BostLabs

Colossus is like 285. Heh, no wonder I have mem issues. I'll find an interesting way to correct this issue.

Jeb saves the day once more and they take away his flight status. LOL. Typical in today's environment. czokletmuss, can you tell me the part count of Proteus please. I think Colossus may need some trimming to avoid memory issues.

Meanwhile; back on board the mystery ship. Bill listens to the radio. "There comes a time when all Kerbals must leave their home and strike out on their own for their own adventure. Today, we take this step away from home for all Kerbalkind. This is only the first step, there will be many to follow." Bill steps up from his command chair. "Continue to monitor Beagle Flight." He motions to another Kerb close by. "I will be in my cabin, you have the watch." "Yes Captain! I have the watch" Bill makes his way through the ship and enters his cabin. "Well done Jeb!" He thinks as the hatch closes behind him. "Not too bad for the bucket of bolts you were flying." Bill gazes out the window over looking the massive control sphere of the ship. Just then the intercom signals. Bill presses the button next to the speaker. "Yes?" "Sir! The Directorate signals." Bills right arm whines a bit as he turns away from the panel. "Direct it to my station." "Yes sir!" Bill activates his screen. As always, a shadowy figure appears. There is no hint on who the person may be. "Yes Director!" Bill responds to the image. "Bill, the council is pleased with your progress. Are the upgrades complete?" "Yes sir." "very well, you are cleared for phase II. Proceed. The scanner cloak should continue to keep the Colossus from appearing on radar or other means of detection." "We will proceed at once Director!" Bill replies. "Good..." And the image of the Director snaps out. Bill turns to leave his cabin and heads for the bridge.. Beagle Flight continues.

After several orbits, Jeb decided upon a landing site. Jeb undocked and moved away from Beagle II. "Hey Bob, I'll see you later." Jeb grinned as he radioed his friend. "I'll keep the light on for you Jeb! Well as long as the batteries last anyway." Bob replied. "Mission Control, this is Beagle II, Beagle I has started Munar desent." ".......Roger Beagle I, Beagle II. Good luck guys!" Mission Control replied. Down Jeb sank toward the surface of the Mun. As he approached the surface he could see that his choosen landing site was a bit steep. "Bob, I'm extending my landing path a bit. That crater doesn't look like it wants company. I see a flat spot a little further away." "Ok Jeb, I see it. Doe you have enough fuel to do that?" "Oh yeah, Beagle I has loads of fuel. More than we'd need it seems. I think we over engineered her a bit." Bob laughed "I think they were just getting sick of you asking for 'Moar boosters' every few minutes." "Hey, there is nothing wrong with soild fuel, except if you need to stop burning." Jeb grinned. "Ok, its time for the nitty gritty here buddy. Do you mind if I use a little of that luck your brought?" "I've been rubbing the coin since you left." Bob replied. "Good enough! Ok here we go!" "20 meters, looking good. 15 meters. 10 meters, a little dust being kicked up. 5 meters. I have shadow. Lots of dust... now clear. 2 meters............." "Jeb?" Bob sent. "Touch down! The Beagle has landed." "Bob started breathing again." Mission Control radioed. "Us too for that matter Jeb. Outstanding work!" Bob stuck his coin back in his pocket. Jeb and luck had both played their parts. Jeb locked down Beagle I and prepared to step out onto the Munar surface. The last thing Jeb grabbed before opening the hatch was the FPD (Flag Placement Device) "Hell of a name for a stick with a bit of cloth on it." Jeb muttered to himself. Jeb started down the ladder. Right at the bottom he paused. He took the final step. "There comes a time when all Kerbals must leave their home and strike out on their own for their own adventure. Today, we take this step away from home for all Kerbalkind. This is only the first step, there will be many to follow." Jeb plants the flag and activates it. The flag unfolds and displays itself proudly. Beagle Flight continues.

Interesting things start happening in KSP when you push the memory limit. Not on my PC, I have 16 GB. I think my big ship is the culprit here. As long as I don't focus on it I can take screen shots normally. Once I focus on the big ship odd things start happening and KSP usually crashed. I may have to tinker with my graphics settings to get everything to behave or take an interesting turn in the story to get KSP to settle down.

As I'm sure that most of us that decide to write about our adventures, it always doesn't go as we depict in the story. So I thought I would share some of the behind the scenes of Beagle Flight. This is one of the first few test flights of Beagle I. Jeb was none too pleased about those fuel tanks taking a walk from my staging mistake,. This is one of the advanced, upgraded versions of 'my big ship'. This ship does have a name but that is still to be revealed. Here I'm sending one of the crew to the 'landers' I attached in the VAB. Darn things would not detach/undock. Scrap this one. This is a landing of the fuel tanker. I just wanted to return to the KSC but the rest of the tanker decided to land. I could have saved the parachute. A screen shot of my space taxi from my Mission Report version of Beagle Flight. Too bad that save got messed up. Spoiler alert: Upgraded version of my 'big ship' Bill leaving the original version to board the new version. Bill in his cabin on the upgraded 'big ship' looking back at the old version. This is LAG City with two of these monsters in close orbit. De-orbit for the old version. I got cute and decided to land it. The resulting explosion didn't get saved. I was taking screen shots but I think KSP could not keep up. Surprising enough the engines and fuel tanks survived and did a crazy dance next to the pad. Again KSP didn't capture the screen shots. Darn thing looked like it was trying to walk away. One of Jeb's many landing attempts. Here I realized that the side of the crater was too steep and I was trying to get Jeb out of there. Didn't make it. More to come as I screw up. LOL.

Huh I Didn't Realize It Was Beat On Posters Day. Nice Job SSOD. Luck Does Play A Good Turn Of The Card From Time To Time. Take A Look At The Scanner Again And Make Sure You've Set It Up Properly. I Think You'll Find You Have A Much Better Time Planning Your Missions When You Have All The Information Available.

Docking Is Certain The Hardest Thing I've Tried Without MJ Help. Congrats!

New Chapter Later Today. I'm So Going To Start A Behind The Scenes Thread So I Can Show You How I Set Some Of This Up And Some Fails Where F9 Saved Me. Sorry For The Weird Text. My Phone AppearsActing Up Today.

Yea! New chapter. Good stuff! Lots of conflict going on there. LOL!

Very interesting Pip.

Oh very nice! I wish I had talent like that. Thumbs up!

I like it! footie prints to the solar panels.

My first true landing was with a craft I called Munstrosity. It was way over built for the Mun. I tried it without MJ and came in with some horizontal. Hit, started to tip hard, throttled up, counter turned, kill thrust, hit again with still H velocity, tipped and spun (wrong key), throttled up again, counter turned, lowered thrust, came in hit, bounced and settled down. Jeb was pleased, I was trying to recover from a heart attack. LOL! I think I had recorded that. I'll check.

That's pretty sweet looking. Is MJ the only mod?

OMG! Must.....redesign.....everything! LOL

Yes. Interesting. Please continue.

Wow! I had totally forgotten about the felt tip pen. I won't say where that is going, of course. But I'm glad you got the Ominous music that was going through my head while writing that part.

Pfft! Clinton came out of that smelling like a rose. Besides, Bob's story isn't soap opera. Like all great books and stories I've read in my life, Bob's part is important. It provides conflict. Bob's fate here also made me re-evaluate Bob's role in my missions going forward. My AAR Beagle Flight (not a plug) has Bob in second seat now than 3rd banana. That was a direct result from reading this story.

LOL! Yeah I can't make this stuff up. (well other than the coin) I have no idea why the ship flipped out like that. I'm caught up right now. Need more play time. For the record, I have a general plan of what will happen in the story, but KSP gives me twists and turns that for me to deviate and revise my plan. At this point the story ending will be a surprise for me as well.

'Beep, beep! Beep, beep!' Bob awakes and kills the alarm. "Rise and shine, Sunshine. We are here!" Jeb sends over the intercom. "Yep, sure looks like, Jeb." Bob radios Mission Control with a status update. "Ready for Munar orbit." "Roger Beagle Flight. We concur." Bob programs the flight computer for the task. "Munar orbit achieved Mission Control." "Roger, great job guys!" Jeb looks out the lander window and the Munar surface. "Yeah! this is going to be a blast!" Jeb says and readys the lander for service. "I'd settle for a safe landing Jeb." Bob laughs. Meanwhile, in LKO. A unmarked refueler drifts on final approach. BostLabs: I have no idea who created this refueler. I'm pretty sure I found it in the rocket exchange. If you are the creator of this fine vessel please reply so I can give you credit for it. It is a joy to fly. No identifying markers or anything that affiliates it with any nation on Kerbin. While it is visible, it does not show on any radar or scanning system that the KSC employs. Neither does the massive ship it is approaching for docking. For all intents and purposes, these ships do not exist. A tight beam com laser lances out and strikes the ship. "'Scrk! RF1 on final." "Proceed RF1." "30 meters" 'thump' "Docked and solid lock. Preparing fuel transfer." BostLabs: This interplanetary ship is of my creation. Several forum members inspired me on this design. If there is interest I will detail out the mods used and put the craft file up for download. It launches from Kerbin with no issues and handles well (after many, many rebuilds ) In the huge command module a Kerb sits in a command chair. He is keeping one eye on the docking/refueling while listening to the radio chatter from Beagle Flight and Mission Control. He reaches to adjust the gain on the radio. His right arm whines a bit during the movement. A Kerbal close by looks over and says "Any difficultly?" "No doctor, but I think the zero G is making the servos whine a bit." the Kerb replies. The doctor writes something on his electronic Pad. "Noted. We'll correct that in the next update." The Kerb replays some of the earlier radio conversations. "Man.... Bill should... be here... as well..." Jeb's voice comes back from the replay. The Kerb turns away from the screen and faces the light. he has a few fine scars on his face and neck. "I might be there before you know it Jeb." Bill says to air in the cabin. "Yes, sooner than you would have expected." Beagle Flight continues.

"Beagle Flight, this is Mission Control. You are coming up on Munar injection burn." Bob started awake and keyed his mike. "Mission Control, Roger. Approaching Munar Injection" Bob switched to intercom. "Jeb! Are you awake buddy?" "Ready and waiting Bob! Lets do this!" Bob readied the ship for the burn. "Beagle Flight; Burn in 5,4,3,2,1" Bob watches as the flight computer counts down in sync with Mission Control. At zero the engine fires. "Mission Control, we have ignition!" "Woof!" Jeb sends over the intercom, "quite a different experience from this side Bob." "Bob grins over the g force. "Hey I told you that you should have ridden this out with me in the CM." "And what fun would that be Bob?" Jeb laughs. The burn was about 3/4 of the way complete when there was an issue. Suddenly there is a bang in the cockpit and a panel on the flight computer pops open. The ship loses control and starts to rotate to the right and still at full thottle. G forces flatten Bob to his control couch. "Oh Crap... Bob!... This... isn't.... gooood...." Jebs grunts out over the intercom. Bob can see the problem. A wire had busted loose. He can see the two ends. There is a pop and a flash of light, the ship lurches and then the wires move away from each other and ship shudders over to the right again. Still picking up speed. Bob reaches for the panel. He is just short of the wires. he collapses back into his couch. "I can't reach it Jeb!" "Beagle Flight. ABORT, ABORT ABORT!" Mission Control frantically calls from the radio. Bob feels the coin in his pocket again. "Maybe" he thinks, "just maybe". He painfully digs the coin from his pocket and thrusts his hand toward the panel. 'SNAP!' The coin fuses to the big wires and holds. The ship shudders and slows it's turn. G forces fall. "I don't know what you did, buddy, but you saved us and the mission." "I shoved my coin into the two wires." Bob says with a sigh. "You did what?" Jeb says. "I told you it was a lucky coin Jeb. I think it will hold to complete the insertion burn." Soon after the stage burns out and is jettisoned. Mission Control isn't happy but they agree that the mission is a go. Bob pulls out his repair kit in readiness of when the injection burn is completed. Bob sighs after he has removed his coin. There is a bit of a burn mark but for the most part it held up just fine. He quickly repairs the wires and the panel. Other than some lingering smoke and a few bits of metal floating about, you'd never know anything had happened. "Still don't believe in luck, Jeb?" "I'm not saying a word, Bob. Or should I say Hero?" Bob grins, the mission is still go. Beagle Flight continues.

The Thunder is unleashed and Bob feels his teeth rattle even though he has his mouth firmly shut. "Lift Off!" KapCom sends. Suddenly an elephant sits on Bobs Chest. He tries to let out a waaahoo but all he can get out is a wheeze! "wheeze!" "What's that Bob?" KapCom sounds concerned. "Wheeze! I'm.... Goood. 'grunt'" Bob feels his lucky coin in his breast pocket. Who would have thought that little bit of metal could be so heavy? With a heave he managed to fill his lungs with air. "KapCom, Beagle II approaching booster separation." With a bang the boosters separate and then a short time later Bob is approaching orbit. Bob hears Jeb over the radio, "How are ya doing buddy?" "Where... did we get.... the elephant? I don't... remember it.... being in the.... manifest." Bob replies. "Jeb's belly laugh can be easily heard over the radio. "Just a bit more Bob." Just then the burn ends. "MECO, KapCom!" Bob sends. "Roger Beagle II, relax a bit. Rendezvous program started." a short time later; "Just a bit more, Bob!" Jeb says while watching closely the approach of Beagle II. "Walk in the park Jeb." Whump! "KapCom, docking complete." "Roger Beagle Flight. Take a rest fellows. We got some time before Munar Injection." "Nice flying Bob!" Bob grins, "Thanks Jeb!" Bob pulls his coin out and gives it a good rub. Beagle Flight continues.

"Beagle I, this is Mission Control. T-60 and counting." "Mission Control, Beagle I is ready. Lets lite the fire boys!" Jeb replied. Bob had relocated into Mission Control and was watching on the big screen. He wasn't aware of it but he was rubbing the coin that had determined their launch order. No matter what the outcome of the flip he considered it his lucky charm. Jeb thought he was silly but Bob figured it didn't hurt to wish good luck on the mission. Bob was acting as KapCom now. "Beagle I, KapCom here. 15 secs to launch, Jeb." "Roger, Bob!" Bob could hear the grin on Jeb's face. "Good luck Jeb!" Bob radioed. "We don't need luck Bob, we got me!" Bob laughed, "Ok buddy. T-10" "9,8,7,6,5,4, Ignition Sequence started,2,1" Even from this distance to the launch pad the thunder of the rockets could be felt. Jeb felt the vibration and the unleashed force as the restraining clamps held, allowing the thrust to build. "Lift off!" Bob said as KapCom. The mighty clamps released. Over the roar Jeb yelled "WAAAHOOOO!" and then grunted as the full force of the thunder came to roost on his chest. Higher and higher the rocket climbed. With a bang that Jeb heard over the thunder, the boosters were jettisoned after they had done their duty. "KapCom, Booster... separation! First stage... still on... program." Jeb grunted out over the radio. "Man.... Bill should... be here... as well..." Suddenly the pressure faded and Jeb felt weightless. He knew this was a short reprieve as the circulation burn was next. Another kick in the pants but the force wasn't as bad. "MECO KapCom!" Jeb radioed to Bob. "Excellent Beagle I." Jeb grinned, "A walk in the park Bob. Hey don't you have a flight to get ready for?" "On my way, Jeb!" Beagle Flight continues.

I started my Beagle Flight story in Fan Works. I had a mission report of the same name but my save got messed up so that story ended. This new story is taking a different twist that the mission report. Heck even I don't know where it is going until I start playing again. And no, I don't have any Beagles. Other dogs but no Beagle.