September 20th, 1991
Disaster Strikes
September 20th, 1991, a day that will be remembered in the space industry forever, the day we lost an icon.
September 18th, 1991 - An unstable asteroid is picked up by multiple asteroid monitoring sites as it approaches the Mun. The asteroid is spinning on not one, but two axises, making prediction of the target path hard. It's too small to pose a threat to Kerbin, but early predictions show asteroid 1991 SE would come dangerously close or even impact SISS. SISS is ordered to make a orbit change of course, putting it out of the way... for now.
September 19th, 1991 - Asteroid 1991 SE broke apart as it entered the Mun's gravitational well. Asteroid 1991 SE was now a shotgun blast instead of a single impactor. The Mun's gravity also changed the orbit and sent the asteroid into SISS's path once more. SISS had wasted too much fuel to make another correction burn that would save the station. An order that has never been given to any space station before now was finally given.... Evacuate. Astronauts and Cosmonauts alike were ordered to return to Kerbin as soon as possible. SISS was put into an angle that would try to minimize debris once the asteroids hit before the crew donned their spacesuits and left the station, hoping to return, but that hope was soon squashed when they learned there was a 83% certainty that the asteroid debris cloud would hit SISS.
On the ground, people wept and some even demanded NASA or Roscosmos send an emergency launch to the station to give it fuel, but they knew there was nothing that could be done. No rocket could be prepared in under 24 hours. So, the world watched in horror as the giant station awaited its death, people using telescopes to get one last look of the giant station as it passed overhead., some taking photos.
September 20th, 1991 - Death Day. The world watched as NASA broadcasted a live feed from both SISS station and a nearby Kerbin observation satellite that had been reoriented to record the destruction from afar, well outside the danger zone. The wait was both exciting and gut wrenching. Finally, at 1:37 PM CST (6:37 PM UTC), the first of the debris struck SISS. It shattered a few solar panels and punctured the hull of supermodule as well as one or two other modules. Early debris continued to strike the station until the main debris arrived twenty minutes later. A large basketball asteroid ripped through Supermodule, creating a hole big enough for explosive decompression, the station starting to tumble head over heels. Another large chunk of asteroid ripped through MOK, causing another explosive decompression that actually lessened the tumble, but didn't stop it.
The bombardment of SISS lasted for a good hour before the debris cloud of Asteroid 1991 SE cleared its orbit and fell into Kerbin's upper atmosphere where it harmlessly disintegrated.
At some point the cameras on SISS were all taken out or their protective covers and/or lens cracked and/or shattered to the point you couldn't see through them. The live feed from the observation satellite was also cut a little before the end of the debris cloud due to a malfunction with the streaming software at NASA. The feed was restored, but only after the disaster was over. When it came back, people were met with SISS in a tumble and spin with solar panel debris all around. It looked like every solar panel had been destroyed and ripped from the station, even the stowed panels. The solar truss had been ripped clean off after the S1 and P1 radiator segments, which themselves were missing said radiators, along with all the radiators on the Russian segment, safe for one stowed radiator on MOK.
NASA allowed the feed to go on for thirty minutes before cutting it so they could focus on assessing the damage, working with Roscosmos to do so.
After a few hours, Roscosmos found two solar panels that were damaged, but still able to generate power. They were stowed on the Foreword Research Module docked to the Universal Docking Module. They quickly deployed the panels and got some power pumping into the dying station, but it was a life support measure at best. They also deployed the stowed radiator to help keep the computer's cool, but without the main radiators, it was quickly reaching its limits.
September 21st, 1991 - After reviewing the damage and assessing what to do, NASA, Roscosmos and the other international space agencies decided that it would cost too much to repair the station in orbit. It was decided that the station would be deorbited the same day. The decision was made at around 5 in the morning. Roscosmos fired up the engines on all the modules it could, but with leaking fuel, they didn't know if they could deorbit SISS. The RCS thrusters pointed SISS retrograde, and the command was given to light the engines. SISS slowly began to lower its orbit into Kerbin's atmosphere and soon had a predicted oceanic grave.
The predications were wrong though as debris made it through reentry and impacted land, near a city no less. Emergency crews were dispatched, and thankfully no one was hurt, except for a few trees in the forest. Fires of course erupted, but fire crews managed to contain the blaze before it got out of control.
September 25th, 1991 - An emergency session of the International Space Union was held to discuss the debris that remained in orbit. Some debris was on a slow descent into the atmosphere, but most of it remained in orbit and would for up to two and a half decades. Proposals were made and requests made of the space industry. Ultimately, Kerbin orbit was unsafe with so many chunks in orbit. The decision was made to send up debris cleaning spacecraft. It would take up to 5 to 10 years for spacecraft to find and deorbit enough debris to make space safe again, so the ISU and member nations got to work.
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