Fake a Mun landing.

[BagelRabbit]

Kerbolday's Eve, 26.11. A lone Kerbal is about to step foot upon another world.

~~~

"Hey, Jeb. This is Bill. How's it going up there?"

"The view is great. I can clearly see the target landing spot... I'm at about three hundred meters per second."

"Copy that. Okay, can you go ahead and reduce your lateral speed a little?"

"Sure thing, Bill."

~~~

"Alright. I'm down to ten meters or so, vertical speed 1/2 [m/s], lateral zero."

"Roger that."

"Five meters. Kicking up some dust."

...

"Three."

...

"Touchdown light! Engines are off."

"Copy that! There are a lot of smiling faces down here."

"Well, there's certainly one up here."

~~~

"I'm out of the hatch. Whoo-wee, the low gravity is fun."

"Just be careful out there, Jeb."

"Roger that. I'm going to use the EVA pack now."

...

"The EVA pack works wonders. I'm floating like a cloud."

"Great! Be careful though."

"Why?"

"You know why, Jeb. Don't be difficult."

"You realize that this is being broadcast to thirty million Kerbals across the world?"

"*sigh*"

~~~

"Alright. I've planted a flag."

"Great. Why don't you go by the flag so that the lander's camera can get a good picture?"

"Roger, Mom."

"...When are you coming back home again?"

~~~

...anyways. Look no further if you don't want any secrets to be revealed!

As you might have guessed, this was done in the polar regions of Kerbin. Even though the region is perfectly flat, it looks a lot like the Mun from a distance. Up close, not so much - but it's passable, especially since Kerbals probably wouldn't know what the surface actually looked like. I colored the pictures in black-and-white to lend an authentic air, and also to thwart the tell-tale blue glow of Kerbin's ice.

I used Alt-F12 for much of the flight to the pole and the pictures of Jeb floating serenely above the capsule. Other than that, no tricks were used: I flew the mission to the North Pole myself, because Hyperedit isn't my cup of tea. I'm especially proud of the first two pictures: they look surprisingly accurate, given the circumstances.

Anyway, that's my entry. Let me know what you think!

-Upsilon

[Tw1]

Kerbolday's Eve, 26.11. A lone Kerbal is about to step foot upon another world.

~~~

"Hey, Jeb. This is Bill. How's it going up there?"

"The view is great. I can clearly see the target landing spot... I'm at about three hundred meters per second."

"Copy that. Okay, can you go ahead and reduce your lateral speed a little?"

"Sure thing, Bill."

http://i.imgur.com/GwZJMiC.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/HHN4MpV.jpg

~~~

http://i.imgur.com/Fk02WXl.jpg

~~~

http://i.imgur.com/Jc1b0Z0.jpg

~~~

Anyway, that's my entry. Let me know what you think!

-Upsilon

I like that first one, it's quite Moon esque, but I'm not entirely convinced by the others. I did say no photoshopping, but a simple colour change is not that bad of an offence, so I'll let it slide, with some score reduction.

I'm awarding 50 points for the overhead scene, and 30 points each for your landing, EVA, and flag scenes, and a 10% story bonus, giving an overall score of 154 points.

Edited June 1, 2015 by Tw1

[Keldor]

I picture the kerbals going to Tylo to fake a Mun landing. They'd have a lovely shot, with Jool in the background, "oceans" crudely painted on so it looks like Kerbin.

[SirJodelstein]

I'm in. Lots of film studio equipment, gear and actors are on the move. The faked Mun landing will probably end up costing a lot more than a real one :-)

[John FX]

Wouldn't it be great to make everyone think we'd landed on the moon? That'd show the Soviets.

What would it show them?

Well, they'd think we'd landed on the moon and they'd be all afraid. Do this right and the Cold War could be over by 1971.

Why don't we just release the footage of the Mars landings?

No, no. It's vitally important that we keep the successful mission to Mars a secret, but I've got a hunch that if we pretend to land on the moon, that will be in some way intimidating.

Will people believe us?

Oh, I'm sure they will. To the extent that we won't even need to bother to pay much attention to detail, with regard to flags and shadows, and so on. You're the top spy when it comes to misleading footage, what do you suggest?

Well, to start with, we'll need to build a massive rocket.

Why? We're not going. Sorry, I thought that was the point. Have I got this wrong?

We'll need a rocket because the first question people will ask when we show the footage will be, "How did you get there?" So we'll have to be able to say, "We went in that massive rocket you saw."

Hmm. So, we're not actually going to make any kind of saving in terms of the cost of a massive rocket?

No, but we will be making a saving on the cost of actually going to the moon.

True, and what costs are involved in actually going to the moon?

Well, the main one, to be honest, is the massive rocket.

Any others?

Well, other than that, it's mainly catering.

So we'll make a saving on that?

Well, no. In fact, it'll probably be more expensive to cater for an entire film crew for the duration of a shoot than it would be to feed three astronauts.

So, erm I'm just wondering, we have to build the massive rocket capable of going to the moon?

We will have to do that, yes.

So, I was just thinking, if we've built the moon rocket, might it not be cheaper to just pop to the moon and fake the footage there?

Fake the footage of the fake moon landing on the moon? What if people found out?

That's a risk we're just going to have to take.

[Fireking883]

One morning at KSC, Gene, Mortimer, and Walt Kerman were discussing their contract to put a kerbal on the Mun. The conversation went as follows:

Gene: "We have got to get a kerbal on the Mun guys. So, I think we should launch Octan one again..."

Mortimer: "Nope, that is too much money for Jeb to wreck again. Cant do that"

Gene: "Then lets just send Bill"

Mortimer: "When I say we don't have enough money I mean we have 0 funds."

Walt: "We could just accept a bunch of contracts and use their advance..."

Gene: "No, we have too many accepted contracts."

Mortimer: "Then I guess we are done for."

Suddenly, everyone in the room, and probably everyone on Kerbin, hear a massive explosion from outside.

Mortimer: "What the Dres!?"

Walt: *Looks outside in terror*

Gene: "Guys, it's probably just Jeb. I'll call someone."

Gene (on the phone): "Hey, what just happened?"

Phone Guy: "Ah, just Jeb. He blew up the launchpad."

Gene: "Jeb blew up the launch pad guys."

Walt: "Man, that will hurt our rep."

Mortimer: "No no, wait. I have an idea."

Several hours later:

Javascript is disabled. View full album

Awesome challenge by the way, loved it!

Edited June 2, 2015 by Fireking883

[Pds314]

One thing you must be careful of is not to show the Mun in the sky, but a much less noticeable type of error is looking where Kerbin should be and failing to see it there.

[Tw1]

One morning at KSC, Gene, Mortimer, and Walt Kerman were discussing their contract to put a kerbal on the Mun. The conversation went as follows:

...

Suddenly, everyone in the room, and probably everyone on Kerbin, hear a massive explosion from outside.

...

Several hours later:

http://imgur.com/a/mrywy

Awesome challenge by the way, loved it!

Thanks!

That is an awesome entry, with convincing lunar landscapes at multiple angles.

Sticking to my scene rules, I'm counting landing and launch as one, "Bill is leaving", "he craft and BIll" and the distance shot are also all similar (though awesome), and I'm counting the others individually, giving you 7 x 50 points. I'm also giving an 18% story bonus for your story and presentation, and 5% X factor for your landscape. 431 points.

Did you use the new field of view zoom? I'm impressed how well the launchpad worked .

[SemiaCloud]

http://imgur.com/xnvHhgH

My Mun landing.

Guess where it is.

[FireFaced]

http://imgur.com/xnvHhgH

My Mun landing.

Guess where it is.

Launchpad, or runway after being destroyed

[Tw1]

http://imgur.com/xnvHhgH

My Mun landing.

Guess where it is.

Not too bad. 50 points.

[Whirligig Girl]

I can't believe no one has posted this yet.

[Fireking883]

Thanks!

That is an awesome entry, with convincing lunar landscapes at multiple angles.

Sticking to my scene rules, I'm counting landing and launch as one, "Bill is leaving", "he craft and BIll" and the distance shot are also all similar (though awesome), and I'm counting the others individually, giving you 7 x 50 points. I'm also giving an 18% story bonus for your story and presentation, and 5% X factor for your landscape. 431 points.

Did you use the new field of view zoom? I'm impressed how well the launchpad worked .

No field of view zoom, just accidentally broke the launch pad in my career game and noticed that it looked like the Mun, so I did it again in sandbox and went about it like it was a normal mun trip!

[Tw1]

No field of view zoom, just accidentally broke the launch pad in my career game and noticed that it looked like the Mun, so I did it again in sandbox and went about it like it was a normal mun trip!

Ok, I guess the launchpad is pretty big, compared to the lander. My pics in the OP came from a similar situation, I was testing the lander, and something went wrong. I had been pondering if it would be possible to fake a Mun landing in KSP for a while though.

I can't believe no one has posted this yet.

http://i.imgur.com/looRY5v.gif

Haha. So it was just a soundstage on Duna. Awesome.

Also probably should acknowledge that this thread got stickied for the month. That's pretty cool.

Personal preference, if any of my threads were ever to be stickied, I probably would've prefered one of my fan stories, but I haven't updated those in some time. *shakes fist at Uni, business, distractibility, and life in general*. but that's ok. Someday...

Still, that's pretty cool. I look forward to seeing more awesome entries.

Edited June 3, 2015 by Tw1

[Fireking883]

Yeah, the only problem with the launchpad is that there is a light right beside it, which caused problems until I turned on my kerbal's light. And it actually took a bit of time to get those shots, buildings kept getting in the way!

[CaptainApollo]

Wow, Tw1, this is a fantastic challenge! I will do this later, or at least try, when I go on KSP!

[SirJodelstein]

Mortimer Kerman: Gentlemen, with our recent series of failures, our funding is at stake. We only have the financial means for one big project, and is has to be soon. We need to land on the Mun within a week!

Linus Kerman: That's impossible. Our research on rocket engines has just started. The largest engine we have at our disposal is the "Spark". Even a lot of these combined will not lift a Mun lander to orbit.

Gus Kerman: Lets look at what we actually do have, OK?. We have some solid rocket boosters. And some jet engines.

Walt Kerman: I have an idea...

Six days later:

Gene Kerman: Kerbals everywhere! Today, three Kerbals have landed on the Mun!

Javascript is disabled. View full album

After the press conference

Gene to Walt: I cannot believe that this actually worked.

Fake launcher, a crane and some actors in the desert

Javascript is disabled. View full album

Edited June 3, 2015 by SirJodelstein
broken imgur album in spoiler tag?

[Fireking883]

Mortimer Kerman: Gentlemen, with our recent series of failures, our funding is at stake. We only have the financial means for one big project, and is has to be soon. We need to land on the Mun within a week!

Linus Kerman: That's impossible. Our research on rocket engines has just started. The largest engine we have at our disposal is the "Spark". Even a lot of these combined will not lift a Mun lander to orbit.

Gus Kerman: Lets look at what we actually do have, OK?. We have some solid rocket boosters. And some jet engines.

Walt Kerman: I have an idea...

Six days later:

Gene Kerman: Kerbals everywhere! Today, three Kerbals have landed on the Mun!

http://imgur.com/a/sK5UK

After the press conference

Gene to Walt: I cannot believe that this actually worked.

Fake launcher, a crane and some actors in the desert

http://imgur.com/a/aEy8G

There is the mun in the backround in image 6...

[SirJodelstein]

There is the mun in the backround in image 6...

There is a celestial body in the background. Read the image description, they say "That there in the distance is Kerbin", but obviously it is not .

[CaptainApollo]

I did it, and I'm quite happy with how my landing turned out actually! Thanks, Tw1, for this very cool challenge! It was my very first challenge, but even though it took like 30 tries to land where I did, it was worth it and so much fun! Here we go, tell me what you think!

Jeb: "Hey, I got an idea! Let's land on the Mun, tomorrow!"

Wernher: "We don't even have ze correct rocket parts, we have barely gotten into orbit.."

Gene: "How can we do this? We have to amaze Kerbalkind.."

Wernher: "Wait, I have an idea! Ve can just pretend to land on ze Mun, and the PR Kerbals take care of the rest!"

Jeb: "Just as long as it involves me being in the spotlight!"

Jeb: "This is Jeb, I'm on the Mun! Just landed! And wow, the lander is sure kicking up a lot of dust! Whoaaa!"

Gene: "We did it! (Let's hope this works!)"

Jeb: "The lander is stable, I can't believe I'm on the Mun, at last!"

Gene: "Congratulations, we are all very proud of you. Good work. (Don't you dare screw this up!)"

Gene: "And that's Jebediah Kerman, preparing to step out onto the very surface of the Mun on his EVA!"

Jeb: "That's one small step for a Kerbal, one giant leap for Kerbalkind! (And one giant lie for us!)"

Jeb: "I must say, this is truly an amazing craft!"

Gene: "And that's Jeb, he just planted the flag! Look how proud he is!"

Gene: "Here's a plaque left by Jeb! He never was one for long speeches, but this is beautiful!"

Gene: "He went farther out to collect some surface samples, and he will leave the Mun soon, and return to Kerbin!"

Gene: "Phew, glad we got that over with. Now we're famous, and the PR guys have to deal with it all.. Ha, ha!"

Jeb: "And I'm a star!"

Gene: "Yeah, good acting, Jeb! You made Kerbin, ahem, us, proud!"

Bill: "Hm.. Can we actually go to the real Mun one day?"

Bob: "I don't like this; lying is bad."

Wernher: "We did it!"

Behind the scenes: (I really did it on the mountains West of KSC!)

That's it for my 'Mun' landing, I hope you liked it, I really like the way it turned out!

[Tw1]

Mortimer Kerman: Gentlemen, with our recent series of failures, our funding is at stake. We only have the financial means for one big project, and is has to be soon. We need to land on the Mun within a week!

Linus Kerman: That's impossible. Our research on rocket engines has just started. The largest engine we have at our disposal is the "Spark". Even a lot of these combined will not lift a Mun lander to orbit.

Gus Kerman: Lets look at what we actually do have, OK?. We have some solid rocket boosters. And some jet engines.

Walt Kerman: I have an idea...

Six days later:

Gene Kerman: Kerbals everywhere! Today, three Kerbals have landed on the Mun!

http://imgur.com/a/sK5UK

After the press conference

Gene to Walt: I cannot believe that this actually worked.

Not bad. I like how you've started with a launch, and used multiple craft at the landing site.

The landscape is good, but the clear kerbin grass texture detracts from the effect, so I'm giving -7% for that, plus the -10% for needing to edit the images, but I'm also giving a 25% bonus for story and complexity, giving an overall bonus factor of 8%.

I'm counting each of your 5 "Mun' photos as a separate scene, giving an overall score of 270 points.

...

Wernher: "Wait, I have an idea! Ve can just pretend to land on ze Mun, and the PR Kerbals take care of the rest!"

Jeb: "Just as long as it involves me being in the spotlight!"

[snip of photos]

...

Bill: "Hm.. Can we actually go to the real Mun one day?"

Bob: "I don't like this; lying is bad."

Wernher: "We did it!"

Behind the scenes: (I really did it on the mountains West of KSC!)

That's it for my 'Mun' landing, I hope you liked it, I really like the way it turned out!

Nice. That's quite the Mun-esque landscape you've found there. A good entry for your first go at a forum challenge.

The used parachute does subtract from the effect, but I'm willing to let that slide for a simple -5 point penalty. Who hasn't accidentally triggered a parachute early at some point?

I'm giving points for your dusty landing scene, Ladder scene, the flag planing scene, and the zoomed out EVA. I'm giving a 5% landscape bonus, and a 15% story bonus, giving a total score of 234 points.

I'll be away for the weekend, so won't be able to judge entries for a few days. I look forward to seeing more when I get back!

Edited June 5, 2015 by Tw1

[CaptainApollo]

Not bad. I like how you've started with a launch, and used multiple craft at the landing site.

The landscape is good, but the clear kerbin grass texture detracts from the effect, so I'm giving -7% for that, plus the -10% for needing to edit the images, but I'm also giving a 25% bonus for story and complexity, giving an overall bonus factor of 8%.

I'm counting each of your 5 "Mun' photos as a separate scene, giving an overall score of 270 points.

Nice. That's quite the Mun-esque landscape you've found there. A good entry for your first go at a forum challenge.

The used parachute does subtract from the effect, but I'm willing to let that slide for a simple -5 point penalty. Who hasn't accidentally triggered a parachute early at some point?

I'm giving points for your dusty landing scene, Ladder scene, the flag planing scene, and the zoomed out EVA. I'm giving a 5% landscape bonus, and a 15% story bonus, giving a total score of 234 points.

I'll be away for the weekend, so won't be able to judge entries for a few days. I look forward to seeing more when I get back though!

I know, I had the idea as soon as I saw the mountains, and knew that was it! Thank you, I look forwards to doing more challenges.

As for the used parachute, I saw no other way to land on the mountain, a man gets desperate after 25 tries.. And true, true. But the public was uneducated, were they not? Perhaps we could fool them into thinking that's something else?

Thank you for judging, I suppose 234 points for my first challenge is acceptable! Will there be a banner for the sig? Thanks!

[Tw1]

I know, I had the idea as soon as I saw the mountains, and knew that was it! Thank you, I look forwards to doing more challenges.

As for the used parachute, I saw no other way to land on the mountain, a man gets desperate after 25 tries.. And true, true. But the public was uneducated, were they not? Perhaps we could fool them into thinking that's something else?

Thank you for judging, I suppose 234 points for my first challenge is acceptable! Will there be a banner for the sig? Thanks!

That is true about the parachute. As long as they aren't knowledgeable about these things, it's a low risk tell. It may take some time before kerbals begin to question it, so I tried to take that into account when deciding how it would impact the score.

I hadn't thought about making a sig thing for this, but that's not a bad idea... let me get back to you in a few days.

[CaptainApollo]

Yes, as far as they know, it's for.. um... aerodynamics! Genius! Yes, for the time being, I landed on the mun! And yes, you gave a fair score I believe!

I think it would be very cool, I would put it in my sig proudly! All right!

[Musicrafter]

"Gimme my money, Rockomax! I landed on the mun!"

xD