My Kerbal Space Program challenge mission report

[OpenWorldAddict]

So this a report of my Kerbal Space Program during my attempt to do the 54 hour KSP real time challenge which ultimately failed. The reason why I am doing this is because even though it failed some good story came out of it.

Now I don't have pictures from the entire thing, but I have highlight of it http://www.twitch.tv/openworldaddict/c/6369132

However I did take a picture of all the rockets and landing sites post fact, so that is what you get here.

Chapter 1: Flight of Alpha 1

After completing an initial science test by taking the initial command pod out onto the launch pad, I (as Flight Director) had begun to plan the first rocket program. Because I am not that good at coming up with unique names for rocket programs, my manned rocket program would be Alpha Program, Beta program, Gamma Program, Delta Program, etc.

The plan for the Alpha program was to use the Alpha rockets to make short trips into the atmosphere to land in certain biomes near KSC to collect scientific data to use in the research of new parts.

So the engineers got to work on the first rocket design.

The first rocket was Alpha 1, made out of just a parachute, a command module, and a solid rocket booster.

This was just to be a short mission. Take off, turn right a bit, drop the empty booster, then land on KSC grounds. However, the engineers forgot to report to the flight director just how powerful that solid rocket booster was. So Jebudiah Kerman climbed in, the rocket took off, it climbed, and climbed, and climbed. When it had burned out it had gone a lot further than the flight director was expecting it to go.

It had finally landed in the grasslands west of the Kape Kerbal. It wasn't what was expected of this first mission, but Jebudiah did get some grasslands biome science data to bring back to KSC, so overall it was still a successful first mission.

As a plus, when Jebudiah returned he did get awarded with ribbons for being the first kerbal to launch in a rocket from KSC, another for being the first kerbal to land on kerbin, and a even a third ribbon for being the first kerbal to plant a flag. (thanks to the Final Frontier mod).

However, the objective that the flight directer set out for (collecting data from the KSC biome) was never met, so the engineers was sent back to the drawing table.

Edited March 21, 2015 by OpenWorldAddict

[OpenWorldAddict]

Chapter 2: The Alpha Program steams ahead.

(this chapter relates the events that can viewed on my Twitch stream highlight starting at 20:56.)

The success of Alpha 1 had everyone at the Space Center excited, for it was the first mission of the agency. However the flight director wasn't satisfied and so he sent the engineers back to the drawing table with the goal of coming up with a rocket design for the Alpha program that could be used for very short flights.

30 minutes later, the Flight director was called to the VAB as the engineers revealed their new rocket, Alpha 2.

The director; while in shock of how fast they were; was definetly pleased. So within the hour Alpha 2 was placed on the launchpad with Bob Kerman on board with the mission to do a short burn, then ditch the rocket and land back at KSC. As it turned out, it worked perfectly, and Bob was so good that he landed the capsule on driveway between the VAB and the Launchpad.

Of course Bob collected all kinds of scientific data about the KSC biome, in air and on the ground. With all the data being brought back, research was proceeding at a breakneck pace.

As bob's command pod was being recovered, Alpha 2 was being renamed Alpha 3, and immediately went to the launchpad with Bill Kerman on board.

Bill's mission was to land on the shores of Kape Kerbal and collect scientific data from the shores biome. The mission was a slight success, Bill burned his fuel for just a slight too long, and ended up landing just offshore but far enough away that the beach was out of reach, so Bill could not plant a flag for this mission.

Nonetheless, with the data he brought back, the researchers and engineers convinced the Flight Director that enough research had been done to make a rocket that was capable of reaching orbit. Although the potential scientific data from the highlands and mountains near KSC still remained untapped, the Flight Director gave a go ahead for the Beta Program.

However, as the flight directer came out of his top secret meeting with the engineers and researchers, a news flash had come on to the TVs of kerbals living rooms everywhere. It seems that after his flight of Alpha 2, Bob Kerman conducted an un-authorized interview with the media, stating the claim that he would be the first kerbal launched into space later that afternoon. This had the media all whipped up in a flurry, and as the day passed to noon, visitors excited about the first launch into space started piling into the KSC parking lots.

This would lead to the agency's first mockery, followed by it's first tragedy.

Edited March 21, 2015 by OpenWorldAddict

[OpenWorldAddict]

Chapter 3: The Flight and Disaster of Beta 1.

With the scientific data recovered from the Alpha 3, the researchers and engineer felt they had enough technology to build a rocket that was capable of getting into orbit, so when the Flight director gave the go ahead for the Beta Program, the VAB engineers begun quickly began designing the first rocket of that program.

By 1pm, the Beta 1 had been unveiled...

Note this is the final version of the Beta 1. At first the Beta 1 only had 2 boosters and 1 launch stabilizer attached to the side of the main rocket just below the command pod.

The ship looked flight worthy, so the Flight Director gave the go ahead to have it sent out to the Launchpad. it was decided that Bob Kerman would be it's pilot because of all the hype that he had garnered earlier in the day.

Visitors crowded the lawn in front of the VAB, and when the crawler came out with the Beta 1 with the van holding Bob just behind, the crowds were cheering with bob waving his hand out of the van's window. Few minutes later Bob was strapped in an did his started his preflight checks.

Alot was riding on this mission. New monitors had been installed in the MK1 Command Pod, and that gave the pilot a an unprecedented amount of information about the rocket and about the flight. In fact pilots were able to choose what they looked at any given moment. For the center moniter, bob loaded up the new navigation tracker with a visually generated heads up display. This one screen provided vasts amount of info that was needed on a moment to moment bases about the flight of the rocket. On his left hand side he activated the orbital data window that not only showed him everything that he needed to know to get the ship into orbit, but it would also show his orbital trajectory once he got airborne. On the right hand screen he tried activating the new cameras that were installed but two of them were not in a good position, and third failed to send imagery. So he opted to get vessel readings instead.

With everything set up and his pref-light checks done, bob activated the auto stabilizers and contact mission control that he was ready for launch. After a second, mission control confirmed everything was in the green and the Flight Director issued the command "Go Flight!" With that, a famous announcer who had been brought in to announce the countdown and launch which would be broadcast over the radio waves, started his 30 second countdown, wowing the crowd with his grand statements every five seconds.

As the countdown came to t-minus ten, the crowd got ecstatic. Even Bob was excited, checking everything one last time to make sure that everything was okay. In fact he was so thrilled about the new moniters that he did even realize the countdown was over, when he heard a load roar as the engines ignited, and then after that faded away, there was nothing, no engine roar, no movement, no sound. He looked up and still saw the sky.

Outside the crowd was hysterical, laughing like crazy, and the Flight Director was furious. What had happened is the booster ignited, launching into the sky. however it left behind the main rocket with the command pod still attached to the launch stabilizer. The Flight Director order the annoucner to take the visitors on a tour of facility while they straightened this mess, and then ordered the recovery of the Beta 1. It was brought back into the VAB in one peace and the Flight Directer watched carefully as the engineers took the launch stabilizer off, attached to new boosters, and then put two launch stabilizers on attaching them to the boosters instead of the main rocket.

An hour later, Beta 1 was back on the launchpad, and Bob was back in the Command Pod, happy that they did not change the setup of his moniters, but unhappy that nothing was done about the cameras.

Wanting to make sure that everything was going to work, the Flight Director order the launch before the announcer and the visitors could return from the tour. The ship launch perfectly, but with in 30 seconds it seemed that things were going awfully wrong. The rocket was veering far off to the right, and Bob was struggling to correct it. Because the boosters were not helping, Bob decided to ditch the boosters and ignite the main engines, however that did also not help and the rocket started going down. The Flight Director immediately ordered bob to shut down the engine and separate from it, then to immediately put up the parachutes. Bob did as ordered and soon enough the command pod safely landed on the ground somewhere in the fields east of the center.

The visitors saw the results of the failed launch as they returned from their tour, and all was worried about the fate of Bob, but they were screaming and yellling when the recovery team brought Bob back to the space... with scientific data in tow! Good Ol' Bob, always the scientist even during failure.

While that was going on, the team in mission control was abuzz. Everyone thought that due to what had happened, that the KSC should close down for the day giving everyone a needed rest. However the higher ups that was funding this operation demanded a tight timetable, and that meant that a launch into orbit if possible must be met by day's end, which was going to be upon them soon enough.

So despite everyone's concerns, a redesigned Beta 1 was brought to the launchpad, this time with 3 boosters for more stability during the initial phases of the mission. After only an hours rest, Bob was back in the command pod. Since everyone on the team agreed that they were sure things would work now, the announcer went live again announcing the countdown for world to see, as well as providing some comic relief for the exhausted staff and the tired visitors... and then everything went horribly wrong.

As the countdown reached zero and the engines ignited, the struts connect the three boosters to the main engine broke and the boosters slammed into the main engine before falling back and exploding.

Bob, not knowing what was going on, panicked and started hitting the staging button over and over. Before he realized he was on a rocket that ablaze and out of control. Mission control ordered Bob to engage the parachute and turn the capsule so that it would slide off the rocket and fall back to a safe landing, but the forward momentum of the rocket was so great that it was impossible for Bob to nudge the pod off it's end. Moments later, Bob Kerman died when Beta 1 flew nose down into the ocean.

The flight director broke the news before ordering the wailing visitors off the premises, promising that a memorial for Bob would be held at sunset. Then he began a strict investigation into the accident. As log reports were recovered from the sea, it was clear what happened. As the Beta 1 waited for the countdown to finish before takeoff, the directional nose indicator was all over the place. Cameras of the launchpad showed that as time went on, due to aerodynamic forces; the boosters became more unstable, slowly splitting away from the main rocket.

Although the second launch of the Beta 1 was a failure, it's takeoff was perfect, and so it was deemed that a prolonged launch sequence meant certain doom for the the rocket and anyone who was aboard it. The Flight director declared at a press conference an hour after the accident that any launch that the KSC makes must be done as quickly as possible once the pilot is strapped in, until more technologies are unlocked that could potentially have prevented this disaster. With that, she also publicly and unceremoniously fire the announcer, saying that his speeches were deadly for any Kerbal flying a rocket.

That evening a memorial was held by the harbor at the south end of Kape Kerbal. Important people were making speeches about the life of Bob and the importance of his work. However, no one noticed that key members of the KSC were missing. As a boat with Bob's coffin floated off into the sunset, the former launch announcer was playing a loud serenade, so no one heard the muffled roar of rocket engines taking off north of the Harbor, nor did anyone hear the watery splashes as the discarded empty boosters hit the ocean off shore. People were just to fixated to see that red dot in the sky arc east as Jebudiah began his gravity turn at 10,000 meters. After the music played, Bill Kerman stepped up, explaining that Bob gave his life to see the mission of the space center march forward into the future, and that he will never be forgotten. How fitting it was that at the time the staff at Mission control were yelling in joy as Jebudiah discarded the main stage of the rocket and began his orbital insertion burn.

For the next two hours as people wondered over to the docks where flowers were piling up, and payed their final respects to Bob before leaving in their vehicles to go home, while high overhead Jebudiah was enjoying multiple sunrises, the joy of zero gravity, and collecting valuable scientific data on space walks.

That evening, rumors stirred of a shooting star flying over the desert on the continent far to the west of KSC. The following morning reporters caught up to the gleeful Jebudiah Kerman wondering the desert. There in a special report, he made the statement that he accepted the evening orbital mission even though he was going to miss the memorial in honor of Bob's name. He insisted to the Flight Director after what happened to Bob, that the mission should be launched without fanfare, so not to take everyone's attention off of what was important, the memory of bob; and that yes, Jeb did miss him. Jebudiah Kerman then set the record straigh, he was the first Kerbal to reach space, the first kerbal to reach orbit, and the first kerbal to return to Kerbin from orbit safely.

Goodbye, ol' Bob!

In the next chapter, the crew and staff work into the night after the memorial as the try to get a kerbal in the Beta 2 into a polar orbit to land at the north pole, while the engineering crew try in vain to figure out why their Solitare 1 Communcations Satellite won't launch.

Chapter 2 Epiloge: I am posting the footage of the events of this chapter to Youtube, and I will embed it here for everyone who wants to see.

Edited March 23, 2015 by OpenWorldAddict

[OpenWorldAddict]

I know that over 100 people have read this so far, but not a single person has told me what he/she has thought of my story. Please! Feedback would be useful.

[Kieve]

I know that over 100 people have read this so far, but not a single person has told me what he/she has thought of my story. Please! Feedback would be useful.

Don't fret too much over it - just keep doing what you're doing, and people will take notice in their own time. Proper feedback seems to be kinda sparse around here.

As for my two cents? I'm not familiar with the "54-hour challenge" so I have no idea what the goal is, or what the restrictions are.