CatastrophicFailure

Chapter 30: Zarya Once again, Valentina found herself in a small, open-top ute trundling across the concrete towards the launch pad, her stomach unsettled in a distantly familiar way. The sodium floodlights cast the world in a sickly yellow pallor, and drowned out most of the stars overhead. Her EVA suit didn't fit well, it had been specially constructed for Dibella before EVA was removed from her flight plan, and Valentina was smaller still. The folds and bunches made her squirm restlessly in the unpadded seat as the ute bounced along. Or maybe it was her stomach after all. "You not have to do this," Igor said from behind the wheel, seeming to note her discomfort. He looked unusually unsettled as well, if not truly nervous, but that was impossible, not Igor. Except... Except it felt like she hadn't seen him in days, longer even. Was that true? Or was it just another effect of... "Of course I do," Valentina said, still staring ahead at the rocket, then more softly, "I have to." Tercella hadn't argued the point when she'd returned. Moving about outside a spacecraft was difficult, but it could be learned. A pilot's eye, a pilot's feel... that could be honed, but not taught. Not in mere hours, at least. And of course, there were other concerns... The ute squeaked to a halt at the base of the gantry tower. Technicians ran, truly ran, every which way, straining to accomplish in hours what was planned over days. Clouds of drifting fog and faint hissing lent an unearthly feel to the launchpad. With the setting of the sun and clearing skies, the temperature had plummeted, squeezing the moisture out of the air and coating nearly every surface in sparkling white frost. It was risky to launch like this, they all knew it, but for the moment, fear of risk had vanished along with the day's clouds. "You will come back," Igor said grimly as Valentina struggled from her seat. "I will," she said, and hoped she managed a smile. As she stepped from the seat, her motion abruptly stopped from an irresistible force around her arm. She turned to find Igor gripping it. "You must come back, or I must see Kommissar." She managed a real smile this time, "and you do not like to see Kommissar." "No one like to see Kommissar." "Yes," Valentina said, looking up at the towering rocket bathed in ice and light, "yet it seems like no one ever does." "Trust me, it is better than the alternative," Tercella said as she approached, carrying Valentina's helmet, "here, I have made some adjustments. You should not have the same problems I did." "No, I will have all new ones," Valentina smirked as she took it. Tercella just frowned at her. She turned the helmet over in her hands, it seemed far too large, but had gained a thick leather-covered pad at the back and a switch that flicked on bright new lights. "Is a helmet that fits a female's head really too much to ask?" Tercella grunted, "it feels like being in a fish bowl. The pad should help. I do not know how well the lights will hold up in space, but they are worth a try. There is a double lock on the faceplate now, too." Valentina opened her mouth to say something, but Tercella grabbed her arm and was nearly dragging her towards the gantry elevator, "come, time is short. Have you eaten?" "Ah, a few hours--" "Survival kit?" "I think--" "Flotation vests?" "I am not sure where--" "Checked your seals?" "I am just as--" "Space diaper?" Valentina opened her mouth. Valentina closed her mouth. Tercella turned as the two reached the elevator, a wicked grin on her face. She took the helmet and gently set it on Valentina's collar, securing the latches, then went about checking the seals. "There are snacks in bin TK-421," the grin became a fragile smile, "the survival kit is overhead next to the hatch, and the floatation vest is under your seat." Valentina smiled back, "DФ--" "Фon't say it," Tercella held up a finger, "I will see you back here. Both of you. If you die, I will kill you." "I was going to say 'don't worry, I will get us back.'" The two looked at each other for a moment, then hugged. Awkwardly, due to the enormous space helmet. Valentina stepped into the elevator car, slid the gate shut, and waved as it ascended into the floodlights. Electric motors whined and fittings hissed as she was drawn up the flank of the rocket, its usually drab green skin now entirely white with frost and trailing tendrils of heavy mist. Strange forms shimmered and danced as it drifted by the floodlights. Upward she went, the lift seeming to take an very long time. This was the tallest rocket in the Union, probably in the world, but as the writhing shapes in the fog beckoned, Valentina wondered if it was just her nerves. Just nerves. That's all. "Comrade Kerbonaut!" At last the elevator reached the top of its travel. A handful of technicians in white scrubs greeted Valentina, waited respectfully for her to step off the lift, then took her place and descended back into the fog. All except... "Comrade Kerbonaut." The timid technician was standing nervously next to the open hatch of Zarya. "I... was not expecting to see you up here," Valentina said, somewhat confused. "I'll be finishing your briefing," he gestured awkwardly towards the waiting hatch, "emphasis on the 'brief' part." Valentina thought his smile looked a bit forced. She approached and slipped into the conical capsule and down into the left seat with relative ease, despite the bulky, ill-fitting space suit. She took a moment look the interior over, and pause for breath. Nearly every surface of the forward section was covered in switches, knobs, or dials. Several of which were missing. Her old, ironically named Orbiter had seemed rather spacious in comparison, being little more than an empty sphere with a few boxes. This... this was not exactly cramped, but full. There was space to move around up front, but only enough, the rest filled with equipment and more switches. She knew what they were for. Well, most of them. Probably. But laying here on her back, it was all just a bit... "Overwhelming?" Timid stuck his head in the wide hatch. "Er, yes..," Valentina said cautiously, "hours in that mockup... and I do not feel like I have retained a thing, now." "Um... It'll click, I'm sure..." He tried to smile again, then pointed wildly, "a few things are different, too. This is over here, that's there, this thing got moved down here, and those are over there. Valentina tried to follow his motions, shifted around in her seat to look towards the back of the capsule. Here, there was a small, square vestibule, just enough for two Kerbals to stretch out in. The sides were lined with dozens of marked bins and more equipment, and of course, at the very back... "What about this?" Valentina said, eyeing the other Kerbal, "is it... safe?" She was pointing to the large, round hatch at the back of the capsule. The hatch... the hole... in the heat shield. "Um, well, that's one thing this flight was meant to verify," he said sheepishly, "but don't worry, all the suborbital tests worked. It'll weld its self shut on reentry. Probably. But don't try to open it in flight, the crew tunnel back there is just a placeholder, and the pressure differential would..." Valentina stared at him flatly. Timid chuckled, and began nervously scratching at the back of his head, "y'know, it's kind of funny, the Foreigners got wind of it, some photos of the mock up got leaked, but they never could figure it out. Or the docking port at the back. That's not installed either." Valentina continued to stare. He didn't seem to notice. "Someone decided to mess with them," he chortled again, "fed them some false info. They...snicker... they spent days chasing an imaginary undetectable submarine all over the Southern Ocean, and..." Valentina stared. Timid scratched at his head again, "...and I probably shouldn't have told you that." She just rolled her eyes and shuffled around in the seat again, "what else do I need to know?" "Er, um, okay," he shuffled through a pocketful of notes, "now, there's no life support equipment in the service module. You'll be on the return capsule's reentry reserves the whole time. That, and the chest packs. Should be enough but you'll be cutting it close. As soon as Dibella's on board you'll need to start the landing sequence." Valentina huffed, "right. This, I know." "Well, uh, pretty much everyone in the world with a short wave and binoculars will be watching out for you. Most of them are friendly. But, um, if you end up in a bad place like Cerima..." Valentina craned back to look at him, "there's explosives and instructions in bin TK-420. But try not to mix them up with the snacks in the next bin, they taste about the same, also--" "Wait, how do you know that?!" "Er, don't ask," that sheepish grin again. Valentina sat back, and let her eyes wander over the panels as Timid droned on about things that had already been explained. Irritation was creeping into her mind again. The voice was still there, but she'd been so busy these last hours she'd barely heard it. It would be a long flight, alone with her thoughts. Still... she was beginning to find a certain comfort with the "just right" space of the craft. It was familiar, like the cockpit of an airplane. She couldn't remember the last time she'd been-- Wait, what? "Hey," Valentina broke into the other Kerbal's stream, "what is this?" She pointed to a mostly rectangular metal box low on the panel between the seats. Black and yellow hash marks adorned one side, an odd little antenna stuck up from the top, and on the other side were two large, round lights, one green, and one red. Had it been there a minute ago? "Oh, um, that's it." "It?" "It. It's so secret we're not even allowed to talk about it..." Valentina glared at him. "Er, well, I suppose you fall under 'need to know,' now. That's the Mechanical Inertia, Velocity, Attitude, and Navigation package." She looked at the box again, "an autopilot?" "Partially. More of an all-purpose flight computer. It can help you with the rendezvous calculations. There's a hexadecimal keypad over there, and the manual is in bin OU-812." With great difficulty due to his awkward position hanging into the hatchway, and distinct lack of such, Timid puffed out his narrow chest, "we call it IVAN." "Ivan." Valentina said flatly, "You certainly seem to know a lot about this ship for a control technician." "Uh, well, yes... I kind of designed it... mostly... "You?!" "Bit of a long story, you see, my-- No, I probably shouldn't tell you that either. Time is getting short." He ran his hand along an interior panel with obvious affection, "don't worry, she's a good ship, she'll get you back," then yelped and stuck his finger in his mouth. "Just a little rough around the edges," he said around his finger. "If you say so," Valentina said. Timid looked back at her with surprising intensity, "this is the ship we could have--" he winced, "should have had all along." Valentina opened her mouth, but a flash of static from the radio interrupted. Timid looked at his watch, and yelped again. "Ack, time to get buttoned up, pad needs to be cleared," he said quickly, "I'll let you close the hatch from inside, it's a little different than the mockup." "Wait! I, ah... I never did catch your name..." "Me? Er, um, Sergei..." Now it was Valentina's turn to wince. "...Kermanev." Her eyes widened. Sergei looked slightly abashed, "Director Kermanev was my uncle. I'm named for him." "Sergei, then..." Valentina managed a smile, "I have not had a chance to thank you. For speaking out for Dibella." Sergei truly blushed, "d-don't thank me just yet. There's still a lot to be done and--" The radio hissed again. "Y-you'd better check in, less than an hour, now. Um... udachi, comrade." And with that he was gone. Valentina frowned, pulled out a checklist, and plugged in her microphone. "Oh, one more thing!" And banged her head into the console. "Keep an eye on the primary buffer panel, it likes to work its self loose." "The wh--?" And with that, he was gone. Valentina grunted in annoyance, and keyed the mic. "Comm check, this is..." she scanned over the checklist, "Kokos..?" Really? Engineers. Pfft. "Kokos, there you are!" Came Tercella's slightly distorted voice, "we were beginning to get nervous." Nerves, again. "Uh, just getting settled in." Valentina sighed, shifted around, and eyed the hatch. She grabbed the latch handle, pulled down... and to her surprise, the hatch slid down, smooth and silent. Pneumatic dampers slowed its motion until it just clicked into the rear catch. She pushed forward on the handle, and the front of the hatch popped down onto its seal, again with just enough force. She set the lock, gave it a tug, and found it not to move at all. The precision of the whole affair gave her an odd sort of relief. "Hatch secured." "Copy, Kokos. Take your time getting strapped in, not much for you to do until you reach orbit. Everything is automated." "Understood," Valentina said flatly. Bah, canned meat again. Her eyes drifted down to the glowing red light on the odd little box again. She had the unsettling impression it was... staring at her. ЬЯЗZHЙЭV on these PЦTIЙ nerves! She looked up again. There, at the front of the capsule, was the thing's most redeeming feature. The window. That big, beautiful, glorious, highly-reflective window. Of course... lit from within as it was, she saw only darkness in it. Darkness, and her own face. Valentina Kerman settled in to what would surely be a long wait. A long wait, with a litany of things not to think about. It was maddening. Nothing to do now but sit back, await the final countdown, and-- PЦTIЙ! STДLIЙ! GФЯЪДCHЗV! ЬЯЗZHЙЭV on these Foreigners and their wretchedly catchy music!

Cool, thanx. All I needed to know. For now.

I haven't noticed it change since the new forums came online. With the old one, it always updated right away. Just wondering if it's only me....

Noticed something here... the number of views doesn't seem to change for me. The little number under the thread title on the main subforum page. Is this normal?

KAS FTW! there may be a (somewhat klunky) solution to the "ridiculous load times" problem. I went back and set all my pic-heavy posts on the last page to spoilers. The first new post kicked it to a new page, so I never got to see how it compared once the cache cleared. Bit labor intensive, but might be a way forward on these pic-heavy threads in the short term.

Like two attachment nodes in the same place... Um, lemme check my old .25 screenshot bin, probably a lot easier to visualize.

Quick question: is there any way to get a better view of the IVA of the Gemini analogue? Specifically, I'd like to see what's behind the Kerbals better...

Yes, we need those! Dtobi's now-defunct Special Parts had end caps like that and I used them for all sorts of things. Extra: put TWO nodes on each side, almost on top of each other. Eminently useful. And as as long as I'm begging, I've always really really wanted cargo bays like this that were also tapered, 1.25-2.5, 2.5-3.75, etc.

I saved everything on my end just in case. Now I know that Shadows clocks in at about 56,000 words and Whispers currently 44,000. Definitely not thrilled about this new forum stuff but I'll give it time before ranting. But all my painstakingly crafted bogus Cyrillic Should have another chapter up in a day or two.

Ugh... Apparently it only appears on desktops. So next question, on a tablet is there any way to force it into desktop mode? THAT you can say again! It just posted my reply to the WRONG DAMN THREAD!

Ah, I see now, that does not appear on a tablet browser (safari). So next question: is there any way to force desktop mode? THAT you can say again! £#{%^+¥€+}%€¥£!!!!

Where's this "+Create" botton mentioned in the op? Is there any way to quote from someone not on the page? Like if I wanted to make a post that said "Jebediah Kerman said..."

Wow, yeah now that the forum otherwise seems to be running "normally," the pic load time is pretty obnoxious. I've got another update to post tonight, I'll see if maybe using the spoiler option helps. I reeeeeeaaly don't want to have to resort to imgur albums

Are they blocked or something? They do seem slow to load to me. How about this latest one from last nite?

Ho... Lee... [IMG]https://happilyunperfect.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/nexus-one-swear.jpg[/IMG] [URL="http://kerbaldevteam.tumblr.com/post/133949390615/video-wednesday-kerbal-jet-ski"]Kerbal Dev Blog [/URL] [IMG]http://img.pandawhale.com/89691-family-guy-jaw-drop-gif-Brian-I1hN.gif[/IMG]

But of course :cool: Had a bit of a hard time with these last few chapters, not helped by some IRL drama. Hopefully now I can get back into a groove again!

Oops and a special thank you goes out to Ten Key for playing editor again on these last couple chapters :D

Psst... You need [ and ] tags around imgur and other BB codes. Looking forward to seeing this once you have. :cool:

Chapter 29: A Shot in the Dark "Zarya?" the balding controller was rubbing at his throat but apparently uninjured, "it's just a test rig, it's not due to fly for days." The timid technician's eyes slowly widened, "it could work..." he muttered to himself. "Well, why not?" Valentina stepped up to Bald Spot, "you can make it work!" "Half the systems are just dummy parts, ballast," he stammered, "we can't just..." "It is a rocket, yes?" Valentina shot back, "you are rocket scientists? Do rocket science!" "It could work," Timid turned to table, swiped its contents unceremoniously onto the floor and began furiously scribbling on whatever was available. "It's not that simple, you know that," the engineer in the lab coat offered calmly, "there are protocols, procedures..." "So you are just going to abandon her?" Valentina said, "your comrade?" "Hey..." the timid one said... timidly. "Look at the map!" the controller pointed, "Dibella is in a 43 degree orbit. The Cosmodrome won't be under the plane for another 11 hours. She doesn't have that long, even if--" "Hey..." Timid said a little louder. Valentina cut him off, "do you want to go to Kerberia? Do you know what they do to old, fat, bald Kerbs there?" The controller's eyes widened for a moment, then narrowed, "now see here, you're certainly in no position to--" "HEY!" Timid thundered, surprised at his own volume. Dozens of eyes turned to look at him. "Er... um... that is... well just look!" He gestured to the scrawls all over the table, "it wouldn't be easy, but it could work!" The other three peered at the table. The engineer's eyes grew wide, "but... it's never been done before. The equations alone would take--" "T-that's why we have it," Timid pressed, "but it can only get so close. Valentina will have to fly the final approach by eye." "Who?" "Her?!" "Me?]" "She can't fly, she's grounded! Comrade Tercella would be--" began the controller. "We need a pilot!" Timid snapped back, surprising himself again, then quietly, "w-we need a real pilot." The engineer put a hand thoughtfully to his chin, "it could work... but..." His eyes scanned over the jumbled scrawls, concentration wrinkling his forehead, "...life support. Oxyium. There's just not enough. Eleven hours to the launch window, a few more-- maybe another half day-- to a rendezvous..." "Anabiosis," the other Kerbal said. The engineer blinked at him. "Hypothermia, coupled with h-hypoxia," he paused to wet his lips, "we lower the cabin pressure, far as we can, just enough to k-keep her alive. Shut off everything in the pod, a-and I mean everything, but the coolant pumps, point it away from the sun. Use the service section as a shade." The balding controller could only gape at him in horror. "The young fellow has a point," the flight surgeon said, clearing his throat as he approached, "there is precedent." The controller spun to him, "you?! You've lost your mind! This is pure desperation!" The older Kerbal stared at him flatly, "there's no shortage of examples. I'm sure I don't need to be any more specific. Our kind has a rather well documented record of such..." The controller's eyes darted back and forth between the gathered Kerbals. "You've all lost your minds. And you've overlooked one critical point. Only the Kommissar himself could authorize this. He has the launch key. And as usual, he's gone," the irritation at this last fact was plain in his voice. He held the flight surgeon's gaze, "there are worse things than Kerberia." "Greetings, Comrades!" The group yelped and spun around. "Papers, please! Yes, yes, good, good, you, your shots are out of date, you need a booster. Now then," the Political Officer grinned widely, the lights above giving a sinister cast to his features, "does the indefatigable Ussari Space Program have a problem?" "Well, you see, sir, um, we... I mean..." the controller stammered. The Political Officer raised a hand, then looked at the timid technician, who shrank back from his gaze. "You," he said softly, "what you have said, can you do it?" "Um... I think... just a rough..." The Political raised an eye... bulge. Timid swallowed hard, "y-yes." "And you," the Political Officer turned to Valentina, "what he has said, can you do it?" Valentina felt icy focus flow through her, "yes." The Political Officer regarded the other Kerbals silently for a moment before speaking, "as you know, as Political Officer assigned to this facility, during certain emergency circumstances, I hold equal rank with the Kommissar. Do you dispute this?" Heads briskly shook in the negative. He pulled something from under his shirt, snapping the chain with a quiet plink, then tossed it on the table. The other Kerbals stared in awe at the launch key. "You have your authorization. You," he said to the controller, "do whatever he tells you," nodding to Timid, who gasped. "And you," the Political Officer turned to Valentina, "bring her home." The controller backed away a step, gaping at the others, "you've all gone mad! This is madness! I--" he clapped a hand to his mouth and stared wide-eyed, realizing just what he had said to whom. The Political Officer grinned again, exposing far too many teeth. "Madness, Comrade?" He clapped an arm around Bald Spot's shoulders, "this, is Glorious Ussari Union!"

Chapter 28: The Fall "What will we do? You heard what they said when... when... Comrade Kermanski..." Several Kerbals gathered around a table next to the rows of consoles, the glow of the screens giving them a ghastly pallor, their hushed voices heavy with defeat. "Could... would they really do that? Send us all away? But what..." "It has happened before, comrades," A collective shudder ran through the group, some now eyeing the doors. The controller with the great bald spot inhaled slowly, leaned over the table and closed his eyes, "Dibella Kermanov is the child of the Procurator General. No matter what we do, or do not do, we are all doomed." He ran a hand over his sweaty face. One of the exterior doors blew open in a crash of metallic thunder, and his head snapped up, harsh words forming on his lips, the reprimand against the breach of decency. He looked over to find Valentina advancing on them, on him, and suddenly his voice wouldn't work. She was dragging along the an engineer in the white lab coat, his eyes wide and bulging as the deranged pilot tightened her grip on his collar. The look on her face, the hate in those eyes. The Controller took a half step back and nearly fell over the console. "What is going on?!" Valentina looked across the group, from one Kerbal to the next, and one by one their eyes fell to the floor. "There's been a malfunction. . ." the timid technician from the last flight said quietly. "What malfunction? What is it?!" "The de-orbit motor," the controller straightened, seemed to regain some of his composure. "It misfired. We think--" Valentina rounded on him, one hand still latched to the collar of the technician's lab coat. "That is impossible. It is a solid fuel motor, it cannot misfire!" The engineer began to struggle, and Valentina tightened her grip on his collar accordingly. "That is what the telemetry says, misfire," anger now tinged the controller's voice. "What about the backup igniters? There are backup igniters, yes?" Silence. Valentina let go of the lab coat, spun from one face to another. "You have to do something! The attitude thrusters, venting gas, something!" "...not ...enough ...fuel left ...up three and a half days ...already," the voice came from the floor, sputtered out between ragged gasps of air. "Dibella.. I... how long do we-- how long does she have?" "Eight hours," the timid one's voice was barely a whisper, "Ten, if we use the reentry reserves." "And this we will not do!" the balding controller drew himself up, "there is no need to prolong her suffering, no need--" "Coward!" Valentina rounded on the kerb, snatched him up by his lapels, "you cannot just leave her up there!" The others began to back away. "You have no authority here!" the controller squirmed in her grasp, the fear in his voice betraying the strength of his words, "there is nothing more we can--" "You. Cannot!" Valentina was screaming now, her grip on his collar like an iron vise, "just leave her to DIE!" The lights in the room began to flicker and dim. "Security! Someone--" "NO!!" Rage exploded through Valentina. Fear. Helplessness. Hate. She released the mangled shirt collar, grabbed him by the throat instead, made to break the worm's filthy neck. It would snap like a twig, she knew it, had broken plenty of necks before. It was easy, just like an animal, no difference, just an animal. Her countenance twisted into a sneer, darkness dancing along the edges of her vision, her pulse close in her ears, the other Kerbal's pulse in her palms. Time seemed to stretch out and slow down. Outside, the gloom darkened, the clouds thickened. Such power. Such power. Laughter filled her mind, the sound of it raw and hungry. She felt the writhing flesh in her grip, felt the spasms, the terror, the weakness. Do it! the voice laughed in her head, Do it! One is as good as another! The controller flailed at her with ineffective hands, his eyes wild and terrified. She began to squeeze, the light in the other Kerbal's eyes starting to go out. Do it! Pay the price and TAKE YOUR PLACE IN THE DARKNESS! The price. Dibella. But, no... It was something... else... In the suffocating darkness of her mind, another voice floated up through the fog of hate, weak and frail and achingly familiar. Tinka. You have been played. Realization crashed down upon her like a fallen star. She looked up from the terrified eyes, and up along the bald scalp, now glistening with sweat. And she could, just barely, make out the twisted visage of her own reflection. The darkness didn't want a death. It didn't even want a life. It wanted... It wanted her. Destroyed and broken beyond life, or death. The perfect... Valentina's hands dropped, and she spun away, tears welling. Emotions hammered into her like waves against rocks. Anger. Disgust. Fear. Hate. Hate for herself, for what she had become. And burn her, there was power in it, drawing her like a Siren in a storm. The predator had set a trap, she had fallen right into it, and was now, truly, Lost. At last! The darkness cackled close in her ear, you are ready. Now finish it, embrace the darkness, and take your place. She folded her arms around her, drew away from the others, deeper into the shadows of the control room. Her vision swam, her face a mask of agony. The voice was right. It had been right all along. There was no return from this. The room darkened further, the lights on the consoles, signal from the stricken capsule, everything. She felt reality begin to waver and crack around the edges. It was too late. The world around faded, and as she slid down into the darkness, Valentina lifted her eyes skyward once last time, looked out towards her doomed friend, the only one who had ever cared. She looked out the window. I am sorry my friend, but it is too... Her eyes focused suddenly, arrowing in on a small, short lived flash of light through the window. She blinked. Tercella cared. And Igor. And... It flashed again. And her parents had cared. Her deda. Somewhere out in the gloom, a tiny hole in the cloud deck had opened, and a thin streak of sunlight shone down, glinting from the distant window of... Valentina inhaled sharply, deeply, and the anger and hate that burned within her... turned. It turned to something cold, and hard, and very, very focused. She spun back towards the others, one hand flashing out to point up through the window. "That!" The cloud cover broke completely, illuminating the experimental rocket sitting on the pad. "We send that."

[quote name='Red Iron Crown']I guess we're not counting the Space Shuttle or X-15. :) [/QUOTE] We're not, context is [I]powered[/I] landing :sticktongue: [COLOR="silver"][SIZE=1]- - - Updated - - -[/SIZE][/COLOR] ... and where's the "slagging?" [URL="https://twitter.com/elonmusk?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor"]First tweet [/URL]from Musk [I]is [/I]congratulatory, followed by some pretty reasonable explanation of the differences in what's been accomplished... and credit to the X-15 & SpaceShipOne.

The wife just sent this on to me, worth noting: [URL="http://motherboard.vice.com/read/your-move-spacex-blue-origin-just-secretly-landed-a-reusable-rocket?utm_source=vicenewsfb"]Blue Origin secretly lands rocket[/URL] Hey, Elon! Elon! The competition's knocking, let's see a launch schedule, huh? Chop chop!