[AAR] From Humble Beginnings

[MinimumSky5]

Three wings and a prayer: Pt 1

Digee was the first kerbal to arrive in the VAB, pushing a shock dampening cart containing Probe Core 1 (It had yet to be given a name). The Eclipse the night before had extended the darkness of evening, so the building was unseasonably cold as she entered. She shivered as she switched on the lights, but as the VAB was such a big building, it had no form of climate control. All Digee could do was wait for the day to heat up, and then open the huge doors that were meant to allow rockets to exit onto the Launchpad. Hopefully, a rocket would, indeed, be exiting the VAB today. Digee carefully took her probe core out of its protective case, and sat it down onto a workbench. She didn’t have to do anything with it, as all of the testing had been completed yesterday, but she wanted to seem to be doing something important.

After a short pause, the metal shutters on the main freight doors shuddered as the motors started up. There was only one team that would need those doors, and Digee wasted no time in rushing to see her first glimpse of the rocket motor. As the doors rose, Digee tried to maintain her composure, and not start squealing like a kerblet on their birthday! When she finally saw the rocket, she was… surprised at its size. It was a lot smaller than she had thought that it would be. The motor was smaller than had been originally designed (as Tilotte and Dunmey had figured out how to get very small diameter tubes out of the rolling machine). Athena 1 was now 20cm in diameter, and 1.3 meters in length, far smaller than the 50 cm it was designed as and smaller than even Digee’s probe! Dilzer had needed to increase the size of the winglets as a result, as the new expended fairings needed to cover the instrument package made the rocket very unstable. Along with Propulsion, this group included Werner, Gene, Jeb and two kerbals that Digee didn’t recognise.

“As you can see Gusdan, the rocket nozzle is a new invention of ours, a graphite coated titanium nozzle, which gives us high strength and good heat tolerance.â€Â

“So, when is the launch?†asked Gusdan, who clearly hadn’t understood a word of what Gene had said and was trying to steer the conversation into a subject that he could grasp.

“Hopefully, later this afternoon. We are going to test fire the first motor, and provided everything goes well, a full launch with the second motor will be taking place.â€Â

“Ah, Digee, up early I see!†said Werner quietly, as Digee was standing alone, looking quite lost and confused at the new visitors.

“I couldn’t sleep properly last night, I kept thinking of all the possible failure modes of this launch.â€Â

“Digee, we tested the probe last night, it passed with flying colours! If anything fails today, it would be the motor, which is why we are testing it soon.â€Â

“Who are they? Are they new members of the space program?â€Â

“They are Gusdan and Enbrett, reporters from the Kelpogart Star and the Inquisitor. Both have been assigned to the KSC as their main reporting positions, so while we don’t pay them, we are allowing them to wander freely around, provided that they don’t get in our way!â€Â

As Werner and Digee conversed, the Athena 1 motor was connected to the VAB’s crane and hoisted up, off the trolley. The motor was small by rocketry standards, but still weighed in excess of 300Kg. Dilzer and Debbella had entered through the open freight doors as well, with a small cart carrying the three fixed wings, the fairings and the fairing base.

Gene led Gusdan and Enbrett over to a quiet corner of the VAB, which conveniently contained the coffee machine! Werner and Digee joined them, as they now had very little to do with the first test of the motor. Most of the rest of the team had appeared already, including Kelcas, once the kitchen had been cleared. Bob worked the crane with an expert hand, lifting first the test stand onto the crawler, and after Bill and Val had secured it in place, he hoisted the rocket up, for Bill to attach the stand to two hard points in the test article’s side. Once this was done, Jeb dumped into the crawler’s cabin, and started the huge machine up. It would take several minutes to start, so most of the kerbals headed over to Mission Control, with only Bill and Bob staying out, to guide Jeb to the Launchpad.

“T minus 5 minutes, all stations check readiness, all personnel are to seek shelter in either Mission Control or the Tracking Station.†Called Gene over the base intercom. This was a static fire test, but he was taking no chances.

After the two guards at the gatehouse had headed into the Tracking Station, and everyone else had gathered in Mission Control, the final countdown started.

“T minus 4 minutes, call Go/No go, RSOâ€Â

“Goâ€Â

“Powerâ€Â

“Goâ€Â

“Telemetryâ€Â

“Goâ€Â

“All stations report readiness, countdown can proceed.â€Â

During this time in the countdown, very little was actually happening. The rocket wasn’t going to be released, so guidance wasn’t an issue, and Val would only have to worry if the rocket somehow got loose. Jeb was in his place, leaning against the doorframe, examining the events taking place. Bill, Gusdan and Enbrett were discussing the rockets design, and everyone else was waiting silently, for the test to begin. The mission control centre was divided into several conference rooms, which had yet to be used, and Mission Control itself. The room for mission control was bare and utilitarian, with exposed wiring and pipes in the ceiling, and bare metal supports in the walls. Most of the kerbals, those who weren’t directly involved in the test, were in a small observation area near the door, at the back. A much larger, lower area contained the banks of monitors that the technicians used to monitor events, and at the front was seven large monitors, one in the centre and three on each side, that would show Gene the vital data and camera views. Using the flight director’s podium, he could select any on the 6 data feeds to show on the main monitor.

“T minus 20 seconds, final RSO checkâ€Â

“RSO reports go, Flightâ€Â

“Good. T minus 15 seconds, we have ignition commit. Conserve oxygen.â€Â

Conserve Oxygen was a command that Gene would give at critical points, which would tell everyone in the room to only talk if it was necessary to the mission.

“10 seconds.â€Â

“5… 4… 3… 2… 1… Ignition!â€Â

Flames leapt out of the bottom of the motor, increasing in ferocity, then steadying into a smooth, lilac flame, caused by the potassium vapour. Dust from the area below the rocket, which was affectionately called a Launchpad, but which more resembled a baseball mound, quickly obscured the rocket test.

“Chamber pressure and temperature stabilised at 500Kpa and 700K, respectively†called Luddo

“T plus 10 seconds, all parameters nominalâ€Â

“T plus 16 seconds, camber pressure reducing.â€Â

“T plus 20 seconds, motor exhausted, maximum thrust measured at 5.5 kilonewtons.â€Â

As the dust settled from this first test, there was silence for all of two seconds, before the mission control erupted into a cacophony of screaming, cheering, laughing, and even some crying. The test had been flawless, the rocket was now ready to be used.