill and Bob examined the boards, next to an unconscious Jeb. Forgot to secure his straps, of course. This was going to be a rough mission... — Stay tuned, this is far from over.

Wha...?

Chapter One: The System It had been over 10 years since KSA was founded. In that time, they had landed on the Mun, Minmus, and sent probes to all the other planets in the Kerbol System. Of course, their ambitions did not stop there. Many high ranking officials were talking about a new idea, sending a probe to another star system. At the time, this was purely science-fiction. The nearest star system, Nova Kirbani, was over four light-years away. Using conventional rockets, everyone in the KSA staff now would be dead by the time the probe arrived. So, they were restricted to Kerbol for now. That wasn't so bad. The Ares Program, which would attempt to land a manned mission to Duna, was already in testing. The Prometheus Rocket System, which was a tried and true launch system, was already chosen to launch the mission. The crew, composed of 5 hardy engineers, scientists, and a pilot, were already in training. Commander Jeb would be the commander, along with Bob, Milfred, Bill, and Billy-Bobfrey. All of them were excited for the mission. The mission was expected to launch in about three months, when the next Kerbin-Duna Transfer window arrived. Using a Mun slingshot, they'd be able to hopefully get to Duna within six months. During that time, they'd be stuck in their tin can, although it was twice as large as the Mun Lander. Then the incident occurred. During the launch that would bring the habitation module along with the lander to dock with the main transfer ship, a strut broke. This caused a solid-rocket motor to hit the payload, making the whole thing explode. Faced with this failure, several large corperations recalled their contracts, and KSA was faced with bankruptcy. Worried, Gene Kerman, Mortimer Kerman, and Dr. Wernehr von Kerman had a high level meeting inside of the administration building. Mortimer began, "Gentlekerbs, as you know, our space agency is facing bankruptcy. However, what I propose would not only save us from this grim fate, but make us a large amount of profit in the process, and be beneficial to scientific research. A large amount of debris has been accumulating in Kerbin Equatorial Orbit, which is where most of our launches take place. This is dangerous, and cannot stand much longer. Already the KSS has been hit with small, pea sized objects. These created holes, broke solar panels, and knocked a Kerbonaut unconscious once. So, I believe using our last remaining funds, we launch a long-term unmanned mission that will retrieve debris, then recover said debris. If we were to clean out all of the debris in LKO, I estimate approximately 50 million Soseps could be returned to our agency." Gene and von Kerman thought this over carefully. The launch of the Retriever I occurred three weeks after the meeting. --- Stay tuned, this story is far from over.

Infinate Horizons, Volume I Beginnings Table of Contents: Chapter One: The System

The Ares Program was doomed to fail from the start.... but I did it anyway. Originally, the Ares Program was an idea to make a self-sufficient base on another planet. We had all the technology to do it... on paper... but in practice it proved difficult. The Ares I was sent out at the first Kerbin/Duna Transfer window. It made orbit successfully, and was in the process of deorbiting to land. However, the area chosen was horrible for landing. While descending, it was discovered we'd be landing in the Dunian highlands, which were around 8Km High. The drogue shoots fired successfully, but before the lander could open the primary chutes, it hit the ground at around 50 m/s, because I was firing the nukes at full force. The nukes all broke, and the core hab/constructrion module rolled away, along with about 5 rocket parts pods that I brought to allow base construction. I was immobile... but I did notice I had SAS control still. I went to the VAB and devised a claw arm to attach myself to one of the rocket part pods. (Note I was using EPL). I rushed back to Ares I, and discovered I had no workshops, so no productivity... so nothing would be built on this day. As a response to Ares I, the Ares II was sent up at the next launch window, with the capability of being able to build more of itself. It had everything neccessary; a drill, smelter, and workshop. Or so I thought. It turns out the Extraplanetary Surface Structures' central Hub Module's workshop productivity factor... doesn't make it a workshop. So stuck with only about 40 parts, and broken solar panels, I made a new solar panel and drove along for a while, because the base was mobile. However, during an EVA mission, I did four-times warp. This caused the base to freak out and flip; the Smelter and Drill were destroyed, and all that remained was the central hub with the 4 terrified kerbals inside it. Another mission to Duna would not be devised for 3 years. Ares III was finally sent up. It created an entire city, with an air force to boot. However, please note that nobody died during the previous missions. It was during the Ares III mission. The central infastructure module landed a mere 3 Km from Ares II, so when I finally made a hab module for the base, I sent it off over there to pick the old crew up. (Remember, all my bases had wheels to be mobile if need be) So on the way there, I went up some steep terrain. This'll be important later. So about 3 days later, I arrived at the Ares II Final Site, and picked up the two pilots, one engineer, and one scientist that remained. This was gonna be a great day! Then on my way back, we were going down that steep terrain. Suddenly, the control Cupola exploded. I guess we hit a violent terrain change. The hab modules were now hurtling downhill at 40+ m/s. In a hurry, I EVA'd the two pilots, and made them jump off the speeding hab. While controling one of the EVA'd kerbals, I watched his friend hit the ground, and speghettify due to a kraken attack. Shortly thereafter, I saw the hab modules exploding while impacting a cliff. I then watched, in terror, as my own kerbal impacted the ground. He rolled for a few seconds, then when he got to around 10 m/s... he speghettified. That caused the deaths of 4 kerbals. The sole survivor of Ares II, who was left outside for the two years between the missions in his EVA mission, then walked back to the sole survivor of the Ares III mission. The entire base was only populated by a pilot, and an engineer for 3 years, until they finally rescued all 8 crew of the Ares I.

Don't worry guys, mods will still be legal... ...I think...

I have a mac, and already I think I broke my current install of KSP, but when I get KSP on Windows, this'll be my first mod install! It's really cool, and I love the work you guys are doing!

Could you possibly do two flags? One for my space agency that would be a nationalistic flag (like the Republica Gaeia flag from Galileo's Planet Pack), an a second one for Project Horizons, which will aim to colonize the Joolian System (similar to my avatar but a flag, and near-futuristic) Thanks in advance!

I’ve landed crews on Mun and Minmus, created long term colonies on them, sent a rover to Eve, sent a rover to Duna and Ike, made a long term colony on Duna (with planes!), sent a probe to die in Jools atmosphere, sent a prone to Laythe, sent a rover to Laythe, and now I’m planning a large scale colonization effort to Laythe, dubbed “Project Horizons.” All in career!