czokletmuss

I joined in 0.16 after playin 0.13.3 demo for some time. Man, it'll be two years soon... It's interesting to see there aren't that many people hanging around from the humble beginnings of KSP. In my times we didn't even have docking, not to mention other planets! :grumpy old man:

So someone did notice Congratulations! "Proteus" relative velocity to Duna is going to be 2-3km/s I think. I don't even want to think how much monopropellant you would need to decelerate ship so big as "Proteus" I'm glad you like it! There will be more interactivity like this in the future it seems since I think it works Uhm... They did check it few months ago. I guess they should check it once again The main problem would be massive delta-v spending: 1. ~400m/s to get to Duna faster than "Proteus" 2. ~2000-3000 m/s to get into orbit 3. ~800 m/s inclination change 4. ~600 m/s landing (?) 5. ~1600 m/s getting in orbit 6. ~800 m/s inclination change 7. ~2000-4000 m/s acceleration to catch up with "Proteus" = 8200 m/s in best case scenario Longe range comms are dead. They will be in range during closes approach for sure however. Sorry if I don't respond to everyone's comment but rest assured, I'm reading them all

BTW Rowsdower I hope you guys are planning more things like this interview in the future - this was a great idea

To make it even better, "Proteus" is coming almost precisely from the ecliptic plane, which means that initial inclination shouldn't be larger than 10 degrees, thus making reverse gravity assist even easier

Reverse gravity assist with Ike is an interesting idea - it has all the benefits of aerobraking with no disadvantages. It does however require precision, some correction on the way probably and of course luck (Ike has to be in the right place during approach). There are no probes. Besides LAMGML docked to "Proteus" there is only Automatic Miner Unit attached to Payload C which will arrive in Duna SOI 2 months after the crew. Take a closer look at "Proteus" on some screenshots if you don't believe me - there's no more payload besides kethane tanks

Boy, they want to have multiplayer ans they mean it Just a joke, one of my friends from Spain has this name.

Thanks Yup - relative speed of "Proteus" to Duna is going to be quite substantial. That's how it looked like during the first Duna encounter (Chapter 21): Yeah, I guess I'll update my post about the poll EDIT: or or The poll will be closed at midnight on Monday (24:00/12:00PM, Central European Time [GMT+1]). This is a test of some interactivity I'm planning to introduce in my upcoming secret project. Oh and your arguments will be used in the story by characters! Have fun! Oh and remember that Duna base is NOT on the equator - it's quite near to the south pole actually.

It's not strange, it's crazy. But... maybe it's Crazy Enough To Work? I dunno, maybe you should run some numbers - that could convince Jeb EDIT: Also remember that LAMGML can operate independently for no longer than 5-7 days (life support). So from the moment it undocks "Proteus" to the moment it docks after Duna landing the whole (hypothetical) operation has to take less than a week.

Yup. It means that after the poll is closed and we have a result, I'll play the game and write AAR afterwards. So the next chapter will be released in best case scenario on Tuesday. EDIT: So far we have a draw (2:2) - please use the format described earlier, it'll make it easier for me to check the votes quickly before I start playing/writing. Thank you BTW I wonder if there is going to be someone Genre Savvy about this poll...

POLL - AEROBRAKING OR ORBIT INSERTION BURN? Jeb have to choose. Whatever the choice is going to be, it would have immense impact on what's about to happen once “Proteus†arrives in Duna SOI. But this time you can help him. Please vote by posting and please use this format in your comments: or or The poll will be closed at midnight on Monday (24:00/12:00PM, Central European Time [GMT+1]). This is a test of some interactivity I'm planning to introduce in my upcoming secret project. Oh and your arguments will be used in the story by characters! Have fun!

CHAPTER 59 NIGHT *** Commander's log, entry 121-D (302 days after deactivation). We have completed the powered gravity assist and after small correction with RCS we managed to get Duna encounter. I don't know why but I'm exhausted. Chief engineer's log, entry 5-A (302 days after deactivation). We've done it. As I am writing these words, we're moving away from Eve and in four months we will arrive at Duna, just as planned. I hope when I'm done with the fusion cores we won't be able to see it with a naked eye any longer – she did give us a powerful kick. Honestly, I hope I'll never see this cursed planet again. Chief engineer's log, entry 6 (303 days after deactivation). And so it starts again. After the flyby the old rhythm comes back and somehow it's even more tiring. Wearisome maintenance duties, sleeping in a bag, drinking processed ****. Damn, I don't know how we are going to be able to live without microgravity and urine for a drink. I know I should be glad that the life support system is still working but still, it's hard when you start thinking about this. So I do what everyone does – I'm trying to not think about this at all. Duna in 4 months. Commander's log, entry 122 (305 days after deactivation). In five days we will reach periapsis. We'll be half the way to Moho's orbit. The solar wind is increasing with every day, the inverse-square law working against us since “Proteus†doesn't use solar panels. The Sun is already unrealistically big and it's still getting bigger, bombarding the spacecraft with charged particles. We're so close now that even with the thick hull between us one can't stop thinking about this fiery, gigantic heart of our solar system. And although I don't want to admit this, I can feel its rays going straight through “Proteusâ€Â. I can hear its calling. I'm not going to repeat what I did when “Kadmos†was as close as we are right now or even closer. Going for EVA so close to the Sun... it was incredibly foolish of me. I wasn't thinking clearly back then – and my Kod, it was what, 25 years ago? I know that long after I'm dead and even after Kerbin is dead the mighty Sun will still be there, slowly breathing, giving live and death. I know I can't do this but some part of me wants to get out and see it once again. It's hopeless, really. Like a moth drawn to a light-bulb in the dark night. Like a little bug... Chief engineer's log, entry 7 (310 days after deactivation). Periapsis. We're getting lots of radiation in the whole spectrum, cooling systems are working at highest efficiency. So far no problems – thank Kod we still have the heatshield. I don't even want to think what would the solar wind do if we couldn't hide in its shadow. Commander's log, entry 123 (310 days after deactivation). I'm trying to ignore the Sun and concentrate instead on the next maneuver. We've run several simulations and it appears that it would take only a tiny correction to get the closest approach at more or less 1300 kilometers rather than 30.440 kilometers. We still have more than enough fuel so this small correction won't really change much but there's something soothing in working with numbers right now. I don't know, maybe it's the Sun. The Sun is... magnificent. Just magnificent. Chief engineer's log, entry 8 (312 days after deactivation). I don't know whether he noticed this or whether he cares but damnit, it's getting worse again. I'm talking about morale, crew spirit, this kind of ****. So far it was bad but at least stable, with the planet and the periapsis to preoccupy everyone's thoughts. But now it's the same thing – sleep, eat, repair, exercise, sleep, eat, repair, exercise. Over and over and over again, the same day repeating indefinitely, with only malfs being different every time. We will run out of spares eventually and it worries me a lot. Plus there is also this thing about Duna encounter Rozer is talking about. Frak, why there always have to be something? And when there are no problems it's getting repetitive and dull, mind-numbing really... I guess that's what space exploration really is – you're either bored and tired to death or you are desperately trying not to die when something finally happens. At least from an engineer's point of view – eggheads at least have their science. Mallock just told me through an intercom that there was another problem with the inflatable module C, cooling system this time. I feel like a fraking plumber. Commander's log, entry 124 (319 days after deactivation). I couldn't resist. I used the external cameras to take a look. I couldn't sleep anyways. My Kod, this is incredible. The Sun is so powerful, so mesmerizing... It's like staring at Kod's face and not being burned by the sole act of such incredible arrogance. And truly, is there anything more godlike? It gives us life, it gives us light, it's the source of so much beauty it's hard to even try to describe it. It's not surprising that people once worshipped it. When I look at it I don't feel the burden of responsibility. I don't think about “Proteus†or Duna, I don't even think about going home anymore. I just want to be able to stay here and admire the greatness of it. When I look at it I realize how insignificant all we do is. Why we struggle? What have we achieved? In the face of something so overwhelming what's the value of all this? One day the last being is going to die on Kerbin – it's going to happen, it's just a matter of time. On that day, the life of our planet will fade forever, unless we find a new home somewhere. And the Universe will not even notice. Somehow I find peace in this. The pain goes away, even if for a while. Chief engineer's log, entry 9 (320 days after deactivation). The shower facility broke down. We're almost inside Moho's orbit and we don't have hot water anymore! I'm more and more worried about “Proteusâ€Â. I knew it's super-advanced-cutting-edge-yadda-yadda spacecraft but without BERTY it seems like every subsystem is slowly dying. I wrote about this I think but now I'm certain about it. We talked today about the incoming correction burn. Rozer and Danrey argued that it may be tweaked in such a way that we may get free return trajectory to Kerbin in case engines fail during orbit insertion burn. Of course it would mean that there will be a big problems with stopping in Kerbin SOI but first things first. I don't know whether what they were talking about is a viable option – Jeb didn't show up. Plus I don't even know are we going for an orbit insertion burn or aerobraking. I'm afraid that even he doesn't know this. Luckily the one thing we have in abundance is time, so we don't have to hurry with the decision. Commander's log, entry 125 (321 days after deactivation). It's like an ocean of light, every sunspot the size of Kerbin. Compared to this we're dust, nothing more. *** DANREY: Jeb? Jeb, it's time. JEB: … NED: Jeb! JEB: Hmm? Yes, I'm going. Come. DANREY: Jeb, listen. We, uh, we've been thinking about the correction burn. JEB: Mhm. DANREY: Yeah. So, there's this thing that it turns out that if we don't change our velocity for 3.0 meters per second but for 2.4 meters per second... NED: Are you listening? JEB: Yes, yes. Go on. DANREY: Well, if we do this it appears that we can get a free return trajectory to Kerbin! JEB: Oh? NED: Now listen to this. DANREY: Thanks to Duna gravity assist we should get an encounter with Kerbin in more or less 150 days after Duna flyby. So even if the engines fail during the orbit insertion burn or, I don't know, some other malfunction- JEB: Flyby? There won't be any flyby. We have to get to the surface. You know this. DANREY: Sure. But if something goes wrong, we're going to have a guaranteed safe return to Kerbin. JEB: … NED: You ain't happy about it? Free transfer to Kerbin, Jeb. JEB: Yes... Are you sure about this? DANREY: Absolutely. We've done the simulations and everything. Plus even if it turns out it didn't work, we can just burn RCS thrusters for few more seconds to- JEB: Wait. “Weâ€Â? DANREY: Uhm. Me and Rozer. Actually, it was his idea, he figured it out first. JEB: I see. NED: Jeb, I know what you are thinking. He's a sociopath and what he did with- what he did is enough to not trust him. But I checked the calculations myself. It's legit. We should- JEB: I trust your judgment. We're doing it. After all, we can always correct like Dan said. DANREY: Yes! This is great – I'll tell everyone that- JEB: Let's just do the correction first, shall we? We can celebrate after we got confirmation. *** JEB: Kerbin encounter in 147 days and 17 hours. DANREY: Yes! Oh Kod, yes! NED: Holy ****. Kerbin encounter... is it real? ROZER: Absolutely. JEB: Captain. ROZER: Commander. JEB: Good work. ROZER: Pleasure is all mine. DANREY: I'm sorry, I have to tell everyone. Johndon! Mal! NED: It's un-fraking-believable. After all these months finally we have Kerbin encounter. ROZER: We're not there yet. And we won't be if we manage to get into Duna's orbit. NED: Listen, you slimball, maybe you did something good but it doesn't mean- where the hell are you going? JEB: I have something to do. NED: Like what? JEB: You know... stuff. ROZER: Stuff? NED: Shut up, he can do whatever he wants now that we're after the trajectory correction. Don't worry about me, old friend. JEB: What? I don't worry about you. NED: What? JEB: You said that I shouldn't worry about you. NED: To you? JEB: Yeah. NED: No, I didn't. JEB: You didn't? ROZER: What are you talking about? NED: Shut up. Jeb- JEB: I better go. I'll be in my bunk. ROZER: Yes, I'm sure “stuff†can't wait. NED: I said shut the frak up. Chief engineer's log, entry 10 (326 days after deactivation). We did it and we have confirmed encounter with Kerbin in just 146 days now. This is incredible. It's much easier to get through every day knowing that even if something happens – and it usually does – we have a free ride to our home's doorstep. But what's worrying me the most now besides constant malfs – we almost had another fire due to a short circuit – is the Duna encounter. What will we find there? Even if the orbit insertion burn fails we should be able to pick up their transmissions while passing a thousand kilometers above the planet. That is, if we are going to use the engines. Jeb didn't decide yet it seems and both pilots disagree about what should we do. Dan thinks that the insertion burn is the right option considering all we need is to get in orbit, even highly elliptical and then we can circularize even if it's going to take days. Of course this piece of **** Rozer thinks we should aerobrake to make sure we get into orbit even if all systems fail. He doesn't seem to notice that the very aerobraking may cause severe troubles – we're talking about several gees of acceleration and high temperature, not to mention we need to enter the atmosphere in a very precise corridor. Even small mistake may send us towards the surface of Duna at supersonic speed or worse, throw us away into space. Or at least that's what Dan said about this. I dunno, I hope Jeb is working on a solution of some kind 'cause we're gonna need it. Commander's log, entry 126 (330 days after deactivation). I can't sleep. All my nights I spend watching the stars. Among them is our Star, slightly dimmer with every day. But what is a night here in the dark? Only artificial lights of “Proteus†tell us which hour it is, trying to simulate the normal rhythm, every “sunrise†bright enough to wake us up. It's a lie. The truth is there are no things like dawn or dusk here. There is only endless night in this infinite vastness. Commander's log, entry 127 (343 days after deactivation). Two months left. Weird, I thought we still have at least 80 days left. It's hard to tell. It's like being trapped in a infinite loop, every day repeating itself over and over again. It's like the time stopped. Chief engineer's log, entry 11 (353 days after deactivation). I'm sure about it know – he doesn't know what should we do. Aerobraking? Orbit insertion burn? He has no idea. I've tried to talk with him but he's being... erratic again. It's not like the rest of us is holding any better. Johndon is programming new code for the Payload, despite the fact we won't need it for months. Dan is reading the Krussian dictionaries he already read them multiple times. Mal is just floating there, listening to the classical music I guess. Cambo's cataloguing our supplies, samples and other items, Kod know what for. And Rozer... well, for all I care he may be learning how to EVA without a spacesuit. We all know we need to do something about this but, I dunno, it's like dreaming – you can talk with anyone you want but they don't listen because they are not really there. Commander's log, entry 128 (365 days after deactivation). One year. One year since what happened above Tylo. Almost one year since Laythe. I had a dream today. A spacewalk in low orbit, it was Bop or Pol, I'm not sure. I was in my spacesuit, everything nominal. I saw another kerbonaut drifting in space nearby, his lights turned off. I used the EMU thrusters to get closer. I don't know why but I was sure it was Bill... I shouted to him through the radio that I'm coming for him, that everything is going to be alright. But when I got close enough to grab him, I looked at his face and it wasn't him up there. It was me. Drifting through space with no light. What is going on with me? Am I finally loosing it? Chief engineer's log, entry 12 (378 days after deactivation). I'm seriously worried about him. Today I wanted to talk with him about the incoming encounter but he was arguing with someone, so I decided to wait. When they finished, I get inside his bunk – but there was nobody there. Honestly, he's starting to freak me out. I know that probably we all need professional help but with long range comms dead and our only psychologist deactivated months ago we can't count on it. How ironic that the only one among us qualified in psychology was a machine – and Jeb killed him. Commander's log, entry 129 (408 days after deactivation). They wanted to talk with me about the Duna encounter. They say we need to decide what we are going to do. Dan thinks we should use the engines for the orbit insertion, Rozer thinks we should aerobrake. After they explained their positions I told them I'll tell them in a day or two what's the best option. Mal wanted to vote on that but Cambo pointed out that there are only three pilots on board and that this was never a democracy. I know he meant what happened after we left Duna, despite that it was BERTY who forced us all to continue the mission. This reminds me that nobody seems to care about the classified data I gave them access to. Besides Rozer I think none of them even read this. But I understand why they don't care anymore. This “Source†on Duna and second one on Vall are no longer part of our mission, whatever they really are. We have only two goals now – to save our team on Duna and to return to home. That's all that matters. But even this may not be easy to accomplish. I really need to focus but it's surprisingly hard. I prefer to write this down here or observe our Star than to calculate angle of attack for the aerobraking or required delta-v for the insertion burn. I don't know why really. Maybe I just don't want to think about what we are going to find on Duna. Or maybe what I really want is just to go home using the free trajectory we're on now. I feel so tired. But the decision must be made. I have to choose. So what is it going to be? Aerobraking or the insertion burn? What would be the best for us all? What should I choose? *** MISSION STATUS ***

Well, it was an Eve flyby after all Thank you and yes, the next chapter is coming very Soon. "Ike station" is something which I didn't forget about Thanks Right now "Proteus" is half the way to Duna so it's not like they can change the trajectory without massive delta-v spending anyways. But yes, Eeloo means at least 3-4 more years - it would double the time of the mission. Yeah, Jeb doesn't have it easy. But he was always incredibily stubborn so who knows what the future will bring? Leaving loose ends would be a lazy writing, so I'm not planning to do this. And yes, there will be a poll just after the next chapter! Exactly what Itsdavyjones in the first sentence. Remember that they are not in the prime condition. Being so long in microgravity alone means that they would have big problems with even breathing in 1g on Kerbin, not to mention other problems. Now that would be completely unexpected and crazy awesome twist, wouldn't it? :dun dun dun: So basically brainwashing?

Now land!

You know, there are still few chapters ahead of us...

No problem Next chapter is coming very Soon too - I even wanted to include future events in this one but it's already kinda long. Oh, and there will be a poll about what the crew should do. Stay tuned

Hey, you should be glad you didn't have to wait for long

Hello there, I find today that there is one obvious ribbon missing, even more important considering Science and early Career missions - Flyby/Gravity assist. Which is quite important in real life; I mean, just look at the Cassini-Huygens trajectory: See, multiple gravity assists. In KSP you can easily get multiple flybys in Jool system and even beginners are going to get Mun flybys before landing. So I think this should really be implemented IMHO

CHAPTER 58 EVE FLYBY *** Commander's log, entry 108 (77 days after deactivation). Today we've left Jool's SOI. Now we are far enough from this cursed planet to run our calculations again. With Jool's gravity grasp weaker with every hour, it has less and less influence on “Proteusâ€Â, thus enabling us to make sure our trajectory is correct. Eve flyby is going to require very precise maneuvers during our journey. We can't make any mistake, not with the everpresent threat of the core instability. Commander's log, entry 109 (79 days after deactivation). We weren't precise enough. The transfer burn almost gave us encounter with Eve – but almost is not good enough. On our current trajectory we won't enter Eve's SOI for years. But together with Danrey and Mallock we've found a solution. Being still months away from our target it won't take much to change the trajectory. We've run simulations and it seems that we need only 80 m/s if we execute the correction manoeuver at the right time, which is more than 3 months from now. Three months before the course correction. It's less than one forth of the whole journey but it feels like an eternity. Once I thought there's nothing worse than these long periods of inactivity, of complete stillness. Now I know I was wrong but it doesn't change the fact that even with “Proteus†functioning perfectly well this may be too much for us to handle. Commander's log, entry 110 (93 days after deactivation). Another fire in the service module. Short circuit. I thought that without exposure to Jool magnetosphere it won't happen again so quickly. But we can't hide from cosmic rays. Commander's log, entry 111 (118 days after deactivation). We're getting 5-6 minor malfunctions per day. So far nothing critical – life support system and fusion cores are nominal. “Proteus†has got old. After all these months in deep space it's aging visibly, perhaps even quicker now when there's no BERTY to oversee every subsystem and make sure all of them are working properly. I have no idea that “Proteus†is so prone to breakdowns and malfs. It's only now we can truly realize the magnitude of what BERTY was ordered to do – protect the spacecraft and the crew. Commander's log, entry 112 (139 days after deactivation). Cambo has released him from the infirmary. We need every pair of hands – we work in shifts to keep the ship running. Johndon is very concerned about our life support system. We have all the schematics in the database but in case something happened, without Neil's experience it may took to long to repair the damage. Of course this system has the most redundancy and was built to survive even rapid decompression or severe electrical failure. Still, because of all this precautions it's not so easy for it to break down completely, but when it does without an expert it may be impossible to make it work again. Commander's log, entry 113 (176 days after deactivation). Almost four months has passed since the transfer burn and there are still more than a week ahead of us before the course correction. So far the need of constant repairs is keeping everyone focused and certainly it's better than doing nothing. With nothing to do people start to think, to question. To concentrate on the past. That's the last thing we need. On the other hand, the malfs never end. How long can one fight to keep the ship alive? We're slowly but steadily running out of spare parts. And with varying power output from the fusion cores the problems with short circuits will never end. At least that's what Ned is saying. But he knows what he's doing. He's the best expert on nuclear propulsion there is. Sometimes I miss them so much. Commander's log, entry 114 (185 days after deactivation). We've completed the course correction. As Ned pointed out, using engines would be to risky – they need to be operational if we want to ever get to Duna. Or Kerbin. That's why we used RCS. It took some time but it was the safest option, plus we have more than enough supplies of both monopropellant and kethane to do this. So we're back on course. Not that anybody really cares – after 120 days the apathy starts to kick in I suppose. And we still have another four months ahead of us. They should have something to do besides constant repairs. But what? All the entertainment files from Kerbin – movies, songs, images, books – were already used by everyone five or six times. We have samples from all the celestial bodies we've visited but nobody wants to investigate them, not even Mallock. Only Johndon is busy with refining the code for the Payload C transfer burn, maybe even happy to have a distraction from the pathetic state we all are in. There must be something for them to do. Commander's log, entry 115 (191 days after deactivation). We've got confirmation – Payload C has completed the burn. Now we only need to wait two more weeks before it leaves the system to check whether it needs any trajectory corrections. There almost was a fight between Ned and Rozer yesterday. I tried to intervene but neither of them wanted to talk with me. I don't even know what they were arguing about. Commander's log, entry 116 (203 days after deactivation). Payload C is on course. Predicted Duna encounter in 270 days. Two hundred and seventy days, my Kod... This is good news but it made me realize once again how long it would take before any of us set a foot on Duna's surface. Will we even get there? Commander's log, entry 117 (211 days after deactivation). I run some simulations to make sure Eve flyby will give us Duna encounter. I wasn't able to get it. It scared me to death – what if we won't get an encounter? I tried over and over and over but the best I got was 653.872 kilometers. Closest approach more than half a million kilometers away from the planet. I know that it's nothing we can't compensate for later with another correction and that we will get better accuracy when we're closer to Eve. I know that “Proteus†emergency main system isn't best suited for the advanced calculations for orbital mechanics – Kod, we had to copy the navigation software from LAMGML to the mainframe to even make it work. But still... I feel like a captain of a ship with broken compass and inaccurate maps. Will I get them there safely at all? Chief engineer's log, entry 1 (225 days after deactivation). My first entry. I dunno what Jeb was thinking – is this really gonna help anyone? Writing one's thoughts down? What's the point? Frak it, it's not like I have anything better to do anyways. So yes, my first entry. Well, we're in a deep ****, so nothing new I suppose. The fusion cores are capricious and kinda unpredictable, which honestly freaks me out when I think about this. These are fusion cores, for Kod's sake – two tiny suns of superheated plasma, so hot that the electrons are stripped out from the atoms, magnetically confined so we can harness its power. If the cores became unstable enough to trigger chain reaction... well, if “Proteus†was in orbit above Kerbin the EMP could easily fry electronics on half of the planet. Just imagining the whole hemisphere suddenly going dark, like turning it off with some fraking cosmic light switch... sweet Lord. Of course nobody would even notice if this was to happen here, one tiny dot getting slightly brighter for a moment. Certainly we won't notice it. I think we wouldn't even feel anything – expanding plasma would evaporate us before the nervous system would transfer the sensation of pain to the brain. I hope so at least. Damn, I think I feel kinda better. Maybe this isn't such a stupid idea after all. Chief engineer's log, entry 2 (233 days after deactivation). Wake up. Eat. Repairs. Exercise – very important, we're all suffering from severe osteopenia, says Cambo. Fancy word for a bone and muscle loss. Anyways: exercise. Repairs. Eat. Repairs. Exercise. Eat. Try to write down something in this fraking log. Sleep. Wake up. Every day is the same, the only thing which is changing are these bloody malfs. We do what we can but “Proteus†is slowly falling apart, there's no doubt about this. And we're getting closer to the Sun. With every day the solar wind increases, slowly destroying the outer layers of the hull. But that's nothing, the ship can handle this. If, however, a coronal mass ejection happens – or solar proton event, for that matter – and we'll be on it's way... Frak, we may survive hiding in the radiation cellar but I doubt “Proteus†can handle proton storm. For Kod's sake, you bloody idiot – you may have doomed all of as by deactivating him. We can only hope it won't happen. Commander's log, entry 118 (256 days after deactivation). Rozer argues that the flyby is too dangerous. He says that it's going to make us pass to close to the Sun. He also says that the whole idea of going to Duna is pointless, considering months has passed since we received the distress signal. It's no surprise he's saying this now – I'm sure that was his opinion from the beginning but he knew nobody would listen. Now, hundreds of days after Laythe, he's trying to earn the trust of the crew to manipulate them against me. Again. But this time it won't happen. No more mistakes, no hesitation. I have to save them. Chief engineer's log, entry 3 (267 days after deactivation). Jeb's is behaving strangely lately. Frak, we all are, trapped in this can in the middle of nothing. Cutting edge technology, huh? Without BERTY it's slowly turning into derelict ship. I thought that killing BERTY was going to be like a blow to the head – that “Proteus†will never recover, despite still strong fusion hearts providing power. But it's more like Alzheimer.'s Various bits of software, small circuits here and there, all slowly decaying and cease to work, just like an infected brain. “Proteus†is slowly loosing her memory. Already it has troubles with some smaller things, but it's not going to stop. Soon it's going to start forgetting about the basics. And one day it'll forget how to breathe or worse, how to control his hearts and this will be the end of it. Hell, maybe this son of a ***** is right – maybe going to Duna is a mistake. Despite how much I hate him this piece of **** may be right. We may never reach it. We need to start thinking about changing the plan. Commander's log, entry 119 (288 days after deactivation). There's no doubt about this – he's scheming against me. What may be the other explanation for what he's doing? He know that we can't change our trajectory now without huge delta-v. We're too close. So why he's keep trying to turn them against me? There may be only one reason – he wants to seize the leadership. Over my his dead body. I know what he would do, he would judge rescue mission as pointless and abandon them. I can't allow it. Too many have died already. He says that they are already dead, that distress signal from Duna is to old that there may be any chance that they are still alive there. True, we don't know what happened. But I'll be damned if I let this murderer to take a life of another innocent. They are alive. They must be. I know this. Commander's log, entry 120 (295 days after deactivation). Cambo found mold in the food. Apparently one of the freezers stopped working – warmth and a little humidity is all that's needed. One third of our supplies wasted. Luckily the contamination didn't spread – we had to clean this mess with oxium mask so that nobody get infected. It could be disastrous but there are only 7 crew members on board instead of 14 for whom the supplies were prepared. Dear Kod, there's only seven of us here. Only seven... One week before the encounter. I run several simulations with Danrey and it seems we're going to need a small correction before the actual flyby. Good thing we have enough monopropellant for this and that the RCS is still working. Ned is taking care of the engines since we've left and still I wouldn't trust my life on them working. Of course, I don't have a choice but to trust the life of all of us on this. Sometimes I'm thinking about going out. Commander's log, entry 121 (302 days after deactivation). We're almost there. We did it – we made it to Eve. When I'm writing this there are less than 4 hours before we arrive in the planet's SOI and before we may check our calculations again. Please Kod, let them be correct! Commander's log, entry 121-A (302 days after deactivation). We frakked this up. I don't know why but our estimates were completely off from what “Proteus†is showing us now! We need to correct trajectory ASAP, I'll write more later. Commander's log, entry 121-B (302 days after deactivation). It's done. Luckily one of my simulations have data we could use to execute the correction burn. Dan says that he expected this – after all I've been running them for months. But I failed. We're on course know but I put the crew in danger. I put them in danger! If the RCS were to stop working... Lord, I don't even want to think about this. And I did it. I made a mistake... Commander's log, entry 121-C (302 days after deactivation). We have less than 5 hours before the flyby. Everything seems to be working, all systems nominal so far. But I can't calm down. Frak, I'm still shaking – I put them in danger, all of them. And this planet, good Kod, this damned planet, this furious purple inferno which consumed Bob. I can see it with a naked eye, growing with every minute... I will never forget what happened to “Kadmos†when we were aerobraking in its atmosphere. It's like a curse on both of them, Eve and Jool. They claim at least one live every time someone gets close to them. And we are going to get really, really close this time, almost skimming the upper atmosphere. They are like some primordial dark powers, demanding sacrifice... Where are the fraking stress pills- Chief engineer's log, entry 4 (302 days after deactivation). Eve. Fraking Eve is out there, getting bigger as I write this down. I hate this planet. I fraking hate it. I would blow it up if it was possible. Whatever is going to happen, I hope it's going to be the last time I see this fraking purple abomination of a planet. I hate it. I really fraking hate it. *** PROTEUS: PERIAPSIS IN T MINUS 5 MINUTES. DANREY: Would you like to check everything one last time? JEB: Yes. Attention – please report your status. Johndon? JOHNDON: With f-fire extinguisher in s-service m-module, I'm r-read. JEB: Cambo? CAMBO: Infirmary is ready and I'm ready. JEB: Life support system? MALLOCK: Nominal, I'll be at the control panel B all the time. JEB: RCS? ROZER: Go. JEB: Engines? NED: So far so good, but I can't guarantee anything. PROTEUS: PERIAPSIS IN T MINUS 4 MINUTES. JEB: SAS? DANREY: We're good. Ahem. And pilot? JEB: I'm fine. DANREY: You, uhm, you are still shaking a little, you know. Maybe- NED: He'll be fine, Dan. And you don't even think about taking another pill. JEB: I need to stay focus. We all need to stay focused. NED: I know, but good Kod Jeb, you can't overdose things like this. JEB: I need to stay focused. I'm fine. And Dan, if anything happens to me- DANREY: I don't want to talk about this. JEB: -if anything happens, you'll finish this burn. Do you understand? DANREY: … PROTEUS: PERIAPSIS IN T MINUS 3 MINUTES. JEB: Do you? DANREY: Yes, but nothing's going to happen. It's just another maneuver. JEB: It's the maneuver. We're going burn through 1472 meters per second of delta-v at 1.1g of acceleration, 10 months since the engines work for the last time. We need to do this if we want to save the team from Duna. So I ask again – do you understand? DANREY: Yes. Yes, I... I understand. JEB: Thank you. NED: Sunset. JEB: Attention everyone, prepare for the acceleration. It's going to be rough but we've been through worse, just like “Proteusâ€Â. Remember, it's only 1 minute and 58 seconds. Are you ready? MALLOCK: Roger. JOHNDON: Copy that. CAMBO: I'm ready. ROZER: Wilco. PROTEUS: PERIAPSIS IN T MINUS 2 MINUTES. JEB: Kodspeed, “Proteusâ€Â. Ned? NED: I'm on it. JEB: Dan. DANREY: SAS online. JEB: Captain. ROZER: RCS online, commander. PROTEUS: PERIAPSIS IN T MINUS 1 MINUTE. JEB: Here we go... PROTEUS: MANEUVER NODE ACHIEVED. EXECUTING PROTOCOL EVE_FLYBY_7C. FULL THROTTLE. JEB: Uh! Ned? NED: Cores nominal! PROTEUS: POWERED GRAVITY ASSIST IN PROGRESS. DANREY: Jeb! JEB: I see! PROTEUS: WARNING. INSTABILITY IN FUSION CORE B DETECTED. NED: ****! JEB: Ned, I need the engines! NED: I know! PROTEUS: PERIAPSIS ACHIEVED. DANREY: I've got power fluctuations! JEB: We're half way there! Ned, koddamit! NED: I'm doing what I can! PROTEUS: WARNING. INSTABILITY IN FUSION CORE B DETECTED. LOWERING FUSION EFFICIENCY TO 10 PERCENT. JEB: Override! PROTEUS: NEGATIVE. CATASTROPHIC CHAIN REACTION IMMINENT. JEB: Ned! NED: I can give you 30 seconds, after this we're toast! JEB: It's not enough! JOHNDON: Fire! Fire in the service m-module! PROTEUS: WARNING. CARBON MONOXIDE DETECTED IN SERVICE MODULE. PLEASE PUT ON YOUR OXIUM MASKS. DANREY: Crap, we've lost reaction wheel 4B! JEB: Ten seconds! PROTEUS: LOWERING FUSION EFFICIENCY TO 10 PERCENT. NED: Six seconds, Jeb! Five! JEB: Frak! NED: Three! PROTEUS: EMERGENCY ENGINES SHUTDOWN COMPLETED. JEB: Status report! Johndon, come in. JOHNDON: There's crap ton of s-smoke here but the s-situation is under control. DANREY: Four-b is dead for good it seems... JEB: Damn. I'm calculating our trajectory. ROZER: What for? We're short of one or two seconds, we won't get an encounter without another correction. JEB: … NED: I'm sorry Jeb, but few more seconds and we would turn into expanding cloud of plasma. There was nothing I could do. JEB: … DANREY: We still have RCS, we can – what's this? NED: What? DANREY: Some sort of probe in low orbit? ROZER: I'm picking it too. But it's not a probe. DANREY: So what is it than? JEB: It's Bob. DANREY: … NED: Kod… JEB: … ROZER: Commander? We need to make another correction ASAP. JEB: Copy that. DANREY: After all these months, he's still- NED: Dan. Please. DANREY: … JOHNDON: I d-don't want to interrupt or something b-but was the b-burn successful? Are we on course? JEB: Not yet. Let's get to work. DANREY: Will this be enough? ROZER: You've seen the numbers. RCS is a go, we may proceed. If commander Jebediah gives us his permission, of course. JEB: How are the cores looking? NED: It'll take a while before they are ready, even more before we can safely use them. A day or so, I would say. JEB: RCS it is than. *** JEB: Five. Four. Three. Two. One. And done. DANREY: Checking the trajectory. NED: Let's hope that's enough. JEB: It should be. NED: And what if it isn't? JEB: Then we will have to- DANREY: We've done it! We have Duna encounter! NED: Yes! JEB: When? DANREY: One hundred and nineteen days! ROZER: And the Payload? Will we arrive before it? DANREY: The Payload will arrive at Duna in... 173 days. This gives us almost two months – just like you said, Jeb! JEB: Yeah. NED: Ha! You see, we're still on course. We've met this fraking purple ***** of a planet and we survived. We should- where are you going? JEB: I'll be in my bunk. *** MISSION STATUS ***

Sneak-peak into the next chapter (which is coming Soonâ„¢):

Life on Laythe?

I tried reentry with the latest version and DealdyReentry and everything was going perfectly until my landing gear blew up This is fantastic mod nonetheless - with this and frizzank mods one can recreate (almost) whole USA space program! Maybe you could make some tutorial for those less gifted in computer magic artsy things?

Thank you very much for so detailed and thorough post about the current state of the project - you are great to write all this And yes, KSO ate some time in my case too - it's incredibily well made mod and the best non-Buran spaceplane we have now IMO. Pity that landing even in vanilla with DeadlyReentry is quite, well, complicated (last time I survived but the landing gear blew up). Take care and good luck, I can't wait to use Copernicus. If I ever start playing with RSS it would be only thanks to your mod

Any news you would like to share with us?

Oops.......

It's Sergei Pavlovich Kerbalyov; Scott Manley - although he is quite cool - is nobody compared to one of the Fathers of Space Age